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Irish Daily Mirror
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Pete Holidai: 'We can't just sit still and do nothing. We have to try fight'
Irish punk legend Pete Holidai says people must 'join together and resist against this push to racism and fascism,' as he drops his newest album Electric Jukebox Volume One. Pete, who was a founding member of Irish punk icons The Radiators from Space, released the 10-track record a fortnight ago after recording it at Pilgrim Sound studio in Dublin during 2024 and early 2025. One of the album's standout tracks, A New Revolution, which features John Perry of The Only Ones on lead guitar and Paul McLoone of The Undertones on backing vocals, is a tribute to New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, Pete says. 'What happened was that Sylvain Sylvain of the New York Dolls died,' Pete Holidai told the Star's Scene. 'So I just, I suppose the word I use, I've got a goo on me to come in the studio and sort of put down a New York Doll's type track. 'And then John Perry of the Only Ones… he lives in Dublin. I gave him a call because he'd been out to the studio to record some guitar parts for other projects.' 'That sort of gave me the idea then of how influential the New York Dolls and bands like that in the early 70s, how influential they were on the later artists who started punk bands. 'There was an energy, a similar energy in sort of glam rock movements, because that's what the Dolls were part of, that sort of glam rock movement. 'It was very much sort of bringing you somewhere, somewhere away from your normal, mundane jobs or life, and the punk thing was really back to realism again, like a kick in the nuts. 'But the energy between glam and punk, I think, is very similar, energises people one way or the other. So that started the ball rolling. And so once I got that focus once, I said, 'Okay, let's work towards this'. 'The original title for the album was Glam Rocker, Punk Shocker, which became one of the tracks on the album, obviously. 'But in the end, I was working towards almost like 10 singles, and then I got the idea of using the word jukebox, because jukeboxes have been replaced by playlists now, which is the same thing, like a virtual jukebox. 'So once I got that, I began to then really focus on just creating the songs that would accommodate this idea, and they came together quite quickly, actually!' Pete said Volume One formed part of the record's title as a homage to the 70s. 'Volume One was an add on, because it harks back to that sort of era,' he shared. 'That 70s decade, for me, is the most important decade in my life anyway, in terms of formulating my musical interest, which I retain. 'I was lucky enough then to work with Tony Visconti, who produced the Radio's second album. Certainly, a lot of the techniques he used in the recording studio I still use today." On working with Tony, Pete said: 'He (Tony) highlighted the fact that, to us anyway, recording your songs is a different thing altogether. You're capturing moments in time. 'In 50 years time, you will still be able to hear what happened… but playing live is very much a transient moment. He taught us how to serve the song.' The punk legend says the world needs to 'push back' against the waves of racism and fascism taking over in places around the globe. 'I am mainly associated with punk, with punk as a sort of energy,' Pete shared. 'I just feel sometimes punk music has to be angry, but yet still have a positive message. It can't be all down with this and down with that, without saying what's the alternative? 'I tend to focus on, we need to push back against what's happening in places like Palestine. 'We need to push back what's happening with this right wing movement that's happening in America, which is appalling. We can't just sit still and do nothing. We have to try and fight back in whatever way we can. 'In my case, it will be put into the music…. I'm not going to make sort of my public persona, totally about it. It is a part of it. I'm as angry as most people are at what's going on in the world. It's just shocking. He added: 'One of the things that punk always did was give a voice to maybe people that didn't have that opportunity. 'Like, for example, originally in the UK, there was a disenfranchised youth. They saw that there was no real future for them, etc and so on. 'And it still goes on and on, and you still have to speak up and give a voice to things that you see.' 'A New Revolution really focuses on, we have to join together and resist against this push to racism and fascism'. Pete Holidai's newest album, Electric Jukebox Volume One, is out now. You can also purchase the new record on vinyl.
Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Obituary: David Johansen, musician
American singer, songwriter and actor, David Johansen, poses for a portrait circa 1980 at The Old Waldorf in San Francisco, California. Inspired by British glam rock and inspirational to the emergence of punk rock, David Johansen was the face of influential United States band the New York Dolls. A New York native, Johansen gravitated to Andy Warhol's Factory scene. Having cut his teeth in several bands and the theatre industry, Johansen's break came in 1971 when the Dolls then singer Johnny Thunders opted to stick to his bass. Their raucous lifestyle, androgynous look and wild-eyed hard rock earned them a cult following but not commercial success. The band's last show was in December 1976, just before the many bands who had taken their cue from the Dolls look and sound started to make it big. Johansen went solo, with limited success, although his blues/swing alter ego Buster Poindexter did trouble the lower reaches of the charts and one single, a cover of Hot Hot Hot, made the US top 20. The surviving New York Dolls reformed in 2004 for a London festival, touring until 2011. Johansen was also an accomplished actor whose credits included appearances in the films Scrooged and Freejack, as well as TV shows Oz and The Equaliser. David Johansen died on February 28 aged 75. — APL/agencies
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
How An Out-Of-The-Way West Village Bar Became A Late-Night Haunt
In the far West Village of Greenwich Village on Washington Street, a block from the Hudson River and located across from Westbeth's subsidized artists' housing, is Automatic Slim's, which debuted in 1986. When this reporter stopped by on a Tuesday afternoon at 5 p.m. several months ago, the bar/restaurant was deserted. 'We're a late-night bar,' the bartender Vanessa (who no longer works there) explained. 'You have to get here later like after the concert or after a late dinner,' she said. As the night draws on, it has a doorman to regulate the crowds, which on weekends can twist around the block on Bank Street. Automatic Slim's has garnered the reputation as one of the city's late-night bars, the place to go to meet friends after the concert or the event. Its name Automatic Slim's derives from an old Willie Dixon's blues song 'Wang Dang Doodle,' about attending a party late into the evening, fitting lyrics for this bar. Indeed it's open until 2 a.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, when the joint is really jumping. David Zinsser, the original owner who has steered it for 39 years now, attributes some of its reputation to having David Johansen as one of his original partners. Johansen, leader of the New York Dolls and native of Staten Island who died in late February 2025, was a dynamic performer who drew a crowd, and that also brought in Joe Strummer, the British musician who co-founded the Clash. Automatic Slim's in the far West Village has been one place to go in NYC in the wee hours for food, music or seeing friends. When it debuted, 7 guys, who were former bartenders, including Zinsser, joined together to open Automatic Slim's. The strategy was each bartender had his own following, chose a night, and brought in their clientele. 'There was no advertising; it was all word of mouth,' Zinsser explains. Gradually, however, Zinsser bought out all the partners, and then acquired the restaurant space so he didn't have to contend with rising rents or landlords. When it first opened, way before the nearby Meatpacking district became hip, drag queens ruled the far West Village when the neighborhood was grittier and tougher. Gruen's Photo Helped Create the Atmosphere And it was also frequented in the early days by famed rock and roll photographer Bob Gruen, who has lived across the street in Westbeth for years. Zinsser added that, 'We thought we knew the best music and shared it with the crowd along with Gruen's long-term pics of Led Zeppelin, Sex Pistols, Debbie Harry and Johansen.' 'When you live on the other side of the clock, it's often hard to find some place to go,' Zinsser says, in his understated way. The Secrets of a Late-Night Bar's Success Asked the secrets of its success as one of the West Village's late-night bars, Zinsser replies, 'We train our bartenders to make great drinks, our in-house DJ keeps the tunes playing and the crowd jumping, a formula which has helped us stay open for 39 years,' he explains. But There's Food Too Since its chef hails from Puebla, Mexico, its food specialties include small Mexican plates—tacos, nachos, quesadillas, along with sandwiches, salads and burgers. Its drink menu highlights small batch tequilas and mezcals, and it's close to introducing its own mezcal brand. At night, it has 2 guys (sometimes 3) who do security, one on the onside and one checks id's outside and tries to keep the people on the line quiet so neighborhood residents aren't disturbed. It attracts a local crowd for happy hour and some who come for a quiet dinner, before the late- night action starts. Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman who lived in proximity used to be one such regular before he died at age 46 in 2014. About 70% of its revenue stems from drinks, 30% from food, with another secret ingredient: private parties. 'We book about 140-170 parties per years; most of them 50 people (75 is capacity) at $50 a head plus gratuity from 8 p.m. to 11 and some weekend afternoons 4 to 7 p.m.,' Zinsser says, which produces about 25% of its overall revenue. These parties include birthday and wedding parties, graduations, engagement parties, business celebrations. Take Ryan Ambler, a professional lacrosse player who lives in the West Village, and is marrying Diana Pinello at the U.S. Courthouse in early May. But their after-wedding party for 75 family and friends is taking place at Automatic Slim's in late September. Ambler says they've spent countless weekend afternoons with friends there because the 'vibe' at Automatic Slim's fits them. 'We're simple folks who love to dance, listen to music and have fun,' he explains. Asked how he discovered it, Ambler replies, 'Everybody knows about Automatic Slim's. It's truly hard to go out in our area without stumbling there on a Saturday, either day or night.' The space is cramped, but Ambler expects that dancing will still go on. Zinsser recently brought in John Murphy as a partner, who has worked hard to re-build the bar and brand and who complements Zinsser's skills. Reaction on Yelp tended to be very positive. Rosie from Brooklyn said she and her husband stumbled upon Automatic Slim's after walking the High Line. She called it a 'pre-gentrification bar, no designer flourishes, with a mix of customers of all ages, ethnicities and gender preferences.' Asked what to expect in Automatic Slim's future, Zinsser replies, 'Continue doing what we've been doing all along, making good drinks, playing good music, sending our bartenders to bartending school. We're a third-generation bar now. We have people who met here 20 years ago, who bring in their children.'
CBS News
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Local "geriatric punk" band the Grannies reunite at Bottom of the Hill
The late legendary guitar great, composer and satirist Frank Zappa in the mid-1980s released a live album with the title Does Humor Belong In Music? That question gets answered with an unequivocal "Yes!" from local geriatric punk-rock reprobates the Grannies. Punk bands built around a gimmick usually focus far more attention on concept than they do songs and execution, but for over two decades, the cross-dressing rabble rousers behind Bay Area quintet the Grannies has been mixing their love for ridiculous shenanigans with some solid and serious rock and roll. Formed in 1999 when the group first clambered upon a San Francisco stage dressed in thrift-store old lady dresses, masks and wigs, The Grannies deliver a trashy, furious assault that echoes the likes of the New York Dolls, the Dictators and the Dwarves. Lead guitarist Lois "Carmen" DeNominator (aka the Grannihilator, aka Sluggo Cawley), exhibitionist lead singer Deanamite (aka Dean Scheben) and company have been entertaining the masses with their onstage antics and infectious anthems drawn from such fittingly titled efforts as Taste the Walker , the outtakes/demos collection Incontinence and the band's most recent full-length effort -- 2015's Ballsier -- for Texas-based imprint Saustex Records while playing regular local shows and touring abroad. The following year, the crew released Lords & Ladies , a split live album with the Upper Crust, the notable powdered-wig sporting Boston hard rockers who the Grannies have shared stages with in the U.S. and Europe. The group went on an extended hiatus in 2018 so Cawley could pursue his more roots-oriented songwriting with the noir-ish country-rock band REQ'D that has released three albums and a number of singles and EPs since first coming together, including Wrongheadedness , a mini album of bonus tracks from the band's 2020 effort Pulling Up Floorboards . The Grannies got back together back in 2020 to play their first show in four years at the SF Eagle to honor the memory of Daniel Blair , a longtime employee at Cawley's San Francisco framing shop. The band has largely remained quiet since that show, though Scheben has been playing in the new band Clencher featuring current and former Grannies including bassist Scott Shanks (who also played in Turn Me On Dead Man) and guitarist Neal Stillman (Hockaloogie, Handfulla Flowers). Meanwhile, Cawley self-published his entertaining underground rock and roll memoir "Guitargonaut" last year that tells his (mis)adventures of his four decades playing in bands that has since been picked up by UK publisher Earth Island Books , who will be reprinting the volume with new additional chapters. For this early show at the Bottom of the Hill Saturday that will celebrate the 50th birthday of band friend Tuula Ala, the Grannies will take the stage for what Cawley has announced will be the group's last performance ever. The band will be joined by Ala's metal outfit Theya and local skate-punk favorites Party Force. The Grannies Saturday, March 29, 6 p.m. $15 The Bottom of the Hill
Fox News
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Fox News Entertainment Newsletter: Gene Hackman death theories, Dolly Parton's husband dies
Welcome to the Fox News Entertainment Newsletter. TOP 3: - Gene Hackman, wife's cause of death: Forensic expert shares opinion on 'unusual' circumstances - Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Dean, dead at 82 - Meghan Markle accused of copying Pamela Anderson's show, sometimes 'frame-for-frame': expert 'HEARTBROKEN' - Gene Hackman's 911 caller distraught over couple's mysterious death, says they treated people 'like gold.' THE OSCAR GOES TO... - Oscars 2025: Winners and losers. CINEMATIC EXIT - Gene Hackman worried about caring for wife, family after heart concerns forced him to leave Hollywood stardom. 'URGENT' ALERT - Gene Hackman's pacemaker would have alerted physician if 'urgent' event occurred: cardiologist. 'EXTRAORDINARY MAN' - New York Dolls singer David Johansen dead at 75 after daughter pleads with fans for help. 'TRAGIC MYSTERY' - Gene Hackman's friends say he was 'slowing down' and 'reclusive' ahead of mysterious death. 'VERY FORTUNATE' - 'Grey's Anatomy' star Kate Walsh shares 'very subtle' warning signs ahead of brain tumor diagnosis. LIKE WHAT YOU'RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS FOLLOW FOX NEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
