The death of Morphine frontman Mark Sandman was one of the greatest tragedies of '90s alt-rock. In an event that was surely jarring for everyone involved, Sandman suffered a heart attack onstage at an Italian festival in 1999. The singer and bassist died in an ambulance en route to the hospital, prematurely cutting short the career of one of the decade’s more inventive bands. Had Sandman lived, one could imagine him prospering throughout this decade in a fashion similar to fellow dark songwriters Greg Dulli or Mark Lanegan.
Thankfully, as long as Rhino Records is involved, Sandman’s legacy will not be forgotten. Being the relentless collectors that they are, the label has collected two discs of unreleased Morphine material into a set called At Your Service, which will be released on October 6. The set’s title references Sandman’s opening lines at most Morphine shows: “We are Morphine at your service.” Shadows, the set’s first disc, will consist mainly of unreleased studio tracks and alternate versions, while Shade, the second disc, contains mostly live material from radio station WMBR and more alternate versions of songs.
The 10-year anniversary of Sandman’s death will be further commemorated by a concert featuring the band’s surviving members at Pacific Park in Cambridge on September 27.
Music industry veteran Skip Miller died Friday (Sept. 4) in Los Angeles. He was 62.
Miller was born in New York City. After graduating with a chemistry degree from Hofstra University, he was drafted by the Oakland Raiders and served in the Vietnam War. Miller started his career in the music industry at Motown Records in 1971, eventually becoming president and working with artists such as Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Smokie Robinson and Diana Ross. He was named the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) music executive of the year in 1980.
After Motown Records was sold to MCA in 1988, Miller became senior VP of black, jazz and progressive music for RCA Records and worked with artists such as SWV, Me Phi Me, Stacy Earl, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Too Short, KRS-1, Mobb Deep and the Wu-Tang Clan.
He also became the president of Lion Tracks, where he managed Lionel Richie, and founded the Panda Entertainment Group.
Caroliner Rainbow, "an Industrial Bluegrass/Experimental/Noise conceptual art Costume Rock band" (a.k.a. the coolest band I've ever known), is setting out on a rare Midwestern tour, playing dates with the likes of Chris Corsano, Eyes and Arms of Smoke, Aaron Dilloway, Wasteland Jazz Unit, and Thrones. Why? This is why:
That show just happened on Sunday, the first show of the tour. Here are the remaining dates, with links to flyers -- because that's how we do it at TMT. 09.08.09 - St Louis, MO - Lemp Arts Center
with Spunky Toofers, Skarekrau Radio
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/1240/sep7stlouis.jpg 09.09.09 - Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle
with Chris Corsano, Thrones, Haptick
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h254/cottypearile/carolinerchicagothronesbasico.jpg 09.10.09 - Ypsilanti, MI - Dreamland Theatre
with Slither, Andrew Coltrane Orchestra, special guests
http://i30.tinypic.com/2dcakq9.jpg 09.11.09 - Detroit, MI - Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit
with Apetechnology and see the A. Gutke / A. Lislegaard artistic opening
http://i27.tinypic.com/2db6zgi.jpg 09.12.09 - Oberlin, OH - The ’Sco
http://i25.tinypic.com/2ry0mkh.gif 09.13.09 - Columbus, OH - The Summit
with Parallel Parameters, Tusco Terror
http://i27.tinypic.com/2qv7gva.jpg 09.14.09 - Lexington, KY - Al’s Bar
with Eyes and Arms of Smoke, Kraken Fury 09.15.09 - TBA, IL- TBA
Caroliner TBA with Handjob & Gargle Puppet Show, Wasteland Jazz Unit, Tiger Hatchery, Budweiser, Vertonen, Earfuck 09.17.09 - Lincoln, NE - The Bourbon Theatre
James Williamson, for those of you who aren’t up on your proto-punk history, put his three-chord punk guitar jams all over The Stooges' final record, Raw Power. In fact, he wrote a lot of the songs on that record. But after Williamson and Iggy Pop had a falling out in 1980, they hadn't talked in 20 years, and Williamson gave up guitar and became a dentist. That is, until Iggy called him up earlier this year asking him to play guitar with The Stooges again, replacing now deceased Ron Asheton, who died earlier this year.
Williamson, who has now taken up Hawaiian slack key guitar, met up with Mike Watt (The Minutemen) and original Stooges drummer Scott Asheton and saxophonist Steve McKay to start rehearsing. Now that Williamson is back in the game and can finally bring back the “raw power,” the band has confirmed that they will be playing Raw Power in its entirety at next year's All Tomorrow’s Parties festival in London on both May 2nd and 3rd. Though ATP is the only date set for The Stooges, Williamson says more dates are coming. If you're lucky, they just may "Search and Destroy" some dates around your neck of the woods!
Wycliffe "Steely" Johnson, a keyboardist and producer who helped steer Jamaican music for nearly two decades and modernize the dancehall genre, has died. He was 47.
Johnson died Sept. 1 at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital in Patchogue, N.Y., following a heart attack, said Cleveland Browne, a drummer and producer who was the other half of the duo popularly known as Steely and Clevie.
Several weeks ago Johnson had surgery for a blood clot in his brain, and he had been treated for kidney problems related to diabetes and hypertension. He had moved from Kingston, Jamaica, to New York City for medical care.
Although he was best known for helping to produce numerous hits in Jamaica during the 1980s and 1990s, Johnson first drew acclaim as a keyboardist on Sugar Minott's 1979 album "Ghetto-ology," and later as a member of Roots Radics, a pioneering early 1980s dancehall band.
In the early- to mid-'80s, The Butthole Surfers surely might have been one of the most psychedelic bands around. As of the mid-'90s, they had just become the band that did that "Pepper" song. Today, they are largely known as the band that did that "Pepper" song. Apparently though, the band will not be playing it on this tour, so if that's what you wanna hear, you can just stop reading right now.
They won't be playing that song because The Surfers are back to the early lineup of Gibby Hanes, Paul Leary, Jeff Pinkus, King Coffey, and Teresa Taylor! Does this mean they will only play the old stuff? Not sure!
In any case, The Surfers have invited fellow weirdo psych-rockers Psychic Ills to join them for the tour. They'll start things off September 24 in their home state of Texas, playing at the House of Blues in Houston, and then skip around for about a month until they end things in LA at Club Nokia on October 18. On their last three dates, they will be joined by The Melvins. The Butthole Surfers will also be doing two shows at the end of October with Peaches, one of them being a big Halloween extravaganza in Austin. Here are the dates: 09.24.09 - Houston, TX - House of Blues # 09.25.09 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues # 09.26.09 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade # 09.28.09 - Baltimore, MA - Sonar # 09.29.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero # 09.30.09 - Boston, MA - The Paradise # 10.02.09 - Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theater # 10.05.09 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall # 10.06.09 - Madison, WI - Barrymore Theatre # 10.09.09 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theater # 10.10.09 - Salt Lake City, UT - Urban Lounge # 10.12.09 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom # 10.13.09 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo # 10.14.09 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom # 10.16.09 - San Francisco, CA - Grand Ballroom - Regency # * 10.17.09 - San Diego, CA - Canes Bar & Grill # * 10.18.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Club Nokia # * 10.30.09 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theatre ^ 10.31/09 - Austin, TX - Stubb's ^
