Favorite Albums –
The only things I can come up with off the top of my head – other than this cheap toupee – are “At My Age” by Nick Lowe and “The Last Post” by Carbon/Silicon. Nick Lowe is not doing his “brooding serious artiste” thing this time and is back to being funny. For those in need of an introduction, Carbon/Silicon is the current project of old punk rock heroes Mick Jones and Tony James. It may not be as good as The Clash or Generation X, but it sure beats the snot out of Big Audio Dynamite and Sigue Sigue Sputnik. What do these acts have in common? All of them – Nick Lowe and the two principals of Carbon/Silicon – are either gray-haired, bald, or both. I find that safe and non-threatening.
They’re also English. I find English people safe and non-threatening.

Favorite Example of Music Journalism.
A review of a Van Halen show in the OC Register used the following phrases:
1. Feverishly tapped arpeggios
2. Six-string wizardry
3. Largely unparalleled expertise
4. Stormy sonic squalls
5. Complex fretwork
6. Tearing up so many monster riffs

A Memorable Live Show – The Germs at the Key Club, Hollywood, December 29th.
So the singer of the Germs died in 1980, someone makes a movie about him in 2007, the band reunites and hires the actor who plays him in the movie to be their new singer. Some people consider this sacrilege. I like it. I think it’s a good idea. Some people, like Jello Biafra, have said that it’s un-punk and that the Germs should not be doing what their doing. That should be all the justification they need to keep doing it.
At the Key Club (formerly Gazzari’s), the Germs started on time and played for over an hour. That never happened with the original band. Singer Shane West, who also acts in one of those TV hospital shows I’ve never seen, is quite comfortable on stage and has become quite effective in dealing with hecklers. Darby Crash was probably never comfortable on stage. Is it really the Germs? Who cares? It’s as close as most people are ever going to get. It's not a tribute or a re-enactment, it’s just a show and it’s a darned good one. The Germs had some great songs and the songs should be performed live.
If some people don’t like it, that’s their problem.

The Ventures Are Finally Getting Inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
I realize that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is impossible to take seriously, but it’s still nice to see the Ventures get some recognition for being one of the greatest bands ever. In my book, they’re up there with The Beatles and The Ramones and should have been voted in during their first year of eligibility, which I believe was 1826. Their genius was eliminating all the unnecessary clutter in songs – like the words – and stripping it down to just guitars and drums. This is as unexpected and as life-affirming as Rodney Bingenheimer getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Congratulations.

Now if those Rock and Roll Hall of Fame snobs really want to retroactively buy some credibility, they should invite KISS to their little clubhouse. KISS proudly represent everything that is loud, tacky and tasteless about rock and roll. The Hall of Fame committee, or whatever they are, seem to have forgotten that rock and roll is supposed to be loud, tacky, and tasteless. Madonna is getting voted in this year and she is basically just KISS with breasts.
I suspect that what is really preventing KISS from entering those hallowed and pretentious halls is the large fire-breathing, blood-spewing, and opinionated mouth of Gene Simmons. He has let it be known that he wants nothing to do with this Hall of Fame nonsense. However, Ozzy Osbourne and Johnny Rotten also said the same thing but that didn’t stop the Hall from inducting their bands against their wills. Why not KISS? It can’t be based on popularity because KISS was bigger than Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols combined, with Little Johnny Cougar and Jefferson Airplane thrown in for good measure.
Ozzy was easy enough keep in line with sedatives and all Johnny did was send a nasty letter and boycott the ceremony, but Demon Gene wouldn’t let them off so easy. They know that he would not only show up, but show up sober and articulate, eat everything at the buffet table, and talk until the room was empty.
That will be something to hope for in 2008. Or maybe 2009.

Predictions for 2008
Since I recently obtained box of records that contained nineteen KISS albums, I predict that I will write something about them (that last bit was just a teaser). Since there were also a couple of Donny Osmond records in the box, I predict that I will give them to Cindy Lu at the next meeting of the great barflies.net minds.

Fashion Trend for 2008 – Pantaloons. Laugh if you want, but I was right about eye patches a few years ago.