This Sunset Strip Summer

Domenic Priore writes:

O.k., lots of fun stuff to think about, and to do: I’ve set it up so that if you live anywhere near New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles, there will be a ‘Riot on Sunset Strip Film Festival’ near you. Please check out:http://dumbangelmag.blogspot.com/

There’s lots of cool pictures here as well, and a link to watch Lloyd Bridges driving ‘The Silhouette’ for a couple of minutes… along with some groovy Love, and Brian Wilson ‘Smile’ stuff.

In L.A., I’m doing a ‘Beatnik Sunset Strip’ slide show at Skylight Books in Los Feliz, Thursday, June 26 (free), then the following Sunday (June 29), will be hosting two documentaries at The American Cinematheque’s Egyptian Theater… the Love documentary Love Story, and one on jazz vibraphonist/arranger Gary McFarland This is Gary McFarland. Both events start at 7 p.m.

In New York, it will be the ‘Riot on Sunset Strip Film Series,’ over two months of midnight movies at The IFC Center in Greenwich Village, each weekend starting July 25.

In San Francisco, The Red Vic Movie House on Haight Street will feature the ‘Riot on Sunset Strip Weekend’ featuring Riot on Sunset Strip, The Trip, You Are What You Eat and the Love documentary Love Story. This will happen August 28 through 31st.

So, have a look, it’s an easy thing to peruse, and a lot of fun this summer to come from it. …

“Volcanic Action” Returns Today on Luxuriamusic.com

From Domenic Priore:

Friday on Volcanic Action you’ll hear music from the surfing movie soundtracks to Blue Surf-Ari, Strictly Hot, Gone With The Wave, The Golden Breed, Follow Me, The Fantastic Plastic Machine, Getting Back to Nothing and the Waimea Bay epic Ride The Wild Surf. Plus plenty of Exotica, Surf Instrumentals, West Coast Jazz, Bossa Nova, Hawaiian and Surf vocal tunes too.

11 p.m. London

6 p.m. New York City

3 p.m. Los Angeles

Noon in Honolulu

Luxuriamusic.com

Hukilau 2008

Great art, as always!

website

live acts:
Tikiyaki Orchestra – Los Angeles
Martini Kings – Los Angeles
Fisherman – New York City
Haole Kats – Florida
Intoxicators – Florida

exotic activities and special guests:
Jeff “Beachbum” Berry presents Potions of the Caribbean
Sven Kirsten – author of The Book of Tiki and Tiki Modern
Hukilau Games – Beach Volleyball and other activities
Tiki Carving with the Masters – on the Beach!

Rock Hall Voting Scandal (MySpace Bulletin Repost)

This interesting Bulletin came thru this morning on MySpace:

Rock Hall Voting Scandal: Rock Group Actually Won

According to sources knowledgeable about the mysterious ways of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, British Invasion group The Dave Clark Five and not Grandmaster Flash finished fifth in the final voting of the nominating committee and should have been inducted on Monday night.

According to sources, Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner, who recently appointed himself chairman of the Foundation after the death of Ahmet Ertegun, ignored the final voting and chose Grandmaster Flash over the DC5 for this year’s ceremony.

“Jann went back to a previous ballot instead of taking the final vote as the last word,” my source insisted. “He used a technicality about the day votes were due in. In reality, The Dave Clark Five got six more votes than Grandmaster Flash. But he felt we couldn’t go another year without a rap act.”

R.E.M.
, Van Halen, The Ronettes and Patti Smith were the top four vote-getters, with Grandmaster Flash finishing fifth when the votes were counted on the first date ballots were due in to the Rock Hall office.

But when all the ballots were counted a few days later, the DC5 had pulled ahead. Wenner decided to ignore that and stick with the earlier tally.

“We begged Jann to allow all six acts to be inducted. But he insisted that he couldn’t because there wouldn’t be enough time,” my source said. “He wanted to have Aretha Franklin come and perform in memory of Ahmet Ertegun.”

The Ertegun tribute, while very nice, was deemed unnecessary by members of the main committee because the Atlantic Records co-founder will be memorialized in New York on April 17.

“But Jann wanted to do his own tribute. It was insane, especially since he took over Ahmet’s position on the board before Ahmet even had a memorial. Jann simply sent papers around informing everyone that he was now the chairman,” my source said.

The Dave Clark Five ballot tampering, however, stings the most. The group, part of the British Invasion of the ’60s, should have been inducted long ago for their hits like “Glad All Over,” “Bits & Pieces” and “Catch Me If You Can.” Making them wait has turned out to be a huge mistake, as their fortunes have not been great.

In December 2006, sax player Denis Payton succumbed to cancer at age 63. Lead singer Mike Smith has been paralyzed since 2003 after falling off a ladder at his home in Spain.

In August 2005, a terrific fundraising effort for Smith at B.B. King’s in New York was supposed to be the prelude to finally recognizing the group that had several memorable hits in the mid-’60s.

Wenner’s cruel axing of them from the show and the Hall of Fame should be painful to many who are intimately involved with the Hall, like Paul Shaffer, who runs the Hall of Fame band and produced and emceed the Smith tribute.

So what happened here? My sources also say that Wenner’s motivation may have sprung from a controversial speech that was delivered by new administrative head Joel Peresman to the nominating committee last winter.

“He stood up there and told us that we should vote for who we thought would be most commercial, and who be best on the TV show,” a source said. “It was outrageous. Some people tried to stop him and asked him to leave, but he wouldn’t. He said, ‘I’m not leaving.’ The director is never supposed to speak to the nominating committee.”

Peresman came to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation last year when Wenner arbitrarily ousted the long-time chief of the group, Suzan Evans Hochberg, after two decades of loyalty.

“We couldn’t believe Jann stood up there last night and said Suzan was retiring. But when the seating plan went crazy the other day, Jann called and begged her to come in and help. Peresman knows nothing about the business,” a source said.

Peresman came to the Foundation from gigs booking shows at Madison Square Garden and with Clear Channel, the radio giant that many feel has strangled the music business with intransigent radio play policies and suggestions — actually, government investigations — of payola.

In the old days, such a hire would have been considered anathema by Wenner.

None of this should come as any surprise to those who have followed the roller-coaster world of the Rock Hall. According to the group’s most recent tax filing, for example, they gave only $9,000 to indigent musicians from their $11 million in holdings.

Even worse: Wenner sent a tax-free $10,000 to something called Jazz Casuals in San Francisco. It’s really just the archives of Ralph J. Gleason, the late jazz writer who periodically wrote for Rolling Stone in its early days. It was the only donation made by the Foundation to any group last year.

“Again, outrageous,” a source said. “With all of Jann’s money, he could have just sent a check. He didn’t need to use the Foundation’s money.”

By contrast, the Foundation gave only $53,000 to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum in Cleveland. Attorney Allen Grubman’s law firm took another $50,000 for legal services rendered. Evans received her usual $300,000 salary. Peresman is said to be receiving even more.

And then there’s the matter of who has left on the nominating committee. I’m told that nearly half the group is gone, leaving 32 members. Many of the remaining members are former or current Wenner employees, like Rolling Stone’s Nathan Brackett, David Fricke, Jim Henke, Joe Levy, Brian Keizer and Anthony DeCurtis.

Jon Landau, Bruce Springsteen‘s manager and a former Rolling Stone writer, is the chairman of the committee and considered the last truly mediating influence on Wenner.

There are only three actual musicians: Paul Shaffer, Steven van Zandt and Robbie Robertson. Three are female. One of them is black. There are only two other black members: journalist Toure and Reginald C. Dennis

Wenner, I’m told, “weeded out everyone he didn’t like.” He even got rid of the veteran New York Post and Vanity Fair writer Lisa Robinson.

Wenner almost bumped Claudia Perry, a Newark Star Ledger sports writer and former pop music critic. After a scuffle, she managed to hang on, which was good news. As a black woman she fulfilled two minorities on the board (Edna Gundersen and Elyssa Gardner of USA Today are the other females).

“This is the opposite of what Ahmet would have wanted,” a source said. “He liked a big committee that reflected lots of different tastes.”

New Luxuriamusic Shows

Here..s what Domenic Priore wrote about the new Luxuriamusic shows:

Friday: Dom, Kari and Becky 3-9 pm on Luxuriamusic.com

hey there all youse MySpace pals…

Domenic Priore reporting here; I shoulda told you sooner, but I’ve just started a radio DJ gig on Friday afternoons, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time… that means my New York friends can tune in at 6:00 p.m…. as for England etc., it starts at something like 10 or 11 p.m. (In Hawaii, it’s on at noon)

This can be heard here, every Friday: Luxuriamusic.com

My show is called Volcanic Action, and the music is primarily Exotica and Surf… whatever works in that context, including West Coast Jazz, Bossa Nova, Hawaiian, Surf instrumentals and Surf movie soundtracks, ’60s Beach Boys/Jan & Dean-type things (Gals made those kinda records too!), Indo-Rock, records from Australia and South Africa, ethereal Joe Meek, Arthur Lyman, Martin Denny… lotsa groovy stuff to dance to, to relax with, and to take you far out into the oceanic stratoshpere. Remember what Lloyd Bridges said on Sea Hunt; “75% of the world is covered in water, so learn to live with it, and enjoy its many riches”

K.A.O.S. a Go Go with Agent Kari follows at 5 p.m. PST with Psychedelic Go Go music, deep and rich. To find out more about who Agent Kari is, see pages 200-205 of PAD (Chronicle Books)

The evening gets really gone, to happy-land, with Bubblegum & Other Delights from 7-9 PST. DJ Becky Ebenkamp (also known as Penelope Pitstop, New York Becky and more) gets down with the whole Joey Levine/Kastenez-Katz/Archies vibe… it’s better’n a thrilling game of chutes and ladders. (You can read tons of Becky’s work in the Kim Coper/David Smay book Bubblegum Music Is the Naked Truth, from Feral House).

Please be with us; we’re here every Friday, your mutual friends of Dumb Angel, spinnin’ on Luxuriamusic.com

Domenic Priore

Fridays on Luxuriamusic.com
3-5 pm Volcanic Action hosted by Domenic Priore

Pop historian Domenic Priore (of Dumb Angel Magazine) has got a new weekly show on my favorite radiostation, Luxuriamusic.com.

Each saturday 0:00 cet, 3:00 pm pst.

Now, this is the show if you have any interest in Surf music. In his first show last friday he played the direct LA roots of Surf, where it went and some mega-rare tracks from the 61-64 heyday, you wont hear anywhere else. Together with the other styles he spins it makes for very entertaining and interesting four hours.