In Tune With Wade

Tips for 'amateur night'

Nightlife regulars refer to New Year's Eve as "amateur night" — and for good reason. It's the one night of the year that every yahoo frat boy (see pic), bored housewife and life insurance salesman hubby decides they're going to drink their body weight and still stand (and even worse) drive straight.

That's why the men in blue line the highway and set up checkpoints at every intersection they have enough bodies to cover. And forget hailing a taxi. I have tried to call a cab before on New Year's Eve and it's virtually impossible. Trust me, being on the streets of Ybor City with a scantily clad date at 4 a.m. is no fun, my friend.

The Old Bradentown Fraternity will host a $50 per person bash with music by the D.T.'s at the Bradenton Municipal Auditorium (info 941. 746-1027). Zio's will treat attendees to a performance by the ever reliable Dr. Dave. If you live within walking distance of these destinations it might be worth shuffling over.

If not, hunker down with some bubbly and some friends and play a nice friendly game of Twister. Or get buck wild in Tampa or Orlando but make sure wherever you go is within walking distance of a hotel room. See ya next year!

Cheers.

'Godfather' passes on

Heaven just got a lot funkier. Get the angels on the good foot. James Brown passed on Christmas morning.

We're gonna miss the Godfather of Soul (Funk, Disco and Rap).

Especially folks like me, who never got to witness him do his thing in person. But I've seen the clips and I do own "Live at the Apollo," one of the greatest concert performances ever recorded.

In honor of Brown, I played "Get on the Good Foot" Christmas afternoon at the little Tiki bar near the beach house on Treasure Island where I spent the holiday. The salty dogs at the bar cheered in approval.

What song will you be playing in honor of the Godfather? I think it's time I get a copy of Brown's "Funky Christmas" LP. It would've come in handy Monday.

Britney Spears: Bad Girl of the Year

It should come as a shock to no one that "Showbiz Tonight" on CNN Headline News has named Britney Spears the "Most Controversial Celebrity of 2006."

After all, Spears is the first major star to pull a Sharon Stone in front of the paparazzi. And let's not forget her infant son plopped in her lap as she drove her SUV through Malibu. Or how about her tears and bubblegum-chewing interview on "Dateline NBC" and her divorce from the dancer-turned-rapper Kevin Federline, AKA Mr. Fed Ex. But I think it was the multiple crotch shots that sealed the deal for bad girl Brit, who posted this message (click on photo for larger image) on the front page of her Web site.

WHO GETS YOUR VOTE FOR MOST CONTROVERSIAL CELEB OF 2006?

Set the music free

My new favorite Web site Wolfgang's Vault is under attack.

Rich, old rock stars Jimmy Page, Ray Manzarek, Bob Weir and Carlos Santana apparently haven't stashed away enough millions to feel comfortable with some of their bands' classic concerts being circulated for free. 

Led Zeppelin, the Doors, the Grateful Dead and Santana are suing Wolfgang's Vault, a San Francisco-based seller of classic-rock memorabilia that also streams concerts online.

"The complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco claims that the memorabilia sales and streaming of performance footage are clear exploitations of the intellectual property and artistic success of the plaintiffs, who are described in the suit as 'among the most legendary recording and performing artists of all time," reports the Los Angeles Times.

I highly recommend readers check out Led Zeppelin's April 27, 1969, show at Fillmore West before Page and his millionaire buddies pull the plug.

Derek Trucks is untouchable

As part of my mad quest to interview every member of the Allman Brothers Band, I have arranged a phoner with guitar great Derek Trucks. He will perform with his wife, Susan Tedeschi, Dec. 28 at the Tampa Theatre.

The nephew of ABB drummer Butch Trucks, Derek is a phenomenal player whose slide guitar work eerily recalls that of Duane Allman while never sounding derivative. Derek became a full-time member of ABB in 1999 while continuing to front his own Derek Trucks Band, which this year released the excellent album "Songlines" (Columbia).

Trucks hails from Jacksonville and reportedly started playing guitar at the age of 9. I saw Trucks, then 12 years old,open for Bob Dylan at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater in 1992. Dylan closed his show with "Highway 61 Revisited." Dylan turned his back to the audience mid-song and motioned to the wings for Derek to join him on stage. Derek obliged and added some searing slide guitar licks that recalled Johnny Winter's reworking of the Dylan classic.

Derek Trucks was amazing in 1992. He's even better in 2007. And the man is still about 18 months shy of his 30th birthday.   

'Rocky Balboa' is back

The film snob inside of me wants to thumb his nose at the new "Rocky" movie that opens Friday and finds Sly back in the ring at age 60.

But the boy inside of me is looking forward to cheering for Philly's finest. After all,  I spent countless hours watching laser disc copies of the first four "Rocky" films in the basement of our home in Hershey, Pa., which is only a couple hours from the City of Brotherly Love.

My first NHL hockey game was at the Spectrum where the famed "Rocky" statue once stood. I walked over and touched it. On another trip, my dad and I ran up the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I got chills. We jumped around like fools when we reached the top.

Growing up, my parents took my three younger siblings and I to every hot new movie that was rated G or PG. I loved everything they took us to see, even if meant craning my neck in the front row of a packed house at the opening night of "Ghostbusters 2."

I was 13 years old in 1990 when "Rocky 5" came out. My dad and I saw it on a Saturday afternoon. I recall us being the only souls in the theater. When the credits rolled I looked at my dad with nothing but disappointment on my face. The "Rocky 4" poster came down from my wall that night.

So here we are, 16 years down the line, looking at the opening of another "Rocky" flick, which Sly promises will be the last. I have refused to read any of the reviews available on our features news wire. Maybe I'll go catch a Saturday matinee this weekend.

Meanwhile, I plan to rummage through the various "Rocky" soundtrack cassette tapes I accumulated during the 1980s. Because no matter what you think of Sly and his ability to portray a down on his luck pugilist, you can't slag Bill Conti's film scores or Survivor's fist-pumping anthem "Eye of the Tiger."

In fact, I hereby nominate "Gonna Fly Now" (the theme from the first "Rocky") as the most inspirational movie song of all time.

WHAT'S YOUR PICK FOR MOST INSPIRATIONAL MOVIE THEME SONG?

Don't miss Jimbo Mathus

Mississippi music man Jimbo Mathus will again bring his brand of boogie soul and hot blues to the area this weekend. Catch Mathus and his ace band at Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa on Saturday and right here in Bradenton at the intimate Fogartyville Cafe on Sunday. When Mathus played Fogartyville two years ago it was a night to remember, with him literally standing on the table tops and blowing the crowd away with his steamy Delta guitar licks.

Mathus co-founded the Squirrel Nut Zippers, has worked as music director and recorded with Buddy Guy and was the engineer on Elvis Costello's Grammy-nominated  single "Monkey to Man," which was recorded at Mathus' Delta Recording Service in Clarksdale, Miss.

Mathus sold out Fogartyville the last time he was in town so get your tickets early!

A 'bigger bang' indeed

The Rolling Stones grossed about $437 million this year to best Madonna for Top Tour of 2006 honors, reports Billboard.com. The Stones' "A Bigger Bang" jaunt also jolted U2's  "Vertigo" aside as highest grossing tour of all time.

The Stones' "A Bigger Bang" played the St. Pete Times Forum in October of 2005 and warranted a glowing review from me.

"Yeah, they're almost old enough to collect social security," I wrote in the Herald. "(But they're) still one of the most potent live acts in rock 'n' roll."

The unsung hero of that evening was second guitarist Ron Wood, who laid down one fiery solo after another while Mick Jagger preened and Keith Richards posed like a pirate while issuing his signature riffs.

Madonna's "Confessions" tour skipped the Tampa Bay area but I managed to survive.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE CONCERT OF THE YEAR?

My rock 'n' roll rant

Musing on the current crop of rock musicians and the 'sad state' of the rock world.

"The rock world is in a sad state if Bob Dylan's "Modern Times" was the # 1 album," responded "Don" to my last blog post. "This was definitely Dylan's best album in many years but nowhere in the ball park of his 60's and early 70's albums."

I started to write a pithy response in agreement with Don's comment. It blossomed into a full-scale rant. Wait until your boss takes a long lunch break or you're at home with a glass of wine in hand and then see if you agree with my theory.

Lack of virtuoso and roots music knowledge. That's why the rock world is is in a sad state. Kids learn three chords on the expensive guitar mom bought 'em and start a band called something like School Cafeteria Survivors (SCS).

SCS gets all their friends from their giant high school on their MySpace page. They wear tight jeans and eye-liner. They promise promoters they will bring their 200 hundred friends to a show and land local gigs.

Then they get invited to play Warped Tour. Next, they get signed by a major label. The kids are taken into a recording studio where machines make sure the singer is on key and multi-track layering obscures the guitarist's lack of chops.  A session drummer is used but the fact is never made public.

Magazines like Rolling Stone get millions of advertising dollars from the music industry so even the weakest studio efforts usually walk away with a minimum 2 1/2 star, more likely, 3 star review.

No one ever tells these teenagers in SCS to go back to their room and practice, practice, practice before taking the stage. Their teenage friends with their tin ears don't realize how cruddy it all sounds. They just want a chorus about not fitting in at school to sing along with while surrounded by 200 or 2,000 other misunderstood souls who all happen to dress exactly the same.

Guitar great Johnny Winter told me he practiced 5 or 6 hours a day. The rest of the time he spent listening to old blues record so he could steal/learn their licks. Kids are lazy today and justify their lack of chops by pointing to punk rock losers like Sid Vicious.

Derek Trucks, Robert Randolph, Dan Aeurbach (The Black Keys), Jack White, John Mayer (he's a mean blues/rock guitarists when he so chooses) are the only guitarists I can think of (I'm sure a few young greats slipped my mind) who are under 30 and can really bring it. Oh yeah, and my man Damon Fowler (pictured), who lives in Brandon. Check him out at www.damonfowler.com.   

We also have an overwhelming shortage of awesome vocalists, ones that can bring raw power  and real emotion like Robert Plant, Rod Stewart, Gregg Allman or Bob Seger did in their prime. Why? Kids don't put in the hours to learn how to sing. Allman likes to talk about spending many, many nights in Daytona blues bars learning from men much older than him before he perfected the rasp that makes "Melissa" and other Brothers classics so beautiful.

Great rock music is steeped in the blues and the rock 'n' roll invented by Chuck Berry. The linchpin of every great rock band is the pairing of an amazing guitarist and an equally enchanting vocalist, or a combination of both (think Jack White).

First-rate songwriting, which also only comes with countless hours of practice is the other key ingredient. Jimi Hendrix is Jimi Hendrix because of his mind-blowing guitar chops. But he is also Jimi Hendrix because he could pen and croon a top shelf ballad like "The Wind Cries Mary."

Do the kids writing woe-is-me junk today even know who T.S. Eliot is? I recall reading that Hendrix got into Eliot while backing Little Richard.  Or maybe it was Dylan that Hendrix got into while touring with Richard and that led him to Eliot. You get the point.

Bands like Pearl Jam and The White Stripes appeal to rock fans young and old because they have the key ingredients to greatness. The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and the other giants of the 1960s and 1970s continue to outstrip the majority of today's bands because most teens and twentysomethings are merely trying to live up to the standard set by 1990s-era Green Day records or even worse, blink-182.

The so-called alternative rock of today is fun but rarely sticks to the bones like the classic rock created in the 1960s and '70s. That music was made by men and women with bona-fide chops who gobbled up every old record they could get their hands on before creating music of their own. But who wants to devour ancient roots music and spend hours practicing when you can blast bad guys or steal cars on PlayStation?

Dylan, Gnarls top RS picks

This is why Rolling Stone is still my favorite rock rag:

It was announced today that the magazine chose Bob Dylan's album "Modern Times" and Gnarls Barkley's single "Crazy" as its top picks.

I couldn't agree with them more.

(I'll forgive RS for putting the Red Hot Chili Peppers wickedly overrated "Stadium Arcadium" at No. 2 on the album list.)