ON SUMMER VACATION

Thanks for checking in! Taking off until September while I prep for my novel release at the end of August.

Video: The Romantic Noise - I Fell In Love With A Baby

Growing Old With Rock & Roll Blog (2013) - The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, part one - Romantic Noise and The Buttons, 1978-1980

Growing Old With Rock & Roll Blog (2013)
The Ballad of Willie Phoenix, part one - Romantic Noise and The Buttons, 1978-1980

Romantic Noise was stunning.  Willie wrote virtually all of the songs, played strictly rhythm guitar (he didn't start playing lead guitar until The Shadowlords in 1983) and sang about 65% of lead vocals.  Bass player extraordinaire Greg Glasgow contributed the remainder of the original tunes (of which there was a mind-boggling number & variety, which we may deal with in a later appendix) and sang lead on about a third of the Romantic Noise repertoire.  Lead guitarist John Ballor only sang about three leads - the aforementioned "I Feel New,"  "Holly," and an early raver maybe called "Politician, Politician" - but Willie generously handed him off some truly killer songs to sing.  When original drummer David Machnicki (who employed a rather Ringo Starr-inspired style of playing) was replaced by madman Keith Moon-styled smasher Dee Hunt - the pride of Beckley, West Virginia - the Romantic Noise line-up was complete.  (And Dee was height-compatible to fit in with the rather diminutive Small Faces-styled Romantic Noise than the too-tall Machniki.)

Know Yer Band: Romantic Noise

Band: Romantic Noise

Members
Guitar/Vocals - Willie Phoenix
Lead Guitar/Vocals - Jon Ballor
Bass/Vocals - Greg Glasgow
Drums/Percussion - Dee Hunt

Releases
1977 - I Fell In Love With A Baby / Dead Flowers (In My Yard) 7" single (Not On Label)
1978 - '78 Affair 7" single (Not On Label)

Donewaiting.com Interviews Church of the Red Museum

Video: Church of The Red Museum

Treblezine: Church of the Red Museum album review (2006)

Treblezine: Church of the Red Museum (2006)
By Ernest Simpson

About a year ago, in interviewing the Columbus, Ohio band the Sun in the wee hours of a winter night, I unknowingly opened a door into the entire Columbus music scene and how it functions. Chris Burney, the Sun’s frontman, seemed tired and disinterested in interviewing until the subject of Columbus came up, and he was quick to act as its bushy-tailed musical tour guide. After describing the city itself, he and his bandmates rattled off an extensive list of Columbus’ up and coming bands. One of those was Church of the Red Museum, a six-piece screaming tornado of a group with feet planted in almost as many styles as the band actually has feet. Those of you who are as geeky as I will notice that this Columbus collective takes its name from an X-Files episode featuring an extreme vegetarian church, alien DNA and teenagers dumped in the woods with “He Is One” painted on their bare chests. Red Museum is not the first band to claim X-Files allegiance, with Killswitch Engage and Eve 6 preceding them, but is definitely the best of the bunch.

New Additions: Church Of The Red Museum self-titled album (2006)

Not sure when or where I picked up the self-titled debut album by Church Of The Red Museum, but I'm glad I did. The band takes queues from artists like Modest Mouse and gives a proper Columbus spin, adding fire to the indie rock sounds permeating the 2000s scene.

Know Yer Band: Church Of The Red Museum

Band: Church Of The Red Museum

Members
Bass, Vocals, Percussion – Don Roberts
Drums, Vocals, Percussion – Robby Coleman
Guitar, Vocals, Percussion – Tom Butler
Organ, Xylophone, Synthesizer, Vocals, Percussion – Bill Jankowski
Violin, Trumpet, Vocals, Percussion – Leslie Jankowski
Vocals, Electric Piano, Harmonica, Percussion – Brian Travis

Releases
2006 - Church Of The Red Museum s/t album (Manup Music)
2007 - The Bitter End 7' single (Nice Life Records)

Video: A Planet For Texas "Amphetamine" Live on Independent Playground 2001

AllMusic: You Can Still Rock In America CD Review

AllMusic: You Can Still Rock In America CD Review

By Karen E. Graves

The 13 tracks on A Planet for Texas' 2000 debut LP bring to mind everything that is great and fun about rock & roll: big riffs, kick-ass attitude, humor, and silly stage names (the best being "Reasonable Steve Texas"). Plus, they have their own theme song, the appropriately titled "Theme From a Planet for Texas." When done properly, theme songs are one of the coolest things a rock & roll band can do, and APFT does it well. 

Mean, gritty vocals and equally vicious riffage on tracks like "Amphetamine" and "Big Cornbred Sonovabitch" call to mind Motörhead/Lemmy (on "Crop Rotation" APFT pulls a sample from Airheads, a movie which, in a different scene, declares Lemmy is God). While the boys have a firm handle on tough-guy posturing and mile-a-minute tongue-twisting punk anthems, it is their ability to write an inescapable hook and vocal melody that really sets them apart from their punk rock comrades.

New Additions: You Can Still Rock In America album by A Planet For Texas

My band only played one show with A Planet For Texas, which is a shame because looking back they ended up being one of my favorite bands of the 2000s Columbus era. Just pure, no-bs punk rock with the requisite midwestern twist of sly humor and subtle class warfare. I'm pretty sure I owned You Can Still Rock In America, but who knows. Luckily, I was able to grab it again at Used Kids over the winter, so it's back in my possession.

Know Yer Band: A Planet For Texas

Band: A Planet For Texas

Members
Bass, Vocals – Joel J. Gunn
Drums, Vocals – Adam/Atom "Stun" Gunn
Guitar, Vocals – Reasonable Steve Texas
Guitar, Vocals – Diamond Ike Midnight

Releases
1998 - A Planet For Texas! 7" single (Music! Music! Music!)
2000 - You Can Still Rock In American album (Diaphragm Records)
2000 - Split w/Bob City 7" single (Diaphragm Records)
2002 - Sprechen Sie Rock? album (Diaphragm Records)

New Additions: My White Bread Mom / Moody Jackson split 7" single

During my many trips around the various Columbus record stores in fall 2019 when I was scooping up 7" singles left and right I came across this split between My White Bread Mom and Moody Jackson released on Burnt Sienna Records, a nice slab of 90s midwestern punk.

Know Yer Band: Moody Jackson

Band: Moody Jackson

Members
Kevin Coming - String Breaking, 2nd tuning
Andy Kranck - Skin Beater
Pat Filipkowski - "Go To Hell"

Releases
1994 - Fric System compilation 7" single (Burn Sienna Records)
1995 - Split w/My White Bread Mom 7" single (Burnt Sienna Records)
1996 - Dreams of a Punk Rock Princess 7" single (Burnt Sienna Records)
1996 - Burnt & Bent compilation album (Burnt Sienna Records)
1997 - Half-Assed, Will Travel compilation album (Perineum Recordings)