Dallas News Blog

​So, yes, this is a weekly feature now -- your Friday acid flashback, courtesy the copious collection of one George Gimarc, with whom we're awfully proud to partner. A brief recap so far: KNUS news tuned up with sitar, followed by A Very Roky Halloween. Now, it gets even better as George continues to dig through miles' worth of KNUS odds and sods picked up at a garage sale two weeks ago. I will let the rock and roll alternative explain:

Long before the KERA did acoustic sessions, or KDGE, or even my sessions at KZEW in the '80s, or the Live At January Sounds sessions at KZEW in the mid-1970s, KNUS was doing in-studio performances around 1970-1971. So far I've uncovered astounding sessions by Freddy King (acoustic!), Brewer & Shipley, Ann Benson, Three Faces West (early Ray Wylie Hubbard) and even some songs from Jose Feliciano. There was a time he was considered pretty hip, and here's one of those songs that he never put onto his many RCA albums, but was pretty kindly disposed to sing. Fraternity of Man did this on the Easy Rider soundtrack.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em. And if you want a roadie, you let me know. I'll roll another one, just like the other one, for any good Friend of Unfair Park.

Patrick Michels

A look back inside two of the Nokia Theatre's newly remodeled suites. Check back soon for a slide show with more photos.

​Nobody's ever accused the Nokia Theatre of having too much character, but thanks to a down-to-the-guts remodeling of its luxury suites, the Grand Prairie venue is home to some of the prettiest seats you'll find in the D/FW music scene.

The Nokia showed off 10 of the new suites last night at a party hosted by D Homes, where designers were on hand to accept compliments and explain some of their design choices.

Most of the new suites sport dim lighting and dark tones, with a few choice flourishes of color, like a red counter-top in an otherwise dark suite remodeled by Rutherford Designs. "We didn't want it too light. We really wanted to concentrate on this," Robert Rutherford told Unfair Park last night, pointing out through the glass at the stage below.

The Salvation Army

​No doubt you've already heard (and just pretended you didn't): Daughtry's landed the halftime gig at Cowboys Stadium on Thanksgiving Day, the annual kickoff for the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign. Which prompted this locker-room meeting of the musical minds on Friday: Free Reign, meet Daughtry -- which, apparently, is fronted by Marc Colombo's Mini-Me.

​One week after providing Unfair Park with the KNUS acid flashback ca. 1970, rock-and-roll alternative George Gimarc has dug into his own vaults -- how awful generous. And he submits for your listening pleasure this most appropriate kick-off for the Friday before All Hallows' Eve: a lengthy interview George conducted in July 1981 with none other than Roky Erickson, long before the Dallas-born, Austin-raised Father of Psychedelic Rock got his synaptic shit together.

Erickson was out promoting The Evil One, which boasts such titles as "I Walked With a Zombie," "Night of the Vampire" and "Bloody Hammer"; George, who was all of 24 at the time, wanted to know, like, what does it all mean? Asked George, "Are you interested in horror stuff now that's much weirder, much more frightening, than you thought 10 years ago you could ever be into?" Responds Roky, "Horror is like many shades of blood."  And then the going gets strange. Also included in the segment: "Don't Shake Me Lucifer," one of Roky's greatest. Boogity, boogity. So jump for the chitchat, already, but mind the bloody hammers.

The missus and I are going to Steve Martin's bluegrass hoedown tonight at the Meyerson -- good cause, sure, but also a good time from the sound of recent reviews. And, say what, Onion A.V. Club: "The band nonchalantly launched into a bluegrass take on the novelty tune 'King Tut.'" Sure 'nuff; here's a version from Toronto earlier this month. The folks at the AT&TPAC say there are still tickets available in the way-back up-top. Bonus: Gary Cogill's emceeing.

​Speaking of local music artifacts and eight-track tapes ...

Here's the poster for James "Big Bucks" Burnett's upcoming exhibit at the Barry Whistler Gallery. Because how else will you get people to look at 500 sealed Rutles eight-tracks "in their original shipping boxes"? Sigh. Dolly Python's amazing, but I kinda miss 14 Records.

Moments ago, U2 posted to its Official Web Site a behind-the-scenes look at getting The Claw inside Cowboys Stadium. It's not so much a deconstruction of the reconstruction, but a brief chat with U2 360 Tour production manager Jake Berry, who explains how the band ended up in Arlington (the joint has great "amenities," which doesn't necessarily mean "sound").

​Good friend of the show Jack E. Jett sends word: This weekend he's debuting a new"experiment" on Rational Radio (1360 on Your AM Dial) that's quite the throwback -- two hours' worth of punk rock, nothing but. Here's how he puts it in his missive to Unfair Park:

After a brief hiatus, The Jack E. Jett Show is back on the air this weekend with a new show and a newer show. After taking a few weeks off for self inventory, I found myself getting back to my roots, my punk rock roots. I created a music show, along with the Southwestern Texas King of the Mosh Pits, Mr. Rob Lobster, that would focus on old new wave and punk rock. The first show in this experiment will air this Saturday, from 1-3pm on Rational Radio. We hope it to be the most interactive radio show in Dallas with the listeners creating the line up. It will be the only place in town where one can hear Patti Smith's "Gloria" followed by "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

I expect the Friends of Unfair Park to post requests below.

And while we're on the subject of good friends of the show and the radio: Rawlins Gilliland had a delightful commentary on KERA-FM (90.1) this morning about his love affair with Latin music, which began with a 1950s local radio show. Did I mention it was delightful?

DFWBlackTV.com

​Back in June we noted that the former Red Blood Club on Commerce Street in Deep Ellum was getting a new tenant -- and, turned out, it was Tuckers' Blues, which had its grand opening about two weeks back. (Friends of Unfair Park highly recommend the joint -- say it reminds 'em of Blue Cat Blues from way back when.) Problem is, when the owners' rep went before the City Plan Commission to get the specific use permit this summer, there was a slight snafu: No one noticed that the SUP didn't let the owners, siblings Dianne and Larry Tucker, open their doors before 8 p.m.

Which ain't exactly good for business, since most of the time Tuckers' will operate as a "bar, lounge, or tavern," per City Hall parlance. Hence the need to go back before the plan commission tomorrow: According to these docs, the Tuckers want to operate from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m., with live music limited from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Friday through Sunday. Which reminds me: Anyone remember when Naomi's on Canton started serving at 7 a.m.? Now those were the good ol' days.

Hal Samples

​The great Hal Samples shot the U2 show at Cowboys Stadium, as evidenced by this most wondermous slide show that looks far better than a good hunk of what I heard last night. Pete reviewed the show on DC9; in the comments, I re-reviewed it. Let's rumble, kid.

Over on DC9 I had a few things to say about the extraordinary Wilco show Friday night at the Palladium. But for some the highlights weren't necessary musical in nature: About halfway through the set, Jeff Tweedy traded his shirt (an H&M long-sleeved button-down) with one fellow who, from the looks of his comment on YouTube, actually wanted to give his gold lamé top to drummer Glenn Kotche. That Jeff Tweedy -- adorable.

Stewart Copeland

​Maybe you missed this when we posted it the first time around -- back in, um, June 2007, when the Police played the American Airlines Center. So, from March '79, here's the band performing (kind of) "The Yellow Rose of Texas" at the original Palladium. (Can't believe that link's still working, to be honest.) Anyway. The reason I mention it is because till this week I had no idea Police drummer Stewart Copeland had a book on shelves about his tenure in that on-and-off band that was, once upon a very long time ago, my favorite in the whole wide world -- well, it was either the Police or Talking Heads. (Or XTC. Or the Clash. Or the Jam. Adam and the Ants, maybe.) Anyway. I also had no idea, even though it says so right there on his Web site, that Copeland was hard at work on a concerto for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

This is what he told The Wall Street Journal a few days ago:

What's up next for you?

Right now, I'm writing a concerto for gamelan for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. It's the magic music of Bali. The whole island is about art and the music really stands out. The gamelan is a row of bells that are pitched. They create beautiful music, but many of the notes don't exist on western keyboards. The Dallas Symphony has a bunch of Bali heads; D'Drum, they call themselves. I have to figure out something for the orchestra to do.

The piece is set to premiere next year. At which point Sting and Stewart may or may not be speaking again.

​The 6-year-old who lives in my house is a big They Might Be Giants fan -- because, after all, they did teach him his ABC's and 123's, and they twosome are currently in the process of learnin' him about the science. The one TMBG product in which he's never shown much interest, though, is the band's collection of venue songs, which dates back to '04 and includes a brief art-rockin' ditty about a particular Deep Ellum venue of some note. In case you've never experienced said track and the accompanying video, introduced by the great John Hodgman, only today the band threw it up on its YouTube page. "Creepy and engimatic," indeed. Jump for it.

​It's been around since forever -- not quite since the '70s, but close enough. But just yesterday, National Public Radio's Wade Goodwyn got around to profiling for All Things Considered none other than Mesquite ISD's KEOM-FM (88.5), our once-upon-a-time favorite blast from the past where, Goodwyn reports, the sound of high school students playing the soundtrack to their parents' lives "might make you say, 'What is this, bring your kid to work day?'"

For grins and the occasional gem, I used to listen with some regularity -- then again, I think my story on the station appeared in the paper version of Unfair Park well before the Internet, iPods and, um, reliable and affordable in-dash CD players? Maybe I'll jog the memory on the drive in with a listen to the station with the prettiest broadcast tower in town. But someone needs to do a study on the toll DJ'ing for KEOM has taken on generations of Mesquite school children:

The music is a cornucopia of the 1970s. Motown, rock, folk, disco -- everything from Karen Carpenter to Parliament Funkadelic, a mishmash that ironically would never have been played together on a single station back in the '70s. The student DJs say they absolutely would not listen to this stuff of their own volition. But being forced to day after day, Wilson describes its insidious effect on her musical tastes.

"Some of it's like, 'Oh, I know this song,' " Wilson says. "Then you're singing it, and pretty soon you like most of the stuff on here."

​Here's a nice end-of-the-week send-off:

I just came across this bootleg of a Bad Livers show in Oregon from July -- and, well, I had no idea Mark Rubin and Danny Barnes were back together, especially since Danny's playing with Dave Matthews these days. Rubin, who'll be at the Allgood on October 9 and who I've known since he was puttin' the kosher in Killbilly, says the gigs have been few and far between and will remain so, which is why he encourages you to download this sumbitch to your iPod's content.

"There was no rehearsal," Mark says. "It was total fuckin' sense memory. It was wild. It was just like falling off a bike." And it features more than a few of my favorite Livers songs, among 'em "Dallas, Texas," "Corn Liquor Made a Fool Out of Me" and the way-oldie-but-goodie "Shit Creek."

Shit Creek? Speaking of. Have a kick-ass weekend.

Nina Kotova

​Beginning Thursday through Sunday, Nina Kotova will sit in with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, as the acclaimed Russian cellist makes her Texas Instruments Classical Series bow. Hers is a particularly special debut in Dallas, as the occasional University of Texas at Austin visiting artist, former Charlie Rose guest and one-time model will world-premiere "Cello Concerto" penned by her good friend and 41-year-old Dallas native Christopher Theofanidis -- a piece she commissioned, matter of fact. The classical-music blog Sequenza21 today features an audio interview with Kotova, who talks about the long-distance collaboration that's been a work in progress for two years.

​I have some hazy memory of my slightly older cousin going to SMU in March 1977 to see Genesis, then touring behind A Trick Of The TailWind & Wuthering, the band's second album with Phil Collins as lead singer. My cousin -- who, earlier today, threatened a libel suit if I printed his name -- also has a vague recollection of this sojourn, though he also thinks it might have been the Queen-Thin Lizzy show at Moody Coliseum on February 25 of that year. (Let's be honest: It was probably both.)

Maybe this'll refresh his memory: a just-posted soundboard recording of Genesis's March 19, 1977, Moody show, which was made for official release but was, um, not officially released. Not exactly my cup of squonk, but it is interesting to hear Collins sub for Peter Gabriel on a song like "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway." Oh, and speaking of KZEW, as we were a few days ago in celebration of its birthday week, George Gimarc would be only too happy to refresh all your concert-going memories -- assuming they took place between 1973 and 1979 and were advertised on The Zoo.

​Can't say this was much of a surprise: 93.3 FM -- now known as i93, yawn -- just introduced itself as Your Home For Today's Hit Music with a serving of Black Eyed Peas followed by Miley Cyrus. In other words, Pop 40 as predicted by a Friend of Unfair Park a couple of days ago. Which doesn't bode well for a frequency troubled in recent years by rotating-door formats -- not unless Cumulus expects the similarly formatted 106.1 KISS FM to stop transmitting at 12:14 this afternoon. So sit back for 93 hours' worth of ad-free "iMaximum music." Ad-free? Indeed.

​Several Friends of Unfair Park -- which is to say, the handful of people still listening to 93.3 Quality Rock -- have e-mailed me this morning wondering what the what is going on on the left side of the FM dial. Because starting at midnight, the fledgling station began broadcasting a schizophrenic hodgepodge of format promos -- everything from old-school country to classic rock to jazz -- and the Web site now says it's "under construction."

Of course, it was just four months ago that Cumulus Media Inc. buried The Bone and went for the Snow Patrol-Coldplay crowd; said Jeff Catlin, operations manager for Cumulus Radio Dallas, at the time, "I think the station has a real chance to succeed." But the format, or lack of one, never caught on: It sat near the bottom of the ratings since its launch, especially with the coveted 25-54 demographic. So, that's that.

What's the new format? Hard to say. Catlin's been unreachable this morning, but Unfair Park has learned that the latest extreme makeover is being handled by Cumulus execs who came to town from Atlanta this week and set the station to "stunt" in advance of the changeover. Messages have been left for John Dickey, the chain's executive vice president and co-chief operating officer, and Jan Jeffries, the senior veep in charge of programming.

Guess this could go under the "From the RTF Department" category, since Miles Fisher has quite the estimable demo reel -- which includes a snippet from the video in which he parodies Tom Cruise's infamous Scientology promo. Or maybe "Business News for People Who Don't Read Business News," since Miles's old man is Unfair Park fave Richard Fisher, head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas -- which, on a semi-related note, just released the latest Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. (Good news too: "Declines in Texas manufacturing continued to moderate in July ... Seasonally adjusted data soon to be released suggest the rate of contraction has slowed.")

Or maybe it'll go under "Local Music." Because, see, starting last week, the St. Mark's grad's been promo'ing his new giveaway EP with this video, a Talking Heads cover and American Psycho homage in which he offs Lydia Hearst. The Business Insider boils it down to the catchiest headline: "Watch The Dallas Fed President's Son Kill Lydia Hearst." Hard to beat that.

​Last week came word that KTVT-Channel 11 had gone to the Federal Communications Commission to get a new frequency following the digital transition. And why was such an emergency petition necessary? Because, according to KTVT docs on file with the FCC, the local CBS affiliate "has received thousands of complaints from viewers unable to receive its signal since moving to its post-transition frequency, Channel 11, on June 12, 2009." It didn't take long for the feds to grant the application: KTVT just sent out a media release announcing that it "will begin transmitting a stronger digital signal" following a move to the UHF band beginning August 4 at 11 a.m.

The entire press release follows, but this is what KTVT's president and general manager Steve Mauldin says about the relocation: "We're happy to make this move to the UHF band to accommodate those who have had difficulty receiving our VHF signal since the digital TV transition. We believe that this will make it easier for our over-the-air viewers to watch their favorite news and entertainment programs."

Patrick Michels

Last week's hail storm brought about the need for new neon on the old sign, which had weathered 18 years just fine.

Had a few thoughts about the Trees reopening, which I posted here in the wee small hours of this morning; pardon the old man's ramblings. But till yesterday, Pete had never been in Trees, which shuttered well before his arrival in Dallas; our music editor is not burdened by expectations well past their expiration date. Over on DC9, Pete talks with new owner Clint Barlow about others' expectations as Pete and Patrick Michels toured the joint currently under reconstruction in anticipation of its August 14 opening date. Patrick also has a slide show, for those who remember when and those who can't wait till then.

That Cheap Trick eight-track cartridge Stephen Colbert was holding up last week? Made in Arlington. Hand to God. By mom-and-pop's KTS Productions, to be specific -- though you'd never know it from reading recent stories concerning Cheap Trick's expensive gimmick, which'll set you back $30 should you pre-order a copy of the band's latest, The Latest. A Globe and Mail story about the eight-track from last Friday's been making the rounds -- it bounced onto BoingBoing Sunday -- but it only says that the band's manager, David Frey, "finally found a small plant in Dallas, Tex., for the retro-fit."

It took a few calls, but finally Frey's office got back to us: Not Dallas, sorry, but Arlington. Which is news to the Texas Music Office, which doesn't even list KTS Productions in its Texas music business directory.

Turns out, Kathy and Dan Gibson may be the last of the eight-track-tape-makers -- other local CD and cassette replicators to whom Unfair Park spoke earlier this week found just the concept unfathomable, given its demise 'round 1988. Said one old-timer out in Fort Worth, "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of." Dan and Kathy Gibson, who run KTSP, would most assuredly disagree -- and they've got Cheap Trick's business to prove it.

"I guess they just went to the Web site," Kathy tells Unfair Park, giving her first interview since news of the Cheap Trick eight-track started spreading. "Not a lot of people do that, but they contacted us, and we said we could help them. That was about a little over a month ago, and it was very exciting -- one of those things we'd been hoping would happen. We're trying to bring kind of an obsolete format back from the dead, bring it into the 21st century. So, yeah, it was exciting. That's one of those thing where you have to shout a little bit when it happens."

Pete's got the details concerning Paul McCartney's just-announced August 19 performance at Jerry Jones's EnormoDome in Arlington, I think it is? But, really, if you know anything about me, you had to know this was coming: the Beatles' interview with WFAA's Bert Shipp during the band's September '64 visit to Dallas, when the boys played Memorial Auditorium. After the jump, the entirety of the press conference.

Patrick Michels

The decor recalls great moments in Texas music history. Also, that time Kelly Clarkson sang at a Cowboys game.

Willie Hutch

In the paper version of Unfair Park this week, I make mention of my interview with Willie Hutch, the Carrollton-born great who, during our 1998 chat at his Cedar Hill recording studio, recounted how he came to write the Jackson 5's immortal "I'll Be There." The story about The Mack, who died in Duncanville in 2005 at the age of 60, can be found here. But here are some links to versions of "I'll Be There" worth a spin during the holiday weekend.

From 1986 comes this proudly sloppy cover by The Replacements, joined during a Boston gig by the great Barrence Whitfield -- you'll get drunk just listening to the thing. Far more respectful (and tuneful) is this version recorded last Sunday night at the BET Awards, during which Tyler's own Jamie Foxx joined Ne-Yo to close the show with their take on the 1970 hit single. But most surprising and moving of all is this hard-to-find find from 1979: the Jacksons themselves, recorded during a concert in Amsterdam. Revelatory, even at this late date.

And don't miss this bonus Jacksons-related, locally connected track, which Pete pointed to earlier this week: Erykah Badu and The Roots' version of "I Wanna Be Where You Are," a hit in 1972 ... and a song later covered by Willie Hutch. Now, the circle is complete.

Amazingly, we still have stashed on the server Polyphonic Spree's "H-O-O-P-S Yes!," the '07 "anthem" penned for FC Dallas -- what do you mean you don't remember? Then perhaps you recall a time when Your Dallas Mavericks were "Rowdy, Loud and Proud," courtesy PPT; and who can forget Pantera's catchy contribution to the canon in honor of Your Dallas Stars? All of which I mention this morning only because Forbes brings word of the latest local sports team theme: "Swing It Around (Cowboy Town)," the working title for a Dallas Cowboys jingle-jangle set to debut at the Arlington EnormoDome come football season, but of course.

It'll be provided by a company out of Milwaukee called Banshee Music, whose Web site soundtrack suggests we should expect a song reminiscent of mid-'80s top-of-the-pops radio or late '90s country-rock; I imagine the Cowboys anthem will sound a lot like "Big Dogs," available under the "Sports Music" samples menu ... if you dare. Banshee refers to itself as a "sonic branding agency ... the last critical component of branding," and though the site doesn't list any of the musicians responsible for the songwriting (only "Grammy-nominated producers and hit-making songwriters"), the Forbes piece says the stable includes "former members of rock bands Arrested Development and the Foo Fighters" (I'm guessing Franz Stahl?). Here's Banshee's anthem for the Green Bay Packers: "G-Force Roar." This will not end well.

Yesterday, State Sen. Florence Shapiro sent out the following tweet:

Which directed our attention to this video from Our Boss's sister.

Alex Wolens

This morning, Arlington's Krystal Lenee took her eighth shot at American Idol.

The parking lots in front of the Cowboys Stadium were full up by 6 this morning, as people flocked towards the stadium, registrations in hand to try out for the next season of American Idol.

Some were dressed in flamboyant, eye-opening ensembles; others, in nightclub and house-party attire. Idol camera crews paced up and down the lines, rousing the crowd for good footage. But that was pretty much the extent of the activity from outside the stadium. There was very little singing: Many contestants, it seemed, wanted to preserve their voices for the judges. One girl courageously performed for a camera crew, but forget her lines mid-verse. The press wasn't invited indoors, so you'll have to wait until the show airs on TV to find out what happened once they got inside.

Check out more photos from the long line of future stars here in our slide show complete with would-be's bios, not to mention someone claiming to be impregnated with Zac Efron's love child, ahem. And, after the jump you'll find a brief video to set the scene.

The Star-Telegram has rounded up a few folks who attended The Jacksons' three-night stopover at Texas Stadium in 1984, to which I referred yesterday. Contained therein is a story that I will spend the better part of today and the next who-knows-how-long fleshing out, if only because I've finally found the premise for the book I never knew I wanted to write: The Night Michael Jackson Slept at Spanky's House. Mitch Mitchell (no, not that one) has the scant details, courtesy George "Spanky" McFarland 's 80-year-old widow Dorothy, among them:

"He asked us to turn off the air conditioner because he was cold. He sat in a rocking chair and watched television with us, covered in an afghan," Doris McFarland said.

In July.

So many questions. A one-act, at least.