Save the Casbah Club

Oct. 4, 2006

At a time when many rock clubs and vintage record stores are being closed down and/or demolished (CBGB, anyone?), the
British government’s Heritage foundation has stepped in to grant historical status to Liverpool, England’s Casbah Coffee Club to prevent it from being destroyed in the future. Founded by Pete Best’s mother (Pete Best, being, of course, the first Beatles drummer), the club was modeled after the beat clubs of London, and The Beatles, under the name The Quarrymen and minus Ringo Starr (who would join later, after Best had been ousted), played their very first show there in 1959, doing double duty as bartenders between sets.  The club closed officially in 1962, but today still houses some musical equipment from that time, plus various works of art by both The Beatles themselves and by John Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia. English Heritage officer Bob Hawkins says, “These basement rooms are historically significant because they represent tangible evidence of The Beatles’ formation, their growth in popularity and their enduring cultural influence”...
 
Three cheers for The Information - his Beckness is on the way back, with his new aforementioned Nigel Godrich-produced Information CD set to hit stores on October 3, with several live dates on the way, too. Containing seventeen Beck songs, plus a DVD of quirky homemade videos to go along with each track, the set is likely to get scooped up on its release date, so those of you who are interested might want to pre-order now.  And as for those live dates, it’s basically a mini-tour that will make stops in Nashville (10/12), Chicago (10/14), Toronto (10/16), and NYC (10/18). Expect Beck’s accompanying puppets and other wackiness to join him on tour...

Death Cab For Cutie are solidifying more details for their upcoming fall tour, which will kick off on October 26 in Philadelphia and will wrap up early in December with a hometown show for the band at Seattle’s Key Arena. Supporting their Plans album, Death Cab have snagged some great opening acts for their tour, as well, beginning with Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, who will hit the road with the band through November 20;  Chicago’s own OK Go, who will open for Death Cab through the end of November; and Jenny Lewis, who will join the band the first week of December. Interim stops on the trek will include Toronto (10/30), Boston (11/2), Indianapolis (11/14), Atlanta (11/17), New Orleans (11/29), and Las Vegas (12/3)...

Singer-songwriter Damon Gough, other-wise known as Badly Drawn Boy, has set an October 17 release date for his fifth studio album, which he’s titled Born in the UK. The 13-song set was narrowed down from over 40 songs that Gough had written during the recording of the album, with first single “Nothing’s Going to Change Your Mind” hitting radio on October 2. Other tracks on the upcoming album include “Degrees of Separation,” “Without A Kiss,” “Journey from A to B,” “Long Way Round,” and “Welcome to the Overground”...

MODERN ROCK LINK OF THE WEEK:
Television music show The Tube, a Top of the Pops competitor which had its, er, plug pulled back in 1987, is set to make a comeback - the show will reappear as a radio show later this month on www.channel4radio.com.  The Tube was known as the “Top of the Pops” alternative, with host Jools Holland and legendary performances from the likes of R.E.M. and Madonna...

MINI BUZZ:
Speaking of Maddie, Michigan’s own pop star has just set a new record as the highest earning female touring musician ever following her September 21 Tokyo Dome show, at which she pulled in a whopping $193.7 million...
Oasis’ best-of double disc, Stop the Clocks, will be preceded in stores by an EP that will feature a few of the album tracks plus B-sides “Acquiesce,” “The Masterplan,” and a demo of “Cigarettes and Alcohol” - however, fans will have to snag the mini-disc as an import, as it won’t be favored with an official 
U.S. release...
Fellow Brit Jarvis Cocker, frontman of Pulp, is set to release his first solo album, Jarvis, which will hit stores on November 13 and will be followed by a short tour;  first single, “Running the World,” is just hitting radio and online download sites as you read this...
Folk-punkers The Pogues have scheduled a series of U.S. West Coast dates for this October, including stops in San Francisco (10/9, 10/10, and 10/11), Las Vegas (10/14), and Los Angeles (10/18, 10/19, and 10/20)...
INXS have canceled the European dates for their Switched On World Tour to allow guitarist Tim Farriss, who tore several ligaments in his knee, to go through surgery and recovery;  no word yet on if or when those dates will be rescheduled...
U2 and Green Day have teamed up to record a cover of the 1978 punk tune “The Saints Are Coming” that will be released as a charity single on the Rhapsody.com website...
And here are this week’s new releases... ON CD:  The Datsuns’ Smoke and Mirrors... My Morning Jacket’s Okonokos... The Lemonheads’ The Lemonheads... Sparklehorse’s Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain... Jane’s Addiction’s Up from the Catacombs... and Gomez’ 5 Men in a Hut... ON DVD:   James Taylor’s Squibnocket... Doo-Wop: Vocal Group Greats Live Vol. 1... The Wynton Marsalis Septet: In This House, On This Morning... and 77 Million Paintings by Brian Eno... and that’s the buzz for this week’s Modern Rock.

Questions, comments, rants, raves, suggestions on this column or your fave musicians?  Send ‘em to Kristi at modernrocker@gmail.com