Whew! Did the Butthole Surfers return to form last Friday or not? The line
outside Liberty Lunch certainly showed that they were fully expected to, and
they lived up to the wait. Of course, the length of that line (all the way
around the building and almost down to First Street) was augmented by the
band’s last-minute decision to renegotiate their contract with the Lunch,
dropping the ticket price from $18 to $8. “It was fun giving people money at
the door,” says the venue’s J-Net Ward of the refunds being doled out to those
who’d already bought full-price tickets. The official story is that the band
merely wanted to do something special for their Austin audience after the
debacle at the Austin Music Hall earlier this summer. “After all,” says Ward,
“they do have to live in town.” Paul Leary echoed these sentiments when he
announced midway through the show — pretty much the only stage patter the
whole night — that it was good to be back among friends and that their AMH
show “kind of sucked.”
With an energetic set that got neither too formulaic nor too wiggy, the
Buttholes easily won over the capacity crowd, displaying most of their usual
visual effects (the strange background films, the inverted cymbal full of
lighter fluid). For one night in Austin, with old fans and new side-by-side,
the word “backlash” was all but forgotten.
The highlight for this writer, though, was the extended noise jam at the
conclusion of the evening, with the Cibo Matto gals and a grinning
son-of-a-Beatle Sean Lennon (who was seen buying one of Keith Ferguson’s old
basses from One World Music) joining the Butts for a backlit frenzy of
thundering drums and shrieking strings, dual Yoko-chants from the Cibos and the
Gibbytron pumping out its own special variation of a Magical Mystery
Tour.
Portable Radio
Another sign of the holidays’ approach is the appearance of radio station CDs,with two compilations in the works from sister stations KGSR and 101X. The
latter disc isn’t coming ’til after New Year’s, possibly because their previous
Christmas-themed disc didn’t quite sell enough copies to weigh down Santa’s
sleigh, and also because 101X says they want to get some live performances from
this year’s X-Fest on it. The KGSR Broadcasts Vol. 4 will come out the
day after Thanksgiving, however, and includes cuts from such luminaries as
Alejandro Escovedo, Lyle Lovett, Lou Reed, Randy Newman, and Joan Osborne. The
Osborne track required some work, because just as these radio comps have become
more common, the artists are now more selective about who can use what. After a
long, fruitless wait for Osborne’s people to approve the song, the station had
to present the tape to her personally, at which time she promptly gave the
thumbs up. Proceeds from both discs go to the Texas Chapter of NARAS’
charitable organizations.
Student radio station KVRX has a new comp of its own on the way, culled from
performances on its weekly Local Live program
(10-11pm Sundays).
Among the 18 bands thereon, you’ll find the Jubilettes, Moist Fist, 7%
Solution, Foreskin 500, and Silver Scooter. That disc hits stores on December
2, with the usual cascade of in-stores and release parties to go with it.
How’s It Hangin’?
I was delayed Sunday night after Wurst-Fest and a side trip over to SanAntonio, so I missed Joan Jett’s show at the Electric Lounge that night. That
didn’t stop me from nosing around to try and get the answer to that age-old
question: Has she got a… “you know.” “From what she was wearing you could
definitely tell what sex she was,” says Cattleguard’s Brit Jones, but when
asked if she was packing a little something extra, he admits he didn’t get
close enough to see. Greg Wilson aka Wendal P. Stivers of opener Sincola
admits that his band, which is known to include a number of lesbians,
was hand-picked by Jett (who performed the Replacements’ song “Androgynous”
that night!) to open five shows in Texas. When asked if she asked specifically
for the lesbians, however, he remarked that, “To my knowledge, she just
asked for Sincola.” In the end, all this reporter could determine was that
Sincola vocalist Rebecca Cannon actually has several “you knows…” She
keeps ’em in a box under her bed.
Add Ian Moore to your list of people who are a bit shy about expounding on the
exploits of their “you know…” On his website, where he publicly responds to
fan e-mail, one letter writer referred to a club in Kansas City where, rumor
has it, Ian “left remnants of sexual activity on the wall — and then
autographed the spot!” Moore modestly replied that “That wonderful piece of
graffiti is actually in the bathroom of the Grand Emporium, and is a gift from
my outspoken and eloquent drummer. Though I do try to engage in all true rock
star-enhancing activities (Bacchlanian [sic] orgies, feasting on bat heads,
etc.), I was not fortunate enough to be involved in such an impressive
situation.” Now, that’s what I call passing the, er, buck.
Finally, my attention was called to a Fag Rag ad for the appearance of
a man who makes a living from his “you know…” The young “adult film star,”
who was making a personal appearance at a club in Dallas, goes by name of Jake
Andrews. Now, that can’t possibly be the young blues-picking lad known as
“Guitar” Jake Andrews, can it? I figure he hit puberty a while back, but trust
me, if the guy in this picture was him, it hit back with a vengeance.
Mixed Notes
Michael Nesmith may be currently preoccupied with Monkee business (see featurethis issue), but he’s hoping to get a break at some unspecified time in the
near future to come down and work with blues guitarist Bill Campbell, described
by Nesmith as “one of your Austin treasures.” Nesmith has written a batch of
blues-based songs which relate to his upcoming novel, and wants to record them
here with Campbell. Nesmith says he doubts he will perform live during his
visit, but if he does it will be a very low-key affair…
Former Austinite Mike
Alvarez has found another reason to dig into his box of Roky Erickson
recordings from the Eighties. His L.A.-based Not Records Tapes label is
releasing a compilation disc of Austin artists including Erickson, ex-Hickoid
Davy Jones, Larry Seaman, Mike Runnels, Terry Laird, Texacala Jones, and
Alvarez himself. A release party is currently in the works for Under
Ground at the Hole in the Wall, Nov. 29, with several of the above
performers as well as the Weaklings and 68 Comeback…
Tonight (Thursday) is
Laura’s birthday celebration at the Blue Flamingo. The Fuckemos, Motards, and
other such miscreants will be playing…
Remember the Chronicle‘s recent
cover feature on the current sluggishness of the live music scene? Well, within
a couple of weeks, nigh-identical stories ran in not only the
American-Statesman but also in the San Antonio Express-News and
even The New York Times. I’m not sure whether it’s a coincidence
or if people are looking over our shoulder, but I will say that Neil Strauss,
who wrote the NYT piece, has been known to spend time in Austin. The
Johnny Gammage Band say that in light of the Chron feature, they’re
holding a benefit for themselves at Nasty’s this Saturday, claiming that
they’re worthy because they’re “suffering due to the fact that we’re musicians
in Austin…
Mark Hallman concurs that these are “scary times” as he decides
whether to release the next Hamilton’s Pool (who’ve just added David Halley to
their ranks) album on Watermelon, which he says had “a real bad year last
year.” Watermelon’s Heinz Geissler says everybody had a bad year last
year. “From Warner Bros. to Watermelon,” he says. “Nevertheless, the way I see
it, they are under contract to us and we have an option on the next album.”
Meanwhile, Hallman’s Congress House studio is currently busy with demos for
Johnny Goudie and Dizzy Blue while awaiting an appearance from Janis Ian and
her producer Ani DiFranco, who will be recording a tune there in December…
Meredith Louise Miller was somewhat more vocal, if self-deprecating, when she
recently discussed her past dealings with local Doolittle Records in the
Dallas Morning News. Miller said of her Doolittle deal, “I signed
everything away. Now I look back and say, `Duh!’ “…
Here’s hoping that there
won’t have to be a benefit to make up losses at the Willie Nelson benefit to
make up losses from the One World Music Festival. Those in attendance say the
event was a lot of fun, with Nelson joining the Killer Bees for some reggae and
Ian Moore for some blues, but the crowd was estimated at only between
1,000-1,200 people. Says Rick Busby, “We wish there had been more people, but
it’s hard to compete with a Cowboys/49ers game”…
The real ugly stories this
week stem from the Old Skool Funk Fest. Besides reported counts of extreme
lateness and technical disasters, a behind-the-scenes Internet post from the
show’s audio producer claims the event was, “The worst organized show I have
ever seen. The promoters actually skipped town after the first act went on, as
the turnout was poor and they had no money for the rest of the acts. Lakeside
and the Gap Band ended up playing for free, as a favor to the fans”…
Producer
Don Was has dropped out of producing the next album for Dallas’ Old 97s. “The
one guy that could’ve stopped me is the one guy that called,” the band quotes
Was as saying. Now, he’ll be producing Keith Richards’ new one instead…
Alejandro Escovedo just finished up a string of dates with Son Volt. Al and the
Volt had been trying to get together, and when Big Sandy had to pull out of
some opening dates, Al was called to step in and fill the bill. Speaking of
filling the bill, Rykodisc says Buick MacKane finally have a release date for
their debut, The Pawhshop Years. That’s February 25, the same date the
Bill Hicks stuff comes out…
The Recliners have a release party for their new
“post-modern power lounge” album Cosa Caliente this Friday at the Ritz.
The album features Sinatra-ized versions of, among other things, Radiohead’s
“Creep”…
— Contributors: Raoul Hernandez, Andy Langer, Margaret
Moser
This article appears in November 15 • 1996 and November 15 • 1996 (Cover).