The Real Memphis Mike (don't settle for imitations)

June, aka Gay Pride Month is coming to a close. Thank God. Now, before any of you point fingers at me, call me names, and set forth with vitriol, allow me to state this clearly: I am a true friend of the LGBT community, not just here but everywhere. I have close friends and family in this community and I have always been welcomed by the community. I love all people, for that is the root of my faith.  Gay Pride is, and I hate to have to be the one to tell you this, a sham! It is just another example of the greedy exploiting people for their own personal gains. Yes, YOU should be proud of who YOU are. Who you are attracted to or sleep with should be just one miniscule aspect of your total being. Sadly, there are those in this world who have issues with it...but, those are their issues to deal with. Not yours or mine.  We should, each and every one of us, be proud of who we are, what we do, how we do it, and who our lives touch. To deliberately stand apart from the com...

If you pay attention to the news at all, you've no doubt at least heard about the video of the bus matron being verbally assaulted by teenagers on the school bus. While the ol' gal, I thought, handled herself pretty well...the little idiots did push her to tears. This is just sick. This lady is a mom and a grandmother. I wonder how those little turds would like their own mom or grandmother being treated that way? This brings up the age old debate over child discipline. There's the "spare the rod and spoil the child" school of thought, and then there's everything else. I agree with "spare the rod....". While discussing this video today, I remembered my own upbringing. As kids, we knew that if we were caught doing something bad, we were going to get in trouble. This usually meant getting whacked and possibly grounded. I never thought grounding was much of a deterrent. I mean really...my room is where all of my stuff was! Records,my stero,  my own ...

There's too much negativity on the internet these days. Political crap, negative rants (yes, I'm guilty), conspiracy theorism, etc. I wish there were more positive posts...so as I'm a "put up or shut up" kinda guy, here ya go! I'm sure most of you have seen this picture before: This was the logo for the old RCA Victor label. Nipper hearing his master's voice. Iconic in it's own way. Anyhoo, it's long been said that music doth sooth the savage beast. Let me share a personal story about just this! I used to have 2 weiner dogs; Otis & Dixie. Otis was a pure bred miniature Red Dachshund and Dixie was a Beagle/Dachshund mix. Really two of the best pets/companions/roomies a guy could ever want.  Otis was one helluva chick magnet too! Take that dog for a walk and the women gathered round! Anyhoo, when one has two dogs in the same house, there's bound to be all sorts of noisy moments. These two were no exception. One day, I was in m...

UPDATED JUNE 13, 2012...CHECK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE - MM Pittsburgh's city council declared June 12, 2012 as Sharon Needles Day . What The Fuck? With all of the serious business that they should be tending to, they opted to jump on a media-based bandwagon and glorify a person who should not be glorified. What a crock. OK, before the hate mail starts (and trust me kids, I do get hate mail from time to time), allow me to state this: I've met Sharon/Aaron many times. I try to find the good in everyone. I find it difficult to find much good in this person who dropped out of school, has based their entire performance "style" on a friend's unique style (and not given the credit due), who has shown himself to be a nasty, insecure and hateful person. Sure, "Sharon Needles" likes to think he is the new voice for bullied kids everywhere. I think that's just fucked up. If "Sharon Needles" had a tough childhood out there in Iowa, I feel for...

Ten years ago, we were recording and mixing our best-selling CD, "Back From The Dead". From what I understand, it's still selling well. People have always asked if there's a story behind the title, as there's no correlating song. Well, yes Virginia, there is. At the time we recorded it, we had no clue what to call it. I pushed for "The Greatest Rock & Roll Record You Will Ever Hear Because Every Other Band Except The Blasters Sucks" but that got voted down. Go figure. Anyhoo......at the time we were working on this disc (recorded to 2" tape, all analog, at Daveworld Studios, Home of Everyday Low Low Prices and produced by James Dougherty Jr., aka Dick Dorkerty) I was also performing at a lot of music festivals, especially down south. In July of that year, I do believe, we went to Jackson, TN to peform at our 3rd (and final) appearance at Henry Harrison's monumentous waste of time Rockabilly Hall of Fame Festival. Henry started out with...