0 comments Friday, October 31, 2008



Around here, that can only mean one thing: it's time to groove to Tibia and the Fibias doin' The Mummy, from the greatest Rankin/Bass creation of them all, 1967's Mad Monster Party.

1 comments Thursday, October 30, 2008



Corey Maggette scored 27 points with 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in his debut game as a Warrior last night… Baron who? Give that man a drink!

0 comments Monday, October 27, 2008



Vinnie Stigma for President! Part 3

1 comments Friday, October 24, 2008



Living in the Bay Area for 20 years now, I've known that Burning Man is lame for quite some time, and Hitler? Well, everyone knows that guy was lame, so this is perfect. Prepare to laugh your ass off.

4 comments Wednesday, October 22, 2008



Ah, Night Flight. Where would the disenfranchised youth of the mid-80’s have been without ye? As any former punk rocker my age will be all too happy to tell you, seeing bands we actually liked on TV was virtually impossible back in the day. Sure, there were some exceptions, like Fear on Saturday Night Live in 1981, but they were isolated incidents. Then USA Network came up with Night Flight, which, while still about 80% square, did turn me on to everyone from Text Department and Cabaret Voltaire to Kick Axe and Madame X. It was a free for all to be sure, but it was our free for all, and we watched it religiously. When I think back on it these days, one band always comes to mind immediately: Yello. So for this weeks edition of New Wave Wednesday, I salute these Swiss nutballs who, lead by deep voiced millionaire industrialist Dieter Meier, sure knew how to made a video. With a look and sound all their own, I must admit I was a fan of these guys, and thanks to the miracle of blogger.com, you can be too, albeit 25 years later.

2 comments Monday, October 20, 2008



Vinnie Stigma for President! Part 2

0 comments Friday, October 17, 2008



Who else would use kids with firearms to sell cars? Works for me!

0 comments Wednesday, October 15, 2008



Sooner or later, I had to get around to this classic track by The Vapors. I guess for many, these guys were a “one hit wonder” if there ever was one, but considering that they only existed for less than three years, it’s kind of amazing that they are remembered at all. Co-managed by Paul Weller’s father John and Jam bassist Bruce Foxton, they certainly aligned themselves with people who could do them a lot of good, especially in the early 80’s UK, and their LP New Clear Days is a really strong debut. Unfortunately they fizzled out in 1981 after the release of their much-darker sophomore LP Magnets. Ah, fame, such a fleeting, fickle mistress, but at least we’ll always have Turning Japanese...

0 comments Monday, October 13, 2008



Vinnie Stigma for President! Part 1

5 comments Thursday, October 9, 2008



...this is what I was doing. I drew this flyer too, I think it's one of my best, or at very least, one of the most entertaining. The Huskers certainly got a kick out of it anyway.

0 comments Wednesday, October 8, 2008



In honor of longtime Gearhead contributor Big Nate's 40th birthday today, this week there was only one real choice for New Wave Wednesday: The Paul Collins Beat. Nate has been a cheerleader for this band, and all Power Pop really, since the day I met him back in 1995. This song is an anthem for him, because it really does capture both the innocence and angst that this genre strives to accomplish. I never knew that these guys appeared on American Bandstand until You Tube came along, but I bet ol' Nate caught this the first time around because it made such an impression on his then teenage eardrums. Happy Birthday "El Nato" - here's to 40 more.

0 comments Monday, October 6, 2008



Check this out, we’ve wanted to do an event at the 3 Clubs for almost as long as Gearhead Magazine has existed, but you know how these things are, the stars have to line up just right. Well, after doing a piece on the movie Brittown for our upcoming issue, Gearhead contributor #1 Darv Teare decided that they should have an LA screening of the film, and it all just fell into place. Co-sponsored by our pals at DicE, and featuring an amazing raffle and more cool giveaways than you could swing a severed clutch cable at, I will personally be spinning records between the screening at 7, the rockin’ set by Smiling Face Down at 9, and on into the night for as long as I can stay conscious. Be there or be… well, you know the rest.

0 comments Friday, October 3, 2008



Damn, I wanted this to be my 100th post, but it looks like it’s coming in at 103. Oh well, I guess I have a lot to say… which is what this particular post is all about anyway. From time to time I’ve been interviewed for various people and publications, most notably I suppose for Mad Fabricators Volume 5, the trailer for which you can see above (and you can buy right here) but never by the likes of this guy: one Mr. Jason Pettigrew.

Now Jason and I go back a long way, back to the glory (gory?) days of the early 80’s, the era that I’m obviously very nostalgic about. He played a pivotal role in getting me away from Molly Hatchet and into The Damned, and I owe him for that, I really do. In later years I relocated to the West coast and he to Cleveland, where for the last Christ knows how many years, he’s been the Editor in Chief at Alternative Press, which is like The Bible for the so-called “kids.” Between their pages you will find more info than you could image about every band that’s ever graced a Warped Tour stage, but the real action happens on Jason’s blog. There, he has the freedom to vent, expel the demons, bitch about his perceived injustices… basically be himself! A few weeks back, he started a new series called Killer Born Man about people “whose work I've enjoyed to individuals whose lives may have significantly intersected with mine to people who I just think are cool as hell” and I’m proud to say that I was chosen as his very first “subject.” You can check it out right here kids, enjoy.

0 comments Wednesday, October 1, 2008



Well, you can only do a weekly post entitled “New Wave Wednesdays” for so long before this day inevitably arrives… I hinted at it last week, but now it really is time for some B-52’s. They are, with the possible exception of Devo, the band that most people think of first when the term ‘new wave’ was getting thrown around anyway, so we may as well give ‘em some love. That’s not too hard to do of course, especially when you focus on their early years, where they actually were breaking ground. Sure, they became a goofy parody of themselves, but check out Cindy Wilson just going for it in this performance from 1980, until it suddenly cuts off anyway. It doesn’t make me want to dance, but it does make me want to get a bat and hunt down the jocks that made fun of us for liking this… ahem, I digress, but anyway… enjoy.