My friend Ben sent this great story and I thought I would post just the way it is. It’s perfect.
Tracy,
Making my every so often check in of your page. It’s INCREDIBLE! Great stuff here as always. Read all of the Beastie Boys/Biz Markie stuff. Great vids too. Thanks for posting all of this.
I can’t imagine there is a recorded band you do not know about…but JUST in case I am suggesting The Bogmen. I first saw them when they opened for KISS in 1996 at Hampton Coliseum. They were booed mercilessly but hung in through their entire set. “Screw you we get to see Kiss every night for free” said lead singer Billy Campion to the angry crowd.
After the show I found their album (they put out 2, the second one pales in comparison) “Life begins at 40 million”. Produced by Jerry Harrison. I LOVE it. No one else I have ever given it to does LOL.
Check out the vid I attached above, it’s one of the best songs on the record and the video shows a little bit about how they are live. They have since broken up, reuniting occasionally in the NY area for benefits mostly. Try to hang in there with the video at least until he starts to spin!
Billy Campion now calls himself Vic Thrill and has several albums of his own. I am not all that familiar with his solo work I just love that first Bogmen record and thought if you don’t know it, you might too.
Take care brother
-Ben
I didn’t know about The Bogmen until now. Thank you, Ben.
My 12 year old son Mars has been itching to see a real rock show. It seems like most of the shows in town that we’re interested in are not all ages. He’s also been itching to visit a local record store near his school called Harvest Records. Recently he got his mom to take him by the store and he asked a guy there to recommend some local bands. He gave Mars a winner: Bandazian. Not only did Mars like their music he saw a flyer for a live show with them at The Grey Eagle in Asheville this past Friday. It was all he talked about for a week, and I was excited to take him to his first show. It didn’t hurt that I also dig their music.
We got there stupid early because I had to get the kid out of house, he couldn’t wait to leave. So we stood around for a good while until The Humbuckers, a solid country rock outfit came out. After they were done it was Bandazian time! Mars told me more than once “I’m nervous.” He had spent the week immersing himself in their music and playing his drum set along to their CD he bought, In Vacant Fields. (He even emailed the band manager to ask if he could use one of their songs in an animated Lego movie he’s making.) Then we saw the guys setting up. When he saw the drummer he said “I’m so jealous of that guy!” “Why?” “Because he’s really good drummer, he’s in my new favorite band, and he has red jeans!” I feel ya on the red jeans Mars man. I’ve always wanted a pair myself.
Mars brought the CD cover and a marker with him so he could get the drummer’s autograph. When the show was over the drummer and singer/guitarist were standing near us having a conversation. Mars was nervous big time now, but I told him I’ll just let them know we thought the show was great, because it was. He tagged along behind and when we introduced ourselves they could not have been cooler about it. They talked to Mars for a minute and when they found out he had their first album the drummer Kevin said he would grab a copy of the new one for Mars. Well, not only did he give Mars a copy of O Pioneer, he also gave him a hand screened Bandazian poster, numbered and signed by Andrew Findley. Soon to be framed. But wait, there’s more…
Mars with his Bandazian booty
After all this Mars was still nervous about asking Kevin for an autograph. I told Mars “he will think it’s the coolest thing ever if you ask him.” So he asked, and Kevin did act like he appreciated it. He even drew a beard on his picture, because he has big one now, “so you can recognize me.” Then singer Alex Keena walked up and signed it too. It was pretty much a perfect experience, for me as well. These guys have some great poignant songs and the combination of seeing and hearing them live, along with watching my son taking it all in for the first time got me a little choked up. We didn’t stay to see the “headline” band The Poles. There was no way the night was going to any better than it was right then.
Bandazian autographed CD
The video at the top is for the song “Crocodile Tears” and was made by a fan. I’d say that’s a quality fan. Check out Bandazian’s music with the links below.
Gossip was on Letterman last night and they rocked steady. This is the second time I’ve seen them perform “Standing in the Way of Control” on TV. Small on instrumentation and big on sound, I love this.
I was talking to the singer/guitarist of Einstein’s Dream, Jared Hooker, last week when he described his band as “prog lite.” That made me laugh, but now that I’ve listened to the six songs they have at their MySpace page, at least a dozen times, I’m convinced the Dream is fo’ real. Jared’s vocals and the band’s musicianship remind me vaguely of Muse, but these guys are definitely doing their own thing. My favorite song of this collection, “Smoke and Mirrors,” is also the heaviest. No surprise there, but I also dig the pretty stuff. Songcraft is everything.
Jared says they’re adding a keyboardist and gearing up for some live shows. I’m looking to forward to it!
All right, I’m going to have to pull back to a low rating of 9 on this one. Change is Coming by Money Mark is still awesome, just not quite so much as the earlier records. Still, I’ve probably played in its entirety at least 100 times. Overall it’s more instrumental and jazzy than his masterpiece, Push the Button. The packaging is almost as interesting as the music. I didn’t include all the artwork, but it revolves around origami swans made from different paper currencies and then set on fire. Check out the folding, and burning, directions printed on the disk itself.
The sad thing about Change is Coming is it’s the last Money Mark record I got. There have been two more full length releases and it’s ridiculous that I don’t have them, yet. Somebody help me out!
As an added bonus today, I’ve included a video with Mr. Mark from an interview that was on the Sundance Channel where he explains his relationship with the Beastie Boys and his creative process.
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