Living fast and dying young is one of rock's great clichés, but no phrase better describes the reasons for the demise of L.A. punkers the Germs.

Capable of creating a firestorm of noisy, confrontational music, they were ultimately undone by their perversely charismatic lead singer. He was a madman named Paul Beahm, better known to the world at-large first as Bobby Pyn, later and more famously as Darby Crash, who died Sid Vicious-style out on the mainline at age 22.

Taking musical cues from the Sex Pistols (and English punk in general), as well as the CBGB's scene, and adding the theatricality of Bowie, Iggy, and Lou Reed, Crash was the perfect frontman for the Germs. Backed by guitarist Pat Smear (later of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters), bassist Lorna Doom, and drummer Don Bolles, the Germs kicked up a hellacious racket that strayed from fast/loud punk into art damage and garage grunge.

On-stage, their gigs bordered on performance art, with Crash in full Iggy frenzy, diving into the crowd, adorning himself with whatever foodstuffs the audience provided, wearing less-and-less clothing, all done while the band cranked out noisy spasms of simple, but effective, rock noise. Never capturing this mania on record (how could they?), the Germs' recording career is based on the sole record made during Crash's short life.

Produced by Germs fan Joan Jett, (GI) was a fine hunk of early L.A. punk rock that was more literate and compelling that what was being offered by lesser local luminaries such as the Zeroes and the Weirdos. Smear's guitar playing is especially volatile, matching the mewling vocals of Crash note for note. It may not be life-changing music, but the white-hot, adrenal rush is a little bit of heaven.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INTENSE GERMS VIDEOS

By the time Crash filled his veins with heroin in 1980, the Germs were pretty much over. Crash's behaviour had become increasingly unpredictable; he was spending time in England, and began performing as a solo act upon returning to L.A. Consequently, the valuable recorded work in this final period is spotty, but much of it shows up on the definitive Germs release Germs (MIA) The Complete Anthology. ~ John Dougan, All Music Guide

Source: http://www.artistdirect.com/; Ryan Allen

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com 

Why Not Also Check Out:

The Sex Pistols

The Buzzcocks

The Damned

The Ramones

The Stranglers

Blondie

The Clash

Rokpool's Official Merchandise Store 

If you asked the average person on the street, they could probably have their own favourite song from the Las Vegas band. Formed in 2002, Brandon Flowers (lead singer, piano), Dave Keuning (guitar, backing vocals), Mark Stoermer (bass, backing vocals), Ronnie Vannucci Jr (drums, percussion) are heavily influenced by 1980 iconic bands such as New Order, David Bowie and Joy Division among others. They have gone from strength to strength by selling out venues such as the legendary Royal Albert Hall and headlining festivals all over the world.

Their first album ‘Hot Fuzz’ was released in 2004 after The Killers agreed to sign for UK label Marrakesh records and US label Island records. The album included the singles ‘Mr Brightside’, ‘Smile Like You Mean It’, ‘Somebody Told Me’ and ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’. The album itself has been influenced by 80s rock and is regarded by many as one of the best records of the decade with songs released from ‘Hot Fuzz’ being placed respectfully in the top ten of the best songs of the decade. ‘Mr Brightside’ received the accolade for best song of the decade from Xfm. In 2009, young British artists were brought together to form Young Soul Rebels, covered the song ‘All These Things That I’ve Done’ to raise money for the charity War Child Group.

Bouncing from the success from ‘Hot Fuzz’, The Killers released their second album ‘Sam’s Town’ in 2006. The album was not as successful as the first and received mixed reviews. However, ‘Sam’s Town’ includes the singles ‘When You Were Young’, ‘Read my Mind’, ‘Bones’ and ‘For Reasons Unknown’ which are hits in their own right. The self titled song on the record was not released as a single to the annoyance of their fans. By the end of the year, The Killers won Best International Group and Best International Album at the BRIT awards. They also headlined Glastonbury festival in 2007.

CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE UNIQUE THE KILLERS VIDEOS

A B-side collection of the band was released in 2007 named ‘Sawdust’. The album saw the release of the single ‘Tranquilize’ and saw the legendary Lou Reed collaborate to create the song. The Killers also cover the songs ‘Shadowplay’ (Joy Division), ‘Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town’ (Kenny Rodgers and The First Edition) and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Dire Straits) as a mark of respect for the bands they admire.

2008 saw The Killers release their third album ‘Day & Age’, produced by Stuart Price, includes the singles ‘The World We Live In’, ‘Spaceman’, ‘A Dustland Fairytale’ and the number one classic ‘Human’.

The Killers are heavily linked to the charity group ‘Project Red’ as they have released a Christmas song every year since 2006 with all of the profits going to the charitable organization. The singles include ‘A Great Big Sled’, ‘Don’t Shoot Me Santa’, ‘Joseph, Better You Than Me’ (collaborated with Elton John) and ‘Happy Birthday Guadalupe’.

The accolades keep coming for the American indie band with NME giving them Best International Band for the years 2005, 2008 and 2009 and they have received seven Grammy nominations.

Recently, the Daily Telegraph reported Brandon Flowers hopes The Killers will be bigger than U2 in the future. If they continue to create more number one albums, it looks like that could be the case. 

Albums:

Source: Dean Woodhouse

HAVE A LOOK AT THIS GREAT THE KILLERS MERCHANDISE HERE

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

Why Not Check Out:

Dire Straits

Kings Of Leon

U2

Blood On The Tracks

Joy Division Cult Heroes

Zaine Griff created a minor club-circuit stir in the late seventies and early eighties, emerging less as an androgynous David Bowie imitator but more a divine Lady Stardust, genuinely beautiful, in the Tim Curry Rocky Horror mould. There was some Bowie influence in the songs, but you could have said that of most artists then and since. The set was high quality and Zaine Griff was supported by an excellent band, with well-crafted tunes, catchy Hard Rock in the New Wave style. They (and it was “they” as Zaine Griff fronted what was very much a band) invariably opened with the autobiographical “The Scandinavian” and the set usually featured Griff’s tribute to Lindsay Kemp for whom he’d performed in “Flowers”. Like Bowie, Zaine always delivered a command performance and his gigs were packed. His relative commercial failure is something of a mystery, particularly as he was thoroughly charming and interested as well as interesting.

CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE UNIQUE ZAINE GRIFF VIDEOS

His fans on the club circuit adored him, and although surprisingly reserved off stage, he’d happily join them in the bar – “Half a lager thanks Doug”. I suspect there were two problems, and perhaps a third. Zaine Griff was genuinely intelligent, had a wide range of artistic interests, and perhaps lacked the drive to get to the top in rock’n’roll.  Another was that “Ashes And Diamonds” (1979), not a bad album, didn’t really do his live act justice. And perhaps this was the third problem – Zaine Griff was arguably a far greater showman than a musician. Whatever, the live act was superb, driven, raucous, and genuinely mesmeric.

The record when it came, produced by Tony Visconti was a shade too tinselly. The thing is it’s clear from his autobiography that Visconti liked Zaine Griff (as everyone did) but had doubts about Zaine’s voice, and perhaps this was exposed in the studio, but lost in the mix live. Given what Bowie treatments did for his mates Lou Reed and Iggy Pop one is left wondering what Bowie would have made of “Ashes And Diamonds” and he knew Zaine Griff well enough presumably to have realized that Zaine Griff was no Bowie imitator. Anyway, history should mark Zaine down as one of music’s beautiful people, and if you want a little rock’n’roll curio he plays bass on the “Heathen” (2002) David Bowie bonus track “Panic In Detroit”. It was a mark of Zaine’s courtesy that when I wrote a fan letter congratulating him on the release of “Ashes And Diamonds”, I received a personal handwritten thank you note by return. Zaine disappeared back to New Zealand (to run clubs, according to the internet) - goodness knows what they make of him there - a lovely man who missed far greater success by a whisker.

Albums:

With The Human Instinct:
The Hustler (Zodiac, 1974)
Peg Leg (recorded 1975, released 2002)
With Screemer:
"Interplanetary Twist" (Bell, 1976)
"In The City" (Arista, August 1977)

As solo artist:
"Tonight" - single (Automatic, February 1980)
"Ashes and Diamonds" - single (Automatic, May 1980)
"Run" - single (Automatic, August 1980)
Ashes and Diamonds - album (Automatic, October 1980)
"Figvres" - single (Polydor, July 1982)
"Flowers" - single (Polydor, September 1982)
Figvres - album (Polydor, October 1982)
"Swing" - single (Polydor, October 1983)

With Helden (as guest vocalist):
"Holding On" - single (1983)
'Spies' - album (unreleased)
With Yukihiro Takahashi:
"This Strange Obsession" on What? Me Worry? album

With Gary Numan:
"The Secret" on the album, Berserker (1984)

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

Why Not Check Out:

The Kinks

Iggy Pop

David Bowie

Worst Dressed Acts In Rok History

Rokpool's Official Merchandise Store 

Solo artist and singer/songwriter for The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed has survived electro-shock therapy, scathing critics, a false death report and numerous hit and miss album releases to become one of the most influential artists in the 20th century.

His career has spanned over five decades, raised taboo subjects such as homosexuality and drug abuse and pioneered distorted guitar and feedback effects. Present day labels him as the “Godfather of Punk”, photographer, recording studio collaborator and even an animated cartoon character voice.

Reed met his first of many partners in music, John Cale, while working as a staff songwriter at Pickwick Records in New York. Reed attracted attention with his off-the-wall lyrics and non-standard guitar tunings.

In 1965, Cale and Reed formed The Velvet Underground, with some managerial help from famous artist, Andy Warhol. The band went on to produce and record albums that although weren’t acclaimed in their day went on to influence the forthcoming glam rock and post-punk bands of the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Once The Velvet Underground was signed to an Atlantic Records’ label, Reed was asked to tone down his song subjects in order to reach a more mainstream audience. Shortly after, Reed quit the band in 1970.

By 1972, he had embarked on a solo career, despite the criticism, and had his first (and only) Top 20 hit with Walk on the Wild Side.

One of his more infamous works was in the form of Metal Machine Music which was a double LP of just recorded, non-sensical feedback loops. The jury is still out on the reason for this album – a record company quota responsibility, a joke or an avant-garde musical expression?

CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE UNIQUE LOU REED VIDEOS

Reed joined The Velvet Underground to support a European reunion tour and a collection of original work re-released as a five-CD box set called Peel Slowly and See. In 1996, The Velvet Underground was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Reed performed with former band members Cale and Maureen Tucker at the induction ceremony.

As a solo artist, Reed has been nominated twice by the Hall of Fame. As a member of The Velvet Underground, Reed was responsible for bucking the trend over the happy hippies. As a solo artist, he continues to raise eyebrows, experiment with fashion and musical styles and is widely-regarded as an elder statesman of rock.

Juanita Appleby

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

Why Not Check Out:

The Velvet Underground

Rhinoceros

The Killers

The Complete History Of Punk

Rokpool's Official Merchandise Store 

Rhinoceros were Elektra Records' 'project super group', a collection of talented musicians that the label planned to make into instant stars. Unfortunately, the label's publicity campaign backfired and the band struggled to live up to a reputation it couldn't match. As a result, rock biographies have tended to write the band off or worse still, have neglected to mention them at all. This is unjust, as Rhinoceros did produce some excellent material, most notably on their stunning debut album, produced by the brainchild of the band, Doors' producer Paul Rothchild.

The band undoubtedly looked great on paper. Former Daily Flash guitarist Doug Hastings (b. June 21, 1946, Seattle) had briefly covered for Neil Young in The Buffalo Springfield, while drummer Billy Mundi (b. Sept. 25, 1942, San Francisco) had been an integral part of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention and was a top session player. Danny Weis (b. Sept. 24, 1948, Huntington Park, California) meanwhile, had become a local hero in southern California as the fiery lead guitarist in the original Iron Butterfly and was responsible for bringing in another ex-Butterfly member, bass player Jerry Penrod (b. Sept 25, 1946, San Diego). The band was completed with a talented singer/songwriter and pianist Alan Gerber (b. May 27,1947, Chicago) and two Canadians, singer John Finley (b. May 6, 1945, Toronto) and organist Michael Fonfara (b. Aug. 11, 1946, Stevensville, Ontario) from Toronto's premier R&B outfit Jon and Lee and The Checkmates. (Fonfara had also played on The Electric Flag's debut album and briefly supported a pre-Blood, Sweat & Tears David Clayton-Thomas).

The band rehearsed intensively throughout the early months of 1968 and recorded its debut album live (without any overdubs) in Los Angeles, before relocating to New York later in the year. The resulting album was a critical success and included some of the band's best work, most notably Gerber's reflective 'That Time of The Year', Fonfara and Weis's punchy instrumental 'Apricot Brandy' (later adopted as a theme tune by BBC radio) and Finley's 'I Will Serenade You', which became a North American hit in 1973 when Three Dog Night covered it.

Sadly the album didn't sell well and the band immediately began to fragment. By the time the group's third album, 'Better Times Are Coming', appeared in 1970, Finley’s former cohorts from The Checkmates, bass player Peter Hodgson (who was earmarked as original bass player), guitarist Larry Leishman and that band's former manager, drummer/vocalist Eddie 'Duke' Edwards had been drafted in to plug the gap left by departing members.

Rhinoceros returned to Toronto and in 1972 made a final album as Blackstone in an attempt to recoup the group's losses, but it was not a success. Weis and Fonfara subsequently became top session players; Fonfara led Lou Reed's road band throughout the '70s while Weis played in Bette Midler's band in the film 'The Rose'. Alan Gerber meanwhile, contributed two tracks to Bob Dylan's little known film 'Renaldo and Clara' and recorded in impressive solo album for Shelter Records.

Original members John Finley, Michael Fonfara, Alan Gerber and Danny Weis have continued to perform on the Californian and Canadian music scenes and reformed Rhinoceros in Toronto in the summer of 2009 with Peter Hodgson, guitarist Bernie LeBarge and drummer Mike Sloski.

Nick Warburton

For more information visit: www.rhinoceros-group.com

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com

Why Not Check Out:

Buffalo Springfield

Neil Young

Lou Reed

Rock Stars Dead Before Our Time

The influence of the Velvet Underground on rock greatly exceeds their sales figures and chart numbers. They are one of the most important rock and roll bands of all time, laying the groundwork in the Sixties for many tangents rock music would take in ensuing decades. Yet just two of their four original studio albums ever even made Billboard’s Top 200, and that pair – The Velvet Underground and Nico (#171) and White Light/White Heat (#199) – only barely did so. If ever a band was “ahead of its time,” it was the Velvet Underground. Brian Eno, cofounder of Roxy Music and producer of U2 and others, put it best when he said that although the Velvet Underground didn’t sell many albums, everyone who bought one went on to form a band. The New York Dolls, Patti Smith, the Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, U2, R.E.M., Roxy Music and Sonic Youth have all cited the Velvet Underground as a major influence.

The Velvets’ addressed such taboo subjects as sexual deviancy (“Venus in Furs”), drug addiction (“Heroin,” “White Light/White Heat”), paranoia (“Sunday Morning”) and the urban demimonde (“All Tomorrow’s Parties”). In so doing, they brought rock and roll into theretofore unexplored experiential realms with a literary and unabashedly adult voice. Musically, the group ranged from droning, avant-garde improvisations (“Sister Ray”) to songs built upon time-tested rock and R&B foundations (“I’m Waiting for the Man”). The Velvet Underground managed to be both arty and earthy, reflecting the duality within the college-educated but streetwise Lou Reed, who wrote most of the material.

CLICK HERE FOR EVEN MORE UNIQUE THE VELVET UNDERGROUND VIDEOS

The group—vocalist/guitarist Reed, keyboardist and viola player John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Maureen “Moe” Tucker - played their first show together in 1965. The following year they were taken under the wing of artist Andy Warhol, who saw them perform at Cafe Bizarre in Greenwich Village. The Velvets soon became the house band at Warhol’s studio, the Factory, and the centerpiece of his multimedia extravaganza, the “Exploding Plastic Inevitable.” Their debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, featured a classic Warhol-designed pop-art jacket that depicted a big yellow banana. Inside were 11 songs that radically revised the rock and roll sensibility - especially two songs about drug addiction, one despondent and sobering (“Heroin”) and another a ribald slice of Harlem street life (“I’m Waiting for the Man”). Several songs, notably “Femme Fatale” and “All Tomorrow’s Parties,” featured the heavily accented vocals of cool German chanteuse Nico.

The Velvet Underground’s second album, White Light/White Heat was more sonically radical. Filled with leakage and distortion, its chaotic centerpiece was the 17-minute “Sister Ray.” The group’s self-titled third album was, by comparison, quiet and introspective, defined more by cautious optimism (“Beginning to See the Light”) and soul-searching (“Jesus”). By then, John Cale had left at the insistence of Reed, with whom he clashed, and was replaced by Doug Yule. Between the releases of The Velvet Underground and Loaded – officially, their fourth album – the group recorded enough unreleased material to fill two albums. Indeed, two albums of archival unearthings from 1969 were issued in the mid-Eighties as VU and Another View.

When Loaded appeared in late 1970, only Reed and Morrison remained from the original lineup. The group had switched record labels, from MGM/Verve to Atlantic/Cotillion, and adapted a more pop-oriented approach. Loaded contained some of Lou Reed’s most accessible compositions, many of them sung by the pop-voiced Doug Yule. Yet though Reed felt the album was “loaded” with hits, it was their second in a row not to chart at all. That seems inconceivable today, given its high quality and enduring influence. The album’s ten tracks were hooky and melodic, yet informed by Reed’s literary intellect, and two of them – “Sweet Jane” and “Rock and Roll” – have become acknowledged classics. Of Loaded’s anthem to the power of popular music, Reed explained, “’Rock and Roll’ is about me. If I hadn’t heard rock and roll on the radio, I would have had no idea there was life on this planet.”

Prior to the release of Loaded, Reed left the Velvet Underground to embark on a solo career. And though a Yule-led Velvet Underground briefly kept the name alive, that was essentially the end of the story: four brilliant albums that formed a blueprint for the next three decades of rock and roll. The founding members reunited in 1993 for a brief European tour; it had been 25 years since they’d shared a stage. A double-disc documentary, Live MCMXCIII, appeared later that year. There was talk of a new studio album, but the reunion turned out to be short-lived. A new wave of interest in the Velvet Underground was stirred by the 1995 release of Peel Slowly & See, a five-CD box set that included their first four albums and numerous rarities. At their 1996 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Velvet Underground sang a new song, “Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend,” a tribute to guitarist Sterling Morrison, who’d died of cancer the previous year.

Members included John Cale (born December 5,1940, in Crynant, Wales; bass, viola, guitar, and vocals; left group in 1967, was replaced on base by Doug Yule, 1968), Sterling Morrison (born Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr., August 29, 1942, in East Meadow, NY; guitar and vocals), Nico (born Christa Paffgen, [most sources say] March 15, 1943, in Budapest, Hungary [one source says Cologne, Germany]; left group in 1966; died in 1988; vocals), Lou Reed (born Louis Firbank, March 2, 1942 [one source says 1944], in Freeport, NY [one sources says Brooklyn, NY]; vocals, guitar, and piano; left group in 1970), and Moe Tucker (born Maureen Tucker, c. 1945, in New Jersey; drums and vocals).

Albums:

Source: Simon Glickman

HAVE A LOOK AT THIS GREAT THE VELVET UNDERGROUND MERCHANDISE HERE

This information is provided as a brief overview and not as a definitive guide, there are other sources on the net for that. If however you have a story or information that is not generally known we would love to hear from you. Content@rokpool.com.

Why Not Check Out:

Lou Reed

Sonic Youth

Spiritualized

The Killers

Blood On The Tracks