August 30

For starters, Ryan Ross, formerly of Panic at the Disco, is celebrating a birthday today. And look what I get for not paying attention; they’ve cracked in half.
His new band is called The Young Veins, and he's not being shy about how much they sound like the Kinks:


Speaking of retro, I discovered Negative, via birthday boy Jonne Aaron Liimatainen. They’re huge in Finland, in a HIM/Rasmus kind of way. (In some parts of the world, hair metal never went away.) Don’t know if they’ll cross the pond, though. Maybe when we get “Rock of Ages: The Movie”…


Let’s recognize the birthday of the late Chris Latta. He started in stand-up, did some TV and film work, but really made his mark in voice-over work:
Yup, he voiced two of the most hissable villains of 80’s after-school TV: Transformers’ number two Decepticon, Starscream, and G I Joe’s chief nemesis, Cobra Commander:

When you think about it, 80’s cartoons were way too silly to work. The bad guys had to be dangerous but not too scary, appear threatening yet defeatable in 25 minutes (minus commercials), and come back again and again. Latta’s voicework turned what could have been ordinary heavies into the perfect cartoon bad guys. They didn’t just lose every week because Good always triumphs over Evil; they lost every week because they were douchebags.

If that’s not enough contributions to pop culture, he also originated two Simpsons voices: Mr Burns and Moe the Bartender. All together, he deserves a raise of the glass.

Let’s finish this 80’s flashback with birthday boy Aaron Barrett ’s band Reel Big Fish, covering the Duran Duran chestnut “Hungry Like the Wolf.” And not just any”Wolf”- the Lupin III AMV (Anime Music Video) for “Hungry Like the Wolf.” (Hey, if I post this three times, how bad-ass would this column be?)

See you tomorrow…