My neighbor Tony just moved out and I'm a little bummed. Tony moved here from England, shit, about seven or eight years (maybe ten?) having bought a bar a few blocks away. Him and his business partner turned it into some sort of Irish bar that had bands, none of which played Irish music or had any noticeable signs of being Irish, except maybe on their Mom's side of the family, but the place was painted all green, called The Harp, played all the soccer games and had a bunch of beer company mirrors.
But that wasn't the Tony I knew (and will hopefully still know for years to come). Tony was the one guy who lived in my apartment complex that knew the music I did. He was about my age and despite growing up in the UK had tastes remarkably like mine. Punk rock, reggae, rockabilly, all sorts of shit. One conversation that stuck with me for some reason was one that we had when John Holt died about three years ago. Tony mentioned Holt's LP 1,000 Volts of Holt as a favorite and I concurred. When it's been a while since you last connected over a particular artist with someone outside of your little like minded musical clique, shit like that stands out. Just as one of my last conversations with Tony did. When I was lamenting the fact that there wouldn't be anyone around the complex to talk music with, he assured me there would. Yeah, I said, that might be the case, but only to a certain degree. He said that I would know their depth by asking one question, if they knew who Sky Saxon was. And that right there is what I'll miss.
But that wasn't the Tony I knew (and will hopefully still know for years to come). Tony was the one guy who lived in my apartment complex that knew the music I did. He was about my age and despite growing up in the UK had tastes remarkably like mine. Punk rock, reggae, rockabilly, all sorts of shit. One conversation that stuck with me for some reason was one that we had when John Holt died about three years ago. Tony mentioned Holt's LP 1,000 Volts of Holt as a favorite and I concurred. When it's been a while since you last connected over a particular artist with someone outside of your little like minded musical clique, shit like that stands out. Just as one of my last conversations with Tony did. When I was lamenting the fact that there wouldn't be anyone around the complex to talk music with, he assured me there would. Yeah, I said, that might be the case, but only to a certain degree. He said that I would know their depth by asking one question, if they knew who Sky Saxon was. And that right there is what I'll miss.
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| Sky Saxon, litmus test. |
Here's some assorted John Holt cuts. Finding stuff on the Seeds (Sky Saxon's band) is nearly impossible outside of streaming media. At least hard enough that I'm throwing in the towel for the night.
~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~
Listen:John Holt - Ali Baba at ATumblr (?)
John Holt - Strange Things mp3 at Secretargot (?)
Holt with the Paragons
The Paragons - Silver Bird mp3 at Pixie Radio
The Paragons - Man Next Door mp3 at Bass Shaka Backing Horace Andy
The Paragons - Wear You to the Ball mp3 at Kazo's Marley Discography
Sky Saxon:
The Seeds - Pushin' Too Hard (streaming) at YouTube
The Seeds - Out of the Question (streaming) at YouTube
2 comments:
I can confirm this. Years ago I had a co-worker, an LA transplant who was surprised that anyone in DC knew who Sky Saxon was. But of course I did, because Pushin' Too Hard is one of my all-time favorites. We're still friends, 21 years later.
Marc
That's what keeps things going. I had some neighbors that moved in once, and the first thing I heard coming from their apartment was Tom Waits, followed the next night by the Germs. I invited them over for a beer and during the conversation I asked if the liked Johnny Thunders and the guy opens his shirt and he's got an LAMF tattoo! That was about twenty years ago, and even though they moved, we're still friends. I even DJ'd their wedding! Ahhh, rock friends.....
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