Archive for February, 2011

I used to love to go to the movies.

But most of my movie-going these days is with the grandson.

The convenience and low price of Redbox are the main reasons I stay away from theaters.

So I have yet to see “The King’s Speech.”

I will wait until the DVD release date (April 29) to see the Oscar-winning movie about stuttering King George VI.

My job has allowed me to interview many famous people over the past 39 years.

The greatest athlete I ever interviewed was a stutterer.

We met in a Cotton Bowl dressing room on Jan. 1, 1986.

Texas A&M had won the game 36-16, but Jackie Sherrill had a run-in with one of the Dallas newspapers during the week leading up to the game. So he closed the Aggies’ dressing room and had a tent set up outside to do all post-game interviews.

It was a cluster, to say the least.

So I got up and went to the loser’s dressing room, which was open.

While all the other sports writers were playing Sherrill’s stupid game, I got a one-on-one interview with the greatest college football player around.

Glad to meet you, Bo Jackson.

We talked a little about the game but more about the decision that he was going to have to make in a few months.

Bo told me he going to play his senior baseball season at Auburn but wasn’t sure if he would go baseball or football after that.

As we know now, he did both. And did them both very well.

But what caught me my surprise that day was the bad stutter that Bo had.

I guess I had never heard him speak before. Either that or he had done a great job of covering it up when on a big stage.

It was an awful, awful stutter.

The Heisman Trophy winner couldn’t talk.

It was sad, really.

But the guy who couldn’t speak became a spokesman for Nike.

He did a series of TV commercials and appeared on several TV shows.

You never hear or read about how Bo Jackson overcame that stuttering problem.

I hope it will be mentioned when they do a movie about his life.

After seeing “The King’s Speech” win four Oscars on Sunday night, it just might.

Miss Nothing

Richard Carter

I always enjoy hitting the road to see a live music show in Dallas or Austin.

For one, there is no smoking, and it’s so relaxing to not have to breathe second-hand awful smoke. Try it sometime. I am thinking there is a very good chance that you will like it.

My most recent trek to see a live band outta town was last Saturday to see The Pretty Reckless with Runner Runner and A Thousand Horses. Runner Runner has already played Wichita Falls twice in all-ages venues and the Huntington Beach band are good guys, write catchy songs and have a new album out on a major label.

A Thousand Horses opened up the show in the smaller House of Blues room, and they were like what Jonathan Tyler and the Northern Lights would be like if Tyler’s band ratcheted it up a few spots. Coincidentally, Tyler’s band opened up the night before that at the House of Blues.

The problem for Tyler was that Friday was the same night Robyn was playing in Dallas, and the smart money would be on the Norwegian. No offense to Tyler. My friends who saw her in Austin said that she was awesome.

I liked A Thousand Horses and they played a very good set. It was a little too practiced maybe, but the drummer and the rhythm guitarist and bass player were all over it and the lead guitarist played some tasty slide. Good band that I would like to see play locally.

Runner Runner was their usual high-energy rocking self, though it seemed odd that their final song (and their best one) “So Obvious” was a little anticlimactic. Still, I think they played a solid set.

To be honest though, the sold out crowd was there to see Taylor Momsen and her band The Pretty Reckless. The group just recently dropped their first CD in America and was doing their first headlining tour after doing very well in Europe.

Momsen has an excellent bluesy hard rock voice that belies her model appearance. She stands fearlessly center stage and sings her tunes and a few covers like she really means them.

Having pretty much put her CW network program “Gossip Girl” on hiatus, which financially was a sure thing, I suspect that she completely enjoys playing live music to live crowds. The band played a 45 minute set to a loud crowd who was all over the show.

I saw the Pretty Reckless on their first tour about two years ago, when Momsen had a different backing band that was more rock/pop. At the time, I thought she had a promising future in the business if it was handled properly. So far, I think her management team is doing all he right things. Her first album was a strong one and her move to a harder rock sound suits her voice and attitude.

In addition to tunes from her new album, she also played several covers including an Audioslave tune as well as a mash-up with Oasis and Muse.  Overall it was a very good show and the tour is going very well, according to her bassist (who I met) and also the two guitarists from Runner Runner.

Momsen is developing into a really impressive performer and is doing the right stuff for her career. I would love to see an opening set for her next time around with someone like Soundgarden.  That would be pretty awesome.

And, there was no smoking!!!

“Dance Dance Dance”

Richard Carter

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a blog about live music at an area restaurant called Salt & Pepper Mediterranean Bistro. Several days later, I heard that an Italian place called Marsala’s on Beverly Drive also had music and dancing as well.

I really can’t remember any place in the area with the exception of two places a long time ago where one could have a nice dinner, listen to live music and also dance. In the Metroplex that’s fairly common, but here all I could remember was The Gatsby in Weeks Mansion and also, I think, the Country Club.

While I managed to go to The Gatsby several times back in the day, with their awesome sound system and very cool mirror ball and gazillions of pinlites. My visits to the Country Club were fewer, if that’s actually possible.

As someone who cannot dance a bit, I am still intrigued by a place where one can eat well, listen to a live band and also dance. It’s like going back to the ‘20s or to the ‘50s and early 1960’s and those were pretty neat times. The music then had a certain charm, and dancing was still pretty popular.

What passes for dance anymore is pretty, well, I’m not sure what to call it, but they used to dance better back in the day.

Okay, right off the bat, I can pretty much safely say that there is no boogying in Marsala’s. When I walked in, Brian Reilly was playing trumpet and doing a Richard Rodgers standard made famous by Chet Baker called “My Funny Valentine.” The rendition including his playing and singing was really good.

He followed that with “Summertime” by George Gershwin with the famous line “Your daddy’s rich and momma’s good looking.”

Reilly has a similar music setup to Mike Cantwell at Salt and Pepper, and will even play there from time to time. Reilly has his backing tracks with piano, drums and doghouse bass, and plays trumpet (muted) and sings with a very smooth voice.

The atmosphere has a smart feel with candles on each of the tables. Sadly, I came a little late for the dancing. They said there were people doing some a little earlier that was more on the traditional side of things.

I really like the atmosphere, sitting at the bar, with the trumpet and the vocals. It’s a good setup, and I imagine that it must be quite nice to dine to and then perhaps do a dance or two.

While Cantwell’s music is all over the place—from Getz to Gaga, Reilly focuses more on jazz standards, and that’s what his playing and singing is quite appropriate. For the hour that I was at Marsala’s, I also heard him do music made famous by Miles Davis, Billie Holliday and Louis Armstrong.

He also performed one of my all-time favorites called “The Look of Love” written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and made famous by Dusty Springfield. More recently Diana Krall did a rave up version of the gorgeous ‘60s pop song.

Marsala’s is a nice place for that sort of music, and dancing and dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings. The trumpeter stands in a nook right next to the bar area where it’s possible to have wine or espresso or a small dinner, plus there are a series of tables for two and even a small space for dancing. There is another area for dancing as well in the dining room.

I suspect that more restaurants should perhaps take the plunge into live music. There are quite a few talented musicians in the region that can help to create a nice and romantic dining atmosphere.

Let’s see there are still 38 days left until the Rangers’ season-opener.

March Madness will get me through until then.

But pleeeeeeeeese, no more sports weekends like this last one.

The NBA has become WWE.

On All-Star weekend, professional basketball turns to professional wrestling.

Slam dunking over a car?

No surprise that it was a Kia — a sponsor of all WWE-like show.

Then comes the finale on Sunday — the over-hyped game that ended with a 148-143 final score.

Who won?

Who cares?

The highlight of the whole weekend was Justin Bieber. This little kid showed us some game.

Then the next day, he goes out and wins the Daytona 500.

The NBA shared the spotlight with NASCAR on Sunday.

NASCAR doesn’t mess around with foreplay.

They play their “Super Bowl” on the opening week of the season.

And the 16-year-old Bieber outraced all the big stars to the checkered flag.

That wasn’t Bieber? It sure looked like him.

I am told that the Daytona winner was somebody named Trevor Bayne.

At least I had heard of Justin Bieber.

Also, when did NASCAR become a doubles match?

Did you watch all those cars paired up at the end of the race with partners trying to push partners to the front of the pack?

It was one boring sports weekend.

I’m ready for March Madness.

Just read an on-line report that O.J. Simpson was recently on the wrong end of a prison yard ass-whipping.

The story said that a group of “crazed white superacist” prisoners put a hurting on O.J. after listening to him brag about all the white women he had sex with.

It was reported that the young skinheads circled O.J. and viciously punched and kicked him until he blacked out. He was taken to the infirmary where he spent three weeks recovering.

He went back to his cell but reportedly is now too afraid to leave it.

Forgive me for not giving a rat’s ass about O.J.’s sorry ass.

He killed two innocent people — one the mother of his children.

He shouldn’t be in prison right now. He should  have died in the gas chamber years ago.

The Super Bowl of Soul

Richard Carter

The Blue Light Special rock the Office

1964: The Tribute at the Wichita Theatre

Shantell playing Old Town

Several months ago, Blue Light Special harpist Rob Kirkland commented that, “There’s a severe lack in this town of dirty, nasty, greasy blues and the people need to need to know how it feels to be lowdown, beat down and just completely torn down.”

People at the office experienced that torn down-ess of Blue Light Special last week at the Super Bowl of Bands at the Office, when Mr. Fairchild faced off against Blue Light Special.

Both bands played really good sets. In addition, the bands also share several members including singer David Sanchez, guitarist Cody “Sweet Potato” Tucker and keyboardist Dustin Bowen. From time to time, Mr. Fairchild guitarist Jon Richerson also plays with the blues band.

Richerson played a really amazing solo on “Going Down” that night.

Also, of note, Kirkland showed up with recently upgraded harps and his snazzy new black briefcase, which rumor has it that he’s ordered a handcuffs ala the Blues Brothers.

Tucker, Richerson, Bowen, Dusty Potter and a drummer are putting together a new sort of jam band, with no vocals, that should be ready one of these days. I heard their first practice and it was promising.

Right before the Super Bowl of Rock, I had the chance to hang out with members of the great Shantell band who were about to play at Old Town. The group’s been playing more and more lately and are preparing for the summer to do all sorts of live loud outdoor shows. They’re sort of known as a red dirt/country band but that’s not really them to be perfectly honest. They also play rock, pop and will even do some rap. If you ever wondered if rap has gotten to places like Petrolia, it’s safe to say that it has, and it’s even sort of found a home there.

The four fab members of 1964: The Tribute came back to town after having been away for about a year or so. The guys had recently played at Carnegie Hall and fit in just perfectly at the Wichita Theatre. The backdrop was a long black curtain with glammy snow flakes on it.

I think the snow hurt the attendance at the Thursday show a little, but there were quite a few people at the show, and they really seemed to be enjoying themselves. The band is awesome, as always. They sound good, they look right and they play the appropriate roles. If you didn’t get to see the Beatles live, the band is an awesome facsimile. You should check them out.

In another live music situation, I got to check out the live music of the staged “Cinderella” on Friday night. I went to check it out for like 20 minutes and ended up staying for the whole first act. I am going back to watch the last half.

The show has a lot of charm and just the right amount of magic. Watching the horse-driven coach appear from nowhere was pretty amazing. It was also very cool to hear everyone sing. I thought everyone did a very good job, and they should be very proud of the production and their accomplishment.

Next week is a cool surprise at this blog and the week after that will be a major surprise. Hopefully the pictures will be sweet.

The good thing is that spring is on the way and there should be some great outdoor shows.

Last minute, I was on my way downtown and I heard Minor Prophets working up a Soundgarden song for their forthcoming headline show at the Pub with the Minor Prophets opening up. Should be a show.

March Madness is right around the corner, and ESPN radio’s Colin Cowherd has come up with a new kind of tournament.

He is going to have a 64-band tournament patterned after NCAA basketball to decide who is the championship rock band of all-time.

Yesterday, he listed his four top seeds as:

Led Zeppelin

Beatles

Rolling Stones

Guns ‘N Roses.

I agree with the first three.

But Guns ‘N Roses?

I would have the Eagles as one of my top seeds.

My kids would all put U2 up there.

You could put up a good argument for Pink Floyd or Dave Mathews or Steely Dan.

All were better than Guns ‘N Roses.

I think what a fun tournament like this will do is show us that my generation did rock and roll better than anyone.

60-somethings rock.

Paul McCartney is 68. Ringo Star is 70. Had John Lennon lived, he would also be 70 (three months younger than Ringo). Had George Harrison lived, he would be 67.

John, Paul, George and Ringo. 70, 68, 67 and 70.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are both 67.

Jimmy Page is 67. Robert Plant is 62.

Axl Rose — a kid at only 49 — does not belong in this group of greatness.

Sorry, kids, but neither does 50-year-old Bono.

Don Henley, at 63, and his Eagles deserve a top seed.

But the dream championship game would match the Beatles vs. the Stones.

Who would you pick to win the title?

The cold war is over.

Khrushchev is dead.

I may have grown up hating the Russians, but I now feel a special comradeship with them.

Our basketball team didn’t get screwed in the 1972 Olympics.

Those missile-carrying ships had every right to go into Cuba.

Mr. Gorbachev, put back that wall — if you want to.

I have a whole new love for the Russians.

And you will, too, when you check out the cover of Sports Illustrated’s new swim suit issue.

Remember the day when it seemed like all Russian women wore brown paper sacks?

Well, welcome to 2011.

Sacks are out.

Itsy, bitsy, teeny weeny, pink and yellow halter bikinis are in.

That’s what Irina Shayk is wearing on the SI cover.

And it fits quite nicely.

This 25-year-old coal miner’s daughter is one hot Ruskie.

Makes a guy understand what John, Paul, George and Ringo were thinking when they sang:

“Oh show me round the snow peaked mountains way down south.

“Take me to your daddy’s farm

“Let me hear your balalaikas ringing out,

“Come and keep your comrade warm.”

With babes like Irina running around showing off their boobies, who wouldn’t mind being back in the USSR?

It is Valentine’s Day — our annual celebration of love.

And nobody loves this day of love more than Hallmark, Russell Stover and Teleflora.

Having been married four times, I am not even going to pretend that I know a darn  thing about love.

The preacher preached about it at church on Sunday. He even started the worship with a “Love Shack.”

That popular B-52’s song from the 80’s talked about a love getaway where there was “glitter on the mattress;” a place where “everybody’s movin, everybody’s groovin’; a place where there is “huggin’ and a kissin’, dancin’ and lovin” by people “wearin’ next to nothin.’

I have been in places like that in my life, but we didn’t call them love shacks back then.

They were honky tonks.

“Looking for love in all the wrong places,” is the way Johnny Lee sang it.

I never went to those places looking for love. I wasn’t searching for a woman to spend my life with. I only wanted an hour or two of their time.

Confusing sex with love can get you in trouble.

Hey, I am talking from experience here.

When my daughter was a teen-ager, we sat down and talked about the meaning of love. At the time, she thought she was in love with the boy she was dating.

I defined love for her this way.

“Imagine you and your boyfriend are out for a walk and some guy comes up and pulls a gun on you. He says he has only one bullet in his gun and tells you to make the choice on which one of you dies and which one lives.

“If you take the bullet, you really love the guy. But if you say ‘Shoot him,” it’s probably not true love.”

She ended up marrying that boy.

After almost 13 years of marital bliss, I have to wonder: “Who would get the bullet today?”

One day you are singing at the Super Bowl.

Next day you can’t even get a gig with the local 4H club.

That’s life right now for Christina Aguilera.

After botching the national anthem at Cowboys Stadium last Sunday, the pop singer has spent the past week trying to restore her image.

According to eTrueSports, the pop star offered to sing campfire songs for free at the annual meeting of the Lebanon, Pa., chapter of the 4H Club.

The club reportedly said no.

“We sure do appreciate Ms. Aguilera’s offer, but you can’t be taking chances with ‘She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain’ or ‘Home on the Range.’ Then where would we be?” club president Bill C. McIntosh said.

During the Christmas season, we often have school choirs come to the newspaper office of serenade us.

Maybe Aguilera could come to Hooterville Falls and sing for us.

If she does, would somebody please warn me?

I was in the stadium for that disaster last Sunday. I paid my dues.

I want to make sure I am not around for any more.

The bad weather has you stranded in an airport for hours.

Then you finally get on a plane and get to Dallas and find it looking a lot like your hometown back in Wisconsin.

But this is the Super Bowl. Your Packers are playing in it. And you have a ticket.

Priceless.

Your hotel has a four-night minimum, but you shell out a thousand bucks.

Priceless.

You rent a compact car and drive to the stadium on Sunday. You pay 100 dollars to park your car a mile or two from the stadium.

You got through heavy security to get inside the stadium, then find your $800 ticket is in the end zone, almost as far from the playing field as your rental car is from the stadium.

But this is the Super Bowl.

Priceless.

You sit down with and sip on a $9 beer.

Then some guy comes up and tells you to get up. You can’t sit there. Your $800 ticket is no good.

The Packers win the Lombardi Trophy and you are crowded into the concourse to stand and watch it on a small screen with another few hundred angry people.

I can understand why all those people are pissed off.

But I can’t understand this frivolous lawsuit that has been filed against the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys and Jerry Jones.

First off, once Cowboys Stadium was chosen to host a Super Bowl, it was no longer Jerry World.  The NFL takes over the stadium and runs the show.

All Jerry gets is a nice suite and a lot of important guests.

The league did everything possible to do right by the 1,250 fans whose Super Bowl seats were deemed unsafe.

Some 850 were given new seats.

The other 400 were given two options. They could get a cash refund of three times the face value of their ticket ($2,400) and a ticket to next year’s Super Bowl in Indianapolis or they could get a ticket to any future Super Bowl along with round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations.

To me those folks were treated fairly.

But this is America, where lawyers hide under a rock and eagerly wait for stuff like this to happen.

They convince these fans that they deserve more than just tickets to a future Super Bowl.

So now they are demanding $5 million for their troubles.

That’s bull you-know-what.

I hope the judge agrees.

Ricky and Randy

Here is a list of better sibling personalities than Billy the Exterminator’s brother, Ricky, that I would like to see appear at the 32nd annual World of Wheels hosted at the Wichita Falls MPEC Feb. 11-13.

side note: (Ricky is set to be here Friday)

1. Randy Quaid – Dennis Quaid’s brother is currently on the run from the law, I think, but he is choice number one.

2. Donny Walhberg – Marky Mark’s brother is doing is New Old Kids on the Block thing right now, so he’s probably a little tied up.

3. Eric Roberts – Julia Roberts’ older brother might be a little too famous to step on Wichita Falls ground, but he would be cool to visit with. He’s a little irrelevant to today’s youth, so he might fit right in. If you haven’t seen any of the “Best of the Best” karate movies, do yourself a favor.

4. Billy Baldwin – Alec Baldwin’s brother hasn’t done a lot since “Backdraft.” He did have a run in the TV show “Parenthood,” but I think his time might have come to an end since his fake shoe company has a new boss.

5. Charlie Murphy – Who wouldn’t want to meet Eddie Murphy’s brother. Dave Chappelle put this dude back on the map, or is it on the map. He’s hilarious either way.

6. Roger Clinton – Bill Clinton’s brother. Imagine the stories. Need I say more.

7. James Belushi – Just as good stories to share about his brother, John Belushi, and his failed TV show “Accoring to Jim.” I did enjoy Jim when I was little in the movies “Mr. Destiny” and “Taking Care of Business.” Both amazing movies. I’m have a great time just recalling the movies as I type this.

8. Lawrence Hein

You might not know No. 8, my brother, but my point being that a lot of people would be a better celebrity filler than Ricky the Exterminator. Heck, last year they had Jordan Shipley, now a NFL wide receiver. I would rather meet his brother, Jaxon – who just signed a letter of intent to play at UT. Why not bring in Case McCoy while we’re at it?

When I saw the headline on a Yahoo story that read: “America’s Most Miserable Cities,” part of me wanted to read on and another part of me wanted to move on.

I guess I’ve heard so many people make snide remarks about my hometown over the years that I always figure: “Here we go again.”

I remember a line in Dan Jenkins’ novel “Semi Tough” where one of the main characters is drunk and puking his guts out and someone said it was like he had been told he had to spend the rest of his life in Wichita Falls.

And then there’s that old worn out joke about an airplane about to land at our airport and the pilot announces: “We are approaching Wichita Falls. Please set your clocks back 10 years.”

Hey, I know I like to get my jabs in about Hooterville Falls, but I have lived here all my life. It is OK for a real Wichitan — or Hootervillian, if you prefer — to joke about his or her hometown.

But you outsiders, Yankees and foreigners need to shut up.

I am proud to announce that Wichita Falls did not make the Forbes sh..  list  of most miserable cities in the United States.

Here is the top 20.

1. Stockton, California

2. Miami, Florida.

3. Merced, California.

4. Modesto, California.

5. Sacramento, California.

6. Memphis., Tennessee.

7. Chicago, Ill.

8. West Palm Beach, Fla.

9. Vallejo, Cal.

10. Cleveland, Ohio.

11. Flint, Michigan

12. Toledo, Ohio

13. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

14. Youngstown, Ohio

15. Detroit, Mich.

16. Washington D.C.

17. Fresno, Cal.

18. Salinas, Cal.

19. Jacksonville, Fla.

20. Bakersfield, Cal.

Notice that the top city, four of the top five and nine of the top 20 are all from the land of fruits and nuts.

California is struggling with unemployment, a collapsed housing market, high taxes and service cuts.

I am proud to say that Texas has no city on the list.

I am prouder to say that Wichita Falls is nowhere to be found.

Then I later found out that we didn’t even qualify. Only cities with a minimum of 249,000 population were considered.

Still, I am proud of my hometown.

And I don’t even puke when I say it.

What’s red and white and rocks?!?

Richard Carter

Steve Welch of Dr. Phillgood practicing new tunes

Earlier this week, every garage band of the last decade or so felt the passing of one of the best all-time duo garage bands in rock history.

The White Stripes called it quits last week, and while no one was surprised—since the group hadn’t released anything new in a while and Jack White has been busy with a ton of other projects—it still felt like the passing of a particular era.

There was nothing new about White Stripes except that they, and the Strokes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, all came out about the same time reminding people that bands born from the garages still had a certain sumptin sumptin and could be incredibly valid musically and also cool.

The White Stripes were really kind of the late ‘90s neo-punk, new wave movement that came from the Midwest as opposed to from London or Brooklyn.

In the band’s final press release, it said, “The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”

I think that if you take the words “The White Stripes” out of the paragraph and replace them with “rock ‘n roll,” I think you kind of have the meaning of the band.

It took me a while to cotton to their music–because to be honest with you–the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were just so much better than they were. Seriously, all the White Stripes had was Jack White and a drummer—who could really not play drums very well or write.

But White proved that if you wanted to play badly enough, you could play in a band with your ex-wife or your sister, or whatever Meg happened to be. As long as the attitude was there and the songs were catchy, it didn’t matter how technically proficient the band (or your drummer) was.

As much as people love prog rock, it’s not an ideal. Rather, it’s yet another way to re-interpret rock music, and it’s not the end all, be all. Rather, whenever rock becomes stale, it’s nice to know that people can go back to the roots of the music–whether they be rockabilly, straight blues and/or the garage—and do something fun and interesting.

Think of it this way. My favorite White Stripes song was “Fell in Love with a Girl.” There’s like four easy chords in the verse, three in the chorus and the drumbeat is simple as pie. The lyrics are throwaway but they’re about love and that’s always been a big staple of rock music.

Whether it be falling in love with a girl, a song, a car or a guitar.

The last band I played in put “Fell in Love with a Girl” together in about 15 minutes, and yet it was one of our favorite covers, because it was fun to play and everyone loved to hear the tune.

It’s also cool to see how many bands that the White Stripes spawned (currently) such as Best Coast and Sleigh Bells. Both bands are fun, have good songs and are not a musical threat to any prog bands, living or past.

So, enjoy the White Stripes and remember that rock music is as much about attitude as it is about a cool beat and a fun melody.