Runaway Dinosaur

Today We Celebrate the 80th Birthday of a Legend-Burt Bacharach

jroxx — Mon, 12 May 2008 14:44:02 +0000

There are very few people in the music industry to whom the terms genius and legend apply unequivocally. One of those people most certainly is Mr. Burt Bacharach, who is celebrating his 80th birthday today.

Happy Birthday Burt!

What is so amazing about Burt Bacharach’s long and illustrious career is that there are so many songs that we all have come to know and love over the years and a good portion of them emanated from just one man. It is a rare day that somehow, somewhere, somebody does not hear a Burt Bacharch song.

This is just a brief list of songs performed by other artists that were written by Burt Bacharach:

The Beatles - Baby, It’s You
The Carpenters - (They Long to Be) Close to You
Aretha Franklin - Say A Little Prayer
Dionne Warwick - Walk On By
B.J. Thomas - Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head
Tom Jones -What’s New, Pussycat
Dusty Springfield - The Look of Love
Christopher Cross - Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do)
Neil Diamond - Heartlight
Michael McDonald with Patti Labelle - On My Own
That’s What Friends Are For - Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight & Elton John
Naked Eyes - (There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me

Oh and to top it all off, what does he do in his late 70’s? He works with Dr. Dre!

Here is an amazing series of clips from PBS TV’s Great Performances in 1995 that show Burt’s entire career. It is just mind boggling the amount of artists he has worked with, the amount of songs he has written and the long lasting effect his songs have had on us for years and years. This is the story of a genius and a legend!

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 1

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 2

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 3

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 4

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 5

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 6

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 7

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 8

Burt Bacharach - Great Performances - Part 9

Rockin the Sneaks(For the Knicks!)-Original Adidas Attitude Ewing

jroxx — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:39:07 +0000

Due to the fact that new Knicks President Donnie Walsh has decided to hire Mike D’Antoni as the next coach of my beloved Knicks (they will come around, I believe in Donnie Walsh!). I bring to you the Original Adidas Attitude Ewing, first issued in 1986. These are the originals, which were made in France.

Maybe we can have another draft miracle this year like we did back in ‘85. One can only dream….

(All pictures courtesy NiceKicks)

Just Plain Cool Audio Gear - miShare

jroxx — Sun, 11 May 2008 21:29:07 +0000

A Brooklyn, NY startup named miShare, has created a product, which could bring back the mating ritual of mixtape-swapping (but a modern version of it). The gadget allows you to swap music, photos, and anything else you can fit on your iPod.

Instead wasting a CD on a paternal love interest, you simply attach your iPods to the miShare to transfer your mix. Depending on their iPod and setup, they may or may not be able to listen or view the files right away. They may have to wait until they get home, since it swaps the files to the disk area of the iPod. The miShare works with all Mini, Nano, 3G, 4G, Video 5th Generation, and Classic 6th Generation iPod models.

The device retails for $99 and is available now.

Via: Crunchgear

Happy Birthday Paul David Hewson

jroxx — Sat, 10 May 2008 13:37:46 +0000

You may be asking yourself…..who the hell is Paul David Hewson? Well maybe you know him better by his stage name, Bono. Today is Bono’s 48th birthday and he has brought so much enjoyable music to us over the last 28 yes 28 years.

U2 is one of the few bands that has managed to keep the same members from day 1. It all began on September 25th, 1976 when Bono, The Edge (David Howell Evans), Dick Evans, and Adam Clayton responded to an advertisement by fellow student Larry Mullen Jr. to form a rock band.

Bono is the only person to have been nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Grammy, and Nobel Peace Prize.

We can only hope that Bono and U2 will continue to make groundbreaking music and tour for years to come.

Here are some highlights of Bono & U2’s career from their first US television appearance to some very unique duets….

U2 on Tom Snider Show 06/04/1981

U2 featuring Mary J Blige - One

U2 & Bruce Springsteen - I still haven’t found what I’m looking for

U2 & Paul McCartney - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Bono & Pavarotti & - Ave Maria

Friday Food-Beermenus.com Interview: Eric & Will, the brothers behind Beermenus

jroxx — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:57:19 +0000

For today’s Friday Food, we got together with Will & Eric, the brothers behind the great new website beermenus.com. If you have not heard the story behind how their site got started, here’s it is in their own words:

Brothers Will and Eric were drinking beers and debating their favorites before heading out for the night. Eric backed Arrogant Bastard and Will was pushing Dogfish Head 90 Minute. They searched for a bar serving their favorite beers on google. They came up empty handed, but their disappointment faded when they saw their destiny. As avid beer lovers who started homebrewing at ages 4 and 7, they had to create a website where people could browse and search beer menus. (courtesy beermenus.com)

Jroxx: Somehow we got the brothers to make time in their busy schedules to share a little more information about their site, their future plans, favorite beers and of course favorite music.

RD: You guys started beermenus.com because you realized that there wasn’t a centralized searchable index for finding beer by bars in NYC. Were you surprised to find that out?

Beermenus: We were pretty surprised, but we quickly realized that collecting all the data and keeping it up to date would be a big challenge. We figured there had to be a way to do it and got started.

RD: You currently feature only bars in Manhattan, what are your plans for adding the other boroughs?

Beermenus: We’re currently adding bars in Brooklyn and other boroughs will follow. We’ve received a lot of emails from people all over the country, and a few international, encouraging us to bring BeerMenus to

their city. We’re looking to launch in another city soon.

RD: You launched last week with over 1200 beers, close to 200 menus and almost 25 beer events. How long did it take you to get the site up and running from when you decided to start building it?

Beermenus: It took about six months.

RD: I know that we were amongst the many blogs to write about your launch last Thursday. Are you blown away by the quantity of write-ups and amount of overwhelmingly positive press you have received?

Beermenus: Blown away is a huge understatement. The press has been incredible and the emails we’ve received from people who love the site provide amazing motivation to keep growing and improving. We knew
people like beer, but we had no idea how many people share our passion for finding great beer.

RD: It says on the website that you are planning on having a launch party at a bar to meet the members, how many people do you expect to show?

Beermenus: At this point we really don’t know. We’re going to announce the event soon and we’ll see how many people RSVP. It should be a lot of fun.

RD: You also launched a blog and a Facebook group the same day the website launched. How is the traffic going on both of those?

Beermenus: It’s going really well. We have over 110 fans on Facebook and we’re excited about all the comments we’re getting on the blog.

RD: Name your top 5 favorite beers and at least 1 beer you love that you have not yet found in the city.

Beermenus: Will: I love trying new beers every time. I homebrew a mean 9% IPA called Liquid Explosion.

Eric: I’m a big fan of Arrogant Bastard, Rogue Dead Guy, and Tripel Karmeliet. But I also always look to try something new. A lot of people have been searching for Fat Tire and we haven’t found a bar that serves it yet.

RD: Are you thinking about adding beer happy hour info to the site?

Beermenus: We’re thinking about it, but our focus is on beer flavor and helping people learn about all the unique beers out there.

RD: What kind of feedback have you received from bar owners regarding the site?

Beermenus: Most bar owners get it right away and are very enthusiastic. Many are going above and beyond to spread the word.

RD: Since we are a music blog….Who are your favorite bands or artists? Best beer bar for finding great music? Seen any great shows recently?

Beermenus: Will: Cool Calm Pete, Atmosphere, the Pietasters, and the TravelingWilburys. I recently saw Mr. Scruff at Studio B.

Eric: I’ll add Brother Ali, Sage Francis, Michael Franti, and NOFX. I went to a great Atmosphere show a couple days ago.

Thanks Will & Eric for making the time to do this interview with us. I look forward to attending some of the events on your site, trying new beers and watching your concept grow and expand. You have tapped into a vital area for many of us music fans and we raise our glasses in thanks!

The Jammy’s-A Video & Photo Recap

jroxx — Fri, 09 May 2008 04:39:11 +0000

While T Rex was on the other side of the country and I was relaxing in the upper echelons of the 300’s at the WaMu Theater at MSG for the Jammy’s last night, our good friend Marc Millman was up front and center and shot some real good video and still photos for those of you that were:

A) Not fortunate enough to be at the Jammy’s at all.
B) At the Jammy’s but decided a comfy seat was better than the general admission mosh pit up front.
c) At the Jammy’s but did not have the desire or fortitude to record most of the songs for posterity.

Marc has his own youtube channel which is full of live music and random humor and well worth looking through…..there will be more Jammy’s video going up in the near future so keep checking back.

Hopefully we can convince Marc to become a regular contributor here as his music knowledge and concert experience are vast and profound.

On with the show (and thanks for doing what it is that you do Marc!)

Fab Faux & Trey- While My Guitar Gently Weeps

Fab Faux & Trey- Me & My Monkey

Fab Faux & Joan Osborne- Come Together

Glenn Tilbrook, Warren Haynes &Tea Leaf Green- Tempted

Rose Hill Drive with Grace Potter & Leslie West- Goin’ Down

Warren Haynes & Grace Potter- Find The Cost-Gold Dust Woman

Warren Haynes & Grace Potter- Take Me To The River

Big Head Todd & Tea Leaf Green- Sister Sweetly

Keller Williams & Chevy Chase- Natural Woman

Warren, Grace, Booker T, Russo, & Will Lee opened the show

Leslie West Played (and just plain killed!!) Goin’ Down & Mississippi Queen

Doug E. Fresh - The Human Beatbox

The Fab Faux

Friday Food-A Sad day in Ice Cream Land…Irvine Robbins has passed away

jroxx — Fri, 09 May 2008 03:38:17 +0000

Photo Courtesy: Tony Korody/Sygma

By DENNIS HEVESI

New York Times Business

Published: May 7, 2008

Irvine Robbins, who with his brother-in-law, Burton Baskin, started the Baskin-Robbins chain of ice cream stores — together concocting quirky flavor combinations with names like Daiquiri Ice, Pink Bubblegum and Here Comes the Fudge — died on Monday near his home in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 90.

He died of natural causes, his daughter Marsha Veit said.

The company name could have been Robbins-Baskin. Although it was Mr. Robbins who opened the first store, at the intersection of Adams and Palmer Streets in Glendale, Calif., on Dec. 7, 1945, and it was three years more before he and Mr. Baskin became partners, they took a carefully familial approach to deciding who would come first in the name of what eventually became a vast international enterprise. They flipped a coin.

“They worked closely on everything,” Ms. Veit said. “They would come up with ideas for flavors based on what was happening at the time, like Cocoa a Go-Go, when go-go dancers were popular. They would sit in the kitchen tasting, making sure the best ingredients were used.”

The company’s famous “31 flavors” (essentially one for each day of the month, but actually 34 when chocolate, vanilla and strawberry were included) have varied, numbering more than 1,000 over the years, according to its Web site. They include Nuts to You, Baseball Nut, Rocky Road, Candi-date, Cafe Olé, Huckleberry Finn, chocolate cheesecake, pineapple coconut and Mr. Robbins’s personal favorite, Jamoca almond fudge.

One day in 1964, Ms. Veit said, he received a phone call from a reporter for The New York Post, asking what flavor Baskin-Robbins was planning to introduce to celebrate the Beatles’ arrival for their appearance on Ed Sullivan’s television show. Caught unaware, he came up with Beatlenut, and then scrambled to find an unnamed flavor with nuts in it to match. Two days later, it was in all the company’s stores. By then, there were about 650 Baskin-Robbins stores nationwide.

In a 1976 interview in The New York Times, in which he said he ate three or four scoops a day, Mr. Robbins said that Americans had become adventurous in their ice cream choices. “They’re not embarrassed to ask for some of these wild flavors,” he said. “I think we’ve had a little bit to do with making it more acceptable.”

At the time, Mr. Robbins was still chairman of Baskin-Robbins, although the company had been sold to United Fruit in 1967, the year Mr. Baskin died. When Mr. Robbins retired in 1978, the chain had more than 1,600 stores in the United States, Canada, Japan and Belgium. Baskin-Robbins, along with Dunkin’ Donuts, is now part of Dunkin’ Brands, with 5,800 stores in 34 countries.

“We were in the franchising business before the word was popular,” Mr. Robbins said.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on Dec. 6, 1917, Mr. Robbins was the son of Aaron and Goldie Chmelnitsky Robbins, immigrants from Poland and Russia, respectively. When Mr. Robbins was a child, the family moved to Tacoma, Wash., where his father became a partner in a dairy.

As a teenager, Mr. Robbins worked at the retail store connected to the dairy where, among other products, ice cream was sold at a nickel a cone — “a pretty big one, too,” he said. He soon realized that he could double or triple sales with playful labeling: “Super Banana Treat” replaced a sign that said “three scoops of ice cream, a slice of banana, two kinds of toppings.”

“I got the idea that the way to sell ice cream was not through a grocery store but through a specialty store,” he said.

After Mr. Robbins graduated from the University of Washington in 1939 and served in the Army in World War II, he was able to test that idea. He cashed in an insurance policy his father had given him as a bar mitzvah present and used the $6,000 to open his first store.

By 1953, the partners sold the eight stores they owned to the managers and began making far more money producing ice cream at a plant in Burbank, Calif. An advertising agency designed the Baskin-Robbins logo, the chocolate-and-cherry-dotted signs and the “31 flavors” concept.

Mr. Robbins married Irma Gevurtz in 1942. Besides his wife and his daughter Marsha, of Mount Kisco, N.Y., he is survived by another daughter, Erin Robbins of Grass Valley, Calif.; a son John, of Soquel, Calif.; two sisters, Shirley Familian, who was Mr. Baskin’s wife, and Elka Weiner, both of Los Angeles; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Ice cream never melted from Mr. Robbins’s mind. When the family lived in Encino, Calif., the house had a soda fountain inside and a swimming pool outside shaped like an ice cream cone. After the company was sold in 1967, Mr. and Mrs. Robbins rented an apartment in Balboa at Newport Beach, to be near the boat they had bought and christened The 32d Flavor.

Today would have been Robert Johnson’s 97th Birthday

jroxx — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:37:49 +0000

Robert Johnson was born on May 8th, 1911 and passed away on August 13th 1938 at the too young age of 27. With today being what would have been Robert johnson’s 97th birthday, I thought I would take a look at the influence that his music still has to this day.

If you had any doubts about how much Robert Johnson influenced modern music, read the following passage from his Wikipedia page:

When Keith Richards was first introduced to Johnson’s music by his band mate Brian Jones, he replied, “Who is the other guy playing with him?”, not realizing it was all Johnson playing on one guitar. Clapton described Johnson’s music as “the most powerful cry that I think you can find in the human voice.”

He is ranked #5 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time, ahead of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Jeff Beck and Carlos Santana.

Just a few Robert Johnson originals that we have come to know and love from versions by modern rock & blues artists:

George Harrison (with Eric Clapton & Leon Russell) - Come on in My Kitchen

Rolling Stones - Love In Vain

Gov’t Mule - 32-20 Blues

ZZ Top - Dust My Broom

Red Hot Chili Peppers - They’re Red Hot

The Jammy’s-The Man Who Stole the Show

jroxx — Thu, 08 May 2008 05:01:36 +0000

Tonight the 7th Jammy’s were held at the The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden to celebrate all that is great about the jamband / live music scene. We all knew going in that there were going to be some unique pairings and surprise names showing up on stage. What I didn’t expect was that on the night that Jay Z and Mary J Blige were performing to a sold out Madison Square Garden upstairs, those of us that were part of the 2 or 3 thousand folks in attendance underneath “The Garden” were treated to true hip hop royalty; Doug E. Fresh “The Human Beatbox.”

Doug E. joined Galactic for a set of old school hip hop jams and a beat boxing duel with Stanton Moore, the drummer of Galactic who was challenged to repeat on his drums the sounds that were emanating from the mouth of the master beatboxer. If there was a score to keep, I would have to say that Doug E. Fresh took the challenge hands down (and Stanton Moore is an amazing drummer!).

What truly showed me that the people who follow the jambands and who attended the Jammy’s are true music aficionados was when Doug E. Fresh would stop singing the lyrics to one of his songs the entire crowd would carry on in unison without skipping a beat (pun intended).

It was just pure fun as Doug E. had the crowd in the palm of his hands using every trick in the emcee book to get the crowd going; shoutbacks, sing a longs and even a short rip into one of the most memorable songs of all time first made famous by Rockmaster Scott & The Dynamic 3 in 1984:

If you weren’t there, you missed 2000+ tripped out jamband fans singing along to this:

Doug E Fresh with Galactic- The Show medley

Doug E Fresh & Charlie 2Na with Galactic- La Di Da Di

If the people upstairs at the Jay Z concert only knew what they were missing……..

Rock Art Wednesday-Jim Pollock

T Rex — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:47:33 +0000

I first saw Phish (who is getting their Lifetime Achievement Award tonight at the Jammy’s) play at the Philadelphia Civic Center during their New Years run in 1994. I had no idea that those stretch of dates leading to New Years Eve would involve those 4 guys from Vermont for just about every year during the next decade (give or take a hiatus). For many reading this you don’t need any introduction to this week’s artist. However, in Runaway Dinosaur’s quest to deliver the best coverage of artists of every kind, a little background on Jim Pollock.

“Jim Pollock is an internationally renown artist best known for his bold and vibrant linoleum prints. Little did he realize that the pen and ink flyers he drew in the late 1980s for the then unknown University of Vermont band Phish was the beginning of a creative relationship that would span two decades. As Phish toured relentlessly, building a massive following, they continued to embrace Jim’s uniquely organic imagery for flyers, t-shirts, cd covers, limited edition prints and tour posters.” -http://pollockprints.com/

His work with Phish is now well known and like their music his style is incredibly detailed and technical. Jim is part of the magic that existed around the band which was truly special and doesn’t doesn’t happen that often.

He has stayed busy with many projects and I wanted to get a sense of what what he’s doing now. He just received his largest request for his 08-09 Subscription Edition. This is where you pay an artists a upfront fee for a series of unmade designs and you are shipped a tube after each new creation over the course of the year….a very special and fantastic way to support an artist’s work.

He also just released a brand new poster, commemorating the release of “Vegas 96″ (from Phish’s December 6th, 1996 show in Las Vegas, NV). Hand printed on acid free stock, the poster measures 12″x20″ and is individually signed by him and numbered with a limited Edition of 1,206 but now unfortunately sold out at Phish Dry Goods…..sorry folks.

Like Jim’s designs you can never know what something is going to to turn out like before you start it. You can have ideas, thoughts, desires and dreams but you never truly know until it’s finally in front of you or your tube arrives at the door. I think today after 6 months, Rock Art Wednesday’s tube has arrived…..enjoy part I of II with Jim Pollock.

RD-Can you describe the new technique/equipment you are using?

JP-My current hand press is a Nineteenth Century iron handpress. It is called a Washington and it was used as a proof press. It is not unlike a forged iron version of Ben Franklin’s press. Ben’s press was made of both metal and hardwood. My first handpress was a screwtop bookbinding press. I printed my posters I did for Phish from 1997-2001 on this press. The Washington press allows me much better registration and I can print slightly faster, although both are at a non-automated speed. For larger runs I cannot print by hand, I use Rohner Letterpress. It is a letterpress shop I have been using since 2002. I started using them after Phish came back from their hiatus in 2001-2002. I could not keep up with the demand that they were asking, doing the posters by hand and I luckily was introduced to Bruno Rohner. I print my larger linoleum blocks (18”x 24”) on Rohner Letterpress’s Heidelberg presses. I still use all three presses, depending on the poster job.

I have also recently started getting metal plates made for me by Owosso Graphics in Michigan. I create some artwork which I scan and send to them and they send me back a type-high relief plate of the art. It helps save time on carving which is also another labor intensive part of my process. I have been doing strictly hand carved prints for my art pieces.

RD-Do you do ever do any other art besides linoleum cuts?

JP-I mostly do different kinds of relief print art. I have done a lot of linoleum prints, but I have also done some wood cuts and wood engravings. I draw a good bit, but the drawings always seem to end up as plates for printing. It is definitely some kind of obsession I have. Sometimes I think I am inhabited by some ghost of a past century printer.

RD-Which bands, groups/causes are you currently designing posters for?

JP-Since the breakup of Phish I have been doing work for Umphrey’s McGee, a Chicago-based touring band and The Disco Biscuits. Other than that, I have been concentrating on the summer festivals. I am currently doing work for the third year for Ten Thousand Lakes Festival(Minnesota) and I did something for Wakarusa(Kansas) and possibly doing something for Summer Camp, a festival in central Illinois.

I have continued to do prints for non-profit organizations. Last year I did a piece for Ustorm, a music education non-profit started by Jake and Brendan, of Umphrey’s McGee. I made a snowboard design for Burton snowboard’s non-profit called Chill. This year I am doing a Rock The Earth print, which is currently available at rocktheearth.org. (See pictures below) I am also working on a Headcount print. Headcount goes to concerts to sign up music fans to vote. I feel this is an important year for voting!

RD-Do you have an apprentice or assistants?

JP- I do not have an apprentice. Jason Kaczorowski is my soul assistant. He helps me sell my work to collectors and helps me generally with feedback and support. Besides being a great help to my work, he is a great friend and an awesome photographer.

RD-Do you do private commissions?

JP- I have done private commissions a few times. Usually I do it for old friends who happen to catch me at a not too busy time. I have done birthday prints, but mostly I have done prints relating to marriage or engagement. I always wanted to do a Ketubah. (Jewish marriage contract) I was offered to do one once, but I did not have the time to dedicate to it.

Photos courtesy of Jason Kaczorowski.

Thanks to both Jim and Jason for making this happen!

If there are any questions you would like to see included in part II send them in and I’ll try and get them included when Jim gets some free time.