Punk/New Wave-1976-1982-What it Was All About

by Pete Holly

The bands that emerged around 1976-1982 and usually are classified as
Punk or New Wave or Both-Like my Band-"Pete Holly and the Look's" all shared a
simular background in that when the music that influened most-The Beatle's-The
Beach Boy's-Paul Revere and the Raiders-and The Who etc. first came out we were
all just very young kids-below the age of ten.By the time we were old enough to
start our own Bands-The music that had originally inspired us was gone.It wasn't
played on the radio or anywhere else.Most of the time the only way we could still
hear it was by playing the records we had bought when we were just young kids.
I still had many of the first records i had bought{or got my Mom to buy for me,
she was pretty understanding about that}and so did other people my age."Meet
the Beatle's","Please Please Me","The Beach Boy's Today","Summer Day's{And
Summer Nights}"-Plus we started to collect records we wished we had like "The
Kinks Greatest Hit's{a Must Have},and "The Who Sell Out".Obscure singles like
"Sorrow" by the Merseybeats were also very inspirational.In "The Look's" it
was undoubtably the one cover song we played the most times-especially in the
early day's.
For some reason,after the singer-songwriters,,Progressive Rock,and Disco
All of us Musicians starting our first Bands-were drawn back to the first Rock 'n Roll
we had heard and fell in love with.

Written by Pete Holly-2010-Copyright-All Rights Reserved

Record Review-Emitt Rhodes

Record Review

"Emitt Rhodes"-Emitt Rhodes

Sometime in the early 70's pop/rock singer-songwriter ,multi-instrumentalist,
co-producer,Engineer and composer Emitt Rhodes released his debut solo album.
At the time he became a minor sensation because he seemed to sound allmost
exactly like Paul McCartney.Just as McCartney had done on his 1st solo album
sans-Beatles,Emitt played every instrument on the album.Co-produced it and
Engineered it.Rhodes attracted much attention because not only did he sound
like Paul,but he composed his song's in a very simular fashion.
Back then i remember someone telling me that he had recorded the album
at a home-studio he had built.But today i see in the credits that it was recorded
at Sound City in L.A.-The most premier studio in L.A. and a legend itself.This
explains why the album had such great sound quality.The mystery is how did
Rhodes-Thou he had had some success in a band-but otherwise he was completely
unknown to the public and had yet to prove he could he could deliver hit's on his
own-get the money to finance the recording of this album at Sound City,which
at the time was the most expensive studio in L. A.-did the record label think
that the public would buy a McCartney-esk style artist.It's possible.But some
one had to put up the money and in those day's it was allmost allway's the Label.
However it happened Rhodes apparently got free riegn at Sound City
and since he was playing every instrument on the record-it must have cost
fortune !
The record Rhodes made is quite good and listening to it today he sounds
more like "Badfinger"than "McCartney" thou there are still plenty of
McCartnyisms to be found on the record.But it is definatly a first rate record-
there's no doubt about it.Whatever the label shelled out for this record if they
didn't get thier money back in sales they most definatly got it back in the form
of Emitt Rhodes incredible skills as an artist and as a performer who
seemed to be able to do just about anything.A one man band and a top-notch
Engineer.Emitt knew how to work the studio real good-he's one of the best.

Postscript:None of the several records Rhode's made around this time-
all pretty much in the same style-of which he continued to have excellent
skill at composing and at getting great performances down on Tape -sold
very well-but he did and i'm sure still does have a large cult following-
The Records pressed back in the 70's are very valuble today.A pristine copy
of this record could get hundreds and even possibly over a thousand dollars
from certain collectors-because they are extremly rare.Even a slightly
roughed up copy can still command a pretty high price-so if you see one
at a garage sale or a second hand store-buy it-it could be worth a small
fortune.Emitt's work now finally get's the respect and is valued at prices
That reflect the incredible amount of talent that went into making these
incredible records.

***** 5 out of 5 stars

Written by Pete Holly-2010-Copyright-All Rights Reserved

Showing a Little Transparency in Show Business

For the last one hundred years or so few artists in Show Business
Have ever explained just exactly how it Works or doesn't work-in some
Situations-but in the last month i've seen at least two Fairly well known
Stars talk in unusually truthful manners about what the bottom line really
is in show business.First i saw an article on the Web about Marshall Crenshaw.
By shear happenstance i happen to know Marshall abit.When i went to New York
City just after 1980-Marshall was the talk of the town.When i read an article
about him in "The New York Rocker" he sounded like someone i would enjoy
seeing in concert.Soon after that i saw he was playing at CBGB's one night-
so i went to visit the famous original home of Punk Rock-just to see Marshall.
He's really a terrific performer and he was riding a hot streak that eventually
landed him a contract with one of the major labels.I ran into him a couple more
time's,once more at the Pepperment Louge where a picture was taken by one of
the The New York Rockers photographers as i was giving Marshall a copy of
my Bomp single.It appeared in a big center spread the magazine put out under
the heading-The Daze of our Nights and it said "Pete Holly lay's one of his new single's
on Marshall Crenshaw while they discuss ways of trying to avoid those
constant comparisons to you know who"{Buddy Holly}.So that was pretty cool.
It was the first big shot in the arm of Publicity i ever got from a Rock Magazine.
I also ran into Marshall a couple of times in Nashville.Once i was just sitting
on the steps of an old house where my apt. was and i suddenly remmebered that
i had doctors appointment.I never have worn a watch and i didn't have a clock in
my apt. either.So i see a guy walking towards my apt. but on the other side of the street.
I could see he was wearing a Black leather Motorcycle Jacket so i thought,well he look's
like a pretty cool guy so i walked across the street to ask him if he had the Time and
he did .Suddenly i realized it was Marshall.We talked music shop for a while and
i remember him telling me that he had seen "The Who" in concert in Detroit where
he was from and that was pretty impressive to me.But the odd's that i would just happen
to ask Marshall for the time seemed pretty amazing to me.It was a cool-but kinda
strange thing to happen-I mean just think of the odd's of that happening-but that's
kinda been the one constant in my life-that the most unlikely event to happen-happens
to me.
So anyway back to web article.Marshall and the interviewer were talking about his
song's and Marshall just come's right out and say's "Someday,Someway" is definatly
not my best song,but it's the one that got the most radio promotion.So it was the biggest
hit.Radio Promotion is allmost never talked about because frankly it's a bit of a racket .
The Italian Mafia used to do all the radio promo work and thay made a fortune doing it-
so people got into the habit of not talking about it-because frankly-they didn't want to
get Wacked for having a big mouth.
Today other entities have moved into radio promo work but there's still a few of
the old italian gangsters around-but they're dying off and other people are taking over.
But the rules are still the same-if you want Radio Play-you've got to pay.So it was
interesting to hear Marshall talking about this part of the record business that nobody
ever talk's about.It's first time i've ever heard an established Rocker with impecable
"Street Cred" say anything about it.It kind of made me proud that i knew him a little.
Then about week ago Robin Wright-Sean Penn's ex-wife was on one of the
late night talk shows promoting an indie film she'd starred in and she just comes out
and say's-"even though it's a fantastic movie that i'm extremly proud of-it didn't do
well at the box office" and it only had a limited re-lease."Why is that" the host asked.
and Wright added there was no television marketing of the movie what so ever !
"I don't understand" the host said."They spend all this money to make a Great Film
and the they do nothing to promote it"."Why would they do that" he added."It just
doesn't make any sense at all".And he was right-it doesn't;but that just the strange
way Show business works.There's no big secrets and nobody seems to be in control-
In other word's-it's a crap shoot.If your lucky your movie or record will get lots
promtion and it will be a huge hit-if you're not lucky well more than likely-no matter
how great your movie or record is-it will get no-where fast.

Why Pete Holly {and the Look's}have no Bio

There is a good reason why there is only one accurate Bio
{GreatSong-France}} of me on the internet even though i started
my website before any other musical artist on the internet.I got
up on the internet first because of a Genuis Marine Biologist
i knew.He told me about the Web in the very first day's of it's
inception.
He was a really big fan of my Band "The Look's".He predicted
that the internet would become a very big source of music for the
public and it turned out his prediction was right on the mark.
He saw this potential way before anyone else did and his enthusiasum
inspired me to start my website 14 years ago.
I was the first music artist to use my name as the name of my
Domain website-peteholly.com .Something that other music artists
didn't start doing until much later.
But the reason there are no real bio's of me on the internet is
because the story of my career is very differant from most music
artists.
First of all "The Look's" never moved to a Bigger City and/or
Music Town.I was able to talk Greg Shaw at Bomp Records into
financing a studio session in L.A. over the phone simply by the
strength of our demo tape and by my own gift of salesmanship.
{My father was well known in the Car Business as being the greatist
Car salesman of all time}
To get a chance to record a single in this way was unpresidented
in the entire History of Pop/Rock Music.No other band from any time
period was ever able to pull off what i accomplished.Getting a record
deal without ever leaving my Hometown of Boise,Idaho.One of the
other reasons we were able to accomplish this impossible task was
the perfect timing of the first inexpensive home recording decks
with really great sound quality becoming available to the public in
1978.By 1979 i had figured out how to get the best sounding recordings
from this new advance in recording equipment.
In many way's our band's sound didn't fit into any of the styles
that Bomp released in those day's.Greg Shaw saw us as futurists whose
sound was a harbinger of things to come.We weren't a "Garage Band",
we didn't play "Power Pop" or "Psychadelic" music.We really were just
a straight,street smart,original rock band.When we first meet our
producer,"Scott Goddard",in a brand new state of the art 48 track
recording studio-the pairing of the former "Surf Punk" Scott and
"Pete Holly and the Look's" looked promising.We started to play a
bunch of songs i had written and which were being recorded and
both Scott and our engineer,the famous Thom Wilson{the best ears in
the business} were very confidant in the potential of my songs.
We were getting a deal from the studio by using "Spec Time" which
meant anytime the studio wasn't being used by someone else.So it
could be day's or even a week before we could get back in the studio.
Finally we got the call from Greg Shaw that some more time was
available{We were staying with our drummers family in La Puenta
in East L.A.}
When we finally all got back in the studio,our second session,we
were meet by a totally differant "Scott Goddard".He was completly
wasted on pot,cocaine,alcohol and god only knows what else.He was
extremly beligerant and arguementative.I grew up in an alcoholic
family so i knew it was just the booze and the drugs talking but when
he started harrassing Mitch and Lenny,calling them unspeakable
names and making racist remarks to Lenny-I just couldn't stand
it.I got him cooled out a little by using some of my Barrage of tactics
that i had developed to deal with my dad when he went on a bender
and it worked well enough that at least i got him to stop badgering
Mitch and Lenny.
Needless to say we didn't get much work done that day but at the
end of it we all listened to the playback of what we had recorded so far.
After hearing the playback i realized that the band on the tape didn't
sound anything like "Pete Holly and the Look's".It sounded like some
really slick power pop band from L.A. and i was not pleased.
Thinking about this later i thought of one possible reason why
Scott might think we had a sound similar to all the power pop bands
in L.A..He must not have ever heard our Demo Tape ! I called Greg
and he confirmed my suspician-he's never givin our demo tape to Scott
so he could get an idea of what kind of band we were.I told Greg that
what we had recorded so far sounded like shit and that he had to get that
Demo tape to Scott as soon as possible-plus i asked for one more favor-
to ask Scott to be Straight at the next Session.Greg agreed.
Now we finally get to our third and last session{I told greg that we
had to leave soon-we'd allready spent over 3 week's at lenny's family's
home and i could feel the tension mounting from the cramped living
conditions,i had started to hear arguements and i knew we had to
leave soon}of in the studio-and a straight and humbled Scott Goddard
was there apoligizeing for his behavior at the last session,saying that he
had listened to the tape and now he knew why we were unhappy with
the sound he'd applied to my music.It was early morning and our last
chance to fix everything that was wrong with the recording.
First we re-recorded every electric guitar part including all the lead
Guitar work.Only this time i had every knob on my 250 watt amp turned
up all the way nearly blasting the two 15 inch speakers in my Randall Speaker
cabinet to smithereens .It was the most beautiful,ground shaking{literally}
and powerful sound i'd ever heard in my life and i loved it."Today",Scott had
annouced earlier-speaking directly to me-"You have to be Superman".
We did background vocals,tons of them,Handclaps{me and scott},
Over dubbed an acoustic 12-string guitar part on "What Did I Say"
and both myself and scott did the vocal harmonies on it as well on it.
Finally everything was falling into place and just in the nick of time.
So i didn't get to make the record i wanted to make-but the record
that we did make was totally unique and had pleasures of it's own.Which
now i can appreciatte much better than i could back then.

Sincerely,

Pete Holly

note:So that's why you don't see Bio's of me or the Look's.Because
we never fitted into any one catagory-and that has continued to
be the case when i finally got around to recording my solo CD's.
There are no Bio's because the story of my music career both
with "The Look's" and as a solo artist doesn't fit neatly into
any catagory and also because of the miracleous way in which
i got my start in show business.You just can't explain a miracle
in a Bio.

CODA:In memory of Scott Goddard

About 7 years ago i got an e-mail from Scott telling me
how glad it made him to hear that i was doing so good ! It was abit of a shock because
i hadn't heard from him since we made the "Pete Holly and the Look's " single in 1980.
I hadn't seen or heard anything about him in the music business either-and that did
seem strange to me because Scott-despite his struggle's with drugs and alcohol {I
had my share latter too}was a very talented musician,vocalist,and Producer.
He wrote to apoligize for his being so fucked up that 2nd session and being such a jerk
to me and the Look's.He also mentioned that he'd allway's felt really bad about the
the mix he made of the record and that it really had bothered him all these years.
{After we returned to Boise Scott made a horrible mix of the single that Greg had
sent to me-he'd speeded everything up to chipmonk level and and the guitars and
vocals that we'd worked so hard to get right on that last session were buried in the
the mix-it was a mess-that took the combined force's of Greg Shaw,Thom Wilson
and me-giving them instructions over the phone to fix everything and get back to
the way it sounded on that last play back we heard after the 3rd and final Session.
I have to say here that it was only because Greg Shaw had complete confidence in
my ability to know just how my music should sound-that the single finally came
out sounding as great as it did-without Greg's confidence in my judgement we
never would have been able to get through all the the problem's we had too and
and have the single finally be released with such a Great Sound and Mix.
I wrote back to Scott and told him that it all happened along time ago and
he should just let it go.The e-mail he sent back was estatic-i could tell he felt a
great sense of relief from what i had wrote.I had no idea until i saw an article
on the internet allmost two years later that just a few weeks after he's written
to me-Scott had passed away.All of a suden it all made sense-Scott was making
his final amends knowing he didn't have much time left to do so.Farewell-
My friend-for all the trouble you caused-you were the one who stepped up-
to the plate and took a chance at producing an unknown band-for that and for
being the great and funny guy you were when you were straight-I Love You !

With my Deepest Respect and Admiration to a man that changed my life and
helped me and my band make our dreams come true-Rest in Peace-Scott-Rest in Peace.


Written by Pete Holly-2010-Copyright-All Rights Reserved

The Enigma of Jonathan Richmond

Rock Musics Most Unique Artists

by Pete Holly

Of all the unique artists in the field of Rock Music,Jonathan Richmand is per-
haps the most unique of all.I remember seeing a quote a few years ago that came
from John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten where he said "I think Jonathan Richmond
is great-that is if he is kidding-he is kidding isn't he?".That's the enigma of Jonathan
Richmond.That he is both kidding and totally serious at the same time.If you don't
understand that about him then you probably won't get his music{What it's About}.
How did the Bostonian Rocker come to be an artist who is both serious and kidding.
Well you have to go back to his bands first album where they were billed only as
"The Modern Lovers".They were an underground band who very quickly attracted
a pretty large cult following.The album they recorded sounded more like Lou
Reed's band "The Velvet Underground" than anything else and back in those
day's very few people knew who "The Velvet Undergroud" was.Even with
Andy Warhol as thier manager and the designer of thier first album cover
"The Velvet Underground",from a commercial point of view, failed miserably.
But Jonathon Richmond obviously saw something and heard something that
really inspired him and so "The Modern Lovers" were formed and recorded
one album which wasn't commercially successful-But a large cult following
began to form that knew just what Richmond and his band were going for.
A band that played very well written songs and that recorded them in a very
spontanious way.That's was what was most important to Jonathan-Great
Songs and spontanaity.I don't know what happened to the other Modern
Lovers but one of the songs on the album ,"Roadrunner" became especially popular with all the leading hipsters of that time,many of whom were music critics,
Radio station Dj's and people in other area's of the Music Business.So "The
Modern Lovers" for a while at least were the underground or alternative
Band of the moment.
Success however,didn't seem to be Jonathans main goal.He broke up the
band and started releasing Albums with other musicians that were billed as
"Jonathan Richmond and the Modern Lovers".The albums sounded very differant
than the kind of music the original Modern Lovers had played and recorded.
Richmand basically recorded a bare bones line up of new modern lovers live.
Sometime's he would record in the bathroom of Beserkley Records,the bands
label and his new material had a very comical and satirical bent.Some of the
songs Sounded like they were recorded for young children-in that that they
were stripped down to just acoustic guitar,Stand up Bass and very minamalistic
Drumming and funny lyrics like "Abombable Snowman in the Market" and
"Dodge Vegamatic" where Jonathan chimes in that even though the car is a
piece of junk he exclaims "Hey,I really like this car alot".There's also a
very funny spoken part where Jonathan twists the words around in a
pretty amazing way-essentially chastising his band for not being able to see
the beauty,simplicity and great value of the car not for it's being a
reliable car but simply because he believes the cars beauty,at least in
his eye's,Makes the car something of Great Value.It's a hilarious song,
But Richmond is also making serious statement that we only value things that
can help us-and anything that doesn't is not of any worth to us.It's a
sly commentary about our selfish modern values that Richmond sneaks
into what other wise seems to just a funny song.
Writing songs like this and ocassionally sliping something more serious,
beautiful and touching in the mix like "The Lonely Financial Zone"
became the template for all the records he recorded for the rest of his
Career.He developed a large cult audience and played innumerable concerts.
His fans,it seemed,couldn't get enough of him.He even appeared in the Ben
Stiller comedy film "There's Something About Mary" and David Bowie recorded
his very intersting song "Pablo Piccaso".So allthough Richmond is at times
richly funny he alway's seems to slip in a very serious philosophical thought
about the strange values of our modern world which we cling to-and if you
are not paying close attention you will miss all of them and they are the
best part of his artistry.

Written by Pete Holly-2010-Copyright-All Rights Reserved

Settle Down-It's Only a Movie !

Dear Fellow Movie Fans

I wanted to let you all know that i have deleted the poem i had posted on my blog
in which i suggested-in jest of coarse-that Tim Burton be drawn and Quartered
for Butchering Lewis Carrol's Great Artistry.While the poem was merely satire
i recently noticed that there are over 1000 "Tim Burton Sucks" website's and
probably alot more.But just on google alone 1000 hate site's is alot.There are a
few that are legitimate writers reviews but the majority are just completly insane
hate rants that sound like they are coming from some very imbalanced minds.
While everyone has the right to thier opinion when things get this wierd i want
no part of it.So that's why i took the satirical poem about alice and tim burton down.
This whole thing is just getting way out of hand and i do not want to contribute to it.
Hopefully this whole thing will die down as the movie's business slowly ebb's as
it inevitably will-but for now-it's just a little to crazy out there and i don't want to
contribute to that.So everyone just be like "The Fonze" remember "He's Cool".
I'm just one artist who writes a a couple of blogs but" i'm tryin' real hard to be the
Shepard ".

Peace,

Pete Holly,
President/CEO,
Look's Music International

Poetry

By Pete Holly


I've crossed the continent 500 times-
I've filled up my mind 26 Trillion times-
I've memorized Milton and dissected Freud
Spent 12 Billion dollars at the houses of Loydd's
I've gambled 88 fortunes and lost everyone
I've blown up the moon and dived into the sun
I been raped by the Kossaks and killed by the Hun's
I invented the pistol,the sword and the machine Gun
I've been a king who's slaughtered his people
I've not one once of mercy i've toppled every church steeple
They tortured me once for the crime of being true
I didn't learn to lie from listening to you
My affairs with Great maidens and those of ill-repute
Far surpass any other-be him soldier or brute
I take what i want and the rest i just steal
It's surprising how easy it is to make all this Real
but before i do go-let me say this to you
The Secret's of life are not very new
If you go to your window and open the shutter
You'll see all there is should it happen to thunder
Step out in the storm and see if one hits you
for i'm sure that one will-for nothing else fits you-
Goodbye all my friends-Goodbye Mr. Naples
Take care of the gardens-take care of the stable's
And ride that white Filley at least once every day
and see that she gets all the very best hay
Though once she did throw me and though it nearly killed me
She woke me from a dream and now i am real free !

Poetry

by Emily Dickenson

I cannot live with You-
It would be Life-
and life is over there-
Behind the Shelf

The Sexton keeps the key to-
Putting up
Our life-His Porcelain
Like a Cup-

Discarded of the housewife-
Quaint-or Broke-
A newer Serves pleases-
Old Ones crack-

I could not die-with you-
For One must wait
To shut the Other's Gaze down-
You-could not-

And I-Could I stand by
And see You-freeze-
Without my Right of Frost-
Death's privilage

Nor could I rise-with You-
Because Your Face
Would put out Jesus'-
That New Grace

Glow plain-and foreign
On my Homesick Eye-
Except that You were he
Shone closer by-

They'd judge Us-How-
For You-served Heaven-You know
Or sought to-
I could not-

Because You saturated Sight-
And I had no more Eyes
For sordid excellence
As Paradise

And were You-saved-
And I-condemned to be
Where You were not-
That self-were Hell to Me-

So We must meet apart-
You there-I-here-
With just the Door ajar
That Oceans are-and Prayer-

The Heavywieght Lyric Champs

by Pete Holly

1.Johnny Cash-"I shot a man in Reno,Just to watch him die"
2.Elvis Presley-"If Your lookin' for Evil,You came to right place,
"If Your lookin' for Evil,just look right in my Face !
3.John Lennon-"I'm lonely-Wanna Die !
4.Bo Diddley-"I'm just 21 and i don't mind dyin'"
5.Bruce Springsteen-"In the tunnels of town,The rat's own dream
gun's him down-
6.Johnny Rotten-"I am the anti-christ"
7.Blue Oyster Cult-"She had become like they are"{Immortal Vapire}
8.Mott the Hoople-"You keep your shut,or you'll get cut,I like ta scare"
9.Laura Nyro-"I'm not afraid of Dyin'"
10.Todd Rundgren-"You know i would die or kill someone just to move
this hunk of steel one more block"
11.The Rolling Stones-"I'll shout and scream,i'll kill the queen,and rail at all
her servants"
12.Alice Cooper-"My shots are clean and my shots are final,my shots are
Deadly and when it's done-
13.Gorden Lightfoot-"Heroes often fail"
14.Bob Dylan-"Jump upside down inside handcuff's-say what else can you
show me"
15.The Beatles-"I know what it's like to be dead"
16.The Door's-"I tell you we must die" -Kurt/Wiel
17.Gene Pitney-"What a town without pity will do"
18.Stevie Ray Vaughn-"Hey,Hey,Hey,Hey-it's the roughest place i've ever
been-all the people down there-livin' for the whisky,wine and gin"
19.Country Joe McDonald-"Be the first one on your block,to have your son
sent home in a box"
20.Pink Floyd-"And after all isn't that what the fightings all about"
21."Lynard Skynard-"The smell of death that's all around you"
22.The Rightous Brothers-"If you leave,it will kill me,i swear it"

List compiled by Pete Holly-2010-Copyright-All Rights Reserved

The Lost Pioneers of Rock 'n Roll

#4-"Boogie Woogie"-Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra

This song,a staple of Dorsey's band and also of many other travling Bands during
the second World War and after is for all intents and purpose's nearly identical to most
Rock 'n Roll song's that came along later in the 50's{excepting it's an instrumental}.It's
based on the 12 bar blues musical proggression which originated from Black Blue's Piano
Player's like "Pinetop Perkins" before it morphed into rock 'n roll.Even Chuck Berry who,
without a doubt,is the person most responsible for the invention of rock 'n roll,played his
great rock 'n roll song's in chord arrangements that were suited much better for piano than
for Guitar.In the 1960's i used to buy songbook's with Chuck Berry song's that had chord
charts.All his songs were in key's that even an expert jazz guitarist would have a hard time
figuring out.F-sharp was one of the key's most often used by Berry.F-sharp is a very easy
key to play Chuck Berry's song's on piano;but on the guitar it's a very difficult and ackward
key to play in.This tends to back-up Kieth Richard's Theory that much of the musical parts of
Berry's song's came from his piano player-The Great Johnny Johnson.Isn't that just like life
that a man who had so much to do with the invention of Rock 'n Roll is nearly completly unknown by the Public.

Souce:Kieth Richard's wanted to get at least one great live performance by Chuck Berry on Film.
In order to achieve that goal he assembled a great band including Richard's himself on Guitar
and they performed live at a really nice Theatre in St. Louis which during the film Berry reveals
that he couldn't go into-as a child-because he was black.Later after the concert Richard's is being
interviewed when he make's the comment about the strange piano key's that Berry used and his
theory that that came from Chuck's piano player-Johnny Johnson being invoved with the writing
of the music.The Film is called "Hail Hail Rock 'n Roll" and is one of the the greatist rock and 'n roll concert films ever made.A must see for anyone who love's Rock 'n Roll Music.
Features:Chuck Berry,Kieth Richards,Linda Ronstat,Eric Clapton,Julien Lennon{in his best ever live performance}Etta James and more.....
movies

Rest in Peace-Alex Chilton

Take Care

by Alex Chilton

Take care not to hurt yourself,
Beware of the need for help,
You might need too much,
And people are such,

Take Care,Take Care

Some people write idea books,
Some people have pretty look's
But all in all i swear,
and all words aside,

Take Care,Take Care

This sounds abit like goodbye,
In a way i guess it is,
As i leave your side,
and take in the air,

Take Care,Take Care

{from Big Star's-Third/SisterLovers}

Letter from a housewife

I am a thirty-eight year old,protestant,southern, housewife and mother of
three children.I have gone to church my whole life,until recently,but somehow,they keep
pushing Jesus away.So i took my kids out of the church and i left too.We have to find out about Jesus some other way.
I've learned something.Jesus is white,Negro,yellow,red,Jew.I wish i didn't know that.I live in the wrong place,at the wrong time,to know it.Pray for me.It's to big,I'm scared and lonely.I can't do anything but teach this to my kids and try to have the gut's to say and live it as opportunity comes.All of the children can help.It just has to be a better place in the next generation.Can we learn to see persons,and can our hearts be taught to love.

from Malcolm Boyd's "Book of Day's" for the day of May 20th,1968

Book Review-"The Peasant Prince" by Alex Storozynski

by Pete Holly

The story of this polish man from an upper middle class family-who owned a
significant ammount of land which was worked on by serfs.His father,unlike many of the
larger land holders of the day in poland, treated his serfs with respect and dignity. "Thaddeus
Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution",the subtitle of the book,gives some indication of the
gigantic role the polish Thaddeus played in The American Revolution and latter in The Polish
and French Revelotion.Trained at elite school in Paris in the Art of Military Stratagy and as
an engineer of Military Fortifications and ramparts-he ended up being America's Chief
Military Engineer during all 8 years of The American Revolution.He was a very close
friend both to Washington and to Adams and he designed and built the first fortifications
at West Point on the Hudson River.He spent many years building West Point and then
he served as the southern army's army's chief military engineer and statagist's playing
a decisive role in the Southern Army's defeat of The British Forces.This man is truelly
a forgotten hero of enormous talent and Military Genuis who played an vital role
In America's victory over the British Force's during The American Revolution.
This book is a must read-for it shines a great deal of light not only on the life Thaddeus
Kosciuszko but also contains a very detailed account of The American Revolution;much of
which appears here for the first time.A fasinating read.

Poetry

by Pete Holly

The doubt that's etched in an untrue mind,can not be erased by those in kind-
In Dante's inferno,no ear will hear,the cries of deciept,the desperation of fear-
for those guilty tried-were warned again and again in time-but they did not believe-
-in the justice of time-
Lies and lies,piled solid into rock,surround decievers-Block by Block-Until encased-
Sealed off from life-to waste in darkness-of all vanished light-Was the unruly hand-
and lies Transmutation-Did you possibly believe-twas' only recreation-Well it's now you find-
That damnations games-are nowhere as fun-as invitations claimed-Transformed from human
-To animals Spite-to tear the Flesh-in innocence's unkind-Devils make thier own beds-
-but they shall never make mine-
I'll choose,just a crown-
-as Emily did Sound-

Poetry

by Pete Holly

One night-A soul ignite-and then was birth,
The very real soul of a distant star-
We here on terra-firma-Could see it--Flicker
and so determined nothing finer could be seen-
-Than distant fire-

The millions of one-and billions of two-
make trillions-we can't count-
-any higher-
to do that i'm afraid-we must hire a chamber maid-
and then tell her-we'll pay her by the hour

Poetry

by Pete Holly

Men,be they heroes or scoudrels,are still men just the same,
They do not act as angels,but roam upon the plain,
One he had a buckskin coat,an Indian a Bearskin floor,
He had place to call a home but it did not have a door,
Summer was the jamboree,when all of them would meet,
Some took home a wife or two,but others fell to defeat,
Everything they had was lost,and walked away upon barefeet,
But not to worry for so long,for the next men came building streets-

Poetry

by Pete Holly

When the night is at 4:00 am is so Silent-
It's a wonder what a peace it brings to me-
No science or religion-Can explain it,
and so you just sit back and let it be-
So simple,So Silent,so lovely-
It's like an angel has come to me-
It's a wonder that this darkness,
and this silence-is more than heavens
light can see-
And it's when i feel-this feeling-
-a Grace Beyond-
I've never known,
That i truely Wonder,,
right before my slumber,
At all we can never know and never see,
Because when the darkness hides it,
Why is it then we find it-
The light and the comfort-
That we truely seek-

The Sounds of the Studio

by Pete Holly


In the old day's of Music Recording every studio had it's own unique
sound markings-much of the unique sound of an individual studio came from
the room where the musicians played and it's unique sound qualitys.Allmost all
of these rooms were constructed with wood because wood seemed to produce a
very warm sound that engineers and producers of the day found to thier liking.
If you've never seen or been in one of these old recording rooms i'd recomend
any budding or aspiring musical proffessional to expierience at least one of these
rooms.There's one in Nashville that i recorded at called studio 19.At one time in
the 1950's and 1960's it was one of the busiest studio's in Nashville who's list
of users is like a who's who of Rock 'n Roll and country music.The room is huge
and the acoustics of it have to be heard to be believed !
The studio in Muscle Shoals Alabama where many of the Stax/Volt records
were recorded had an incredibly huge bass response.You can hear this bass
sound on the records of Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett.The Muscle Shoals
house band also had alot to do with the unique and amazing sound that many
artists got on thier records .The Motown House studio also had it's unique sound
markings and not only did they have thier own house band,but they also had
thier own staff song writer's-Holland-Dozier-Holland who wrote most of The
Supremes hit songs and Smokey Robinson who not only wrote a tremedous
amount of the song's recorded by Motowns artists{including his own with the
Miracles}but he also produced a huge percentage of Motowns long list of top-
ten records.Abbey Road in London,where The Beatles recorded,also had it own
unique sound qualitys.When George Martin first got E.M.I. to sign "The Beatles"
to thier affilate label Parlaphone which Martin was the head of,as well as being the label's primary Producer{E.M.I. proper had allready turned down
"The Beatle's}they still were basically recording live on two tracks but sometimes
they would use another recorder to record background vocals and to double
John Lennon's vocals{John was very insecure about his vocals}.Paul,on the other hand,was full of vocal confidence,and rightly so,so he didn't double his vocals.Wheither
Lennon's insecuretry was justified or not is an open question-but it did give the songs he sang
lead vocals on a very unique sound-simliar to "The Everly Brothers" and "Buddy Holly" who
was the very first recording artist ever to double his vocals.The Beatles were big fans of both
of these artists.
When 4,8,12,24,and then 48 track recording decks became available it became increasingly difficult for each studio to have it's own unique sound.The once unique sound of each studio
was changed to a more homoginized sound and it became difficult if not impossible to tell where
a record had been recorded without looking at the album credits.
Thirty three years ago the first inexpensive home recording devices were released upon an unsuspecting public.I purchased one of the very first.It was called-"The Teac
-124 sync-caset".I paid $239.00 for it from a discount warehouse in N.Y.C..The Recordings
i made on this machine had incredibly great sound quality.In fact at times we{The Look's} listened in dis-belief ! Is that really us playing and singing on that tape .It was hard for us to believe we could make recordings that sounded as great as the one's we heard played back
to our ears on headphones.I had a strong feeling that something else was going on.I worked extremly hard to get the best and most powerful sound you could possibly get From this simple,but at the time,revoulutionary piece of recording equipment-But it was more than that that made all the recordings that i ever made on this machine sound as great as they did.I can only explain it in one word-Magic !

Written by Pete Holly-Copyright-2010-All Rights Reserved

The ounds

Ask Alice

by Pete Holly

The liberty's takin' by publishing company's,Film Studio's,and revisonist authors,
including screenplay writers have never in the entire history of the entertainment industry taken the kind of liberties and the degree to which they have takin' them as has been the treatment of Lewis Carrol's two storys'-"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and
"Through the Looking Glass".From Walt Disney's compending of the two story's into
one and calling it "Alice in Wonderland" to Tim Burton following suite with his up
coming release of the same name.When you combine the two stories everything
that was great about the stories when they were published as two completly separate
stories-is completely lost.Every great part of the individual stories is either omitted
completely or told is such a way that the author never intended and indeed make's
absolutly no sense.How do i know this ? You might ask.I know it from studying
Carrol's life intensly and also from studying the two seperate storys very intensly
for a very long period of time.Other than "Alice" being in both stories and both
stories being written by Carrol-they haven't anything in common.One involve's
falling down a rabbit hole{a Black hole} and the other is a playable chess game
which actually make's perfect sense when each chess piece is moved as the story
reveals the move's-and what do you know-Carrol fit a perfectly played chess game
into a story which most people don't even realize is a chess game.It's to Carrol's
credit as quite an astute mathmatician -that he was able to pull the wool over
everyone's eye's for such a long period of time.
Since a compedium of the two stories is such a butchery of Carrols intensly,
well thought out literature-to the extent that people think of it only as a clever
non-sense fairy tale for children-i can only repeat what i have stated before.
The two story's that Carrol wrote for the real Alice-upon her request-and that of
her two younger sisters-was never meant for mass consuption for children.The
only children who would have understood the way in which carrol made fun of
well know writers,philosophers and politicians would be the Liddel sister.These
were not ordinary children.Thier father held one of the highest posts at Oxford-
and so the Liddel sisters had Genuis IQ's even as small children.They understood
every mockery of an Oxford know-it all and reconized all the places that are
reffered to in code-and that carrol poked fun at.Children didn't buy the books-
intelligent adults did.They may have read some parts of it to thier children-but
the most fun to be had in the story's was recieved by adult's who knew only
to well the Oxford assholes that Carrol made a mockery of.The books then were
more of a scathing inditment of Oxford's and other English gentlemens pompous
Acting out and hypocripsy,especially Politicians.
That even the victums of Carrols poisen pen didn't recognize themselves-only
made the story's even more funny to Carrol and the Liddel sisters;as well as a few
wise adults.
In sumation-The two books Lewis Carrol wrote for the Liddel Sisters should
never be mixed together.Doing this ruins the genuis of both story's.

Poetry

by Pete Holly

For millions of years they say,
the earth revolved clockwise-
Thou a small wobble-
The Inca's Re-calculated-
The proper proportions,
Thou the Pope never relized,
His gregorian calender-
from the 15th century-
is how we keep time-
Thou it's off naturely,
For every 4 years we must skip a day-
so Inca's and Aztecs were right on the money-
We still obey Popes,with odd measure's bungling,
No day is the same length or width-time is uncertain
-tis' Einstiens Gift-
and so we forget,when we roll in the clover,
The day's allready done-except for one Soldier-
Cross the sky he shoots ! Like a shimering Star.
That there's no time at all-just spacetime and stars,
and once did i ask ? a simple one hour-Did the speed of
light create a Flower ? The truth can't escape-
it's tied to a tiether-and simply erodes-from the Sand's
Of Forever

Written by Pete Holly-copyright-2010-all rights reseved

Pete Holly began writing poetry and short stories at the age of 10.
He's been writing writing poetry and short storys for 43 years.