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Entry date: 10-29-2024 – The Best Laid Plans – Letters to My Friends

phnart

Dear Friends,

 

I love getting visits from my friend, James, because we come up with the coolest shit. One of these days we are actually going to do some of this stuff and the world will rejoice in our cleverness. At least I think the world will do that.

 

It was so nice to sit on the porch and shoot the shit. We have a show coming up together in San Pedro and we are pretty excited about it. The Sardine will be the spot on 11/9/2024. A sticker drop and a punk rock show. What could be more fun?

 

The rest of the day yesterday was pretty good, too. Kids learned things and I made it through the day feeling pretty good about those wacky students. We had some fun, we learned, and nobody did anything super stupid.

 

I also got to talk to my old friend, Carrie. We worked together at Casa for years and she’s one of the reasons I kept going back. I always figured that as long as Carrie was involved, I would be able to know the real deal. As much as I loved Stephanie, and I loved her dearly, Carrie had the real reins on what was happening with the dollars side of it.

 

It was so nice to talk to my old friend.

 

Rhondi and I also had a couple of good conversations. She’s freezing up in Rangeley right now. I’m a little worried about the kind of weather we are going to run into on our way home. I’m openly asking the universe right now to be kind to us. I can’t wait to see my little woman, though, even if we have to go low and slow all the way home.

 

***** 

 

Black Dot, who had her finger on the pulse of all things cool when it came to music in the mid-80s, turned me onto The Gravedigger V in high school after we met. I’ve already written about one of the records she hipped to, which was The Three O’Clock’s Sixteen Tambourines. Holy hell, that was over six months ago.

 

Dot played All Black and Hairy for me when I was 16 and it haunted me for years. It was one of those records I looked for almost every time I was in a record store for years. I got so frustrated that I kind of gave up for a while, but I’d remember and start looking again. There was no internet then, no discogs, and The Gravedigger V had been disbanded for a couple years already before I learned about them.

 

It was a holy grail record.

 

Eventually I went to Chicago with Alexa in the early 90s, and we went to a record store in Wrigleyville, and I found a copy of the record on CD. I was so excited about it. That was one of the highlights of the trip, for sure. I couldn’t wait to get home and listen to it constantly, which I did.

 

Years later, I did find it on vinyl (on Discogs, natch) and I felt a little bit more complete as a human being. It’s really a good one to have in your collection if you dig the garage rock stuff. I consider it a gem, really, and I still enjoy it just as much today as I did back in the 90s.

 

The guys in the band must’ve enjoyed being in this band because there is a real sense of fun on All Black and Hairy. The songs are full-on 60s garage rock-style, but instead of it sounding like a band is just aping someone else’s thing, they are fresh and original sounding. The guitars sound freaking awesome and the rhythm section is fantastic.

 

Some of the standout tracks are “Tomorrow Is Yesterday,” “Do Like Me,” and “Searching,” but really, the whole thing is fucking great. I mean, I love “Night of the Phantom,” too, and the title track, “All Black and Hairy,” always makes me smile. Just the right amount of fuzz and the vocals are great.

 

I just read that the singer was about 16 when they did this record. That’s fucking great. Kind of reminds me of the stories about Alex Chilton recording “The Letter” at 14. I bet The Gravedigger V shows were wild back in 1984 before they broke up.

 

This one deserves a listen, but you won’t find it on Spotify. You have to go to YouTube for it or hit me up and I’ll play it for you. I’m good like that sometimes. I should probably provide a link. That would be nice of me and really good for you.

 

Dear listener…I truly hope you enjoy this.

 

***** 

 

See you tomorrow.



The Night of the Phantom, yeah! AI-style.

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