September 8

This is not a rebel blog. But today seems to be full of rebellious sorts. If it’s your birthday, make sure you’re not part of the machine! Follow the examples of your brethren – I mean, DON’T follow- that is… You know what I mean, right?

Pink’s got plenty to celebrate besides her birthday today: her blockbuster world tour hits stateside next week. Also, she may be reconciling with her muse/ sort-of-ex-husband, after all. Also, I just discovered that she goes by “P!nk”, which makes her easier to google, so thanks for that, Alecia…
I’ve had a bear of a time trying to find Pink’s latest video to share, what with her being a Universal Music artist. Since I started this column, I’ve been sampling all the YouTubes-to-come (Hulu, Joost, Dailymotion, Fliiby, etc.) in search of videos to share. It seems like the bigger the act, the harder a lockdown from the record label. If they were trying to sell the music video, I’d understand, but why block a four-minute commercial for your own product?
Anyway, this is yet another videosite I discovered, just to share P!nk’s latest. It was either this one, or I learn Russian, so enjoy…


Brendan Kelly is the bassist for the Lawrence Arms, a band that’s more punk than you. In fact, they’re the only band I’ve ever heard of that’s permanently banned from the Warped Tour, for saying that Warped was siphoning bands from the underground venue system to fuel their shopping-mall concerts. True or not, outing Warped on a Warped stage is like calling the bride’s gown ugly when she’s standing at the altar. These days, neither Warped nor the Lawrence Arms have anything to do with the other, and everyone’s fine with that.


Fad Gadget (born Frank Tovey) was the Bering Strait between New Wave and industrial, straddling the line between the aggressive performance art music of the 70’s and the 80’s synthpop to come. He became most renowned for his on-stage prescence (tarring and feathering himself and stage diving into an audience, playing electric razors and power tools as musical instruments,) but when you set aside the antics, the sound keeps up with contemporaries Gary Numan and Depeche Mode.
“Ricky’s Hand” is my favorite, but this German TV performance of “Collapsing New People” is just bizarre enough to stick in your retinas…


Finally, today’s Slim Thug day in Houston. This compatriot of Mike Jones got the same affinity for that Robitussin rap-style coming out of Texas. He doesn’t just sling the words; he started his own label (Boss Hogg Outlawz) once he realized how successful his mixtapes could be. He can say, with all authority, “I’m the Boss….”

Come to think of it, I like The Lonely Island’s version better…