Someone once asked Charles Manson what he thought of the beach boys. His answer was, “F*ck the Beach Boys; i’m looking out for this guy right here…” Still a frustrated musician, that Chucky. I mention manson simply because I have a close friend and he collects odd videos like Manson interviews and he made me an audio cassette about 8 years ago with spliced up Manson interviews. I know the man is looney beyond comprehension, but he was way ahead of any of his interviewers. At one point, he told the interviewer he was invisible. Then he dared the guy to prove him wrong and, know what? the guy couldn’t! Not really. Such is the stupid press.

The reason the interviewer asked about the Beach Boys was that, on their 1970 album, 20/20, there is a song called, “Never Learn not to Love.” Well, if you’ve ever been privy to those manson demos that RHINO put out in the 80’s, it’s practically the same song as a Manson song. And it goes uncredited! I suppose it’s hard to collect when you’re in jail, huh? And then there is the rumor that he threatened to kill Dennis Wilson and Dennis got scared. Um, Dennis was PSYCHO, a coke head and had half of Laguna beach pregnant. Manson DID threaten him but (and unlike that stupid, truthless Beach Boy tv speacial from ’99) Dennis kicked Charles manson’s ass to the point that Chucky pee’d on himself. So, don’t believe tv specials. Poor Dennis, the only Beach Boy who could surf and he went and drowned.

So, we fly to San Francisco saturday, the 31st, the day after the Royce Hall show. I have a feeling the SF may be the best of the batch; i could be wrong, of course. See, the Fillmore Auditorium is a very special place. I’ve played there before and it’s just an experience to walk into this building and see ALL THOSE POSTERS from some of the biggest and best names in the rock and roll business. Everyone cut their teeth there and you feel blessed to even be given the courtesy to stand on that stage. That’s how I felt in 1998 when Dave Green and I backed Michael Shelley (NYC singer/songwriter) on drums and bass, respectively. We were the opening act on They Might Be Giants’ summer USA tour (which also became their fall tour!) and the Fillmore was the 2nd show of the tour (The Troubadour was the 1st). I was nervous at first, but then I looked around and it hit me that I may never get a chance like it again. So, I enjoyed the moment. And now, I get that opportunity again. And again, I’ll savor the moment.

And this is a bit off topic but, and I mean this sincerely, if anyone out there reading this right now has season 4 of the SOPRANOS, would you please mail it to me to borrow? I will pay you for the shipping cost. I mean, someone is selling the complete DVD for $49.99 on e-bay (an obvious industry copy, since it ain’t out yet) but I don’t wanna shell out the dosh just yet on that until I can look around. Look, maybe we can work something out (say, I don’t go there so stop thinking like that, ok?)…but if you have it on video, and I can play it here in the states, please e-mail me! The DVD player I use doesn’t support VCD and stuff like so what I am hoping for is a simple video of the entire season, well, several videos, cause it’s, what, 13 episodes? that’s about 6 videos, ain’t it? Ok, if you can help me out, it will be much appreciated and shall not go unrewarded…

Mike Randle