Keanu’s Legion of Vigilante Doom?

I was originally going to entitle this blog entry “Eighties Cheese, Please” because if you’ve ever seen any made-for-TV-movies, that’s what they are. “The Brotherhood of Justice” (1986) is definitely cheesy, but it’s also an interesting one to watch. Why, you may ask?

For starters, a young Keanu Reeves and a young Kiefer Sutherland star in this one. Reeves plays the golden boy quarterback on the high school football team who drives a red convertible and dates a hot working class girl (more on her later). Sutherland plays a quiet working class guy who has his share of moxie and drives a hot rod coupe. The cars are an interesting contrast between the two characters now that I think about it.

The film opens with masked vandals damaging the fictional high school attended by these three. Other members of the student body are played by Billy Zane (with a full head of hair, mind you), Darren Dalton (the super socialite from “The Outsiders”, and one of the dudes from “Summer School” Gary Riley (I think his character’s name was “Chainsaw”). After a call to arms by the principal (some dude from Hill Street Blues), Keanu and his BFFs form “The Brotherhood of Justice” to police their school and community. They hold clandestine meetings and form a working hit list of ne’er do wells. Keanu’s character tries to remain even-keeled about the BOJ’s covert activities, but decides to take action against the guy who dealt drugs to his kid brother.

If the cast doesn’t give you an indication, this film is VERY 80s — and I don’t mean legwarmers and parachute pants. One of the central themes is the about dangers of drugs. It was released during the Reagan Administration after all, and, in particular, Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign. Despite all of its cheese, the movie makes you think about justice in a “big picture” kind of way.

What’s even more interesting, is the movie was actually based on a true story out of Fort Worth, Texas. The Brotherhood of Justice at Paschal High School was actually known as “The Legion of Doom.” I found a few interesting articles about this whole thing including this one by the Associated Press: https://apnews.com/6cc2410ad1139aa428f702f0536735bf .

Real athletes and honor roll students made up this outfit and they were caught, charged, and sentenced. They paid the price for the likes of their car bombings. Racism also seemed to be a theme in both the movie and in reality. In the TV version, they use a red hand print as their calling card. In reality, they used swastikas. I remember watching this on TV as a teen and could even recall some specific scenes in the movie. A remake would be interesting.

So what about the hot working class girl I mentioned? She was played by none other than Lori Loughlin — the poster girl for the college admissions scandal . What would the Brotherhood of Justice think about her actions?

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Non-Grunge 90s Rock

The Nineties…do you get a bad taste in your mouth when someone mentions this decade? It wasn’t all bad, but it seems pretty easy to be a hater. It was all about Seattle. You know, Starbucks, grunge, whale watching, and those type of things. Neil Young and his resplendent flannel couldn’t have been any more hip — or is it hipper? (Personally, I was a big fan Neil’s before the whole “Godfather of Grunge” thing. ) What was I doing in the Nineties? I spent some time and money at St. Louis Riverport Amphitheater and Busch Stadium trying to see as many legendary rockers who were doing their alleged-farewell tours — The Who, The Stones. I also saw Ringo Starr a couple of times as well. I even saw Neil Young on an acoustic tour.

Despite the whole grunge thing, there were some contemporary bands getting radio airplay on Album Oriented Rock (A.O.R.) stations. The band “Cry of Love” out of North Carolina had a couple of hits in the early 90s including one called “Peace Pipe.”

I always liked this song and their other hit “Bad Thing.” I did an internship at A.O.R. radio station in St. Louis around this time and wound up with Cry of Love’s album “Brother” on cassette — it also featured a K-SHE 95 sticker and station mascot “Sweet Meat” the sunglasses wearing pig. Pretty cool, huh? Cry of Love’s lead singer with the big bluesy voice was named Kelly Holland.

Around the same time (circa. 1993), K-SHE was also playing a bluesy rock song by another Southern band called “Brother Cane.”

“Got No Shame” is a great, frantic piece of rock n roll. Besides the wailing harmonica in it, I always liked the line “I found shelter, Helter Skelter”. Damon Johnson was the lead singer on this one. Many members of both bands went on to play with some other well-known bands/artists like The Black Crowes, Thin Lizzy, Sheryl Crow and more.

Are both bands considered “Southern Rock” because they’re from the South? I don’t know. I’m just grateful they threw some bluesy vocals and rockin’ music into all of that flannel.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Mean Old World

Some people don’t really enjoy or “get” blues music. They think it’s slow, sad, and depressing. Repetitive or simple, too. (Some say the same about country music.) While opinions vary, and I would disagree with that, this song makes a strong argument for those things. “Mean Old World” was first recorded by blues guitarist/musician/songwriter T-Bone Walker, but harmonica phenom Little Walter had a hit with the song in the R & B charts.

If you like the Little Walter version, there are several others in that vein. Artists who followed in his footsteps include Canned Heat, Van Morrison, and Chicken Shack (featuring Christine Perfect on lead vocals).

Christine Perfect would later be part of Fleetwood Mac and marry John McVie to provide her with the better known moniker of Christine McVie. Incidentally, there’s also a live Fleetwood Mac version of the song with Peter Green on guitar.

“Mean Old World” was also recorded with a completely different feeel/arrangement by blues guitarists Eric Clapton and Duane Allman. Their version apparently inspired North Mississippi Allstars to record it as well.

Duane Betts — the son of Allman Brothers’ guitarist Dickie Betts — plays on this track along with Jason Isbell.

Somehow this blog entry unintentionally turned into a Who’s on First -who’s related to who type of thing, but it’s still about the song. If you don’t like any of these versions, check out one by B.B. King or the original by T-Bone Walker. As great as Little Walter was on harmonica, I love his vocals on this one. Ike and Tina Turner have a straight blues of this one with killer vocals, too.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon.

In the Pines

I was never really into grunge music during its heyday (the 1990s), but I developed some appreciation for it along the way. I liked a few songs I heard on the radio, but really MTV’s exploitative running of Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged in New York” (following the death of Kurt Cobain) turned me onto this traditional folk song.

The song is listed as “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” on the Nirvana album, but it’s also known as “Black Girl” and “In the Pines” elsewhere. As Cobain mentioned during the MTV program, the song is associated with Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly.

I’ve always thought this song has a dark, eerie feeling to it. Dave Van Ronk’s near-acapella version is a great one.

I find traditional tunes like this one fascinating — partly because of the mystery to them. Who really did put the lyrics and melody together? What was the inspiration? This song made it’s way from its origins in Appalachia to New York City and many points in between — then it reached me via MTV in suburban St. Louis about 120 years later! It has been recorded by no less than 150 times by different artists. Hopefully, there’s one version which suits you. If you’re looking for an oddity, try this one on for size. It’s The Four Pennies’ “jamboreebop” take on it.

It’s a far cry from Lead Belly, but apparently their 1964 version charted in the UK. The Sir Douglas Quintet did a bluesy take on this one, which is also pretty unique.

After looking on Wikipedia, I found out the song has also been recorded with completely different lyrics. Many versions called “The Longest Train” has more of a bluegrass feel to it. Some of the many artists to record this tune include Bill Monroe, The Osborne Brothers, The Carter Family, and The Tenneva Ramblers. There are so many version, I may have to blog about it again.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Circle of Iron: 100% Weird Zen

I can thank some cable TV network for turning me onto this 1978 film. I don’t think it was the first time I saw it, but it was also featured on TNT’s”100% Weird” late night movie series. Calling “Circle of Iron” a gem might be a stretch, but I think calling it an oddity might be more accurate. One of the most interesting things about it is Bruce Lee’s involvement. Apparently, Lee and James Coburn were involved in the initial story development. When I watched “Circle of Iron” (also known as “The Silent Flute”) again recently, it featured a blurb at the beginning about Lee’s concept for the setting of the film — “a land that never was and always is.” Very Zen.

It’s a unique film. The main character Cord is a rogue seeker who goes on a quest for a book of enlightenment. A guy named Jeff Cooper stars as Cord – he’s sort of like a middleweight version of Conan the Barbarian meets the Swiss Miss Cocoa chick. After being DQ’d from a martial arts tournament, he sets out on his quest and encounters a big, freaky world out in the desert. Most of the freakishness is covered by David Carradine. Carradine played Lee’s multiple would-be roles in the film including a barefoot, flute-playing, blind dude. Very, very Zen.

There are also supporting roles/ bit parts played by the likes of Eli Wallach, Christopher Lee, Anthony De Longis, and even Roddy McDowall. (There are fighting monkeys in the film so McDowall’s casting was obligatory.) This film is hard to categorize. I wouldn’t call it a Kung Fu film, but martial arts is a big part of it. It’s more of an off the wall quest film.

I’m glad this film was made, but it makes me wonder what could have been. Parts of the film are visually interesting…there’s martial arts action, a carnival scene with strongmen and harem girls, the various characters wandering across the sand dunes. Take the film’s poster for example. There are plenty of cool elements but I don’t really like it as a whole. It seems like a missed opportunity. A re-make of it might be interesting. I mean there’s plenty of Zen philosophy to go round. Plus, where do I find the crazy flute soundtrack? “Circle of Iron” was dedicated to the late Bruce Lee.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Everyday People

I woke up with this song in my head on a Sunday morning. Can’t remember exactly where/when I first came across it, but I probably heard the original version by Sly & The Family Stone when I was a kid. “Everyday People” was written by bandleader Sly Stone and is a song with a message about human beings putting aside their differences.

I always liked this song. Musically, it’s a two chord thing with some “nanny nanny boo boo” melody thrown in for good measure. According to Wikipedia, bassist Larry Graham contends this was the first use of the “slap” bass technique ever recorded. As I got older, I heard Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ version, which I also love.

There are other versions out there including one by The Ikettes a la Ike & Tina Turner. Jeff Buckley has an acoustic version which is a bit of departure from the original as is one by Aretha Franklin. I love the lyrics and think most people can relate to it. For my money the vocal of “I-I-I am Everday People” is the best part of the song.

Till net time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Kiss + Doors = Pearl Jam

Somewhere along the way I heard the expression about all art being imitation — it might have been Greek philosopher Plato. In any event, I found an interesting case of this while researching the guitar style and solos of Ace Frehley. A little background first.

Frehley is, of course, best known for his role as lead guitarist of KISS — and also for having the coolest on stage persona/costume in the band: The Spaceman. (Everyone else in the band was doing black and white kabuki-styled makeup, but he went with silver and white, coupled with a self-proclaimed Flash Gordon influence, but I digress. )

Die-hard KISS fans know Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were in a band called “Wicked Lester” before auditioning drummer Peter Criss and Ace Frehley to form KISS. One thing I recently learned is the KISS song entitled “She” was actually a composition from the Wicked Lester days. One WL version features a very groovy flute solo.

A few years later, KISS released the tune (written by Simmons and WL guitarist Stephen Coronel) on the album “Dressed to Kill.”

After looking on Wikipedia, I found out Ace Frehley listed The Doors’ tune “Five to One” as an influence on his take on “She.” Thank the nimble fingers of Robby Krieger! Fast forward a decade or so and Pearl Jam references the lick again in “Alive.”

No word on what inspired Krieger’s lick in “Five to One”, but Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready is apparently a big KISS/Ace Frehley fan so all is well. The real question is, if you put all of those band names together, what would be the best combo?

Wicked Pearl? Wicked Jam? Wicked Kiss? Wicked Doors? Kiss Jam? Door Jam (ha ha!)? Door Kiss?Door Wicked? Lester Pearl? Pearl Lester? Lester Doors? Pearl Doors? Kiss Lester? Lester Jam? Jam Lester? Jam Wicked?

Lester Pearl Kisses Wicked Doors? The possibilities are endless!

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Superstore Run for Printer Ink

OK, I can admit I’m a bit of a procrastinator…not on everything, but on most things. This morning, I found myself out of black printer ink — again. (Naturally, I tried to milk the remaining ink from an old cartridge, but was denied.) This meant venturing out to my local superstore in the snowy weather. Unlike most people, I take the weather conditions into account when I drive. I’m actually aware of the fact that rain and/or snow, and/or a wintery mix can have an impact on driving and braking conditions. It was a relatively painless journey to the store at 6:45 am. ( I could have waited for the “office superstore” to open at 7:30 am, but I was done procrastinating.) Little did I know, the journey would raise some questions about man vs. machine in today’s U.S. of A.

Upon arrival, there were a couple of folks using mini-plows to clear the massive parking lot. I don’t know why, but for some reason, the 24/7 superstore only keeps one of its two sets of doors open during certain hours so I didn’t park in my usual spot. I made it to the electronics or “entertainment” department where the extremely valuable printer ink is kept behind lock and key. (Sub question: Is it possible one of the three wise men should have brought printer ink to Baby Jesus? I mean, do they keep the frankincense and myrrh under lock and key as well or is it near the Flintstone vitamins?) Unfortunately, there were no superstore employees in electronics. I was being denied my black printer ink cartridge after my wintery trek! I noticed superstore employees near the large metallic doors at the back of the store. Apparently, there must be a shift change at 7 am because employees were coming and going. A yellow vested lady told me “someone will be out shortly.” As I waited, I questioned my superstore trek at this point.

I decided to stand near the “entertainment” command post where they keep the cash registers and card scanners. The screen on the card scanner read “press for assistance” so I did. Nothing changed. Then another employee saw me and told me he’d “get someone from electronics.” I pressed it again. Finally, a third employee spotted me and took the initiative to visit the forbidden zone behind the large metallic doors. She emerged with a set of keys to free the printer ink from its vault. It’s a weird little lock on a large glass case, but the two of us persevered and the 245 XL ink cartridge was mine. Naturally, I had to take it to the self-scanning registers.

This raises the question…Have “the machines have taken over” a la The Terminator, etc. ? I mean the printer is the machine who started all of this. How long till it can just refill itself? Can’t it just spring legs or wheels and refill itself or maybe transform into a drone and fly there? Would using the superstore app have helped in this situation? I never use it because my cell phone is so dated it won’t work with any of those. You gotta love procrastination! In the meantime, I think someone should invent a little cow which holds your emergency ink cartridges. That way you can pull the extra cartridge right out of its udder.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

How the Lynch stole Cinema

One quote pops to mind when I think about film director David Lynch. “I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s gonna get weird.” – Big Earl, Starsky & Hutch (2004).

Have you ever SEEN a David Lynch film? The word which always seems to define his films is “surreal”, which is great because… how else could you describe them? For example, I stumbled across a short film of his called “What Did Jack Do?” on Netflix. What is this seventeen minute effort all about? “In a locked down train station, a homicide detective conducts an interview with a tormented monkey.” Yep, it doesn’t get much more Lynchian than that.

I’d love to tell you I’m an expert on Lynch’s films, but I’m not. I’ve seen a few them: Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart, Mulholland Drive, and even The Elephant Man. He might best be known for the film and TV show Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. I’ve seen the film and part of the series. What I always remember about it is the cool instrumental “The Pink Room” by soundtrack composer Angelo Badalamenti.

Back in the day, I remember going to a used record store to listen to the Twin Peaks soundtrack just so I could buy this one song.

Getting back to David Lynch films, they are unique, visually interesting, and pretty disturbing. There are dreamlike sequences involving midgets, cowboys, and in “Blue Velvet”, even Dean Stockwell lip-syncing Roy Orbison’s “Candy Colored Clown.”

Yes, that’s par for the course a la David Lynch. Is his goal simply to shock and/or disturb the audience? Are there deeper meanings to these surreal films that only some viewers get or does he purposefully leave them ambiguous and trippy? Beats me, but they certainly aren’t boring. The first time I heard of David Lynch was in college. A friend of mine with the moniker “King Couch Potato” told me about some of the weirdest films he’d ever seen. Those included Stanley Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange” and Lynch’s “Blue Velvet.” And, yes, they are pretty weird. Another college friend said the same thing about Lynch’s “Eraserhead.” I’ve yet to see this one, but I will.

In conclusion, here are some Lynchian questions to ponder. My answers are (in parentheses), but what do you think?

Q: If a tree falls in the forest, but no one hears it, does it make a sound?

(A: Yes– what are you stupid or something?)

Q: Why did David Lynch interview a monkey suspected of murder?

(A: Why not!)

Till next time, keep your monkey out of trouble and your Mojo on the Horizon!

Pronunciation: Ears of the Beholder

A few random thoughts on pronunciations in the musical world popped into my head recently. I’m sure there are lots of issues and interpretations with them, but two jump to mind.

The first one is familiar to guitarists, but is also something which can be found in some household smoke detectors. The word is…drum roll, please….piezo. I hear it pronounced several different ways. I pronounce it like the letters “P” “A” plus “zo.” Some folks pronounce it like an after dinner dessert: (apple) pie and zo. Others say something like the letter “P” “ate” “zo” or “P” “et” “zo.”

I always thought piezo was an Italian term like mezzo forte, but I think it’s actually Greek. I could try to explain exactly how it works, but the bottom line is you find them in acoustic-electric guitars. I found this video on YouTube. If you just want to see/hear the fun part, skip ahead to about the 4 minute mark.

Give this dude credit. It’s a pretty creative use of cranberry juice and other household items. Piezos are also commonly used in cigar box guitars and can be used to create “stompboxes”. It’s very DIY.

As a side note, I have lots of ideas for cigar box guitar designs with or without piezos, but being handy isn’t my first love. Getting back to the world of musical pronunciations, musicians and Rush fans are mourning the loss of drummer Neil Peart. I’ve always pronounced his last name like the affordably priced shampoo “Pert”, but I’ve been told it actually sounds like “Ear” in the middle.

It sounds weird to say it that way….like I should be sipping a cocktail with my pinky finger extended, but whatever. I’ve never been an enormous Rush fan, but however you pronounce it Peart has always been revered for his abilities as a drummer. The Rush songs “Tom Sawyer” and “YYZ” seemed to be the Holy Grails of drum solos for many aspiring percussionists.

Peart also contributed lyrics to Rush songs like “A Passage to Bangkok” and music to “Limelight” (both are worth a listen) as well as the mid 70s progressive rock epic 2112 — that’s pronounced “twenty-one, twelve.”

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!