ON THE SET: DAY ONE

Today was my first day on the job in the set production department on a movie set. Very surreal day, not just because people were walking around in nutty outfits like it was perfectly normal, but because I was actually doing physical labor for the first time in my life. Just remember, that HOLLYWOOD sign in L.A. didn’t get dropped off by the Easter Bunny; some poor guy had to build it, paint it, intsall it. Don’t know who that person was, but they REALLY want to direct.

HOLY ANNIVERSARY!

35 years ago tonight, on May 18, 1973, I saw Led Zeppelin for the very first time, on the Dallas stop of their Houses Of The Holy tour. I still have my ticket stub. I rememebr I took my mom’s Instamatic, bravely stood in the aisle and took ONE PICTURE, and scurried back to my seat. One picture. 3 years ago tonight, my band The Volares released our second album, Godvertising, and Buddy Miles drummed with us at our release party. And today, I had my first multi-vendor record fair, About To Pop, in Dallas. Something about 5/18….

 

HAPPLE BIRTHDAY

Apple Records was officially announced 40 years ago on May 14, 1968. 40 years old and still not scruffy.

GOOD DAY TO BUY SOME RECORDS

Today was a great day to visit a record store. I stopped by Good Records in Dallas and bought 3 very groovy CDs; Tooth Of Crime by T Bone Burnett, Blame It On Gravity by The Old 97’s (hell, I’m in the damn concert footage on the DVD), and the debut full length album by Flight Of The Concords. Packaging is excellent on all 3 releases. In my opinion, there should be 3 fun-to-buy CDs released every single day. Why not.

ABOUT TO POP #1 in DALLAS, Sun. MAY 18

My new pop culture expo/whatever, About To Pop, debuts this Sunday, May 18th, at Studio Arts in Dallas, from 1-5pm. This is a multi-vendor affair with several tables of all sorts of cool stuff for sale in the realms of music, dvd’s, sci-fi, etc. Email me if you have any questions at bucks@sbcglobal.net. I’ll be glad to add you to the event mailing list.

RONNIE LANE ESSAY @ sonicboomers.com

The fine folk at sonicboomers.com have just published a 1,000 word essay I wrote on the late great Ronnie Lane, who I lived with in Houston in 1985. Hope you’ll check it out. The site is run by my good friend Bill Bentley, who replaced me when I left Warner Bros. Records in 1985. They also used a picture I took of Ronnie, which is my first published photo ever! Be sure and check out the Ronnie Lane DVD, The Passing Show – it’s a great look into the amazing life of Mr. Lane.

ALBERT HOFFMAN, R.I.P./L.S.D.

The inventor of LSD, aka Acid, died this week at the age of 102. Fact check – he invented, and repeatedly used LSD, and lived to be 102. This sends a clear message to the youth of today – trip your brains out and you will live a long and healthy life. I am inspired to trip like crazy and start planning my 100th birthday party, probably while I am tripping. I wonder – when he died, and began his journey to the spirit world, did he think he was just tripping again? When he met Whomever greets us on the other side of the veil, did they have trouble convincing him of his fate? “Uh, dude, you’re not tripping, you actually just died and crossed over into the spiritual realm.” “That is so trippy that you would say that, you are the best hallucination of God I have ever witnessed.” “That’s because I really AM God. And you really did die, i swear.” “That’s what you said LAST time I tripped. And then I realized it was just my cat talking to me.” “Mr. Hoffman, I am not your cat, I am your Creator.” “Great. Let me find a string of yarn and we’ll have some REAL fun!!”

ESTATE SALE

Today I went to an estate sale and bought one of the strangest paintings I have ever seen…for $4.00. Impossible to describe, I will just say I believe the title is House For sale. Also got a cool Dr. Seuss metal lunchbox made in 1970. While driving around tonight I saw two vans with video screens on the sides and backs broadcasting advertisements. Remember, you heard it here first – vanvertising.

ALICE IN DALLAS (Oh god, I said it)

Today is a special anniversary. 35 years ago, on April 28, 1973, I saw the original Alice Cooper band at Memorial Auditorium in Dallas while they were on the Billion Dollar Babies tour. The show was unbelievable, by yesterday’s standards or today’s…and I met part of the band after their sound check. I met the drummer, Neal Smith, who took me under his wing and walked me backstage to meet Alice. On the elevator, we were briefly joined by bassist Dennis Dunnaway. After that, I was kicked out of the backstage area before I could meet Alice, by his longtime manager Shep Gordon. Neal was very apologetic about the outcome – a total sweetheart. I finally met Alice in 1990 at the Bronco Bowl in Dallas. We had a great visit on his tour bus, and as I stepped off of it, who walked up but Shep Gordon. I just looked at him and said, “Too late.”

EMOTIONAL ELEVATOR

Today has been very up and down for me. Not quite an emotional rollercoaster, more like an emotional elevator. I found out this afternoon that I am officially hired as a paid crew member for the set production department for a movie being filmed in Dallas. I will start work on May 19, Pete Townshend’s burfday. I cannot reveal the plot of this film, but will say John Waters should’ve made it right after Female Trouble. That was the good news. The sad news came in the early evening when I found out that my childhood hero, Mr. Peppermint, had a pacemaker installed this week in Dallas, and has also been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. This is a major bummer. I watched his show every single morning before school for about a decade, and rediscovered him after I graduated highschool. He had his own show on Dallas airwaves for over 20 years, maybe 30. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago at Club Dada. This hit me harder than expected, and I have been crying peppermint tears.