Monday, April 30, 2007

ROCKIN' through rock history in the charabancs

Sept. 11, 1967. Paul waits for the Magical Mystery Tour's film staff to show. (above)
Paul and John, aboard. (above)

Paul and friend, the week of Sept. 10, 1967 (above)
off the bus, briefly, to record "I Am the Walrus" (above) stuck on a narrow English countryside bridge during filming (above)
Modern-day Liverpool, with a re-created excursion coach. "Here, at the stop just 'round the corner from Forthlin Road. This was where Paul used to catch his regular bus to school. He first got talking to George Harrison on the bus as they were both carrying guitars." (above) Note: a similar-painted bus, said to be the orignal from the film, now resides with the Hard Rock Cafe in Orlando, FL.
A "char-a-banc" at Dunsapie Loch, Holyrood Park, near Edinburgh, 1926 (above)
a charabank outing from Caernarfon, 1925 (above)

I was listening to Graham Parker's furiously rockin' 1976 Howlin' Wind album this weekend and in particular to the fine song "Gypsy Blood." Therein, Parker makes reference to the English excursion bus known as the charabanc.
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"Now don't you try to sell your wares, little babe
'Cause I'll buy everything, just about everything you got
Pots and pans, and charabancs,
Jet black curls all tied right up in a knot
'Cause she got red hot, hey hey, gypsy blood, hmm hmm"
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This was Parker's famous debut, rambunctious British pub rock at its finest, backed by The Rumour. Parker was labeled by his associations with punk and new-wave, owing to his connections with Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, and Stiff Records honcho Dave Robinson. But, Parker (as noted in an Amazon.com review) really was an angry white, red-eyed soul brother, his work exemplified by searing rages like "Back to Schooldays" and "Hey Lord, Don't Ask Me Questions," and "Howlin' Wind" itself. "Gypsy Blood" was as romantic as it got on that LP.
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But I got to thinking. Were there other uses of the term "charabanc" in English or other rock?
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There was Jethro Tull's "Wond'ring Again."
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"Incestuous ancestry's charabanc ride
Spawning new millions, throws the world on its side
Supporting their far-flung illusion, the national curse,
And those with no sandwiches, please get off the bus."
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And the Decemberists, in 2003, made reference in their song "The Legionnaire's Lament" off the Castaways and Cutouts album:
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"On the old left bank
My baby in a charabanc
Riding up the width and length
of the Champs Elysees"
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The charabanc was an early form of bus, used typically for sightseeing trips. The term came from the French char-a-bancs, a "carriage with benches." Lord Byron mentioned it in his journal in September, 1816, when he rode aboard a horse-drawn conveyance. British speakers usually said it as sharra-bang. The heyday of the charabanc in Britain was between the First and Second World Wars. Sometimes it had a roof, but almost always the sides were open to the elements. According to www.worldwidewords.org, "it was a conveyance mainly for the holidaymaking proletariat, who were disparagingly referred to by their social superiors as trippers. To such critics, the charabanc wasn't so much a vehicle as a noisy self-propelled pub that conveyed a drunken rabble who threw bottles and bellowed bawdy songs. This was a huge exaggeration of course, since most charabanc excursions were quite sober." Charabancs were especially popular for "works outings" to the country or seaside that businesses would hold for their employees once a year. A typical charabanc is shown at left, a 1929 Dennis, which still today departs daily from the Bandstand in Whitby (near the fish docks).
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The charabanc tour is also the premise for the Beatles' 1967 television film Magical Mystery Tour, in which a group of characters (including 'oddities', 'lovelies,' and the Beatles themselves) toured Southern England in a mix of music hall tunes, comedy, contemporary psychedelia, and musical set pieces by the Fab Four themselves (such as "I am the Walrus" -- shown above).
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When the Beatles formed Apple, their first business endeavor would be this project, spearheaded by Paul McCartney: a charabanc-inspired excursion. According to www.maccafan.net/Gallery/MagicalMisteryTour/Mystery.htm, "During a trip to the US in April, 1967, just after the Sgt. Pepper sessions, McCartney dreamed up an hourlong television film. The Beatles would hire a bus, fill it with actors and extras, and tour around England with a camera crew. Each of the bandmembers would write short episodes, with plenty of room for improvisation. And of course some of the film would be devoted to performances of their latest songs. His original notes, jotted on the plane trip back to England, were quite detailed. He'd already settled on Magical Mystery Tour as the title, and had the theme song written by the time he presented the idea to others on April 25th. His notes also specified a scene with a stripper, a sequence at an army recruiting station, a marathon, and a laboratory scene. His cast list included a courier, a driver, a busy hostess, a fat woman, and a small man. In the end, nearly all these things were included in the film."
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MMT initially aired on BBC-TV on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas) in 1967, initially in black-and-white, then in colour a few days later. It was poorly received by critics and audiences, but is now approaching something of a cult classic. Indeed, there was no overriding script and the project proceeded on the basis of a collection of ideas, sketches, and situations which McCartney called the "Scrupt." The basic plot was that during the course of the tour, "strange things would begin to happen" at the whim of the four musicians, possibly in the manner of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and their bus (see pages 144 - 145 in ROCKIN'). Many "ordinary people" (including John Lennon's uncle Charlie) were to be included on the charabanc. Much of the project was filmed in September, 1967 in the disused WWII aircraft hangers and on the surrounding airfield runways and taxi aprons at RAF West Malling in Kent.
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The hoped-for "magical" adventures never really happend. During the filming, an ever-greater number of cars followed the bus, hoping to see what its passengers were up to, until a running traffic jam developed. The spectacle ended after Lennon finally tore the lettering panels off the sides of the bus.
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The movie's soundtrack was far more favorably received, as it included the avant-garde "I am the Walrus," the wistful "Fool on the Hill," and the iconic "Strawberry Field Forever" and "Penny Lane." It concluded with "All You Need is Love," which would eventually bring home the animated movie that followed, Yellow Submarine.
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Thursday, April 26, 2007

more info on John Holt's ROCKIN' Bone Bike, seen at CLASSICS AND CHROME




I saw John Holt's Bone Bike (also known as Iron Death) at Classics and Chrome in Rockford, IL this past weekend. Here's some more info on what's obviously one ROCKIN' ride.
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"John Holt, 38, is a self-taught metal bender who, ten years ago, designed and built suits of armor that were sold at Sotheby's auction house in New York City. The virtually all-handmade motorcycle was built in the basement shop of his Boone County, IL home (near Belvidere). It looks like a human skeleton but would be bigger (at 9 feet, 2 inches tall) if it stood erect.
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"The skeleton has a giant skull in front with one headlight in each eye socket, and 32 teeth in its awesome jaws. This is the first motorcycle that Holt has built, and it took him all of 22 months, fashioning it after a plastic model of a skeleton bought at a hobby shop.
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"Although the seat isn't padded, last year Holt rode it to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota and won third place in the "Rat's Hole" competition. He also showed it last year at Biketoberfest in Daytona Beach, FL and at the Essen Motor Show in Essen, Germany (the European equivalent of the Detroit Auto Show)."
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Specs:
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Ford 2.3 litre engine
variable flow hydraulic drive
hammer-formed 16 gauge cold rolled steel
weighs approx. 850 lbs
top speed: 90 - 95 mph
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Monday, April 23, 2007

a ROCKIN' great time, definitely had by all, at CLASSICS AND CHROME in Rockford, IL

Troy Finner in his 2005 Chevy Cavalier Pro Stock drag car (above)
John Holt's 2006 Bone-Bike (above)

Walt Baranowski Jr. in his 1965 Chevrolet Corvair Monza convertible (above)
more Bone-Bike (above)
Bob Schaltenbrand's 1928 Ford Model A pickup (wife Judy above)
Irv Hammack's 1957 Pontiac Bonneville (above)
Darlene Hamaker admiring and wearing . . . the Little Deuce Coupe

Jon Esler, Headmaster, The Keith School (above)
1937 Cord, Lycoming engine inside (above)
Darrel Burnett in his 1957 Ford Thunderbird (above)

John Brizzolara (aka BRIZZ on WKGL-FM/Rockford (The Eagle), where he's Program Director) with son Reilly (above)

Arlene (the original Mustang Sally) (above, in her Mustang)
Arthur Swanson's 1942 Cadillac Model 62 (above)
look-- a 3-book guy!!!

I spent this past weekend at the Classics and Chrome event in Rockford, IL. My hosts were Jon and Jackie Esler (Jon is the Headmaster at The Keith School, the annual beneficiary of this fine event; Jackie teaches there as well). Jon and the school's event committee asked me to sign and personalize copies of ROCKIN' which the school purchased to raise money, and I was delighted to do so. I met hundreds of great people and I hope everyone enjoys their new book.
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Thousands of car fans and gearheads turned out, and I urge everyone in southern Wisconsin, northwest Illinois, northeast Iowa, and western Indiana to attend next year. It's that good!
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Gotta thank Donna Goomas for inviting me. Donna unfortunately witnessed the event from a hospital bed, thanks to a persistent flu that finally did her in. Donna--you were everywhere (in spirit)! Also, special thanks to Diane and Vince Zammuto; Darrel Burnett; Helen; Jeff; Brizz at WKGL; Ziggy (Craig, my rockin' chauffeur); and Annette and Lin Schryver for all their assistance and support. At the sponsors dinner, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the Myles Nielsen Band. Myles is the son of Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick), and Rick, who was playing a gig in Florida that weekend, had his own T-Bird and a '58 Ranchero in the show. Rick also donated a number of famously-signed guitars to benefit the school.
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Thanks also to screenprinter-artists Ron Donovan and Chuck Sperry of the Firehouse Studio in San Francisco for donating one of the Eric Clapton tour posters they designed (portrayed in an earlier blog here), and Jay Ryan of The Bird Machine Studio in Chicago for donating his last copy of the Ferris Bueller film tribute poster which he drew and screenprinted You guys rock!
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I especially enjoyed seeing the Lycoming engine inside the '37 Cord; several magnificent Austin-Healey 3000's (my all-time favorite sports car); every one of the muscle cars; and the mustache-grille on the black and red '46 Chevy pickup. I could go on and on, tho.
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Nevertheless, the ROCKIN' car-of-the-show award goes to Darrel Burnett's black and white Thunderbird (having gone through a full-frame restoration, and estimated to be one of approx. 20 produced in 1957 with the combination of a 3-speed overdrive and a non-porthole (removable) top). See picture above. This, in honor of the greatest car song ever sung, "Black and White Thunderbird", by The Delicates (see page 181 in ROCKIN').
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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

GUMBALL 3000: the 9th annual mother of all ROCKIN' car rallies


















On Sunday, April 29th the 9th Annual Gumball 3000 Rally will kick off in London. As many as 120 exotic cars will "race" through Asia and back to London, finishing up on May 5th.
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This has been described as "the most rock 'n' roll car rally ever staged," and is reminiscent of the legendary Cannonball Run celebrated in pop culture lore and on film.
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The 9th Rally's news release pulls no punches:
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"Picture 120 supercars, a crowd of over a quarter of a million people lining the streets, the start in Central London will be the place to be. [Expect to see] rockstars, supermodels, billionaires, and eccentrics, along with Tony Hawk on the vert ramp and DJ Yoda on the decks, with the event being televised live so everyone will get to see the cars head off to their first checkpoint in Amsterdam.
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"Upon reaching Amsterdam, to celebrate the Queen's birthday (crowds expected of over 1 million), cars will drive thru' the night to reach a secret airport in Germany where all 120 will be airlifted by Gumball's own Antonov cargo planes to Asia. Gumballers will then make their way 3000 miles to the finish line back in London, navigating the route with CoPilot satellite navigation via F1 circuits, casinos, crossing cold war borders, and taking in the most glamorous 'James Bond-style' parties possible in Istanbul, Athens, Dubrovnik, Bratislava, and Berlin."
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It goes on.
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The first Gumball 3000 took place in April, 1999 when British creator Maximillion Cooper (shown in top photo here) invited 50 of his friends to take part in a 3000 mile party around Europe to bring together celebrities from the music, film, fashion, and sports worlds. To say the least, hype is the order of the day, so naturally Hugh Hefner and his coterie, Paris Hilton, Travis Barker, Snoop Dogg, and so many others comfortable basking in this sort of limelight do just that--happily shake their moneymakers for the videographers and paparazzi.
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So far, three movies have been made: Six Days in May covered the '04 rally; Driving Me Crazy
reflected some of the jucier bits of the '05; but some maintain Gumball 3000: The Movie was the best of 'em all, portraying all the hijinks of '03.
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Maximillion Cooper's own bio is stone glitz paved with a healthy topping of hubris. "Inspired by Richard Branson on one level," it reads, "and Frederico Fellini and Stanley Kubrick on another, Maximillion's unique passion for exploring life and constantly creating and combining the conventional with the obscure can be seen through his diverse exploits in everything from racing cars to film making, and designing clothes to skateboarding. His teenage years were spent pushing the boundaries of both traditional sports and underground street cultures, and by age 18, four skateboard wheels had turned into the wheels of a motorcar, giving rise to a semi professional career racing sportscars and his first glimpse of the jet-set lifestyle, rubbing shoulders with the world's millionaires."
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It goes on.
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Nevertheless, in a world obsessed with "rock and roll lifestyle," the Gumball 3000 has reached a major pinnacle of notoriety: it is noticed. And, likely a gas to drive an exotic sportscar in, surrounded by hot babes and dudes with plenty Euros . Reminds me of what Commander Cody had to say on that subject: "Whole lotta things I ain't never done, and I ain't never had too much fun."
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Tuesday, April 17, 2007

a ROCKIN' riff on Britney's and the Fine Young Cannibals' concept of "driving someone crazy"




In the course of an earlier blog about car hops, I remembered that Britney Spears dressed up in a car hop costume for the beginning sequences in her song "(You Drive Me) Crazy." This was the third single from her debut album . . . Baby One More Time, released in the third quarter of 1999. The "The Stop Remix!" version, which was the single (rather than the original non-remix), was first included on the motion picture soundtrack of the film Drive Me Crazy (the soundtrack was released on 9-28-99).
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So this is really a riff on the concept of "driving someone crazy." What exactly does that mean?
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According to www.answers.com, "[it's about] driving someone mad or banannas or bonkers or nuts or up the wall (even driving someone to drink), meaning you are greatly exasperating someone and annoying them to distraction, even to the point of extreme frustration, if not [imagined] insanity. For example, 'his habitual lateness drives me crazy,' or 'apologizing over and over drives me bannanas,' or 'her constantly chewing gum drives me up the wall.'" These, by the way are also defined as "hyperbolic expressions."
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I'm sure to many of us, Britney herself, certainly of late, "drives us crazy."
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As the entry in Wikipedia notes "Britney's song was primarily written and produced by Spears' musical parent, Max Martin. This dance-based single is about her falling head over heels in love with someone, as she proclaims "you drive me crazy." It reached only #10 in the US, but was #1 in Chile and the Philippines. In 2000, the video for "Crazy" (directed by Nigel Dick) was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in the category of Best Dance Video.
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Another song with elements of the same title, "She Drives Me Crazy," was released by the Fine Young Cannibals on their 1989 The Raw and the Cooked album. Here are a few tidbits from www.songfacts.com: "When FYC first tried to record this, lead singer Roland Gift used his regular voice and the song was originally titled "She's My Baby." No one involved with the recording liked it, but a revamping of the lyrics and a falsetto voice for the new "She Drives Me Crazy" changed everybody's opinion of the song.
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'"After Berry Levinson heard the music the Fine Young Cannibals provided for Jonathan Demme's film Something Wild, he asked them for some songs for a new movie he was directing called Tin Men. One of the songs the group provided was "She Drives Me Crazy.""
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This was the FYC's first #1 single in the US. Despite being from England, FYC never had a #1 single in the UK (although the album Raw went to #1).
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The songtitle "You Drive Me Crazy" had earlier expressions and variants. Ray Scott recorded it for the Satellite label in 1958. "You Drive Me Out of My Mind" was recorded by Buddy Larrisson for the Jabar label in 1963, and Johnny Stark released "Drivin' Me Out of My Mind" for Crystalette in 1957. More recently, Quiet Riot may have released (I'm unclear here) their own inimitable rendition of the concept "You Drive Me Crazy," and NSync most assuredly recorded "I Drive Myself Crazy."
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There is a wonderful piece on the recording of "She Drives Me Crazy" in Mix Magazine, from March 1, 2001 (you can read the full version at http://mixonline.com/) penned by Dan Daley. There I found these tidbits:
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"In 1989, David Z was an engineer and producer based in his hometown of Minneapolis, working in the non-unpleasant shadow of the talented and demanding artist then (and now) known as Prince. Z had even recorded the demo that got Prince his first record deal. He continued to work with Prince and his musical minions over the next decade, but by the mid-1980s was chafing to establish his credentials outside of Prince's stable. But his association with Prince would turn out to be beneficial in an ironic way.
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"""I got called out of the blue on FYC," recalled Z, whose production discography also includes records for Billy Idol, Big Head Todd, Buddy Guy, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Prince offspring like Sheila E. "What it was, they wanted to work with Prince for their next record. They were told that Prince doesn't work with anybody that way, as a producer-for-hire. But they also were told there was someone who works with Prince who does. That was me, and they were willing to try it out."
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"Z had a meeting with representatives of FYC's label, who mentioned the band, then living in London, had been taking an unusually long time between their first and second records. "The label suggested they come to Minneapolis so that they would have no choice but to work and get the record done," says Z, who also points out that there is precious little to do in Minnesota in the wintertime besides hibernate and work. "They faced extreme culture shock when they got over here," he recalled. "They had shaved heads and a punk attitude, and we didn't have a lot of that yet in Minnesota. I took them over to some clubs on First Avenue, and all they could do was comment on how everyone looked so big and blond and Swedish. I don't think they ever really got used to it over here."
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"Regardless, the band and Z hit it off, and pre-production consisted of sending songs back and forth for consideration. When what would eventually become "She Drives Me Crazy" made it into Z's tape recorder, the melody got his immediate attention. "I called them up and said I love this melody and I could create a great groove for it," Z remembered. "They said they were ready to throw it away, but they started rewriting the lyrics to something they liked better, starting with the title, which immediately made a huge difference. [What was originally] "She's My Baby" is kind of a nebulous sentiment--it's something you say, but it doesn't hit home. Now, "She Drives Me Crazy," that's something every guy in the world has said at least once in his life with conviction.""
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You absolutely must read Daley's full story to learn how Z created a drum groove using pure studio magic to get the sound that defined this great and everlasting song.
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