Even with some lingering health issues that came over me last week, this was a kick ass, Mother Lovin’ weekend.  My brother and his beautiful wife sent me flowers.  It was so unexpected and sweet that I blubbered all over the petals as I was arranging them in my favorite vase.  Marty took me to the Frank Lloyd Wright house at the Oregon Garden on Saturday afternoon.  I’ve been there before, but never inside because of private functions or whatever going on at the same time that I wanted a tour.   I also went to Powell’s with my friend Chris who also adores books.  We in Portland truly are blessed to have Powell’s Book City.  I’m glad I only allowed for 90 minutes there or I would have gone way over budget.  So many books, so little time.

I was also treated to a trip to the store to pick out some flowers and potting soil.  I love gardening, but can’t do the crazy stuff like pulling out stumps like I used to do.  Hernias!  Pffft.  What a thing.  Anyway, it was cool to just point and choose and come home and plant, creating instant beauty around the house.

Then to top it off, George Thorogood played the Roseland on Mother’s Day night and I went to the show with my son, Alec.  We have this long standing tradition of seeing George Thorogood together.  From the time he was in second grade and we saw GT rock the LB Day Amphitheater, dropping “F” bombs that Alec would no doubt bring back to his Little League team, and rocking us like crazy…to the time we saw GT&theD’s open for ZZ Top at the Rose Garden trying not to watch the couple who needed to get a room in front of us…to the VERY MEMORABLE 2010 Mother’s Day show at the Roseland…it was a blast each time.  The fun part of this last Sunday is that we got to go backstage and meet with George. 

George Thorogood knows how to enter a room…with great presence and rock attitude!  He also has wonderful wisdoms that he passes along when you meet him or interview him.  This time it was a book recomendation.  “The Tender Bar” by J.R. Moehringer.  He told my son to read it.  It was about a boy becoming a man and how his mom was there for him.  George said his mother-in-law gave it to him, and every man should read it. 

Other wisdoms from the evening include tips for everyone meeting a rock star which I will now pass along so that you don’t embarrass yourself when finding yourself backstage with a legend.

1. Do not ask to have body parts signed.  While some guys will really enjoy this, and I myself have autographed limbs of muscular men, it’s sort of strange.  Also usually messy. 

2. Do not interrupt the rock star when they are telling a story or talking to someone else.  We are there to see them.  They are allowing us to come into THEIR space before (or after) a show, and if you are too drunk or obnoxious you will then drool your bad karma all over the rest of us who are attempting to be interested and interesting.  Also do not yell.  They have a night’s worth of loud music to deal with.

3. Don’t grab the rock star’s ass after they have agreed to a hug.  In fact don’t ASK for a hug.  If the star wants to hug you, they will.  Most times shaking hands is cool enough.  Sometimes they will take a picture with you.  Other times they will even allow autographs as well.  Don’t be selling that on e-bay and making it worse for us who try to get these rare items signed so we can raise funds for charity.  That is karma that you will have a hard time getting rid of.  I’ll pray for you.

4. Take a photograph in your mind of the moment and the people in the room.  Some people have met so many celebrities that it is no longer a big thrill.  I have yet to get to that point.  My heart starts beating faster, I know my face flushes, and I’m just so happy to be in the room with someone I admire.  It’s rich and wonderful.  Enjoy it. 

5. Don’t be too cool for the room, be just cool enough.  Show your appreciation.   You know what I mean.  If you don’t, then don’t go backstage.

6. Do not make your boyfriend/girlfriend jealous by being too gushy all over rock star.  Again, not cool.

7. If you won a prize like an electric guitar signed by the artist, and if you are awesome as this guy, listener David Gilroy, not only will the artist sign the guitar, he will play a couple of tunes on it so that you can SEE that it was played by rock royalty.  Our KGON listeners rock! 

George Thorogood always gives the audience his best, which was advice he got from the one and only Joe DiMaggio, the Yankee Clipper.  Yes, that’s how incredibly cool George is, he got advice from Joe DiMaggio. 

I’m lucky enough to have interviewed George Thorogood a couple of times.

Here’s a link to the most recent one.

Here’s a link to one from the past.

May all future Mother’s Day events be as wonderful as this one was. Oh, and to top it all off, my son took me to see “Iron Man 2″ last night.  LOVED IT!  We enjoy that kind of movie.  Plus, it has music from Queen, The Clash and the MIGHTY AC/DC in it.  We were talking about the movie on the way home, and thought that George’s “Bad to the Bone” would have worked in the movie as well.  It’s been in a lot of movies, and works every time.

Hope you had a good weekend too.

I can’t believe it was that long ago.  Yeah, it’s only a little over a couple of months, but after a surgery and stuff that followed, it was a long time ago in musician or disc jockey years.  I must credit the lovely Anne DeBrie for that little phrase.  She called the other night to make sure I could be at the party.  I’m excited to see the DVD, and see my friends, and listen to some great music!

Join us if you’re looking for some good Saturday night music.  Only $5 cover/donation at the door.  Oh, and the food is good, so come early and get a table!

Click here to get to the Dub DeBrie Page.

The reason that song is stuck in my head is because of the movie “The Runaways” and the Portland premiere at the Hollywood Theater on Monday night.  It was also a benefit for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls which is an amazing organization.  What cool women AND men are involved with the camp.  It is all about empowering young girls to believe in themselves, their creativity, their power, and teaches them team building and other life skills…all while rockin’ out!  There certainly was nothing like this around in 1975 when The Runaways were getting a girl rock band together.  That was the same year I started working in radio.  Yeah, it was a man’s world in both cases.

The movie shows rock in all it’s most disgusting ugliness.  This is not a movie for kids.  It shows the abuse of power, drugs, sex, and pulls no punches at all.  It also is pretty truthful about how alienated teenagers are.  Even if they are the most popular or beautiful person at school, there’s a certain amount of feeling like an absolute outcast that everyone goes through.  I’m pretty sure about that.  Follow up at your high school reunions and ask questions.  If people are willing to let their true self show, you’ll find that probably everyone went through something awful, and had no idea how to deal with it when they were in high school.  I can think of only one person at my high school who most likely escaped that feeling, and he truly was the coolest dude on the planet.  Even at the  reunions, he was still “that guy” who was at ease with himself and everyone around him.  Not the rest of us.  We were all full of angst and our heads were ready to explode.  And so it was with The Runaways too.

Back to the movie.  The Hollywood Theater was sold out for the premiere.  Cherie Currie was there, and looked even more amazing than she did when she was in the band.  I congratulated her on her book “Neon Angel” and asked if it was hard to tell the story.  She said it was harder to take out the co-author Tony O’neill because he was trying to have it be a very British and proper book, and she wanted the book to have her voice.  She succeeded.  The book definately has Cherie’s voice.  The movie follows the book pretty close, but it does take creative license with several scenes. 

I found the seat that I wanted way before they let in the crowd, on the aisle and in the back so if I needed to leave I could without disrupting anything.  When the lights went down, there was a seat next to me that wasn’t taken.  This was a sold out show, so I figured it wouldn’t last.  A woman wandered in late and was looking around, spotted the seat next to me and asked if it was taken.  I said “not at all” and she sat down.  When she settled in and found room for her backpack, the previews were off and the feature began.  She was…a talker.  One of those people who in a theater, alone, will talk to the film.  Comment on things.  Gasp with horror at things.  Now, I’m all for laughing during a movie, and there were funny scenes.  But there were also very uncomfortable scenes, and she also made it very obvious how she felt about each and every one of them.  I have no idea what it is about me that attracts people like this to sit near me at movies and concerts.  I’m a magnet.  Seriously.  I’d like it to stop.

At the end of the movie, Cherie Currie stayed for a Q & A with the audience.  I’m so glad I stayed.  She was honest, powerful, and had no problem being genuine.  There were lots of questions about her past, the depiction of the drug use in the film (Cherie became a drug counsellor for youth after she cleaned up for a while) and the music. 

“The Talker” next to me had questions.  Two of them.   I can’t remember what the first question was, but I certainly remember the second one.  She said “The film shows a relationship between you and Joan Jett, so was there something going on there?”  Cherie answered “Are you asking if I had sex with Joan?”  Talker sort of stammered, “well, you know, I, um…”  Cherie said again “Are you asking if I had sex with Joan?  YES…I did.  And she was really good!”  Wild applause ripped through the theater at that point.  Hilarious. 

She also talked about Kim Fowley who I wrote about in a previous blog.  What a scumbag!  She has forgiven him for the things that he did, and I’m sure that’s part of anyone’s recovery.  To forgive the person who did you wrong so you can move forward.  But seriously, what a scumbag.  If you read the book or see the movie and don’t have this reaction, then you have no shame or empathy.  He abused the girls in many ways and they had to finally sue him to get the money he made off them…20 years later. 

Bottom line.  The movie was great but gritty.  Dakota Fanning and Kristin Stewart were amazing.  The book “Neon Angels” is also a great read.  It will shock you, or maybe not if you’ve been in the jaded business of rock ‘n roll for any length of time. 

I must also mention that the sister of the late Runaways drummer, Sandy West was at the movie too, and there’s a scholarship in her name for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls.  If your little girl wants to rock, be thankful that there were pioneers who are now watching out for the girls, and that they all don’t have to go through all that to be stars.

“Hello world, I’m your wild girl.  I’m your ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!”

Indeed.

Here’s a fun fact from IMDB: “The producers only acquired the life story rights of Cherie Currie, Joan Jett, Sandy West and Kim Fowley. Band members Lita Ford and Jackie Fox were never approached for consultation on the film. When Fox protested the production moving ahead without her participation, producer Joan Jett threatened a lawsuit declaring that contrary to insinuation, no characters based on Fox or Ford appeared in the film.” 

This fascinates me.  How can they tell the story of the band without the other two girls?  Gloria met and hung out with Lita Ford when she was starting her solo career.  Lita’s pretty cool.  I saw Joan Jett at the Oregon Jam at Autzen Stadium in 1980.  I think it was 1980.  Jeff Mitchell reminded me of that today.  He was there too.  That was the first time he met me.  Many many years ago, my babies.  I remember it was really hot that day, and I remember the headliner, Blue Oyster Cult, and the Godzilla blow up thing on stage.  That’s pretty much it for that day. 

In 2003, I did meet the REAL Kim Fowley, the guy who discovered The Runaways, and who’s character is portrayed in this movie, backstage at a Bruce Springsteen show at Dodger Stadium in L.A.   My brother, Neil, was with me, and he made the comment that this very tall man dressed up in a suit backstage at this show had to be someone…important.  He also had a bodyguard.  So, I walked up and asked him who he was.  He said that I wouldn’t believe it.  I said that I might.  He handed me a card.  Kim Fowley.  The real Kim Fowley.  Now, if you haven’t read about the L.A. rock scene, or about Laurel Canyon, or about The Runaways, then you probably don’t know who the heck he is.  Actually the man has been around the rock scene from 1959 on.  He produced, managed, wrote, and did arrangements for many artists through the years.  He’s sort of like the John Waters of the rock world.  At least that’s how it seemed to me.  Way off center, and loving the fact that he was really…noticeable. 

The Runaways actually fired him in 1977, and sued him for the rights to their name and royalties in the 90’s and won.  I wonder if they have mended any fences since then?  The movie is based on Cherie Currie’s memoirs, and I’m pretty interested to see the whole thing.  Especially since Dakota Fanning plays Currie.  I’ll also be watching closely to see if Michael Shannon does a good job with Kim Fowley. 

By the way, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were on Letterman last month doing “Bad Reputation” and it just kicked ass!  How does the woman do it?  She’s superhuman.  No wonder she’s getting her own “Ladies of the 80’s” doll.  Click below to get to the You Tube video of the performance.

Joan Jett on Letterman

Off to the show!

“When ev’rybody’s fast asleep, I start to creep.
Through the shadows of the moonlight, I walk my beat.
Better close your window tight:
I might come in for a bite,
Oh yeah. ”

I’ve got to stop watching “True Blood” so late at night.  I was catching up and I like to watch episodes twice sometimes.  I just can’t get these vampires out of my head. 

I’ve always liked the vampire stories, read all the Ann Rice books, and now vampires are this crazy rage with teenagers.  Pre-teens too from the book series that are out there.  I enjoy the shape-shifters too.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then move along. 

Actually I was up until after 1:00am and had to force myself to shut down the “monkey mind” that starts when I’ve stayed up too long.  Then I got up at 5:00am.  That’s when the body clock goes off, and the cats want to eat and prowl.  It’s not really insomnia, it’s just a REALLY active mind.  Insomnia is what happens when you’re trying to sleep and can’t.  I wasn’t really trying. 

Tonight though….ZZZZZZZZZZZ.