Here's the first of what should be many installments of "Tom's Tunes."
Sublime -
My albums:
40 oz. to Freedom
Robbin' the Hood
Sublime
Second Hand Smoke
20th Century Masters: Millennium Collection
Live at the Palace, Hollywood, CA 10-21-95
Live at the Tressel Tavern, Everett, WA 11-14-94
The Black Album #2
Live at Blockbuster Pavilion, Camden, NJ 8-17-95
Born in Long Beach, CA in 1988, Sublime is a Ska/Punk/Reggae/Funk/Hip-hop that finally hit the big time too late. Their tale was that of a common story...a garage band that formed into a band. The band played live shows, and cut a record. However, unlike "Eddie + the Rebels" (Tom Petty), Sublime didn't hit the charts right away.
It wasn't until the song "Date Rape" was put into the hands of KROQ (Kay-Rock), via snail-mail, that the band got a larger exposure outside of Long Beach, and into the greater Los Angeles area. "Date Rape," what would become one of their most popular songs, barely made it to 40 Oz. to Freedom, their first album which was released on lead-singer/guitarist Bradley Nowell's Skunk Records. Nowell, Bud Gaugh, and Eric Wilson, the three members of Sublime thought the song was one of the worst.
"Date Rape" was released two years prior to its success.
The success of "Date Rape" and it's five week stay atop Billboard's Top #100 Pacific Region Chart in 1995, gave way to Sublime signing on with MCA Records.
Under the contract Sublime released their follow-up to 40 oz. Robbin' the Hood seemed to be a chaotic release. Originally recorded to have only six tracks, the 22 track album was "13 self produced 4-track home recordings." Wiki states that Brad did this to offset critics of his who said he was in the music business for money.
WOW, THIS TOOK A FEW DAYS. Well, two days. However, I didn't do this to write reports about cool bands. So, I guess I'll give album reviews and links to cool bands that I dig. Fuckin' a.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sublime_(band)#Career
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40_Oz._to_Freedom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Nowell
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:jvfuxq8gldse~T1
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Documentaries into the Soul
So, if you're not living in a hole in the ground shack in the Carolina hills, you know how great documentaries are. Especially the music ones; "Running' Down a Dream" - Tom Petty, "The Blues" - Martin Scorsese; are two that come to mind, along w/ Scorsese's "Last Waltz."
Well, we love family drama. And the late Bob Marley's family is no different. Here's a link to Billboard's article about a potential Scorsese documentary about Marley being put on hold:
Rights Flap Jamming Bob Marley Film
That would be a great documentary. I love Scorsese and would love to see what he does w/ Bob Marley.
Well, we love family drama. And the late Bob Marley's family is no different. Here's a link to Billboard's article about a potential Scorsese documentary about Marley being put on hold:
Rights Flap Jamming Bob Marley Film
That would be a great documentary. I love Scorsese and would love to see what he does w/ Bob Marley.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Stay Tuned Sports Fans
In this wild and wacky month of March, not only do we have three NCAA Tournaments occurring for college basketball, but we've also got the start of MLB's regular season.
And if that wasn't enough, over the course of the next few days/weeks, I'll be delving into my massive record collection (we're talking almost 2,000) and talking about my favorite bands, records, and songs from long time favorites Tom Petty + The Rolling Stones to the new guys Dirty Sweet and Ray LaMontagne.
We'll be hitting classics like the White Album, Dark Side of the Moon, and Dizzy Up the Girl (it ain't classic, but shut the fuck up). I'll also be discussing my favorite tunes. Oh, and there will be Dylan, not just Bob, but Jacob too.
So, if massive amounts of college basketball and the return of the "boys of summer" (a little Don Henley for you) don't get you hard, well, my music tastes sure won't either.
And if that wasn't enough, over the course of the next few days/weeks, I'll be delving into my massive record collection (we're talking almost 2,000) and talking about my favorite bands, records, and songs from long time favorites Tom Petty + The Rolling Stones to the new guys Dirty Sweet and Ray LaMontagne.
We'll be hitting classics like the White Album, Dark Side of the Moon, and Dizzy Up the Girl (it ain't classic, but shut the fuck up). I'll also be discussing my favorite tunes. Oh, and there will be Dylan, not just Bob, but Jacob too.
So, if massive amounts of college basketball and the return of the "boys of summer" (a little Don Henley for you) don't get you hard, well, my music tastes sure won't either.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
I made enough money to buy Miami
"I have been drunk now for over two weeks" - Jimmy Buffett - 'A Pirate Looks at Forty'
Jobs/Money
I talked w/ my co-worker + boss (two different people) at the radio station in the past two days. Good news travels fast. We've gotten the OK to carry IU football + basketball, VU basketball, and HS football + basketball. Then the co-host and I are going to meet w/ the Gary Railcats to see if we can carry their games. If that goes through, the station will finally start to go somewhere.
So, along those lines, I doubt I'll be taking the driving job. I'll be kicking myself for turning down $15/hr ($600/wk, $2400/mo, $28,800/yr), but I need to give the radio gig a chance. And with that, I'll be sticking around at Lowe's until something better comes along. The driving job, as you recall, is from 7-4, as opposed to Lowe's 5-2. Those 2 hours make all the difference in the world.
I got my gov. tax return back and got paid on the same day. Boom-shock-a-lock-a-boom. I paid off my Penney's card. I owe them no more! Now, I've just got my Mastercard + Discover @ roughly $1400 combined. It's not too bad, considering I'll be putting my tax return to the two of them, plus $100 from each paycheck ($200 a month for each cc).
Life
It's St. Patty's Weekend and I'm heading up to the Err Dizzle's for the day/afternoon/evening/night to drink. Yay for the snakes in Ireland.
On the other hand, Tulsa is getting handled by Memphis. It's 42-15 in the second half, 19:04 to go as I write this. Memphis just scored again. Ouch, not much of a challenge. I'm hoping Memphis can do something this year in the NCAA Tourney. I've been following them for the past 3-4 years and they've been playing some great ball.
The tix came for the final Blackhawks home game. The Err Dizz and I will again drink, and watch some Canucks beat on each other. What could be better?
So barmaid bring a pitcher; another round of brew.
Jobs/Money
I talked w/ my co-worker + boss (two different people) at the radio station in the past two days. Good news travels fast. We've gotten the OK to carry IU football + basketball, VU basketball, and HS football + basketball. Then the co-host and I are going to meet w/ the Gary Railcats to see if we can carry their games. If that goes through, the station will finally start to go somewhere.
So, along those lines, I doubt I'll be taking the driving job. I'll be kicking myself for turning down $15/hr ($600/wk, $2400/mo, $28,800/yr), but I need to give the radio gig a chance. And with that, I'll be sticking around at Lowe's until something better comes along. The driving job, as you recall, is from 7-4, as opposed to Lowe's 5-2. Those 2 hours make all the difference in the world.
I got my gov. tax return back and got paid on the same day. Boom-shock-a-lock-a-boom. I paid off my Penney's card. I owe them no more! Now, I've just got my Mastercard + Discover @ roughly $1400 combined. It's not too bad, considering I'll be putting my tax return to the two of them, plus $100 from each paycheck ($200 a month for each cc).
Life
It's St. Patty's Weekend and I'm heading up to the Err Dizzle's for the day/afternoon/evening/night to drink. Yay for the snakes in Ireland.
On the other hand, Tulsa is getting handled by Memphis. It's 42-15 in the second half, 19:04 to go as I write this. Memphis just scored again. Ouch, not much of a challenge. I'm hoping Memphis can do something this year in the NCAA Tourney. I've been following them for the past 3-4 years and they've been playing some great ball.
The tix came for the final Blackhawks home game. The Err Dizz and I will again drink, and watch some Canucks beat on each other. What could be better?
So barmaid bring a pitcher; another round of brew.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Work
"Everybody's workin' for the weekend" - Loverboy - 'Workin' for the Weekend'
I'll give you a rundown of my current job situation:
I'm currently working 2 jobs. One at a local on-line radio station (www.thebreez.com) - easy listening - and the other at Lowe's as a day stocker, 5a-2p....40 hrs. a week.
I'm making $8/hr @ the station with no set hours. I go in when I want, get shit taken care of and leave (normally about 5 hours a week if I'm not running a board for a college basketball/football game which we broadcast via buying on-air time from a local signal, 89.1 FM WWLO). I make $8.68/hr @ Lowe's, w/ that set 5-2, Mon-Fri. Weekends off are wonderful.
So, on an average week, I'm working 50-70 hrs, which I don't mind. I like money, and I'm still able to go out on weekends, so sometimes I've got a social life.
I've moved back in w/ the folks post graduation (a degree in Telecommunications - Radio Broadcasting), and I picked up the Lowe's job to help pay off my $1600 in credit card debt (stupid college purchases - gas, groceries, eBay, booze, fast food). While I just started at Lowe's, I've never had the desire to want to make Lowe's a "lifer job." Basically, I look at it more like a "summer job." I'm seasonal and the season ends on Labor Day.
Now, I've just talked to my neighbor who needs a new delivery driver for his business. I'd be delivering tools/construction materials to different job sites. I'd be making $15/hr. working 7-4 Mon-Fri (weekends off again), plus over-time, and I'd be fully insured for the first time since Dec. of '06. They'd pay for me to get my CDL to which I'd then make $18/hr. Then, there's a possibility of having me take over one of the shops. He says there's a lot of older guys who will soon be looking to retire or cut back on the amount they work, and he'd like younger employees to come in for the future.
This would obviously mean I'd leave Lowe's, which I have no problem w/. However, when talking to my dad, he brought up the point of the radio station. I guess this is where I need help. See, I love radio (I'm often asked why I don't go into TV; I hate TV), it's what I've wanted to do since 7th grade (12 years old???). However, trying to find anything outside of the station that I'm at has been very hard. The slumping economy doesn't help the fact that traditional/terrestrial radio is dying and XM/Sirius, while appearing to do well, have both suffered badly due to the FCC not allowing them to join, thus causing a monopoly. I've applied for on-air, producing, play-by-play/color positions at a shit ton of stations in the Chicago-land market.
To be honest, it sounds wonderful, making $15-18 an hour (for the first time since a summer job a few years back at a factory). The full insurance coverage is great too. I'd have to wait a very long time to get any sort of coverage from Lowe's. My buddy that I work w/ at the station and myself have tried to make the station job a full-time gig, but it hasn't worked out yet, and may never (the boss says make more $ via sales, but we're not salesmen, we're radio guys, but even then it doesn't mean that we'd get full-time).
I'm thinking of accepting the driver job and taking a smaller role at the station, something that I'm doing now w/ Lowe's. Prior to Lowe's I was in the station about 20 hours a week.
I'll give you a rundown of my current job situation:
I'm currently working 2 jobs. One at a local on-line radio station (www.thebreez.com) - easy listening - and the other at Lowe's as a day stocker, 5a-2p....40 hrs. a week.
I'm making $8/hr @ the station with no set hours. I go in when I want, get shit taken care of and leave (normally about 5 hours a week if I'm not running a board for a college basketball/football game which we broadcast via buying on-air time from a local signal, 89.1 FM WWLO). I make $8.68/hr @ Lowe's, w/ that set 5-2, Mon-Fri. Weekends off are wonderful.
So, on an average week, I'm working 50-70 hrs, which I don't mind. I like money, and I'm still able to go out on weekends, so sometimes I've got a social life.
I've moved back in w/ the folks post graduation (a degree in Telecommunications - Radio Broadcasting), and I picked up the Lowe's job to help pay off my $1600 in credit card debt (stupid college purchases - gas, groceries, eBay, booze, fast food). While I just started at Lowe's, I've never had the desire to want to make Lowe's a "lifer job." Basically, I look at it more like a "summer job." I'm seasonal and the season ends on Labor Day.
Now, I've just talked to my neighbor who needs a new delivery driver for his business. I'd be delivering tools/construction materials to different job sites. I'd be making $15/hr. working 7-4 Mon-Fri (weekends off again), plus over-time, and I'd be fully insured for the first time since Dec. of '06. They'd pay for me to get my CDL to which I'd then make $18/hr. Then, there's a possibility of having me take over one of the shops. He says there's a lot of older guys who will soon be looking to retire or cut back on the amount they work, and he'd like younger employees to come in for the future.
This would obviously mean I'd leave Lowe's, which I have no problem w/. However, when talking to my dad, he brought up the point of the radio station. I guess this is where I need help. See, I love radio (I'm often asked why I don't go into TV; I hate TV), it's what I've wanted to do since 7th grade (12 years old???). However, trying to find anything outside of the station that I'm at has been very hard. The slumping economy doesn't help the fact that traditional/terrestrial radio is dying and XM/Sirius, while appearing to do well, have both suffered badly due to the FCC not allowing them to join, thus causing a monopoly. I've applied for on-air, producing, play-by-play/color positions at a shit ton of stations in the Chicago-land market.
To be honest, it sounds wonderful, making $15-18 an hour (for the first time since a summer job a few years back at a factory). The full insurance coverage is great too. I'd have to wait a very long time to get any sort of coverage from Lowe's. My buddy that I work w/ at the station and myself have tried to make the station job a full-time gig, but it hasn't worked out yet, and may never (the boss says make more $ via sales, but we're not salesmen, we're radio guys, but even then it doesn't mean that we'd get full-time).
I'm thinking of accepting the driver job and taking a smaller role at the station, something that I'm doing now w/ Lowe's. Prior to Lowe's I was in the station about 20 hours a week.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
I Love Rock and Roll
"Echoes the sounds of silence" - Simon + Garfunkel
Today I bought myself three cds from Best Buy. It was the first time I've bought cds for myself since roughly 2002. Needless to say, today was a good day to buy.
Flogging Molly - Float
The Black Crowes - Warpaint
Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static
I'm a fan of all three, and well, for a "self-proclaimed" music junkie, it was like fuckin' Christmas.
Flogging Molly sounds as wonderful as always. TBC seem a bit older, less harsh than they were almost 20 years-ago when they first stormed on the scene. Jack Johnson went electric; it's not Bob Dylan going electric, but it'll take some adjustments in listening.
Overall, as of listening to these three for roughly 3 hours, I've gotta say, today was a good day.
Couple these three w/ my purchase of Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down A Dream" DVD set, and the last two music purchases are pretty much bad ass, just like me.
Today I bought myself three cds from Best Buy. It was the first time I've bought cds for myself since roughly 2002. Needless to say, today was a good day to buy.
Flogging Molly - Float
The Black Crowes - Warpaint
Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static
I'm a fan of all three, and well, for a "self-proclaimed" music junkie, it was like fuckin' Christmas.
Flogging Molly sounds as wonderful as always. TBC seem a bit older, less harsh than they were almost 20 years-ago when they first stormed on the scene. Jack Johnson went electric; it's not Bob Dylan going electric, but it'll take some adjustments in listening.
Overall, as of listening to these three for roughly 3 hours, I've gotta say, today was a good day.
Couple these three w/ my purchase of Tom Petty's "Runnin' Down A Dream" DVD set, and the last two music purchases are pretty much bad ass, just like me.
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