LAST CALL: Crowd Pleaser Nate Wiley Dead At 82, End Of ‘Longest Job Goin’

Nate Wiley and the Crowd Pleasers Bob and Barbara’s, 1509 South St. Last call. This is the house that Pabst Blue Ribbon built. The walls are covered floor to ceiling with Pabst memorabilia spanning several decades–from the corny caucasoid ’50s when Danny Kaye shilled for the brew, to the blaxsploitation ’70s when he was replaced with a Foxy Brown lookalike. The one constant in all those ads over the years is this catchphrase: “Now at Popular Prices.” That’s the asking price for Nate Wiley and the Crowd Pleasers, which has been cranking out no-cover-charge soul-powered organ jazz at Bob and […]

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“There’s a common loneliness that just sprawls from coast to coast. It’s like a common disjointed identity crisis. It’s the dark, warm narcotic American night I just hope I’m able to touch that feeling before I find myself one of these days parked on Easy Street.” –TOM WAITS, 1976

THE MAN WHO HOWLED WOLF TEXT BY JONATHAN VALANIA/PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN LANTRY The Astro is a broken-down, drunk motel located about an hour north of San Francisco in Santa Rosa, near the arid, wine-growing region of the Sonoma Valley. It’s Tom Waits country – he lives somewhere around here, although exactly where remains a closely guarded secret. MAGNET booked a room at the Astro because the price is right, but upon closer inspection, it’s the ideal setting to await an audience with the man who elevates the down and out in song. The bard of boardinghouse madrigals. The man who […]

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ESPERANTO: Yo La Tengo For Joey Vento

In a bold and arguably pointless move, we just hired a new indie-rock critic right off the boat from Sicily. Please give a warm 215 HELLO to Simone Secci. Honestly, it never occurred to us to ask if he could write in, like, English. Oh well, this one goes out to all our goombahs in Sout’ Phiwwy. Abbondanza! YO LA TENGO INTERVISTA di SIMONE SECCI Incontrare gli Yo La Tengo ? un’esperienza che si rivela ancor pi? piacevole del previsto. Se difatti la semplicit? e la spontaneit? comunicata dalla loro musica e dalla loro immagine pubblica, lasciano pensare a tre […]

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HOLLA: Yo A.D. Let’s Just Backdafucup Un Momento, And J To The Hova BRUTHAS AND SISTAS!

THE WOOK REPORTS: Hold, up Amorosi. Gimme that Webster’s-ready recap of Jay-Z‘s “Hangar Tour” again, will ya? “Titled the Hangar Tour, the event had Jay-Z fly cross-country in his G5 jet to play 30-minute sets in airports and intimate venues beginning in Atlanta at 6:30 a.m., then Philadelphia, Washington, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.” [From Sunday’s Inky] No offense, holmes, but last I checked, the Electric Factory was about as intimate as Mark Foley at a sorority mixer. Sure, Saturday’s show was in the early a.m., but just because you share morning breath with a thousand other […]

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CONSOLATION PRIZE: Q&A w/ Sir George Martin, Producer & Paterfamilias, Species Beatles Britannia

These questions were submitted to Sir George via email on behalf of the Inquirer, but unfortunately the answers showed up a day after the story ran. But as we often find ourselves saying ’round the Phawker water cooler, better late than never… PHAWKER: I am sorry to learn that a hearing problem makes a phone interview impossible. I am a HUGE fan, and would have savoured the sound of your proper English accent. Can you tell me about your hearing condition — I realize it’s a bit personal, but it is a bit like Beethoven — and how did it […]

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We Know It’s Only Rock N’ Roll But We Like It

QUEEN JANE APPROXIMATELY: Bob Dylan, The Spectrum, November 18th, 2006 1964 EVA SAYS: When you defend and idolize an iconic figure so fervently it becomes personal, it’s almost easier to believe they’re make-believe, or even better, dead.This way, they can’t disappoint you when they fail to meet your out-of-proportion expectations. Which is what made my first ever Bob Dylan experience pretty tough to take. I wanted to hold on to my idealized vision of Bobby for ever and ever and ever. But let me tell you, it wasn’t easy. Hater friends of mine bitterly spat on about his disgraceful Victoria […]

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Now Playing: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE On Phawker Radio

A few questions we NEVER thought we would have the occasion to ask: I have a blog, perhaps you would like to read it? And I have the NEW Beatles album, perhaps you would like to hear it? But without a doubt, NEVER EVER in a million years did we ever think we would have the occasion to say: Would you like to hear the NEW Beatles album on my blog? This just fell into our lap somehow but we seem to have the worldwide Internets exclusive on this, at least for, oh, another five minutes or so. Maybe longer. […]

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HOLLA: The Aqua Teen Hunger Force Is HUNGRY

THE WOOK REPORTS: Word to the wise — don’t look any members of Ink & Dagger in the eye for fear of litigious retribution the likes of which we haven’t seen since Arnie Becker retired in ’94: Local Musician Terrence Yerves has sued Time Warner, the Cartoon Network, TBS and old-school rap icon Schoolly D, alleging copyright infringement. The suit, filed last week in federal court, asserts that in September 1999, while working at a recording session for Schoolly D, Yerves played drums on a song. Yerves, according to his legal complaint, was surprised about a year later when he […]

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JESUS IS COMING, Quick Everyone Look Busy!

“Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn Suicide remarks are torn From the fool’s gold mouthpiece The hollow horn plays wasted words Proves to warn That he not busy being born Is busy dying” –“It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding,” 1965 BLINQ: Roadmaps For The Soul LOCUST STREET: Very Groovy Deep-Dish Sixties Anthropology, w/ Mp3’s PHILEBRITY: Sweeney May Have His Head Up His Ass About Valania, But Dude Knows From Dylan

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Ding-Dong The Witch Is Dead: CLEAR CHANNEL MONOPOLY SOLD OFF FOR SPARE PARTS

The $18.7 billion deal is one of the biggest among recent acquisitions of public firms by cash-rich buyout groups. SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation’s biggest operator of radio stations, said yesterday that it had agreed to be acquired for about $18.7 billion by a private-investment group. The transaction would be one of the biggest deals in which a publicly traded company has been taken private, and it showcases the vast sums that buyout groups have been able to assemble for acquisitions. […] Clear Channel’s shares jumped $1.24, or 3.6 percent, to $35.36 on the New […]

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