Thursday, August 28, 2008

Satan's Cheerleaders

Why aren't Satan's Cheerleaders one of the biggest bands in the world?

Satan's Cheerleaders have been playing the most fuzzed-up psyched-out garage mayhem this side of the Mississippi since about 1985!! Led by drummer and vocalist, Jane Satan, they have been going at it for more than 22 friggin' years!! The current line-up has original guitarist and fuzz extraordinaire Mark Chapman back in the band after a 10+ year absence and bassist/vocalist Scarlet O'Horror... this current line-up has been pretty solid for about 8+ years now (which is a first for Satan's Cheerleaders). They've had quite a number of members go through the ranks including Candy Del Mar (The Cramps), Steve Pallow (The Beguiled, Necessary Evils, Haunted George), Gina Brune, the Michael J. Fox doppelganger Wade Kramer, and even legendary horror hostess VAMPIRA to name but a few... They have released 4 CDs and a handful of 45s on Sympathy for the Record Industry in the 1990s and a number of self-released 45s/EPs in the 1980s, 1990s and one from a few years ago. They are truly a breath of fresh air in this stale and phony so-called "garage" scene in Los Angeles where most of the bands take themselves waaaaay too seriously...

I've been lucky to see many Satan's Cheerleaders shows throughout the decades and I gotta say that they are on top of their game at the moment... their live set consists of a bizarre multimedia psychedelic reaction to biker movies, the Black Dahlia, the occult, with a heavy dose of fuzzy garage punk noise.

If you ever see them playing your town - GO SEE THEM! You'll thank me afterwards...

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

REAL BOSS HOSS now has a blog...

Hello friends...

REAL BOSS HOSS now has an official blog!! I will be posting any upcoming news about REAL BOSS HOSS shows, BOSS HOSS RECORDS, or anything else that pops into my tiny head...

I guess I should introduce myself and give a tiny bit of history of what REAL BOSS HOSS is...

Let give you a little history of REAL BOSS HOSS...

REAL BOSS HOSS originated as a fanzine that I created in 1996. The name of the fanzine came from none other than my best friend, Mr. Michael Kaiser of the Radioblivion podcast, Cosmic Voodoo and Kaiser Records. We were brainstorming one night for a title and it just came to him! I thought the name was genius and it sounded great and thus REAL BOSS HOSS was born! The first issue was only 5 pages and was essentially just reviews of a few shows and records and some rants about crap I was into at the moment and a short article on the stupidity of some local talk radio hosts. I only made 100 copies and distributed them at shows and record shops. Unlucky for me, my computer crapped out and I lost that original issue – I didn’t even have a hard copy of it... so whoever has a copy of that issue truly has a collector’s item because I don't even have one! I didn't have a computer, was low on funds, and generally feeling defeated, the fanzine took a 3 year break...

After living through the nauseating and clique-ish mid to late-90s Los Angeles “garage scene” and “lounge” explosion, I just couldn't take it anymore and in February 2000, I let loose a full 28-page blast of all things phony! With the help from a couple of friends, REAL BOSS HOSS took no prisoners; we took on every poseur, jack-off, and lame LA hipster! The fanzine had lots of rants, reviews, and an impressive interview with the legendary (and my personal hero) DON CRAINE of THE DOWNLINERS SECT!! The fanzine caused such uproar within the "close-knit" Los Angeles garage scene that your humble editor was threatened repeatedly through emails and letters. I tried to get another issue off the ground, but never got around to it due to issues with funds and poor time management (laziness). In the mean time, REAL BOSS HOSS was getting quite known in other parts of the world. I got countless emails from garage rockers and mods in places like England, Scotland, Germany, Holland, Mexico, the East Coast, San Francisco, San Diego, etc. Who knows how the hell it got overseas – or even San Diego!! I only made 500 copies and distributed them solely at shows or record stores. This time I had two back-ups made!!

I started putting shows together in 2002 with the help of Vito Lorenzi. At first I didn’t use the REAL BOSS HOSS name and just helped him put together some punk rock shows, but little by little I started inserting in garage bands like Satan’s Cheerleaders into his shows and then decided one day to just do my own REAL BOSS HOSS shows and have him help me out… so in March 2004 the very first REAL BOSS HOSS show was held at the Doll Hut in Anaheim with my old friends The Phantom Surfers, Satan’s Cheerleaders, The South Bay Surfers, and The Bippies. I’ve been doing it ever since and have consistently, in my opinion, been putting on thee best rock n roll shows that Los Angeles has ever seen!! We have been hosts to so many AMAZING bands such as: The Phantom Surfers, The Flakes, The Knights of the New Crusade, Thee Fine Lines, Satan’s Cheerleaders, The Bippies, The Chopsticks, The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, The Okmoniks, Jimmy Angel, The Del Lames, The Guilty Hearts, St. Jorge & the Dragons, The Khans, Sir Dance A Lot, The Boars, Deke Dickerson’s All Star Frat Band, The Rock n Roll Adventure Kids, The Teenage Harlets, The Swiss Family Skiers, The Checkers, The Lateenos, The Teutonics, The Jinxes, The Spanks, The Traditional Fools, The Be Neats, The Shruggs, Beethoven and the Psychedelic Daisy Orchestra, The A Bones, Wounded Lion, Haunted George, Th' Losin' Streaks, Thee Cormans, Nikki Corvette, The Dazes, Special Ed, and our unofficial “house band” – The South Bay Surfers. Of course a REAL BOSS HOSS show is not complete without our very own Master of Ceremonies (and one of my best friends) – the world famous comedian James Beck!