Autumn Souvenir

In September of 1995, Gainseville, Florida's For Squirrels were returning to Florida following a performance at CBGBs at New York's CMJ Music Festival. The van they were in blew a tire and the van spun out of control. The lead singer, bassist and manager lost their lives in the wreck. The remaining two members suffered extensive injuries, but survived. One month later, Sony released the band's first and only record, "Example". It was a smash hit on college radio, primarily due to the haunting "Mighty K.C.", a beautiful and tragic pop masterstroke, which also served as a tribute to the late Kurt Cobain. In the mid-90s, this record rarely left the tapedeck of my Mazda 626. "Mighty K.C." along with "Orangeworker", were, and still are, two of my favorite pop songs ever recorded. The career and art of For Squirrels was cut short just before they were set to leave their mark on the pop-rock world. Although a few of the tracks ultimately gar...

YES YES YES YES 9/6 Bottom of the Hill, SF CENTRO-MATIC I may take the week off and travel with them up-and-down the West Coast. Aside from Springsteen, this is the most inspiring band out there right now.

1980 would probably be the year that I fell in love for the first time. Mind you, I was only seven years old. And it wasn't falling in love with a girl. (That happened for the first time ten years later.) My folks divorced before I hit the age of five. It was a fairly amicable split (mostly because my mother was and is so classic). Following their divorce, I was raised by my mother. She supported my brother and I by working as a crossing guard in our suburban town in Northern New Jersey. She put every penny earned towards feeding us, clothing us and paying rent in our two-family house. My father's career was taking off at the time, and he only lived one town over. Nevertheless, we still lived a pretty meager life, but I look back on those days as a strong source for what I believe shaped my character. Ok, back to falling in love. Every other weekend (or so), my brother and I would head to my father's house for the weekend. Given his penchant for the bottle (err, the beer c...

Those Top 100 Albums of All-Time. I've decided to take more time and actually include a little review of why each record made the list. And keep in mind, this list will not be the records that I think are the greatest of all-time, but rather MY Top 100 (which, if I were more of a narcissist, would mean the greatest ever). This is going to be one hell of a list.

This could be it: The Independent, SF, CA June 28 Apollo Sunshine Cold War Kids

My Top 100 Albums of All-Time. It's been about ten years since I've put together such a list and it's time to see where things stand. Many of the records that stood atop my list in 1996 will probably still be there, but there's been a lot the past decade that should position pretty well. On the weekend front, just a great few days in SF. Finally met my buddy Joel's wife and adorable daughter, shot some hoops in the park, saw an outstanding new band called Cold War Kids, sat on the fringe of the Pacific Ocean in Ocean Beach, caught up with some siblings, family and a long-lost friend in London.