DR. CREEP benefit, July 18

About this same time last summer, I happened upon some YouTube videos from the old SHOCK THEATRE program that prompted a sort of quasi-love-letter/memoir about Dr. Creep.

Now as you all know, I'm deeply into bar study these days, but a little news about the Creep's recent health problems has drifted through my transom. Unfortunately, I can't be more specific than that because I just haven't been paying that much attention. Still, something tells me you can get the full scoop at the MySpace site for the Dr. Creep Benefit show.

Basically, I'm only posting this to try to spread the word about the benefit. I can't be there, but if at all possible, I think you should go. And if you can't, see if you can donate a little something to the cause. I'll be throwing in the few bucks I can afford as soon as the next paycheck comes in.

Creep was always my favorite local celebrity. And even though he's already a legend in the Miami Valley and has been for some time, I'm not ready to let the ages have him -- not yet.

No matter what, the spirit of the Creep will haunt this town forever. But the man still has good work to do. Let's keep him around as long as possible. See the show, and give what you can.

take care

---Jones()

ps. Thanks to Teresa for the scan of the flier and the heads-up on this story.

Need a goddamn JOB...

Damn straight, I do. I'm so desperate, I'm posting on my stupid blog about it.

As y'all know, I've got a law degree -- but haven't passed the bar yet. Which right now makes me suitable for employment in any of the custodial arts or food service industries!

I need a goddamn job!

take care

---Jones()

New stuff...

For those who don't know, I graduated (magna cum laude by the way) about a week and a half ago, and I'll be taking the bar around the last week of July. Look for new stuff after that. I've still got stuff from E.Y.E., THE STOICS, THE OBVIOUS, TOOBA BLOOZE, THE TASTIES, REAL LULU, and tons of others. Check us out in August.

take care

---Jones()

Rock of Ages...

Okay, so they're having some kind of show at Gilly's on Saturday, March 14. Here's the link if you want to know more (about "some kind of show at Gilly's..."):

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=52578024823&ref=nf

Here's the lineup:

*Dale Walton

*"The Good Will Ambassadors"
(featuring Ed Pittman & Dan Raridan)

*Nick Kizirnis & Jon Dubuc

* "Venus Love Circus"
(featuring Louie Lerma, EL Bean-Lerma & Nate Bean)

If any of those names mean something to you, you should show up. Basically, the show is all about Dayton music of yesteryear. All these guys played some damn fine music in this shitbox town long ago. And now they're going to play some damn fine music in this town again -- should be good.

My only problem is that they're calling it "Rock of Ages." I hate that name. Def Leppard reference... not good. Not. Just not.

But the lineup looks good. The only one I've never seen play before is Dale Walton. I think I was about twelve when he was doing his thing. The others are all a few years after him, so I've seen them in some band or another over the years. But Dale I never saw. So it should be a good night. I'll be there.

take care

---Jones()

Off-site: DEMENTIA PRECOX, SCHP

It's nice to know that the more active blogospherians out there are willing to pick up my slack -- even if they don't realize they're doing it.

The amazing Wheat sent me this link to a rip of the 1982 DEMENTIA PRECOX EP, SCHP over at the Thing on the Doorstep blog. Yeah, that's five tracks of Daytonian proto-industrial/goth/punk/whatever straight from the '80s -- delivered to you here in Siglo XXI through the miracle of the internet!

Of course, sometimes I wonder if it really is such a miracle. I mean, yeah it is, but does that really make it a good thing? I think about those people back in 1982 who loved good music so much... who were so dissatisfied with what mainstream pop culture had to offer... who were so thirsty for something different that they might've spent a significant portion of their daily lives tracking down releases like this through obscure mail-order or the few decent record stores that might have carried them. And here we are in the future, where you can get it with a click.

"In here I'm 'the guy who can get it for you.' But out there, all you need is the Yellow Pages."

Morgan Freeman's character (Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding) says that in The Shawshank Redemption -- in a part of the film in which "Red" contemplates how needless his particular skills in acquiring objects would be if he were ever released. How many "Reds" have the internet (and blogs like this) made obsolete? Ah well...

take care

---Jones()

[Title of Show]

No more excuses for not updating. I'm just a lazy fucker, and who even knows when I'll do a real update? I totally suck.

But something drifted through my transom today that I thought I should post here. It's only vaguely related to Dayton, and it isn't even indie rock, but here we go anyway.

[Title of Show] is a show currently running on Broadway starring, among others, Susan Blackwell. Susan and I went to high school together at Bethel oh so many years ago. I remember the she and I and Kris Pleis used to spend a bit of time every day together during some math class or other. She was always a good egg, and quite talented. You might have seen her (as I have) in some episode of _The Sopranos_ or _Law & Order_ over the past fifteen years or so.

She and I both went to Wright State after high school, but I pretty much lost track of her there. She was in the Theatre Department doing theatrical stuff, and I was in the English department trying to pass myself off as a college student long enough to score as many free records as possible out of the radio station. I do remember I saw her in sort of minimalist version of _The Elephant Man_, in which she played the Elephant Man himself. But otherwise, I had little idea what was going on with her. Ironically, my ex-wife got to know her better than I did because she was in the theatre department too back then.

Anyway, as far as I know, Susan was never the big indie rocker while she was in Dayton. I don't remember seeing her at shows or anything. So yeah, this is a bit off-topic for this blog. But there's at least some Dayton connection.

Apparently, Susan stars in and co-wrote [Title of Show]. Check out the link for more info. And see it if you're in NYC any time soon.

take care

---Jones()

Off-site: FRANKENSTEIN'S KIND and OXYMORONS (sort of!) at YouTube!

Mite Mutant deserves all the credit for digging up these amazing videos.

First, we have this long lost example of mid-'80s creativity from FRANKENSTEIN'S KIND (a band that has, quite UNdeservedly, slipped into Dayton obscurity):



And now, just when you thought things couldn't get any more surreal, here's a video of a drummer playing along with Nick Atkinson's part in THE OXYMORONS' "Day of Reckoning":



If you've never played an instrument, then you might not be familiar with the (common) practice of base imitation to develop one's skill.

If you've ever been involved with any creative art other than music, then you might eschew the practice of imitation as a means to develop creativity. To put it in terms that TINY creative minds might understand, you might think that imitation is for suckers.

However, nothing can be further from the truth. Imitation has been a standard part of creative development for centuries (Benjamin Franklin, in fact, wrote an instructive essay in which he admits that he learned to write well by copying passages from his favorite writers many times over and changing them just a bit each time). The 20th Century witnessed a revolution in pretty much every form of art and invented several new ones. Yet the great disservice that 20th-century thinking did to artists lies in its over-emphasis on complete originality. Certainly, originality is an important element in any finished work of art, but the development of creativity must certainly include the practice of unabashed imitation of previous works of art by which one has been inspired. Seriously, could Jack Kerouac have developed the creativity to write On the Road without first directly imitating his hero Thomas Wolfe in Kerouac's first novel, The Town and the City? Could the ROLLING STONES have recorded Exile on Main Street without first covering the old blues standard "Come On, Come On!"?

And to develop my own (marginal) creative skill, I myself spent hours playing Joey Santiago solos and Bob Mould rhythms note-for-note on my guitar before I ever ventured to record anything I would call "original" (and whatever decency there was in any music I ever made owes a heavy debt to those hours of imitation). With that in mind, I salute both the (unfortunately anonymous) drummer playing in this video AND Nick Atkinson, whose original playing on this track inspired the imitation.

take care

---Jones()