Bass Appreciation Week

My friend Matt and I send each other emails called "weekend updates" where we discuss what we did this week and what we've learned (everything from 'there's a conspiracy behind the ipod shuffle' to 'Six Point Sweet Action is not actually sweet"...etc...it gets more hilarious and intellectual than that, I swear.) This week has turned to Bass Appreciation Week, beginning with seeing Mike Watt play bass with Iggy Pop on Wednesday. I also learned this week that I am the only person who is not a huge Fleetwood Mac, nor Stevie fan (I know, I've lost all my friends now), but I can easily say that John McVie's BASS parts are TRULY my favorite part of those songs! Matt suggested trying the bassline in "Ramble On" and whoa...! Its not so easy... I'm excited about bass appreciation week.

Of course NUMBER 1 bassist is CAROL KAYE. She holds the record of the most recorded bassist, male or female, OF ALL TIME. She's on HUNDREDS of hit songs, in fact there's SO MANY I can't even list them all here or you'd get overwhelmed and just hit something in your menu bar quick to get the hell-outta here. Here's some:

The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Ritchie Valens, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Glen Campbell, Leon Russel, Sonny & Cher, Joe Cocker, Barbara Streisand, Ray Charles, Frank Zappa, Ike & Tina Turner, Johnny Mathis, Simon & Garfunkle, The Righteous Brothers, Herb Alpert, Paul Revere & the Raiders, The Monkees, Bill Withers, The Crystals, The Temptations, Wayne Newton, Frank Black (!!), Quincy Jones.

TV show bass lines include: Hawaii Five-O, Mission Impossible, Kojak, Love Boat, Peyton Place, ,The Adams Family, Bonanza, Wonder Woman.

Carol Kaye official WEBSITE

Carol Kaye in WIKIPEDIA

And a Dusty Springfield video...just for THAT AMAZING BASS LINE...by Tommy Cogbill (Elvis, Aretha, Dolly Parton, Kris Kristofferson, Neil Diamond...etc). Listen to how unbelievable the guitar, vocals, and bass play off each other....! (sorry, I'm a teacher, can't help myself.)

Dio (a stray from female inspiration, but wth)

"Ronnie & the Redcaps", Ronnie James Dio's first band in 1958!! Just goes to show you can change into whoever you want to be, anytime in your life. RIP... singer of Elf and Black Sabbath, yeah.... a notable career.

Ivy and The Cramps

Since I'm getting all emotional today about my favorite musicians, inspiring women, nostalgia, and the things that "saved" my life, here's one more fun clip. Great guitarist Ivy.

Mary Ford with Les Paul

I've watched this clip so many times over the past years and I never get tired of it! Two of my favorite guitarists "duel" it out and Mary Ford outshines the master. I've used her strong image on my guitar lesson flyers and website since I started teaching 8 years ago.

Annie Fischer

I came across a show on Ovation channel last night about classical pianists and discovered Annie Fischer. I wish this clip had better sound.

For Aziza

Depends on how you look at it...

My awesome friend Eddy sent this to me. If this refers to MUSIC GEAR, then I would have to SWITCH the Man side to the Women side.....EASILY. Men love those bells and whistles....

M.I.A. samples Suicide's "Ghost Rider"

GO HERE TO WATCH THIS VIDEO by M.I.A. I would post it here but I can't because Its been taken down from Youtube for its inherent violent nature. I found it sobering and powerful....I've always been a fan of M.I.A., but now even more so. Worth watching to the end. And if you aren't familiar with Suicide, check them out now.

The Go Go's interviews

The Go-Go's are the first and ONLY all female band to get a Number 1 HIT.

Its been 25 years.. Lets do it.

Help Raise $50 K for Girls Rock Camp NYC

Your vote is FREE! Wow!

Click on the vote once per day in April. The contest ends on April 30th.

http://www.refresheverything.com/girlsrock

One of those shots...

that say it all....

Holly Golightly

Listen to the new Holly Golightly cd IN FULL free on Spinner this week. GORGEOUS.

http://www.spinner.com/new-releases#/9

Rock Camp stuff

Don't know the artist of this bunny picture, but I assume she plays rock music. This was in Willie Mae Rock Camp's rehearsal room tonight. I'll credit this young painter when I find out!

The Runaways movie

This movie was a fun, dark ride and the excitement was contagious. Friends of mine that know Joan Jett and Kim Fowley said their depictions were SPOT ON. One friend said he fell over laughing at how accurate Michael Shannon's portrayal of Fowley was. Hmmm.... (I did think he came off as a SAINT in this compared to what was said about him in "Edgeplay, a Documentary about the Runaways.") The soundtrack was excellent (clips of "Fujiyama Mama" by Wanda Jackson, "I Wanna Be Your Dog" by the Stooges during a haunting erotic scene, and of course Runaway's music, and my now favorite Joan Jett song "I Want You"...). GLAM ROCK teen bands?? HELL YES, bring them on! I hope this inspires AND sends a message of precaution at the same time. My other prediction, for what its worth, is that Dakota aka Cherie Currie will singlehandedly be bringing the feathered hair look BACK.

My favorite "punk" album as a kid

From the B52's Self Titled album released in 1979. Sooooo good. One of my favorite songs on this album.

Paradise Titty - Whiskey Meets Cupcakes

"Paradise Titty" is all female Guns & Roses tribute band located in Austin Tx. Go see them on Sunday at SXSW! And really, don't miss THIS INTERVIEW with the band!!
Paradise T facebook page

Teaching and Work

The door at Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls...

Pretty shiny colorful drums are stored at Rock Camp.

Band coaching "The Awkward Turtles" this morning. This is right before they did an interview in a film about Girl Bands. These girls are breakin' rules and inspiring other girls to break out of their "shells" and form bands too!

Altered Images!

I love Clare Grogan! This is the most underplayed "Happy Birthday" song...:-) Lets all sing this every year instead of the old one....why not? The melody is gorgeous! (Also.....was just reading up on the famous "Happy Birthday To You" song we all know and grew up with - it was written by two WOMEN: Patty Smith Hill and Mildred J. Hill, late 1800's. Their families still collect royalties.)

(enigmatic) Lyrics:

"Happy birthday - happy birthday... Happy, happy birthday

In a hot bath - To those nice nice nights - I remember always, always - I got such a fright - Seeing them in my dark cupboard - with my great big cake -

If they were me - if they were me - and I was you -

and I was you - If they were me -

and I was you - Would you have liked a present too?"

Brooklyn Guitar & Drum Studio for Women & Girls

Home sick this week and started to build brand new website. Still in the works.....More to come: www.saralandeau.com

Warpaint

http://www.myspace.com/worldwartour
Warpaint's drummer was excellent. I left the bar to see what the drummer was doing because I heard so many RICH TONES coming from the kit (not a common or easy thing to achieve). This person completely stood out from the band. I was happy to see it was a fellow gal drummer.

Best Vending Machine at a Rehearsal Studio in NYC

Funkadelic Studios. This makes me proud of them.

* I posted this a couple days ago and discovered that many of my male friends did not know what that was. They thought it was a cigar or something (...mostly male friends who haven't been married..). Or I just took a BAD PICTURE. So just to be sure its clear, its a TAMPON in the vending machine, available along with guitar strings, picks, metronomes, earplugs, and every thing else a musician might need. Another guy friend said he's put a tampon under guitar strings to make it sound banjo-ish so maybe thats what its for..... Ha! Nah....

Lets lighten things up...

Here's a picture of my dog Django in McCarren park, Brooklyn, during the 'snowstorm'. Added a lil' touch from the new Cat Paint app on my iphone..

Last days of CBGB's

Been thinking lately about the last days of CBGB's..... So here's some pics for nostalgia sake. I have SO many more, including images of the MOB of people staring in at me on the last night before the doors opened and Patti Smith played.... I can't believe I was the SAME person as when I worked there/made it our stomping ground! So much has changed since then... I often hear the phrase "people don't change" and I have to disagree. Some people change slower than others, and in different ways, thats all.... The closing of this place was a SAD but inevitable change that influenced a lot of people in different ways. We tried to keep it as a museum as it should have been. Instead there are just pictures and memories.... Anyway, I heart Cb's!

When the place got emptied out at the end, the mural behind the second bar appeared again. Here it is... wow...! It was always SOOO dark behind the bar, we never knew what this painting was. That and the fact that boxes of beer endlessly piled the floor in front of it, up to the ceiling. Only on a SUPER busy night when the boxes starting coming down as we ran through beer could we see our old friend here peeking through...that comforting drunken expression....: -)

Genya Ravan

(Words from her website): Being part of the first successful all-girl band, Goldie and the Gingerbreads, she paved the way for bands like Fanny, The Go-Go’s and The Bangles. She went on to front the powerful horn band Ten Wheel Drive, and she has many production credits, including Ronnie Spector and The Dead Boys, and she started her own record label.


ARTICLE about GENYA RAVAN

Genya Ravan early on with Goldie and the Gingerbreads

Turtles, Tanks, and Teeth...

Took a break from band-coaching the FIERCE teen-band THE AWKWARD TURTLES last week, cause' I was feeling a lil' queasy, and went to rest next to a lil' friend here in the school's science room. Nothing says "your school's science room" like a gurgling fish tank, a hamster that bites, and the smell of the heat-lamped lizard cage. Aww...

But all the while "resting" I hear drums POUNDING, distorted guitars, and screaming "giggles of chaos" ("G.O.C."?) from the girls' practice room while they played rocknroll cover-snippets at full volume during their lil' break.

To hear original songs from this inimitable and awesome teen girl band, simply click here: THE AWKWARD TURTLES

Westminster Dog Show, the supermodels

Just taking another detour from writing about WOMEN and GUITARS to report on the Westminster Dog Show and a few other things that happened yesterday. First...I tried to storm the Bryant Park fashion week tents and....they LET ME IN. HUH... I told the bored security at the door that I didn't have an invite. They thought about it, then shrugged and moved aside...wow. I guess I had that little sumpthin sumpthin which made me immediately feel better about myself, especially since I had met the 6'4", 105 lb "Shalom" model the night before at the Jonathan Richman concert and felt like a 5'6", 120 sumpthin lb chunky dwarf. But she was SO SWEET and I quickly recognized that no matter how much one fights stereotypes in magazines and episodes of the "Millionaire Matchmaker", sometimes that conditioning still sneaks in and makes ya feel insecure. Anyway, NEXT year I hope to get a real ticket to the runway shows.

Then we went to the Westminster Dog Show and even more surprisingly I was able to WALK IN with a full Starbucks Latte. The security guard even gave me the quick hand pass and made everyone else dump theirs out! I really DO have that little sumpthin sumpthin tonight! Madison Square Garden won't even let you buy a bottled water THERE with a cap on it. At this point I was feeling...pretty GOOD...

Here's some pictures from the Dog Show. During the judging of "Best In Show" at the end, a PETA member stormed the floor and stood on the platform in the center holding a sign up. As one woman was being taken a way, a second woman PETA member came out and did the same. Unfortunately they hadn't planned well enough to show the sign to more than ONE side of MSG so I couldn't read it from our side and couldn't get a worthy picture... The one below of "MUTTS RULE" is from an online site. The rest of the photos show the REAL SUPERMODELS of the world, these dogs. I saw one share steak and potatoes from the same fork as its owner. They sleep, are pampered, eat and live better than me, and come out once a year or more to strut their stuff... Off stage they acted just like the dogs they are....AWW.

MUTTS RULE.... They do. Ask my mutt dog and two mutt pussycats sitting here next to me.

And the owners tend to look and dress like their dogs... (wait...do I?)

Rockin with my boys

I have no idea what year this was. Guys can be fun to play with too :-)

"You cannot deconstruct unless you know how to construct." - Alexander McQueen

So very sad. He was absurdly creative.

CLICK LINK HERE to an article about Alexander McQueen

Rock Camp for Girls Benefit Auction

The Fourth Annual Rock N Roll Auction will be held Tuesday February 9th, 8 pm at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn!

http://www.williemaerockcamp.org/auction.html

I'll be auctioning off a Gift Certificate of 4 free lessons, guitar, bass, or drums. Fun!

"Roller Derby Saved My Soul"

This is my old band Uncle Leon & the Alibi's. I'm the drummer on this track as well as the whole album. I heard my intro drumming has been made into a ring tone. Cool!!

A couple summers ago we toured the U.S. playing at roller derby events...




Here's the rest of the album - cowpunk, rockabilly, with some sweet soulful ballads http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/uncleleonalibis2