ATLRetro

OK, the New Year is about passing the torch and moving in the future, but at ATLRetro, we think you ought to be able to do that with vintage style. Here are our top seven picks for counting down 2011 and toasting 2012 while partying like it’s 1999 or earlier.

1. Disco ain’t dead. No decade knew how to get down like the 1970s and no DJ knows how to play that funky music than the Funk Godfather himself, Romeo Cologne. Plus since the venue is the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge, for extra points, wear a bit of blue velvet with your silver lame and have a David Lynchian flashback to the ‘80s. All night long; $6 cover 10-11 pm; $10 cover after 11 p.m.

2. Get back to the roots. The Variety Playhouse serves up a double portion of roots, rhythm & funky blues, rock and country with JJ Grey & Mofro and Honey Island Swamp Band. The former hail from Jacksonville, Fla., and are proudly influenced by classic soul heroes and other native Southern sounds. Founded by New Orleans musicians stuck in San Francisco after Hurricane Katrina, the latter play a Bayou Americana sound that is both their own and yet forged in the spirit of a heady blend of Little Feat, Taj Mahal, Earl King, Jerry Garcia, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and Jimmy Reed. Doors at 8 p.m., Show at 9 p.m.; $35-40.

3. Ring the Holiday Inn. Relive the glamour of a 1930s/1940s New Year’s Eve with Atlanta’s biggest band, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Michael Krajewski conducts an eclectic line-up of music ranging from Offenbach’s “Orpheus in the Underworld” (Can-Can) to Gershwin, Berlin and Rodgers and Hammerstein.London and Broadway stage stars Joan Hess and Kirby Ward dance to the swing classics in a tribute to Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. 8 p.m.; $30-$68.

4. Do the Monster Mash. Greet the New Year in ghoulish and goofy style with Professor Morte and the Silver Scream Spookshow gang at the Plaza Theatre. In addition to the antics of their always entertaining stage show, on the big screen is a rare special treat—MAD MONSTER PARTY (1967). This stop-motion puppet story was the only feature made by Rankin-Bass, the same folks that created RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER and so many beloved holiday specials, but features a cast of classic creatures such as Dracula, the Werewolf, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and more. Boris Karloff voices Baron von Frankenstein and Phyllis Diller is his creation’s Bride. Proceeds benefit Atlanta’s longest continuously running vintage art deco (and now nonprofit) cinema, which is currently up for sale. Let’s not let the Plaza become another lost landmark of Atlanta’s past. Evening show starts at 10 pm (tickets are $12), plus if you’ve got glamorous evening plans or don’t want the kids to stay up too late, there’s also an afternoon matinee at 1 pm (kids free; adults just $7).

5. Who Knows Where the Time Goes? It’s been three decades since Guadalcanal Diary formed in Marietta, but one of metro Atlanta’s top seminal alt-rock bands regrouped last summer at Athfest and Smith’s Olde Bar and tonight they are “Bringing It on Home to The Strand,” the art deco former movie palace in Marietta’s Square, along with special guests Flamingo Royale and the Dex Romweber Duo. If you missed our feature interview with lead singer/guitarist Murray Attaway last summer, catch up on your reading here. The all ages show has doors at 7 p.m.; tickets are $30 for concert only, $20 for after-midnight party only, and $45 for both show and party, with proceeds supporting fine and performing arts in City of Marietta Schools.

6. Lady Sings the Blues. Classic blues and jazz chanteuse Francine Reed brings her powerhouse vocals to Blind Willie’s with The Shadows and special guest Houserocker Johnson. $50 gets you party favors and champagne. Doors at 7 p.m.

7. Carry on, Way Downtown. Seventies superstar rockers Kansas headline Peach Drop 2012, the Southeast’s biggest NYE celebration at Underground Atlanta. Festivities test your stamina by starting at 11 am Dec. 31 with loads of family-friendly activities from carnival rides to photos with exotic birds, and running until 3 am on Jan. 1.There’s also a slew of other bands on two stages.  It’s free if you’re willing to brave the crowds and the likely chill of being outdoors.

Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, May 1, 2011, at Devil's Pond. Left to right: Alan "Lumpy" Cowart, Brant Slay, Ben Reynolds. Photo Credit: Jason Thrasher.

Sometimes you don’t realize how much you miss a band until you hear they’re back together again. About a month ago we caught up with Guadalcanal Diary, who reunited for two shows at AthFest and Smith’s Olde Bar. But this year’s AthFest was also notable for the triumphant return of the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies, another Georgia band that skated national fame in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s and won the hearts of many—including Michael Stipe, Willie Dixon and John Keane, who produced their two albums WHITE DIRT and 8-TRACK STOMP. That affection was earned by a truly unique sound—oft dubbed “swamp rock”—that had its roots in both alt-rock and country as Ben Reynolds’ fast-paced blues guitar riffs mixed with an arsenal of home-grown and found percussion instruments played by Brant Slay including the rockin’ chair, stomp board (their invention), washboard, harmonica, cowbells and tin cans. Like so many great bands, though, the Mudd Puppies slipped away quietly and way too soon.

The rumors started back last spring with the seemingly unlikely proposition that the Mudd Puppies were suddenly back in the studio recording a song for the Jason Statham action movie THE MECHANIC. Then they showed up at South by Southwest in Austin, expanded from a duo to a trio with Alan “Lumpy” Cowart on drums. Cowart had performed with The Beggar Weeds from Jacksonville, Fla., another legendary alt-rock band also with a Stipe-produced record. Soon the Mudd Puppies were playing hometown venues such as The Melting Point and ATHFest, and we knew we weren’t hallucinating in wistful thinking any more. Thankfully they’re finally getting around to playing in Atlanta in the Buckhead Music Festival this Saturday July 30 at the 1930 Buckhead Theatre.

Brant Slay at AthFest 2011. Photo credit: Daniel Pieken.

ATLRetro caught up with Brant recently and he was kind enough to fill us all in on the band’s back story (for those of you who missed the Mudd Puppies the first time around), what he and Ben were up to when they went away, what brought the duo back to playing together, how Lumpy got involved, and miscellaneous other tasty tidbits from Mudd Puppies mythology.

For the young’uns, how did you, Ben and Lumpy get together and start the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies?
Well, Ben and I met in Athens back in the mid-’80s. We were both in art school and looking to vent a little creative energy. We had parties at my house on Barber Street, and everyone invited had to either bring an instrument or play the pots and pans. It sounded horrible, but we had a great time. Ben was learning the guitar, and I was singing and stomping. The harmonicas, found percussion and actual stomp board came later. We simply clicked and usually were the last two at the party still playing. That’s pretty much the inception of The Chickasaw Mudd Puppies.

Chickasaw Mudd Puppies at South By Southwest.

We later met the greatest band to ever come out of Florida, The Beggar Weeds, and Alan “Lumpy” Cowart was their drummer. We toured with the Weeds quite a bit, and Alan was gracious enough to sit in and play with us for an occasional tour. We all hit it off, and the coolest thing that came from that meeting of the bands was that we made some incredible lifelong pals. Many years later, we crawled out of the ground like some 19-year cicada ready to make music again, and it was truly fate that Lumpy become the third member of the Mudd Pups. It’s evolution.

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Friday, July 1

Catch an IMAX movie and get funky to the progressive jazz-fusion sounds of The Nick Longo Band at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX.

Saturday July 2

Never tell Linda Gail Lewis that she’s just the sister of Jerry Lee. See why this rockin’ redhair holds her honkytonkin’ own and is a favorite Van Morrison collaborator, too, at the Star Bar tonight. Expect a fiery night with Psycho-DeVilles also playing, and Hot Rod Walt is this week’s Kool Kat. Also on the sure-to-get-you-money’s-worth bill are kick-ass honky tonk ensemble Whiskey Belt and Athens Latin Misfits tribute band Los Meesfits.

This week’s pretty quiet overall, but nothing can be easy, can it? You still have to choose between that rockin’ Retro line-up and iconic Atlanta alternative band Guadalcanal Diary back together for two 30th anniversary gigs, one of which you already missed if you missed Athfestand the other tonight at Smith’s Olde Bar. Read ATLRetro’s preview with Murray Attaway here. In the mood for blues? Plus Northside Tavern hosts an all-star Women in Blues Festival with Lola & the Blues Ladies featuring some of the city’s finest chanteuses including Caroline Aiken, Sana Blue, Sandra Hall, Donna Hopkins, Bareknuckle Betties and of course, Lola. DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours.

Sunday July 3

Os Ossos headlines blues “dunch” between 1 and 4 PM at The Earl. And at night come back to hear deranged glam by guys in leather jackets. It’s ain’t no mouse, but the name of the Chicago garage band is Mickey. Also on the bill are Atlanta punk band The Husseins and Black Lodge.

Below the jump – more ongoing exhibitions and performances with a Retro edge…

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Photo courtesy of Guadalcanal Diary.

I see life like a mirror
And I see life so much clearer

We move so quickly
Who knows where the time goes
Where does this road lead?
No one knows, no one knows

-Excerpted lyrics from “Litany” by Guadalcanal Diary (2 x 4, 1987)

Back in the early ‘80s when alt-rock was still called post-punk or new wave and relegated to the ghetto of college radio, Athens seemed to grab all the cutting edge music glory in Georgia. While many music critics liked to insist Guadalcanal Diary came from that scene (their first LP was on Danny Beard’s DB Records, which while based in Atlanta, was known for breaking out The B-52s), the band actually hailed from Marietta, proving something much more innovative than the Big Chicken could hatch out of what’s often thought of as Atlanta’s most white-bread suburb.

It doesn’t seem like it could possibly have been three decades ago when they first got together to play a friend’s backyard wedding, but it’s mighty good to hear that Guadalcanal Diary, who broke up in 1987, are back and performing live, if only for two shows. The first was at AthFest last weekend, and rumor has it that the second at Smith’s Olde Bar is already sold out. Yeah, it seems like there are plenty of folks who miss hearing the voodoo jangly twang with an offbeat sense of humor of “Watusi Rodeo”—the name of their first EP released in 1983 (Entertainment on Disk) and later a song on the WALKING IN THE SHADOW OF THE BIG MAN LP (1984) released on DB Records and produced by Don Dixon (REM, Smithereens). Back then MTV’s CUTTING EDGE, the go-to late night show for progressive content, named the video for “Watusi Rodeo” its video of the year. They’d go on to cut three more albums, and even after they broke up, thankfully they’d occasionally reunite every once in a while for a show and even cut a live CD, GUADALCANAL DIARY AT YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY, in 1998.

In more recent years, lead singer/guitarist Murray Attaway recorded a memorable solo album, IN THRALL, and lately he’s been performing again with Guadalcanal Diary guitarist and oft co-composer Jeff Walls in Bomber City. Walls has popped up in a variety of bands including Hillbilly Frankenstein, Dash Rip Rock, Southern Culture on the Skids, Man or Astro-Man? and The Woggles. ATLRetro caught up with Murray to find out why Guadalcanal Diary decided to regroup this summer and what’s ahead for him, Walls and the band…

You were one of the bands that converted me to a whole different way of looking at music, listening to WRAS in the early 1980s. It’s great to hear you guys playing again. What inspired you to bring the band back this summer?

That is very kind of you. The advent of social networking had a hand in the reunion. I had quite a number of music people, promoters and such contact me over the last few years asking if I had plans to do any more music. This led directly to Jeff and I starting Bomber City. As 2011 drew near, Jeff, Rhett, John and I began to discuss the possibility of doing a few Guadal shows to commemorate our 30th anniversary. And here we are.

Is it the whole original line-up—you, Jeff Walls, John Poe, Rhett Crowe?

Yes, we’d never consider it otherwise.

For those too young to remember, briefly how did Guadalcanal Diary get started and why the name?

Jeff and I had been writing songs together on and off for years, and we wanted to play them live. We both had been in a band called Strictly American with Rhett’s brother Curtis Crowe of Pylon, and John and Jeff were in a couple of bands together as well, The Motive and The Rooms. Rhett and I were a couple at the time and she wanted to learn to play bass, which Jeff taught her. The original idea involved doing a number of Civil War ballads all rocked up, but, thankfully, our originals sunk that idea. The name, taken from the Richard Tregaskis novel, seemed ambiguous enough to work creatively under. Plus, it sounds like water.

Who were your early influences? In an old Spin interview, you mention XTC, Bowie, Velvet Underground, Roxy Music but also old country like George Jones?

Yes, there are quite a few older country artists I like: Hank Sr., Johnny Horton, Buck Owens. Big list. Also Yes, Tull, Eno, Beatles, Stones, Miles Davis, Wynonie Harris. This could take days…

“Watusi Rodeo” is your best-known song, but what’s your personal favorite and why?

I like that song. I also like “Litany,” “Trail of Tears,” “Ghost on the Road,” “Vista” and “Pretty Is As Pretty Does.” “Litany” came along at a very happy time in my life, and I think the song reflects it. I hope.

In an interview from 1993, you were asked whether you had any regrets about breaking up in 1989 but you said that while you were possibly poised for the kind of mainstream success that Soul Asylum had, you were happy the band didn’t push it until you were burnt out and no longer friends. How do you feel about that now, or are you sick of answering that question?

Did the interviewer ask me specifically about Soul Asylum? I was only peripherally aware of them, so I’d be surprised to know that I compared Guadal to them. I am still happy that things turned out the way that they did. I don’t like the idea of comparing one group’s success to another’s. Guadalcanal Diary’s original goal was to be able to headline 688 on a Friday night. We went a little further, happily. I’m pleased with the body of work we left. I’m even more pleased that we are still good friends.

You’re often more associated with Athens than Marietta. Was the gig at AthFest a bit of a coming home?

Yes indeed. No matter how much we may have bitched early on about differentiating between us and Athens, Athens became Guadalcanal Diary’s home. So Athfest was great, certainly a homecoming.

Any special plans for the Smith’s Olde Bar show?

Yes, to top the performance at Athfest.

When will we hear Guadalcanal Diary live again or a new recording?

No plans, but either is possible.

What’s up with Bomber City and are you collaborating with Jeff on anything else?

After a personnel change last year, we’ve been rehearsing steadily and are ready to play live again. First show is July 30 at The Melting Point in Athens.

Are you up to any more solo work or anything else musically right now?

Between Guadal and Bomber City, and a startup company that I’m a partner in, my hands are full. Jeff’s the one who’s in four bands at a time, plus producing. I think he takes lots of vitamins.

What’s your favorite Atlanta used record store and why?

Wax n’ Facts.  Danny Beard put out our first LP, and he’s also a relative by marriage. Plus great selection.

What question do you wish someone would ask you but they never do, and what’s the answer?

I wish someone would ask me why I like peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches. Because they’re crunchy, sweet and sour.

Just five months after quietly launching ATLRetro the last weekend of January, we’re up to our 100th post, blushing after a rockin’ review from Scoutmob, and averaging nearly 4,000 hits a month! Thanks, dear readers, for your support, and we hope you’ll stick around for an exciting site revamp in July featuring a mighty swell new logo courtesy of that swingin’ kat Derek Yaniger and new regular features on Retro restaurants, cocktails and vintage shopping.

Mike Geier and one of the lovely Dames Aflame.

Monday June 27

From 3 PM on, savor tropical sounds and libations, as well as a Polynesian dinner during Mai Tai Monday at Smith’s Olde Bar. Kingsized and Tongo Hiti lead singer Big Mike Geier is Monday night’s celebrity bartender at Sister Louisa’s Church of the Living Room and Ping Pong Parlor. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam.

Tuesday June 28

Grab your horn and head to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 PM. Fedora Blues is at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Notorious DJ Romeo Cologne spins the best ‘70s funk and disco at 10 High in Virginia-Highland. Catch Tuesday Retro in the Metro nights at Midtown’s Deadwood Saloon, featuring live video mixes of ’80s, ’90s, and 2Ks hits.

Wednesday  June 29

Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern. The Hollidays bring a little soul to Fat Matt’s Rib Shack and Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck blues it down at Northside Tavern respectively. Dance to ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s hits during Retro in the Metro Wednesdays presented by Godiva Vodka, at Pub 71 in Brookhaven.

Thursday  June 30

You don’t need a golden ticket to enter in a world of Gene Wilder‘s imagination courtesy of trippy 1971 kids classic WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, this week’s movie at Piedmont Park‘s Screen on the Green.

Uncle Daddy & the Kissin’ Cousins get Twain’s a hoppin’, hillbilly style. Self-described Atlanta “modern retrobilly” band The Serenaders swing at Kathmandu Restaurant & Grill in Clarkston. All Thursday shows at the Vietnamese restaurant are free and all-ages. Go Polynesian to Tongo Hiti’s luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as some trippy takes on iconic pop songs, just about every Thursday night at Trader Vic’s. Party ‘70s style with DJ Romeo Cologne at Aurum Lounge. Breeze Kings and Chickenshack bring on the blues respectively at Northside Tavern and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.Bluegrass Thursday at Red Light Cafe features Kris Youmans & the DC-3’s.

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