Mad Happy is back in town as part of the duo's incessant touring schedule. Catch them tonight at the Grand Star in Chinatown as part of the line-up for Data Age. Party starts at nine and Mad Happy tells me they will be playing at around 11:30.

Tomorrow night, I will be heading down to see Apparat play at Blu Monkey Lounge (5521 Hollywood Blvd., somewhere around Western, according to Mapquest). The party is hosted by Detroit Underground, MSC, Terpsichore, Droidcrew.

Also, Sunday night is the big Stacey Q party down at Club London. London is at Boardners, also on Hollywood Blvd, so, party-hopping is a possibility, depending on set times. My guess is that Ms. Q will probably go on at around midnight (opening band Arcadia One is on at 10:30) and I heard Apparat was playing early, but that might be "early compared to Berlin." Needless to say, I don't know for sure, so you'll have to do your own research. Sorry.

This article in today's issue points to the lack of new adds at radio stations as a direct result of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's anti-payola campaign. Simply put, music and program directors are less inclined to add anything other than established hits for fear that it will draw attention to the stations and put them at risk for investigation. Maybe I'm cynical, but it didn't seem like radio stations were reaching far outside of the box before payola reared its head again.
If you're interested in the historical background of payola, I suggest Payola in the Music Industry: A History 1880-1991 (Segrave, 1994). This seems to be the most compresive work on the subject and is cited frequently in academic texts involving media ownership and, specifically, the music industry. Don't let that turn you off, though, as it's actually an enjoyable read. What this book essentially does is put payola into context. Like everything else, it appears in cycles and payola's presence generally ushers in a new era for the radio industry. However, we aren't talking about open playlists, as Segrave ties the stagnant AM playlists of the 1960s (which gave rise to FM rock radio) to the payola scandals of the 1950s and early-1960s.

My latest "LA Calling" column is up at www.musictruth.co.uk

Click on "Truth Tales" and scroll towards the bottom.

Read all about Winston and the Telescreen and Rock Kills Kid.

That is all.

::: This is a repost, courtesty of Mojo Filter Clifton on My Space:::

Arthur Lee from Love has recently been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and has undergone 3 weeks of aggressive chemotherapy. Doctors are hopeful for a full recovery, but Arthur still faces more chemo, extensive hospital stays, and a possible bone marrow transplant. Arthur Lee has no health insurance to cover his growing (over $100,000+) medical bills.

Arthur Lee (Love) is a man larger than life. A flamboyant artist with a trail of myth and mythology that follows him like a purple feathered boa. His band Love was the first rock band signed to Electra, and Arthur is responsible for talking Jac Holtzman into signing the Doors. Before all this, in 1964, Arthur gave his friend, an unknown Jimi Hendrix, his first appearance on record (the Arthur penned My Diary, by Rosa Lee Brooks). Love's third recording, "Forever Changes", is
still widely considered to be one of the great rock n roll discs of all time. Love were true artists, but not "careerist". They preferred living together in "the castle" near Griffith Park, to life on the road. Arthur even turned down invitations to perform at the Monterrey Pop Festival and Woodstock.

In the 90's Arthur spent eight years behind bars for "allegedly" shooting off a gun in his apartment. When he was released, he
wasted no time getting back to the road and his music. During the past four years, Arthur has performed "Forever Changes" to sold out audiences and fantastic reviews throughout Europe and the United States, backed by the local group Baby Lemonade, and a string and horn section. Just when he thought his bad times were finally over, he learned he was sick.

To help cover his medical expenses, Spaceland Productions, Bruce Solar from The Agency Group, and Mark Linn from Delmore Recording Society are producing a benefit concert / tribute for Arthur. We would like to extend a warm invitation to those bands and performers who want to be part of this benefit to honor one of the greatest singer / songwriters of our time.

The concert will be held in late May / early June; we are looking at venues of all sizes: The Avalon, El Rey, Disney Hall, or Greek Theatre with the line up determining the location. Artists we are currently speaking with include X, Calexico, and Cake. Baby Lemonade is available to back up any singer and there will be a string section as well.

We are looking for artists to perform a few of Arthur's songs that capture the spirit and magic of Arthur Lee & Love. All proceeds will go to Arthur's medical expenses.

For further information please contact:

Mitchell Frank or Liz Garo: 323 662 7728
Bruce Solar: 310 385 2800
Mark Linn: 615 480 6923

Last Night, thanks to my friend Xavier, I got to see Who Knows?, the new DVD from Andrew W.K. It's a hodgepodge of selections from various tours linked together by some Matthew Barney-styled art shots backed by very loud drones. Each song clip goes back and forth between various concerts, so you'll see W.K. jumping around for a few seconds then pounding on a keyboard from a wheelchair (after he broke his foot). I don't want to give everything away, but, when you watch it, wait for "I Love New York City." You'll love it.
After the screening, which took place at the Knitting Factory, W.K. came out and played a five-minute classical piano piece with the same sort of hard rock stage presence that he had throughout the course of the film.
Xavier also managed to hook me up with an interview, which got my mom all excited that afternoon because she's a big fan. (Usually, she has never heard of the people I profile.) The story should be out in May. It will be interesting.

I'm plotting an Inland invasion complete with new tunes.

Martin Gilks, original drummer for the Wonder Stuff, has passed away. Tim posted a thoughtful tribute on his blog.

Pras Michel is at the very minute posing as a homeless guy on Skid Row for purposes of a documentary. I know this because it was just on an entertainment segment of ABC Channel 7 News at 4. Michel has a few days to go, for a total of nine nights on the street with nine bucks in his pocket. George Pennacchio, "Entertainment Guru," interviewed him from outside the Midnight Mission. Has the sleep deprivation and caffeine twitch-fits made me crazy or does this make no sense? If one is going undercover, shouldn't that mean that nobody is supposed to know who you are? Doesn't having the ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER standing in front of the homeless shelter compromise one's anonymity? I've been inside Union Rescue Mission and the Weingart Center, which are spitting distance from Midnight Mission, and saw television sets in both facilities. There is no way ABC could film that report without someone noticing that the short dude in the funny vest usually reports from the red carpet in front of the Kodak Theater. What were they thinking? What was Michel thinking?

*click to rsvp*

Your Enemies Friends will be performing tonight at Cinespace. If this rain keeps up, I think I'll just stay home and continue reading The Great Gatsby.

After completing a whopping 65-page literary review, I have come to one very important conclusion: No one gives a shit about LA, except for maybe the people who live here.
Sure, people write about Los Angeles, but it ususally has to do with movies and Britney Spears proving both Southern and Hollywood stereotypes correct. When it comes to music, little about this city is discussed.
Sure there is We've Got the Neutron Bomb and a few other, relatively new titles regarding the LA punk scene, but those were written essentially as a response to the exclusion of Los Angeles from punk discussions. Then there are books like American Hardcore, but it's pretty damn hard to even mention hardcore without speaking of LA, since it was home to Black Flag and the Minutemen. As much as I love Rip It Up and Start Again (read it!), I really wish that there was an LA chapter similar to the one on San Francisco. (Reynolds does have a section on LA hardcore and postpunk on his website in the Postpunk Esoteric section). Overall, the vast majority of books I have read offer just a sentence here and there. Oh, by the way, there were a couple goth bands in LA, but they were called death rock. There was a group of psychedelic based bands called the Paisley Underground. Stuff like that.
Trying to find stuff regarding Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers (band bios not included) is difficult. I only found Fishbone in an old Billboard article. I haven't seen Oingo Boingo or Concrete Blonde anywhere. Doesn't anyone remember the annual Oingo Boingo Halloween shows that went until the year I got my driver's license? Can't anyone sing off-key to "Joey?"