the end of the Howard Stern Show would have been to put a gun to my head, and even then I would have had to think it over for a bit. In fact, a certain on air personality for the station who will remain nameless (hint: his initials are B.L. and he thinks Bowie stopped releasing albums after Ziggy Stardust) is still on my asskicking list for cheap shots he fired at the Ramones when they got inducted to the Rock Hall of Fame. But all that has changed thanks to one man, the talented, multi-instrumentalist and Sopranos actor Little Steven Van Zandt, host and creator of Little Steven's Underground Garage.
The Underground Garage does something neither the crap 'classic' rock stations or crap 'alternative' stations have ever dared to do, something that has previously been confined to the realm of college radio: it manifests the link between the gritty rock of the sixties to the indie rock of the eighties to the contemporary garage rockers reviving the scene today. Sure, cool Clevelanders like you probably have long realized that there is a soul of continuity between groups like Iggy and the Stooges and the White Stripes, but, alas, our radio stations would prefer that we feast upon Bachman Turner Overweight, Puddle of Crud and Kid Crock. To quote Thor, God of Thunder, "I say thee NAY!"
The real rock does exist. Always has. Always will. It is out there, and thankfully, Little Steven is sharing it with the nation. More importantly, on February 21st he will be sharing it with Cleveland live at the Beachland Ballroom. Headliners the Romantics have a new disc with a great garage rock crunch, but the real prize is a band that has worn the mantle of garage gods since the early eighties, Rochester, NY's Chesterfield Kings. Last time I saw them was opening for the Hoodoo Gurus at the Phantasy Nite Club many a moon ago, along with New Salem Witch Hunter Dave Swanson playing in the excellent power pop band the Reactions. That night the Kings WERE the Rolling Stones (Brian Jones, era, naturally), the Pretty Things, the Fantastic DJ's, etc. Not because they played through Vox amps, but because they invoked the primal gods of garage and frugged like titans.
This show promises to be all that and more as Little Steven not only produced their latest, "the mindbending sounds of the Chesterfield Kings", but cowrote and played on the lead track. So, it would seem a safe bet that the littlest Soprano will be doing more than just introducing the bands. Come join Steven in making manifest the true history of rock and roll. From Cool Cleveland reader Sean Rapacki seanrapacki@earthlink.net.
(:divend:)