News, blues, etc.

Here's what Alice Cooper had to say about performing with the Rock School All-Stars on the Sony Music Forum Board

"ALICE COOPER, BILLY IDOL & OTHERS RECAST HITS FOR 'ROCK SCHOOL' SOUNDTRACK

Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and members of Heart, Deep Purple, and Yes join forces with aspiring rock-and-rollers for the soundtrack to the upcoming documentary Rock School. The film, which is due out early this summer, traces the success of Paul Green's School Of Rock Music, which was founded in Philadelphia in 1999 and inspired the Jack Black movie School Of Rock. The Rock School soundtrack, which will be released on May 31st, teams established stars with Green's students for versions of their hits. Green's corps also perform three songs by themselves.

Cooper recorded his hit "School's Out" with the kids, and he told us that they blew him away: "When I got there, they were playing (King Crimson's) '21st Century Schizoid Man' -- and they were 12! My band can't play '21st Century Schizoid Man'! (laughs) So they're all little geniuses, and great kids, too."

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Err...the kids aren't 12 years old, I'd say the median age is 16, but yeah, Alice baby, you're right - they are geniuses. And they were taught by a genius, too.
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So my son has the kind of weekend coming up for which he lives.
Friday night: He has a gig with his band Flamingo down in Old City;
Saturday afternoon: He has a gig at BB King's in NYC with kids from the Paul Green School of Rock doing an encore performance of Jesus Christ Superstar. Hey, if you are in the New York area, you've got to catch this show. I was its staunchest big mouth objector - I hated the idea of the show, the music, the premise...and then I go to see it and my jaw fucking dropped to the ground. This production is better than anything you'll ever see on Broadway or even at a usual rock concert. Trust me on this. The show starts at 12:30 p.m. and BB Kings is right on 42nd Street.
Sunday: He gets to hang out with his old pals Napoleon Murphy Brock and Ike Willis when they perform with Project Object at the World Cafe Live at 8:30 p.m. Last time Project Object played Philly, Eric joined them on a song and got a warm introduction from Ike and Napi...so who knows...it could happen again...I dunno, it's enough to make me leave my house to go check out in any event.
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So how lucky am I. Newmarket Films together with Paul Green are sponsoring a little west coast mini tour in support of the movie's premier and I get to go to Los Angeles from May 23-25 to see a private screening and then watch a performance by the kids. This isn't just any performance. It reunites Rock School graduates Louie Graff and Teddi Tarnoff and Julie Slick with Rock School All-Stars Eric Slick, C.J. Tywoniak, Madison Flego, Larry Allen, and Dom Milandro. Since these are the kids in the movie, it's awesome that they are getting together one final time (heh...I don't believe that for one minute...but that could be my wishful thinking) to blow out the L.A. crowd. I can't wait! There's a lot more I could say about this trip such as give some awesome, exciting details but I'm going to wait until it's closer to May 23 because I don't want to jinx anything.
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In other news, I leave next Wednesday for the RT Convention in St. Louis. I wish I could say this excited me but I'm more scared than anything. On the plus side, my book should finally be in print and I'll have something to autograph as opposed to an ebook on a computer screen; on the minus side, I'm not a romance writer and am not exactly gregarious when in situations where I'm socially uncomfortable. Okay, I'm always socially uncomfortable, but I can hide it with vast quantities of alcohol. However, this would probably not be a good idea (getting drunk) under the circumstances. Oy. It also means I miss the New England mini-tour with the Rock School All-Stars...Baltimore, MD April 29, Boston April 30, and Burlington, Vermont May 1. But the Newmarket Films event in Los Angeles in late May should more than make up for that, huh.
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Finally, yeah, yeah, I have the blues. Spring fever, and my house needs all of these repairs for which I have neither the time nor inclination. Not to mention the fact that I'm terrified of what I'm going to find out...like, yesterday I heard from a roofer that my roof "is a disaster". I'm still waiting for him to call me back with the estimate. It's not the money that bothers me -- I just don't want to have to deal with mundane every day shit....all I want to do is write all day, go see great live music at night, and continually stuff my face with awesome food and alcohol. In other words, I want to be a child, not an adult. Though there are some people who probably are of the opinion I act like a child and should grow up already, but well, who the fuck cares what they think.

Rock School soundtrack update!

Rock School All-Stars performing Black Magic Woman in Las Vegas, Nevada - August, 2004

Okay, it's all straightened out as far as the official soundtrack songs and order. Click here and you'll see Calvin Records has updated their site accordingly. No Zomby Woof, yes to LA Woman and Don't Stand So Close (which will make my daughter happy because she plays that with Stewart Copeland and said those polyrhythms were hard!). The order of the tracks, in my humble opinion, is a lot better than the way the site had it listed yesterday, too. Having been on the road with these guys for close to three weeks, they almost always started their classic rock sets with Black Magic Woman, so it's good to see that listed as Track #1.

I'm gonna cry every time I hear it.

Rock School Soundtrack On Line!

How exciting is this! Here's the official website for the Rock School soundtrack, where you can hear the first single, School's Out featuring Alice Cooper and the Rock School All-Stars -- my daughter Julie on bass and Allie Hautpman on keyboards; Jeremy Blessing and Cameron Sima on guitars, and Joey Randazzo on drums. I believe Teddi Tarnoff and Dom Milandro are singing back-up and even Julie sings at the end with all the other Rock School kids.

So that's awesome! 1:14 a.m. and I can't sleep and this is what I find on my travels through cyberspace. Ask me how many times I've watched the trailer and listened to this cut within the past half hour! And how kind of them to link said trailer on their site as well. Now. If they'll only list the creds of the Rock School All-Stars who appear on each cut.

I do know the songs my kids are on. Both Julie and Eric play with Ann Wilson on Barracuda and with Jon Anderson on Heart of the Sunrise; Julie plays bass on School's Out, Peace Sells with Dave Mustaine, and (maybe?) Don't Stand So Close with Stewart Copeland; Eric plays drums on Black Magic Woman with Greg Rollie, who was Carlos Santana's original vocalist on the song; he plays on Rebel Yell with Billy Idol and (maybe?) on LA Woman with Dom Milandro on vocals and you won't believe this kid - he's 16 and sounds just like Morrison.

But to my knowledge, the track listing as they have it on the website is the different than the one being advertised everywhere else. Zomby Woof, which I hear is a killer version performed by Teddi on vocals and my son on drums, was supposedly nixed by Gail Zappa, Frank's rather interesting widow and I thought that song has been replaced by Don't Stand So Close To Me. I notice they also don't list LA Woman so I'm not sure what the deal is with that, either.

If anyone from Rock School reads this and knows the answer, please click on the comments section of this post and let me know!
Okay, going back for another listen! Never let it be said that I'm not music obsessed and kid proud...

I was afraid of this Part II - Holy Crap!

My god, even Rolling Stone Magazine got it wrong. Do journalists not fact check anymore?

"KISS' GENE SIMMONS will star in a six-episode reality show, Rock School, inspired by the movie School of Rock. The show will debut on VH1 this summer. The soundtrack -- featuring the School of Rock students performing with BILLY IDOL, ALICE COOPER, HEART'S ANN WILSON and others -- hits stores May 31st."

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Okay, when Rolling Stone fucks up and how many millions of people are going to read/think this, it's time to take action!

Now. What the hell should I do?
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So my face hurts like hell this morning. And now I'm remembering, two years ago I had a similar incident when some dork was practicing tai chi or however it's spelled in Love Park and swung his arm out and knocked my sunglasses off as I unwittingly came up from behind.

And this is the woman who thought about moving to New York City?

Ha.

I'm going with the cabin in the woods.
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Anyway, I have a bad case of spring fever. The cherry blossom trees are all in bloom, lovers are everywhere, and I'm fucking miserable. I guess sad is the word. I like being alone - I'm not a people lover -- and yet...

I dunno. If I see one more gorgeous, young couple kiss today I think I'm gonna have my third cry of the week.

Or at least have a chocolate covered pretzel.

I was afraid of this...

From today's Times Dispatch:

"Coming to VH1 this summer is a six-episode reality show, "Rock School," inspired by the Jack Black movie, "School of Rock". The soundtrack lands May 31 and features the students from the show performing with Billy Idol, Alice Cooper and Ann Wilson of Heart"

D'oh. The six episode reality show is a VH1 series for fuckwits starring Gene Simmons. Rock School the documentary -- yes, yes, the original school ripped off by the Jack Black movie School of Rock -- is premiering in June and the soundtrack for THAT is what will be released at the end of May.

Sigh.

So this has not been the best week for me. Over the weekend, my water bed exploded and it was finally the end of an era. I've slept on one since my early twenties and hate traditional mattresses. I'm always miserable in hotels. Okay, not that miserable, but still.

Anyway, this is like the third time in ten years this has happened, even though the mattresses supposedly have 25 year warranties. This particular mattress wasn't even three years old, and when I went to change the sheets, I stuck my hand in three inches of water and wanted to cry. It is the worst fucking mess you can imagine...thousands of gallons of water streaming and there's not a thing I could do about it other than run back and forth to the bathroom with buckets. But going back to my original statement about the warranties, I started thinking that it's not the bed; it's the water. There must be so much acid rain...so many chemicals in Philadelphia water...that it causes the waterbed mattress to simply rot away. Cos' that's what happened to me. My hand literally went through the rubber.

Soo...after spending the entire day cleaning and crying, I decided that was it. I had to buy a regular mattress and at least pretend to be a normal woman.

Ahem. I had no idea what that entailed.

Mattress salespeople are worse than used car salesmen and hmm..I'd even put them up there with insurance guys. It was a nightmare, especially for me, because I hate to shop unless it's for something like a cool piece of artwork.

Okay, I won't bore anyone with the details, but yeah, yeah, I ended up buying one; somehow shlepped it up the steps which was another adventure from hell (it's queen sized and I have really narrow stairs)and much to my shock, had the best night sleep I've had in years. I bought what's called a pillow top...oh my god, I never want to leave it in the morning.

So that was the weekend.

Then some other shit happened at work; I won't bore anyone with that, just the usual stuff where I sit in my chair and contemplate jumping out a window or at least flashing my tits at the stockbrokers in the office opposite us because they look so fucking uptight and Republican...but walking home tonight, well, that was the best. I was behind an elderly woman with a cane, and she was kind of weaving back and forth so I couldn't pass her. We were approaching the traffic light at the intersection of 19th and the Parkway and I thought Oh great, I'll cross over to the other side and get the fuck away from her. But before I could do that, for some ungodly reason, she raised her cane up and I was right behind her and she smacked me right in the face. It was a total accident, she didn't even know I was there...I think she either thought a car was going to hit her or something shocked her and she raised her arm and well, there was my face.

I was so stunned...for a minute I thought I was going to fall down because she whacked me really hard. Meanwhile, a crowd suddenly appears out of nowhere, and I was totally mortified and yep, for the second time this week, cried.

But I'm okay...it was just embarrassing and hurt for a few minutes and the lady kept apologizing and asking me if I was okay and she was really old and I felt terrible and oh my god, I think I'm gonna go have a beer now and try and forget about it.

And with the beer, I think I'm gonna finally watch those Rock School DVDs Dave Neidorf was awesome enough to send me. Yo, he sent me the spring preview concert filmed by MTV at the TLA last year. I can't wait. So beer and a DVD or two it is.

After which I will collapse happily in my new bed.

Just a little Rock School soundtrack gossip re Ian Gillan

Allen Farmello with Ian Gillan

Allen Farmello, who is Ian Gillan's engineer, keeps a daily blog and here's what he had to say about recording Highway Star for the Rock School soundtrack:

Monday, 2-7-05
Met Ian and his mates at Chameleon West's Studio A to track vocals for "Highway Star" for something related to School of Rock, which I thought was fitting for me, since I feels as if I've enterted a a kind of elite academy of rock myself. Ian laid down his vocals in one inspired take, and the doubles were dead on. My first impression: Holy $&!#, this guy can sing! Had fun running long delays on the killer screams that open the tune.

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No, Allen, it's not related to "School of Rock", it's "Rock School", but as I keep saying, the rest of the world will know that soon enough.

F***them -- ha!

Another pic from the very first Rock School tour, Richardson Texas, June, 2002

In today's Philadelphia Daily News:

Dan Gross | Two schools of rock

'YOU WANT a quote? F--- them."

This is how Paul Green responds to VH1's announcement that the network will bring "Rock School," a series starring Kiss' Gene Simmons, to the United States.

Green, who's been churning out pint-size rockers for about eight years, is the subject of a documentary by local filmmaker Don Argott. It's also called "Rock School," and Argott is concerned about the series' possibly being confused with his film.

Green is believed to be the inspiration for the Jack Black film "School of Rock." Producers of that film have denied that.

Green says he and Argott met with VH1 to pitch the network on the movie, later bought by Newmarket Films.

British production company RDF Media is behind the new series, already airing in England. The six episodes featuring Simmons are due on VH1 by summer.

Argott's film, a hit at the Sundance Film Festival, premieres in New York on June 1, and opens two days later in New York and in L.A., and possibly in Philadelphia. If not, it'll open here on June 10.

Green meanwhile continues to open rock schools nationwide and is moving to New York next month, having already sold his Jenkintown home.

As for Argott, his company 9.14 Productions is about to start filming "Buddy Goldstein Live," a comedy about a singer on tour.

Neither VH1 nor RDF Media returned calls yesterday for comment.
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Here's a really cool review of Rock School which was published subsequent to its screening a few weeks ago at South by Southwest in Austin, TX:

Don Argott's "Rock School" played to capacity crowds who generated a vibe more like a concert than a movie. People laughed, hooted, clapped; many flashed the devil sign with raised hands. They were responding to Paul Green, the demanding dean of the School of Rock Music in Philadelphia, where kids ages 5 to 17 learn the notes, moves and collaborative dynamics of playing in a rock band. Green is mean, shouting expletives and slamming doors when a student fails to make her mark. Yet it's this flamboyant, John Belushian passion, at once crude and caring, that spurs his young charges to play their best, nailing even the most byzantine Frank Zappa compositions at a major festival in Germany. With a trajectory of pain and triumph and a compelling cast of hobbit-height headbangers, the film makes an immersive, exhilarating experience that leaves you giddy.

Oh, why did I just have to read this...or...I'm gonna be sick

Heh...Dubya listens to the Knack's My Sharona on his IPod? I wonder if he also sings along with Good Girls Don't? (Also by the Knack, and I've pasted the lyrics below). My guess is he does, with that idiot smirk on his face....

Updated: 07:22 PM EDT
George W. Bush: Rocker-in-Chief
The Presidential Shuffle Is Heavy on Country and Rock

By ELISABETH BUMILLER, The New York Times

Bush's Playlist

A sampling from President Bush's iPod; some songs were selected by Mark McKinnon, the chief media strategist in the 2004 campaign:

John Fogerty, "Centerfield"
Van Morrison, "New Biography," "Brown Eyed Girl"
John Hiatt, "Circle Back"
Alan Jackson
George Jones
Alejandro Escovedo, "Castanets"
Joni Mitchell, "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care"
The Gourds, "El Paso"
Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, "Swinging From the Chains of Love"
Stevie Ray Vaughan, "The House is Rockin' "
James McMurtry, "Valley Road"
The Thrills, "Say It Ain't So"
The Knack, "My Sharona"
(Source: The New York Times)

WASHINGTON (April 11) - Between his return on Friday from Pope John Paul II's funeral in Rome and his meeting today with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, President Bush spent an hour and a half on Saturday on an 18-mile mountain bike ride at his Texas ranch. With him, as usual, was his indispensable new exercise toy: an iPod music player loaded with country and popular rock tunes aimed at getting the presidential heart rate up to a chest-pounding 170 beats per minute.

Which brings up the inevitable question. What, exactly, is on the First iPod? In an era of celebrity playlists - Tom Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback, recently posted his on the iTunes online music store - what does the presidential selection of downloaded songs tell us about Mr. Bush?

First, Mr. Bush's iPod is heavy on traditional country singers like George Jones, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney. He has selections by Van Morrison, whose "Brown Eyed Girl" is a Bush favorite, and by John Fogerty, most predictably "Centerfield," which was played at Texas Rangers games when Mr. Bush was an owner and is still played at ballparks all over America. ("Oh, put me in coach, I'm ready to play today.")

The president also has an eclectic mix of songs downloaded into his iPod from Mark McKinnon, a biking buddy and his chief media strategist during the 2004 campaign. Among them are "Circle Back" by John Hiatt, "(You're So Square) Baby, I Don't Care" by Joni Mitchell and "My Sharona," the 1979 song by the Knack that Joe Levy, a deputy managing editor at Rolling Stone in charge of music coverage, cheerfully branded "suggestive if not outright filthy" in an interview last week.

Mr. Bush has had his Apple iPod since July, when he received it from his twin daughters as a birthday gift. He has some 250 songs on it, a paltry number compared to the 10,000 selections it can hold. Mr. Bush, as leader of the free world, does not take the time to download the music himself; that task falls to his personal aide, Blake Gottesman, who buys individual songs and albums, including Mr. Jones's and Mr. Jackson's greatest hits, from the iTunes music store.

Mr. Bush uses his iPod chiefly during bike workouts to help him pump up his heartbeat, which he monitors with a wrist strap. The strap also keeps track of calories expended for the intensely weight-focused president, who has recently lost eight pounds after eating a lot of doughnuts during the 2004 campaign. Mr. Bush burned 1,300 calories on his bike ride on Saturday, Mr. McKinnon reported.

As for an analysis of Mr. Bush's playlist, Mr. Levy of Rolling Stone started out with this: "One thing that's interesting is that the president likes artists who don't like him."

Mr. Levy was referring to Mr. Fogerty, who was part of the anti-Bush "Vote for Change" concert tour across the United States last fall. Mr. McKinnon, who once wrote songs for Kris Kristofferson's music publishing company, responded in an e-mail message that "if any president limited his music selection to pro-establishment musicians, it would be a pretty slim collection."

Nonetheless, Mr. McKinnon said that Mr. Bush had not gone so far as to include on his playlist "Fortunate Son," the angry anti-Vietnam war song about who has to go to war that Mr. Fogerty sang when he was with Creedence Clearwater Revival. ("I ain't no senator's son ... Some folks are born silver spoon in hand.") As the son of a two-term congressman and a United States Senate candidate, Mr. Bush won a coveted spot with the Texas Air National Guard to avoid combat in Vietnam.

Meanwhile, Mr. Levy sized up the rest of the playlist of the 58-year-old president. "What we're talking about is a lot of great artists from the 60's and 70's and more modern artists who sound like great artists from the 60's and 70's," he said. "This is basically boomer rock 'n' roll and more recent music out of Nashville made for boomers. It's safe, it's reliable, it's loving. What I mean to say is, it's feel-good music. The Sex Pistols it's not."

Mr. Jones, Mr. Levy said, was nonetheless an interesting choice. "George Jones is the greatest living singer in country music and a recovering alcoholic who often sings about heartbreak and drinking," he said. "It tells you that the president knows a thing or two about country music and is serious about his love of country music."

The songs by Mr. Jackson indicate that the president "has a little bit of a taste for hard core and honky-tonk," Mr. Levy said, adding that both Mr. Jackson and Mr. Jones "are not about cute and pop, and they're not getting by on their looks." And while Mr. Chesney "is about cute and pop and gets by on his looks," Mr. Levy said, "he's also all about serious country music."

Mr. McKinnon, who has downloaded "Castanets" by Alejandro Escovedo and "Alive 'N' Kickin' " by Kenny Loggins into Mr. Bush's iPod, said that sometimes a presidential playlist is just a playlist, nothing more.

"No one should psychoanalyze the song selection," Mr. McKinnon said. "It's music to get over the next hill."
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Music to get over the next hill? Hahahaha - is that a metaphor or what?
Lyrics to Good Girls Don't:
She's your adolescent dream,
Schoolboy stuff, a sticky sweet romance.
And she makes you want to scream,
Wishing you could get inside her pants.
So, you fantasize away.
And while you're squeezing her, you thought you heard her saying...

"Good girls don't,
Good girls don't,
Good girls don't, but I do."

So, you call her on the phone
To talk about the teachers that you hate.
And she says she's all alone,
And her parents won't be coming home til late.
There's a ringing in your brain,
Cause you could've sworn you though you heard her saying...

"Good girls don't,
Good girls don't,
Good girls don't, but I do."

And it's a teenage sadness
Everyone has got to taste.
An in-between age madness
That you know you can't erase
Til she's sitting on your face.

You're alone with her at last,
And you're waiting til you think the time is right.
Cause you've heard she's pretty fast.
And you're hoping that she'll give you some tonight.
So, you start to make your play,
Cause you could've sworn you thought you heard her saying...

"Good girls don't,
Good girls don't,
Good girls don't, but I do."

And it's a teenage sadness
Everyone has got to taste.
An in-between age madness
That you know you can't erase
Til she's sitting on your face.

Good girls don't,
Good girls don't,
Good girls don't, but I do...

Before there was a Jack Black School of Rock....

Oh my god, I just found all of these old Rock School pictures. This is one from the very first Paul Green School of Rock All-Star road trip, The Wildflower Music Festival in Richardson, Texas, June, 2002. The kids outplayed Colin Hay (Men at Work), Wilson Pickett, and ha ha ha, Doctor Hook.

We had everything during that concert to near hurricane conditions complete with a tornado warning ("We're right in Tornado Alley," a nice man was kind enough to tell me as I held on to a pole for dear life in the wind and rain. "But you know what we say in Texas - if you don't like the weather, it's okay, cos' in five minutes it'll change") to a very pregnant Lisa (Paul's wife), a pool filled with giant bugs, and the total shock of hearing that John Entwistle had died.

Anyway, it was a great time...and who knew what would be happening during those next three years...that Paul would become an international celebrity and the kids...well, it's going to be very, very interesting to see how it all pans out.

Anyway, that's the original four All-Stars - Teddi Tarnoff, Julie Slick, Allie Hauptman, and Eric Slick hamming it up in great headgear for the crowd right after their performance. They wore them on stage, too, and damn if I can remember the song....it's going to drive me crazy now.

I just called Julie. She said it was Pink Floyd's Pigs.

Of course my memory is bad from that evening. Back then, Julie was the only All-Star bassist and Eric the only drummer so they were in every song. Eric ate a corndog that didn't agree with him and he was only 15 so I had to keep running with him back and forth between songs to the porta-potty, positive he had some kind of terrible food poisoning but Eric being Eric insisted on playing every song. It was great. He'd play a song, throw up, play another song, throw up....and so on and so on and so on.

P.S.

Just saw this - the Rock School kids get a great little blurb regarding their performance last month in Las Vegas....

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