celebrate – The Boring Old Man

Greatest? Depends on How You Define It…

This morning I was scrolling through my feed on Reddit and came across an interesting topic. The question was “What is the Greatest American Band?”

Wow. That’s a head-scratcher! Lots of comments, and things got a little snarky, as Reddit often does. Nonetheless, a lot of people made good cases for a variety of bands – some bands I hadn’t even thought of. But it got me thinking, how does one “rank” such a thing? The number of songs and/or albums on the charts? The amount of radio play? Record sales numbers? Duration of the band? Cultural significance? Innovation? Influence on artists that came later? All valid touch points to be sure, but what makes them great? And of all the greats, who is the greatest?

For example, the Grateful Dead were mentioned by a LOT of people. Now, I’m not a huge fan of them, but I grew up with them as a constant feature on FM radio. And I did see them live at least half a dozen times, quite possibly more, and Dead shows were unlike anything I’d seen before, or since. There is a small army of people whose lives revolved around that band, some of them for decades. Their music is drawn from folk, bluegrass, C&W, jazz and rock and roll- all very American stuff. Their cultural significance cannot not be overstated. That being said, their albums didn’t make much of a mark on the charts. You didn’t see them on variety shows or American Bandstand or the like. They got on MTV very, very late into their career. A strong contender, but are they the Greatest American Band?

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were another widely recognized band up for consideration. Their music, from beginning to end just oozed Americana. Honestly, these guys tick a LOT of boxes. Longevity? From the late 70’s through 2017. Albums and singles on the charts? Check. MTV video awards? Check. Influence? Absolutely, undoubtedly. Radio play and MTV? Every day for decades. Influential? Check. Die-hard fans? Yep. Heck, they even got a star on Hollywood Boulevard! As a fan of theirs since the very beginning, I’d certainly lean their direction in voting them in for the Greatest American Band.

But then somebody brought up Van Halen… OK, stop the presses. While Van Halen didn’t exactly tear up the charts with their albums, you couldn’t listen to rock radio from 1977 until… yesterday? without hearing a Van Halen song. David Lee Roth, while not the world’s strongest vocalist, is widely considered to be one of the greatest showmen to ever grace a stage. He was kinda the standard by which all others were judged for a very long time. And Eddie? Good grief, the man REDEFINED rock guitar and inspired tens-of-thousands of kids to beg their parents for a guitar. His innovation with the guitar hardware even, is unparalleled. He became a living legend with the release of their DEBUT album, and then kept getting better! One could argue the entire “hair metal” genre wouldn’t have even existed were it not for the influence of early Van Halen. And while you might think the world would be a better place without hair metal, that is a magnitude of influence unmatched in rock and roll. The kind of influence that might garner the title of Greatest American Band.

Then there were dozens of others, from the Beach Boys (whom I LOVE) to the Eagles (whom I generally loathe) to Lynyrd Skynyrd (I like a lot of their stuff but wouldn’t say I love any of it) and a bunch more that all had some outstanding qualities, but I would never have considered the greatest… Credence Clearwater Revival, the Doors, both the Allman AND Doobie Brothers, R.E.M., the Ramones…it was an impressive list of impressive bands, to say the least.

I guess when you boil it all down, there really is no “greatest band”, American or otherwise. It’s really subjective and in the ear of the beholder. But what I can say, with all sincerity, is that we Americans have been absolutely blessed with a plethora of amazing, supremely talented bands and decades of awesome music. Our country has produced some of the most innovative bands the world has ever known. And we often take that for granted.

For the record, the very first band that popped into my head when I first read the question was Stone Temple Pilots… Ok, I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, so cut me some slack. I hadn’t taken all the touch points into account. After more consideration (and caffeine!) I came to the realization that STP might possibly be my favorite American band, but they had stood on the shoulders of Giants, who certainly would be worthy of the title more than them. But after careful consideration I have come to the conclusion that there really is no such thing as a Greatest when it comes to music. But as long as musicians are out there trying to be the greatest, all of us with ears to listen are the true winners!

Thanks for stopping by! Now, go listen to something!!

Short-sighted Buffoonery

Today I saw an article stating “several artists” have pulled out of performing at America’s 250th celebration, and I gotta say that news just bummed me out.

I’m not bummed because I was going to attend said celebration. Honestly, I don’t even know where it’s being held, or when. I’d imagine it’s on Independence Day somewhere in D.C., but I haven’t looked into it. The artists mentioned by name – Morris Day and the Time and Young MC – aren’t anyone I’d go to see anyway. (I do actually really like MD and the Time’s music, but I’m in the wrong demographic to attend one of their shows I’m afraid). And with this news I’m sure there will be more jumping on (or off, as the case may be) the bandwagon due to some sort of imagined “protest”. I don’t know who is on the lineup, and that’s not what this is about anyway.

No, what steams my beans is that a lot of people these days equate America to Donald Trump, and that if you support America, you are thereby a Trump supporter and therefore you are a Nazi or a fascist or a pedo-apologist or whatever slur these half-wits are slinging these days.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I do not like Donald Trump. I did not ever vote for Donald Trump. I will, quite frankly, be glad when he’s served his term and we no longer have to live in the shadow of “orange man bad”. But here’s the thing – every single president we’ve had in my lifetime has been a disappointment at the very least. They’ve all done questionable things, some very shady and/or outright illegal and in some instances unconstitutional things. This is in no way unique to Trump. But never before have the masses, and especially not the privileged class, essentially turned their backs on our country due to whomever was sitting in the Oval Office. As a teen, I hated Ronald Reagan and his cozy relationship with the “Moral Majority” kooks, not to mention his outright, blatant lies about the whole Iran/Contra crimes. Then his successor GHW Bush came along, and he was worse. I thought Clinton was gonna be great, but it turned out he was a lying degenerate AND he unleashed that harpie Hillary on us, to add insult to injury. Bush Jr. was an imbecile with daddy issues, whose lies led us into a 2 DECADE war, for no justifiable reason, and cost thousands upon thousands of lives, untold billions in treasure, and left lasting wounds upon thousands of service personnel and their families. I personally know a few of those soldiers, and their lives were torn to SHREDS over that middle east bullshizz, and for what?!? Then along comes Obama. I will freely, and regretfully admit, that I bought Obama’s schtick, hook, line and sinker. The first time around. As much as ol’ Billy Clinton disappointed me, I felt utterly betrayed by Obama and could not in good conscience vote for him in his second term. My list of grievances toward him is long and quite frankly I do firmly believe he and his wife set back racial relations in this country by decades. When Trump got elected the first time, I generally thought the American public had lost their flippin’ minds. (Though, in full transparency, even though I didn’t vote for him, I did appreciate the “thumb in the eye” his election gave to “The Establishment”. It was LONG overdue.) He came across as a clown, and a charlatan. Then the wheels really came off with the ascension of Sleepy Joe Biden. His residency was an absolute embarrassment to the office, which undoubtedly set the stage for Trump 2.0. And we can all see how that’s going… And let’s be honest, the players on deck for the next round??? May God have mercy on us…

To be perfectly clear, I have nothing but scorn and loathing for our administrative state, but I love America. I love the American people. I’m proud of many things we’ve done as a nation, despite some of the ugly things done along the way. I do believe the good outweighs the bad. I still believe in the promise of America, what our founding fathers envisioned for their descendants. I also believe we’ve lost our way. But no philanderers, no charlatans, no two-faced, war mongering bastards are going to make me hate my home. I may not respect the man in the office, but I will alway respect the office. A country is its people, its culture, its values. Not its politicians. Politicians, by and large, are narcissistic parasites and should be treated as such.

I can distinctly remember our country’s Bicentennial in 1976. It was very young, and it was a long time ago, but it left a lasting impression on me. It brought our country together. It was a time of celebration and pride in what our forefathers had built. It didn’t matter what color your skin was, it didn’t matter where you or your parents had come from, it didn’t matter WHO WAS PRESIDENT at the time! No, ALL that mattered was that we were Americans in America celebrating 200 years of our homeland’s existence.

Oh, how all that promise, all that hope and determination for a better life has deteriorated in the last 50 years! This, my friends, is what the whole “diversity is our strength” yahoos have wrought upon our country. Are we stronger as a country now than we were 50 years ago? No, no we are not. Has the plethora of hyphens forced upon our people made us more united as a people? No, they have divided us, further and further away from United, with each passing year. Growing up in California, I had friends from all over the world, in every size, shape, color and denomination you can imagine, but you know what we ALL were? American. Not African-American, not Japanese-American, not Mexican-American or Filipino/ Greek/Tongan/Irish/English-American, just American. And even as kids, we knew, KNEW that we were lucky to be here. That our founding was special, it was different. It was unlike anything the world had ever seen, and there was no other country in the world that had what we had. We were GRATEFUL to be in America. And it showed. It felt good. We were all rooting for the same team. We were brethren.

So for me, hearing that some fortunate souls, who have been blessed with fortune and fame, who have achieved their lofty, special station in life, right here in the good ol’ USA are turning their backs to the same country that GAVE them that status, that gave them the opportunity to grab that brass ring, well…it makes me more than a little angry, and very, very sad.

Yes, life in America can be hard. It can be unfair. It can seem like the odds are stacked against you sometimes. But it also holds immense beauty. There are opportunities for anyone that has the guts to step up to the plate and take a swing. There is kindness and empathy and a neverending desire to innovate and to make the world a better place. Our country, our beloved America, is a bountiful place, and should be revered and cherished.

If you turn your back on all that because you don’t like the guy currently sitting in the big chair, or worse, because you are afraid of what the Internet might have to say about you supporting and celebrating your own country, then I’m sorry for you. That is a sad, pathetic excuse for an American.

This coming Independence Day marks 250 years of the greatest experiment in human civilization ever seen, and you are fortunate to be part of it. Show some respect for your ancestors, show some appreciation for the opportunity you have, show some gratitude. If you can’t find something to be proud of as an American, then you aren’t truly an American. I’ve had enough of the celebrity pouting and hissy fits. They should be thanking their lucky stars they get to perform or make art for a living, rather than working double shifts at the local factory, or waiting tables or worse. You were given an opportunity to celebrate your COUNTRY you morons, you weren’t asked to celebrate a single man you most likely disagree with.

For the screeching weasels out there, yes I am proud to be an American and feel extraordinarily lucky to have this country as my home. Nothing you say or do will ever convince me otherwise. If you and your ilk would shut yer yaps for a minute, maybe try to be a productive citizen instead of tearing down everything that hurts your feelings, you might come to find there is plenty to celebrate in our lands.

Ok, that’s enough for tonight. I really try to not rant and rave here, but I’m just sick to death of all the anti-American nonsense being spewed at us left and right, . We will survive Trump. We will survive the next idiot that takes his place. We’re American, that’s what we do. Against all odds, we prevail. Stand up and be proud, your future will be better for it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wait…Good news? Nowadays?

This past Sunday, Mother’s Day for us folks here Stateside (I don’t know about other countries, but every one SHOULD celebrate mothers!), our daughter cooked up a little Mother’s Day adventure for us and treated the Mrs. and I to a “Brunch on the Bay” cruise up in San Francisco.

Now, my initial reaction to this news (internally of course, you don’t want to be a wet blanket, especially on Mother’s Day!) was ewww. As mentioned in several other posts on this blog, I’ve come to loathe San Francisco over the last several years. But, I’m a fan of boats, I LOVE the water, and it was a day out of the house with the Mrs. and our kid, so I put on a happy face and decided to just roll with it.

As a kid and well into my 20s, I loved San Francisco. I spent a lot of time there as a youth with my family and have a lot of fond memories of those days. In high school when I was doing my best to be a ne’er-do-well, I used to ditch school and head up to the city just to hang out. When my band started getting gigs up there, we thought we were on top of the world – it was a vastly different scene to the one in San Jose we came up in. We had a number of friends that lived up there and visited often. At one point I even wanted to move there.

Then, sometime around the early 00’s, most likely after the Dot-com Bubble burst, the city went into decline. After the financial crisis of ’06-’08, it got worse. By the time the Plague rolled around in 2020, the city was unrecognizable. And it just kept getting worse from there. To the point of my family deciding a year or so back, that unless there were very critical reasons for traveling to SF, we just weren’t going to anymore. It was vile. All the stories you see about the rampant homeless population, the feces strewn sidewalks, the full throttle degenerate behavior out in the open, the crime, the shockingly crazy people screaming at nothing in the middle of the street… ALL of it was true. Heartbreaking, but true. I remember thinking, they just need to burn this entire city to the ground, it’s beyond hope.

So you can imagine my surprise, my utter SHOCK, when we rolled into the city and it was as if the clock had been rolled back 20 years. Now, granted we were down at the water’s edge in a very tourist-centric area, but a year ago that wouldn’t have made a difference. We had to walk maybe 6 blocks from where we parked to the pier, and I didn’t see a single person sleeping on the sidewalk, much less any shantytowns along the way. I didn’t have to dodge any poop on the sidewalk. I didn’t see a single needle. Nobody asked us for money. I was in utter shock to be honest.

Even after the event on our way back to the highway, there was a noticeable lack of blight. Yes, many, many vacant storefronts – business is still very clearly down – but overall I was very pleasantly surprised at how different the city looked overall. Between the ousting of the loathsome District Attorney, Chesa Boudin a few years ago and that clown of a mayor, London Breed, getting kicked to the curb last year, San Francisco seems to have turned a corner, and I’m really glad to see it.

Of course, there are a lot of areas in the city we didn’t see that day. Some neighborhoods were extremely dingy and dangerous long before the decline that started 20 years ago, and I’m sure they are still as bad if not worse. But a year ago I couldn’t go ANYWHERE in San Francisco without seeing the despair and the filth and the decrepit nature of the place, so I consider it a win for the city.

Now the next time a great band or comic comes through San Francisco I won’t be so reluctant to make the trip. Whatever you’re doing San Francisco, keep up the good work!

Thanks for stopping by!

LMAO: Sheng Wang at the Golden State Theater, Monterey CA

Saturday night, Valentine’s Day evening, I finally got my Christmas present, a night of comedy!

We (the Mrs., our daughter, son-in-law and myself) loaded up the cruiser and hit the road for the Golden State Theater in Monterey,CA. The trip is long-ish, about an hour and a half, but I’d take a trip to Monterey over San Francisco any day of the week!

We’ve been to this particular venue a few times, it’s a nice spot, but this was the first time for a comedy show.

The night opened with Kevin Camia, who we’d never heard of. He was actually pretty darn good. He had us laughing right outta the gate and kept it going throughout his entire set. I’d be more than happy to go see him again.

We’d seen a bunch of video clips of Sheng Wang and the Netflix (?) special he did (“Sweet & Juicy”) a few years ago but this was our first time seeing him live on stage. Let me tell you, this show was worth the wait!

His style is so different from his colleagues and it’s really refreshing. He doesn’t use foul language and he totally avoids the typical crass/vulgar/overtly sexual material or decisive political/racial rants that has (unfortunately) become a mainstay in modern comedy. And yet, he had us in stitches the entire time. At times it was hard to catch my breath I was laughing so hard. And he too kept it up for his entire show. No flops, no dead air, just non-stop hilarity from start to finish.

I’m short, it was an outstanding night of comedy, one of the best we’ve ever attended. If you get a chance to see Sheng Wang, do yourself a favor and GO! You will not be disappointed.

And last but not least, a big thank you to my girls for gifting me these tickets for Christmas instead of more “stuff”! This night will be in my memory banks for years to come!

Thanks for stopping by!

A First Time For Everything

Color me shocked! I’ve been plucking away at this lil’ ol’ blog of mine since January of 2022 and while I guess you could say my page gets regular views, it’s never been well read or even remotely popular. In 100%, true transparency I will tell you that my daily page views average between 5 and 15. Frankly, sometimes it’s zero. Which considering my lack of consistency in new posts is not at all surprising. If anything, I’m surprised I get THAT many visits.

So you can imagine my surprise when I checked my stats this morning and found that for the first time since I started writing here I surpassed 100 page views in a single day! And almost exclusively from the USA. In the past when I’ve had a spike it turned out most of them were showing up from all over the place, which led me to believe it was either a glitch or someone “phishing” or some such thing. Like, why would anyone in Vietnam or Uzbekistan be interested in what I’m blathering on about?!?

Anyhow, I fully recognize that this is in no way a big deal. I’m not even a small fish in a big pond. More like a single plankton in a global ocean. Nonetheless, I thought it was kinda cool and wanted to document the occasion for myself. If anything this blog is more a “memory-jogger” for myself than anything. But still, I appreciate any and all of you that spend even a moment of your precious time with me.

Have a terrific day, a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

Without going into detail, I’ll just say I couldn’t be happier to be showing 2025 the door. It seems like the last 3 or 5 years I’ve been saying “this was the worst year ever”, but 2025 was a spiteful S.O.B., the likes of which I hope.to never experience again.

Out with the old and in with the new.

Here’s to better things to come. Wishing a peaceful and happy new year to you all.

A Holiday PSA

I know this time of year can be difficult for many. For some it can be excruciating. We shouldn’t need to be reminded to be kind, but often we do. Myself included.

It’s been a rough year, no doubt. In my humble opinion the 2020’s have pretty much been a dumpster fire and we’re only halfway through them. But we can decide for ourselves to put all that aside for a minute and just be grateful. Grateful that we’re still upright. Still drawing breath. Not seeing our friends and loved ones through Plexiglas barriers and mandated face masks.

As hard as life has been – and again, mine is no exception – I still wish for peace on Earth and good will towards mankind. Now is not the time for grievance. Even if you’re not an “observer” of Christmas you can still choose to be kind, to set your differences aside for a moment or two. We’re all in this together and nobody gets out alive, so lets all make the best of it and be good to our fellow humans, shall we?

Thanks for stopping by, and a Merry Christmas to all!

Happy Birthday: Paul Siminon

Paul Gustave Simonon was born this day, December 15, 1955. Not a well known name, but profoundly influential in my life as the bassist for my favorite band of all time, The Clash.

The folklore of the Clash says that Paul was chosen for the band simply because of his look. When he joined the band, he didn’t even play bass. In fact, it’s been said that guitarist Mick Jones actually wrote the notes on the fretboard so Paul could find his way around. True? Who knows? Suffice it to say, he BECAME an outstanding bassist over the years and had a hand in making some of the most important records of my lifetime.

Paul always seemed to simply exude “cool” to me as a kid. He wasn’t particularly flashy, he wasn’t often in the spotlight, but he was a presence. There was just something about him that was magnetic. I don’t know what “it” is, but he had it!

It is startling to see he is now 70 years old! It makes sense, seeing as I was only 9 when the first Clash album came out, and I was 12 when I first heard them with the release of London Calling. I was positively obsessed with the Clash in my teens and 20’s, and I still listen to them quite often in my late 50’s. As most of my readers will know, I’m a huge music nerd and music has been the biggest thing in my life for the last 4+ decades. I love lots of music, I’ve been influenced by countless bands and artists, but if I had to pick one band to listen to for the rest of my days, undoubtedly it would be the Clash.

So, cheers to you Mr. Siminon! Without you and your mates, my life would be immensely different. Thank you for your work all those years ago, and for the lasting, profound impact you had on this (formerly) young musician. I owe you a debt of gratitude. You may have come from humble beginnings, but you were a giant in my eyes (and ears!). Well done Sir!

First Time in a Looooong Time!

At this moment I’ve got the truck loaded up and I’m on my way to my first drumming gig in a very, very long time.

I feel like I should be nervous, but for some reason I’m not. This band got together in the last week of April and we’ve had 8 or 9 rehearsals so we’re not exactly a well oiled machine, but I think we can at least pull it off without any full-on train wrecks on stage. It’s our first time out, so who knows what will happen?!? I haven’t set foot in this club in a decade (the Quarternote in Sunnyvale, CA) and I NEVER played there before… Fingers crossed!

We’re the 2nd band of the night, playing from 10pm til Midnight and honestly my biggest concern is staying awake… I was up at 5.30am and working in 90 degree heat outside all day has got me more than a little bit whooped!

Say a prayer folks!

Thanks for stopping by 😉

Spring!

Hi again, it’s been a while…

Not gonna lie, been in a rut. Got too many things to do and not enough time to get ’em done. And yet, nothing that I felt was worth writing about.

Not that it’s been all bad, just not noteworthy.

I’ve only been to one show since my last post – Magic City Hippies at the Fillmore in SF. However, considering I’ve done something like 5 or 6 concert reviews about them on this blog and this was maybe the 10th(?) time we’ve seen them, I don’t really have much else to say. They are STILL gre,at, one of the best live acts out there. Seriously. If you like live music and you get the opportunity, go see them. You won’t regret it.

I also was surprisingly reunited with a dear old friend – one of my groomsmen as a matter of fact – that “fell off the radar” some 30 years ago and I haven’t seen or heard from since! We had a nice talk on the phone and he was coming to town from out of state, so we met up for lunch a few days later and it was fantastic. It really gave me a sense of joy that my feeble vocabulary can’t articulate. I’ve really come to appreciate old friends as I’ve grown old but it’s rare that I see mine, as we’re now scattered clear across the country. In different directions. I’m the only dumb sap that still lives in the area where we all grew up. Unfortunately it no longer even closely resembles the place of our youth and there isn’t much to draw them back here for a visit.

Such is life.

Still have a pile of parts to replace on my truck, but between the full to-do list and the absolutely crap weather we’ve been having these last couple months, I’ve not been terribly excited about doing the work.

But now SPRING is officially here, and today I felt pretty invigorated. Had a productive day at work, then came home and put in a couple hours of chorin’ , now throwing this little note out there just to pet you all know I’m still alive and kicking!

Hopefully the change in seasons will bring a change in output here on the old Blogstead.

Happy Spring. See you soonish.

Go call an old friend.

Thanks for stopping by.