Ted's Polish-Mexican Page

I fell down a little on these "previews." S'ok...the last one was very long, since it included three of the most storied bands from Tucson. This one...well...it includes bands that I have never seen play. That makes for short previews, dunnit?

The Hecklers: Never saw them, but the great Al Perry was a member of this Cowpunk/Thrashabilly band.

The Knockout Pills: Gerard Schumacher has been in several Tucson bands, including the much loved Lonely Trojans, The Weird Lovemakers and even a short stint in the Sidewinders. He has never been the "leader" in those bands, but it is difficult to imagine them without his manic energy and showmanship. The Knockout Pills are the latest band to try to harness Schumacher's Aussie energy. They have been playing for about four years now, and have an album, 1+1=Ate, that will be released early next month.

Since the statute of limitations has probably expired, I can tell you this story. Back in, I think, 1996 or 1997, Rob Ferrier invited me to do a shift with him on Radio Limbo, a, um, non-approved radio station run out of a variety of locations here in Tucson. One time, we were in a garage. We are in the middle of the shift, and the garage door opens. A really loud garage door. Must have been great for the listeners. Anyway, who gets out of the car but Gerard. It was all very strange. He talked to us for a minute, then went inside.

Well, I thought it was interesting, anyway.

Gerard stopped a Lonely Trojans show once because I was being hastled by a drunk. He said "Don't bother Ted, he's cool." Once in a while, someone thinks so.

I was hoping for Gerrard to get together with Chris "The Sloppy Guitarist" Morrison for a Loney Trojans reuinion. No dice.

La Cerca: A band I have never seen play. However, Cia Romano has an entry for them on her Tucson Underground site, complete with pictures that I am probably not allowed to clip for this site.

Molehill Orkestrah: A rather eccelctic band that mixes middle eastern, klezmer, gypsy, spanish, well, any sort of music that they feel like. I haven't seen them play, but Emilie Marchand of The Fashionistas tells me they are pretty good. She might be biased since Molehill's Mona Chambers is a member of Emilie's band too.

Less Pain Forever: I couldn't figure out why I haven't heard of them. Turns out they are from Phoenix, so screw 'em.


The latest issue of Harp includes a short article by former Tucsonan Fred Mills on this weekend's festivities. Of course, I can't find the article online. It seems that what's online is last month's issue. Go figure.

Mills included in his article a rumor that Linda Ronstadt will play. Will there be a reunion of the original Stone Poneys? While they are at it, what about The Lewallen Brothers, The Dearly Beloved or The Sot Weed Factor? The Poneys sort of pre-date Club Congress, although they did play a café called The Cup.

The online section does include a 10 Spot column with Frank Black. The column features the same ten questions asked to a new artist each month. The last one is always "Neko Case or Nico." Being that most of these guys are Alt-Country or Americana or whatever (you know, one step above Shoegazer), they usually give the "right" answer: Neko Case.

Black said, "What's a Neko Case?"


Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.