I try so hard (at least by my standards) to watch the calendars of the few artists that I would like to see when they're in town and wouldnchaknowit when I fall down on the job one of my most favorite-est people sneaks up and comes to down TOMORROW night when I can't even MAKE it and just when I've reconciled myself to the fact that I will have to see some of these performers in venues where I will have to stand but I know I can do it to see a really good act because I have done it when I saw Fishbone (twice, actually) and would do it again to see Fishbone and of course would happily and most certainly stand through a show by Ani DiFranco anyday that is anyday that i CAN make it which is not tomorrow because i CAN'T!
OHO's
"Ocean City Ditty," the
CD single is now available at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/oho4
(and, if
you're in town, at Trax On Wax on Frederick Rd. in Catonsville, MD)
My latest solo release, '2014', can be digitally downloaded at:
(or you can copy-and-paste this URL directly to
your browser: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/rayjozwiak4)
(from wikipedia.com)
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s. With their hyperactive, self-conscious diversity, goofy sense of humor, and sharp social commentary, the group gained a sizable cult following during the late '80s, yet they were never able to earn a mainstream audience."
Fishbone first assembled in 1979 with John Norwood Fisher (bass); his brother Phillip "Fish" Fisher (drums); Angelo Moore, who sometimes uses the stage name "Dr. Madd Vibe" (vocals, saxophones ranging from sopranino to bass, theremin); Kendall Jones (guitar); "Dirty" Walter A. Kibby II (vocals, trumpet); and Christopher Dowd, who sometimes uses the pseudonym "Charlie Down" (keyboards, trombone, vocals). Founding members John Norwood Fisher, Angelo Moore, and Walter Kibby remain with the band as of 2013.
Fishbone got started in 1979 as a "disparate, all-black oddball crew" when the members were in junior high school. The Fisher brothers, Jones, Dowd, and Kibby were all from South Central Los Angeles. and were included in a school busing program that sent them daily to the San Fernando Valley, where they met Moore, who was native to the area. After first using the name Megatron with Titus Norris on vocals, the sextet adopted the name Fishbone and formed a unique stew of different styles that became popular in the Los Angeles club scene and was a great influence on several subsequent alternative bands.[citation needed] They were close friends with Los Angeles bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Thelonious Monster. Fishbone were signed to Columbia Records in 1983 after being spotted at a club gig by producer David Kahne. Their first release was the 1985 single "Party at Ground Zero", followed by a self-titled EP, Fishbone. In 1987, in support of their first full-length album, In Your Face, the band performed "Jamaica Ska" in the Annette Funicello/Frankie Avalon reunion movie Back to the Beach. Fishbone's first major international tour was as the opening act for the Beastie Boys.
Fishbone was mostly considered to be a ska and funk band in their early years, but later became more guitar-driven with a focus on rock and soul music. The 1988 album Truth and Soul brought Fishbone wide critical acclaim. With this album, the band also added left-leaning social commentary to their lyrics, covering important topics such as the breakup of families, early 1990s racism, fascism, nuclear war, and oppression in lower income housing projects. The album was highlighted by a hard rock-inspired version of Curtis Mayfield's classic "Freddie's Dead" from the film Super Fly. The music video, directed by Douglas Gayeton, became the band's first hit on MTV. That same year, the group toured with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and became nationally known in the burgeoning alternative music scene. Also that year, Fishbone and Little Richard recorded the Lead Belly song "Rock Island Line" for the tribute album Folkways: A Vision Shared.
The band added former Miles Davis sideman John Bigham on guitar and keyboards in 1989. The 1991 album The Reality of My Surroundings was a critical and commercial success, reaching #49 on the Billboard albums chart. One month before the album's release, the group played a memorable performance on Saturday Night Live of "Sunless Saturday," a song which later featured an MTV video directed by Spike Lee. The song "Everyday Sunshine" also became a modest hit on radio and MTV.
While the band retained their roots in funk and ska, the 1993 album Give a Monkey a Brain and He'll Swear He's the Center of the Universe included songs with hard rock, punk, and heavy metal elements. At the time of the album's release, the band began to tear apart internally. Just before Fishbone joined the 1993 Lollapalooza tour, guitarist Kendall Jones, reportedly suffering from mental instability, quit the band and joined a religious group. Bassist John Norwood Fisher tracked Jones down in the belief that he needed rescue from the religious group, only to be charged with attempted kidnapping; Fisher was acquitted at trial. A benefit concert to help with Fisher's legal expenses featured Porno for Pyros, Primus, Tool, and Alice in Chains. Keyboardist Christopher Dowd left Fishbone in 1994 and released an album titled Puzzle in 1997 under the name The Seedy Arkhestra, with various guests including Jeff Buckley and N'Dea Davenport. The album included an anti-Fishbone song called "Flog Your Dead Horse."
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AMBIENCE & WINE
. . . think that I'm more like them than I really am or that I'd ever hope to lead them to believe. The victim is preoccupying my creative mind and the Fagen/Becker/Dan-funk spirit abounds. Ah, but it doesn't quite abide like the Dude, who inspires abidity in anyone and everyone who cares to take part.
Yet the nine-to-fiver in each of us has become too comfortable with the status quo, much like our presidential candidates when it comes to accepting the $upport of the plutocorpocracy and Fishbone plays on-and-on in my surprisingly ignorant-yet-deprived musical mind which is seeking something DIFFERENT!!!??
Different, you say????
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Yesterday's blog about Fishbone is gone, not a trace-not a link; the entire blog site is now different, did not play my parts well in spite of many hours of practice and familiarity; the drummer's electronic drum kit malfunctioned therefore we did not play with drums tonight; best friend/wife/love of my life isn't feeling well; the later it got the more I needed to accomplish; nodding off as I try to write this; sons are driving to Los Angeles early next week; packing, truck pick-up, return from visiting friends must all be done effectively to carry off the packing and departure; elder son flying back home Saturday morning; wishing I could make a living from music; and blogging; getting sleepy; having difficulty finishing this; need extra rest; have too much to do; drummer has very ill relatives; 2012 is an election year; need to write more but don't have much time; three sons celebrated their visit tonight; thinking about MD crabcakes; hoping that's what the boys ate; getting later and sleepier. . . feeling like a crazy person!
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. . . check out Fishbone.
These guys have been around since the early 80s and still YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF THEM???? Music, brains, chops, dedication, longevity, heart, soul & humor. . . what more do you need?
It's bout damn time.
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(from http://fishbone.net/) "On November 21st, 2011, Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann was played on to Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to the Fishbone song "Lyin' Ass Bitch". The Roots drummer Questlove later explained that the playing of the song was "tongue in cheek". Fallon and the NBC network later apologized."
An egregious and unfortunate occurrence indeed. To imply that the singular female, republican presidential candidate intentionally tells untruths is unwarranted and unnecessary. And adding insult to injury, applying terminology normally applicable to canine subjects took the insult over the edge.
More unfortunate however, is the fact that neither Fishbone nor the Roots have written a song with a title like "Lunatic Lady", "Delusional Dame" or "Flaky Female", all of which would have been infinitely more appropriate. (see below)
(from the Huffington Post) . . . that her campaign is helped by the fact that she hasn't "had a gaffe," an interesting -- though perhaps not surprising -- claim considering her knack for making misstatements.
"As people are looking at the candidate that is the most conservative and the most consistent candidate, I've been that candidate. I haven't had a gaffe or something that I've done that has caused me to fall in the polls," Bachmann told Greta van Susteren in a Fox News interview. "People see in me someone who's genuinely a social conservative, a fiscal conservative, a national security conservative and a Tea Partier. I'm the whole package."
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