Picture This: A Public Image - Punk, New Wave & 2-Tone in L.A. 1978-80 - Exhibition and Book featuring the photos of Spike Waltzer

We went down to Brighton to catch the last day of the excellent exhibition of Garageland promoter Spike Waltzer's music photography at Gallery 40. Originally from Brooklyn in New York, Spike moved to L.A. in 1975 where he studied photography and got snapped up by a photo agency, ending up working as a paparazzo. His direction was to change after a neighbour introduced him to Punk via The Clash's "Give 'em Enough Rope" album in 1978 and he was hooked. He started going to gigs at now legendary Hollywood venues such as the Whisky A Go Go, Roxy and The Starwood, seeing early shows by local bands such as X, Fear and The Go-Go's alongside other touring acts like Blondie and The Cramps. Spike also captured lots of British and Irish bands touring the States often for the first time, and he has some superb onstage and candid offstage photos of The Undertones, Stiff Little Fingers, The Clash, Public Image Ltd, The Specials, The Selecter and Madness. Spike's photos of these bands are superb, really capturing the excitement of the live scene in L.A. at the time and it's great to see so many previously unseen pics of some of my favourite acts.

Spike has collated the best of his photos in a brillant book "Picture This: A Public Image" which is well worth getting hold of. Please note that the exhibition has now closed but the good news is, due to the demand, they will be back at Gallery 40 from December 9th-13th, ideal for picking up some Xmas presents for those friends and family members with good taste in music and photography! There are plans for more showings in London, Manchester and hopefully more locations will be added in due course. In the meantime, the book, postcards and prints (framed or unframed) are still available to order, so for more information you can message Spike at the Garageland Facebook page here or email to jasebick at gmail.com

David Arnoff "Shot In The Dark" Book Resurrection Party at The Dublin Castle, Camden, Sunday March 19th 2023

Here are some photos from a thoroughly entertaining afternoon at the legendary music venue and pub The Dublin Castle in Camden, a suitably Rock 'n' Roll setting for the re-launch (or resurrection...) party to celebrate the new edition of "Shot In The Dark - The Collected Photography of David Arnoff" which is out now on Red Planet Books. David was there to sign copies and chat about his work, and there was a selection of iconic shots taken from the book on display, including superb photos of The Gun Club, Ramones, The Damned, Blondie, The Fuzztones, Thee Hypnotics, Television, The Cramps and many more. There was a DJ providing an excellent soundtrack to the book with loads of great CBGB's era-Punk Rock and classic tracks by some of David's many photographic subjects. I spotted some familiar faces in the crowd too, including members of Jim Jones All Stars, The Phobics, The Priscillas, The Charity Case and Gaye (Advert) Black among others. The new edition of "Shot In The Dark", which includes 16 extra images and a deluxe slipcase, is available to buy from Red Planet Books here. For more information on David and his photography, please check out his Instagram page here or his official web-site here.

All photos copyright Retro Man Blog, 2023

David Arnoff "Shot In The Dark" - Photo Book Featuring Iconic Images of The Damned, The Cramps, Blondie, Ramones and more gets Deluxe Reissue & Launch Party

Photographer David Arnoff celebrates the 'resurrection' of his excellent book "Shot In The Dark" with an afternoon event at the Dublin Castle in Camden on SUNDAY MARCH 19th from 1:30-5pm. The book, full of his iconic photos of bands and artists such as The Cramps, The Damned, Nick Cave, Lydia Lunch, Blondie, The Gun Club, Ramones and Patti Smith, has been given a deluxe reissue make-over by Red Planet Books and features new text, a limited edition signed slipcase and 16 new images. The afternoon at the Dublin Castle will see David signing copies of "Shot In The Dark" and there will be a display of photos from the book along with a DJ supplying a suitably atmospheric soundtrack. It's shaping up to be an event that's not to be missed! PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A RE-SCHEDULED DATE (originally March 12th).

If you can't come along to the re-launch party then you can order the book from Red Planet here. 

For more information on David Arnoff's photography, please check out his official web-site here.

Retrosonic Podcast Lockdown Lowdown Episode 8 with DJ Jawa Jones from Wanita Music

DJ Jawa Jones Photo by Damon Green

In Episode 8 of our special "Lockdown Lowdown" series we welcome DJ Jawa Jones from Monoloco Mixtape and Wanita into the virtual Retrosonic Podcast studio. Wanita is the Indonesian word for woman and is also the name of a night Jawa Jones founded and still runs in London. The night originally launched in Munich in early 2018 with the idea to promote women in music and offer a platform for female DJs to get more involved in the male-dominated music scene. The night was received positively in Munich and London, as it showcased female DJs playing an eclectic mix of music. Wanita focuses on offering female-fronted music from the 50's through to the 80's on vinyl, so it gives the DJs & listeners the incentive to dig & learn about female artists from different genres. 
Jawa enjoys digging in dusty old record stores searching for weird and wonderful music from across the globe, so in her Wanita Music show expect to hear a delightful mix of 60's R'n'B, Rock'n'Roll, Ye-Ye, Garage & Psych with the occasional 70's Punk all sung by fierce & sassy women. Here's the episode, packed full of DJ Jawa's eclectic choices along with her musical memories, experiences and inspirations...enjoy!

Retrosonic Podcast · Lockdown Lowdown Episode 8 with DJ Jawa Jones

Here's the full track-listing, please click on the highlighted links below to investigate further.

Track-listing

Pink Floyd "Dogs of War"

Santana "Black Magic Woman"

L7 "Shitlist"

7 Year Bitch "The Scratch"

U.S.U.R.A. "Open Your Mind"

Beastie Boys "Sabotage"

Sandy Edmonds "Come See Me"

Ervinna & The Stylers "Get Ready"

The Gypsies "It's a Woman's World"

Rita Chao "Hanky Panky"

The Latins "Habibi Twist"

The Cramps "Human Fly"

Les Grys Les Grys "Gone By Dawn"

The Incredible Staggers "Go Go Gorilla"

Les Kitschenette's "Psycho!"

Amyl & The Sniffers "I'm Not a Loser"

LeGrand Mellon "Baby Please Don't Go"

Eileen "Ces Bottes Sont Faites Pour Marcher"

Girlschool "Nothing To Lose"

Recommended Links: 

Wanita

Monoloco Mixtape

Soho Radio

DJ Honey

Barrelhouse Radio

DJ Jawa Jones will feature on Barrelhouse Radio please check out the Wanita Music and Monoloco Mixtape pages at the highlighted links above for information and updates on upcoming shows.

Thanks to DJ Jawa Jones and Damon Green for the Podcover photographer. Retrosonic Podcast has a valid PRS Licence. You can stream/download from our main site at Soundcloud but all episodes are now also available on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcasts and Mixcloud. Thanks for listening, please subscribe so you don't miss an episode!

Fur Dixon & WTFukushima! The Moth Club July 12th 2018

Fur Dixon & WTFukushima! at The Moth Club - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

I first became aware of Fur Dixon back in 1986 during The Cramps “A Date With Elvis” tour along with their now legendary appearance on The Tube TV Show where she impressed a lot of us Cramps fans with her Bunny tail hot pants, fur-lined bra and gum chewing rock’n’roll attitude. It looked like The Cramps had found a really strong line-up again; she seemed the perfect fit, a striking visual character to match the super-flamboyant Lux, the stunning Poison Ivy and the impeccably cool Nick Knox. Fur was the first bass player to perform live with the band but unfortunately, this promising line-up was short-lived and it was a real shame when she left the band shortly after the tour. “A Date With Elvis” was for me one of the best periods of The Cramps and personally, I have always found the LP one of their strongest and most consistent post-Bryan Gregory releases. Although Fur never actually played bass on the record itself - she only contributed backing vocals - she will always be associated with the album and that era. 

Fur Dixon & Dave Provost of WTFukushima! at The Moth Club - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

So, 30 odd years later and suddenly out of the blue, thanks to Brighton based promoters Stay Sick, Fur is back in the U.K. touring with a new band called WTFukushima! to promote their brand new album “Return 2 Sender”. It was unexpected news so I was on the case straight away to secure tickets to her London show at The Moth Club in Hackney. However, before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a quick look at Fur’s story so far…Originally from New York; Fur’s first musical experiences came from singing with her mother’s Church choir where she excelled, winning regional youth competitions. She then moved to California in the early 80’s, said good bye to religion and found Punk Rock via local DJ Rodney Bingenheimer and gigs by acts such as The Plasmatics and Ramones. Fur soon got into Rockabilly and Country music and joined bands The Whirlybirds and The Hollywood Hillbillys before The Cramps came calling. After leaving The Cramps, she returned to her love of Country and Folk releasing albums with Steve Werner before forming WTFukushima! in 2016. Fur has certainly assembled an impressive line-up that announces this as more of a band than a solo project and the main players from the album join her tonight. First of all, there’s the amiable Bernard Yin who joined up with the band after touring Europe with Garage Soul outfit The BellRays and he has switched from bass to lead guitar for WTF! He's a really impressive guitarist too.

Bernard Yin of WTFukushima! at The Moth Club - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Dave Provost from The Dream Syndicate is on bass and Dusty Watson from the current line-up of The Sonics is on drums. That is some pedigree and they certainly didn’t disappoint. The three of them kick off with a Surf instrumental before Fur takes the stage and they crank up and into the next song. She looks great with a shock of blue/purple/mauve hair and still retains that charismatic Rock ‘n’ Roll look and attitude. If you come away from a gig and there is not one single song or melody stuck in your head then there is something wrong with that band. Thankfully, there’s no such problem with WTF! and despite the fact that I hadn’t heard the new LP before the show, it’s Fur’s own songs that provide the highlights of the night for me. The quality of the song-writing is apparent on stand-out tracks such as "Out of Darkness Slowly" and the Glam strut of "Sugar Sweet". 

Dusty Watson of WTFukushima! at The Moth Club - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Fur Dixon of WTFukushima! at The Moth Club - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The superb "Get That Saddle Off My Back" is preceded by a bit of a rant about the end of her time in The Cramps and I'm sure there will be more tales to follow in her forthcoming book. The band certainly draw on many and varied aspects of American music and there is a Bluesy swagger running through the core of their music. However, despite all this talk of Americana, Fur is not afraid to go off at an unexpected tangent; this is particularly evident with one of the two cover versions that feature on the album. “Baby’s On Fire” a collaboration by those most British of Artists, Brian Eno and Robert Fripp from Eno’s “Here Comes The Warm Jets” is a surprise and tonight live, it’s a raucous squealing wall of feedback from Bernard and driven along by Dusty’s immense tribal drumbeat. The other cover, also played tonight, is a slow burning and brooding take on Buffy Sainte Marie’s “Cod’ine” which really highlights Fur’s exceptional voice and you can see that all that practicing with the church choir has certainly paid dividends. 

WTFukushima! at The Moth Club - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

Fur acknowledges my 13th Floor Elevators T-Shirt and then launches into a super-charged version of “You’re Gonna Miss Me” and standing at the front a few feet in front of Dusty’s drums is an experience, he is a real powerhouse, that’s for sure. Despite their different musical backgrounds, there’s a real chemistry between the band members and they seem to be having as much fun as we are. There’s a lot of smiling going on – both on the stage and off it. They end a perfectly constructed set with “New Kind of Kick” then and encore with a nice and sleazy “Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?” and "Love Me" which all go down a storm with a thoroughly satisfied crowd. 

Fur Dixon of WTFukushima! at The Moth Club - Photo Copyright Retro Man Blog

The album "Return 2 Sender" is out now and available from the WTFukushima! Bandcamp site here. As mentioned in the feature, Fur is also working on a book so we will bring you more news on the title and release date as soon as we have it. For more photos from the show at The Moth Club please check out the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here. Some original videos from the gig can be found at our YouTube channel here. For more info on Stay Sick promotions check out their web-site here. An excellent interview with Fur by Neil from the Ginger Quiff Blog appears at the Louder Than War web-site here. For all Fur Dixon and WTFukushima! related news and information please check out the official web-site here.

Fur Dixon: The Cramps "A Date With Elvis" era Bassist's UK Tour with New Band WTFukushima & New LP Out Now!

My first introduction to Fur Dixon came from The Cramps '86 Tour promoting their superb "A Date With Elvis" LP (one of my favourites) where she joined the band as their first live bassist. Of course there was also the memorable appearance on The Tube with Fur's gum chewing sneer and fluffy bunny tail proving a huge hit with us Cramps fans. However, Fur's stay in the band ended along with the tour and she then went onto to get involved in the Americana and Folk scene. But now she is back with a new band WTFukushima which features a damn cool line-up including Dusty Watson of The Sonics, Dave Provost of The Dream Syndicate, Bernard Yin from The Fuzztones and Bellrays and Paul Roessler of The Screamers. They have a new album "Return 2 Sender" out now, which you can order from here, and this is preceded by a single, a cover of Buffy Sainte Marie's "Cod'ine".

Our friends at the Brighton based Stay Sick are arranging the U.K. Tour for WTFukushima and more details can be found at the Stay Sick site here. Tickets for the London show at The Moth Club on July 12th can be ordered via the We Got Tickets here. Finally, for more info on Fur Dixon and WTFukushima please check out her official web-site here.

Retrosonic Podcast Hipsville Weekender Special Edition

In the build-up to this year's Hipsville Weekender, we are pleased to announce this very special Retrosonic Podcast where Steve from Retro Man Blog talks to Mr A, one of the event's main organizers, and the man behind the "You Got Good Taste" Podcast and "Weirdsville" club nights. Generously sound-tracked by many of the bands that will be playing over the weekend such as The Jackets, Giuda, Les Gry-Grys, Oh! Gunquit, Thee Jezebels, The Autoramas and many more, Mr A not only explains about his various ventures but also gives us a fascinating insight into the world of the festival and gig promoter. Taking his inspiration from The Cramps and the early 80's Garage Rock and Psych scene, based around venues such as The Hammersmith Clarendon and Clapham's 101 Club, Mr A tells us about his influences, the current bands that inspire him to put on shows and the other people behind the scenes who help make it all a reality. Never taking the easy option, Mr A offers a stage for many international acts from far and wide such as Brazil's Autoramas and Japan's Kinoco Hotel, who will make their first ever U.K. appearance at this year's Hipsville. We also find out the elusive and mysterious band that is number 1 on his Hipsville wish-list!

This special edition Retrosonic Podcast is available to listen to or download for free below from our Soundcloud site or you can subscribe for free at the iTunes store if you prefer.



Hipsville will be held at Bisley Pavillion in Surrey on May 15th, 16th and 17th and features 14 live acts, international DJ's, Go-Go Dancers, vintage market stalls, record stalls, an auto show and much more. For more information on all the bands and activities please check out their excellent and comprehensive web-site. Here's a great video with a taster of last year's Hipsville fun and games.

You can check out our Retro Man Blog archive for a feature on previous Hipsville's here, and our report on Oh! Gunquit and Les BOF! at Weirdsville here. With thanks to Mr A. Here's the Play-list.

The Cramps "You Got Good Taste

The Cramps "Queen of Pain"

Pussycat & The Dirty Johnsons "Trouble With The Devil"

Becky Lee & Drunk Foot "Lies"

The Felines "Daddy Walk"

The Jackets "Freak Out"

Sick Hyenas "Surf 'n' Blood"
Thee Jezebels "Cried Over You"

Les Grys-Grys "Hot Gully Wind"

Naz Nomad & The Nightmares "I Had Too Much To Dream Tonight"

The Cramps "Under The Wires"

Oh!Gunquit "Cindy's Got a Tiger"

Giuda "Number 10"

King Salami & The Cumberland 3 "Marabunta"

Autoramas "Lugar Errado"

Les Kitschenette's "Eh, Jolie!"

Kinoco Hotel "Peacock Baby"

Speedball Jnr "Beat Girl"