Confirmed Batusis USA Tour Dates

BATUSIS ANNOUNCE WEST COAST TOUR DATES! 

Chicago, IL, August 31, 2010 – Smog Veil Records announces hotly anticipated Batusis West Coast tour dates today.  The band, featuring Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls and Cheetah Chrome of Rocket From The Tombs and Dead Boys, will hit the road in support of their self-titled EP (Smog Veil Records) starting October 15th. The dynamic duo will be backed by former Blackhearts bassist Sean Koos and drummer Lez Warner from The Cult.

C'mon guys and gals...tickets for most venues are about $10.  That's the same as a dinner at Wendy's!  Get out and have some fun!!

Friday, 10/15 at Hensley’s Flying Elephant in Carlsbad, CA 

Saturday, 10/16 at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, CA - (with The Stitches and The Neighborhood Bullys)

Sunday, 10/17 at Thee Parkside in San Francisco, CA (with The Re-Volts) 

Tuesday, 10/19 at Lola’s Room at Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR 

Wednesday, 10/20 at Funhouse in Seattle, WA 

Friday, 10/22 at Tonic Lounge in Reno, NV 

Saturday, 10/23 at Blue Lamp in Sacramento, CA (with The Secretions)
Sunday, 10/24 at Viper Room in Los Angeles, CA 

Tuesday, 10/26 at Brick By Brick in San Diego, CA 

Wednesday, 10/27 at Rhythm Room in Phoenix, AZ

Prepare for Batusis West Coast US Tour & Upcoming LP!

Image taken from The Big Takeover

ShockHound.com has just posted a video interview with Batusis' frontmen Sylvain Sylvain and Cheetah Chrome.  In addition to offering up plenty of music from their debut EP, the piece also features the two rock legends dishing on their pasts with the New York Dolls and the Dead Boys as well as the future of Batusis. Check out the interview HERE!

The Big Takeover reviewed their New York show, enthusing: "Guys like Syl Sylvain (New York Dolls) and Cheetah Chrome (Dead Boys, Rocket From The Tombs) are still playing and getting it done...all fuzztone guitar and nasty attitude."

Real Detroit Weekly wrote: "Batusis is the genre-warping brainchild of punk rock legends...They combine old school punk energy with surfy '60s vibes and finish it off with a nice crunch of fuzz." And summing up the enthusiastic response to the band's exciting live performances, Buzzbin proclaims: "Batusis prove punk is still alive!"

The band will be following up their East Coast tour with a West Coast tour in October before starting work on a full-length album, due to be released in early 2011 on Smog Veil Records.

Stay tuned Bat-fans...more details will be following soon!

Batusis MySpace Page

Batusis Facebook Page

Taking Some Time Off...

Hey guys and gals, I hate to do this to ya, but I am taking some time off of the computer.  Summer is here, school is around the corner, and I am going to refocus my energies until September 1.  Until then, be well, and sign up for Cheetah Chrome/Sylvain Sylvain's official Batusis news emails:  HERE

J.P. Incorporated Presents Crap Factory

J.P. Incorporated is the guy who put together this promo. He opened for DEVO on their last US tour.

Lou Reed - Liquid Air Bootleg

Sweet Jane / Medley
I'm Waiting for the Man Medley (Work With Me Annie /Sexy Ways/I Wanna Be Black)
I'll Be Your Mirror
Perfect Day
Men of Good Fortune 

OK, I've posted a couple Iggy/Stooges shows, but let's move on to my favorite musician of all time.  I fuckin' love Lou Reed.  Iggy was great, Johnny Thunders was better, but Lou had it all as far as I'm concerned.

This show captures Lou and his band at the apex of their powers and is one of the greatest and most legendary Lou bootlegs issued on vinyl.  This is before Lou sobered up and started doing Honda Scooter commercials in an effort to court the American mainstream.

This show was recorded at The Bottom Line in NYC - essentially Lou's mid-late 70s home base - on June 3, 1979.  Lou is in full flight - his voice is razor sharp, full of maximum energy, and he is beltin' out some relatively uncommon tunes (check the medley!).  If you ask me - and you didn't - the only bassist Lou worked with I liked as much as Moose was Prakash John, who played on the Berlin/Rock & Roll Animal tour.  Moose is a huge, black, cowboy-hat wearing guy who plays the bass like it was a Les Paul Jr.  The whole band had been playing with Lou for years at this point, and while enduring Lou's dictatorship (it was a dictatorship according to Victor Bockris, anyways) they became one of the tightest, most potent bands you could ever hear.

I personally transferred this from vinyl and you can find it HERE in lossless format.

Lou Reed - guitar

Stuart Heinrich - guitar
Ellard "Moose" Boles - bass
Michael Suchorsky - drums

Chuck Hammer - Roland guitar synthesizer

Iggy Pop - Mantra 1977 Bootleg

"On March 28, 1977, Iggy's tour rolled into Chicago.  A local radio station broadcast a run through of the regular live show in the empty Aragon Theater.  It sounds like a radio session, but it's basically the live set - Bowie on keyboards and backing vocals, Hunt Sales on drums and backing vocals, Tony Sales on bass, and Ricky Gardiner on guitar.  And it's a fabulous set.  Despite the slightly sterile atmosphere Iggy pulls out all the stops.  One of the best ever versions of Dirt and a killer I Wanna Be Your Dog which in a slightly remixed form (eliminating mainly Bowie's rather overbearing and irritating keyboard sound!) it turns up as the final track on the official TV Eye 1977 Live album."  - written by Richard Adams, author of "The Complete Iggy Pop."

I particularly like this bootleg.  The sound fidelity is great, as is the band.  As Richard Adams noted, it is sorta sterile (I think Iggy's screams and grunts sound a bit forced), but it is one of the few live Iggy shows on permanent rotation on my iPod.  Enjoy!

01. Raw Power
02. TV Eye
03. Dirt
04. Turn Blue
05. Funtime
06. Gimme Danger
07. No Fun
08. Sister Midnight
09. I Need Somebody
10. Search & Destroy
11. I Wanna Be Your Dog
12. China Girl

Files are 320kbps MP3.  Download HERE.

Some Cool Online Music Forums to Visit

These are the forums I ALWAYS log into.  They are fun places to learn about your favorite bands, tour dates, exchange bootleg material, and waste time!

The "Chatterbox" Johnny Thunders Forum:  Many longtime Thunders/New York Dolls fans are part of this community.  What's even better is the number of Thunders bandmates and associates who pop in occasionally.  A wealth of information that has replaced the apparently dead Johnny Thunders Cyber Lounge (which is still around, it just hasn't been updated in around 10 years).  Extensive gigography, too.  It's also a great place to talk Hanoi Rocks and any UK-based punk.  A very friendly bunch and the Mods keep the flames/spam to a minimum.

The Velvet Forum:  The best place for your Velvet Underground fix.  It is also the de facto Lou Reed/John Cale/Nico/Andy Warhol forum.  Very knowledgeable community with plenty of "insiders."  I've been a member for years and can only remember a single flame-war starter.  Great community.

Stooges Forum:  The best place to get all of your Stooges info.  There are many longtime Stooges "insiders" and even the authors of the best Iggy/Stooges books around!  Most any question you have can be answered.  The Admin is sometimes slow to put out the fires, but the group in general is a genial bunch.

Morrissey-Solo:  The only place you can go to get all the Smiths/Mozzer info you want.  Some of the members are...obsessive...to say the least, but what else would you expect from a site dedicated to our beloved Saint Morrissey.  One issue I have is that old threads become archived, so you have to start up new threads regarding a previously discussed topic.  Although I sometimes grow annoyed with the excessive hero-worship, I always find myself coming back for more.  I suppose I am a masochist at heart...

It's Only Rock & Roll:  An archaic board layout, but more Rolling Stones experts than you could ever want to meet.  A treasure trove of photos, videos, bootlegs, and information.

The Iggy & The Stooges Forum:  I like the layout, but other than the Admin, there don't appear to be any members yet!  I'll see how this one shapes up.

If you have any other suggestions, please post in the comments!  I am always on the lookout for a solid discussion on a band I enjoy.