MP3s are here to promote love, are removed after one week and are here for review and sampling purposes only. It is not my intention to violate copyrights. My only goal is to share my love/hate relationship with my themed writings and great music that compliment each other. If you are the creator or copyright owner of a song or anything else that might be posted here, please CONTACT ME if you wish to have it removed. If you like an artist you hear here, you should go out and BUY THEIR ALBUMS.
Performing at Dante's, Portland, OR - June 15, 2007
Floater - Independence Day
Floater performing acoustic version of Independence Day at Musicfest NW 2002
And for your listening pleasure I've included a download link to the recorded version of the above song by Floater called "Independence Day" off of their album titled Burning Sosobra. You can listen to the track before downloading, by clicking "play" on the media player located below the "Download this File" link on the following page: http://www.zshare.net/audio/62228413ab5076ee/. Enjoy! And careful out there today.
1. Oh, Calcutta! - Dave Pell 2. Black Rite - Mandingo 3. Punch Bowl - Alan Parker 4. Night Rider - Alan Hawkshaw 5. Riveiera Affair - Neil Richardson 6. Jet Stream - John Gregory 7. Half Forgotten Daydreams 8. Jaguar - John Gregory 9. Life of Leisure - Keith Mansfield 10. Girl in a Sportscar - Alan Hawkshaw 11. Young Scene - Keith Mansfield 12. It's All About the Co-Op Now - Alan Hawkshaw 13. Funky Fever 14. Shout About Pepsi - Denny Wright & the Hustlers 15. Headhunter - Mandingo 16. Blarney's Stones - Alan Hawkshaw 17. Earthmen - Paddy Kingsland 18. I Feel the Earth Move - John Keating, Johnny Keating 19. Penthouse Suite - Syd Dale 20. Snake Pit - Mandingo 21. Boogie Juice - Brian Bennett 22. Detectives - Alan Tew 23. Jesus Christ Superstar - Johnny Keating 24. Music to Drive By - Joe Loss Concertium
The first volume of The Sound Gallery represents the headwaters of the British easy-listening scene. Each song on this one is a prize waiting to be discovered. You will not be disappointed.
...a breathtaking musical exhibition of the finest quality recordings that will alternately excite and thrill, soothe and relax today's discerning music lover.
"The Sound Gallery is a visionary compilation of music's lost genre. Here are tunes, overtures and background music from a time when the whole world was trying to be hip..." -- Daily Telegraph
"Infant synthesizers are taken to the outer limits and brass, wah-wah and bongos create a brooding sense of sex and espionage...****" --Q Magazine
"Extraordinary" -- NME
This album is the first in a planned series that will explore the world of some of the most exciting mood music ever recorded. Mostly originating from EMI's flagship 'Studio Two' label, augmented by offerings from the United Artists label and the KPM Recorded Music Library, 'The Sound Gallery' features tracks from albums recorded over an eight year period from 1968 to 1976. These tracks were recorded using the best available studios (more often than not EMI's Abbey Road Studio Two -- home to nearly all of the unforgettable Cilla Black recordings) with the best session men -- and using the most advanced recording techniques of the day. Tired myopic tastemakers of yesteryear had long dismissed these records but time has now gone full circle and I am very happy to see that these legendarily fabulous recordings are once more available for all to enjoy. -- Jerry Cornelius London February 1995
THE SOUND GALLERY - The Critics' Choice 'If I'd had tuppence for every frenzy induced by these tracks I'd have over a Guinea by now' -- Matthew Glamorre -- Smashing
'The Young Scene -- 'This leering meisterwerk conjures up visions of both Sid James drooling through a bathing beauties contest and the beer-and-fags genius of Stan Bowles, Frank Worthington et al. "Of its time" shall we say' -- Bob Stanley -- St Etienne
'The only way to be fashionable is to be totally out of fashion' -- Gene Simmons -- Kiss
Night Rider -- 'Grooving over rooftops, swinging like a pendulum and all because the lady loves a big organ solo' -- Ben Addison --Corduroy
'A pipe smoking, nylong wearing, police grooving sensation' -- Scott Addison -- Corduroy
'An out of this world slice of intergalactic cheese' -- Frazer Moss -- Professor Head
'If this album were a car it would be an Aston Martin' -- Johnny Dean -- Menswear
'It's here because you're there' -- Barry McCann -- Studio Two Marketing Director
'A music for pleasure classic incorporating enough flutes, horns and wah wah to make your ears stand to attention' -- The Karminsky Experience Inc.
'No point for needless intellectualism' -- Carl Puttnam -- Cud
'I can think of no other album that has brought me such continuous pleasure than this outrageously funny and versatile one' -- Jason King
The Sound Gallery team comprises of the following three devoted experts:
Martin Green One of Britain's most in-demand DJ's, Martin Green is one of the founding fathers of the world-famous 'Smashing' club. Martin has been DJing since the age of 15 when he played his father's Studio Two collection at his cousin's Barmitzvah. Well-studied with City and Guilds in Tailoring, Plumbing and Home Economics, Martin is considered by some to be an 'all-rounder' but prefers to be thought of as 'deep'. Martin is 27 and his favourite colour is green.
Patrick Whitaker Known affectionately as 'The Quadfather' for his indulgence in four channelled recordings, Patrick Whitaker first entered the world of Studio Two via EMI's issue of SQ encoded discs and eight track cartridges. Patrick proudly owns every quadraphonic disc issued by a UK record company and is currently searching for the elusive New Zealand eight track quad issue of 'Mandingo II'. Paddy, 29, is one half of top fashion design duo 'Whitaker Malem' and his favourite colour is fawn.
Tristram Penna An EMI staffer of eight years, Tris' first Studio Two album was 'The Sound Of Magic' by Franck Pourcel, bought for him as a tenth birthday present. He runs the A&R area for EMI's SMD division and would like to hear Strings featured on every record release EMI makes. His heroes are Serge Gainsbourg, Patrick Troughton and Dirk Bogarde. He also digs Pasolini, Kenneth Williams and Swingers. Tris is 33 and would like it to be known that he has no favourite colour.
"The second best idea that [they] ever had" after "Dick In A Box", of course! This version of Motherlover contains explicit lyrics not aired during the SNL broadcast. Starring Andy Samberg & Justin Timberlake, along with Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson, give a whole new take on what it means to celebrate one's mother. Breathing a funky new life to the phrase MILF! And just for you, cartoon kitties and cartoon doggies.......I've included the MP3 for your personal listening pleasure. Adore it like you whore it, baby!
Schoolhouse Rock still alive and kicking! In the mid-70s, ABC TV aired these short cartoons, which taught a generation about government, history, grammar, science, and math.
Then came the obligatory tribute album, Schoolhouse Rock! Rocks based on the Emmy Award-winning animated TV series. It was released by Atlantic Records in 1996 and contains 15 tracks, including the original "Schoolhouse Rocky" theme and covers of 14 songs from the series, performed by popular alternative music artists of the 90's.
I remember there was an official video for Blind Melon's version of "Three Is A Magic Number". I don't remember if this was the official video or not.......but either way......here's two videos for from this compilation for your listening and viewing pleasure.
Blind Melon - "Three Is A magic Number"
Pavement - "No More Kings"
UPDATE: The following video was just added to this blog
MARY LOU LORD W/ SEMISONIC - "SUGAR SUGAR
Released April 9th, 1996 Genre Alternative & Rock Label Atlantic Records
1. Schoolhouse Rocky [Original Theme Music] - Bob Dorough and Friends 2. I'm Just a Bill - Deluxx Folk Implosion 3. Three Is A Magic Number - Blind Melon
4. Conjunction Junction - Better Than Ezra
5. Electricity, Electricity - Goodness 6. No More Kings - Pavement 7. Shot Heard 'Round the World - Ween 8. My Hero, Zero - The Lemonheads 9. Energy Blues - Biz Markie 10. Little Twelvetoes - Chavez 11. Verb: That's What's Happening - Moby 12. Interplanet Janet - Man or Astro-man? 13. Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here - Buffalo Tom 14. Unpack Your Adjectives - Daniel Johnston 15. Tale of Mr. Morton - Skee-Lo
UPDATE: Apparently the mp3 previously available for download was flawed. I've since updated the link with a "working mp3". Sorry for that. Also this time around, the link takes you to the download page where there is a window you can actually listen to the track before choosing to download it. Adore, my friend!
When someone asks me what I remember about the 80s, I have to say, why the birth of console gaming of course!
Astrosmash was a video game for the Intellivision videogame console written by John Sohl and published by Mattel in 1981.
Intellivision Astrosmash
Actual gameplay footage from the Mattel Intellivision game Astrosmash.
Recorded off of real hardware.
But not only that, Astrosmash is the title of a retro electronica band.
BEAMING ACROSS THE UNIVERSE... ...IS A SUPERSONIC TRANSMISSION... ...TRANSPORTING YOU FROM REALITY... ...INTO THE 5TH DIMENSION... ...WHERE ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE... ...AND DREAMS CAN COME TRUE...
ASTROSMASH: YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE.
The foundation of Astrosmash originated in 2001 after the breakup of the Los Angeles area based heavy metal band Tenitus. Dan and Mike wanted to create not just a band, but a colorful, cosmic, supernatural musical experience. They had the concept, all they needed was a name. Many names were considered, but none seemed to capture the idea of the band. Then, while brainstorming about 80's memorabilia, it came in a flash: Intellivision....ASTROSMASH! Dan and Mike loved the classic video game system, so it was perfect to become the world's only Intellivision tribute band. The band has since become a duo with Nino Rebelle on vocals and Dan creating the music. Combining musical elements of psychedelica, space rock, progressive rock, dance music, and british pop with Intellivision and other weird sci-fi sounds, Astrosmash is your supersonic rocket out of the insipid, repetitive music of today and into the beautiful and intense music of tomorrow.
Today I've included a track off of Astrosmash's first EP, The Future, titled "16 Colors" The Future Triple Action Records
This song was a tip of the hat to The Blue Sky Rangers. The Blue Sky Rangers were the group of Intellivision game programmers who once worked for Mattel back in the early 1980s. The original five members of that Intellivision team were manager Gabriel Baum, Don Daglow, Rick Levine, Mike Minkoff and John Sohl.
There's currently a big retro gaming scene going on right now, along with 8-Bit dedicated music. Wanna see what all the fuss was about? Download the Astrosmash song above. Watch a game of Astrosmash on the Youtube video above. Or go to GetBack.com and play it for yourself.
GetBack is essentially a website that gives users access to decades gone - and they have some awesome Intellivision stuff. They're free little Java applets and all ten of the original games are there for your use and abuse.
Or if you wanna own and play the game Astrosmash yourself, then read the following all about the game Astrosmash, thanks to Intellivision!
CATALOG DESCRIPTION Spin. Blast. And drop into hyperspace to avoid a killer asteroid shower. Power on. Attack computer engaged. Fire a quick burst at the alien antagonists. Got 'em!
Now take a deep breath and relax. But only for a fraction of a second, because more trouble is on the way.
You're all alone in a hostile universe of tumbling asteroids and homicidal aliens. You've got the wits and the speed, but you're awesomely outnumbered.
With a little practice, you may survive...
Battle aliens and tumbling asteroids
Unlimited scoring potential
Hyperspace feature
PRODUCTION HISTORY Astrosmash started out as a clone of the arcade game Asteroids, called Meteor!. The game wasn't very big, so John Sohl used the extra room in the cartridge to come up with a variation called Avalanche using the same graphics and sound effects. At the last minute, afraid of a lawsuit from Atari, the Mattel lawyers killed the Asteroids-like Meteor!. Rather than risk introducing bugs by deleting code, John simply put a branch around the opening-screen menu straight into the Avalanche! variation, which was released under the name Astrosmash.
John admits he wasn't sorry to see Meteor! go -- he hadn't been happy with the game, much preferring the Avalanche! version.
Astrosmash quickly became one of the most popular Intellivision games thanks in large part to a very simple technique John programmed in: like most arcade-style games, Astrosmash gets faster and harder at higher levels, but unlike most arcade-style games, as you start to lose lives, the game gets easier again. The game then is never too easy or too hard, making it extremely addictive and making it possible for even a beginner to play a single game for over an hour.
The popularity of Astrosmash was such that late in 1982 it replaced Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack as the cartridge shipped with the Intellivision Master Component. By June 1983, the last date for which figures are available, 984,900 copies of Astrosmash had been shipped, making it the most widely distributed cartridge by any of the Blue Sky Rangers (trailing only the APh produced Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and Major League Baseball cartridges). John Sohl was rewarded with a plaque from Mattel and a better offer from Activision, which he took (after finishing B-17 Bomber).
An Aquarius version was also released, as was an M Network version called Astroblast for the Atari 2600. A musical adaptation, Melody Blaster, was released for the ECS Music Synthesizer. An obscene version, called...well, we can't tell you what it was called, was developed for in-house use only. The story of this version can be found in a TRON Solar Sailer FUN FACT.
BUG: There's no check for the score overflowing -- beyond 9,999,999 points, the scoring routine starts displaying negative numbers, letters, and other ASCII characters. (Ironically, the catalog description promises "Unlimited scoring potential.")
BUG: John simply branched around the code for the Asteroids version of the game; the code is still in the cartridge. Verrrry rarely, when there's a glitch hitting RESET, the Asteroids version will show up on screen. (This would be a dandy Easter egg if it were intentional or reliably repeatable, but it's neither.)
PLAYING TIPS: From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 1, Fall 1981:
Here is some extra ammunition from John P. Sohl, creator of Astrosmash. [Note: this issue was the only time that Intellivision programmers were publicly referred to by name until the inclusion of credits on cartridges late in 1983. The same issue mentions Mike Minkoff as the creator of Bowling.] Sohl says you'll be unbeatable if you follow three basic rules: don't get hit, shoot anything that moves and never take risks unless you have to.
Sound easy? It is if you practice Sohl's special techniques for hitting your targets.
To hit rocks, fire two shots rapidly. The first will split the rock, the second will explode both smaller fragments. If you are threatened by a rock and a spinner, go for the spinner.
Shoot the fastest falling spinners first. Aim carefully; the extra moment you take aiming usually pays off with a hit on the first shot. Go for spinners at any cost -- if one reaches the ground, you've lost.
Guided missiles are easy to shoot, hard to evade so shoot them high on the screen before they give you trouble. If you miss they'll follow you around. The only way to get rid of them is to lure them off the edge of the screen and use the hyperspace to get away.
The UFO will appear when the score is over 20,000. It shoots torpedoes at your laser base wherever the base is when the shot is fired. So keep moving and you will avoid 90% of all UFO torpedoes.
Precision aiming is important. To get the highest scores, Sohl says to leave the anti-fire on and steer with the directional wheel using the firing button to get off extra shots as you need them. Keep on shooting!
FUN FACT: The unused Asteroids-version code was recycled in the game Space Hawk.
FUN FACT: Late in 1981, Mattel held a series of local "Intellivision VideoChallenge Tournaments" in Washington DC, Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles benefiting Variety Clubs International. Contestants competed for prizes (Grand Prize: an RCA projection TV) playing Major League Baseball, Auto Racing, and U.S. Ski Team Skiing. The publicity was so good, that Marketing took the idea national in 1982 with the "$100,000 Astrosmash Shootoff."
From March until August 11, Intellivision owners were invited to send photographs of their TV screens showing their high score in Astrosmash. Just for entering, they would receive an Astrosmash Shootoff patch, and it was announced that 16 regional high-scorers would be flown to Houston to compete for eight cash prizes.
Over 13,000 people entered, and quickly it became obvious there was a problem. First, because of the scoring bug, many of the pictures showed scores made up of seemingly random ASCII characters. John Sohl had to review the photos and, with an ASCII table, decipher the actual scores. Second, it turned out that no one in Marketing realized that Astrosmash, like many Intellivision games, can be played at slower speeds simply by starting the game by pressing 1, 2, or 3 instead of the disc. (This is a feature programmed into the EXEC.) There was no way of telling who had legitimately obtained a high score and who had played at the easiest speed. There were reports of competitors who literally played for days at the slowest speed, pausing the game (pressing 1 and 9 simultaneously, also programmed into the EXEC) to sleep or go to school.
Unable to decide who was legit and who wasn't, instead of the announced 16, Mattel Electronics wound up flying 73 entrants to Houston for an all-expense paid weekend, September 11 & 12, 1982. There, the entrants competed in 1 hour of timed play. 18-year-old Manuel Rodriguez of Stockton, California won the $25,000 top prize with a score of 835,180.
I've always been perplexed by the draw and fascination of the rockabilly scene and latinos to Morrissey. I mean his music can't really be deemed rockabilly in any sense of the style, and what exactly is his appeal to the common law latino? I mean he's a morose, depressing, paley white british man with efiminate qualities. That in itself seemed so very far from the Latino in context, for me.
Well it looks like my question has finally been answered. I ran across the following old article from a few years back on the world wide web, discussing Morrissey's growing latino fanbase. This was printed back in 2005 in Orange County Weekly. So with out further ado, read for yourself this fascinating explanation that solves the decades long question.
The crowd chants, “Me-xi-co! Me-xi-co!” in an attempt to get the singer to acknowledge that the majority of the audience is Latino. He does. “I’m going to sing a couple of more songs,” he tells them, “then all of you can go back to Mexicali.”
And the Yuma Convention Center explodes.
Only one white man in the world—and he’s not the pope—can tell a group of Mexicans in the United States to return to Mexico and not only avert death, but be loved for saying so.
His name: Steven Patrick Morrissey, former lead singer of the Smiths, current saint among countless young Latinos.
The same convention-center audience demographic greets him wherever he performs: Los Angeles, Colorado Springs or this desolate desert town. So he always makes sure to yell out “Mexico” or perform some grand ethnic genuflection to his adoring fans, letting them know that he knows. They always respond in ecstasy; grateful.
By the time you read this, there will have been numerous television reports, radio interviews and newspaper stories revealing that many Morrissey fans are Latinos. They will tell you that history—musical, cultural, transnational—will take place this Friday at the Arrowhead Pond when Morrissey shares the stage with Mexican rock en español titans Jaguares in the biggest crossover attempt since Drake burned the Spanish Armada.
And they will tell you that you should be surprised. You shouldn’t. There’s something logical in this Latino Morrissey-worship. Morrissey knows it, his fans know it, and even academics know it. What exactly “it” is isn’t exactly clear except that it’s there, as plain as the Morrissey tattoo on the left shoulder of the muchacha crying on the floor of the Yuma Convention Center.
NEW WAVE’S SERMON ON THE MOUNT
I received the call at about 2 in the morning: a weak, almost slurring cry for help. “Hey, Gustavo. It’s Ben. Man, I need my Morrissey CDs back. [Long pause] I really miss them. [Longer pause, voice now quivering the slightest bit] I need them.”
Ben follows up the next day with an e-mail: “Please get me those CDs as soon as you can. I am being deprived.”
Ben is Benjamín Escobedo, a 25-year-old Santa Ana Democratic Party stalwart. Across the back window of his car is the salute to Morrissey and his domination of the city in which the singer now makes his home, “Moz Angeles.” He let me borrow his Morrissey/Smiths collection (every CD, even the bootlegs, imports and special editions) for only two days before sending those messages.
Ben’s devotion to Morrissey is a lesser example of what Latino Morrissey fans feel for their god. They wear pins, patches or tattoos with their charming man’s face. They dress like him (rockabilly chic to British mod), carry around his favorite flowers (gladiolas), and cite his songs as answers to every problem they might have. One particular favorite is ending e-mail messages with the line “It takes strength to be gentle and kind” from “I Know It’s Over,” New Wave’s Sermon on the Mount.
Some fans, like Cal State Fullerton graduate student Patricia Godínez-Benjumea, go as far as visiting his house in the Hollywood Hills and dropping off stories they write about him. “His music is the soundtrack of my life,” Godínez-Benjumea says.
“He reaches my innermost thoughts and fears and aspirations and longing. For a long time, I felt isolated and alone. Only Morrissey comforted me.”
Godínez-Benjumea wrote an article discussing how Morrissey saved her life for a school publication. “My friend Maggie told me where he lived and said I should go give it to him,” she said. “Before, I never had the guts to do it. Even when we went to his house, Maggie put my story in his mailbox. I didn’t even tell my husband that I did that.”
Ben has yet to visit Morrissey’s home, but he knows the address. His love affair with the Manchester native began when his brother and friends introduced him to Viva Hate. “When I first heard the album, it blew my mind,” Ben says. “Every time I hear him now, he impresses me more and more.”
Morrissey plays such a big role in Ben’s life that he has a death pact with his friend: whoever dies first will make sure that “Well I Wonder” (”Please keep me in mind/Please keep me in mind”) is played at the funeral.
“Moz speaks to me,” Ben says. “For almost any problem in life, I can think of a Morrissey song. For example, ‘Hand in Glove’ has that line”—and, here, Ben sings—”‘And if the people stare/Then the people stare/Oh, I really don’t know, and I really don’t care.’ That taught me to not care about what others may think of who I love.
“From the very beginning, I knew that Latinos liked Morrissey,” Ben remarks. “In fact, I cannot name one white person who likes Morrissey.”
‘A HEAVENLY WAY TO DIE’
What is it about Morrissey that attracts Latinos? It may be that it echoes the music of Mexico, the ranchera. His trembling falsetto brings to mind the rich, sad voice of Pedro Infante, while his effeminate stage presence makes him a U.K. version of Juan Gabriel. As in ranchera, Morrissey’s lyrics rely on ambiguity, powerful imagery and metaphors. Thematically, the idealization of a simpler life and a rejection of all things bourgeois come from a populist impulse common to ranchera.
The most striking similarity, though, is Morrissey’s signature beckoning and embrace of the uncertainty of life and love, something that at first glance might seem the opposite of macho Mexican music. But check it out: for all the machismo and virulent existentialism that Mexican music espouses, there is another side—a morbid fascination with getting your heart and dreams broken by others, usually in death.
In fact, Morrissey’s most famous confession of unrequited love, “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” (”And if a double-decker bus/Crashes into us/To die by your side/Would be a heavenly way to die”) emulates almost sentiment for sentiment Cuco Sanchez’s torch song “Cama de Piedra” (”The day that they kill me/May it be with five bullets/And be close to you”). “I see Moz as something like Los Tigres del Norte,” Ben says, referring to the conjunto norteño legends who’ve graphed and broadcast Mexican sentiment for the past quarter of a century. “They can take you through the day—make you laugh, smile and cry. And that’s what Morrissey does.”
Comparing Morrissey with Mexican music is an interesting game, but it’s beside the point. Most of Morrissey’s Latino fans, while growing up with ranchera, don’t automatically relate Morrissey to anything Mexican. More immediate to them is the music of their Mexican-Americanized youth: 1980s New Wave, oldies-but-goodies, and the rockabilly rhythms that have been a part of Mexican culture in one form or another since the heyday of the zoot suit. It’s natural, then, for Latinos to find Morrissey appealing: he incorporates all of these styles into his music, in the process singing their life.
“A lot of Latinos in Southern California grew up to oldies and rancheras,” Ben says. “But everyone also listened to KROQ, especially the flashback lunches. A lot of those artists on KROQ were English, and the one that really stuck to people was Morrissey. His music had the style of a lot of the music we were already accustomed to.”
‘I WISH I WAS BORN MEXICAN’
Morrissey once told a Las Vegas audience composed of (what else?) mostly Latinos that “‘Mexico’ is the only Spanish word I know. But it’s the best word.”
That concert was part of 1999’s “¡Oye Esteban!” tour. An advertisement for his concerts that year excitedly screamed, “¡El cantante! ¡El concierto! (The singer! The concert!).” On that tour, Morrissey performed wearing T-shirts and belt buckles emblazoned with “Mexico” and at times even the Virgen de Guadalupe, the spiritual embodiment of Catholic Mexico.
Morrissey’s most famous acknowledgement of his Latino fans, though, came here in Orange County during that same tour. “I wish I was born Mexican,” Morrissey told an overwhelmingly Latino audience at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center. “But it’s too late for that now.” This is the Dylan-at-Newport moment of the Latino Morrissey crowd, the defining moment of the scene, something that everyone attended even if they were somewhere else.
The argument can even be made that Morrissey’s acknowledgement of his Latino lovers goes back as early as 1992’s Your Arsenal; on “Glamorous Glue,” he wondered, “We look to Los Angeles/For the language we use/London is dead/London is dead/Now I’m too much in love.” Elizabethan English and its people have perished, he tells us; long live the Spanglish race of Nuestra Lady de los Ángeles.
Regardless of when Morrissey discovered his Latino worshipers, it’s indisputable that he now tailors his career for them. He lives in Los Angeles, the second-largest city in Latin America, and attends rock en español shows in Huntington Park to see Hispanic troubadour Mikel Erenxtun sing excellent Spanish versions of “Everyday Is Like Sunday” and “There Is a Light that Never Goes Out.”
His current tour eschews the East Coast and Midwest in favor of Latino or nearly Latino enclaves in Arizona, California and Las Vegas. Morrissey’s participation in Jaguares’ Revolución Tour is another show of solidarity with the people who’ve made him a king.
“It’s no secret that he moved to Southern California where there’s a huge Latino base,” says Javier Castellanos, who’s trying to get Morrissey to come to his Anaheim club, JC Fandango, and displays a smiling picture of the eternally dour Morrissey to prove it. “I told him, ‘You know there’re a lot of Latinos who love you.’ And he just nodded his head.”
Anyone attending Friday’s show will most likely hear “Mexico,” a new song he debuted on this tour.
A slow ballad similar to the baroque horror of “Meat Is Murder,” “Mexico” reads like a Chicano manifesto: In Mexico I went for a walk to inhale the tranquil cool lover’s air. I could taste a trace Of American chemical waste. And the small voice said, “What can I do?” I lay on the grass And I cried my heart out for want of my love.
Other stanzas are just as radical, with the most memorable passage observing that Mexicans in the United States face a situation in which “It seems if you’re rich and you’re white/You’ll be all right./I just don’t see why this should be so.”
After years of searching for contentment, Morrissey found it in the Mexican republic of Moz Angeles.
“Morrissey found us, and we bumped into him, and we fell in love with him,” Ben says. “And he loved us back.”
TURNING MANLINESS ON ITS CABESA
Despite such a devoted fan base, media treatment of the Latino Morrissey phenomenon is universally condescending, if not outright racist. Typical is the following passage from Big Brother magazine on one reporter’s attempt to try to crack the Latino Morrissey obsession at a Morrissey/Smiths convention:
As much as I enjoyed hanging out with Edwin and his friends, I have to admit I had an ulterior motive. I wanted to exhibit their acceptance of me, as a gringo who’s down with the southerners, to gain admittance into some of the other, more thuggier Mexican cliques that were scattered throughout the convention. I was fascinated with the monsters that filled their ranks, and I wanted to photograph them without arousing anyone’s suspicion that I was just another white man exploiting the beaners for his own gain . . . which, in a way, I was kind of doing.
Other articles on the Morrissey Latino phenomenon have called Latino Morrissey fans “an audience of East LA homeboys” (Spin) or “tattooed Hispanic LA gangs” (Select). They describe those fans as possessing “perfect Mayan features” and wearing “the standard barrio uniform of shaved head, baggy jeans and short-sleeved plaid shirt” (LA Weekly). They describe Morrissey’s divine powers to save Latinos from gangs (the British TV show Passengers). Or they’ll sum it up easily by saying that Morrissey’s Latino fans are “warm brown” (Los Angeles Times Magazine).
“It’s hard to tell if the [press is] more upset with Morrissey for not knowing when he was finished,” writes academic Colin Snowsell, “or with the audience for not respecting—or being unfashionably oblivious, too—the tacit understanding that Morrissey was taboo.”
Snowsell, a doctoral candidate at Montreal, Quebec’s McGill University, has made a study not merely of the connection between Morrissey and his fans, but also of the media’s perspective of both. He has presented his observations in major academic symposiums and in his master’s thesis, soon to be a dissertation, “‘My Only Mistake Is I’m Hoping’: Monty, Morrissey, and the Importance of Being Mediatized.”
Ben:”He loved us back.”
A lifelong Morrissey fan, the Canadian discovered the Latino Morrissey phenomenon through occasional articles in the press and his interest in Latin America popular culture. “I was interested first in the fan base itself, but after reading a lot of articles on the subject, I became fascinated with how it was reported,” Snowsell says. “The media seemed to delight in pointing out this phenomenon so they could mock him and Latinos. They’re reporting it as a circus side story: the faded star appealing to non-mainstream audiences. But I say it makes perfectly good sense. I think Latinos have better taste than everyone else.”
Snowsell theorizes that Morrissey’s appeal to Latinos lies in the fact that he represents for them the same hope that he offers to all: an opportunity to transcend your lot in life. “Morrissey was, in short, providing to lower- and middle-class Mexican-Americans the same dual utopian message that he had once provided a decade earlier to predominately Anglo fans in the United Kingdom,” he writes. And what did he offer Anglos? “Escape from the injustices of a social order that confines them to the margin, but escape also from the limited identity options entrenched in peripheral, working- and middle-class culture.”
“There’s something to the fact that the audiences that have liked him weren’t rich,” he says. “His original British fans were poor and lower class. With Latinos, they’re certainly considered peripheral in their country. When they see someone who had a comparable experience, those themes of alienation and disenfranchisement come through. And Latinos pick up on those things and are drawn to him.”
More intriguing for Snowsell, though, is Morrissey’s subversion of gender and sexual roles and what that means for Latinos in a culture where everything begins and ends with machismo.
“Morrissey’s macho, but in a different way,” Snowsell says. “When you think of the archetypal North American male sex symbol, you think of rockabilly icons like Elvis Presley and James Dean. But he’s taken this most masculine of identities and remade it as a fey, wimpy, cardigan-wearing, gladiola-loving singer. When you present that to Latinos, whose culture offers very rigid gender models, it appeals to them because he uses this to show through actions that there are other identity options available. There’s no right or wrong way, and people can choose for themselves. They can be tough and sensitive at the same time.”
DESCENT INTO MORRISSEY
My cousins and many of my Latino friends are Morrissey freaks, but they never introduced me to him. It’s as if people must discover Morrissey on their own terms.
I saw the light recently. With Ben as my Virgil, I descended into Morrissey as we drove through the Imperial Valley to his Yuma show. The plan was to listen to every Smiths album during the four-hour journey out and to Morrissey’s solo work on the way back.
Ben was of no help; all he did throughout the journey was sing every lyric, mimic Johnny Marr’s chiming guitars, and blurt from track to track “This song, only real Morrissey fans understand” or “This song is for Morrissey poseurs.”
It didn’t matter. I’m immediately enthralled by everything that is Morrissey—the gentle yet intensely morose instrumentation; the velvety voice that spoke to me, only me and no one else; his (and my) sad tales of getting picked on in school, despising your environment; the nagging aspiration to be something much more—and in another place.
At the concert, it’s more of the same; the man wins me over, his words come to life and his acknowledgement of my culture is so beautiful. How could I not love Morrissey?
Morrissey sings to the disaffected, and God knows alienation is part of the assimilation tradition—the equal and opposite reaction of the immigrants drive to blend in. We ache; Morrissey soothes.
MALDONADO
Morrissey fans pack LA’s Knitting Factory and mouth every word that José Maldonado sings. He’s the leader of the Sweet and Tender Hooligans, a Morrissey/Smiths cover band with its own cult following in Southern California. Perhaps it’s because Maldonado sounds just like Moz, looks like him down to the pompadour and whipping of the mic wire. Or perhaps it’s because Maldonado is Mexican.
There are non-Latinos in the audience. But the overwhelming majority cheers wildly when Maldonado introduces his new bass player by revealing, “Tonight, the band is 20 percent browner!”
I tell Ben this story, and he smiles. He can. I had returned his CDs, and now I was a believer, too. We stage an impromptu sing-along to “The Boy With the Thorn in His Side.”
“I knew you were going to like Moz,” he beams. “All Latinos end up liking him.”
Cartoon Video Directed by the Lips own Joe Bradley, and animated by Chris Taylor www.throneboogie.com , the vid is a schizophrenic fit filled with explosives, mustachioed baddies, and a cameo from a cracked-up Humpty Dumpty taken from their newest release 200 Million Thousand, released on 2/24 on Die Slaughterhaus/Vice Music. .
'The Black Lips have a reputation for crazy live shows that have included vomiting, urination, nudity, band members kissing, Power Wheels races, fireworks, a chicken, and flaming guitars. The frequency of the group's outrageous stage antics has declined, as they claim to have matured "a little bit". Regarding these stage antics, the band said: "People and other bands and club owners can get really mad. We have gotten kicked out of alot [sic] of clubs. Sometimes they want to fight us when it happens. People run away and act scared. But theres nothing to be scared of, its all natural bodily functions. I think it's funny when people get mad."' -- http://www.syarecords.it/blinterview.htm
Don't stare at it too hard.
1. Take My Heart 2:48 2. Drugs 2:33 3. Starting Over 3:59 4. Let It Grow 3:37 5. Trapped In A Basement 2:34 6. Short Fuse 3:26 7. I'll Be With You 2:32 8. Big Black Baby Jesus Of Today 2:56 9. Again & Again 2:48 10. Old Man 2:52 11. Drop I Hold 3:16 12. Body Combat 3:24 13. Elijah 2:52 14. I Saw God 4:29 15. Hidden Track 7:41
Astrosmash
Instructions posted here
Overlay posted here
Play this game on Intellivision Lives! for Windows & Mac!
Play this game on Intellivision Classics for PlayStation!
Play this game NOW! Download it FREE here!
CATALOG DESCRIPTION
Astrosmash started out as a clone of the arcade game Asteroids, called Meteor!. The game wasn't very big, so John Sohl used the extra room in the cartridge to come up with a variation called Avalanche using the same graphics and sound effects. At the last minute, afraid of a lawsuit from Atari, the Mattel lawyers killed the Asteroids-like Meteor!. Rather than risk introducing bugs by deleting code, John simply put a branch around the opening-screen menu straight into the Avalanche! variation, which was released under the name Astrosmash.
BUG: There's no check for the score overflowing -- beyond 9,999,999 points, the scoring routine starts displaying negative numbers, letters, and other ASCII characters. (Ironically, the catalog description promises "Unlimited scoring potential.")
PLAYING TIPS: From Intellivision Game Club News, Issue 1, Fall 1981:
FUN FACT: The unused Asteroids-version code was recycled in the game 
From March until August 11, Intellivision owners were invited to send photographs of their TV screens showing their high score in Astrosmash. Just for entering, they would receive an Astrosmash Shootoff patch, and it was announced that 16 regional high-scorers would be flown to Houston to compete for eight cash prizes.
