CD Review: Halloween A Go-Go

Snackstock 2011 A Benefit Concert For Ovarian Cancer is being held from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM tomorrow, October 9th at Austin’s Fuel Room in Libertyville, Illinois. The event is being sponsored by Snack King Photos. Goin’ South, the southern rock cover band often profiled by Willy Deal in his On The Road With Willy segments for the Sunday Morning Coffee With Jeff internet show, will be performing, along with Ordinary Outcast. Tickets for the all ages show are $15, or four for $30, with all the proceeds going to The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund.

And now here’s some more fun in a Halloween vein. Note: This review originally appeared in the Illinois Entertainer.

Halloween A Go-Go is a CD version of musician/radio host Little Steven Van Zandt’s annual October bash, minus the funny B-movie sound bites he sprinkles throughout his syndicated show. The consistently energetic tracks range from the 1950s rockabilly of Carl Perkins’ “Put Your Cat Clothes On” to the modern garage rock of The Stems, Minus 5, and Jarvis Humby. Not all of the songs qualify as bona fide Halloween fare.

The biggest stretch is “Restless Nights” by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (which includes Van Zandt) although it does fit a nocturnal theme that includes a crown jewel of the garage movement, “I Had Too Much To Dream” by The Electric Prunes, as well as The Pretty Things’ psychedelic “Walking Through My Dreams.” Veteran garage rockers The Chesterfield Kings, who always seem to be in a Halloween party mood, check in with “Running Through My Nightmares,” while Howlin’ Wolf’s “Howlin For My Darling” offers spooky fun in a blues vein. The only dud is the cornball oldie, “The Cool Ghoul” by John Zacherle. No doubt it was included for nostalgia, but any number of tracks would have been better, such as Metric’s “Monster Hospital” or Don Dixon’s “Praying Mantis.”

Christmas A Go Go - Part 2

Little Steven likes to call his syndicated radio show Underground Garage a dance party, and that’s a good way to view the various artists holiday compilation he’s put together called Christmas A Go Go. So what better way to keep the party going than to spread it out over four posts.

On the relentlessly cheerful “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday,” Roy Wood’s Wizzard uses the Wall Of Sound approach of Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You to build an entire palace. As a founding member of Electric Light Orchestra, Wood was accustomed to working with stringed instruments, and he employs a ton of them, along with horns, and a children’s choir on this showstopper. The energetic production evokes an old fashioned TV variety show.

Tina Sugandh’s beautifully sung “White Christmas” begins with the standard arrangement, but soon drifts off to India via exotic sitars and tablas. If George Harrison had wanted to include a Christmas song on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it would have sounded like this.

There are more than three musicians in the Chesterfield Kings, and their knack for tapping into Aftermath era Rolling Stones has earned them a place of honor among garage rock fans like Mr. Van Zandt. “Hey, Santa Claus” was probably one of the first tracks he considered when he decided to create this party-themed holiday compilation. It kicks off with a classic Chuck Berry riff before lead vocalist Greg Prevost approaches the man in red with a list of requests, including a girlfriend and a new car. Sounding like Mick Jagger, Prevost sings, “I hope you have time to stop off in your sleigh.”

Former Stray Cats vocalist-guitarist Brian Setzer launched a lucrative second career by recreating the Big Band sound of the 1940s. He struck gold again when his Brian Setzer Orchestra started recording Christmas CDs like Dig That Crazy Christmas and Boogie Woogie Christmas. “Santa’s Got A Hot Rod,” with its highly energetic swinging arrangement, call-and response vocals, and twangy guitar, is a prime example of how Setzer gets the job done. And like most of his work, it’s a lot of fun.

Christmas A-Go-Go - Part One

Another repost from last year for the holidays.

Guitarist/actor/radio show host Little Steven Van Zandt morphed into a crazed Santa for this ambitious 2008 holiday compilation, determined to find just the right gift for everyone on his list. Fortunately, he doesn’t care if the recipients are naughty or nice, just as long as they listen to his syndicated weekly program, Underground Garage. The presents are rock and roll holiday songs, many of which would be unavailable if not for Little Steven’s generosity.

An ultra rare recording of Keith Richards romping through the Chuck Berry chestnut “Run Rudolph Run” kicks things off in a blues-rock vein. As Little Steven has pointed out on his show, this tale of the jet-speed flying reindeer helping St. Nick deliver toys was not composed by Berry, even though the rock pioneer certainly made it his own. Richards pretty much sticks to the original arrangement, but his hoarse vocals and energetic guitar playing enable him to put his stamp on it.

Bob Seger And The Last Heard’s funky “Sock It To Me Santa” is another treasure from the vault. Sounding like fellow Detroit native Mitch Ryder, Seger taps into vintage Motown as he barks out a litany of requests for toys. He proclaims in a spoken word intro that Santa’s got a brand new bag, and as the tune rolls along to a bottom heavy backbeat, it’s easy to imagine Santa wearing a long cape and looking a lot like James Brown.

The Ramones bring their instantly identifiable revved-up sound to “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” as Joey Ramone plays the role of a guy pining for a holiday truce with his girlfriend. “Christmas aint the time for breaking each other’s hearts,” he notes.

I’m guessing that “All Alone On Christmas,” which features vocalist Darlene Love being backed by The E Street Band, has to be one of Little Steven’s favorite tracks on the CD. And not just because he wrote it and plays guitar on it. Love, of course, was part of the roster of stars on the Phil Spector produced A Christmas Gift For You, which many consider to be the best rock and roll Christmas album ever recorded. With Clarence Clemons blasting away on his sax, and just about everybody else in the band singing along, “All Alone On Christmas” beautifully melds modern rock and the 1960s.

Ringing guitars and great harmonies help current Brit rockers The Len Price 3 hark back to the original British Invasion on “It’s Christmas Time Ebenezer.” When I wrote my earlier post on Carl Wayne, I mentioned that The Hollies never recorded a Christmas song, but this melodic spin on the Dickens classic makes it sound like they did.

Slumgullion #5

Picture from The Valley Downs' MySpace page.

Another free, all-you-can-read buffet of entertainment items for a Friday.

International Pop Overthrow, the traveling showcase of power pop music, returns to Chicago on April 22nd with a seven band line-up at The Abbey Pub. It continues through May 1st with more showcases at The Abbey, as well as The Spot, Bird’s Nest, and Red Line Tap. I won’t go into too much detail here, but I’ll be doing reviews of various performances at the time of fest. The entire schedule can be seen on the International Pop Overthrow - Chicago page on Facebook, and hopefully soon at the official IPO website. There are still some TBA slots, but so far, a few of my favorites, like The Lackloves, The Goldstars, and The Handcuffs are MIA. Just a few quick recommendations: Ellis Clark & Epicycle at The Abbey on April 23rd; a 92 Degrees daytime gig at The Abbey on April 24th; an afternoon show by Hollus at The Abbey on April 25th; back-to-back sets by The Valley Downs and The Webstirs at Bird’s Nest on April 30th; and The Cliff Johnson Band at The Abbey on May 1st.

This should come as no surprise to listeners of Underground Garage, but the syndicated radio show’s wicked cool host Little Steven Van Zandt will be the person who inducts The Hollies at The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ceremony on March 15th. Van Zandt has been a champion of the band for some time, and I can’t wait to hear his introduction. The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame website also lists the presenters for the other inductees, including Barry and Robin Gibb for ABBA; Trey Anastasio for Genesis; Wyclef Jean for Jimmy Cliff; and Billie Joe Armstrong for The Stooges. The ceremony can be seen live online at http://www.fuse.tv on March 15th at 8:30 EST.

Moving on to a different Hall Of Fame, The Buckinghams, one of Chicago’s most successful bands of the 1960s, were among the 64 inductees for the 2009 Hit Parade Hall Of Fame. (Inductees from the past year are announced in January.) Formed in 2006, the Hit Parade Hall Of Fame honors recording artists who had two or more hit singles in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The nominating committee is comprised of several veteran radio personalities, including Larry Lujack and Wink Martindale. This news comes courtesy of former Buckinghams lead vocalist Dennis Tufano’s blog, which also notes that he will be performing a 4th of July concert in Arlington Heights, along with The Cryan Shames and former Shadows Of Knight lead singer Jimmy Sohns.

Vocalist-guitarist Jimmy Herter of the 1960s tribute band The New Invaders is going the solo route for a show on March 13th at the Prime Time Restaurant in Hickory Hills, Illinois. Herter is one of the six talented singers and musicians who enable The New Invaders to cover a wide selection of material, including pop, garage rock, and soul. It should be interesting to see what he comes up with for his own gig. He’ll be back with The New Invaders for a show on March 27th at the new Ballydoyle’s at the Stratford Square Mall in Bloomington.

I’ve been following Todd Wright’s quest to raise funds to fight Juvenile Diabetes through his 40x40 project in the Elevated Observations column of this blog, but the singer-songwriter has other things going on as well. He’ll be performing with a full band at Jammin’ Java in Vienna, Virginia on March 10th, and will be at The Belmont in Texas on March 17th as part of the Manic Fest Destiny. Meanwhile, Wright has reached week 23 of 40x40 by making the song “Anything At All” available to download for free at www.orangepopsongs.com That’s also the site where you can get details on how to help find a cure to Juvenile Diabetes.

Christmas A Go Go - Part Three

As much as I’m fascinated by rock and roll Christmas albums, they have a pretty high failure rate in regard to my own personal taste. Christmas A Go Go, like Yuletunes and Chris Stamey’s Christmas Time, is one of the rare exceptions where almost every song works. Since I already covered the Beatles tribute band The Fab Four on an earlier post, I’m skipping their contribution to Christmas A Go Go here.

As stated earlier, Little Steven Van Zandt was determined to increase the allure of this compilation by throwing in some genuine rarities. It’s safe to say there aren’t too many other holiday CDs that can give you a surf rock reinvention of “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” delivered by 1950s kids show host, Soupy Sales. Listening to “Santa Claus Is Surfin’ To Town,” you can almost hear Little Steven chuckling like he does when he laughs at his own jokes on his radio show, Underground Garage. The clever lyrics come in waves of surfer lingo, as Sales describes Santa hanging 10 and dispensing toys on his board. People who don’t live near the water can expect to see him making his rounds in his woody.

Christmas songs from time to time have depicted women with romantic designs on Santa, and that’s what the five ladies in the Swedish band, The Cocktail Slippers have in mind on “Santa’s Coming Home.” This catchy number laments the amount of time Santa’s work keeps him away, and it's presented via a Go-Go’s style arrangement with some fun vocal interplay. Note: The Cocktail Slippers have a more recent Yuletide offering in their garage rock take on the Wham! holiday hit, “Last Christmas.” It’s available from Wicked Cool.

Actor Joe Pesci has made quite an impression through his films, particularly the “funny how?” scene in Goodfellas. On Christmas A Go Go, he gives the wiseguy treatment to the innocent Gene Autry song, “If It Doesn’t Snow On Christmas.” Backed by a big band and spouting 1940s style patter like, “I would really feel much better if the mooch could fly a plane,” Pesci makes this sound like it could have been recorded around the same time as Autry’s version. He has issues with a distinctively New Joisey sounding children’s choir and derides them as “reform school brats” when he discovers someone has stolen all the candy canes.

The Seattle-based Boss Martians give Charles Dickens a psychedelic spin with their high speed rock song, “3 Ghosts (A Modern X-mas Carol).” The band adds a touch of prog rock via Nick C’s energetic keyboard playing while vocalist-guitarist Evan Foster gives a well-written first-person account of Scrooge’s eventful night, starting with the visit from Jacob Marley.

Coming next, in the Christmas A Go Go finale, a soulful offer from Santa; another surfing version of a famous carol; an electric and slightly spooky “Jingle Bells;” and the dangers of offering Monopoly money to angry, disadvantaged kids.

Christmas A Go Go - Part 2

Photo of Tina Sugandh from her website.

Little Steven likes to call his syndicated radio show Underground Garage a dance party, and that’s how I view the various artists holiday compilation he’s put together called Christmas A Go Go. So what better way to keep the party going, baby, than to spread it out over four posts?

On the relentlessly cheerful “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday,” Roy Wood’s Wizzard uses the Wall Of Sound approach of Phil Spector’s A Christmas Gift For You to build an entire palace. As a founding member of Electric Light Orchestra, Wood was accustomed to working with stringed instruments, and he employs a ton of them, along with horns, and a children’s choir on this showstopper. The energetic production evokes an old fashioned TV variety show.

Tina Sugandh’s beautifully sung “White Christmas” begins with the standard arrangement, but soon drifts off to India via exotic sitars and tablas. If George Harrison had wanted to include a Christmas song on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, it would have sounded like this.

There are more than three musicians in the Chesterfield Kings, and their knack for tapping into Aftermath era Rolling Stones has earned them a place of honor among garage rock fans like Mr. Van Zandt. “Hey, Santa Claus” was probably one of the first tracks he considered when he decided to create this party-themed holiday compilation. It kicks off with a classic Chuck Berry riff before lead vocalist Greg Prevost approaches the man in red with a list of requests, including a girlfriend and a new car. Sounding like Mick Jagger, Prevost sings, “I hope you have time to stop off in your sleigh.”

Former Stray Cats vocalist-guitarist Brian Setzer launched a lucrative second career by recreating the Big Band sound of the 1940s. He struck gold again when his Brian Setzer Orchestra started recording Christmas CDs like Dig That Crazy Christmas and Boogie Woogie Christmas. “Santa’s Got A Hot Rod,” with its highly energetic swinging arrangement, call-and response vocals, and twangy guitar, is a prime example of how Setzer gets the job done. And like most of his work, it’s a lot of fun.

Coming in Part Three of Christmas A Go Go: Soupy Sales trades a pie in the face for a splash of the ocean; The Cocktail Slippers long for Santa; Joe Pesci roughs up a Gene Autry song; and another high speed take on A Christmas Carol.

Christmas A-Go-Go - Part One

Guitarist/actor/radio show host Little Steven Van Zandt morphed into a crazed Santa for this ambitious 2008 holiday compilation, determined to find just the right gift for everyone on his list. Fortunately, he doesn’t care if the recipients are naughty or nice, just as long as they listen to his syndicated weekly program, Underground Garage. The presents are rock and roll holiday songs, many of which would be unavailable if not for Little Steven’s generosity.

An ultra rare recording of Keith Richards romping through the Chuck Berry chestnut “Run Rudolph Run” kicks things off in a blues-rock vein. As Little Steven has pointed out on his show, this tale of the jet-speed flying reindeer helping St. Nick deliver toys was not composed by Berry, even though the rock pioneer certainly made it his own. Richards pretty much sticks to the original arrangement, but his hoarse vocals and energetic guitar playing enable him to put his stamp on it.

Bob Seger And The Last Heard’s funky “Sock It To Me Santa” is another treasure from the vault. Sounding like fellow Detroit native Mitch Ryder, Seger taps into vintage Motown as he barks out a litany of requests for toys. He proclaims in a spoken word intro that Santa’s got a brand new bag, and as the tune rolls along to a bottom heavy backbeat, it’s easy to imagine Santa wearing a long cape and looking a lot like James Brown.

The Ramones bring their instantly identifiable revved-up sound to “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)” as Joey Ramone plays the role of a guy pining for a holiday truce with his girlfriend. “Christmas aint the time for breaking each other’s hearts,” he notes.

I’m guessing that “All Alone On Christmas,” which features vocalist Darlene Love being backed by The E Street Band, has to be one of Little Steven’s favorite tracks on Christmas A-Go-Go. And not just because he wrote it and plays guitar on it. Love, of course, was part of the roster of stars on the Phil Spector produced A Christmas Gift For You, which many consider to be the best rock and roll Christmas album ever recorded. With Clarence Clemons blasting away on his sax, and just about everybody else in the band singing along, “All Alone On Christmas” beautifully melds modern rock and the 1960s.

Ringing guitars and great harmonies help current Brit rockers The Len Price 3 hark back to the original British Invasion on “It’s Christmas Time Ebenezer.” When I wrote my earlier post on Carl Wayne, I mentioned that The Hollies never recorded a Christmas song, but this melodic spin on the Dickens classic makes it sound like they did.

Coming up in Part Two of Christmas A Go Go, “White Christmas” goes to India; holiday garage rock; and a full-blown extravaganza like only the English can do.

Laugh Dance G - L - O - R - I - A

Ellen & Halle Berry photo from The Ellen Degeneres Show Facebook page.

Ellen Degeneres came to Chicago today to join Oprah Winfrey on Michigan Avenue, where they autographed copies of the O Magazine that features both of them on the cover. It was a high-profile finale to a comic quest that Degeneres cooked up months ago on her daytime talk show. Both of these media stars are known for their generosity, and it’s likely this publishing coup will result in even more prizes and money for an American public that could definitely use some cheering up.

But now it’s time for Degeneres, who earlier succeeded in luring George Clooney onto her show, to take on a new challenge. One based on something she loves: Music. Every episode of The Ellen Degeneres Show kicks off with Degeneres dancing with audience members to tunes cranked out by her onstage DJ Tony Okungbowa, and later, there’s usually a live performance from a current recording artist. She often dances and sings with her guests. Degeneres is no kid anymore, but she still thrives on cutting edge, energetic music. Generally, she leans toward rap and hip-hop, judging from her show, as well as her brand new online music page.

Maybe Degeneres could also give some props to garage rock and power pop. Like hip-hop, these often overlooked sub-genres of rock and roll provide a powerful incentive to move your feet and groove to the beat, and exude a certain underground mystique. Garage rock and power pop songs rarely make the charts, but bands like The Chesterfield Kings, Cheap Trick, and Fountains Of Wayne could open an exciting new world to Ellen viewers.

Just as Degeneres teamed up with Winfrey, she could join forces with Little Steven Van Zandt, who hosts the syndicated Underground Garage radio show. He could share his garage rock and power pop expertise with her, while her media savvy could result in a much wider audience for the bands he so valiantly champions. Imagine The Len Price 3 or The Urges rocking the house on The Ellen Degeneres Show. Of course, Tony could stay, but hopefully he’d mix in an occasional “Gloria” by The Shadows Of Knight or “Blood & Roses” by The Smithereens.

Van Zandt is aiming to launch an ambitious interactive website called Fuzztopia early next year that would enable bands to promote their music by posting profiles, videos, and songs. Degeneres is genuinely passionate about helping people and fostering creativity, so this would be right up her alley. And wouldn’t be great to see her and Van Zandt sharing the cover on magazines like Rolling Stone, Q, and Mojo?

31 Songs For Halloween - October 15th: “Death Boy”

Each day this month, I’ll be spotlighting a song that seems particularly appropriate to the season.

Not to be confused with the Jem and the Holograms TV show that ran from 1985 to 1988, the all-woman band The Holograms released its debut, Night Of 1,000 Ex-boyfriends in 2005. The first I heard of The Holograms was when Little Steven started playing the relentlessly peppy “Are You Ready For It” on his Underground Garage radio program. That song doesn’t prepare a listener for the nasty streak that runs through the rest of the CD, where the band performs songs like “Drunk Dial,” and “Your Ex Is Turning Tricks Again.” Similar to The Buzzcocks, The Holograms mix revved-up punk with infectious melodies, while vocalist-guitarist Tammy mimics the 1960s girl group sound in a way that recalls Julie Brown’s “Homecoming Queen’s Got A Gun.” On “Death Boy,” a song with a frantic, guitar-driven arrangement, Tammy purrs, “Death boy, you’re so cute in such a creepy way.” She goes on to lament his passion for gals who are no longer living. “I know you’ll never be true./You only wish I was Code Blue.” Another downside to the relationship is that he brings her funeral wreaths instead of flowers.

I couldn’t mention "Death Boy" without giving a shout out to Desiree Burcum, who wrote a similar song called, “Dead Guy” back when I was performing with her in the Famous In The Future comedy group. In her version, a woman falls in love with the victim she accidentally ran over with her car, noting that he doesn’t have all those obnoxious habits of the living guys she dated in the past. Desiree also came up with the line, “Does he have a dead brother?” before it was used in Corpse Bride.

Meeting Of The Minds

When WXRT morning disk jockey Lin Brehmer announced that Little Steven Van Zandt, guitarist for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band and host of the syndicated Underground Garage radio show, would be dropping by the station Monday morning, most listeners probably expected a five minute interview. Surprisingly, Van Zandt and Brehmer chatted, joked, and played classic garage rock songs, including ones by Paul Revere and The Raiders and Tinted Windows, for an hour. If Van Zandt was tired from being onstage for a three hour, high energy performance at the United Center the night before, he showed no signs. He talked about watching Dick Clark’s Where The Action Is TV show as a kid, as well as the troubled state of current rock’n’roll.

Van Zandt, whose Underground Garage show airs on WXRT each Sunday night, recalled the days when rock music was meant to make people dance and bands honed their skills by performing cover songs before moving on to original material. Even The Beatles worked that way, he insisted. On their current tour, which showcases Born To Run in its entirety, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band go back to their bar band roots by taking audience requests to perform other groups’ material. Van Zandt confessed it can be a challenge to whip up those songs on the spot.

A self-proclaimed keeper of the flame, Van Zandt feels too many bands today lack the necessary fire. Still, he’s no crabby elder statesman lost in the past. Through his radio show, he promotes new acts like The Urges and The Cocktail Slippers alongside classic artists like The Rolling Stones and The Ronnettes. He champions female bands from any era. He’s also launched the ambitious interactive website Fuzztopia where fans as well as bands can promote and present music. Van Zandt explained the site is still a work in progress.

His philosophy meshes well with WXRT’s "Past, Present, Future" ad campaign. Years ago, the station took a huge risk by including punk and new wave songs on its playlist, along with the progressive rock favorites listeners had grown to love. That gamble has made WXRT stronger. Today, Van Zandt and Brehmer came across as kindred souls who love rock music and are determined to keep its fire burning.