(sadly, no babes, Bush masks or dildos in this pic. Could our correspondent be making this up?)
Brian Turner writes
I hope you are following the development of THE LIVING THINGS – the band Scharpling and I saw open for Velvet Revolver at Roseland, leaving both our jaws dropped (especially when the singer yelled at some guy throwing shit “I hope you get drafted”).
1. Single gimmick: bringing out babes wearing Bush masks and dildos on stage to make important political statement.
2. Dreamworks A&R signing them after 3 songs at the Viper Room for being “visceral”.
3. Dreamworks dropping them after repeatedly warning them to stop doing the Bush masks and dildos (allegedly) and then getting hate emails from Dreamworks staffers.
4. Singer shot at and had ribs broken by guys in Dallas for the Bush masks and dildos.
5. Band member ODs *ON STAGE* at CB’s, presumably before they could bring out the Bush masks and dildos.
6. Pissing on Velvet Revolver by saying they didn’t want to open for them because it would have been like “the Clash opening for Kiss.”
7. Band very proud about not having listened to the MC5 and Stooges until they discovered Hole.
Some heavy points going on there – definitely worth watching…
I agree, this is incredibly heavy, I mean why on earth did Sharpling and Turner go see Velvet Revolver?
I think Tom and Matt Sorum go waaaaay back. If I’m not mistaken, Tom’s old zine, 18-Wheeler grew out of being a Southern Death Cult newsletter.
As for Brian, I believe he acted as an uncredited “song doctor” of sorts on Slash’s Snakepit project. So they were just catching up with old pals…and happened to be blown away by The Living Things.
That Velvet Revolver show was one of the highlights of 2004. Never have I been in the presence of something so transcendently stupid. Roseland was packed with late 80’s metal washups pinning all their hopes on this one dumb band to ‘save music’. Did they save music that night? I would think their encore of ‘Negative Creep’ answers that question.
And the rumors of 18 Wheeler being a Southern Death Cult newsletter are not true. I was actually helping out longtime friend Phil Sheridan punch up his latest backpager for Magnet (the finished piece was called ‘The Music Of Today Stinks’ or something like that).
He would’ve written the VR zingers himself but some neighborhood kids accidentally threw their baseball in his backyard and he was busy keeping it.
TH
“5. Band member ODs *ON STAGE* at CB’s”
how cliche. who hasn’t?
“5. Band member ODs *ON STAGE* at CB’sâ€
“how cliche. who hasn’t?”
Bill Popp of Bill Popp & The Tapes comes to mind.
“I hope you get drafted” is my new favorite catchphrase of 2005. Is it on bumper stickers yet? Can I get a Bart Simpson shirt with that on it yet?
As for saving music, “Entertainment Weekly” recently declared that Green Day has done just that with “American Idiot,” meaning that both VR and Roky Erickson are wasting their time.
correction, Ben. EW said that Green Day had “saved rock”. Meaning that country, hip hop, gospel, reggae, grime, techno, jazz, blues, classical and other idioms are still ripe for saving by the likes of The Living Things.
“As for saving music, “Entertainment Weekly†recently declared that Green Day has done just that with “American Idiot,†meaning that both VR and Roky Erickson are wasting their time.”
How do you think the Offspring think about Green Day now?
I dunno. How do you think the Avengers feel about “The American In Me” having been ripped off?