Notes for the 09-13-04 and 09-15-04 Harmony in My Head Show. 

Wednesday September 15, 2004
On Monday night, September 12th, The Ramones 30th Anniversary show happened in LA. I am sure many of you are aware of that. There's reviews here and there I am sure. It was a great time and I thought everyone played really well. All the singing was good and the bands were tight. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were very good and I thought Steve Jones and I held our own pretty well as we ripped through Judy is a Punk, Commando and Blitzkrieg Bop. I got to meet Tommy Ramone, that was a big deal for me as he was the only Ramone I had never met before. Anyway, it was a great night, the place was packed, the show rocked and our wonderful MC, Rob Zombie even called Johnny on the phone from the stage so everyone in the place could cheer. That was a great moment. 
I had promised to call Johnny this week because I was going to go over to his place and check out a movie. Heidi reminded me today and a few hours later, with some chores finished, I was fixing to call him when I got a call from someone at the radio station telling me that Johnny had passed away. 
There's obits online you can check out but the short of it is that he died in his sleep surrounded by friends and family and it was peaceful, which is all you can hope for I guess. 
I have been playing Ramones music all night and thinking about the whole thing. The Ramones have been a big part of my life and the last few years with the members slowly passing away, it has been hard. 
I can't think that any of you are unfamiliar with the music of the Ramones. If perhaps you have not had a chance to dig into their stuff, I think it's a great idea that you did. You'll most likely dig it. If you don't, play it until you do!
I spoke to Johnny a few days ago and he said he was feeling pretty bad. I know it was tough for him to hang in there. I wonder if he was pacing himself so we could get this show done. He was so touched that the show sold out as fast as it did and that everyone involved was so into it. It was, and I am being selfish here, it was an honor to tell him personally that we could have sold the whole weekend, that the Ramones changed how many people think of music and that the Ramones are a big part of why so many of us ever got onto a stage, went to a show, etc. Talk about a legendary band, those guys are as real as the deal gets. The Ramones are forever. --Henry 

9-13-04

So heres tonights list of songs. I hope you enjoyed my very special guest Heidi May. She was a little obstreperous tonight but for the most part she was somewhat behaved. She was attacking me with a pin that she found and she thought that was funny. Next week, well get into some cool music from far and wide and well see what happens. As always, thanks for listening and I hope this finds you in exceedingly good health. -Henry

Booker T and the MGs  Green Onions live at the 5/4 Ballroom: I got this a few years ago. Very cool Stax revue show with the MGs as the house band and groups like the Mad Lads and singers like William Bell singing. This version of Green Onions is blazin. 

Dee Dee Ramone  Bad Horoscope: From Dee Dees Zonked album. Thats the one and only Lux Interior singing. Hes so great. This is the album that has that track I played weeks ago with Joey Ramone singing, I Am Seeing UFOs. I have all the Dee Dee solo records, I think theyre really cool. I have been thinking about him a lot since last night. 

The Nymphs  Just One Happy Day: From the one and only Nymphs alum. Thats my friend Inger Lorre singing. This was her big ass Geffen record. I think it holds up pretty well. She and I are now starting work for a Matt Groening project. I am writing a Halloween story involving Bart and Homer and shes going to illustrate it. Should be interesting. 

Mitch Chandler - Paranoid: All I know about Mitch Chandler is that hes available for parties and appearances, so says his CD. I found this in the out bin at my managers once and took it back to my office. I have wanted to play this one for a long time. Theres four copies showing on Gemm.com! 

Greg Ginn PF Flyer: This is off his Getting Even album. Greg Ginn puts out a lot of records, I dont know if I have them all. I have had this one for some time, about ten years or so. Pretty wild guitar. I think one of the lines in this song is Youre not my mother. Well, you got that right! 

Cedell Davis  Shes Got the Devil in Her: From the Feel Like Doing Something Wrong album on Fat Possum. Hes got a few records out, this is my favorite, but theyre all good. He plays with a butter knife. If you punch in his name on google, you can read up on him from the record company websites who have releases his stuff, Fat Possum and Fast Horse. Hes the real deal and worth checking out. 

Credence Clearwater Revival  Fortunate Son: John Fogerty sure could write them and sing them. What a man, what a band. All their stuff is in print and I have to think by now, theres some great best ofs that are easy to find. I did an interview earlier today with VH1 and the topic was protest songs and I was talking about this song and how the Minutemen used to cover it and how great it was so I decided to play it. 

The Fall  Job Search: As promised. I got the track off the internet and brought it to the show. Its a cool song and as far as I know, has only been played on Peels shows a few weeks ago. I cant wait for the new fall album coming out soon. Should be a good one. I hope you liked last weeks fall track Garden from the Perverted by Language album. 

The Panic  Modern Politics: I think I played this song before. I brought this in last minute because I had not heard this track in awhile and thought it would be cool to play some older Manchester stuff. I got this EP a long time ago. Its on Rainy City Records but has been released on punk CD comps since then. The other two songs, Urban Damnation and Murder are also great. 

Gun Club - Desire: From the Lucky Jim album. This was, as far as I know, the last full album by the Gun Club and its really good. I think singer/bandleader Jeffrey Lee Pierce was amazing. He was such a great songwriter and some of his best stuff is on this record. Idiot Waltz is another great song on this album. 

Sam Cooke  Nobody Knows the Trouble Ive Seen: From the Night Beat album. A must have. Hes so great. I have a lot of his stuff. Theres some of his gospel stuff I dont have but Ill get around to it at some point. This is my favorite album of his. Its very under produced than some of his other stuff and its better for his voice I think because it sticks it way out more in front and when the singer is that good, then why not? 

Buzzkunst  Can You see Me Shining: From the Buzzkunst album I have played a song off this record before. I have been playing this song a lot lately. I know some of you might not like it but I think its cool. Buzzkunst is Pete Shelley from the Buzzcocks and Howard Devoto who was also in the Buzzcocks at the beginning but moved on to find fame and fortune in Magazine and Luxuria. Cool stuff I think, perhaps not everyones thing though. 

St Vitus  White Stallions: The album this comes from, Hallows Victim isnt on CD I dont think. If it is, I have not been able to find it. I got this track off a kind of best of called Heavier than Thou. We used to do a lot of shows with these guys in 1984. It was cool to be on tour with them but cooler to see them when not on tour so you could really have a great time and not have to think about the show you had to do as soon as they were off. I had a lot great times seeing these guys. I still have tapes of them playing parties and I can hear myself and other SST/Black Flag types singing along with them. Those were some great nights. 

Screamin Jay Hawkins  Theres Something Wrong with You: From the very cool 
Cow Fingers & Mosquito Pie best of. Of all the comp. CDs of Mr. Hawkins, this is the best one sonically. Theres even an alt. version of this song at the end of the set. Its not as good as the master, which we heard tonight but its cool to hear any vocal from this guy. Have you ever heard his version of I Love Paris? 



Thanks for listening. 