Okay, I'm not going to do this very often, so don't worry. But since people who read this blog might be interested in purchasing some of my old stuff, I figured you should be the first to know:

I'm selling some complete sets of Comical Funnies (#1-3) on eBay right now. (I haven't offered them for many years and won't be offering them again for a long time once these sell out). I'm also auctioning off some copies of PUNK #17. I will probably be selling some other rare back issues of PUNK soon, and maybe even some old artwork, so keep an eye out. Just search for "Comical Funnies" or "Punk magazine" on eBay to find them. There's some great stuff in Comical Funnies, a newsprint comic I did with Peter Bagge way back when, right after PUNK folded. We published comics by me, Peter Bagge, Bruce Carleton, Ken Weiner and JD King, among others. 

It's funny, but way back in the day, when Peter Bagge was first seduced into wasting his once-promising career by slaving away for the rest of his life for the Fantagraphics empire, he asked me to send him ALL of the Comical Funnies back issues in my possession--at my own expense, no less. This always seemed to me to be one of the weirdest requests anyone ever asked me for. Basically, it was like: "Hi, John, I know you put your money, our heart and soul and an incredible amount of free work into producing these magazines, but could you please ship all of them to me for free, at your own expense?"

Yeah, that sounds fair, right? 

Peter sounded unusually nervous as he asked me, so I knew something was up.  

Obviously Peter Bagge, my old pal, had fallen into the grip of some bad guys.

Poor Peter! 

So I told Bagge: "Yeah, sure, Peter. Whatever you want."

So I sent him a few dozen issues to see what would happen (but I held onto most of them). I left it at that, and pretty much never heard from Peter again. It's a shame in a way, but WTF: Peter  Bagge moved to Seattle, Washington around the same time Ken Weiner moved to Minnesota and Bruce Carleton took off for the Far East. It was a weird way to end an artistic collaboration but it was effective. At that time, "The Age of Crack," people just didn't want to live here in New York City, the town that I love. 

Anyhow, it soon became apparent to me that these Fantagraphics guys wanted to take copies of Comical Funnies off the market forever. (What their motive for this evil mission was has always eluded me, but you can see for yourself that they were selling Comical Funnies very cheap (like 99 cents apiece) in early issues of Neat Stuff.) 

Fantagraphics has always had a big problem with me. Don't ask me why. I've actually enjoyed most of their stuff! I like comic strips, and they publish a lot of great comic strips. Since Fantagraphics are the biggest publishers of "alternative comics" (holding a near-monopoly over the business) this has posed a bit of a problem for me, of course. It's not good for your career to have a huge company like that holding you back. But since I've always existed outside of everything (and since Fantagraphics pays peanuts to comic strip artists!) I've done OK. I can exist outside of Fantagraphics and criticize them. Sadly, most Fantagraphics cartoonists (who receive a pittance for their work from the Evil Empire, and of course have no labor union), would never dare to bite the hand that feeds them (even though they are basically starving)... 

On the other hand, I have been curious why a big outfit like Fantagraphics never asked me (a sort of legendry UG comics guy) even once for a contribution to anything they published... Even worse, in their recent Complete Crumb Comics book series, which claimed to publish everything Robert ever did, they pointedly left out his contributions to PUNK! That's just plain stupid, don't you think? You know, they sacrificed their credibility in order to try to reduce PUNK magazine's (and my) accomplishments. Hey, you know, eventually the truth always wins out...

My old friend Batton Lash once told me that there's a rumor that I got into an argument with Gary Groth, Fantagraphics' main man, over some stupid-ass bullshit way back when at CBGB. Maybe we did, I certainly can't remember. I was hassled by so many people back then about so much stupid stuff...

If it is true that my career has been hindered over something like that? Well, I'd never want to work with a person who is that shallow and stupid. Apparently this guy Groth loves to feud, he's had public disagreements with many creative people over the years and considers this some kind of badge of honor. He's quoted as saying: "A man should be judged by the quality of his enemies."

How sad... I prefer to think about the quality of my friends: The people i have helped over the length of my career (too many to list here) and the people who have helped me out (ditto). i always tried to keep the same attitude that people like Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman showed towards me, when they helped me get my career started. But then again, since comics are now a dying/neglected art form, this could be a reason... 

Well, if anyone out there wonders about the politics of publishing, this is a very small, insignificant slice.

Okay, here we go again. Another magazine cover:  

Let me be the first to congratulate Esquire magazine for introducing the radical idea of using hand-lettering (instead of a type font), on a magazine cover. Wowie wow wow, how daring! (I've heard that their next cover will feature some kind of light blink, using computer chip technology, so obviously this is a magazine desperate for newsstand sales! Thus, the move to hand-lettering!)

But, seriously, I've always had a lot of respect for Esquire magazine. Back in the 1960s, it was like, unbelievable! Really, check out back issues from the 1950s and 60s of a magazine like Esquire or Playboy and you will be transported to a world of a literate public, an intelligent readership, and the Golden Age of America. Even now, it holds out this weird promise that we are all literate and intelligent "dudes" (who need Esquire to tell us how to dress like metrosexuals). 

But just to be a nitpicker, I wish the hand-lettering on this cover was executed a little more carefully.

This lettering looks like total shit. Honestly, why didn't these guys just hire me for the job???

You have to admit that it looks very PUNK magazine-like, right?

I am not just imagining this, right? 

Esquire looks like PUNK, right?  

Well, whatever. I always thought that hand-lettering is a great alternative to type fonts, and it always makes me crazy when people see my lettering and say: "What an interesting font!"  

(P.S. As a New York Jets fan? Who HATES Tom Brady?When the Jets have Favre and Brady has a bum knee? Obviously Esquire is a day late and a dollar short, as usual.)

One of the most popular things I ever wrote/drew was the Dorian Zero interview (from PUNK #14, also reprinted in the Punk The Original book). I think it’s about to become even more interesting since one of the people involved in it, like so many people from the Max’s/CBGB scene, has gone on to bigger and better things (to put it mildly).

The basic story is that Dorian Zero, a NYC musician heavily influenced by glam rock, wanted to be written up in PUNK in the worst possible way. I later learned his music career was supported by rich parents with ties to the mob, who had enough money to hire a high-powered publicist. Thus Dorian Zero was able to bribe me into doing an interview with him by picking up a lunch tab at Max’s Kansas City. As editor of PUNK back in the 1970s, I was often being bribed with one thing or another in return for coverage. (And really, if Dorian Zero had ever read PUNK, you would think he'd know better than to try something like this!) 

The Free Lunch/publicist schmooze almost always results in favorable reviews (especially nowadays), but I was so young, cocky and obnoxious that I trashed Dorian—during the interview—while eating the free food provided by his expensive publicist. It was comical, since Dorian fell into the trap of behaving like a spoiled rich kid who had no sense of humor while I was aggressively baiting him throughout our discussion. It was a cheap shot/hatchet job/exposé/tasteless joke/travesty/parody all rolled into one.

The story behind this story was the guy who made it all happen—Zero’s publicist. After Dorian walked out on us, his “hired gun” stuck around and we ended up having a very nice conversation. The publicist was a guy named Howard Bloom, and he seemed to take some kind of weird enjoyment out of Dorian’s ordeal. He freely admitted (while I chowed down) that his job was to set up the interview, and whatever fallout resulted had nothing to do with him, so he didn’t take it personally that I attacked his client. His job was just to get the press to comment on his client, so as long as I sent him tear sheets he’d be cool with it. (This was a relief, since some people in the music business would have had a totally different attitude, believe me!) His professionalism was refreshing, and his attitude gave me the idea he’d do well at this publicist thing. At the time I didn’t know that this same Howard Bloom guy edited Circus magazine in the early 1970s (back when I was an avid reader and Circus was a decent rock mag).

Years later I noticed Howard Bloom’s name popped up in the media a lot. He became a superstar publicist when the media was at its self-loving peak, when even publicists got 15 minutes! Bloom’s clients included Michael Jackson, Prince, Bette Midler, John Mellencamp, Bob Marley, David Byrne, Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Billy Idol, Joan Jett, Luther Vandross, George Michael, Lionel Richie, Hall & Oates, Kool and the Gang, the Simon & Garfunkel Reunion Tour, the 25th Anniversary of the Beatles Invasion of the United States, Queen, AC/DC, Kiss, Aerosmith, Supertramp, Genesis, Phil Collins, Styx, Supertramp, REO Speedwagon, Joan Armatrading, Simply Red, Chaka Khan, ZZ Top, Spirogyra, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and Run DMC. (Whew!) What he was doing representing Dorian Zero I have no idea. (I think in 1978 Howard had just started his own company and was taking anyone on as a client. I also think that if someone like Dorian Zero was being handled by someone like Howard in today’s pathetic media environment, he’d become a big star.

Howard Bloom later founded Music in Action, an anti-censorship group formed to fight Tipper Gore. (Never forget that the "mom" who tried to shoot down rock music’s freedom of expression is married to Al Gore—the best reason (but never mentioned, for some mysterious reason)—why Gore lost the 2000 election to GWB.

In 1988, Howard became afflicted with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and was bedridden for 15 years. (No wonder, since he had been dealing with the clients listed above—he must have had post traumatic syndrome too!). Check out that link to his Website and read his biography, he has an amazing appreciation for his work as a publicist. Later on Bloom wrote two books, The Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition Into the Forces of History, Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century, which propelled him into the company of great thinkers such as Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins, Buckminster Fuller and EO Wilson.

Howard recently contacted me to inform me of a little project he’s working on: Space Solar Power. Since I’ve always been interested in futuristic ideas like this, I checked out this link to a YouTube video that describes his current project:
Space Solar Power

It turns out that in 2007, Howard founded The Space Development Steering Committee with Buzz Aldrin, Edgar Mitchell, National Science Foundation Program Director Paul Werbos, NASA research scientist Dennis Bushnell, and other renegade space scientist types. They’re like the Reed Richards/Tony Starks of our time.

Space Solar Power is an idea that could solve the energy crisis in the decades to follow, even if it isn’t a quick fix. It doesn’t rely on foreign oil or fossil fuels, does no harm to the environment, is a reliable source of constant power, and has nothing to do with the Evil Gores (whose personal lifestyle reveals him as the worst kind of hypocrite and the worst kind of figurehead for the green movement).

It’s just plain hilarious to me that the guy who bought Dorian Zero’s steak could end up saving the world. And it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy, really.

Am I the only person who thinks this is a much funnier magazine cover than the New Yorker cover from a few weeks ago?

  

Because, you know what... I think Obama really is a an exact lookalike of Alfred E. Neuman!

(Or is it vice versa?)

 

Recently, on a very lucky evening (8/8/08), I got to see the greatest band in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. No, it wasn't The Beatles, nor the The Rolling Stones, Ramones, Pistols… Not even The Sonics (although they’re up there with the all-time greats—and I got to see The Sonics recently!)...

It was, of course, The Stooges.

It’s always an amazing thing to be able to see this band one more time, when they were out of commission for so long. You know the story: The Stooges put out three of the greatest albums of all time in the late 1960s and 1970s, then broke up when they lived up to their name once too often. These records inspired so many of us to start punk rock… The simplicity of these records was inspiring, and the band’s lyrics dealt with everyday life in a way that no one else could (except maybe the Velvet Underground).

Back in the day, after I got turned onto punk rock (thanks to an Alice Cooper concert in 1972), I started reading Creem magazine and tried to figure out what punk rock was and who mattered. One thing was clear: The Stooges were all that mattered. This was obvious to most of us hanging out at CBGBs and to the rest of the world who wrote to me at PUNK mag who thought punk rock was the shit, back when we were defining and promoting punk rock. The Stooges were the only band that mattered.

Every early punk band in 1976 wanted to be like The Stooges: Ramones, Dictators, Dead Boys, etc. That was the common thread. Sure, we all liked other bands, like The Who and The Kinks from the British Invasion, the many 1960s US garage bands that followed them, even some psychedelic stuff like MC5, Cream, Hendrix, Flamin’ Groovies, etc., and glam bands like T. Rex, Alice Cooper, Sweet, and, of course, the New York Dolls. But The Stooges loomed above all of them like Godzilla above Tokyo.

So being a special guest of Ron Asheton (thanks to my good friends Niagara and Colonel Galaxy) and getting allowed into the V.I.P. area at their Terminal 5 show was the biggest excitement I’ve had in this decade. I was so happy!

You’ve got to understand, I’ve had many problems and drama whenever I try to see The Stooges.

Back in 1969 I saw that The Stooges were playing somewhere in Connecticut at a rock festival, and tried to talk my high school friends, Ricky Brennan and Michael Kling, into going to see them. “Nah,” they all said, “They don’t know how to play their instruments.” Well, you know how peer pressure works in high school… Ricky and Mike were the alpha males in the group, so I didn’t go (to my everlasting regret). (Don’t worry, we’re still friends!)

Then there was the famous show upstairs at Max’s Kansas City. By this time I had moved to New York City and was on my own. I went to Max’s and tried to get in, but the lines were so long that I had to give up and go home. Bummer! After that, I bought tickets for their New Year’s Eve show in 1974—and got front row seats! The show was at the Academy of Music on 14th Street, with Blue Oyster Cult, Teenage Lust and KISS as their opening acts! (Believe it or not KISS was at the bottom of the bill, they were just starting out). Man, was I pumped! Finally, I was going to get to see The Stooges!!! And some great opening acts!

Of course, I had tickets for the second show, which was cancelled. Worst New Year’s Eve ever. But of course my pathetic attempts to see The Stooges don’t stop there!

My first “miracle” (to quote the Grateful Deadheads) was when I got to see their first reunion tour at Jones Beach (second row center, thanks to my pal Wayne Ranelli, RIP). So, then I decided to go to Detroit to see their big homecoming show a few weeks later. I rented a car, drove 600 miles, got to Detroit (gas was cheap back then), and just as we were about to leave for the show? The power went out. Not just in our motel, but all over the state, and the east coast! This was the Big Blackout, which stretched from Detroit to NYC, and it just happened to happen that night. What great timing. So, once again, I was cheated out of a Stooges concert.

I got to see them at Roseland after that, and he next time they played NYC I was offered my first chance to be on their guest list (mostly, I think, because  I did an interview with Ron Asheton for PUNK #20), at the United Palace in April of 2007. This time, for some strange reason that everyone is trying to figure out, the promoters kicked almost everyone off the guest lists. We eventually got in (the promoters scalped the tickets), but it was just another disaster in a long line of Stooge disasters for me. I mean, what the fuck am I supposed to do to be able to see this band? I saw the Ramones hundreds of times with no problems, and was almost forced to see the Sex Pistols on their US tour. I was even in an art show in Detroit with these guys! So, why do I have to deal with The Curse of The Stooges?

Anyhow, 8/8/08 seems to have been my lucky day. I got in. My guests got in. We even got seats! The Stooges did a fine show. There was no agonizing opening act to sit through. Iggy was amazing as always, Ronnie, Scott, Watt and Mackay were great, and the crowd was rightfully worshipful. Danny Fields was there, Bob Gruen (and his wife and his wife, and my old friend Elizabeth) was there and Leee Black Childers was there. I saw many other friends, and all was right with the world for one night. Sure, the sound could have been better and it would have been nice if The Stooges hadn’t had all of their equipment ripped off just a few days before… But…

What the fuck. I got to see The Stooges again. Which is as close to paradise as any true punk rock fan gets in this short, brutal lifetime.

I went to see some live punk rock a while back (July 26th), and it’s taken me this long to collect my thoughts on the show. Usually these blog posts are quickie deals, written off the top of my head. But this show got me thinking about a lot of things, and I ended up with writer’s block! So I’m leaving a lot of thoughts out of this post… There’s a lot more I’d like to rant and rave about when it concerns punk rock in New York City, and how it’s been marginalized by the powers-that-be… Well, those are all topics for another day.

The show took place at a club called Rehab (@ 25 Avenue B), in their downstairs stage/bar/club/lounge. It’s one of the larger spaces left in Manhattan for punk rock shows, holding 50 people or so, similar to the downstairs bar at the Knitting Factory (who, like everyone else, is facing the loss of their lease and the need to move their business because the new rent is too high—but please don't get me started! I just spent the last week trying to calm down...).

Above: Loafass.

Rehab’s bar prices were average (cheap PBR, $6 for everything else). The first band I saw was Loafass, from Philadelphia. I’ve heard good things about for a long time, and for some strange, sad reason this was the first time I saw them. They’re a great punk band, lots of fun, put on a good show, etc. etc. They reminded me just a bit of The Dickies (but in a good way) ‘cause they have a great sense of humor, and to me, humor is what separates punk from metal. Metal bands take themselves too seriously and end up becoming a parody of themselves (see Spinal Tap), while good punk bands are already performing satire and can’t be touched. The weirdest thing about Loafass was how their bass player would leave the stage and wander all the way to the back of the bar to play during their songs. Way to use those wireless microphones, guys! They had some great songs like “Nature Boy” (about Ric Flair—and their very enthusiastic crowd would yell “Whoo!” at all the right times”) and some song about New Jersey. I guess if you’re from Philly, and you have to drive through New Jersey to get to NYC all the time, a certain amount of resentment builds up.

Next up were The Bullys, one of my all-time favorite NYC punk rock bands. Long story short, I first saw them in 2000, and thought they were up there with the great NYC punk bands I’ve ever seen: The Dictators, Ramones, Suicide, Murphy’s Law and the New York Dolls. Yeah, that’s a short list, but The Bullys definitely belong there, and if you’ve never seen them you’d better get your ass to one of their shows already.. For crying out loud, I put them on the cover of PUNK #19, hoping that might get them some attention from people. Yes, they are that good! Anyhow The Bullys played a great set (a bit short, but WTF).

Above: The Bullys.  

They added Danny Nez a couple of years ago (replacing the irreplaceable Johnny Heff). It took me a while to get used to him, but they’ve adjusted to his energy and sound and they just get better all the time with him. Now they have one of the more stable line-ups around (the same five guys for several years!), work on new material, and, lke they say in the business, keep the spirit alive.

God bless The Bullys and everything they stand for!!!

This was a special occasion, since The Bullys invited Jeff Magnum of the Dead Boys to perform some Dead Boys songs as part of their set. (By the way, I left the Dead Boys off the list of great NYC punk bands because the Dead Boys were from Cleveland.) After the short set of Bullys songs they brought Magnum onstage. (Jeff is a huge part of the “old punk rock” scene in NYC, those of us who were involved in CBGB in the 1970s, haven’t left New York City, and still hang out once in a while, so it’s always great to see him, whatever the circumstance.)

Above: Dead Boy Jeff Magnum and Bully Danny Nezz.  

I’ve always said that The Bullys cover the Dead Boys better than any band you’ll ever hear in your life and they proved it again at the Rehab show. They whipped through “Sonic Reducer, “Meat in Her Mouth,” “Ain’t It Fun,” “Ain’t Nothin’ To Do” and a few other DB tunes. I mentioned to Magnum after the show that Joey Lanz, The Bully’s singer, would be a fine substitute for Stiv Bators if the Dead Boys ever got off their butts and tried to actually do a reunion tour (as was rumored a few years ago), but it sounded like there’s too much dissension in the band to pull anything like that off. Too bad.

The Bullys have been able to replace Johnny Heff, The Who soldier on without Moon and Entwhistle, and even the Sex Pistols replaced Sid Vicious. Of course, bands like The Beatles and the Ramones won’t ever be able to do a proper reunion. But AC/DC (who lost their lead singer at a crucial time) and other bands have gone on. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea for a few more of the original Dead Boys to reform for a few dates with a great lead singer like Joey Lanz.

I wish the Dead Boys weren’t also the Dumb Boys…

But I sure am glad that the Bullys are still The Bullys. If you love great rock ‘n’ roll, you gotta see them!