DEE DEE RAMONE LIVE ON THE UNCLE FLOYD SHOW

The best part of this video is seeing OOGIE the hand puppet.

I think Dee Dee used to sleep at the YMCA in Ann Arbor. That was the rumor when I was attending college in Michigan. The Ramones, his former band, had broken up around this time.

This clip is also interesting for another reason. I didn't know Uncle Floyd was still doing his show out of Newark, New Jersey! I didn't know that either of these guys, Dee Dee and Uncle Floyd Vivino were still working... let alone working together! HA.

WHO WAS UNCLE FLOYD?
Floyd Vivino was known as Uncle Floyd and a favorite to many kids growing up in the East Coast. He had a gaggle of grown men in their 40s for a peanut gallery and they were famous for making wise cracks, jeers and hoots of howling laughter off camera. The show was low rent humor, one liners and basement production quality, (slates drawn on pie plates in marker etc) and every once in a while they would feature a band.

A lot of bands got their start on Floyd, including Squeeze. They also featured wrestlers on the set, Gary US Bonds, Aztec Two Step, The Dreggs and many more smaller acts.
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fascube 2006

THE UNCLE FLOYD SHOW - DEE DEE RAMONE

XTC - SHINING GEM OF 89

This release was a true sparkling gem of its time. It emerged in its own time and place. The fans who understood XTC immediately understood it and embraced it.

The ones who didn't are still confused by it. They are the ones who readily bought Vanilla Ice .... maybe it was the need to feel popular or of the minute or included. Nobody likes to be an outisder after all.

The rest of this album didn't have a commercial appeal of this track. "Oranges and Lemons" a line taken from the much earlier release, "Skylarking", (produced by Todd Rundgren). XTC would find commercial success with some very blatant radio free friendly tracks that literally screamed, PLAY ME. But for the most part they are established as an art rock band.

Despite Andy Partridge's shyness this band actually played on David Letterman in the summer of 1989. They played, King for Day... and the Mayor of Simpleton.
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cantu fascube 2006

XTC - THE MAYOR OF SIMPLETON

THE BANGLES - BEFORE IRS TOOK A FALL

The Bangles were originally on IRS records and then signed onto a bigger label.. in this case.. CBS records. IRS would later complain that they lost all the acts the originally signed. Just like in Woody Allen's classic comedy, "Broadway Danny Rose".

This video is nice. I remember it. But I really thought it was IRS who put it out. Remember that IRS Records had a stone statue for their mascot and it was featured on IRS's THE CUTTING EDGE on MTV in the late 80's.

But lets not get sentimental and mushy here.....

The Bangles had a lot of great pop sensibilities to them. I think they could have lasted longer than what they did. Their demise helped give rise to non-musical forms. And encouraged non-musicians to form bands and fill up the airwaves.
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cantu fascube 2006

THE BANGLES - HERO TAKES A FALL

VANILLA ICE - WORD TO YOUR MOTHER

WORD TO YOUR MOTHER?

This guy had his own language. It didn't translate well over the years and most of it was lost. But this guy was serious.

Then he got weird. Not that he needed help in that area. But his managers dangled him out of a balcony upside down and chased him out of Los Angeles. He made a really rank film called, "Cool as Ice" which I do recommend renting,... not owning... but renting just out of pure curiosity. There are some funny parts in there.. although it wasn't meant to be a comedy.

Vanilla Ice -- what exactly was he?

To give him credit... he could dance. He had an audience. But he was an oddball. After he got his life threatened he came back. This new reincarnation was based on a ganja smoking rasta guy.... he threw a record party where no press people showed up. He sat in a corner toking his brains out.

There was another album attempt after that too I believe.
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cantu FASCUBE 2007

VANILLA ICE - SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE

DEAD KENNEDYS - NO STAR BELLIED SNEECHES HERE....

Where do I start?
This band is a powerhouse. It was banned from Saturday Night Live and MTV for life. Then they were taken to court over some album art from HR Gieger. There was no where for them to go but down.

But when Jello Biafra and the Dead Kennedys went down.... they went down big with no compromises. With an album of thrash, "Bedtime for Democracy" and an album full of B sides, Give Me Convenience of Give Me Death... including a flexi disc of two more songs the band called it a day.

Legends at the 9:30 Club in DC and playing to packed houses. The Dead Kennedys went down into rock history. Origenally from San Francisco these guys were also banned from major record distribution unless they changed their name. So they created ALternative Tentacles Records.

Some of the video clips are frightful. Kids jump on stage and steal anything they can get their mitts on while stage diving, (including mic stands and high hat cymbols).
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cantu FASCUBE 2006

DEAD KENNEDYS - HOLIDAY IN CAMBODIA

THE SMITHS - THIS IS NOT A LOVE SONG !!!

AMAZING.
That is to say, its amazing that anyone could confuse this with being a LOVE SONG. This is not a romantic love song but this is how some fans of the Smiths categorize it. And that is odd to me.

"there were times when i could have strangled her.. but you see, i would hate anything to happen to her etc." well.. for crikeys sake, listen to the lyrics yourself. Its far from loving.

Its perfect in its own way because it is short. The video has scenes in it from a film called, "The Leather Boys" and it adds a nice backdrop to the overall piece. MOZ once again is carrying out his music themes in a cinematic fashion. There is an element of comedy to this too but you have to look very hard to get it.

Someone in college once told me you could see the characters in the movie scenes to mouth the words of the lyrics in this song..... How high was this guy? This film is from the late 50's and although some of the scenes and sounds overlap they are hardly synchronized.
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cantu fascube 2006

THE SMITHS - GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA

SPOOKEY RUBEN - THESE DAYS ARE MUSICAL

This guy goes past anything Beck has done..... first of all it is a little more easier to listen to. Beck is angry about something in a lot of his songs but I don't have time to figure out what it is exactly. I want to like him..... but i don't play his stuff very often.

Ruben's music is different. I am curious to what he is singing about and I will replay his music over again becuase it is enjoyable. The videos are odd but then again, this is an odd performer.

The guitar parts are surprisingly musical. There is a fluidity to his song narrative. Which is becoming stylisticaly rare in pop music lately. Usually out of frustration the band will throw in some cranky guitar stomping in the middle of the song because it seems to lack creative direction on where it can go.... remember he song, "Hes Kissing Christian" by THAT DOG.... that sort of thing.. just CRUNCH, BANG. BOOM. etc.

This stuff doesn't do that. Ruben seems to have creative control over all of his work too which is refreshing to see. In one hand its like allowing the inmates to run the asylum. On the other hand it is nice to see it happen. The end has a musical XTC feel to it... think Andy Partridge.

Spookey is on TVT Records.
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Ted Cantu Fascube, Fashion Culture Beauty Network 2006

SPOOKEY RUBEN - THESE DAYS ARE OLD

SPOOKEY RUBEN - WHAT I NEED IS A WHOLE LOT MORE !!!!

" what you want -- what you get !!!....... what i want is a whole lot more"

This is off the album, "Modes of Transportation" Note that he is transposed over the face of John Travolta in the Boy in the PLastic Bubble. I found this life saving gem at the right time while I was living in Chicago. I had just broken up from a bizarre love thing with an infamous songstress and this CD sort of saved my sanity. Artistically speaking.

Needless to say I was also glad to be out of the Detroit radio market so I welcomed any kind of new sounds that didn't reflect Stone Temple Pilots. My method of madness back then was to walk into a record store, in this case, Reckless Records in Chicago and just buy music based on the album art, (while disregarding the price tag). This is not a very cost effective or scientific way to choose music but in my case it paid off.

Spookey, (who got his name from wearing scary heavy metal t shirts) is well versed in pop music. He sounds like XTC meets a tornado meets a perfect storm. Incredible effort. This soon became the soundtrack for a very turbnulent time in my adult years.

If I had to do it all over again. Id scrap the relationship and get straight to the music. I adored this stuff. In this time period I was finding the levels that went well beyond Beck and commercial radio. Wendy Mc Donald is an amazing tune.
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fascube cantu 2006

SPOOKEY RUBEN - WENDY MCDONALD

JACKIE ROGERS JUNIOR - WE NEED YE

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SOMEONE IN HOLLYWOOD MAKE A JACKIE ROGERS JUNIOR MOTION PICTURE ... PLEASE !!!

I would see this in a theater - I don't know why Martin Short hasn't already done this. The last Austin Powers movie wasn't that great. The only other character I would love to see in the theater in his own movie would have been Andy Kaufman's Tony Clifton character, (there actually was a Tony Clifton screenplay being passed around in the early 80's).

JACKIE ROGERS JR. IS CRAZY
Jackie Rogers Jr was the first albino Vegas star, He did all the Elvis tunes and wore lots of rhinestones and beads. His stories are great. Now his father, Jackie Rogers Sr. was mauled to death by live cougars. The tranquilized cougar was suddenly awakened by a plate of java mocha coffee beans..... I told you this guy was crazy.
This was reinacted on SCTV once in a flashback clip for his book, "Love + Genius = Jackie".

I also like the joke about the Beta machines.

Someone in Hollywood should really consider making this character into a movie. Its hysterical.
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cantu fascube 2006

JESUS AND MARY CHAIN - Essential Psychobabble

SPIN MAGAZINE really came down hard on these guys. When the Jesus and Mary Chain became big news they were slammed for being another noise band. They weren't taken very seriously. But the funny thing is that you can actually understand J and M lyrics and its not just feedback.

This band sort of vanished from view but their sound has left a legacy for new bands. Well..... not lately... but... they did briefly. The Pixies adored these guys as well they should. Black Francis even covered one of their tunes on the very last release, "Head On".

Compared to the grungey noise bands that came out later these guys were actually musical. Some death metal bands sound like they let a live bear in the studios and attack the microphone. BIG DIFFERENCE !!! Jesus and Mary Chain made a lot of noise too but they did it with a lot of precision and style.

Depeche Mode put a lot of mechanical sounds in their music too. It sounded like a lot of steam engines and metal shop experiements gone array. JMC followed the same path and this was done when it all seemed interesting.

This music had a lot of moxy. Hair bands were trying to stay afloat with, "Shes My Cherry Pie" but I don't think too many people were listening. Meanwhile, JMC were really pushing the boundaries in the areas of what was allowable. By doing so they were not only getting a lot of attention but opening the gate to a lot of new bands that had originality. Sire records helped make alternative music a real thing. Heavy Metal hair bands took serious body blows thanks to the JMC. Hair bands basically became extinct.

Another good thing about the JMC was that they were complete in every way.
They were unpretentious too in a way. They didn't have the strong ego stance of Echo and the Bunnymen. I feel that they were in many ways more approachable.
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cantu fascube 2006

THE SMITHS - STRANGEWAYS HERE WE COME

ITS BEEN A LONG TIME......
When I first heard this it sort of floored me. Well, is that really it?
No. It tormented me and I tried vainly to get out of my mind. It was
really disturbing.

From the album, "Strangeways Here We Come". The title lost complete meaning in America. Strangeways is actually a mental hospital in East Manchester. The video retraces all the familiar steps of Morrissey and The Smiths from their inner sleeve graphics for, "The Queen is Dead". This video shows a bunch of kids who took on Stephen Morrisseys disillusioned persona.

The bike ride thing really sort of confused me when I first saw it. It took the sting out of the song.... somewhat. The streets are cold and barren. The shot of the girl pushing the carriage through the dirty alley and holding a bag of trash is sad and a little reminescent of the line, "... in the cold dark streets that trap them". A line from the song, "Ordinary Boys".

Sometimes in life.. or often, depending on your position in this world you come to the realization that people, (for what ever reason) will choose not to love you back. This thing will jar you from your sleep if you let it.

Course past a certain age this sort of attachment fades. Hormones are a strange thing. Director, Franc Roddam, (Quadrophenia) said that young people are strongly attached to certain people but after a certain age it slips. That is to say that it doesn't last -- at least not at that intensity. This song sort of captures that.

It's a very desperate song -- and album too for that matter. It would prove to be the Smiths last LP. The band was caught up in a rush of stardom and fame and lots of things started to overshadow the band, (Morrisseys popularity, Andy Rourkes Heroin addiction.... more possible tours etc.) New Music - or post punk was becoming the IN THING to a lot of kids at this time. Then the band broke up in a pub from an argument which stemmed from being served "mushy peas" of all things.

These songs stood up and stand out -- even today. I still find this album disturbing for another reason. It was the same locale where child killers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady lived and worked. Some of the victims were Morrisseys age and this left an impression on him for life.

Morrissey said he would never move from this area no matter how famous he got. These streets inspired him to write the songs. He was inspired by these very streets that we see in this video. To finally see them in full color, (and not the pea green overcast like in the Queen is Dead shots) are somewhat alarming.

Its so stark and barren.
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cantu fascube 2006

THE SMITHS - STOP ME IF YOU THINK THAT YOU HEARD THIS ONE BEFORE