Over the past few years, I have posted about Split Lip Rayfield about forty krazillion times. Here I go again.

Late last year, Kirk Rundstrom, the guitarist, was diagnosed with cancer and started intensive treatment. Very sadly, that treatment was not as effective as hoped, and Kirk has been given 4-6 months to live.

To keep his spirits up and make some money to pay off medical bills, all four members of SLR (so Wayne, the mandolin player that left the band two years ago, will join them) will tour through August in the cities and venues that have loved them the most. Outside of a bunch of shows all over KS and MO, they will be playing two shows in Austin and one in Chicago.

I just bought my tickets to the show here with a heavy heart but the same sense of excitiment I have had every time I know I am going to see them live.

If you live someplace near where they are playing and love crazy punked out bluegrassy rock - you should go.

Jesus, that poor guy.

How sad. I'm reminded of Dom from "Ed's Redeeming Qualities." When his hair fell out due to chemo, the rest of the band (Carrie included)shaved their heads in solidarity.

Yeah - it sucks. There have been benefits across the country for Kirk which have helped immensely (he has two young daughters to provide for in addition to medical expenses with no health insurance).

SLR has been a part of Lawrence life and Winfield for a long long time. It's all just really sad. I am really conflicted about the show - it is always great to see them but their shows are all about hootin', hollerin' and getting drunk and that seems both perfectly fitting in this situation and unbelievably wrong. I don't know.

In vastly vastly other news, I bought myself Pirate Radio - the Pretenders boxset for my birthday. Man I am so in the thrall of Ms. Hynde right now. It's a great great collection.

Also, Waits tickets sold out here in like two seconds. I found some for $170 yesterday, but I just couldn't even think about that.

I bought myself Pirate Radio - the Pretenders boxset for my birthday. Man I am so in the thrall of Ms. Hynde right now. It's a great great collection.

Heh. I was just listening to Pretenders II yesterday. I hadn't listened to it in forever, because I've got a bit of bias against that record. I had loved their EP Extended Play and was disinclined to get the album because it didn't even have "Cuban Slide" and "Porcelin" - two of my favorite tracks. I saw the original lineup of The Pretenders play and they were just an utterly awe-inspiring rock band. I still have the souveneir tour book from that show. I should scan some pictures - they were so fucking cool, and rock and roll stylish. Somehow they managed to pull together elements of rockabilly and mod and new wave style into a swanky whole.

My PRETENDERS story:

I saw them in Portland ( Learning to Crawl tour), and SIMPLE MINDS ( Sparkle in the Rain ) opened for them (back when Chrissie and Jim Kerr were married). Not a whole lot of people in Maine knew a thing about SM at that point (it was pre-BREAKFAST CLUB). During the PRETENDERS set, Chrissie announced from stage that she wanted to "congratulate Jim Kerr of SIMPLE MINDS; his wife is pregnant.") I think I was one of about 5% of the audience that actually understood the significance/joke of it.

The end.

P.S. PRETENDERS rocked the house. SIMPLE MINDS weren't bad either. I got to see a bunch of good shows in Portland (my very first concert: TALKING HEADS; I also saw Stevie Ray Vaughn open for, of all people, the MOODY BLUES - I only knew who he was because of LET'S DANCE at that point).

Bowie Alert!

I made a good score at Amoeba yesterday, finding the VHS tape for the 1980 Floor Show as shown on The Midnight Special. I don't think this was ever officially released - this looks like it was a second generation dub off of the Midnight Special.

It was shot in 1973, and was his first public appearance after the famous Death of Ziggy concert.

This was Bowie's last go-around with Mick Ronson for a decade, and also one of the last times he was sporting the Ziggy mullett. The show reflects two of Bowie's interests which were yet to come out on Pin Ups and Diamond Dogs. That is, swinging mod London of the sixties, and Brecht/Weill cabaret.

They recorded it at the Marquee Club - arguably the greatest rock club ever. Certainly one of the few clubs you can reasonably compare to CBGBs or The Fillmore.

There's a lot of seventies ridiculousness (The Flamenco Rock of...Carmen! Male dancers spelling out "BOWIE" with their flexible mime inspired dance!), but also some fantastic performances and visuals as well.

Great live version of "Jean Genie." Marianne Faithful doing a superglam and decadent version of Noel Coward's "20th Century Blues." The infamous duet between Marianne and Bowie on "I Got You Babe" where she's wearing a super slinky nun's habit. She looks so gorgeous and wasted in this.

Marianne Faithful was dressed as a decadent nun with cowl and a black backless cape, which left her bottom exposed to the audience as she quickly ran off stage at the end of the performance.

"She was wearing a nun's habit with no backside and black stockings. I've got that clip at home, and it is fantastic. But they wouldn't show it in America. It was felt to be beyond the pale. Madonna, eat your heart out!" - Bowie (1993)

Plus The Troggs doing "Wild Thing"! (Everybody's aware that The Troggs Tapes were the inspiration for Spinal Tap, right? These were tapes that the sound engineer recorded of them arguing in the studio where they sound exactly Spinaltappian in their stoned, muddled pretensions.)

eta: Ziggy cocktails!

A bright green-coloured Ziggy Stardust cocktail was invented by management at the Top Rank Suite, Hanley to mark Bowie's appearance there on 7 September 1972. The ingredients were advocaat, pernod, creme-de-menthe and lime and was served by scantily clad waitresses.

And here is the recipe for a Suffragette City cocktail. In a shaker half-filled with ice cubes, combine all of the following ingredients, mix and pour.

Light Rum 1 1/2 Oz.
Grand Marnier 1/2 Oz.
Lime Juice 1/2 Oz.
Grenadine 1/2 Tsp.

Aladdin Sane Cocktail
A more recent creation by Absolut Vodka and described by Cosmopolitan as: "Like the David Bowie alter-ego for whom the drink is named, the Aladdin Sane is a superior variation on a timeless classic." The ingredients are: 1 oz Absolut Citron, Juice of 1/2 Lime, 1/2 oz Cointreau and 1/4 cup Fruit punch.

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker 3/4 filled with ice. Shake, allow to chill for 5 minutes, re-shake, and pour into a martini glass.

Bonus image from that era: Angela Bowie IS Wonder Woman

If that to-colour moment in Wings Of Desire were a pop song

Clever. But I haven't seen Wings of Desire in a while. What's the connection?

Whoa, Ananda Shankar's sitar and Moog version of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is sexy!

Also, I found my box of library music and weird soundtrack stuff so I once again have Bollywood Funk and "the psych jazzy best of I Marc 4" at my disposal.

I'm working on a CD burn version of my mixtape The Ineluctable Grooviness of Tomorrow.

Other fun recent purchases: Bridget St. John - songs for the gentle man; Felt's Gold Mine Trash, The In-Kraut (German Now Sound, Soul and Mod from 66-74), Calexico's Hot Rail and Tearing Up the Charts by Go Kart Mozart.