My Life As A Toy

I've worked for Barbie. And for Joan Jett.

Now one brilliant item combines both: Mattel's Joan Jett Ladies of the '80s Doll.


There are also Cyndi Lauper and Debbie Harry dolls, but I didn't just buy either one of those on Amazon. A tiny, perfect Joan, however, complete with red Chucks and white Gibson, will take a place of pride in my office soon.

I love rock 'n' roll!

Don Waller's Imperial Dogs Gets Belated Due with New DVD

My old pal Don Waller's secret proto-punk history is slowly coming to light. Now there's solid proof of the existence of his mid-70s LA answer to the NY Dolls, The Imperial Dogs. As a New Yorker I can't say I knew much about Don's band, other than a few passing mentions in Chris Stigliano's Blog to Comm, until now with the launch of The Imperial Dogs website and the new black & white DVD The Imperial Dogs Live! In Long Beach (October 30, 1974). I haven't seen it yet, but any band that was covering the Velvet Underground in 1974 is jake by me.

Here's a clip from the DVD of their best known song, This Ain't the Summer of Love, later covered by Blue Oyster Cult, the Nomads, L7 and Lizzy Borden. Don's the singer, snarling an intro to the song: "to all you hippies, out there, this ain't the summer of love."



I've known Don for years as a journalist, as a repository of LA's rock history and LA's answer to our our own Norton Records folks Miriam Linna and Billy Miller, and an all around stand up guy. Good luck Don!

Knew What He Was Doing When He Caught My Eye

The most recent chapter of the Phil Spector story is a tragedy that can't be undone. But I'll miss thinking about him as the guy who created this wall of sound for The Crystals:

Punks May Be Dying, But Punk's Not Dead

I've been remiss in not noting the sad and too-early passing of two punk greats: Lux Interior of The Cramps and Ron Asheton of The Stooges.

Today comes news of Lux's recent memorial service (Poison Ivy wore leopard print), as well as an item indicating that ex-Sex Pistol Steve Jones, once host of Jonesy's Jukebox on the recently left-for-dead Indie 103.1, has been talking to Iggy Pop about replacing Asheton on tour.

I learned about all of this from the indispensable Daily Swarm. It affirms my belief that punk's not dead.

Holy Hullabaloo, Batman!

I've previously mentioned my fondness for Hullabaloo!, the mid-Sixties prime-time TV show on NBC that featured all the acts you might expect, from Paul Anka to the Zombies, as well as some you might not, such as Judy Collins. There was a regular infusion of the British Invasion (Chad and Jeremy, the Kinks), undoubtedly helped along by Beatles manager Brian Epstein's appearance as the host of a London segment, and lots of Motown, including Marvin Gaye and The Supremes. A similar show called Shindig on ABC was its antecedent, but I don't remember it being as good.

Hullabaloo!'s dancers were a highlight of every show (they included Michael Bennett and Donna McKechnie, best known as creator and star of the original production of A Chorus Line), and a segment called "Hullabaloo! A Go-Go" featured a dancer in a cage, shaking it while wearing a fringed minidress and short white go-go boots.

Fans of The Dark Knight will undoubtedly object, but here are the Hullabaloo! dancers cavorting to the "Batman" theme:

Nancie & The Rockers

I'm very proud of the years I spent at Mattel in the '90s, producing the first computer games for girls and launching Barbie.com. So I was pleased and very gratified last week to be invited back to their corporate headquarters in El Segundo, CA to speak to an employee conference about "The Future of Music."

My conclusions were fueled by my own personal Magic 8 Ball, but basically the gist of it was:

• Kids have always loved music;
• There are lots of new and traditional ways to discover music;
• We have to be creative about finding new ways to make money from it;
  
• Music is a personal soundtrack, not a CD; and
• "The Macarena" and "Crank That" have more in common than you think.

There were many musical interludes, and much appreciation for our client Baby Loves Hip Hop's efforts to provide parents with music they can enjoy with their children.

But for some reason, the international audience particularly enjoyed this video of a long-forgotten '80s band (the hair alone is worth a view):

Stomping with Dr. Ike

Here's Dr. Ike (Ira Padnos) - founder, curator, producer and mastermind behind the Ponderosa Stomp - with Little Steven (Steven Van Zandt) following his interview for Little Steven's Underground Garage. (Dr. Ike specifically requested that this photo be taken in front of the "Untamed Youth" poster and check out Ike's cool western shirt, bought in Austin.)

Dr. Ike's a rock and roll encyclopedia, with a deep knowledge and deep record collection for blues, country, funk, soul, rockabilly, surf, swamp pop and rhythm and blues. Watching him converse with Little Steven was tantamount to watching two of the great rock historians interact with each other.

I can't wait to see the Ponderosa Stomp, which is set for April 29 and 30 down in New Orleans.