Yo, DJ.....HIT ME!!

[Johann]

This news stuns me.
I am stunned.
And in a way I am not.

I was going to buy the "new" Black Flag album, as "Exhibit A" but it hasn't come out yet. But it is online.
Next year, maybe?
Ron Reyes.
Another betrayal by Greg Ginn. Weeding Out indeed.
This shit is truly stunning.

http://www.pitchfork.com/news/53155-...es-black-flag/

[oscar jubis]

Thanks Johann for taking notice of Uncle Lou's passing. I became a fan when Walk on the Wild Side was released in '72 and have followed his amazing career ever since. I am proud to say I have seen him live, with that magnificent group he put together with Bob Quine and bassist Fernando Saunders. The Dean's eulogy can be accessed here:
http://www.spin.com/articles/lou-ree...esucker-blues/

[Johann]

LOU REED
Hunter S. Thompson said "We must thank Lou Reed for "WALK ON THE WILD SIDE". He had a good day when he wrote that one." (paraphrase)

Henry Rollins wrote a moving tribute to Lou, and what he meant to him (and many around the globe).
Lou was a Genius.
But he was also an asshole. When he heard Jim Morrison died he asked "What did he die of? IN A BATHTUB??? That's greeeat!"
He also treated Mo Tucker (his drummer from the Velvets) like shit.
But the man could play like a house on fire.
Watch David Bowie (as Ziggy Stardust) do "WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT" on youtube. Best V.U. cover ever laid down, Man...


And as for Greg Ginn, this guy is one vicious, nihilistic, cowardly, destructive piece of shit.
Who happens to be a musical genius.
Henry Rollins knew not to go near Greg Ginn ever again. He knew the real M.O.

Poor Ron Reyes. I now see that Greg had planned to "get him back" for publicly quitting the band way back in the day.
Ron fell for it. HOOK. LINE. SINKER.

[Johann]

I seriously don't know what to do with my Black Flag records now.
My disgust with Greg Ginn is extreme right now.
The music seems like a lie, and yet it isn't....is that fucked up or what? LOL

[Johann]

Greg Ginn said once upon a time: "Our music is a personal thing. We are not authority figures"
Don't you mean YOUR music is a personal thing Greg?
Every single person who was "in" Black Flag did your bidding until they were "vibed out".

In "SPRAY PAINT THE WALLS" by Stevie Chick (best history of the band to ever see print- yes, better than GET IN THE VAN) it is mentioned that when Chuck Dukowski was "vibed out" the whole scene was shocked, because Chuck was in the "inner-inner-inner" circle of Black Flag.
But there was no "inner circle"- there was only Greg Ginn.

Let me save you a lot of time if you are interested in Black Flag:

Buy the records. Listen to them. A Lot. (because hey, they do sound more and more awesome with each passing year- a Kubrickian quality I love). You've never heard such awesome hardcore punk carnage on tape. OK, maybe the Stooges.
Be fascinated by the "100-Megaton Blast" these dudes from the South Bay unleashed. It is unmatched.
Just know that the man with the lucite Armstrong guitar is not the center of the Universe.
The other players on the records contributed just as much if not more than Greg Ginn.
Granted, without that atonal monster riffage, it's not HEAVY, but Son, let me tell ya, when a man only uses you as a tool for his narcissism and will drop you like a bad habit out of sheer personality deficit disorder, the MAN outweighs the MUSIC. And Greg Ginn is not a man to me.
You will see that if are really paying attention.
Greg has alienated everyone in the punk world.
He's a lone wolf, a user, an abuser, who manouevers in shifty and shady ways, ways that are hard to see until it's too late.
Great that you were "against the man" Greg, but you have BECOME the man.
You always were Big Brotha, weren't you? Who defends you with anything other than "respect for his skills on guitar"?

I haven't met anyone yet. Henry Rollins dealt with Greg appropriately with his RISE ABOVE (WM3 benefit album).
That album is actually the real Black Flag.
And Greg Ginn doesn't play a note on it.

Henry, you are a quick study on dealing with Fuckery.
Love you man. THE END OF SILENCE INDEED...........

[Johann]

I have read and re-read John Densmore's powerful book THE DOORS: Unhinged and I openly wept reading it.

"He (JIM) was the Soul of the band, and I want to honor my Ancestor" is the quote that sums up the whole sordid saga described in the book.
John Densmore has an integrity that is very hard to maintain in todays world.
Read that book if you want the full skinny on corporate greed, the "greed gene" and how low some people will stoop. (RAY!)

My respect for Ray Manzarek virtually vanished when I read how he's been treating the Doors legacy.
It is stunning what he did, what he did to the Legacy of the band he helped found, and the rape of Jim Morrison he engaged in.
Oliver Stone wasn't even allowed to use the Doors logo for his movie, that's how protective John was over the logo.
He had to sue his former bandmates when they refused to alter the lettering and font of the Doors name for concerts they did as "the Doors of the 21st Century" And he won the lawsuit. Ray tried to destroy John financially, suing him for $40 million for turning down an ad for Cadillac.
Cadillac offered the Doors $15 million to use "Break on Through" to sell those Escalade battleship cars.
John vetoed it, remembering the debacle that was Buick in the sixties, offering $70,000 to use "Light My Fire" to sell the Buick Opel.


Buy that book. Be stunned. And be proud that the drummer of the Doors stood up for his own music and his "ancestor" Jim, who is implacable.
No one else did/does.

[Johann]

Something really eerie but very cool: When John Densmore signed my copy of his new book I didn't realize that he had signed it almost exactly as I sign my own name. He doesn't know this, (unless he's psychic) but the way he signed my first name is pretty much EXACTLY the way I sign it, if I use only my first name. The "J" was exactly as I do it- the same loop and flourish. And the other letters are the same too. The "N" trails off just like I do as well.
The "J" on his name has the same flourish. Weird, Man...
I was also on the CityTV news broadcast that marked John's appearance at the record store to sign his book.
It was only 1 minute, (and I taped it on VHS off the tube) but I was able to tell that John signed everybody's books differently- each person had a different size of signature or different personalization, and it seemed to stem from his impressions of the person he was signing it to.
There were a lot of non-Doors fans there, just hawkers of Doors merch who will flip it on eBay or whatever.
John knew it too.
In the CityTV clip his reaction to one signing was to "nod and smile" with a look in his eye like "I know you're not a fan...take your stuff"
I always smile when I see that part.
One guy even tried to get me to take some of his items up to John to sign: "I'm overloaded, man!"
I said "NO".
All I had was an L.A. Woman CD and John's book.
I wasn't gonna get a Legend that I respect the Holy Hell out of sign some dipshits' merchandise that he'll sell to the highest bidder....