It was December 1974, at a club on Federal Highway called the Flying Machine, which is now the Copa. Local music legend/practicing attorney Charlie Pickett was there, a buttoned-down, bell-bottomed 22-year-old at the time. He puts the scene in context:
"Remember, this was before [classic punk eye opener] Live at CBGB's came out. It was before we figured out what was wrong with disco and Foreigner and Styx. I'm guessing there were 150 people out of maybe 250 capacity. [The club] was black and hideous. When they came out, it wasn't the epiphany of punk rock, but, man, all of a sudden there was that sloppy, two-guitar sound... The push and pull... What a great sound. Remember, we were so young. [Bassist] Art Kane had a tank top or something with his belly hanging out. This is the most dumb, shovel-looking guy with makeup on! I don't remember anything about the drummer. The other three had an in-out motion. They would run up to the edge of the stage and then to the back to the amps as if everything depended on catching the chord. Johansen was in a total Jagger motion there's nothing wrong with that. There was a true performance love. They stomped around, they were outrageous, they spit, they cursed, but they were a great, tight band. Of all the shows I have ever seen, it's in the top 25, and I have seen thousands..."
It was the last show drummer Jerry Nolan and Johnny Thunders the influential guitarist who died in a New Orleans hotel bathroom in '91 ever played with the Dolls. Thanks to prodding from Morrissey, the band is back again, featuring the last two surviving members of the original band. They have a new record deal, a DVD on the way, and their strongest lineup since 1975. What are the chances they'll make history this time out? D. Sirianni Mod Man In
Between the Who and Oasis, there's a generation gap wider than the River Mersey. But there is direct lineage bridging '60s mod and '90s Britpop, and his name is Paul Weller. The ballsy Brit's latest studio album, As Is Now released earlier this month works as a sort of career retrospective, incorporating elements of Weller's past bands (the Jam and Style Council) as well as his earlier, more funk-centric solo stuff.
Though unknown to most Americans, Weller is certified rock royalty in England, held in the same light as his mentor, Pete Townshend. After all, it is Weller, not Townshend, whom British journos refer to as "the Modfather." As frontman of the Jam, Weller came of age during the first wave of British punk. Though his safety-pin-clad peers loved to piss on '60s culture, the smart-suit-wearing Weller stuck to his roots, fusing the defiant attitude of punk with the styles of his mod forebears (and a heavy nod to Motown). By the time the Jam split in 1982, Weller's penchant for American soul and jazz took him in a new direction, but the excesses of '80s synth pop often threw him off course. The result was the Style Council, which, though initially successful, petered out by decade's end. Perhaps it was the commercial disaster of the final Style Council album, Confessions of a Pop Group, that caused Weller to regroup, so to speak, and get back to the basics of solid songwriting.
As Is Now proves that, six albums into his solo career (excluding the covers disc Studio 150), Weller has reconciled his punk-primed past with the more laid-back, jazzy style of his later years. The album's two singles "From the Floorboards Up" and "Come On/Let's Go" are the most rockin' songs he's written since the Jam. There are a few dull moments (the soporific "The Pebble and the Boy"), but they're the exception rather than the rule. Overall, the album has a comforting, paternal quality to it, as if Weller wants you to know it's OK just to pick up a guitar and play from the heart. And if that means cranking up the distortion, then all the better. Maybe that's what Weller means on "Blink and You'll Miss It" when he sings, "It's only when you finally arrive/That you recognize/You've been going through changes. " The Modfather has gone through plenty of changes, no doubt. But As Is Now isn't really a change it's more like a return to form. Jason Budjinski
How Goth Are You?
In the spirit of Halloween, Outtakes offers this quiz to help you determine the depth of your darkness. Tally points based on your answers, and check below for your Scale of Bleakness. And remember, October 31 is your big day, so cheer up! Or don't, of course.
When I put on makeup, it's...
I'm a dude, dude. Makeup's for chicks. (0 points)
Eyeliner, eyeliner, eyeliner! (2 points)
So much foundation, if I had friends, they'd call me "Pancake." (3 points)
When I open my closet, I see...
Both styles of clothes: Abercrombie and Fitch. (0)
Ratty band T-shirts and a black trench coat. (1 point)
Black, black, black my wardrobe is the same color as my empty soul. (3 points)
My CD collection consists of...
Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. And have you heard the new Brooks & Dunn? (-1 point)
Heavy metal, death metal, angst-metal, and metal-metal. (0 points)
Brooding, tuneless music that makes my dreary heart sing. (2 points)
My favorite hot spot is...
Lurking in a cemetery, crying because my parents didn't name me Lestat. (1 point)
At the club, conniptioning to industrial noise. (2 points)
As far away from humans as I can get. (3 points)
I spend my weekend afternoons... (choose all that apply)
Shopping at Old Navy. (-3 points)
Watching snuff anime. (1 point)
Recovering from Friday night's art show damn you, absinthe! (2 points)
The last time I read a book by Anne Rice or a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman was...
I saw the movies, including that shitty one with the dead singer. (1 point)
A few moons ago. (2 points)
This quiz is interrupting one, in fact. (3 points)
My most common expression is...
(Sigh) "It's all so profoundly pointless." (2 points)
"Leave me the fuck alone, Muggle." (3 points)
"Jesus loves you!" (-1 point)
Total Score:
(-5 to 0 points): You're about as goth as Bill O'Reilly. Which is to say, only a little.
(1 to 8 points): Welcome to Moderate America. Here's your Maroon 5 CD.
(9 to 10 points): You're what's called a Poseur Goth. Put down the mascara, absorb some more Bauhaus, and find another way to piss off your parents.
(11 to 13 points): You're a Functional Goth. You dig the scene, but the makeup is only for impressing all those righteous vampire babes.
(14 to 17 points): You're fullblown Gothicus Mopeosis. Your boss thinks you're a freak, but he lets you slide because nobody else is so willing to clean up after vivisections. As a bonus, your parents think you worship Satan and might be gay. Congratulations you've been ostracized by society.
(18 to 20 points): Oh my goth! Check your pulse, Prince of Darkness. And you might want to check on Marilyn Manson while you're at it. Cole Haddon
The New York Dolls play with the Bittercups and the Livid Kittens at 8 p.m. Thursday, October 27, at the Culture Room, Culture Room, 3045 N. Federal Hwy., Fort Lauderdale. Tickets cost $29.99. Call 954-564-1074.