…Well, We Got Punked

It seems that punks, metalheads, and fans of Black Flag, D.O.A., The Circle Jerks, Danzig and Social Distortion were played for fools after being lead to believed famed punk drummer Chuck Biscuits hasn’t passed on after all. Instead, Chuck Biscuits, born Charles Montgomery was the victim of an elaborate death hoax. It seems that an impostor using an e-mail addressed that was previously thought to be Chuck’s e-mail sent out an e-mail Tuesday, Oct 27th, claiming that Biscuits, 44 lost his battle with throat cancer. The story was picked up by many music outlets after an e-mail that was supposedly sent by a member of the Montgomery family falsely reported that “Chuck did not survive his battle with throat cancer. He passed surrounded by his family of 10/24/09.” Vancouver’s The Straight managed to get in touch with the drummer’s former D.O.A. band mate Joey Keithley, who reported that Biscuits is alive. Meanwhile, Circle Jerks vocalist Keith Morris also disputed reports of Chuck’s passing to blog BrooklynVegan.

Since the originally story broke, former Danzig bassist Eerie Von and Chuck’s own brother Bob Montgomery questioned the reports of Chuck’s passing. Biscuits was seen at work on Thursday and was supposedly and understandingly “pissed off” about the erroneous news of his passing. Biscuits has yet to make a public statement, but we’re all elated to know that such a talent is still alive and well.

Fact: Chuck Biscuits played drums on Run D.M.C.’s classic album Tougher Than Leather.

15 years in the making…

by John M. Ellison IV

To paraphrase the words of the “Don Mega” Ice Cube, October 27th 2009 was a good day. Literally a week before this day, I was checking my Facebook page and I noticed a banner ad for R. Crumb. I’m thinking it was odd because well. I didn’t type anything in reference to R. Crumb so it wasn‘t an AdSense kind of deal. To those who aren’t aware, R. Crumb is the penname of pioneering underground cartoonist Robert Crumb. I looked closer at the ad and the ad said “R. Crumb RVA.” When I saw the letters, “RVA” I thought “Richmond, Virginia? Nah, it couldn’t be…could it?” After clicking on the link, it was confirmed that RVA did stand for Richmond, Virginia! This tour isn’t just a goodwill appearance for Robert; this is a promo tour for his new project “R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis.” No, seriously…he actually drew the first 50 chapters of Genesis verbatim. But like most of Robert’s work, controversy has followed it. There have been Christian groups and irate readers of the New Yorker who published an excerpt from the project. I’m in the midst of reading “R. Crumb’s The Book of Genesis” and this isn’t the usual R. Crumb fair. This is literally, a direct illustration of the first 50 chapters of Genesis. To say I was elated with this would be an understatement. Let me explain how important this is to me. When I was around 8, I started reading comics and by 10 years old, I was a comic book fiend and a budding comic book artist as well. I loved the traditional super hero comic books a la Marvel and D.C.; I created my own characters, drew my own epic superhero battles etc. But this wasn’t the usual kid hobby of drawing; I wanted more out of this interest. I wanted to be the first black published comic book artists and creator under the age of 18. But, that’s another story for another time. I could safely say that when we’re younger, we have people we look up to. Whether it’s a sports star, rapper, a coach…mine weren’t any of those. When kids said, “I want to be like Mike” I said I want to be like the dude who drew this comic! Around 1994-1995, I got this hardback book on the history of comic books. It featured comics from the 1800s to the 1980’s. I found this section on underground comic books or “comix” as they called them. I read about the great works of Gilbert Shelton, Frank Stack, S. Clay Wilson, Victor Moscoso, but one name stood out to me. R. Crumb. I saw a drawing of Robert at his drawing table with his popular character “The Snoid” jumping out of the page, it drew me in. This wasn’t like the Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko silver age comics that I tried to imitate; this was something that spoke to me on a personal level. His comics reminded me of old cartoons with a sleazier edge. I read the mini-bio on Robert and I was very intrigued by this guy with coke bottle glasses and a cheap suit. Weeks passed and I couldn’t shake my interest in this mysterious artist. Then, by happenstance as I was flipping through the Washington Post to the comics section, I found an article in the style section about R. Crumb and this documentary done on him called “Crumb.” Having supportive parents, they noticed my interests and did the best they could to find information of this iconoclast of their heyday. They knew of Robert’s work from back in the 70’s. For those who aren’t aware of underground comics, you know that these comics weren’t made for kids. But luckily I convinced them that I was different, I was a budding cartoonist and they saw the artistic merit that were in the comics and how they could influence my work.

Aside from R. Crumb, I looked into the works of S. Clay Wilson, Bill Griffith (I met him at Small Press Expo back in 2000) and his comic strip Zippy the Pinhead, Gilbert Sheldon and The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. When I immersed myself in underground comic book counter culture, I slowly started to drift out of the superhero comics that I would usually draw and focused my ideas into something more subversive. Being barely in double digits, (like around 10 I guess) I knew my voice was squeaky and limited. But with these comics, a world of freedom of speech was a possibility. I filled sketchbook after sketchbook with crazy cartoon characters that reflected the world that I saw.

Whenever I felt lost artistically, I would just scratch through issues #1 and #0 of “Zap Comix” and keep drawing. In 1996, I found out that Crumb was released on home video. This movie wasn’t exactly a walk in the park to find. But, on Christmas day, I noticed a VHS box and from looked like a blank cassette, but further examination, I realized that there was a label on it and it said “Crumb.” I nearly passed out from excitement. Now October 2009, I’m 25 years old and I got the chance to see an interview. My mom, who was and still is an ardent supporter of my work booked two tickets so the missus and I could cover this event for my blog. But due to circumstances regarding a backlog of homework being due midnight (and Richmond being 2 hours away) the missus couldn’t make it. So, my mom and I headed out to cover this.
“Dude…You brought your mom to cover an event about R. Crumb? What’s next bringing granny to a John Waters/Russ Meyers retrospective?” Well, in this case, why would this be so shocking? My mom was the one who helped me find these comics in the first place. So, we headed out to Richmond, VA and found the Centerstage. The Centerstage is a new theater that was just recently built as of September, so it had that new theater ambiance that I felt. Surprisingly, the theater was full. There might have been only 10 vacant seats. Then, the man of the hour, R. Crumb walked onstage. It was him! He had the same coke bottle glasses, the cheap suit and charmingly awkward cartooning pioneer…well now with a white beard. Him being in his mid-60s, he kind of looked like a composite of his creations Flakey Foont and Mr. Natural. Everything was going smooth…until he fell ass over tea kettle onstage. But, he was fine. When he got up, they applauded him. Here are some highlights from the evening.

It was Aline’s (his wife of 35 years) idea to move to France. R. Crumb mostly stays in and reads and works on comics. Also, Aline has a fitness studio in France that she teaches aerobics in and is slowly turning the women of village they live in into Amazonians as Robert put it.

R. Crumb is a grandfather now. Sophie (the daughter of Aline and Robert Crumb) is now a mother at 28 years old.

Robert made an entire audience cringe regarding his comic “Don’t Touch Me” that was featured in Snatch Comics by saying “I think most guys have a rape fantasy…” Yeah, talk about awkward. But, he brushed it off by playfully saying “moving along…” with a huge laughter from the crowd.

He was baffled by one of his covers for Weirdo magazine by going “What the fuck is that?”

He spoke of his work with the New Yorker and the covers he did for them.

Mentioned that former collaborator S. Clay Wilson is now brain damaged after a drunken fall.

The popular Robert Johnson postage stamp was actually Robert’s drawing…but they took the cigarette out.

He does listen to CDs of his favorite genres of music if he can’t get the 78.

Although music is influential on his style…he works in total silence when he’s working on a comic.

During the question and answer segment, someone asked if he was going to draw the Torah or Qur’an. With an emphatic no and laughter from the audience, he said basically that the books were too old and they have been translated so much that it would be almost impossible to do that.

Then, a young black girl with braids and basically Crumb’s body type asked about his first LSD experience. After Robert’s first acid trip, he didn’t see the world the same. He saw it as a “cardboard farce.” Interesting enough, the trip was odd for Dana as well. During this psychedelic experience, Robert and Dana were tripping so hard that he vomited on her. She didn’t realize it was vomit and thought she was being reborn. He quit doing acid after that. He smoked a lot of pot daily for years afterwards, but quit in the late 70’s. He more or less said drugs aren’t necessary; you’d be surprised by the power of your own mind.

He also talked about the differences between America and France. One example being that the health care system in France is free. When Sophie was in labor and delivered the baby, it was free. He also re-iterated a point about the corporate structure of America and how it was messing us over.

Well, the interview was over and to perfectly book end the interview, he did another pratfall and the audience cheered him. My mom and I walked out the theater, laughs were had by both. Oddly enough, there were a few merchandise tables with his graphic novels and comics for sale. Write your own jokes, folks. I saw the young woman who asked the LSD question. I asked my mom to hold my place in line. I asked her “Excuse me, are you apart of Afro-Punk aka Mason Rose Lee?” She mentioned she was in the movie. I asked if she was on the board and I mentioned I was as well. She asked who I was on there. I said the magic words, Ghetto Punk Rocker. She knew who I was and got excited and talkative. I said, “I thought that was you! I mean, it’s Richmond and you’re the only other black person here aside from me and my mom.” She laughed.

She was covering this event for her blog, Liger Beat. Liger Beat is a female driven porn blog with humor, Imagine Play Girl and Mad Magazine. Fair warning, it’s packed with more weenie action than a 4th of July barbecue. I explained how that I’m such a huge fan of R. Crumb and I’ve been waiting for this moment for 15 years. She talked about her boutique “Rumours” and her triumph over the legal issues regarding her shop as well. She also mentioned how she’s a professional pornographer now. We took a few photos…WITH OUR CLOTHES ON! I also mentioned the fact that the missus is a fashionista. So, the missus and and I are looking to hang with Mason at her boutique as soon as possible.

I picked up an R. Crumb Sketchbook, R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis and Self-Loathing #2 by R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky-Crumb. The night was a success.

I Believe In Your Right of Freedom of Speech…Until You Say Stupid Shit.

I don’t know where to start honestly when addressing ignorant comments … especially when it seems that they’re so many. But, here’s the latest … It seems that singer Tiffany Evans has called out fellow R&B singer Rihanna as a Devil Worshipper or a Satanist as some would say. As a musician within the realm of alternative rock who is African/Afro/etc. descent, I urge you to shut the fuck up. To show neutrality, I have to say I’m not a fan of either Tiffany Evans or Rihanna. I find Rihanna’s music kind of vanilla swirl pop music with an “urban” edge.  It’s part of the latest trend, and I actually despise the trend of these as I call, “Band Tee brats” or Hip-Hop kids that bought stuff at Hot Topic because there was a sale.  But I digress, in this case I have to commend Rihanna’s managment team for giving her an image that Grace Jones used back in the 70’s (and yes I’m being sarcastic.)  The frustrating idea is that I understand how strong religion is within the black community and how strong ignorance can be as well within parts of the black community. When you mix those two components, progress lacks.

I do agree with Tiffany Evans on a few points, such as, people will listen to whatever is given to them. If you play it long enough, they’ll like it.  The industry knows this, so they market souless, homogenized rap and R&B because they know people will listen. So, you have marketing teams, A&Rs and labels coming together to market their image of what “black” is and have weak minded people to adapt to that image of “black” culture.  Then you have generations of people living in a mold of what society expects from black people and other people in this “factory” shunning anything different from there mold.

As a musician, I respect all music. But, I’ve noticed a hostility towards rock or music with loud guitars.  In this industry, music isn’t created equal, I’m not trying to bring race into this, but, most Top 40, Rock, Adult Contemporary, all considered “pop” or “white music.”  Radio stations play a mixture of music by different people, but, it seems that if you’re a Black musician who plays rock music, you looked upon as being out of character, because from what I’m seeing, as far as the music industry is concerned, if you’re Black, then you’re expected to stay within the relm of either Hip-Hop and/or R&B, or some variation of that same formula.

So, with people like Tiffany Evans’ ignorant comments echoing the many asinine comments of ignorant people, it’s mind control that the industry wants.

Here are some comment’s from people I discussed this with … “Tiffany Evans made a strong assumption from a picture on a CD cover! Poor thing.

“If a CD cover can get Tiffany that upset, then maybe the music industry is not he right place for her, she is new to the industry and it shows!”

“I hope people don’t agree with her small minded comments because, we don’t know enough about Tiffany to care about her opinion. Who knows, she might be a little off balanced, or an easily excitable person, the kind of person who jumps to conclusions based on her own opinion … dogmatic!”

“I hope no one listens to Tiffany’s crap because, it’s just a picture that Rihanna took to describe the edginess of the music on that CD. The barbwire is made of plastic for goodness sakes! What’s real so about that? I wonder what Tiffany thinks of Lady GaGa?”

Another controversial issue regarding the cover art is former Extreme Championship Wrestling promoter/co-owner Paul Heyman has mentioned the similarities of the cover art of 1998’s ECW: Extreme Music compilation.  That album (ECW: Extreme Music) is near and dear to me because it’s one of the albums that got me into rock music.  Also, I was a huge ECW fan back in the day before it was neutered by WWE.  Paul, as much as I respect and admire your work in pro wrestling and I even consider you an inspiration to my writing.  I really want to agree with you on this ECW/Rihanna, but, The cover art just might be a coincidene,Paul.

Monotonix

by John M. Ellison IV

Monotonix

As I was flipping through the topics on my favorite site http://www.afropunk.com , A member from Richmond, VA posted up pictures of a very hairy, sweaty, handle bar mustached, vintage high school gym short clad rock band that shook The Plaza Bowl in Richmond, VA.

The band in question is Tel Aviv, Israel’s own Monotonix. According to their Myspace, Monotonix features the talents of Levi “Ha haziz”, Elvis on Vocals, Moshe Vegas on guitar and Bonanaza The Cat on drums.  This mix of distorted, gritty and sludgy toned guitar, basic, get to the point drums, earnest vocals and playfully sleazy lyrics combined into something that I find infectious.  Honestly, when I saw the pictures that were posted from the gig at The Plaza Bowl, I was thinking

“…wow, too much body hair and not enough gym shorts…no thanks!”  But the energy that the band exuded in the pictures that were taken was something that I couldn’t ignore.  I’m glad that I ignored my prior hesitation.  On their Myspace page, Monotonix has five raw, 70’s matzo balls to the wall raw ,stoner rock/proto-punk material that can also be found on their albums “Body Language” EP and “Where Were You When It Happened?” LP.  Here are a few songs that caught my interest.

“My Needs”

Kind of a funky drum and guitar pattern that is reminscent of a funkier Black Sabbath kind of jam.  Makes me want to learn the guitar parts.

“Body Language”

As the drums kick in a march pattern and the guitar feedback compliments the kick, the formulatic riff and drum work.  For DJs who want to throw something on that has a rock and roll feel but you can dance to.  I’d recommend this.

“Summers and Autumns”

Kick ass riff with vocals that ooze attitude.  Enough said

All and all, I see this band as a great riff-oriented hard rock band for whoever is feeling reminiscent of those heavy psychedelic hard rock jams of The Stooges, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, some Rolling Stones and Kyuss.

If Monotonix is in town, be sure to check them out.

http://www.myspace.com/monotonix

Hey Hey! It’s NOT FUNNY,ASSHOLES!

by John M. Ellison IV

Okay, nothing human shocks me…most of the time. But, there are moments that leave me with a blank stare saying “What the fuck?” In Australia, a special edition of the Australian variety show “Hey Hey It’s Saturday!” on Wednesday October 7th with featured guest judge Harry Connick Jr. understandably pissed off about a group of amateurs in “Blackface” imitating the Jackson 5 all with one glove and the late Michael Jackson in “whiteface ” tagging themselves the “Jackson Jive.” “Aw, c’mon! They’re Australians! They probably didn’t know that this was insulting to black people.”

Okay, what part of dressing up in “Blackface”, stereotypical “Amos and Andy” voices, a nappy wig and going onstage with one glove seemed like a good idea?! “Blackface” was meant to demean and degrade black people and make them look like buffoons. I commend Harry Connick Jr. for getting pissed off. From a global perspective, Americans are looked at as rude, racist ,obnoxious, overweight, arrogant, ignorant and so forth. Although that could be said about any country, America is one of those countries that gets pigeon held. But, on the other hand…you have a good amount of people that admire our culture and mimic it as well; It’s a mixed bag.

I was instilled with this “when you go out your door and into the world, you’re representing your family, your culture and yourself.” Although it would be ideal that we would look at all people as individuals, a lot of us don’t. So, when someone is from another community, they‘re an ambassador of there background. Harry taking a stand against this offensive act was a good look for the United States.

Another thing, I’ve also noticed some people trying to tout a clip of his appearance on Mad TV as a southern preacher could be seen as Harry “mimicking” black southern preachers and calling him to be a hypocrite. Honestly, he isn’t for a few reasons.

Harry Connick Jr. and Orlando Jordan

1. He isn’t in Blackface.

2. He’s making fun of the traditional Holiness/Southern Baptist fire and brimstone preaching style of southern preachers and that style can be done by either Black or White preachers.

But yeah, when it comes to it. Instead of doing this “tribute” on “Hey! Hey! It’s Saturday!” they should’ve done their “Jackson Jive” act at the Apollo and let’s see what happens.