The Witzard

The Dead Boys were a pioneering Punk band from the unlikely town of Cleveland, Ohio. The band was born out of another area band, Rocket from the Tombs in 1976, and they originally played under moniker, "Frankenstein." The Dead Boys line-up consisted of "Stiv Bators" (vocals), "Cheetah Chrome" (lead guitar), "Jimmy Zero" (rhythm guitar), "Jeff Magnum" (bass) and "Johnny Blitz" (drums). The Boys were quite notorious for playing legendary NYC club, CBGB's. Where on more than one occasion, "Stiv" cut his stomach open with a mic stand. The execs at Sire Records increasingly pressured the group to change their "look," so that they'd appeal more to the US "mainstream" market. As a result, after releasing only 2 albums ( Young, Loud, and Snotty and We Have Come for Your Children ), the Dead Boys disbanded in 1979. In the years since, they've re-formed on a number of occasions and released ...

Shwayze (Aaron Smith) started his "Hip-Hop Hustle" in Malibu around 2005. His self-titled debut album was then released a few years later in 2008. "Shwayze" (the group) consists of Smith and friend/collaborator, Cisco Adler of Whitestarr. The 2 were propelled into the limelight by the mainstream popularity of the singles, "Corona & Lime" and "Buzzin';' The latter also being the name of a (short-lived) MTV series that chronicled this rise to fame. I saw Shwayze on Warped Tour 2008 and then again a few months later at local venue, Hangar 84. They were very high energy live and overall, the music was different and entertaining. Album #1 was [and is still] very enjoyable, especially through these rough, winter months. After that, Shwayze put out a few mixtapes, a second album ( Let It Beat ), and a "solo project" (as Aaron Smith). These albums were not as enjoyable, for me at least... And seemed much more "commercial" an...

Keith Morris was one of the founding members of iconic So. Cal Hardcore Punk band, Black Flag. He appeared on their 1978 debut EP, Nervous Breakdown , and subsequently parted ways with the band the following year. Morris also appeared on 9 tracks on the 1982 compilation album, Everything Went Black. After his departure, the band had a few other vocalists, finally settling on Henry Rollins in '81. Around the same time period, Morris formed his new band, Circle Jerks. Their landmark debut album, Group Sex , notoriously featured a couple Black Flag "covers," which Morris composed during his time in the band. Circle Jerks continued to release a steady flow of albums over the next 15 years, while also focusing on other minor projects. As of right now, the band may or may not be broken up. For the time being, Morris is fronting his new band, ("Hardcore Punk Super-Group"), OFF! - A clip from "The Decline of Western Civilization," a 1980 documentary. The 5 ...

Yellowcard's live cover version of the movie's seminal "theme song," from the 2005 MTV Movie Awards. Part of a larger Breakfast Club 20th Anniversary [Tribute] segment. The cast was partially re-united (Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, and Anthony Michael Hall), who were then presented the "Silver Bucket of Excellence Award" towards the show's end.

"Built to Resi(s)t" is a new collaboration between Dutch fashion designer Antoine Peters and Quinze & Milan (furniture manufacturers), as well as Eastpak (bag brand). Together, the 3 created a comic strip-esque couch, which was then colored in by eager fans. The couch/piece was then put on display at Interieur 2010 , the 22nd International Design Biennale in Kortrijk, Belgium. Here, it was further colored in, during the "World Is Flat" segment of the event. Antoine Peters' recent S/S11 collection was then accompanied by a music video-single that further featured the "Built to Resi(s)t" couch. The piece, a send-up to Pop Art, currently holds a spot on MTV's rotational playlist. Peters' also took lead vocal duties on "The World Is Flat," and conceived the 2-D video's message/treatment.

I remember hearing this song when it first came out. I loved it then, and I'm still all about it now! The "Save Tonight" single was released in the US in Oct. 1998, backing the previous year's album, Desireless. The track has always had a special place in my musical memory; Dating back to a much simpler time of entire summers at "The Pool," Y100/Alternative Rock, and self-made mix CD's spun in my first Walkman. While I've always associated "Save Tonight" with Tonic, Lit, "Hey Leonardo," Lenny Kravitz, Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals (NOW comps.), along with an early interest in the Beastie Boys... I never knew that Eagle-Eye (Lanoo) Cherry was actually the leadsinger's birth name or that he originally hails from Stockholm, Sweden.

Here we have a special little Christmas Treat, a couple days after the fact. I have yet to hear all of it (or complete details).. But Damon Albarn & Co. did indeed release a new album for FREE on Christmas Day, as promised. The Fall was completely written, recorded, and produced while the band was on the American leg of their "Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour" (Oct. 2010). Albarn composed the entire album on a set of 20 iPads . An admitted technically-(un)savvy person, Albarn used a wide array of 20+ apps to create the music used to back his "love letter to America." Slight studio overdubs were later added by Mick Jones and Paul Simonon (The Clash) , along with R&B legend Bobby Womack. The 15-track album was basically rush-released so that no one could accuse Gorillaz of tampering with it too much. The Fall is (probably) now available all over the Web by now, and is set to receive a "proper wide release" in early 2011. Or just utilize the han...

Not really too sure how I feel about this yet... It's a pretty solid idea in theory. Maybe it'd be a little more fresh to my ears if El Michels Affair didn't already do a similarly-rooted project a few years back ( Enter the 37th Chamber , an album to which I'll readily admit, I'm indeed more biased towards). If you dig it, mosey on over to the "Google" section of the Internets to grab up a copy of this 8-track "Mash-Tape"/FreEP.

"I Wish It Was Christmas Today" originally premiered on an early 2000's episode of SNL. It was penned and performed by a festive "band" consisting of Horatio Sanz, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan, and Tracy Morgan. Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) liked it so much that he recorded a cover version. It was released as a limited edition 7" single, around the time of his debut solo album, Phrazes for the Young . Around the time of the Christmas 2009 release, Julian stopped by Late Night with Jimmy Fallon , performing a "mash-up" of sorts backed by Jimmy and the boys.

Generally, when the words "skateboard" and "art" are anywhere near each other, said statement is 9 times out of 10 referring to the deck's featured artwork. Nope, not in this case. In this collection, designed by Apparatu and Alex Trocut , the boards ARE the works of art. The 2 Spanish artists bent, broke, melted, and otherwise mangled actual skateboards. Then painted and plated (silver, gold, aluminum) them, placed and re-formed with some added pizazz. No word yet on when/where the "Skate Fails" collection will be showcased.