Here’s another 70-plus minutes of lowdown & dirty rock’n'roll, absolutely none of it with a holiday theme. Listen for classics from bands like the Penetrators, the Gizmos, We the People, the Real Kids, the Milkshakes, Joe South, the 5.6.7.8’s and more, plus requests for the New Bomb Turks, Esquerita, and an entire set of Dirty Water Records‘ crud. Dig it.
Chew it up and spit it out, tell ‘em what you’re all about, Polish sausage sauerkraut, Polish sausage sauerkraut!
Leave a message on the Savage Kick voicemail line: (641) 715-3900, ext. 42878
I’ve always wondered about this myself, so it was interesting to read this come into my e-mail today, courtesy of the Grammar Girl:
Retailers have long been accused of secularizing Christmas by using “Xmas” in signs and advertisements; therefore, I suspect many of you will be surprised to learn that “Xmas” has a religious origin.
In Greek, the letter “chi” is written as an X, and chi is the first letter of the Greek word for “Christ.” Greeks sometimes abbreviated “Christ” as “X.” For example, they abbreviated “Christ savior” as “XP.” (”P” is the symbol for the Greek letter “rho,” which is the first letter of the word “savior” in Greek.) The Oxford English Dictionary shows the first known English use of “Xmas” in 1551.
As for appropriateness, “Xmas” may have a religious origin and fit better on signs, but many people — both those who use “Xmas” and those who complain about its use — are unaware of the religious origin. If you choose to use “Xmas,” you should know that some people will be infuriated.
A flyer from the very first show I ever officially booked (through John Green at the Bernard Pub in St. Louis), the “I-70 Hardcore Fest,” from 20 years ago:
A recent thread on the TIRC email list about smoking at bars made me reflect on my life as a smoker. It’s something I haven’t really thought about in several years. But looking back, it’s easy to see how quitting has really been beneficial to my health and well being (duh!). I’ll try not to make this post too preachy as I don’t really want to alienate any of my smokin’ readers, because I honestly don’t have anything against smokers, just their smoke.
I gave up smoking at the age of 34 on December 31, 1999. Prior to quitting, I was smoking an average of two to three packs per week and normally I wouldn’t even have my first cigarette until right after lunch. I could never understand people that would light one up immediately after they woke up… blech! That definitely wasn’t for me. So, yeah, I guess one could argue that I wasn’t much of a smoker. So I was smoking roughly six to eight smokes a day. Occasionally I might go through as much as one pack in one day if the day ended at a show or party, but that was rare. If I smoked half a pack in one day, it was a lot. And in ‘99, cigarettes cost right around $3 a pack, maybe a little less. So let’s say I went through two and a half packs per week. Over the course of a year, that’s $390. If I don’t even figure increases in cigarette taxes and inflation, that’s roughly $3,500 I have saved since then (and counting).
That’s a lot of money. That basically covers the price I paid for my ‘65 Barracuda, in fact.
Now, aside from the MONEY, obviously, is the increase in my overall health since then. I no longer cough up “lung cookies” in the shower every morning. My house, clothes, and car don’t stink of cigarettes. And, even though I’m still not getting the exercise I should, I still feel better overall. Plus, I have Mitral Valve Prolapse. Lots of things aren’t good when you have this condition, such as a lot of caffeine, excess alcohol, lack of sleep/excercise and, naturally, smoking.
How did I go about quitting? It was actually easier than I thought it’d be… although I had tried to quit once before, unsuccessfully. Or, rather, I had quit for almost a year, right after the 4th of July, 1995. We were celebrating Independence Day at a friend’s place out in the country and I suddenly decided right then and there that I was done. I quit. And I went completely without cigarettes until June of ‘96, when, out on a camping trip with friends, I made the mistake of lighting up a Cuban cigar a friend’s brother had brought along to share with our group. After I smoked that cigar, I was right back to craving the nicotine (it’s crazy just how easily something as innocent as that can trigger that old craving again), so I followed it up with first “just one” cigarette, which led to two, and so on. That’s how quickly and easily I fell off the wagon. And it took me another three and a half years to get up the courage to try to quit again.
But by the fall of ‘99, I was seriously ready to quit. I was tired of it. Tired of the smell, the ill feelings, the hacking, and the cost. I had always promised myself that I would quit before I turned 35, and that was right around the corner. Then there was the promise of the new millennium. The end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first (never mind the fact that that technically didn’t happen until 2001… YOU know what I mean). So I made up my mind that I would quit by the end of the year, before “two thousand zero zero party over oops out of time.” But to prepare myself for it, I didn’t smoke more, or even keep smoking the same amount. Sometime in October, I started cutting back, slowly but surely so that by the time mid-December rolled around, I was down to just three cigarettes a day.
Another thing that was a huge help was I started eating sunflower seeds… the kind in the shell that you always see ballplayers eating and spitting out on TV (it’s important to get the shelled kind because the time and effort it takes for your teeth to crack the seed open and then extract the nugget with your tongue is what keeps your mouth busy and your mind off of reaching for that pack of cigarettes, which you should keep in another room, way out of sight). I’d buy bags of the David Jalapeño Hot Salsa seeds and eat them whenever I’d get that craving for a smoke, or just when I was hanging out at home watching TV or going on the Internet. This was very important as it gave my mouth something to do instead of suckin’ on a cancer stick. I highly recommend getting into the sunflower seed habit in order to alleviate your nicotine habit. Just make sure you have a little cup handy to spit the shells into. Now, this is what worked for me. You may find that gum (maybe even nicotine gum) or something else can serve the same purpose. I never gave anything like that a shot, I just found that I really liked those spicy seeds and they served the purpose well. I still eat them, in fact.
So if you’re thinking about quitting, here’s how to do it: Plan early. Tell everyone you know you’re going to quit, and when. Tell them your plan—how you plan on doing it. Then convince YOURSELF that you’re going to do it. This may be the hardest part, but if you can convince yourself, then it’s basically a done deal. All you need to do is follow through with the plan. But allow yourself at least three months to start cutting back. Then do it slowly. Cut out smoking on Mondays entirely. Then cut down on the number of cigarettes per day gradually over time so that by the end of the third month, you’re down to next-to-nothing. And make that deadline an important date. New Year’s Eve, your birthday, an anniversary… some date that’s meaningful. And so that later you can look back and be able to recall how long it’s been since you quit. I seriously believe the hardest part of quitting is the psychology involved with it. If you don’t accept the fact that you’re going to quit (and when), then it won’t happen. All the sunflower seeds, nicotine gum and patches in the world won’t make up for that.
This is what worked for me. Obviously, it may not work for everyone, and you may or may not have the same success I did, but it’s worth a try. But if you’re thinking about quitting, you’ve already made a big step towards this objective, so it’s just a matter of sticking to your guns and not giving in. Good luck!
Don’t look now (oh, OK, go ahead) but there’s talk on FACEBOOK of all places of bringing KYMC back from the dead. Now, obviously, it wouldn’t really be KYMC… no one is planning on starting a new brick & mortar public radio station in suburban West St. Louis County (and they’d be big ol’ fools for trying to do such a thing, especially in this economy), but it would instead be a more modernized version, with an exciting new name, and operating online as a streaming-audio “Internet” station and/or podcast. I’m kinda, sorta part of this as I used to be a programmer at KYMC back in the 1980s (I still haven’t gotten around to posting any of my old air-check tapes, but SOON, I promise…) and am friends with the girl that set up this KYMC FM 89.7 Alumni Facebook group.
What the hell is KYMC, you may be asking at this point? KYMC was a small public radio station out in Ballwin, MO, that was owned by the YMCA of Greater St. Louis (the ONLY YMCA-owned radio station in the world), and it’s where I got introduced to the world of broadcasting after first joining up there with my friend, Bruce Clayton, during my senior year of high school. The station existed for about twenty-nine years until the YMCA finally axed it in January of 2007. When I first joined KYMC, I think it was only a 10-watt station. Later it was upgraded to 20 watts and I think at the most it may have been around a hundred watts, broadcasting as far east as Creve Coeur and west as St. Peters.
So am I excited about it? Eh. Not really. I mean, I guess it’s cool that they’re coming together to work on a project like this, and I’m in no way intending to throw any water on their fire, but honestly, with KDHX (struggling to stay afloat) in town as well as thousands (millions?) of other online “stations” out there begging for more ears (and dollars), is it going to be worth the effort? Did KYMC have that big of a following to easily and seemlessly translate that listenership into instant listeners today? Probably not, but hey, who am I to criticize them for their efforts? More power to ‘em!
So, anyway, with all that said, I wanted to post about it here in case some of you may know someone who used to be a DJ at the station… or maybe you know someone that was just a big fan or supporter. In that case it would be great if you could pass the info along to them about that Facebook group. The more people they can round up to get involved with this, the better the outcome will probably be. Thanks!
UPDATE: Interestingly enough, not long after posting this entry I happened to check out KYMC’s entry on Wikipedia, and read the following:
In July 2008 and with the final remain silent authority about to expire, the YMCA of Greater St. Louis reached an agreement to sell this station to Missouri River Christian Broadcasting, Inc. The deal was approved by the FCC on August 22, 2008, and the transaction was consummated on September 19, 2008. The new owners announced plans to return KYMC to the air with religious programming as a member of the Moody Broadcasting Network, including some programming as a simulcast of KGNV in Washington, Missouri. On October 30, 2008, KYMC was granted a main studio waiver allowing the station to be run from facilities far outside the station’s community of license.
Ha! Looks like the “resurrection” (pardon the pun) has already begun! Moody’s motto, by the way: “Think Biblically, Live Christianly, Serve Effectively, Evangelize Constantly”
In case ya missed it… Here’s the latest episode of the Savage Kick podcast, featuring more hard-boiled rock’n’roll, this time from the likes of such desperate groups as the Gories, the Oblivians, Scat Rag Boosters, Red Beard and the Pirates, the Original Sins, Movie Star Junkies, Pirate Love, The Gruesomes, Thee Headcoats, Thee Fine Lines, Thee Crucials, Andre Williams, the Seger Liberation Army, a request for the Irving Klaws and more!
Leave a message on the Savage Kick voicemail line: (641) 715-3900, ext. 42878
Spreadshirt is offering time-sensitive discounts on all their shirts for a limited time, but these only apply to U.S. and Canadian customers. They are as follows:
December 6-8, 2008
20% off all orders over $30.00, shipping costs do not apply
December 9-11, 2008
15% off all orders orders over $30.00, shipping costs do not apply
December 12-15, 2008
10% off all orders over $30.00, shipping costs do not apply
Coupon codes:
USD$: NOW1
CAD$: CADNOW1
Here are the links to the stores I have up and running:
I first remember people giving me shit for “getting old” back when I turned 30. Ya know, the big three-oh. Thirty-odd-even. Um, twenty-ten. Yeah. But I didn’t buy it. I still felt young. Shit, this was 1995. I hadn’t even started doing The Wayback Machine yet. Gina and I had only been married for a little over four years. No kids yet. Still working retail. Not many responsibilities. I didn’t even have a website yet. Lots of fun years ahead! “Fuck it,” I said, “it’s just a number. Doesn’t mean anything.” And so it was. I went though my thirties like Grant taking Richmond. No holds barred, baby. Fun, fun, fun. OK, so I admit that I matured a bit midway through when I decided to quit smoking, but aside from that, I was the same guy, still enjoying life’s simple pleasures like booze and live rock’n'roll, still able to go out and see sometimes multiple shows in the same week, even, all the way up until shortly after my 38th birthday when my son was born. THAT was the first major life-altering change. Not bad, I guess, considering I was able to hold that off ’til my late thirties, right? Right. So then, not long after that, I turned 40 and yeah, I was starting to feel older… not quite as energetic and youthful as in the past. More aches, pains, and longer recovery times from drinking too much. But I was still able to hack it. That is, up until November 19, 2008, when I got an email from my high school’s alumni association with news about my class’ upcoming TWENTY-FIFTH reunion, scheduled for next June. What’s that? 25 years?! You’re shittin’ me. It’s been THAT long? A quarter of a century since I fucking GRADUATED from HIGH SCHOOL? Holy fucking shit. OK, that’s it. I’m officially old.
So now I have this dilemma staring at me in the face: to go or not to go? That is the question. I have to admit that I really didn’t like a lot of people in my high school class (Parkway West class of ‘84, in case you’re curious… and if you’re from St. Louis, you probably are), but honestly, who does? And then, too, it was a pretty big class. Hell, I didn’t even KNOW most of them. But looking back at my senior yearbook, there were probably dozens of kids that I got along with pretty well (even more if you count juniors, sophomores and freshmen), and a few fellow seniors that I’d even consider pretty close friends back then. I’ve even gotten back in touch with a few via Myspace, Facebook and plain ol’ email. One of them, Bruce Clayton, was even my college roommate for my first semester at CMSU. So now I’m thinkin’, ya know, if enough of these people that I actually wouldn’t mind hanging out with say they’re going, that I’ll go ahead and make plans. Or at least set the date aside… for now, anyway.
Kaiser Records recording artistes Thee Crucials are coming to Lemmons on Friday December 12! These Altanta cats really know how to throw down so don’t miss out!! They gonna shake it up! They gonna ball it up! Appearing with them on stage will be (you know ‘em, you love ‘em) Thee Fine Lines from Springfield, Mo., and The Nevermores from right here in St. Louis. We’re talking one fun night of wild-ass garage R&B punk mayhem!! And don’t forget Lemmons’ excellent PIZZA and HOT WINGS… and, of course… BEEEEEERRR!!! See you’s there.
LOUD Technologies, the company that purchased St. Louis Music in 2005, has closed this long-time (since 1922) locally based company, a designer and distributor of Ampeg, Crate, Dan Armstrong, and other top brands of musicians gear. In May 2007, Loud closed the Ampeg and Crate engineering department in St. Louis, preferring to have new models designed by their own engineers, as well as an Asian engineering group. This followed Loud ceasing manufacturing of Ampeg and Crate at the Yellville, AR, manufacturing facility, outsourcing the manufacturing to contract manufacturers in Asia, and firing the entire sales staff. As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, Loud has also decided to put the final nail in the SLM coffin by eliminating the distribution facility.
Hence, some of the former employees of St. Louis Music are throwing a funeral/party on Saturday December 13 at the Kat Club, 1440 North Broadway, next to Shady Jack’s. Doors open at 7:00 p.m., the cover is $5 and is restricted to 21 & up. The event will feature bands whose employees are part of the SLM family, featuring The Trip Daddys, Giants in the Sky and TBA. Steve Dachroeden is leading the eulogy as well as putting together some pretty cool shit to give away, rumored to be Ampeg and Dan Armstrong shtuff and maybe some of the platinum records that have been given to the company by sponsored artists. There will be two tattoo artists and a mobile soul food unit and I believe PBR is donating beer. Hopefully I’ll have more details to come.
ANYONE can come to this; this event is for past and (until recently) present employees of St. Louis Music/Loud Technologies, as well as SLME. It is ALSO for anyone who has worked with SLM, used or admired Crate, Ampeg, Dan Armstrong, etc., as well as ANYONE who is sad to see a St. Louis company that started eighty-six years ago die.
