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With the assistance of Shirley McClaine (off camera, left) Howard Dean channels Ozzy Osbourne.

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The Band Wives… Except Jason! But he’s less important ’cause he only sing and forgets words.
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P.S.

Not that I know from personal experience, but the methodology stated below works as well as any other when naming a human baby. And judging from some of the names I have encountered I think this method is used quite often!

How To Choose A Name For Your Baby.

A long time ago, when my sister was pregnant, I wanted her to name her soon-to-be-born daughter Bountiful. I thought, when coupled with her married last name “Beene”, that it had a nice ring to it. Anyway, she ignored my advise for some reason or another. But that’s not important now. Oliver over at ThoughtNot is facing a dilemma that all musicians must face in their musical journey; choosing a band name! As far as choosing the name goes, here’s how that works. You go to a bar with your band mates. Get somewhat drunk (or more), and pass around a napkin to write down potential band names. Said napkin will be crammed with names, front and back; all of which will be really stupid and inane. And, whether it’s because you’re drunk or just a musician, you’ll choose the stupidest and inane-est (?!) name as the band name. And the next morning you’ll wake up with a nice little hang-over, and you’ll look at the band name you chose last night, and think “My God! That is the most stupid and inane band name ever!”, and wonder if you were really so drunk that this name actually sounded good! But the more you look at the stupid / inane name you chose the more you’ll realise that it’s a perfect name for the band. It’s a perfect fit. And then you’ll repeat the process over and over again for the next two months untill you get tired of trying to decide on a name and you’ll go with the last one chosen, even though the bass player liked the other one better, but everyone else in the band will ignore him even though he’s always right because, well, apperently that’s the way things work in a band. This IS the method nine out of ten musicians use to choose a name for a band. How do I know all this? How have I come to be so wise? Because I live the dream, baby.

…or you could scroll down to the second post below that and steal my orphan band name!

Paul Hester, RIP

The drummer from Crowded House was found dead in a park in Melbourne over the week-end. Apparently he committed suicide. C.H. is one of my top musical influences, and many of the songs I have written were molded by their song styles. You know that period in your life, in your teens and 20’s, when you latch onto a band: wear its badges, hang its posters on the wall, put its stickers on everything, and wear the same concert t-shirt everyday without wash until it’s soo dirty that you can’t tell what the band on the front is, which means it’s time to wash the shirt. OK I never was a “badges, posters, stickers and t-shirts” kind of guy (thank you Mark Knopler for the phrase), but I did play the first C.H. LP to death (bad choice of words and yes I’m that old).

A typical “Paul Hester” moment:

Joan Rivers: How did you decide on the name Crowded House?

Paul Hester: It was the only one we could spell.

What is it about drummers and their sense of humor (think Ringo, Jeff Porcaro, Prarie Prince from the Tubes)? C.H. put on one of the funniest shows I’ve seen. Part of that fun was watching Paul Hester jump from the stage to follow two young “lasses” into the bathroom while the other two band mates were left stranded on stage. Paul came back with the trash can from the women’s bathroom and dumped it on the stage floor. Neil Finn, the ring-leader of C.H. said: “Pretty zany Paul!”. This is my Paul Hester memory.

My best friend in San Diego, Paul a.k.a. “Puppy-Cat”, is going to be devastated. As much as I am a C.H. fan, he is ten fold. When I go down to visit, we spend hours doing nothing but sing to the Crowded House CD, Woodface, while driving the San Diego freeways. He does the Neil Finn vocals and I do the Tim Finn bits.

Anyway, I hope that Paul Hester is now in a place where his demons can’t follow.

New Band Name

If I were starting a new band, I would call it…. drum roll please….

CHEARLEADER DEATHSQUAD!!!!

Busy Revisited!

It’s 2:05 in the AM. I have about a thousand words to go….

HOLY SHIT I’M TIRED!!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The gig in Long Beach went really well. And no one died!

There are a few things I will write about in the future, kinda funny, hope I can remember them. But life, work, and school dictate that I do other things first. Last week, on Thursday and Friday I got a number of calls from new customers wanting their spas fixed. I have approximately 6000 words worth of papers due on Saturday (day of finals @ National Univ.), so I’m waisting precious time while typing this. And now the Pat Benetar song is stuck in my head.

Long Beach Beckons

Yes, my band CPG will be wailing away at DiPiazza’s in Long Beach this Saturday so tell your friends, neighbors, bitter rivals, and even siblings who you can barley stand to be around.

Hunter S Thomson

OK. I’ll say it. I keep reading about what an intelligent guy he was. He killed himself. How stupid is that!!!!