Les Paul Would Still Be Proud…
In honor of Les Paul’s 96th Birthday, some of my favorite players of his signature axe:
Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols:
Robert Fripp:
Two for one here… Ace Frehley and Slash!
Neil Young:
Jimmy Page:
Zakk Wylde, here playing with the man who should be Idol:
The Stooges’s Straight James Williamson, here doing a warmup gig with the band Careless Hearts before rejoining Iggy and company:
Randy Rhoads:
And while I’m not one to be posting my own guitar wanking on here, today I can make an exception and share something I did this morning on my own Les Paul, nicknamed after my favorite MoMusu:
Les Paul Birthday Riffin’ by thegroovemusiclife
And to finish off, a now-classic beer ad (not a beer I would ever drink, though) featuring Les himself.
What Goes Around Comes Around, Punk Meets J-Pop Edition
These two bits of news I came across were simply made for a blog that posts about both J-pop and punk rock!
Item one, from Anime News Network via PunkNews.org:
In what is perhaps the most unusual compilation seen so far this year, a number of Anime (Japanese Animation) voice actresses have collaborated on a new album where these actresses perform classic punk rock songs by the likes ofThe Clash, Sex Pistols, Blondie, The Offspring, Green Day, Rancid, The Exploited, Ramones. The Stooges and more.
The Anime News Network had the scoop. The record is titled Legendary Punk Songs Collection and is due out February 25, 2009. Sadly, we could not find samples of these songs.
- Halko Momoi – “Sex and Violence” (The Exploited)
- Haruna Ikezawa – “Basket Case” (Green Day)
- Kaori Shimizu – “White Riot” (The Clash)
- Mai Kadowaki – “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)” (The Offspring)
- Rie Tanaka – “Anarchy In The UK” (SEX PISTOLS)
- Yuko Goto – “London’s Burning” (The Clash)
- Halko Momoi – “Call Me” (Blondie)
- Haruna Ikezawa – “God Save The Queen” (SEX PISTOLS)
- Kaori Shimizu – “Blitzkrieg Bop” (Ramones)
- Mai Kadowaki – “Search and Destroy” (Iggy & The Stooges)
- Rie Tanaka – “Ruby Soho” (Rancid)
- Yuko Goto – “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Nirvana)
This looks way too interesting. A couple of the cover choices seem off the beaten path (The original version of the Exploited cover that starts this off was actually a filler track that the band made up in the studio during the sessions for their first LP, and I would have never expected anyone to cover Rancid), but this is too good to resist. I won’t have too long to wait: the album comes out next Wednesday.
In an almost opposite note, PunkNews.org reported today that MxPx’s next album, On the Cover II, is going to feature a cover version of The Blue Hearts’ “Linda Linda” (probably more familiar to many of you from Paranmaum’s cover version from the movie of the same name.) Now THAT sounds like it could be interesting. Or a train wreck. Or at least an interesting train wreck.
The Only Thing Rotten About This Is His Adopted Surname.
Some self-proclaimed “pure” punks probably screamed “sell-out” when they heard Johnny Rotten was going to to a butter commercial in his native England. Well, this 41-year-old punk rocker says that it’s too bad they didn’t wait until the ad in question (seen below) ended up on British television and worldwide YouTube before making their snap judgments. A very, very entertaining advert, indeed.
This had to be a British ad producer’s dream. When you’re doing a commercial and you get a certifiable legend whose mere presence can command every camera in a 100-yard radius to star in it, you’ve already scored major points before you shoot a single frame of film or DV tape. The fact that the butter company the ad represents openly supports its country’s farmers doesn’t hurt either.
