Tampa Calling

Nude women have always been a favorite thing of mine. Writing this blog post here about how jiggle joints are recession proof got me thinking about the almighty pole, and the hotties who gleefully swing from it in all their naked glory. I haven’t frequented a strip club in over a year. That’s far too long of a titty bar break. Another one of my pals needs to have a bachelor party, soon, so I have an excuse to soak up some awesomely X-rated Tampa nightlife.

Top 10 stripper songs

1. You Can Leave Your Hat On, Randy Newman/Joe Cocker
2. Stripper, Lords of Acid
3. Girls, Girls, Girls, Motley Crue
4. Pop That Pussy, 2 Live Crew
5. Nude, Radiohead
6. Live Nude Cabaret, Jackson Browne
7. Nude Night, Chemical Brothers
8. Clothes Off!, Gym Class Heroes
9. Club Action, Yo Majesty
10. Cajun Stripper, Belton Richard & The Musical Aces

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She Silverstein, who died on Key West in 1999, is best known for classic children books like Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic and my personal, tear-inducing fave, The Giving Tree, which was made into this animated movie, read by Silverstein. But he also wrote screenplays, and hilarious raunch in the form of short fiction and poetry for Playboy — and penned tunes. Excellent ones. His credits include Johnny Cash’s father-son fight classic “A Boy Named Sue,” Loretta Lynn’s mothers-have-it-hard gem “One’s on the Way,” the pub sing along sensation “The Unicorn,” which was a huge hit for the Irish Rovers and Dr. Hook’s signature tune “The Cover of the Rolling Stone.”

My Silverstein faves? “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan,” which Marianne Faithful covered, Willie Nelson’s “A Couple More Years” and Silverstein’s own recordings of “I Got Stoned and I Missed it,” “Stacey Brown Got Two” and “Polly in a Porny,” all from his 1969 underground classic  Freakin’ at the Freakers Ball. Another landmark album is the superb 1973 country stoner collection of Silverstein numbers Bobby Bare Sings Lullabys, Legends and Lies. So it’s fitting that Bare Sr. and his son, the highly talented Bare Jr., who a few years back told me how much Silverstein meant to him as a songwriting mentor, are helming what will likely be the tribute album of ‘09. Anything involving My Morning Jacket, Black Horses, Emmylou Harris, Dr. Dog, Andrew Bird and George Jones has to kick ass. Here’s the PR release:

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Editor’s note: Fresh review from our live music hound B. Treotch.

Right from the show opener — “A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise,” the lead track from Phosphorescent’s 2007 highly ethereal album Pride — it was evident the band’s live sound would be a departure from their studio-created sonics. Offering almost entirely different interpretations from the album cuts, the band was welcomed by the crowd at New World Brewery, even though many attendees were perhaps expecting something more mellow and intimate. Phosphorescent managed to hold on to the intimacy, while still adding energy to their songs, peaking with “My Dove, My Lamb,” “Wolves,” and a cover of George Jones’ classic “If Drinkin’ Don’t Kill Me (Her Memory Will).”

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Tampa Bay live music lovers can be found absorbing loud sonics and sweaty sights in venues ranging from cozy rock dens to plush theaters to humongous arenas to moonlit lawns peppered with empty beer cups.

Everybody has his or her fave. Here at Creative Loafing, we have dozens of preferred rock, jazz, country, blues and experimental noise destinations.

Which made whittling our list of Top 20 concert venues a real bitch, wrought with heated arguments and a near wrestling match between Eric Snider and I.

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As a newspaper writer, every now and then, you become friends, real friends with readers. I spent about four years at the Bradenton Herald. I lived downtown. In a small town. And could always be found at the same bar, on pretty much a nightly basis. The bar was called The Old Main Pub. Kellie, Meghan and Dave were my close pals — and most dedicated readers. So, when Meghan sent me this request today, even though it was a busy, bitch of a day, I had to come through.

Meghan:

Remember back in the day when you wrote a piece on skate songs of the 90’s? Do you still have that? I’m DJ’ing somewhere the day after Thanksgiving and I am the “special guest” doing a ’speed skate power hour’ set. It’s a bar that has a special of $25 all you can drink from 9am-5pm on Black Friday. For the hour I am DJ’ing, there are dollar shots, and $2 car bombs. Hence, the Power Hour…

I remember that article [blog post for Bradenton Herald circa 2006] and wouldn’t mind taking a looky again…

Me:

Who loves you? It took me 40 min. (aka a Willie Nelson CD and 2.75 glasses of wine) to track this down. I expect a shout-out during your set. Yeah, I know, nobody will know who the hell I am but I want it anyway. Miss you, too. Holla if ya ever make it to Tampa.

http://blogs.bradenton.com/in_tune/2005/12/top_ten_skate_s.html

Top 10 Skate Rink Songs (circa early ’90s)

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Editor’s note: This just in from our trusty live music hound, B. Treotch, who will be out again at NWB tonight reviewing the show.

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Considering all the arguing about the merits of the Black Crowes’ Nov. 11 performance at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, I think it’s time everyone re-listen, with sober ears, to the show.

Photo of Chris (L) and Rich Robinson By Jayson Matteucci.

We can, thanks to local field recording master Jerome Jell-O, who taped the gig and made it available for download here.

Chances are, it won’t change the mind of, say, “Dave,” who opined:

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Editor’s note: This, words and pics, just in from B. Treotch.

With a pulsing mantra of “Stomp! Clap! Shout!” — the soulful alt-country rockers Hoots & Hellmouth won over the NPR crowd of a 150 or so Tuesday at Skipper’s Smokehouse. Two strong sets drawing mainly from their self-titled (and only) release worked up the crowd, closing with a rousing rendition of “Samson & Delilah.”

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Looks like I’m not the only person dazed, confused (and cranky) about the ongoing success of emo, especially genre pioneers Jimmy Eat World (pictured), the band most responsible for the Fall Out Boys of the world, and the former’s highly overrated 1999 album Clarity.

Here’s an interesting slab of commentary from the L.A. Times:

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Editor’s note: This just in from B. Treotch, who will be reviewing tonight’s show.

With just enough post-election buzz, feel-good Americana left in the air, Philly’s Hoots & Hellmouth is bringing their style of lively alt-country — juiced with a dose of gospel revivalism — to Skipper’s Smokehouse tonight for a gig that starts at 8 p.m..  Atheists relax. There will be no saying of grace and plenty of beer.  Founded by guitarists Sean Hoots and Andrew “Hellmouth” Gray, who along with Rob Berliner on mandolin and a rotating cast on upright bass and drums, are already well known for their spirited live performances.

The opener is reason alone, Bradenton’s Have Gun, Will Travel is the top alt-country band in the region.

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The Black Crowes performance at Ruth Eckerd Hall last night, in front of a packed house of roughly 2,000, showed the band operating in several modes. There was the Hot ‘Lanta hoodlums Southern rocking the joint in taut, greasy fashion on “Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution” - the first cut/debut single off the band’s sizzling new record Warpaint. The song, the second of the evening, found all eight persons on stage cranking out a thick slice of purposeful rock ‘n’ roll gloriously punctuated by the slide (and standard) guitar heroics of secret weapon Luther Dickinson, the North Mississippi Allstar recruited for the Crowes’ latest album and tour.

Photo of Chris Robinson By Jayson Matteucci.

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It’s official. The most highly anticipated release in modern rock history, Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy, has finally arrived.

RollingStone.com has run a 4-star review. Here’s the opening ‘graph:

Let’s get right to it: The first Guns n’ Roses album of new, original songs since the first Bush administration is a great, audacious, unhinged and uncompromising hard-rock record. In other words, it sounds a lot like the Guns n’ Roses you know. At times, it’s the clenched-fist five that made 1987’s perfect storm, Appetite for Destruction; more often, it’s the one sprawled across the maxed-out CDs of 1991’s Use Your Illusion I and II, but here compressed into a convulsive single disc of supershred guitars, orchestral fanfares, hip-hop electronics, metallic tabernacle choirs and Axl Rose’s still-virile, rusted-siren singing.

Read entire review.

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Katy “I Kissed a Girl” Perry is embarking on a worldwide tour that will bring the vibrant vixen to Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg on April 28, 2009 for her final date of the far-flung jaunt.

By then, you have to wonder, will pretty Perry (aka “titties magee” in this cleavagely awesome pic) still be a hot commodity or a novelty hit has-been?

We’ll see, eh? Bored? Watch the video for the umpteenth time.

Complete tour dates after the jump.

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