Whoa baby...... can you guys feel that? Can you friggin feel it? Tonight is Devil's Night!! Pre-Halloween bash! Originally a tradition in Michigan where kids would fuck shit up before Halloween and it escalated to pretty severe arson in Detroit in the 1980's. I think it's a beautiful thing and it leads into my favorite celebration of the year, HALLOWEEN! The last surviving pagan holiday. A day that youth has complete control on society. The last truly communal celebration/activity we have. Every year little kids and teens dress up like things that go bump in the night and go door to door asking for tribute in the form of candy. The adults go along with this much like people who implicitly accept organized crime in their community. For if you do not give the children what they want you may be victim to petty vandalism. GOD DAMN IS THAT NOT BEAUTIFUL? People making lanterns or bonfires in other parts of the world and why? Because the nights are getting longer and even with all our science and reason the darkness still speaks to a primal part of our souls. This is why we dress up as ghouls and goblins, we are trying to reclaim our fears. A night where everybody gets to be something they're not and play a character. There is nothing I like better than Halloween and the fact it has survived Christianity's assaults is a testament to our primary instincts as well the energy of our youth. The theme today is obvious.
The first is the obvious choice. THE MISFITS - HALLOWEEN. I always talk shit about how their only good album is Static Age yet here I post another non Static Age track (3 in a row now I have posted). Exceptions prove rules, OK? This song is beautiful and really encapsulates the vibe I'm trying to communicate. "This day anything goes". No official video but a nice little youtube made clip.
Next up I'm going to school you on a failed Hip Hop experiment. HORRORCORE. Def Jam tried to find the next big thing in Hip Hop. Trying to find ways to bridge more gaps between white and black youth culture they pushed horrorcore. A brand of hip hop that talked about the themes of many metal bands. The problem is that white kids generally will follow black kids when it comes to urban music and well, inner city kids don't need to make up stories to be scared of what lurks in the dark corners of their streets. Death being much more real in their communities they had no need to fantasize about it. Needless to say it was a flop. Still though kinda cool to dig on at this time of the year, I give you FLATLINERZ - SATANIC VERSES.
Next up is one of the most important bands in my life. THE CRAMPS. When I first saw them on YTV's the anti-gravity room they blew my mind. It got me way into punk and more adult comic books. I still think their music is up there in my top 20 favorite bands ever. One thing that makes me feel even cooler is that one of my heroes Ian McKaye saw them live back in 79 and it pushed him into punk! He also met the Bad Brains at that show! Anyways The Cramps coined the word psychobilly and most of their songs evoke b-movie horror. If one band could actually be from Rod Serling's The Twillight Zone it would be them. I give you I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF.
Next up is the most Halloween guy of all. What Morrissey is to sappy love and depression, DANZIG is to skeletons and Satan. A universally loved figure. He's got the voice of Frank Sinatra but singing about death. How can you NOT like that? His biggest ever single MOTHER.
Showing posts with label murder victims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label murder victims. Show all posts
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
every morning when I wake up
One of my heroes plays on my dad's soccer team (which is almost entirely comprised of Scottish immigrants). The man is in his mid 60's and is still a very good soccer player. He's also a union man who swears like you could not believe. His secret to this health is that he drinks (at least) one pint of beer a day, takes one good shit a day and only eats one meal a day(!). Today I have started this diet. I'm gonna try to do the one big meal a day thing, snacks are for the weak. The theme today is pretty damn somber and I think I am bummed out just by thinking about. The best artists to have been murdered...
If you know me as a human being you KNOW who I am going to start with on this post. I have posted about this man before and I will most definitely post about him again. Christopher Wallace a.k.a. THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. . This guy is one of my favorite artists. Bar none the greatest rapper to have ever lived. I saw a tshirt on the internet that said "If Biggie were still alive most rappers would be working at McDonalds" this is true. Every rapper on TV today owes him everything. Many people think of Tupac as a "deeper" artist. I would disagree as Biggie was heavily introspective. He has a song about suicide which is a HEAVILY taboo and stigmatized topic amongst the african-american community. The song today is PARTY AND BULLSHIT which at first glance seems to be simply about partying but he really takes us into that whole high school house party world. Painting a picture of the epic events of adolescence. His posthumous album was already called Life After Death before he was murdered by drive-by shooting in Los Angeles 15 days before it was released. His murder remains unsolved to this day.
R.I.P. May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997
A band I got into towards the end of my high school was THE GITS. A Seatle punk/grunge band that was active from 1986 to 1993. When you listen to them its truly Mia Zapata's voice that reaches out and gets you. She was apparently a huge influence on Bikini Kill/Le Tigre's Kathleen Hannah. She sings about hopelessness and alcohol. Their music really strikes a chord with me. Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered in 1993. Her murder was finally solved due to new developments in DNA analysis. I know I joke around a lot but it makes me really angry that a woman still can't feel safe walking home at night. The song is called SEAWEED and if ever you have the time you should check the lyrics as they are really beautiful.
R.I.P. August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993.
Everybody has favorite genres of music but I'll be damned if you can't appreciate a true ARTIST. A person who's talent seems to be infinite. One of these artists is MARVIN GAYE. He was the most popular artist on Motown during the 60's and he went against the grain big time in refusing the song writing formula at Motown at the time. He made the creative process a collaboration between songwriter, producer and artist. In high school my friend Sam's grand father gave him his car once he was too old to drive. It was a huge Oldsmobile. Sam installed a thumping sound system in that thing. Marvin was a staple in the cd player. Marvin Gaye was tragically shot dead by his own father. You can't write stuff that sad. The song is SEXUAL HEALING.
R.I.P. April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984
The final person is probably the most culturally important. JOHN LENNON. I haven't ever really been big into The Beatles. I think this is because everybody loves them and I never liked to be on the winning team. Lennon though has the same birthday as me (9th of October) which always got me interested in him thinking we had some ridiculous connection. Having recently read an interview with him I think he quit The Beatles for the same reason young Iain never wanted to like them, not wanting to be in the majority. The song is WORKING CLASS HERO. I think it's easily my favorite of his. Green Day should have never touched it. Lennon was sadly shot in the back 4 times in New York City.
R.I.P. 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980
If you know me as a human being you KNOW who I am going to start with on this post. I have posted about this man before and I will most definitely post about him again. Christopher Wallace a.k.a. THE NOTORIOUS B.I.G. . This guy is one of my favorite artists. Bar none the greatest rapper to have ever lived. I saw a tshirt on the internet that said "If Biggie were still alive most rappers would be working at McDonalds" this is true. Every rapper on TV today owes him everything. Many people think of Tupac as a "deeper" artist. I would disagree as Biggie was heavily introspective. He has a song about suicide which is a HEAVILY taboo and stigmatized topic amongst the african-american community. The song today is PARTY AND BULLSHIT which at first glance seems to be simply about partying but he really takes us into that whole high school house party world. Painting a picture of the epic events of adolescence. His posthumous album was already called Life After Death before he was murdered by drive-by shooting in Los Angeles 15 days before it was released. His murder remains unsolved to this day.
R.I.P. May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997
A band I got into towards the end of my high school was THE GITS. A Seatle punk/grunge band that was active from 1986 to 1993. When you listen to them its truly Mia Zapata's voice that reaches out and gets you. She was apparently a huge influence on Bikini Kill/Le Tigre's Kathleen Hannah. She sings about hopelessness and alcohol. Their music really strikes a chord with me. Mia Zapata was brutally raped and murdered in 1993. Her murder was finally solved due to new developments in DNA analysis. I know I joke around a lot but it makes me really angry that a woman still can't feel safe walking home at night. The song is called SEAWEED and if ever you have the time you should check the lyrics as they are really beautiful.
R.I.P. August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993.
Everybody has favorite genres of music but I'll be damned if you can't appreciate a true ARTIST. A person who's talent seems to be infinite. One of these artists is MARVIN GAYE. He was the most popular artist on Motown during the 60's and he went against the grain big time in refusing the song writing formula at Motown at the time. He made the creative process a collaboration between songwriter, producer and artist. In high school my friend Sam's grand father gave him his car once he was too old to drive. It was a huge Oldsmobile. Sam installed a thumping sound system in that thing. Marvin was a staple in the cd player. Marvin Gaye was tragically shot dead by his own father. You can't write stuff that sad. The song is SEXUAL HEALING.
R.I.P. April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984
The final person is probably the most culturally important. JOHN LENNON. I haven't ever really been big into The Beatles. I think this is because everybody loves them and I never liked to be on the winning team. Lennon though has the same birthday as me (9th of October) which always got me interested in him thinking we had some ridiculous connection. Having recently read an interview with him I think he quit The Beatles for the same reason young Iain never wanted to like them, not wanting to be in the majority. The song is WORKING CLASS HERO. I think it's easily my favorite of his. Green Day should have never touched it. Lennon was sadly shot in the back 4 times in New York City.
R.I.P. 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980
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