Let’s kick this weeks column off with a brand new video by guitarist Jon Gomm. This dude has worked his ass off to get where he is and deserves all the publicity he gets, which is a damn lot. Brand new and hot off the presses. If nothing else, Gomm is famous for spitting in Simon Cowell’s eye.
It’s Tuesday night, November 17. My renovations are nearing completion, the house is dead quiet as I sit here, stretched out on the couch, looking around at this home we lived in together for 18 years. Remembering all the wonderful celebrations, dinners, Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners, TV watching, companionable “book reading”, and just quietly being, soaking up each other’s presence.
My brother-in-law kept telling me about New York but all I could see was the tall buildings popping out of the ground of downtown Vancouver. It wasn’t the massiveness of the city. It was the feel! And make no mistake, Vancouver is a city. A big one with a big downtown and all of the pluses and minuses which go with it. Sirens all night, a large homeless contingent, people walking with rolling suitcases everywhere. Restaurants— my God, there were so many restaurants— every kind of food you could possibly imagine.
It all started when Laurie Biagini posted a link to a video (Lydia Purple) by The Collectors, a legendary Pac NW band out of British Columbia back in the sixties (and, yes, B.C. is in the Pac NW). My buddy Howie Wahlen followed that up by taking pictures and posting both sides of The Collectors‘ first album jacket and the die was cast.
The Strawberry Alarm Clock just recorded and released a new album. What’s that, you say? The who? No, not The Who. The Strawberry Alarm Clock! You know… Incense and Peppermints? Sit With the Guru? The boys from Santa Barbara? Loose fitting Nehru shirts and white pantaloons? Paisley gone wild? Sigh. Sometimes I think I’ve lived too long.
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 