dangero

Now, I've loved the Southern rock group, Lynryd Skynyrd, since I bought their first album, "(pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd)," in junior high school, ten years after its initial release. Of the mere 7 tracks on their 1973 release, 4 of the songs -- "Tuesday's Gone," "GimmeThree Steps," "Simple Man," and their most famous , and oft-requested song, "Free Bird," are, along with nearly 20 other hit songs from their 5-year, 5-album career, sill in regular rotation on radio stations across America. In fact, out of all the 70's hard rock and roll groups, each with their one defining ballad, with its gentle lyrics and inevitable sprawling guitar solo Aerosmith - "Dream On," "Led Zeppelin - "Stairway To Heaven," The Eagles - "Hotel California," Blue Oyster Cult - "Don't Fear The Reaper," etc.), "Free Bird" remains to this very day my favourite song of this particular category. It is the only song who's lyrics speak not only to me, but for me. Ironic, however, that it was another Lynyrd Skynyrd song that brought me to seeing them live and hanging out with them in their hotel suite after the concert. From the age of eighteen until I was twenty-one years old I had one of the best jobs there is for a guy that age -- working at the local video store. So, there rings just a hint of irony that through a job associated mostly with Hollywood movies I would land a chance of not only seeing rock and roll legends Lynryd Skynyrd live in concert for free, but attending the after partyat a suite provided by DC 101 in a hotel just outside of Washington D.C. It all started one Wednesday afternoon at the video store. Almost as if it was staged, the Assistant Manager, "B", informs me she's going in the back to have her lunch while a normal-looking guy in his late twenties walks in. I had only been working there for a month or two so while I was tried to place his face, he bee-lined over to the counter where I was leaning. He put his hands up on the counter in front of me and with an-almost [bleep]-eating grin asked "Do you like music?" "Yeah, of course." "My father works for MCA Records. I come in about once a week, if I bring you records and tapes, can you slip me a porno no charge." "Well...family members get free rentals. What's your name?" "Dave." "From now on, your my cousin, Dave." We both smiled, and shook hands. Dave turned around and walked out of the store. Two minutes later he walked in carrying a big cardboard box and dropped it on the counter. Christmas had come early. The box was filled with stacks of lp's and cassettes. Some really good ones, like the soundtrack for what was then, and still is, my all time favourite film"Sid and Nancy," and really bad ones, like the soundtrack for "Howard the Duck". While I rooted through the records, taking them out, looking closely at the front and back of many, Dave slipped into the Adult Section. He emerged and was just about to the counter when "B" shot out of the back room. "This is my cousin, Dave." Dave smiled and nodded, a little bit apprehensive. "You cousin? Well, then you can't charge him," she announced, gung-ho as always. "Family members get free rentals." Dave and I traded knowing smirks with each other, while I copied Dave's information from his video card. "What's this?" Bette asked when she spotted the box of records. "Oh, look what Dave brought me. My uncle works for MCA Records." So, when my "cousin" Dave came in one day and asked if I wanted to go see Lynyrd Skynyrd on their first tour together since the plane crash ten years earlier that took the lives of singer Ronnie Van Zandt, guitarist Steve Gaines, his wife, singer Casssie, along with their road manager not to mention seriously injuring the rest of the band and crew), I didn't waste a second in accepting. "Hell yes!" As legend has it, Lynyrd Skynyrd were replaced as the opening act for The Who, by the headliners themselves, when Skynyrd reportedly blew the British concert-goers away with their tight, powerful performance. In The Who's own United Kingdom, no less. That night's show was no different. With Ronnie's younger brother, Johnnie, now singing for the band, they proved they can still rock harder than anyone. For the encore, the bic lighters came out in full force, as Johnnie dedicated "Free Bird" to his brother and stepped aside to let the audience sing the lyrics. We were invited back to their hotel after the show. The after party, hosted by DC 101, proved they call still party hard, too. Chasing girls from room to room, the essential bottle of JD being passed around, whatever else was available in rooms I dared not enter, these guys were and still are rock and roll legends. So, what's the Lynyrd Skynyrd song that brought this all together? I'll give ya a hint: It's a song on their 2nd album. Here's another hint: A variation of the title is in the first thing Dave says to me. "Workin' For MCA" (Copied from my AOL Journal: http://journals.aol.com/goodsoulbadboy/DidIEverTellYouAboutTheTimeI/entries/351 )

[color:#8000ff] [color:#8000ff]Tonight we went and caught BLUES EXPLOSION live at The El Rey Theater. WHAT A BLAST!! Man, can these guys rock! [color:#8000ff]Me and my gal-pal Aki arrived as they were setting up Blues Explosion's instruments. We walked up the left side of the ballroom-style El Rey, and eased onto the floor in front of the left side of the stage. Ten minute later the stage went black and the rap music playing came to a stop. Everyone started screaming. A minute passed and the red curtain behind the drum kit closed completely, blocking the new black and white Blues Explosion logo hanging just behind them. Then the music started again as we waited a few more minutes until it stopped again. [color:#8000ff]The curtains pulled back revealing Judah, Russell & Jon standing before their logo, Spencer standing stoic, Simins bear-like, Bauer sheepishly grinning. The audience went wild as the trip took their respective places on stage. [color:#8000ff]We were standing under Judah Bauer, close enough to see the embroidery That lined the outside trim of his black jeans pockets,and cuffs. His black sleeves were rolled-up past his elbows as he slid his guitar on. [color:#8000ff]Jon Spencer was impeccably dressed in blue pin-striped pants and vest, his black and red shirt buttoned at the cuffs. [color:#8000ff]Russell took a seat at the drums ostensibly wearing the same jeans and denim jacket he wore when we saw them a month ago on CBS' The Late Late Show. Amusingly enough, Russell had one sleeve rolled up to his elbow while the other was rolled down and butoned at his wrist. [color:#8000ff]They they began..."Damage" - the title song off their latest release. They raised the roof on that one, then slid into "The Sweat of the Blues Explosion". [color:#8000ff]"Good Evening Ladies & Gentleman," Jon Spencer howled as he's so good at, the ultimate Showman, "It's good to be back" and went into another off of Damage": [color:#8000ff]When they seemed to break for longer than 5 seconds, people started shouting from the audience. [color:#8000ff]"Russell Simins you're an [bleep]," the chick with the spiky hair who, earlier, had walked through to the front talking to seemingly everyone up against the stage and preceded to wildly jump up in place and spasmadically twist around, bumping into people, said. BTW - RUSSELL SIMINS' FIRST SOLO CD - "PUBLIC PLACES" - IS NOT ONLY THE BEST RECORD BY A DRUMMER SINCE (well, since I don't know the complete 1st album for The Foo Fighters I'll have to say) PHIL COLLINS' - "FACE VALUE! R.S.'S IT'S ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES - I'M TALKING DESERTED ISLAND FAVORITES. And if you're like me -- and let's hope you're not, if not for your sake at least for mine (unless, of course your own sake is actuallysake,Japan's traditional rice wine served hot or on ice) -- and love P.C.'s - "In The Air Tonight" - (which I think is an euphamism for masturbation - think about it) with that great drum beat, Russell's first song is so strong, so incredible, I feel it should be mandatory at all dance clubs at least twice a night 12am + 1am. Not that its a dance tune either, per se, but when you listen to it a second time, and you're not being lulled down a crooked path of uncertainty, but see just how hard, fast and furious a song can go, while still remaining melodic and clever. And the video's the coolest I've seen from anybody, 'specially a white hard rock drummer, in a long, long, long time. Check it out http://www.sputnik7.com/shared/plugins.jsp?back=%2Fvod%2Findex.jsp%3Fsection%3Dmusic%26key%3Dinam [color:#8000ff]"Judah Bauer you are the [bleep] man!" Judah smiled. [color:#8000ff]Another guy began shouting, and though it was meant to be a compliment, it came out a bit ambiguous, leaving a near-tension hang: "I know you got somebody behind the curtains!" He tried again: "You can't tell me that's all 3 of you, you got something behind the curtains doing all that power!." [color:#8000ff]Jon walked over to the microphone, his arm shot out in our direction, as the guy was over my right shoulder, and said, "Ladies and gentleman, the Governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura!" Everyone laughed as they started up. Spencer pointed to the red velvet curtains behind him and said, "And pay no attention to the Man Behind the Curtain!" [color:#8000ff]For two hours these guys jammed rarely taking more than a second before leaping into another high-powered song from their lengthy playlist of songs. Spencer bounds down to his trademark bended-knee crouch as he wails on his guitar facing his Fender stack and some sort of sound-streching toy. Simins has gotta play harder than any drummer since John Bonham of Led Zeppelin. Bauer and Spencer share guitar duties, crunching chords and mind-blistering solos. [color:#8000ff]Quite a different impression they left on me this time at the El Rey than the previous occasion. That time, I had gone alone. Somehow, I scored a small amount of magic mushrooms and ate them on the way there. The show started at 8, but there were 2 bands ahead of them. Therefore the mushrooms came on 2 hours before the Blues Explosion did. All I kept thinking was...'Now you find out what kind of people are fans of your secret little unknown favorite band." They were a strange and eclectic bunch. But I didn't consider some might be there for the 2 opening acts. They seemed less weird-looking when the Explosion finally took the stage in 2002. Except for the chic with a set of plastic fangs still in the package which was sitting in her lap. [color:#8000ff]At one point, a woman started speaking to me in the cramped smoking section out front, that when I finally twisted my body in such a way as to see around me, to determine if somebody was talking to me, and when I confirmed that the tall, kind-of-thick woman next to me was talking to me, it had been so long since I had spoken, that I couldn't remember how to, or how to be sociable, or anything as I stammered through my agreement  with her on the smoking laws in L.A. [color:#8000ff]By the way, that chick who said Russell was an [bleep] was the same chick when the Blues Explosion were finished -- Jon disappered, Russell followed suit, leaving Judah to shake hands from his side of the stage to the other -- she jumped up on stage, ran to Russell's tiny in comparison 3-piece drum kit, an= nicked the two spare drumsticks from their holder at the front of the bass drum. She then casually strutted off the side of the stage, past us, who hadearlier moved to Jon's side of the stage, and went back to her spot amongst the people who showed no recognition of her friendship status with them. [color:#8000ff]All in all a DYNAMITE show -- I Love These Guys (This is copied from my AOL journal entry:

At least once a week I point out the building from the greatest Christmas movie ever -- the Fox building, Nakatomi Tower in "Die Hard" "Don't you have any Christmas music?" "This IS Christmas music." "Christmas Story" a tight 2nd. who IS dangero?