Complicated Fun, or the fine art of being Real Cool

In the Summer of '78 I was slaving away washing dishes at the Mr. Steak Restaurant on Riverside Avenue, trying to payoff my first electric guitar that was on layaway at one of our downtown music stores. It was an electric guitar that I HAD to have, having just seen KISS at the St. Paul Civic Center in December on their Alive 2 Tour. The loud guitars and flash pots blew me away, and I saw how much the chicks in the crowd were digging it. I need one of those guitars, I said to myself.

On July 28th, I decided to take a one day break from the guitar fund, cause Cheap Trick was playing at the State Theater on their Heaven Tonight Tour. They mentioned KISS in their song Surrender, so I had to go! For the life of me, I can't remember if there was one or two warm up bands. All I remember was being fucking BLOWN AWAY by The Suicide Commandos. No explosions, no fire breathing, no levitating drum riser adorned with kitty cat statues. Just fast, catchy, stripped down, in your face, punk and roll. Most of the crowd that was there for the power pop of Cheap Trick were unimpressed with the musical stylings of the Commandos, and they were showered with boos. I became a fan for life. At that time, there was no such thing as an all ages show. There were arena shows, and there were bar shows. That meant that a 16 year old fan would have to be content with listening to their album, and missing out on all the live shows. ( sad face )

Fast forward 38 years, and I find out they're playing at First Ave with Husker Du axe man Bob Mould's band! I get my ticket 2 months ahead of time, and wait, wait, wait for show day. Show day arrives and I am super psyched! Before their set, I met the guys at the merchandise table, and they signed my album for me. The album that I bought 38 years ago, that survived 5 moves and countless house parties has FINALLY been signed! So they go backstage to get ready for the show, and I go to get a spot on the dance floor. Curtain goes up, stage lights come up, and I'm seeing The Suicide Commandos live for the first time since 1978. They ROCKED the fucking house, playing an AWESOME set, and there weren't any dickheads booing this time.  

Living Like a Runaway

Holy shit, this book ROCKS! Lita Ford, guitar shredder extraordinaire, gives us this autobiography that follows the rise and fall of The Runaways, and her up and down and back up again solo career. I never got to see The Runaways live, but I did get to see Lita live in December of 2015. It was AWESOME! After the show she signed my "Runaways Live in Japan" album, and my "Living Like a Runaway" CD. Anyway, if you're a fan of Lita, The Runaways, or you just love stories about Rock & Roll, buy the book! Trust me, you won't be disappointed. Do you want to know which Ramone gave which Runaway crabs? Of course you do, BUY THE FUCKING BOOK!

Bob Stinson Memorial Park Bench

The Minneapolis chain of lakes is known for being pristine and squeeky clean. However, just off the walking/bicycling paths, along side the channel that connects Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun, sits a park bench that oozes rock & roll. The bench is covered in graffiti, and the ground around it is strewn with sunflower seed shells, cigarette butts, and beer bottle caps. All left as some sort of offering to the late Bob Stinson, founding member of The Replacements. I didn't have a ciggy butt or a bottle cap to offer him, so I left one of my guitar picks instead. It was very peaceful hanging out on this bench, soaking up the warm May sunshine, and taking in the views of the lake and the channel. No wonder Bob spent so much time here!

Christmas with Impaler

Impaler, the band who's name has been synonymous with Halloween for over 30 years, has decided to add another holiday to their repertoire, Christmas. Speaking as someone who has tried in the past, it is VERY difficult to write an original Rock & Roll Christmas song. Impaler meets that challenge head on, unleashing the "Krampus" CD single on our unsuspecting ear drums. Jam packed with the screaming guitars and hard driving rhythm section that have fueled Impaler since their inception, Krampus is sure to be Holiday hit for years to come.

Punk Rock Watches, and AWESOME customer service!

For most of my so called "adult" life, I would purchase a wrist watch for 7 or 8 bucks at that store with the bulls eye logo, wear it for a year or two, replace the battery, and get a couple more years use out of it. By then, the band would be shot, and the face of the watch would be all scuffed and scratched. So, the watch would go to the landfill, and I'd purchase another $7 time piece and start the process all over again. Well, that cycle ended this month, when I saw this Nemesis Punk Rock watch on Amazon dot com, and I knew I had to have it. So, the watch arrives, and when I attempted to set the time, I pulled the stupid crown completely out! DUMB ASS! I tried to put it back in, and I could not get it to go back all the way. It's sticking out about an eighth of an inch, and the second hand has stopped moving. YOU FUCKING IDIOT, YOU WRECKED YOUR BRAND NEW WATCH, I said to myself. Of course the watch has a warranty, but to take advantage of that, I'd have to pay for shipping to California, and give them a check for $12.95 to cover return postage. And, would it even cover a dumb ass breaking the crown? Maybe I could get it fixed in town for less than that, I said to myself. My first stop was this fancy schmancy diamond seller and watch repair shop in downtown Minneapolis. The jeweler had skulls and cross bones on his suspenders, so I had a good feeling about this place. I showed him the watch, told him what I did to it, and explained the warranty. He looks at it and says, "Nobody has parts for these, your best bet is sending it back to California". I thanked him for his time, and headed out to The Mall of America. On the 3rd floor, at the North end of the mall, is a jewelry repair shop called Fixology. I explain my predicament again to the jeweler at Fixology. He takes the watch, pulls out the crown, shakes the watch next to his ear, FULLY reinserts the crown, sets the time, and I'm on my way. I don't know why I couldn't do that, or why the first jeweler didn't try it, but now Fixology has a customer for LIFE!    

News flash: I love autographs!

Hello, my name is Erik, and I'm an autograph hound. I collect autographs from everyone, from international recording artists, to local media personalities, and all most anyone in between. 95% of the autographs in my collection, like the Madusa and Doug Bradley photos above were obtained in person. The autographed Ace Frehley CD was purchased through his website. ( $35, TOTALLY worth it! ) Most celebrities will sell, or give away autographed pictures via their websites. Price varies due to the celeb's fame, or their opinion of themselves. An autographed 8" x 10" of  Scream Queen Elvira will set you back $45 or so. An autographed 8" x 10" of the super sexy Morgan Fairchild is around $20. An autographed picture of Tiffani Amber Thiessen, star of the horror/comedy classic "Shriek if You Know What I did Last Friday the 13th" is free! I'm still waiting for that pic to arrive. To the serious collector/investor, my collection is worthless. That's because 99.99% of them don't have a Certificate of Authenticity ( C.O.A. ) proving that it's legit. None of that matters to me, cause to me, my autograph collection is priceless, even without a stack of COA's. I'm an autograph hound, and proud of it!

"No Regrets", a long overdue book review

Meant to write this last year, but life kept getting in the way, and I forgot. As I've said before, nobody could describe me as an avid reader.  I read 3 books in 2011, and this was the last one. Just like the previous 2 books, I'm relieved that the author lived to write this memoir. I've been a HUGE Kiss fan since 1975, the first time I heard "Rock n Roll all Nite". It was on one of those K-Tell compilations, hidden among the AM pop drivel that we were bombarded with in the mid 70's. The power chords at the beginning of the song were like NOTHING this 13 year old had heard before. I was hooked, and a life long obsession began. I love all eras of Kisstory, but the Ace Frehley eras are my favorite. This book allows us to take a Rocket Ride with the Space Man, through the highs and lows of the hottest band in the world, KISS!