I just can’t imagine my high school years without “London Calling” and the song “Train in Vain.”

If I ever end up taking refuge in a bomb shelter someday, this is one of 10 albums that go underground with me – along with five boxes of Little Debbie Nutty Buddy treats and 14 cans of Spam. The cover of Paul Simonon smashing his bass guitar on stage might have been an indicator of my state of mind in 1980 when the album was released. I was trying to process high school, girls and weekends at the Cuckoo’s Nest – nothing notably traumatic, just run-of-the-mill teenage angst and wonderment.

Photographer Pennie Smith reported that the late Clash frontman Joe Strummer, who died in 2002, picked the photo for the cover. Great decision. Iconic.

“The Clash was not only trying to assault the tame, conventional direction of corporate rock,” wrote Robert Hilburn in the Los Angeles Times, “but also break through the limitations of punk by adding touches of everything from rockabilly to reggae.”

Regrettably, the internal band dynamics reflected their combustible band name – especially the break with Mick Jones. Nevertheless, the whole “London Calling” package worked for me – and apparently a lot of other fans. I continue to be grateful for Joe, Mick, Paul and Topper.

Happy International Clash Day.

Happy Birthday to Alice Cooper, the hilarious and provocative golf-addicted, churchgoer who is most well known as the granddaddy of shock rock. He turns 75 today — and he still owns that stage. For nearly 20 years, he owned Cooperstown in Phoenix — a memorable cross between a Hard Rock Café and an ESPN Zone. Before it closed in 2017, my best friend and I had a great time there. I’ve also had the pleasure of visiting Alice Cooper’s Solid Rock Teen Center where kids can learn how to play music for free, as well as take classes on the music business, photography, art, and dance. It has been a great after-school program run by Alice and his wife Sheryl for more than 10 years. Married for more than 46 years, Alice credits his wife with helping find his faith and 40 years of sobriety. From one of the minions, all the best and Happy Birthday!

Archive: Alice Cooper: Twisted Human Nature

By Steve Beard, 2002

It was recently announced that the biggest hit in the 24-year history of MTV is a program called “The Osbournes.” The half-hour show – complete with constant bleeping from excessive foul language – is a curiously fascinating docu-comedy starring the members of Ozzy Osbourne’s family – wife and two teenage siblings (the eldest child bowed out of the show). Ozzy, of course, is the 53-year-old British rock singer acclaimed for his ghoulish heavy metal performances. Continue reading →

Mural of Brigid in Dundalk, Ireland. Photo by Steve Beard.

In Ireland, the first day of February is St. Brigid’s Day, as well as the ancient Celtic holiday of Imbolc, marking new birth and the threshold of spring. It has just recently been christened as a government holiday in Ireland (St. Patrick’s Day became “official” there in 1903). The occasion is a celebration for both Christians and those who observe pre-Christian Gaelic traditions.

Over the summer, I was mesmerized by this mural depicting Brigid in Dundalk – halfway between Belfast and Dublin on Ireland’s east coast. After my vacation, I read up on the hagiography of this woman who died almost 1,500 years ago.

St. Brigid is said to be the child of a pagan chieftain and a Christian slave. It is thought that her father named his daughter after Brigid, the Celtic goddess of healing, fire, and poetry. The two-story mural in Dundalk attempted to portray both Brigids.

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Bob Dylan – Azkena Rock Festival. Creative Commons.

Bob Dylan has always been a bit of an enigma — a genius cloaked in many shades of mystery. His recent interview with the Wall Street Journal is regarding his recent book “The Philosophy of Modern Song.” The discussion can be found HERE.

Dylan fires missiles like this: “You need a solar X-ray detector just to find somebody’s heart, see if they still have one. What’s the gold standard for a song these days? What song will walk off with the trophy? ‘Paint it Black’ is black as black can be, black as a crow’s head, a galvanizing song. ‘Paperback Writer’ sounds good, too. The biographer, the ghost writer, doing it long hand. I can visualize that song; see it in my mind’s eye. ‘Strangers in the Night,’ that, too. A couple of people who don’t know each other on the dark side of things. I don’t know which one I’d vote for. I have sympathies for them all.”

Dylan on entertainment and faith: “I’ve binge watched Coronation Street, Father Brown, and some early Twilight Zones. I know they’re old-fashioned shows, but they make me feel at home. I’m not a fan of packaged programs, or news shows, so I don’t watch them. I never watch anything foul smelling or evil. Nothing disgusting … I’m a religious person. I read the scriptures a lot, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I believe in damnation and salvation, as well as predestination. The Five Books of Moses, Pauline Epistles, Invocation of the Saints, all of it.” Continue reading →

Faith, Hope, and Carnage is a fascinating conversation between singer Nick Cave and journalist Sean O’Hagan. Among numerous subjects, it deals most compellingly with grief, song writing, and faith.

Sean O’Hagan: So, back in your younger, wilder days, when you drew on biblical imagery as a source for your songwriting, was that also a reflection of a deeper interest in the divine?

Nick Cave: Well, I was surrounded by people who displayed zero interest in spiritual or religious matters, or if they did, it was because they were fiercely anti-religious. I was operating in a Godless world, to say the least, so there was no real nurturing of these ideas. But I was always struggling with the notion of God and simultaneously feeling a need to believe in something. Continue reading →