It goes against my better instincts to say what I’m about to say, but I’m going to say it anyway. It’s somewhat of a “gut feeling” I have, even though I typically don’t like gut feelings when it comes to seeking out the truth. Also, after 8 years of a moral deviant in the White House using his “gut feelings” to tell him what to do since his brain was permanently out to lunch, “gut feelings” should carry no more weight than determining if someone’s a witch by throwing them in the river to see if they float. But there is one form of “gut feelings” I find more often than not extremely accurate in predicting guilt.

Let me explain.

On Friday, I read that friends of Phillip Markoff, the alleged Craigslist killer, had set up a Facebook page to defend his innocence. Their argument is straightforward, intelligent, and hard to disagree with, namely that “Phillip Markoff is innocent until proven guilty.” They claim that Phillip is being railroaded by the media, and certainly the national media’s track record in convicting people before they’ve had a trial is not a good one (Richard Jewell, Gary Condit, etc). But the thing I find most telling about Markoff’s behavior is what he and so many others accused of brutal crimes do when they’ve been convicted, and it’s not, I believe, what innocent people would ever do – and that’s to go through the process without emphatically proclaiming their innocence.

Imagine you’ve been accused of something that you clearly didn’t do and that, if convicted, will mean you’ll spend either the remainder of your life in jail or your execution. What level of emphasis would you put into proclaiming your innocence? How much would you be looking into the facts of the case? Would you become almost lawyerly in your obsession to prove you were innocent and a major injustice was taking place? Wouldn’t you be quite a bit “perturbed”, to put it mildly, to be in such an outrageous predicament?

When Steven Hatfill was accused of being the anthrax terrorist several years ago, he immediately became obsessed with arguing his innocence. He went so far as to hold a press conference to explain how he was being railroaded. The press treated his "guilt" as almost a given fact, and he fought back since he knew the truth. He knew damn well he hadn’t done what he was being accused of and it was of monumental importance to him to clear his name and also to find out why he was being falsely accused. He demanded justice be brought. Now look at Phillip Markoff and how he’s reacting to what he’s been accused of. He can barely muster enough “outrage” to stay awake during the proceedings.

A few years ago there was brutally savage murder committed in New York City of a young woman named Imette St. Guillen. The initial suspect was a bouncer in the bar where she was last seen named Darryl Littlejohn. Unlike Markoff, Littlejohn did have a criminal history, but like Markoff, he had never been accused of anything as violent as what he was being charged with. I remember following that story and thinking, because he was an African-American, there was a chance the police were singling him due to his race (this is NYC, after all. Home of Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, and Abner Louima), but the first time I saw him speak to the local media when he was in custody, his guilt seemed overwhelming. What he said that was so ridiculous in light of the grisly nature of his crime was that the press should talk to his family since “they know I wouldn’t do something like that”. Imagine being accused of a crime so brutally sadistic, so unspeakably vicious, that it was considered one of the most savage in the city's history. Would you say, “my family knows I wouldn’t do that?” Would you even think of say something that absurd in defending your innocence?

Nice try... I'm still not shopping at WalMart.

FLORIDA (AP) — When the Boss stepped up to the mic at just past 8:00 PM on Sunday night, 3 days shy of the 10^th anniversary of the murder of Amadou Daillo, and opened with American Skin (41 Shots), everyone in attendance knew this was going to be a show like no other.

It came as no surprise that Super Bowl XLIII’s half-time performance by Bruce Springsteen would be a highly charged political event. Those lucky enough to be on hand put down their beers, raised their awareness, and collectively hailed the man who has done so much to lift America’s political consciousness over the last 35 years.

As the final notes of American Skin breathlessly came to an end, Bruce quickly segged into a beautiful acoustic-only version of The Ghost of Tom Joad with words that spoke to the disillusionment of those in the crowd and those across the country. The perfect song to put voice to the sad reality that America had woefully lost it’s way over the past 8 years. The enraptured audience sat quietly and enjoyed every word as if it had been chiseled in stone like the preamble to the constitution.

This was Bruce’s night and the audience knew it!

Plugging in his electric guitar, he showed them yet again that he knew exactly what was most on their minds as he offered a rousing version of Pete Seeger’s Bring Them Home:

They wanna test their grand theories

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

With the blood of you and me

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

Now we'll give no more brave young lives

Bring 'em home, bring 'em home
For the gleam in someone's eyes
Bring 'em home, bring 'em home

At this point the surviving members of the 1960’s political powerhouse, The Last Poets, joined the Boss on stage for a stripped down version of Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit. With only drums as musical accompaniment, the haunting verses lifted the audience metaphorically if not literally.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,

For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,

For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,

Here is a strange and bitter crop.

With the crowd near the breaking point and about to boil over into a full-scale riot, Bruce closed out the show with a song off his new CD ‘Working on a Dream’ entitled Life Itself. A song about the disenchantment that comes from a life of lost dreams, lost love, and a lost country. While most were clearly unfamiliar with the song, they were eager to give this legend the time he had earned to inspire us all with his latest words of wisdom:

Why do the things that we treasure most slip away in time?

Till to the music we grow deaf and to God's beauty blind

Why do the things that connect us slowly pull us apart?

Till we fall away in our own darkness, stranger to our own hearts

What else can be said? You’ll always be the Boss, Bruce! No other performer would ever call himself that.

Super Bowl XLIII Half-Time Set List:

American Skin (41 Shots)

The Ghost of Tom Joad

Bring Them Home

Strange Fruit

Life Itself

"Everything is so sad and so wonderful."

 - Cloris Leachman

   January 2009

James Power:  Luther, what happened? I got over here as soon as I could.

Luther Brixton:   Oh, Jesus, Jim! Jesus Fucking Christ, I hate this life!

James Power:  How are you feeling?

Luther Brixton:  What happened to them? The people in the other car? Do you know?

James Power:  Don’t worry about it, Luther.

Luther Brixton:  Oh, Jesus God! … Shit, shit, shit!

James Power:  Alright. Take it easy … Luther, do you need anything?

Luther Brixton:  No.

James Power:  .. I’ll put the TV on for you.

Luther Brixton:  I don’t want the TV on… Shit!

James Power:  .. The new issue of VAIDADE hit the stands this week. It’s very funny. You’re hysterical, as always.
 

Luther Brixton:  You know for years and years I drank. I drank every Goddamn night! And I’d get up first thing every morning and go to work so hung over you could dry sand in my mouth.  I’d drive 70 miles back and forth. Three major highways. Day after day. Every day. Never so much as a nick on my car. Never even came close… Now, I clean up my act. I don’t drink. I don’t do jack shit. Cold Goddamn sober every day and I’ve had 3 accidents in the past year!

James Power:  Yeah...

Luther Brixton:  What’s the point, Jim? Of any of this shit? 

James Power:  .. I brought you some Dinning Sisters CD’s.

Luther Brixton:  I wish I was dead, Jim…. Do you know what that’s like?

James Power:  Yes, I do.

Luther Brixton:  And what did you do? 

James Power:  I killed myself. It was a damn shame.

Luther Brixton:  Don’t try to make me laugh.

James Power:  Look, I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t have any words of wisdom.

Luther Brixton:  When I was young, I always saw something to keep me going. Felt there was something positive to shoot for. Something through all the bullshit to make it worthwhile… It’s just shit now. That’s all I see… Shit… And when I’m gone someone else will be born and find the same thing…

James Power:  .. I remember when I was about 19 my hairline started to recede. I knew at that point I could never again have long hair without looking freakishly unattractive.  It really sucked.

Luther Brixton:  You’re not seriously comparing a receding hairline to this are you?

James Power:  I realized I was facing something I’d never faced before. The down side of getting older.  As with most things in life it happens gradually. Change leads to more change and ..

Luther Brixton:  And then you die! That’s’ fucking beautiful, Jim! You want to make sure they put that on my fucking tombstone?

James Power:  Changes happen every day of your life, Luther. Most changes are minor, but it’s inevitable that if you live long enough some changes are going to be severe.  That’s when you have to look inside yourself and draw upon your life experiences … to determine how you’re going to deal with those changes.

Luther Brixton:  Jim, I’ll be 84 years old in October. What am I supposed to learn? Honestly? What’ll it get me at this point?

James Power:  I don’t know… The strength to deal with the next major change? I don’t know.

Luther Brixton:  Sorry to let you down, Jim, but I don’t care any more… about anything.

James Power:  Let me ask you something…. Anna Belle Lee…. You had to have known deep down that she was never going to be interested in you all those years ago. Still you pursued her relentlessly. You were crazy about her despite her complete indifference to you. It kept you going somehow. How did that work? How did you find the strength to do that?

Luther Brixton:  I saw myself with her, Jim. I always saw myself with her. Whether she’d have me or not, she was my girl. “The most beautiful woman in the Creole.”

James Power:  But that strength you found was not from her. Not from anything she had done. You found it in yourself. You created it. You. 100%… You’re a good man, Luther, whether this world ever gives you a fair shake or not.  You’re a good man.

Luther Brixton:  Anna Belle Lee is gone. And that part of me is gone, too.

James Power:  Bullshit! All that came from within you. Every bit of it. She gave you nothing and she took nothing with her.

Luther Brixton:   God, Jim! Jesus fucking God! What did I do? What the hell did I do?

James Power:  You did the best you could. No one’s perfect, Luther. You hit the gas instead of the brake. That’s all you did … Look, I understand the giant “Fuck You” you want to send to this entire world right now for everything you’ve been through. To have this happen on top of everything else…. There’s no rhyme or reason or any sense to any of this. But you need to take everything you found within yourself that made Anna Belle Lee special to you, and take that with you every step of the way…. Do it for everyone who went through all this shit before you. Do it for all the assholes that you know you’re better than... OK, do it for Anna Belle Lee. Do it for Jo Stafford. Do it for the Dinning Sisters.

Luther Brixton:  Yeah … The Dinning Sisters.

James Power:  Yeah … The Dinning Sisters.

Luther Brixton:  I’ll do it for the Dinning Sisters.

 
Hospital Nurse: I’m going to have to ask you to leave now. Mr. Brixton needs his rest.

Luther Brixton:  Hey … thanks, Jim.

James Power:  You’ll be here when I get back, right?

Luther Brixton:  Right.

James Power:  Get some rest…. I left a copy of Esquire on your table. There’s a good feature on Cloris Leachman.

Luther Brixton:  I love Cloris Leachman!

James Power:  Who fucking doesn’t?

There’s been discussion lately of The Late Model Humans releasing a theme album along the lines of the holiday and religious-themed LP’s Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, and Anita Bryant released many years ago. The first in the series that seemed the most logical would be our gospel album. Since The Late Model Humans started in the church, and since many of our songs came out of a religious context (“Christ, are we playing this song again?”), I thought the first release should be Sunday Morning with The Late Model Humans                                                                             

 
                          

After that, I began to think of others in the series. Please let me know if you’d like to receive updates on when the following albums will be released. Better yet, let us know how much you would be willing to pay us to ensure these albums never get released.



 

From the February 2009 issue of Vaidade Magazine available on newsstands now.

Due to the popularity of the interview Victoria Wright recently conducted with James Power & Luther Brixton in the December issue of Vaidade Magazine, we decided to have Victoria do a follow-up to discuss the presidential election outcome, as well issues that time did not permit during the original interview.

VW: Well, James, you must be quite happy with the 2008 presidential election. Were you surprised at all by the outcome?

Luther Brixton: No. no. Well, it’s always surprising when things go right, no matter how much you expect them to. There hasn’t been a lot to be happy about after 8 years of Bush, so I certainly feel a lot better about the future. Anyone who doesn’t feel better about having a president not beholden to Saudi Arabia and OPEC, to the point of maintaining a hands-off policy on Osama Bin Laden like Bush, is not paying attention.

VW:  Do you believe George W Bush actually has a policy to not get Osama Bin Laden?

Luther Brixton: Well, let’s just say I can’t imagine Bin Laden being too angry about how he’s been treated since 9.11. There clearly has been no interest in going after him by the Bush administration. And McCain’s flowery nonsense about chasing “Bin Laden to the gates of hell” - but notice not apprehending or killing him - confirmed his status quo approach.  By the way, if he knows how to get Bin Laden, why aren’t Republicans demanding he do it?  Hey Johnny! Sorry you lost, but since you know what to do to get Bin Laden, do you want to share it with the class? You didn’t win the presidency so, what, are all bets off? What about country first, douchebag?

VW:  What about you, James? Any thoughts on the election? 

James Power:  Well, I’m guessing cave values have probably gone up quite a bit since Novembre 4^th. 
 

VW:  Any thoughts on the Wall Street bailout?

James Power:  The very foundation of the US economy and our systems of finance have been compromised. There is no longer a free market. That illusion has been revealed. The government spent hundreds of billions of the people’s money for direct government intervention to save companies who deserved to fail due to their mistakes. We nationalized the banks.

The conversation must now change. Healthcare? Welfare? Unemployment? Taxes? All of these things and more are now on the table for discussion! A republican president ended the free market system. That's a fact. After decades of the right-wing preaching that the free market system could regulate itself, with no oversight necessary. So, why lower taxes on the wealthy in hopes it'll trickle down? We know now conclusively that it won’t. It will only tank the economy. Why not just give the people the money? The ultimate upshot is from now on everyone knows that the government will spend the peoples' money to save private enterprise. That knowledge was the death knell of conservatism.

VW: We didn’t get a chance to talk much about the new material in Octobre.  Are there any particular themes running through the current project?

James Power: The usual - alienation, death, lust. It’s really only variations on those themes that ever hold people’s interest. And a good beat.

VW: What about romance, love, happiness?

Luther Brixton: What about it?

James Power: Do you really want to hear a song about some guy going out on a date with the girl of his dreams and everything going according to plan? If you’re honest, you know the answer’s no. You want a variation on that theme. In other words, the guy can’t get the girl he wants without paying a price. So, he torments the living shit out of her, to the point where she waits in his driveway, throws a wire around his neck, and rapes him mercilessly.

VW:  She rapes him?

James Power:  I’m just thinking out loud, but you know what I mean… About 10 years ago when things were going my way in a relationship - lasted about 3 weeks - I recall trying to find music that matched my mood during that time. The only song I could find was ‘Here’s to the Losers’ by Frank Sinatra. Song’s sung from the point of view of a guy who’s got everything going his way are very rare.  The reason is it’s not a frame of mind most people can relate to.

VW:  But they can relate to having a wire thrown around their necks and raped unmercifully?

Luther Brixton: Yeah! Duh!

James Power: Not the wire and rape, per se, but the dark, unexpected consequences of trying to find happiness. That’s something everyone can relate to.

VW: Since you said any topic was open for discussion, I wanted to go over the case of The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania versus James Power which went before the courts in 2004.

James Power: Shoot.

VW: You’ve said before that your most prolific period as a writer was 2002 through 2005, but that it was also a very volatile period for you personally

James Power: I see the two things as being inextricably intertwined, actually.

VW: So what was it exactly that lead to the charges against you?

James Power: First, let me say that I was born in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. But as a real American, I only legally recognize the United States, not their commonwealths. Initially I refused to accept the charges brought against me by a banana republic like Pennsylvania. Of course, I was also forced then to not recognize myself, since my birth certificate says I was born there. Which lead to a bitter and protracted lawsuit called James Power versus James Power. But I digress…

In 2003 I had a good friend named Ralph Blood who lived in Philadelphia. I was living just outside New York City at the time. Well, he hooked up with a barfly named Dianna Wierzbicki from Bensalem, Pennsylvania. During the early months of 2003 he bugged me repeatedly to play guitar with her because she was looking for someone to play with. I wasn't interested at all, but I eventually relented. The idea was that I would go down to Philadelphia on the weekends and we’d play. It initially seemed like a win-win situation since I was writing a lot of new material and it gave me a sounding board to try out the songs. But by the time Ralph and Dianna became engaged, she started becoming increasingly interested in me.

Eventually, she got persistent in her interest. Calling me constantly. But I made it clear I wasn’t interested in her like that. Well, by the end of the year they broke up. My position towards her never changed, but after they broke up Ralph suddenly refused to talk to me or answer my calls. I called Dianna to see if she knew what was going on. She said she didn’t, but being considerably smarter than a half-wit Bensalem hairstylist, I knew what she had done. She had told Ralph that we had fucked. Excuse the language. Which, beyond not being the truth, is also beyond the pale of what someone who wants to live should ever do. That’s when I decided to stop being a nice guy.

VW: What happened?

James Power: Well, I knew killing a low-rent, barfly, as insignificant as she was, would most likely land me in jail. And I was not going to jail for stomping on a dog turd. So, using my diabolical sense of conflict resolution, I decided to make her life a living hell.

VW:  How?

James Power:  The greatest lesson I learned from 8 years of Catholic school - the same lesson learned from Alfred Hitchcock movies – is that the fear of the unknown is always worse than the actual act.. Unless, of course, the actual act consists of butchering someone in the shower…. The idea was to make her fear every waking hour. A friend of hers even called me up at one point to say she was so terrified she was getting a body guard to protect her. That, of course, made me quite happy!

VW:  What exactly did you do to her?

James Power: In and of themselves none of the acts were really devastating, but the culmination of the acts together brought the desired outcome. I started sending her crazy things COD such as gigantic birdcages, and imported fertilizer, you know, weird shit that no one in their right mind would think of. General weirdness, done up right, can be truly frightening….  I wrote all about it in the song ‘Bird Cage.’

VW:  But what was it that brought about the court charges?

Luther Brixton: HAHAHA! It actually wasn’t anything as cool as the giant birdcages. James placed an ad on Craigslist offering sexual services extremely cheap by Dianna and put her work phone number in the ad. He placed the ad on her busiest work day as a hairstylist – Saturday. Apparently, she got inundated by phone calls from skeevy dudes wanting to get their rocks off! HAHAHAHA!!! C’mon now! THAT’S funny!

VW: I suppose… So, you went too far with the Craigslist ad?

James Power: No. Not really. I was hoping the issue would be brought to the light of day. I enjoyed explaining it in court. I don’t regret any of my actions. Even the detective who was prosecuting the case smiled when I explained what happened. My life story is replete with such incidents. Accordingly, my mugshots are always up to date.

It’s funny that the night the detective called me to inform me of the charges being brought against me I was in the middle of writing a song called ‘Devil’s Got Me in a Rundown.’ I’ve often thought that if I hadn’t been able to get my story into the public record – even if it was only a Commonwealth record – I would have probably killed the bitch.

Luther Brixton: She would have had it coming!

James Power: Goddamn right.

VW:  That’s truly demented.

Luther Brixton: You make it sound like that’s a bad thing.

James Power: I look at life as a short story. It goes by very quickly. I want to leave something behind more interesting and memorable than the average Joe Crackerbarrel leaves behind.

The actor Paul Muni once said something I thought was profound. He said if someone steals your money or your watch, he’s only stolen material things. But if he steals your time, he’s stolen your life. Well, no one’s stealing my life.. except me.

Luther Brixton: Muni’s always been a favorite philosopher of mine.

VW: I know you had a similarly interesting story regarding The State of New Jersey versus James Power.

Luther Brixton: He actually documented that in his online journal awhile ago. I’m still waiting for The United States versus James Power. THAT’S the one to get front row seats for!

James Power: You think? Kind of like Cody Jarrett at the end of White Heat?

Luther Brixton: Yeah, yeah, yeah! “They think they’ve got James Power, but they haven’t got James Power!”

VW: So, what happened to Ralph? Did you do him in, too?

Luther Brixton: Of course not! What’s your problem, lady? Are you not following this?

James Power: No. Maybe you don’t see any sense in what I do, which is fine. But there is very sound reasoning at work. Ralph was dealt a shitty hand by a lowlife shit-stain, who frankly was not even attractive.

Luther Brixton: Amen to that!

James Power: He may think I did something horrible, but I know the truth. One day he’ll figure it out.

VW:  You wrote the lyric, “The gunman rides alone / He’s judge and jury. ” Is that your idea of justice? The vigilante. Should he always get away?

Luther Brixton: He dies, lady. That’s what happens to him! No one gets away.

James Power: Every life ends with death. That’s the deal we’re all dealt. Whether you’re a cactus or a human. A beautiful flower or a venomous snake.

Luther Brixton: A piano or a lampshade.

James Power: No, no. Luther, remember I explained this before?

Luther Brixton: Right, right. Not a lampshade.

James Power: Or a piano.

Luther Brixton: Right. Or a piano.

VW: You were talking earlier about the importance of singing. You were describing it as man’s most pure artistic expression. 

James Power: If you want to paint, you need a canvas, a paintbrush, paint. If you want to write you need paper, ink. The same is true for sculpting, composing music, just about every other form of expression. The exceptions being dancing and singing. They involve no additional equipment.

Luther Brixton: And mimes. Don’t forget mimes.

James Power: Right. Mimes. But, I believe singing is man’s greatest and most unique artistic expression. It is unencumbered by any additional accoutrements.  And everyone’s voice is unique. That's why I’m always willing to hear a new voice. They all offer something distinctive. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes not, but the truly great voices make our lives much more bearable somehow.

VW: I understand you recently met with the gospel great Claude Jeter of the original Swan Silvertones, is that correct?

James Power: Yes I did. But I’ve had several people contact me recently trying to find out information on him, where he is, how is he, and I want to respect his privacy and not say too much. He deserves that respect.

VW: Did he impart any wisdom to you?

James Power: Yes.... long before I ever met him

VW: As I asked at the end of our last interview, what music are your listening to these days?

Luther Brixton: Can I answer that? Humphrey Lyttelton.

VW: And you James?

James Power: Today? The Swan Silvertones, Blaire Reinhard, Victor Mourning, and Red Foley.

VW: As always, thanks for your time. Any final thoughts?

James Power: Yes. What Albert Schweitzer once said. “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”

Luther Brixton: That sounds about right.

In the wake of yesterday’s historic victory in the 2008 presidential race, I’d like to share the words of writer, performer, social critic, and professor of drama studies at the College of Staten Island, Mr. Lee Papa:
 
                            -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday, the United States of America, east, west, north, and south, motherfuckers, shook its collective ass at and farted in the face of the Bush administration, of John McCain, and of the entire right wing that, since Ronald Reagan, has yanked this nation further and further rightward like it's a leashed dog. We bit the hand that fed us, man, and the blood tastes so very good.

So let's all say a huge "Fuck you" to some of those who have been shitting in our nests for the last eight years:

A great big "fuck you" to the warmongers, the fearmongers, the hatemongers, and the neocons. Last night, we said to them, "You can't scare us anymore." And we shoved their Iraq and their 9/11 whoring and their Iran threat and their WMDs and their pre-emptive doctrines and their Gitmo and their torture right up Dick Cheney's ass and laughed while he tried to get it out 'cause it burns his sphincter so fucking badly.

Let's say, "Suck our dicks" to the religious right. Sure, they can still get people to hate on gays, but now we know: Jesus doesn't fucking care about Christian conservatives. Jesus said, "Lick my holy balls" to the evangelicals last night because, see, Jesus wants us to stop being such motherfuckers to each other and to the rest of the world. It's proof, no? That Jesus wants liberal judges? That Jesus wants abortion to be safe? That Jesus wants Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker of the House? That Jesus wants science to rule the day? Yeah, Jesus fooled you, motherfuckers. You tried to speak for him, but last night he spoke loud and clear.

Let's say, "Go fuck yourselves" to the right wing media, to the Fox "news" people and political analysts and insane columnists and idiotic bloggers who spouted lies and conspiracy theories and who rectally examined every aspect of Barack Obama's life, hoping that something, some association, some vague phrase he said, would make people think he's just another nigger. And you failed, you piss-drinking, talking points vomiting, garbage-fucking whores. Because, at the end of the day, America so rejected what you were peddling that the truly honorable among you should be dangling from your own nooses today, leaping out of your syndicate's or network's office windows, sitting in bathtubs and dropping your plugged-in TV's into the water.

Finally, for today, let's kick John McCain and Sarah Palin while they're down. Because everything they did made Barack Obama and Joe Biden seem that much more honorable and presidential. Because every misstep they made showed just how incredible and beautiful a machine the Obama campaign was. Because every slime McCain painfully threw ended up coating his face and made Obama seem that much brighter. Because every tinny, awkward, wrong word squeaked out of Palin made Biden appear even more the elder statesman. Because the country said to both of them, "You are full of shit, and we know it. Go the fuck away."

Let us dance, motherfuckers, mad, grotesque, ancient dances that lead us into ripping our clothes off, eating the hearts of our enemies, and fucking like the carnal goddamned human beings we are, all around the burning flames of an ideology that told us we were traitors and un-American. No, we can say now, loudly, this is what America is.

 http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2008/11/time-to-rub-their-fucking-faces-in-it.html

 

 

From the December 2008 issue of Vaidade Magazine available on newsstands now.

Our own Victoria Wright recently had a chance to sit down with writer/performer James Power, along with his manager, long-time industry insider & brass monkey collector, Luther Brixton, when they visited Paris in support of James’ latest recording project. The interview was to discuss James’ musical passion, his literary creations, his work with The Late Model Humans, and his latest solo material. Victoria also had a chance to talk to Luther Brixton about his recent legal battles and how he found himself on the Homeland Security watch list. The interview started off quite contentious, but after awhile became downright bizarre.

VW: How are you enjoying your stay here in Paris, James?

Luther Brixton: First, I have to say it’s great to finally have a chance to sit down and talk with you Victoria! I’ve heard so much about you.

VW: I was actually asking James, since you and I talked last night… remember?…. for several hours? … Lapérouse? .. Do you not recall that at all?

Luther Brixton: …You know what? The weather here is fantastic!

VW: Ok…  James, you’re back in the studio working with The Late Model Humans again, is that correct? Is that any reflection on the sales of your solo project?

Luther Brixton: What the fuck kind of question is that??! Jesus! I understand your ex is now living with a successful, young novelist who's 15 years your junior. Is that any reflection on your cottage cheese thighs?

VW: You FILTHY, SON-OF-A ! …. Can we not make this personal?! I’m not even talking to you! I am trying to direct these questions at James!

James Power: It’s lovely to finally meet you, Victoria. How are you doing?

VW: Very well, thank you… Now, The Late Model Humans … Do you find working with them to be easier or harder than working on your solo projects?

James Power: Well, there’s more freedom, I suppose, on the solo recordings...

Luther Brixton: There’s also more pizza to go around! Remember we found we actually had leftovers? Remember that, Jim?

James Power: The main reason I do solo recordings is because I have built up quite a back catalog of songs that I want to get out there. And as a writer who creates songs not reading materials, the only way to get my work out is to release solo projects. It’s nothing against The Late Model Humans.

VW: And the musicians you work with on your solo projects?

James Power: They’re great guys. There’s some overlap between the projects with LMH, but I'm also working with one of the greatest undiscovered musical talents of our time, a guy I’ve known since I was 15 named Michael Vogt. He’s a phenomenal bassist. Which isn’t to take anything away from Michael Power in the Late Model Humans. I’ve known him a little longer than that. He’s an amazing bassist, too.

Luther Brixton: Do you have any cheese?

VW: What?

Luther Brixton: You know.. cheese.. Jim, didn’t you say the French were big on cheese?

James Power: Hold tight, Luther.

VW: I guess there’s no way around this topic, James. How did you become associated with Luther Brixton?

James Power: Well, he’s the World War II buddy I never had…. Let's leave it at that.

VW: The songs you’re working on this fall. Is there anything different about the new material that listeners would find interesting?

Luther Brixton: No, no! Same shit, different package! It’s basically just a one-two-three, slap-dash operation! Whatever we record gets released as is. We’re not looking for miracles … bitch!

James Power: Well, I’m going to be working with Jerry Lawson, which is one of the highlights of my life. I can’t tell you how amazing that is for me. He is arguably the greatest male soul singer alive. And believe me, I don’t say that lightly, or without an extensive knowledge of what I’m saying. Ever since I was a child I’ve been hooked on early soul, R&B, and gospel, and Jerry has a voice that puts 90% of the other vocalists to shame. As I told him the first time I wrote to him back in the 90’s, he has a voice that’s on a par with the late Julius Cheeks of the Sensational Nightingales, and I wouldn’t put anyone else in that category… It’s really amazing to know and work with this man I’ve admired for years. 

VW: What are some of the new song titles we can look forward to?

James Power: With Mike Vogt, the song titles include My Neighbor’s Wife, Baby, You’re a Heartful, She Never Breaks My Heart, You’re a Dark Man, Mr. Grimm, and What Am I Doing In Georgia?.. Wait till you hear that last one. Gives you goose bumps... And with The Late Model Humans the stand-out tracks are Pick Up The Gun and A Cowgirl’s Suicide … all-in-all, I’m very, very happy with what’s been recorded so far. … Oh, and Tennessee Boy (It’s All Over) off the last album was just voted BEST FOLK / ROOTS SONG FOR 2008 by the online music station MOOZIKOO RADIO! … made me happy!

VW: Luther, if you can tone it down, I'd like to get back to you ..

Luther Brixton: Shoot.

VW: You told me last night you had an idea for this new album that you weren’t able to bring to fruition. Tell me a bit more about that.

Luther Brixton: Well, me and Jim were talking about the whole exorcism thing, ya know, and what a crock of bullshit it all is..

VW: How so?

Luther Brixton: Well, take the movie that was released back in the early 70’s. It’s very loosely based on the life of an actual person named Anneliese Michel from Germany. The girl had mental problems. She was nuts. And if she was in an institution, or if you saw her on the street, you would have known she was nuts. But some shyster came along and said she was “possessed by the devil!” And for whatever reason it stuck. To this day many, many people still give that credibility.

James Power: Thankfully, both of the priests who performed that exorcism, along with the girl's parents, were convicted of negligent homicide. She died of malnutrition and dehydration… So, not only did she have severe mental health problems, but she was entrusted to the care of bat-shit crazy religious nuts.

Luther Brixton: And my idea for the album was to take on the issue of what’s really crazy! Is it worse to have mental problems that are obvious, or mental problems that aren't so obvious? You see what I'm sayin'?

VW: That actually doesn’t sound very original or interesting.

Luther Brixton: Fuck you!

James Power: Luther! C’mon! … Look, there are a couple of Dinning Sisters CD’s in my suitcase. Go put one of them on. That always calm your nerves.

VW: Getting back to the music. Were you upset at all when the other members of The Late Model Human's released their scathing attack on you called, ‘Jim Power - What Happened?’

James Power: Yeah, of course ... I’d have preferred they called it ‘James Power - What Happened?’

VW: Is it true, as they claim, that you had an out of wedlock child with an Indonesian slave girl named Quan Quan and that you refused to pay any child support?

James Power: No! No! No!! … Man! … Unbelievable! … Where does this stuff come from?!.. Her name was not Quan Quan.

VW: Has the book caused any long-term riffs within the band?

James Power:  How so?
 

<From somewhere down the hall, beautiful female vocal harmonies waft into the room>

VW: What’s that music that Luther’s playing? That’s beautiful.

James Power:  Isn’t it? That’s the Dinning Sisters. Where or When – one of Luther’s favorites. It’s like giving him a shot of morphine to ease his troublin’ mind.

Luther Brixton:  I’m back.

VW: Luther, I understand you got into a bit of hot water recently when you were addressing a seminar of industry executives and you strayed off-topic and started talking about George W Bush’s drug dependency.

Luther Brixton: Right.

VW: Let me see if I can find the quote... Luther Brixton 17 August 2008: “Bush is a walking pharmaceutical factory, pumped so full of emotion-flattening drugs that he can literally kill one million people and sleep like a baby. I doubt even his predecessor, Saddam Hussein, was that indifferent to his killing of Iraqis.”

James Power:  That's pretty good, Luther... What’s funny is that Luther’s a lifelong Republican. He’s been voting for Bob Dole since 1976. He writes his name in every four years…

Luther Brixton: God rest his soul.

James Power:  He’s still alive.

VW: Well, Luther’s speech seems to have caused a bit of blow back. Is it true you’re now on the government’s No Fly list? That’s supposed to be used for terrorists.

Luther Brixton: And the Constitution is supposed to be used to protect the country from tyranny, but there you are. Lower than whale shit, the entire Republican Party today!

VW: So, how did you manage to get over here? Do you fear any problems when you return?

Luther Brixton: On the one-hand, Homeland Security is about as impenetrable a force as a school hall monitor. That’s the up-side. The down-side is that Homeland Security is about as impenetrable a force as a school hall monitor.

VW: Any thoughts on the upcoming presidential election?

Luther Brixton: Yes. Americans should ask themselves: Do you want a president who masturbates furiously to pictures of his VP? I don’t hear anyone asking that question.

VW: That’s a pretty disturbing image.

Luther Brixton: You mean because his hand doesn’t work?

VW: Thanks for making it even more disturbing.

Luther Brixton: Today’s Republicans are like children who say, "Let me try! Let me try!,” wanting to do what they see adults doing. Then, once they're allowed to do what the adults do, they drive the fucking car off the road! That’s why Osama Bin Laden is still at large and the economy has tanked.

VW: Any thoughts on the war in Iraq?

James Power: Not a one.

VW: So, what are you listening to these days?

James Power: It changes every day. If you asked me what I listened to today it was the trio Rock, Paper, Scissors out of Fairfield, Iowa. Three young girls in their early 20's - Miranda, Darla, and Gemma - with angelic harmonies. They don’t have a CD out, so I had to download their YouTube videos and then use an audio extractor to make MP3’s out of their music. Sounds a bit crazy, but they are worth it. Tremendous vocalists. I really hope they get discovered. In the mean time, I’m thinking of flying out to Iowa to catch them in one of the tiny coffee houses they’re currently performing in.

VW: I want to thank you both for your time today, and I look forward to your next album, James… even if I do think you’re quite odd.

James Power: “Quite mad” is the term… And I want to thank you, Victoria, and the wonderful radio stations here in Paris that have been playing, ‘That Texas Girl’ and ‘Cold, Cold World’. It means more to me than I can tell you to receive the kind words and thoughtful emails I’ve gotten from the people in this city.  Paris will always be my second home!

Luther Brixton: Really?! 

James Power: Adeiu!

Luther Brixton: Gezunteit!

 

                "Love me for love's sake, that evermore

Thou may love on, through love's eternity"

 

-- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

A tribute to the phenomenally beautiful Anita Page

August 4, 1910 – September 6, 2008

When her contract expired in 1933, she surprised Hollywood by announcing her retirement at the age of 23. She made one more movie (in the UK in 1936), and then left the screen, virtually disappearing from Hollywood circles for 60 years. In a 2004 interview with author Scott Feinberg, she revealed that her refusal to meet demands for sexual favors by MGM head of production Irving Thalberg, supported by studio chief Louis B. Mayer, is what truly ended her career. She said that Mayer colluded with the other studio bosses to ban her and other uncooperative actresses from finding work.

I have been saying for years – YEARS – that I never hear ANY Republican talk about the need to get Osama Bin Laden. This is literally the first and only editorial or comment that I have ever heard from a rightwinger that acknowledges the enormous failure of the Bush administration to respond in ANY WAY to the attacks of September 11th which happened on their watch.

When you think honestly about who it is that outrages the rightwing, it is ALWAYS the American people they despise! NEVER Bin Laden! Whether it’s those silly east coast “liberals” or the west coast “hedonists”, their intense anger is ALWAYS directed at the American people - NOT Al Qeada! Bin Laden and Al Qeada are merely mascots trotted out each election cycle to rally votes – which speaks volumes for why the Bush administration has maintained their hands-off policy on him.

Bush has made Osama Bin Laden a victorious hero throughout the Middle East, and with the sole exception of this editorial, the rightwing is largely indifferent to that massive failure of leadership and the shameful impotence that they have cast the United States in on the world stage.

If this was 7 years after Pearl Harbor (which would make it December 1948!) and the US government had decided not to respond to Japan, (or as Bush boasted to “not think about” the person who had attacked us) it would seem largely a historic fact that regardless of what the future holds, Japan had victoriously killed thousands of Americans and faced NO reprisal – NO comeuppance!

That's called winning, folks!

Can anyone honestly deny that the Bush administration’s hands-off approach to Bin Laden has made him the clear victor over the United States?

Osama Bin Laden won – THANKS to the weakness, incompetence, cowardice, and impotence of George W Bush, Dick Cheney, and the Republican Party!

Permalink Thursday, September 11, 2008 06:35 AM

I read somewhere that Ricky Nelson told people for years that he knew he was going to die young, and then of course he did at age 45 (if that’s young). Johnny Horton also predicted his death and spoke about it frequently. He died in a car crash when he was 35. While I’ve never imagined myself getting old (I figure 50 tops) I have always thought there’s no way I’ll die of natural causes. It wouldn’t follow the story line. I haven’t been participating in a saga this fucked up, with absurdities that Fellini would call over the top, for the ending scene not to be something spectacular. Other people end up on the obituary page – my tale will be too gruesome to print in anything other than the ‘Weekly World News’ or online pay-sites.

With that in mind, I wonder how often in this decompartmentalized world in which we live, where people have become more and more isolated (and by extension, more and more delusional), that any of us stop and consider the sanity of those around us? Sanity, in itself, is hard enough to define, but wondering about the breaking point of so many lunatics in an area this congested (New York City metro) is too much to contemplate. I say this because recently I’ve wondered if “befriending” a certain person, I’ll call her ‘Agnes’, was maybe a fatal mistake. One day you’re bored, looking for a good time, you meet Agnes, have a few laughs, one thing leads to another…. but then it’s Tuesday. And it’s time to move on…. I’m by no means a promiscuous guy. Which is why I figure I’ll be the exception to any rule that says, “Don’t worry. The odds of that happening are a million to one!”…. But I can see my photo, at the top of the hour, on Action News, after the thrilling theme music ends abruptly, and the anchor looks into the camera, with his blowed-dried, frosted hair, and says, “Our top story tonight - A shocking tale of love, lust, and summer time boredom gone horribly, horribly wrong for one New Jersey songwriter! Our Lisa Bella-Thomason has the details….”

Maybe I’m writing this because Agnes frightens me. Maybe I’m writing this because if something happens, or I disappear, and people try to put the pieces of the puzzle together, this will be helpful…. Or maybe I’m writing this so when historians research my family’s history I will offer the reader a fun diversion into my pain and suffering that can’t help but put a smile on the reader’s face. Whatever the reason, Agnes is someone I wish I never met…. I won’t be writing any songs about Agnes. I fear that if I write anything about Agnes after this it will be the obligatory scrawled note saying .. “It ….. was …. Agggggggggggggg……..”

Benedict Arnold to Retire after Brain-Tumor Prognosis

 

May 4, 1801

 

Legendary conservative crusader Benedict Arnold said today that he would be retiring this month as editorial columnist and reporter for the Turncoat Evening Gazette after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor.

 

Perhaps best remembered for his steadfast allegiance to the conservative cause during the Revolutionary War, Arnold achieved the rank of general in the Continental Army, only to shock the liberal elite when upon obtaining command of the fort at West Point, New York, he bravely attempted to surrender it to the British.

 

A family friend expressed the views of many here today when he said, “There won’t be another like Benedict Arnold ... not for 200 years.”

With the passing of Jo Stafford last week, I've been thinking about a song she recorded that was the first ever #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 (in 1940, the year Billboard began to be track and rank songs). A song that was the first major success of Frank Sinatra's career. A song written by a 24-year-old writer and pianist that is one of the saddest and most moving lyrics I’ve ever heard.

Ruth Lowe was born in Toronto, Canada, on August 12, 1914. She spent her early years in Los Angeles California, where she developed her passion for Dixieland Jazz and Swing Music. She became a 'songplugger' at the age of 16 in 1930, playing the piano and promoting the sale of sheet music in the local music stores.

 

At 22, Ruth met Harold Cohen, a Chicago music publicist, who quickly asked Ruth to marry him which she accepted. It was a very happy marriage that tragically ended after only one year. While undergoing surgery for a kidney ailment, Harold died from complications. Ruth Lowe at the tender age of 24 became a widow. Stricken with grief, she moved to her mother’s third floor apartment, overlooking Christie Pitts Park in Toronto’s city center. While gazing out the window toward the park, watching the couples stroll by hand in hand, full of loneliness and grief Ruth declared on paper “I’ll never smile again”, and the embryonic catalyst for a hit song formed in the young widow’s mind. This was the diversion she had needed and the song “I’ll never smile again” was born.

 

Ruth shared her song with a friend who was with the Tommy Dorsey band. Tommy immediately saw the merit in the song and decided to arrange it for his orchestra. The Tommy Dorsey orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, and 'The Pied Pipers', recorded the song in 1940 and it became an instant hit. Of course, in the years immediately following it's release, it took on a whole new level of importance with all the men who went off to war never to return. The number of lives affected, and the number of tears that have fallen, listening to this song is incalculable.

 

The lyrics Ruth Lowe wrote after the death of her husband, Harold Cohen, are so profoundly moving, so direct, succinct, and unadorned, that they actually need no music to grab you. If these words do not move you, you have got no soul. 

I'll never smile again until I smile at you

I'll never laugh again, what good would it do

For tears would fill my eyes

My heart would realize

That our romance is through

I'll never love again I'm so in love with you

I'll never thrill again to somebody new

 Within my heart I know I will never start

To smile again until I smile at you

 Ruth Lowe died January 4, 1981 at the age of 66. 

I have had a couple letters I posted on Salon.com that were Editor’s Picks. This one is from February 15, 2008. At the time the Democrats did not yet have a candidate. Now that they do, I wish they would heed my incredible wisdom :)

-----------------------------------

√  Imagine Not Being Scared

I’ve thought for the past several years, as ‘fear’ and ‘being frightened’ have been the hallmark of every Republican speech, that the most obvious rebuttal the Democrats could make would be to point out that the Republican Party was the party of “fear”. Not fear-mongering, which assumes somehow that they’re in control and just using fear, but to paint them as the party of FEAR. Of being SCARED.

In other words, Barack Obama (should he be the candidate) should be constantly hammering home the point that for the past 7 years we’ve had a president who is AFRAID. Who’s consumed by FEAR. Who’s overwhelmingly FRIGHTENED. Not only would it put the GOP on the defensive to prove they’re not afraid – and to stop boasting about fear as acceptable behavior among adults - but fear is such a basic part of the Republican ideology, regardless of 9/11, that the American people should be reminded of it constantly by the Democrats.

Saying things like, “Imagine having a president who’s not afraid. Who will face this country’s challenges without being scared. Who governs from a place of confidence, not of fear”.. or.. “My Republican challenger is very afraid, ladies and gentlemen. At a time when we cannot afford to be afraid. We need strong leaders. As Americans we need a leader who is not frightened.”

When you think about it logically, a political party that uses ‘fear’ and ‘being frightened’ as their strength is extremely bizarre. It should be turned on them, used to deride them, to laugh at them, to mock them for being overwhelmed by America’s enemies.

Friday, February 15, 2008 05:33 AM

The scene opens in a dockside bar in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. A jukebox stacked with 78's is currently playing the 1950 recording of 'Sentimental Gentleman from Georgia' by The Dinning Sisters.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: I am so sick of this shit. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.

JAMES POWER: What the Dinning Sisters?!

DEATH IN THE MORNING: No, no! I love the Dinning Sisters! They’re my girls! Jean, Ginger, and Lou.

JAMES POWER: And they’re all still living, ya know?

DEATH IN THE MORNING: You’re telling me? …  No, I’m sick of one damn bloodbath after the next. The day-to-day carnage… You’d think I’d have built up a more stoic nature about it by now.

JAMES POWER: Tough week?

DEATH IN THE MORNING: I knew when I was given this gig what it was all about, but when you see the same damn thing, day after day, dipsticks destroying their lives, it’s more than a bit exasperating!

JAMES POWER: HEY, TONY? ANOTHER ROUND!

DEATH IN THE MORNING: The other day, right, there’s this kid, named Steven Hafto from South Jersey, he’s all jammed up, and it’s not even 10:00 in the morning! He get’s into a Chevy Monte Carlo coupe, going over 90 MPH on I-95 south through Philly. He’s all over the road… Fuck! I’m screaming at him, “Pull over, man! Pull the fuck OVER!” … I always let ‘em know they got one more chance before they permanently fuck up their lives... This kid’s about 25 years old. I know exactly what’s going to happen next.

JAMES POWER: He was killed?

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Fuck, no! He plowed into a pickup truck, it cart-wheeled into the northbound lanes, both the passenger and driver in the truck were ejected onto 95. The driver, Ferdinand Ramirez-Villaneuva, 50 years old, was run over and instantly killed, his passenger, Anna Torres, wasn’t killed but is hospitalized at Hahnemann University. Fuckin’ horrible!

JAMES POWER: And the kid in the Monte Carlo?

DEATH IN THE MORNING: He’s fine …. except that his life is fucked… other than that he’s fine. Believe me, I have another appointment scheduled with that dude soon.

What gets to me, more than the death, is watching what happens to those that survive. Sure, some who kill don’t give a shit, it rolls right off them, but the ones that do care that they’ve taken a life often implode... It’s not just guys coming back from some goddamned military conflict.  The most peaceful neighborhoods become a war zone when you lose your way…. And instantly, your life forever changes. Everything that mattered enormously yesterday doesn’t matter for shit now… People are constantly playing a game of Russian roulette with their lives and they don’t give a shit…. until the gun goes off. Then it’s too late.

JAMES POWER: Well, that may be true DEATH IN THE MORNING, but aren’t you just propagating the whole process? Sort of like a necrophiliac setting up a hotdog stand in a graveyard? … You make sure you’ll enjoy yourself -- one way or another.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Woah! A necrophiliac setting up a hotdog stand in a graveyard!? Jesus, I thought your friend Luther was sick!

JAMES POWER: Luther should be here soon…. He’ll top that.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Well, listen, what do you want me to do? It’s my job!

JAMES POWER: “It’s my job.” That’s what the guys who work for Blackwater say.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Hey, hey! Don’t lump me in with Blackwater! I’m not a fuckin’ government terrorist!

JAMES POWER: HEY, LUTHER! WE’RE OVER HERE!

LUTHER BRIXTON: hey … hello … HELLO. .. JAMES! ... DEATH IN THE MORNING! …

DEATH IN THE MORNING: hey, Luther!

LUTHER BRIXTON: So, what have I missed?

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Your musical friend here was equating what I do with terrorism .. or necrophilia .. or hotdogs .. or some fuckin’ thing.

LUTHER BRIXTON: That’s strange. I never heard James say anything bad about death before. Especially you, DEATH IN THE MORNING…. Hey, I heard about that 2 hour backup on I-95 Friday morning. Traffic came to a dead stop … Nice work!

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Hey, I didn’t DO that! I “oversaw the proceedings” …. <glug, glug, glug> … AAAhhhhhhhh … I “oversaw” it!

The jukebox begins playing Andy Williams 1963 recording of ‘Can't Get Used to Losing You’.

LUTHER BRIXTON: Good song!! .. “Gonna spend my whole life through, Loving Yo-o-o-ou!”.... Hey, James, why don’t you ever write a song like this?

JAMES POWER: I’m too busy living it …… So, DEATH IN THE MORNING, are Luther and I going to be safe tonight? Considering its evening?

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Depends …. I haven’t talked to DEATH IN THE EVENING today.

LUTHER BRIXTON: I heard a great song on the way over here. ‘Angel Face’ by the Captain and Tennille.

JAMES POWER: You’re always listening to the Captain and Tennille these days. Why is that?

LUTHER BRIXTON: That’s not true! Not at all!

JAMES POWER: What do you mean, Luther? Last time we talked you mentioned them. ‘Muskrat Love’ even! Jesus!

LUTHER BRIXTON: Hey, that’s not fair!. I was recalling a situation and that song, for whatever reason, always reminds me of poignant moments in my life.

DEATH IN THE MORNING:  HAHAHAHA!!!!

LUTHER BRIXTON: FUCK YOU, DEATH IN THE MORNING!!! So, did you enjoy taking Anna Belle Lee last month?! You prick!

JAMES POWER: GUYS! COOL IT!

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Hey, Luther, easy, man! Do you think Anna Belle Lee was happy being alive? Do you?!! Do you really not understand how happy she was to leave this place? .. You’re just thinking of yourself. Believe me, no one who ever died wished they stayed here longer, no matter what they had happening for them. I can’t emphasize enough that the mortal pain you accept as a human being is NOT something you’ll miss for a split second when it’s gone! … That seems pretty damn obvious, so no wonder I can’t make you understand it.

LUTHER BRIXTON: Fuck you.

JAMES POWER: Luther, I understand... You find solace in the Captain and Tennille. For me it’s an opposite problem. I tend to not want to hear certain songs because they bring back memories… To this day I can’t listen to ‘Songs for Swingin’ Lovers’ by Frank Sinatra, even though I will always say that’s his best album.

LUTHER BRIXTON: So why can’t you listen to it?

JAMES POWER: I just told you. You listen to Muskrat Love and you think of Anna Belle Lee …

DEATH IN THE MORNING: HAHAHA!

JAMES POWER: KNOCK IT OFF! … If I listen to ‘Songs for Swingin’ Lovers’, I think of the late 90’s and a redheaded country girl from Ohio.

DEATH IN THE MORNING:  Uh-oh!

JAMES POWER: What? You didn’t whack her, did you?! For Christsakes, DEATH IN THE MORNING!!

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Um, no ….. no ….. Did you plan on seeing her again?

JAMES POWER: I seriously doubt it.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Then no. Of course not!  She’s fine. Looks hot as hell!

JAMES POWER:  You want to field this one, Luther?

LUTHER BRIXTON: Fuck you, DEATH IN THE MORNING!

DEATH IN THE MORNING:  Hey, guys! C’mon! I told you I’m having a rough week. Ease up!

JAMES POWER: Alright, DEATH, I got a question for you. It may or may not be above your pay grade…  but this whole death thing…

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Yeah?

JAMES POWER: I sort of figure our spirit goes on, but I certainly don’t believe that with the ramshackle, haphazard nature of a human life, as incredibly short and insignificant as it is, that somehow each person is rewarded with an ‘eternity’ for it, or that we dwell forever on the mistakes we made over what is really a very, very few years -- regardless of how wonderful or horrific that life was.

DEATH IN THE MORNING:  OK?

JAMES POWER: But I do think that whatever that spirit is, whatever that energy is, what some people consider a soul, continues on, either being absorbed into one larger energy force or generated back into one single spiritual being…  A lot of people believe some version of that, whether they believe in a god or not.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Sure… <glug, glug, glug> … right …

JAMES POWER: My question is … is it possible that our spiritual energy, our life force, ONLY remains part of a larger consciousness or essence as long as our planet or solar system survives? … In other words, as way of a comparable example, take water. Water dehydrates and is gone, it rains and then it’s back. We consider this sort of an eternal process. BUT it’s only eternal as long as the planet exists. Should earth explode – say, if some asshole of limited intellect thinks Jesus tells him to nuke some non-Jesus-loving country and enough warheads go off to obliterate earth -- THEN the eternal water process will stop. Millions of years of water, that we’ve always thought of as never ending will suddenly end. ….. My question is: Do you think that may happen to the same spiritual energy that has caused humans and life on earth to continue? That spirit will no longer regenerate – god or no god -- once this planet and/or its solar system is gone? And everything we are, or ever have been, will cease forever? What we consider eternal -- or heaven, if you’re religious -- will end when our solar system is gone?

LUTHER BRIXTON: That’s a good question.

JAMES POWER: Thanks, Luther. 

DEATH IN THE MORNING: One problem. What makes you think the energy will cease to exist beyond this solar system?…. <glug, glug, glug> ..

JAMES POWER:  It’s just a theory.. I don’t necessarily feel strongly about it… I’m just thinking how all the other things on earth we consider never ending will all suddenly cease if earth ceases….. I've said before that I think what will happen to us when we die will seem incredibly obvious when we finally experience it, but we're overlooking it because of some boo-boo imagery that we've been told to believe... Everything in life follows a natural progression ...  Trees can live on a mountain for centuries, but once that mountain is gone, so too are all traces of that once thriving life continuum.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: <glug, glug, glug> ..

LUTHER BRIXTON:  <glug, glug, glug> ..

JAMES POWER:  Sorry, guys… just a thought…  I didn’t mean anything by it … I just wondered if you knew, DEATH... I wondered if you knew death.

LUTHER BRIXTON: This must be where he gets his sunny disposition.…

The jukebox begins playing Sister Janet Mead’s 1973 recording of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.

JAMES POWER, LUTHER BRIXTON, DEATH IN THE MORNING: AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!

LUTHER BRIXTON:  TURN THAT THE SHIT OFF!!!

DEATH IN THE MORNING: GODDAMN!!

JAMES POWER: Whoever put that on should be shot!

DEATH IN THE MORNING: If only it was earlier in the day!

LUTHER BRIXTON:  TONY! SERIOUSLY! COME ON! FIX THAT!

The jukebox begins playing Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs 1959 recording of ‘Stay’.

JAMES POWER: Much better

LUTHER BRIXTON: So if you avoid ‘Songs for Swingin’ Lovers’ what do you listen to for solace?

JAMES POWER: Any soul music record made between 1963 and 1968. Basically, from the time Otis Redding first picked up a microphone and recorded ‘These Arms of Mine’ until he died, everything done in the world of soul music was flawless. It was almost as though he was the overseer of soul during that period. I can pick up the most obscure LP by an unknown 60’s soul act and 9 times out of 10 it grabs me. The vocals, the melodies, the structure, the harmonies, the rhythm section, the horn section .. everything.

LUTHER BRIXTON: So it’s soul music?

JAMES POWER: Generally, but not only that. If I want to leave the world behind I put on some house-wrecking gospel quartets. Julius Cheeks is probably the most ferocious in that area. I swear to God I leave my body when that man sings. I can feel myself rising up out of this world.

LUTHER BRIXTON: And you’re an atheist?

JAMES POWER: Sure. I listen to David Bowie and Pete Townshend and I don't have any interest in having sex with men, why do I need to have an interest in God if I listen to gospel? The great thing about gospel is that the vocals go so far beyond the words that the English language is really just there for the ride. It has nothing to do with the emotional intensity being communicated. True, honest emotion gets to me in a way nothing else does. Strangely enough, that’s exactly what I loved about James Cagney. He projected a soulful, earnest desperation in all his best character portrayals, and it gets to me in the same way soul music does.

I’ll tell you what was probably one of the greatest soul vocal performances ever. Do yourself a favor and pick up Irma Thomas’ original recording of ‘Yours Until Tomorrow’ from 1967. She did it a couple times, but that first version was so Goddamn powerful it breaks me up every time I hear it! The second time she gets to the chorus, she belts out, “Just let me be yours”, but before she gets to the “until tomorrow” part, she lets out this audible gasp, like her lungs are collapsing. I get tears in my eyes every time I hear it, it’s so damn compelling. I don’t know what was going on in her life, but she had someone in mind when she did that. You really have to hear it…. It’s much better than the Captain and Tennille.

DEATH IN THE MORNING:  HAHAHAHA! 

LUTHER BRIXTON: Alright, DEATH IN THE MORNING, what do you put on when you need to find some relief?

DEATH IN THE MORNING:  I have this recording of 8 or 9 baby weasels tied up in a duffel bag getting beaten to death with a baseball bat.

LUTHER BRIXTON: Oh, for Godsakes!

DEATH IN THE MORNING:  No, no, no. You asked me what gets me going, and that’s what psyches me up for work every day .. to each his own… what can I say?

LUTHER BRIXTON: Ya know, DEATH IN THE MORNING.. I didn't want to say anything ... but that chick over there’s been checking you out all night.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Mm-hmm. I’ve been checking her out, too.

LUTHER BRIXTON: You gonna make a move?

DEATH IN THE MORNING:  In exactly 3 hours

JAMES POWER: That’s a shame. She doesn’t look that old.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: 37

LUTHER BRIXTON:  I like ‘em a bit older.

JAMES POWER: Luther, I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing here.

LUTHER BRIXTON: Don’t be so sure.

JAMES POWER: I’ve got to stop hanging around you…

LUTHER BRIXTON: We should probably settle up now.

DEATH IN THE MORNING: Yeah .... <glug, glug, glug> … Look at the time. It’s after midnight. It’s a new day… Watch yourself on the drive home, guys.

LUTHER BRIXTON: Shit!
 

Ringo's Birthday Wish

July 7, 2008

Peace & Love

 

Has there ever been a drummer that brought the world as much happiness as Ringo Starr? Even the Little Drummer Boy would have to admit that Ringo comes in first place.

 

Ringo Starr was recently asked what he hoped to receive for his upcoming birthday on July 7th. His answer? "Just more Peace & Love." Adding further, "it would be really cool if everyone, everywhere, wherever they are, at noon on July 7 make the peace sign and say "Peace & Love."

 

Wherever you are in the world, join him in making the peace sign and saying, singing, shouting, whispering, signing, writing or quietly thinking one simply beautiful and universal message: "Peace & Love."

 

While some will do this on their own other folks may be gathering at Abbey Road in London; Capitol Records in LA; Strawberry Fields in NYC.

 

... and if it doesn’t work, try again on Tuesday.