New Mullet on Monday - The Kinks

Yes, even the very cool Ray Davies had a mullet...

Here is a TV performance of Destroyer, from the 1981 album Give the People What they Want.

Ray Davies has been particularly busy in the last several years, releasing two albums, Other People's Lives, and Working Man's Café. This summer's tour has taken him from the UK to North America. Next on the agenda: The Notodden blues festival in Norway.

The Kinks' founding guitarist, Dave Davies, has also pursued a solo career, but was sidelined by a stroke in the summer of 2004. By 2006, he is said to have regained the ability to walk, talk, and play guitar. Last year, Dave Davies released an album of new material, Fractured Mindz, and a live recording of a 1997 show, Belly Up, is set for release next month. A DVD series chronicling his life, entitled Mystical Journey, has also been in production, part of which is due out this summer.

Of course, there were other musicians in The Kinks, but with a collective career spanning 30 years and alternating band members, it would take more time than I have to give updates on all of them. Each member does have an entry in the Wikipedia, all of which can be linked to from The Kinks Wikipedia entry.

Links!
Dave Emlen's Unofficial Kinks Website - A thorough and recently updated fan site.
The Official Ray Davies Website
Ray Davies on MySpace
Dave Davies Official
Dave Davies on MySpace

For Against return...

One of the most criminally-overlooked bands of the 80s' - Lincoln Nebraska's For Against - have just released Shade Side Sunny Side, their seventh full-length record and first studio album since 2002. As the trio approaches their 25th anniversary on the independent music scene, For Against has reemerged with an exclamation point: Shade Side Sunny Side is a landmark record for the band, boasting For Against's darkest (and loudest) material to date. Read More...

Brand New Paul Westerberg

49 minutes (well, okay, 43 minutes, 55 seconds) of Paul Westerberg for 49 cents! Does it get any better?

Thanks to Man Without Ties for the tip.

P.S. The Amazon downloading process was quick and painless.

New Mullet on Monday - Bryan Ferry

For many years, Bryan Ferry had a bit of a mullet going on, and looking at the cover of his latest album, Dylanesque, it looks like he still has it. Or is it just me?

Here's a Bryan Ferry selection you may have forgotten: From the soundtrack of the 1985 movie Legend, here's Is Your Love Strong Enough.

Update: Roxy Music, having reunited in 2001, have been working on a new album, with all five original members (including Brian Eno) involved. Eno's involvement was alternately confirmed and denied, but he is said to have eventually admitted to contributing a couple of tracks and playing keyboard on others. The album, several years in the making, is due to come out at some point this year. According to Wikipedia, In June 2007 the band hired Liverpool based design agency to develop their new website supporting their new album. Early in the year, Phil Manzanera revealed that the band are planning to sign a record contract.

Links:
BryanFerry.com
Roxyrama -- The Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music Archive (fan site)
These Vintage Years (another fan site)

Briefly...

From Billboard:

• Stories on U2 and Liz Phair (same page, different stories), The Replacements and Paul Westerberg, Brian Eno and David Byrne, The Police, & Tim Finn.
  

From NME:

• News on the Sex Pistols, My Bloody Valentine, U2, & Jane's Addiction.
  

From Rolling Stone:

• An item on Ray Davies.
  

Rockin' the Colonies II

One of the big summer tours that I regret not posting about sooner is the triple bill of The English Beat, The Fixx, and The Alarm -- Rockin' the Colonies II, which kicked off July 10 in Washington D.C. The remaining dates on the tour are as follows:

July 17 - Maryland Heights, Missouri
July 18 - Chicago, Illinois
July 19 - Kansas City, Missouri
July 20 - Minneapolis, Minnesota
July 24 - Hollywood, California
July 25 - Las Vegas, Nevada
July 26 - Reno, Nevada
July 27 - Anaheim, California
July 31 - Saratoga, California

New Mullet on Monday - The Call

Last October, when I featured The Call's Everywhere I Go as a Lost and Found Video, I neglected to mention whether or not the band was still around. I also neglected to notice that there were a couple of mullets in the band. So The Call gets a second mention, and members Tom Ferrier (guitar) and Jim Goodwin (keyboards) receive the honor of having worn our featured mullets of the week. As far as the first question goes, I have no definite answer (perhaps someone in the know will read this and enlighten us). All Music lists The Call as having broken up in 1990, while Wikipedia states that they are still active. The band's official website, as far as I can tell, has nothing about recent history, nor are there any tour dates. Whether or not they are officially disbanded, they don't seem to be doing a whole lot. Vocalist/bassist Michael Been is said to tour often -- as the sound engineer for his son's band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

From the (pre-mullet) 1983 Album Modern Romans, here's The Walls Came Down. By the way, the keyboardist in this video is apparently Garth Hudson of The Band.

Lost and Found Video - The Screaming Blue Messiahs

Formed in London in 1983, The Screaming Blue Messiahs released three albums and toured with, among others, The Cramps, Echo and the Bunnymen and David Bowie. The band dissolved in 1990.

From the 1986 album Gun Shy, this is The Wild Blue Yonder.

According to Wikipedia, post break-up, Chris Thompson (bass/vocals) and Kenny Harris (drums) went on to form The Killer B's. Vocalist Bill Carter dropped out of the music biz for a time, but seemed to resurface in 2006 with a MySpace page. Although the official website of The Screaming Blue Messiahs claims that there is new music on Bill Carter's website (the sentence linking to the MySpace page), no music is to be found. However, Carter's art is featured at this website.

Links:
The Official Screming Blue Messiahs Website
Blue Heaven -- a very good fan site.
Bill Carter's MySpace Page
The Killer B's on MySpace

New Mullet on Monday - The Jam

In the video for the 1980 single Going Underground, The Jam's Paul Weller flirted with mulletdom, while bassist/backing vocalist Bruce Foxton fully embraced it.

Band Update: The last couple of years found Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler reforming and performing The Jam's back catalog as "From The Jam - Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler". Foxton and Buckler are joined by vocalist Russell Hastings, and multi-instrumentalist/vocalist David Moore -- both said to be devotees of The Jam. According to Wikipedia, From The Jam toured the UK in autumn 2007, finishing with a concert at Brighton Centre on 21 December 2007 to mark the 25th anniversary of The Jam's final show. In February 2008, they toured the United States and Canada, selling out in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, Chicago and New York. In March 2008, they toured Australia and New Zealand - a first for Foxton and Buckler. A From The Jam album and DVD is planned for release in 2008. The band is continuing to tour, as well.

Since the break-up of Paul Weller's post-Jam band, The Style Council, Weller has enjoyed a highly successful solo career. The most recent of Weller's nine solo albums, 22 Dreams, was just released on June 2, and went straight to #1 on the UK album charts. Weller is currently on tour and plays in Italy and Serbia this week.

Links!
Thejamfan.net
A MySpace Page for the above mentioned fan site.
From The Jam Official Website
From The Jam Official MySpace Page
Bruce Foxton's Official Website
Paul Weller's Official Website
Paul Weller on MySpace

Ian Curtis' Gravestone Stolen

As reported by Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NME, and my cohort, Waist High -- the headstone of Ian Curtis has been taken from the site where his ashes are buried at Macclesfield Cemetery.

2008 Download Festival - July 19 & 20

Two true classic alternative bands...the Jesus and Mary Chain and Gang Of Four are headlining this year's Download Festival - July 19 and 20. Grab your tickets soon!!
http://www.downloadfestival.com

Notes From The 80s Underground

Chameleons UK Mark Burgess Releases Autobiography
Chameleons UK frontman and legendary wordsmith Mark Burgess has finally released his autobiography "View From a Hill" for U.S Distribution. The book offers a fascinating and detailed retrospective on England's post-punk explosion in the early 80s...and The Chameleons' ascension into that scene. Info and ordering online: http://www.guardian-angel-media.com/View_From_A_Hill_Pre-Order/Ordering_Information.html

Camper Van Beethoven 25th Anniversary Show & Greatest Hits Comp
Legendary stoner/psych/pop/punk and all around 80s underground vets Camper Van Beethoven recently resurfaced for a 25th Anniversary show at San Francisco's revered Fillmore Theater on June 28th. The band will also be releasing a long-overdue greatest hits compilation later this summer. Read more here: http://www.campervanbeethoven.com/

The Cure...New Album Due in September
The Cure is planning to release their 13th studio album on September 13, 2008. The album was originally planned to be a double album, but Robert Smith confirmed in recent interviews that the album will be a single album, despite the fact that 33 songs have been recorded. No tracklisting has been confirmed, but Smith has also said that the album will mostly comprise of the upbeat songs they recorded, while the darker songs may be released on another album.

Echo Keep It Going.....New Album Due in late 2008
The Fountain is the forthcoming eleventh studio album from Echo & The Bunnymen. The album is being produced by John McLaughlin, and Coldplay singer/Gwyneth BabyDaddy Chris Martin has collaborated with the band on one of the album's tracks. The first single from the album, "Think I Need It Too", is due to be released in August 2008, with the album being released later in the year.