LIVE REPORT! HOUSE of MYSTERY Vol. 12, BORSTAL FORMAL ~Hard Mod Night~

Last Month's HOUSE of MYSTERY was full up with skins, birds and mod chicks galore! I had been planning a kinda Spirit of '69 meets Tokyo mods chic since I saw THE SHOCK TROOPS from Nagoya at a punk show last summer and got it all sorted with the help of some of the best two-tone ska and edgy mods groups in Tokyo.



THE PHANTASMS, stylish sixties girls with a penchant for 70's power pop, started the night out in the right groove. Guitarist and vocalist Aya had to run off later to spin records all night at her Ooh-Pah-Doo-Pah groovy party. Then THE DROPS, a nearly all-girl ska entourage with horns, sax and playfully insane vocals, gave the Hard Mod Night a head-butt and a kick in the pants to boot!



Vivid, tantalizing and furious, the trio known as SIX pack my favorite pieces of the 60's together, you know, surf, spy themes, pseudo-oriental rock, girl group sounds and then rip it up in a whirlwind of Twiggy-esque hair-styling and Brigitte Bardot-black leather embodied in front-woman Chelio.



By this time, Club Heavy Sick was really looking like borstal dance party with tons of skins milling about watching DOWNBEAT SELECTORS throw down reggae classics while doing their comedy routine before 69YOBSTERS hit the stage. Then the YOBSTERS got down to business and broke out into a set of fun skinhead-themed ska tunes led by burly beer-swigging crooners who got the audience skanking around and chanting to their anthems.



At this point, THE SHOCK TROOPS were ready to blast the hangers-on to pieces. Lead vocalist Bemu blaring harmonica out from under aviators only stopping to shout something profound and commanding to fit in with the chugging rhythm of the rest of the band. Taking their ques from British street punk which traces itself back to the blues of pub rock and the attitude of the original skinhead movement, THE SHOCK TROOPS are continuing this tradition a world away. And I was truly grateful for their presence at my attempt at a mods party at the HOUSE of MYSTERY.



Special thanks to the DJs who came out despite the time crunch. OKUDA from Original John deserves special praise for promoting the party on his blog. Thanks as well to HARRY the HEMPSTEAD HEATH who is always ready to hop on his Mod Star and head to the club with a case of 45s whenever I call.

What's to come is a Mystery!

PS. Thanks to Never Trust blog for reporting in Japanese and posting pics which I have used here.

HOUSE of MYSTERY Vol.12, "Borstal Formal! ~Hard Mod Nite~"

Suit up & boot up! HOUSE of MYSTERY returns with a nite of hip-shakin', boot stompin', mod style. Sixties-esque girl groups THE PHANTASMS & SIX join roots ska entourage THE DROPS and rudies 69YOBSTERS; blues bootboys THE SHOCKTROOPS bring the pub/punk rock all the way from Nagoya. DJs will be spinning a mix of punk, mod, soul & reggae between bands to keep you skankin' til last train!

HOUSE of MYSTERY Vol.12
"Borstal Formal ~Hard Mod Night~"
HATAGAYA HEAVY SICK
SAT.4.27
*Live*
THE SHOCKTROOPS (NAGOYA)
69YOBSTERS
SIX
THE DROPS
THE PHANTASMS

*DJ*
OKADA (Original John)
HARRY the HEMPSTEAD HEATH (HHH-PRO)
The Stately WAYNE MANOR
DOWNBEAT SELECTERS

OPEN: 18:00
START: 18:30
TICKET:
ADV: 2000 +1D
DOOR: 2300 +1D

The Stately DJ WAYNE MANOR @ GaragePunk NYC, St. Patty's Eve Bash at Don Pedro, Brooklyn

So, yours truly flew into JFK on Saturday March 16th around 3pm amidst a minor snow flurry... than headed out into the concrete jungle. I made my way through the MTA to Metropolitan Ave. in Brooklyn where I was take a pit stop at Pete's new place (Incidentally, Pete is from roots rock band NCM and had previously helped me get THE HARPY's some shows and crash space in New Paltz). I got his girlfriend on the station payphone who had arranged for me to get a key from the guy in the art studio on the first floor. I spent two hours in their flat showering, freshening up and organizing my shit for the night to come. I headed out around 6:30, handed the key to the painting teacher I got it from and started walking... in the wrong direction. I got directions outside an L station and took the train to Bedfrod, met my parents right on time at 7pm and we all went out for dinner. Then we headed for Don Pedro... got frantically lost & had to 411 the place, but we got there well before show time. Met Jake Noodles (I had known him from WLWL with Rico, a Japanese cat that he had been in the band with and had more recently opened the Mystery Train vintage clothing shop which is now located in the basement of Don Pedro). Waited for DJ Shimmy to show up with needles for the tables and then got busy spinning some tunes from the Far East!



My first set was all Japanese garage punk from the modern era, meaning the classics like Guitar Wolf, Supersnazz & Teengenerate along with lesser knowns like The Evil Hoodoo & Goggle-A (doing a GS rendition of France Gall's "Poupee de Cire"). I threw in a couple more punk stuff like The Jet Boys, and since it was St. Patrick's Eve, Oi-Skallmates covering The Pogues' "Dirty Old Town," with a bit of a ska touch. Being my first night back in NY in two and a half years I hadda play "New York Groove" from Ronnie's (5678's) one-off single with The Devil Dogs. My set ended when local NYers The Neighbors creeped on stage and played some raunchy originals.



I blasted my next set out with a wild shamisen/eleki guitar combo by Ventures style surf guitarman Takeshi Terauchi matching wits with a shamisen master. I followed up with The Tigers and then some more mod-ish garage tunes by The Other Five, The Fenways, The You Know Who Group, The Sidekicks and more! I mixed in some Japanese GS stuff by the likes of Takeshi Terauchi (again!) & the Bunnys and The Carnabeats which seems to flow better with danceable freakbeat a bit more than straight forward pounding 60's punk thumpers. I had great fun playing these tunes from across the seven seas and I was very happy to have some people come up to me and ask what exactly spinning!



Cheers, to DJ Shimmy from GaragePunkNYC.com who ran that show, DJ Grace O'Spades who spun a chic mix of glam & powerpop after me and all the bands that played Don Pedro the eve of St. Patrick's Day 2013! See more photos at the GPNYC blog here: http://blog.garagepunknyc.com/2013/03/st-pattys-photos-othermen-born-loose-neighbors-don-pedro.html

LIVE REPORT! HOUSE of MYSTERY Vol.11 No Way Jose Sayonara Party!

With gut-wrenching sorrow I had to say farewell to one of the best friends I have ever known in my Tokyo existence. With his research into the underbelly of the Japanese music world complete, loco muchacho Jose has moved on to Arizona to finish the scholarly work he started 2 years ago. And what better way to say sayonara than with an all out bash at Club Heavy Sick with his favorite trash thrashers on hand! Not to mention a sultry reunion with the sexy CocoFlame who played foil to his Senor Santa at the HOUSE of MYSTERY XXXmas party of 2011!



The unmentionable attractions of the tear-jerking evening included Yokosuka knuckle-draggers d/i/s/c/o/s, back from the grave robbers THE FADEAWAYS, frat-hoppin' rockers STOMPIN' RIFF RAFFS, beat-sloppin' horror THEEE BAT & B-movie dudes ED WOODS!



The DJ station was kept rockin' by the jamming wax thrown down by DeeJays LEMON WHISKERS and Back from the Grave Svengali DADDY-O-NOV... But the highlight for most was DJ SENOR! That is Jose in his loco Mexicano persona dishing out some of his own hot tamales on the turntables!



With a special cake & cookies made by Stompin's own Miku-chan, not to mention all the friendly faces that came out, the HOUSE of MYSTERY achieved the home-party vibe that I strive for! And Senor Jose was blown away by all the well-wishing and wild-hearted revelry everyone brought with them. I have a feeling he took a lot of it back to arid Arizona with him!



As a shaky Mika Bat slurmised on stage "NEVER SAY GOOD BYE!" Until we meet again... and I'll leave it at that!

GARAGE PUNK NYC presents... St. Paddy's Eve Bash at Don Pedro!

As yours truly was planning an escape from Tokyo heading back to NY for a clean spring break, I got to thinking about what I could do in the city that never sleeps for three weeks. Well, I got in touch with Christophe from Bananas Magazine (who have featured both THE FADEAWAYS & THEEE BAT) and asked him if anything was on. Through him, I was put in touch with DJ SHIMMY who operates the GraragepunkNYC.com blog and also does shows at Don Pedro in Brooklyn. In the past he's billed THEEE BAT & STOMPIN' RIFFRAFFS, both good friends of mine. Well, Shimmy offered me an opening slot... on the day that I arrive in NY. I fly into JFK at 3pm... probably won't get released from that void until 5pm. Show starts at 9:30... so I have a good 4 hours to make my way over to Williamsburg and find someplace to hang before showtime. It will be managed.



For anyone in the area looking for something to do to celebrate, St. Paddy's Eve and do the whole hair of the dog thing on St. Paddy's Day proper, come on out for some garage insanity with THE OTHERMEN, TIGHT SPOTS, BORN LOOSE & THE NEIGHBORS. DJs Sea-mmy & Grace O'Spades will spinning later on in the evening and yours truly, the Stately Wayne Manor will start the party roaring with raw Japanese punk clunkers from the 90's as well as a set of 60's GS and garage thumpers... maybe even a little Irish might get thrown in the bag!

Look out for my merch table with SWAMP FICTION records and some new stuff from Japan available on PACIFICTION RECORDS like BOBBY'S BAR, DEAD BAMBIES & HOWLING GUITAR!

HOUSE of MYSTERY Vol. 12: No Way Jose Sayonara Party!

For about over two years I've been hanging out with Jose (he's really Canadian of Columbian descent, but we play up his Mehicano looks!) at garage shows around Tokyo, occasionally Back from the Grave at UFO or some Cherry Times party at JAM, but most often (ahem, nearly every weekend) at my home away from home, CLUB HEAVY SICK. Jose was my Senor Santa at the 2011 Xmas party with THE SPITFIRES from Australia, we've had many cool times introducing RnR tourists to  Poor cowthe greatest RnR bar in Tokyo and I've been lending him tons of Japanese garage/punk on CD for his academic research into the Japanese music scene. That research has come to a finish and Jose is heading to arid Arizona to put it all together, not to mention hang out with his girl. Dismayed, forlorn, despairing, you may think?! Yes, so I decided to throw a bash big enough to bring about the Day of the Dead a bit early! NO WAY JOSE SAYONARA PARTY featuring 5 bands selected by Senor Jose himself, hellishly hip garage DJs LEMON WHISKERS & DADDY-O-NOV and a special reunion whith burlesque wildcat COCO FLAME who incidentally gave SENOR SANTA a luscious lap dance on Xmas day two years ago. Not to mention DJ SENOR JOSE himself making an appearance playing some of his favorite Japanese wild tunes! Don't say sayonara, just buy him some tequila!


HOUSE of MYSTERY Vol. 11
"No Way Jose Sayonara Party"
Sun., March 10
Club Heavy Sick

*live*
ED WOODS
THEEE BAT
STOMPIN' RIFFRAFFS
THE FADEAWAYS
d/i/s/c/o/s

*DeeJays*
SENOR JOSE
DADDY-O-NOV (Back from the Grave)
LEMON WHISKERS
WAYNE MANOR

OPEN: 18:00
START:18:30
TICKET:
ADV: 2000 +1D
DOOR: 2300 +1D

THE DOGS - Japan Tour Finale 2013 & Detroit Jack's Sayonara Party

A big salute to Detroit Jack for the past 15 years or so he's been living in Japan! Back in 2007, he launched Future Now Records as a vehicle to bridge music scenes between two of the world's greatest Rock Cities with a tribute to THE DOGS! He released a double album with a slew of Japanese bands paying homage to the original punk rock band that first screamed out "Slash Your Face!" He followed up with a double DVD collection of new and old rare live footage of THE DOGS gigging in LA and Tokyo. Since then, Jack has decided to move... rather ride on into the sunset seeking serenity in the world's ancient site with his newly founded Bike Classical cycling group. Ride on, brother!

 

That's not to say Detroit Jack won't be leaving without any fanfare! Future Now Recordds is bringing THE DOGS back to Japan for four incredible nites of ROCK fantasy! Hit Fifi's bar Poor Cow in Shimo-kitazwa on Friday, April 8th for a special acoustic show and record signing. Get electric, or eleki maybe, on Sat. April 9th at SHINJUKU RED CLOTH with THUNDER ROADS, THE RAYDIOS, JACKIE & THE CEDRICS & ELECTROPHONIC! Wild 60's rockin' dance tunes by SWANK DJ WILD OX!

Yours truly, The Stately DJ Wayne Manor, was asked with great honor to spin loud 'n' fast vinyl punk trash at UFO CLUB in HIGASHI-KOENJI on Sunday, April, 10th and also HATAGAYA CLUB HEAVY SICK on Monday, April 11th! Head to UFO for post-punks NANOX, legendary girls garage group SUPERSNAZZ, trash rockers FRANTIC STUFF & Motor City-style madmen THE GIMMIES! Special going away present for Detroit Jack will be a strip tease by the jaw-dropping, tittee-twisting burlesque beauty MIWA-ROCK!

And if you still have blood flowing through your veins after all that, come on out to my home turf CLUB HEAVY SICK for a trash-sick monster-bash with frantic trio THEEE BAT, muddy fuzz from nUEyIN, Max retro RnR band SONIC GANG, leather-clad screeching machine THE FACEFUL & non-stop garage RnB action by the MINNESOTA VOODOO MEN! Oh did I forget to mention THE DOGS will be there too? Do it for THE DOGS baby! Turn on & turn it up all you Motor City Muthfu&#%*$!!!!!!WOOOOOOOOOFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!