Moss Man!

Moss Man was an action figure from the Masters of the Universe collection back in the 1980s. As Wikipedia notes, his was not an auspicious beginning:

The figure is essentially a green repaint of the Beast Man action figure, covered with fuzzy "moss" with the fangs painted over and a pine scent added to the body. He has a mace that is a recast of a weapon from the original Castle Grayskull.

Initially, sort of a cheap, thrown-together character then. But from manure springs forth roses, and so it was with Moss Man. He has gone from being a simple spy, adept at camouflage and able to blend in with his background, to nothing less than Eternia's Green Man, a god of nature whose immense power over flora and fauna marks him as something of a master over life itself.



























The action figure roots of Moss Man have held persistent fascination with legions of fans and collectors over the years however, and the number of Moss Man sculptures out there now is anyone's guess.

























Whether a Beast Man knock-off or a towering forest giant, Moss Man resonates. His enduring appeal is a fuzzy sensation, a growing phenomenon, and a shared love affair with the sweetest smelling little tough guy of all time.

Bodychoke - Five Prostitutes

Rarely have songs about dominating, killing and/or mutilating women been as lovingly rendered or intensely dramatic as in the work of Bodychoke. The brainchild of Kevin Tomkins and Paul Taylor, perhaps better known as the noise outfit Sutcliffe Jügend, Bodychoke were active in the UK from 1993-1999, releasing three very good albums in that time.

These three records - 94's Mindshaft and 96's Five Prostitutes both on the late, great Freek Records; 98's Cold River Songs, originally on Purity and then reissued last year on Relapse to some belated recognition - represent a dark and intriguing version of rock, with thick bass and thin drums, guitars that make noises and hum and drone and feedback, cello of all things (!!), and two singers who run the gamut from whispering to yelling and even sing and harmonize.

Bodychoke songs can be short or long, eerily quiet or frighteningly loud. Some sound like they'd go down smashingly at a big stadium show, if you know what I mean -- heavy capital-R Rock, with clean production and catchy riffs. Most of the lyrical content, certainly on Five Prostitutes (a reference to the five women killed by Jack the Ripper), is along the lines aforementioned: power electronics chanting of the Whitehouse variety (indeed, Tomkins was a member of Whitehouse) applied to rock and noise rock style compositions, frequently played as a dirge. Only The Brainbombs do it better - though Bodychoke, I would say, often possess a tang of regret in their rants absent in the swinging Swedes' own songbook.


I like all three Bodychoke records (I haven't heard the demos collection Completion yet). Their first record Mindshaft might be the best place to start, as these are perhaps Bodychoke's 'catchiest' tunes. Many folks will tell you that their final record Cold River Songs is the band's greatest work, represents Bodychoke at the apex of their powers or some such, and it is a fine album, no doubt. Personally though, I'm a sucker for bloated records where the weirder ideas didn't get thrown away, and I guess that would have to be the band's second album, Five Prostitutes, the record I bring you today.

It starts off with a bunch of shorter rockers, catchy punchy songs like "The Delivery Man" or "Hole", before "I Can't Wait" - with its downright delicate creepiness ("I can't wait to see you crawling away") - lets you know this is no Amphetamine Reptile-type noise rock. And a lot of folks will likely bolt at the scent of such gothy melodrama. But stick around and be rewarded with the building mania of "Skinflick" or the dubby dérive of "Sperm Burner". "Head In A Jar" is almost a nursery rhyme it's so catchy.

After that, things start getting very strange. It's kind of incredible how mainstream a lot of Bodychoke's songs sound, but every once in awhile there's something like "Anyway You Want It", which uses alternating silences and screeching bits to build up a very effective atmosphere, and doesn't really begin to resemble a 'song' as such until it's almost over. And then it's like getting punched in the kidney. This is hard, physical rock pummelling.

"Anal" strikes me as oddly homoerotic, which I doubt was the intention, and in that it does ring slightly silly to these ears. "Cripple" too seems slightly off somehow, trying too hard or something, not striking the right tone, satirical. As to "How Much Can You Take", the first time I heard this record I LOL at its po-faced sadism ("you're not supposed to fucking enjoy it", wails Tomkins), but it holds up better on repeated listenings, and that is some great noise there towards the end.

And speaking of ends, has any record ever had a heavier ending than "The Red Sea"? This beast of a closer, clocking in at over 15 minutes, is really quite a singular achievement, a pounding, relentless monster that will melt your fuzzy face off if you play it loud enough. Did I mention Steve Albini recorded this?

RESOUND: You recorded your second album, "Five Prostitutes" with Steve Albini. In addition to being a great recording engineer he's quite a character. Any anecdotes from those sessions?

KT: This is probably pretty uncool, but we were all singing “Have you ever seen a fully grown man naked” in various styles from Opera to Country and Western and Dr Doolittle, he was more than happy to join in.

Bodychoke - Five Prostitutes

This is now selling used on Amazon for $163!?!!

The Bon's 7" Release Party!

My rocking weekend continued Saturday evening as I made my way to the Trash Palace to see former Exploders bandmate 'Classy' Craig Daniels' new outfit The Bon release their début recording, a very sharp 7" (in stereophonic sound!) on Tim Hanna's Boppa Do Down Records.


The two songs featured on this slab o' wax - "Stupid Question" b/w "Ancient Times" - are garage rock pop of the highest order, and the sort of thing Craig does as well or better than anyone, as far as I'm concerned. Much respect to this rapscallion of riffs!


First up were Catl, who you will no doubt be familiar with if you follow this blog. The trio have been playing a lot lately and it showed; their set was smooth like silk and raw like bad language. Some of these new Catl tunes are pretty crazy too, so be sure and see them live to catch the extended dance breakdowns and all that.


Between sets, I explored Stacey Case's merch table and was treated to a complimentary copy of his new "Sonics Live In Toronto" boot by the man himself. Thanks, Stacey! It sounds great, by the way.


The Bon are a tight, fun band with great players, a varied set and a diverse sound. It'll be interesting to see what surprises a full-length by the band might contain -- I will say that "Penny Candy" is one of my Bon faves, and the brand-new "The Whammy" kicked all kinds of ass. Visual accompaniment by vintage Six Million Dollar Man vs. Andre the Giant in a Bigfoot costume? A perfect choice. And the ascot was in full effect...



Classy!

The Bon's next show is with none other than No No Zero, along with Filthy Rich and The Ultimatemost High, at Mitzi's Sister on October 10th.

Pre-Shwaltz Majewski Tribute Party!

So Friday was the second show for the new line-up of No No Zero. We piled into the van and drove out to my hometown of Oshawa, to what is one of the last clubs still hosting cool shows in this whole stuck-pig town -- the Atria, on King Street (just across the street from Oshawa's age-old epicentre of sleaze, the Genosh Hotel). The pride we felt at seeing our name in lights was somewhat tempered by the fact that every band on the bill got an abbreviated name.


The Diplomats didn't even get that. They were first up, a trio from Peterborough with a heavy, bluesy bedeviled sound: thick bludgeoning bass, psycho guitar. Songs about Hell and being damned. I dug it a lot, The Diplomats were a great start to the night.


Sun Ra Ra Ra - who we'd just played the Lakeshore Legion Hall with a few weeks before - were up next, and I was really blown away by these guys all over again. They were even better this time, in fact. Punk psych jams with noisey bits, loopy organ and guitar, tall dude with tambourine, wow. I hope we'll be playing lots of shows together in the future. These guys have a way-out sound, do a great cover of The Trashmen's "Surfin' Bird", and have a very genuine interaction onstage that's lots of fun to watch.


After Sun Ra Ra Ra, No No Zero was on. We did our thing, burning through a 20 minute or so set of short songs. Oshawa in my experience is a relaxing place to play, with generous and demonstrative crowds - so bands tend to loosen up here and have fun onstage. I'd say we did the same, and enjoyed it even more than the Poster Show. Chris Cheeseman is obscured here by my gut.


The penultimate band tonight was The Ancestors and this is another band I like more every time I see them, one I could see doing lots of shows with (and in fact we're playing with them again Sept. 29 at The Velvet Underground, along with FNU Ronnies and TV Ghost). Seriously tight, good punk, difficult to describe, maybe along SST-type lines? I hate describing bands, really.

Tonight, The Ancestors broke a string, and took the opportunity to break out an impressive two-piece cover of Minor Threat's "In My Eyes". I'd love to hear this with the whole band playing!


Headliner was Panzram's Ghost, who it is somewhat awkward for me to talk about as they are largely a cover band for songs I wrote a long time ago in Starkweather. Needless to say, their songs are great! They got the best response of the night with a ripping rendition of GG Allin's "Bite It You Scum", and it almost brought a tear to my eye. I hope these guys record their set someday. I can listen to it when I'm feeling particularly low. Long live Panzram's Ghost.


I would be remiss if I didn't comment on the wonderful decorations Erin Hagen made for the night, a night dedicated to the late Michal Majewski and a fundraiser for a trust in his name (as well as being this year's pre-Shwaltz Party). The club became a 'magical forest' and, as I was going out the door, I confess I grabbed a star to take home with me. Thanks to Erin and Al Cole for a great show in Mike's memory, and a fun evening.

The Toronto Rock'n'Roll Revival!

Forty years ago today, Toronto saw what was undoubtedly one of its most rocking shows of all time - the Toronto Rock'n'Roll Festival, held at U of T's Varsity Stadium, hosted by the one and only Kim Fowley, with a bill designed to showcase the best of R'n'R both old and new.

Playing the 12-hour concert: Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Gene Vincent, Junior Walker and the All Stars, Tony Joe White, The Chicago Transit Authority, Alice Cooper, Cat Mother and the All Night News Boys, Doug Kershaw, Screaming Lord Sutch; local acts Whiskey Howl, Nucleus, and Milkwood; and headliner The Doors (their last show in Toronto, they were reportedly led in by the Vagabonds motorcycle gang, one hundred strong).

Aside from being the first show in which all four 'Kings of Rock'n'Roll' (that would be Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis) appeared on the same bill, the show was also where the whole "Alice Cooper kills chickens onstage" rumour got started, and may well have been the first show in which an audience were instructed - by Kim Fowley, remember - to 'hold up your lighters'!


Of course the concert is best known today for its surprise guest -- John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and The Plastic Ono Band (featuring one very doped-up Eric Clapton on lead guitar). Their recorded set went on to be released a few months later as "Live Peace in Toronto 1969", and may well have been responsible for Lennon's break-up of The Beatles.

Interestingly enough, it may have also inspired Lennon to continue the Rock'n'Roll Revival idea. In December 1969, he announced plans to stage a concert at Mosport Park, Barrie, which would include he, Elvis Presley, and possibly all the other Beatles. The concert ultimately didn't happen due to questions of whether it would be free or not. In 2007, it was revealed that the RCMP had been keeping tabs on the concert-planning all along.


But I digress.

Legendary documentarian D.A. Pennebaker came up to Hogtown and shot the show. Unfortunately, his two-hour film Sweet Toronto (aka Keep On Rockin') has suffered a grim fate over the years, and is usually found nowadays cut to ribbons (down to 95 minutes by '73?) - with Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Jerry Lee Lewis' sets reduced to one song apiece - and presented under some other title as a 50-minute showcase of mainly The Plastic Ono Band.

Oh well. Youtube gives us the majesty that is Bo Diddley performing his signature tune at the festival, footage Pennebaker understandably selected for the film's beginning, intercut with bikes and limos racing along the 401 to the show.




And here's an anecdote from Mr. Fowley about the day I found particularly funny:

Interviewer:
Any incidents or problematic performers at the venue?

Kim Fowley:
One thing that happened was Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard all came up to me at the same time backstage, and [said] “We all think all four of us are the king of rock ’n’ roll and how you going to solve that problem in the introduction?” So, one became the king of jungle rock, one became the king of across-the-tracks rock, somebody became the grammar king rock, etc. and suddenly everybody had slightly different items of introductions.

They had concerns about billing since each one wanted to be the king of rock ’n’ roll that night, so I had to amend each mention. The visual of all four of them in front of me … egomaniacs whose time had passed demanding to be kings of rock ’n’ roll. And I was in a purple suit, white shoes and a green shirt and under age 30 and felt superior to all of them.