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Sal's Spot |
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Hi, call me Sal, I'm the singer/bass
player for The Goldstars. This page was
given to me by the rest of The Goldstars
without them knowing it. SAL'S SPOT!
is an open forum for me to talk about any damn thing I want! Please keep in mind that the view & opinions
expressed on this page are solely Sal's,
NOT THE GOLDSTARS.
In other words, if you have a question or concern about what is
said on this page, please bitch at me, Sal.
(You can bitch at Sal by emailing goldstars@thegoldstars.com.) OK, now that the legal mumbo jumbo is over, lets have some fun! And remember, just because I said something doesn't mean it's always true; use your own "bullshit filter" for crying out loud! Oh yeah, finally, please don't tell the other Goldstars about this page, it will be our little secret!
04/20/06 WWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLL We just arrived back in rainy Chicago, hot off the heels of our big ol’ Texas weekend with Mojo Nixon & The Toadliquors. I couldn’t resist gathering my personal blogs, podcasts, text messages, cell phone photos, instant messages, spy cams, scraps of paper, napkins & toilet paper to give you my account of our fun-filled weekend…so hang on to your cowboy hats & wallets, cuz here we go… So what seems like the 1,000,000th time in this band’s 5-year "career", I’m the first one to arrive (O’Hare). We’re flying AA, so I wait by the check-in for the other guys to show-up (Skipper has all the flight info). While waiting, some guy comes up to me and asks if I’m the lead singer of The Romantics. You’d think I’d be offended (since he’s probably over 50+ years old), but it could be worse, some girl in Austin thought I looked like Jerry Seinfeld (just voted the 17th most unsexiest man in the world). So the guy starts talking to me about Rick Springfield and wonders about his failed career. WHY ME? I tell him to keep checking the papers this summer, I’m sure you’ll be able to catch him at a Casino or Rib Fest soon. Now I’m really wondering where the hell the guys are so I call Skipper on my cell, "Yeah, were already done checking-in at curbside." Thanks guys...
We arrive in Houston and wait for our handler Pete "Wet Dog" Gordon (also a Toadliquor) to come get us. While waiting by the arrivals door Skipper & Dag are fascinated by a blind man with a homemade black t-shirt that says "Bob Saget" in white lettering. Yeah, I guess that is kinda weird. Skipper tries to get a photo but fails. Pete shows up & we’re now on our way to Austin for the first show…we get to Austin & head straight to the hotel. So we’re checking-in and this girl whizzes by us at about 28 MPH in her electronic wheelchair. She almost nails Skipper. We later see her outside panhandling off the expressway ramp. Yeah, I love 5-star hotels. I also noticed the same exact picture above both Skipper’s & my bed. We now unpack and I notice I forgot my long sleeve black shirt that I planned to wear every night. FUCK! Guess I’ll have to wear my blue short sleeve shirt every night and look like a computer repair nerd. We arrive at the Continental Club and Mojo Nixon greets me with "Hey Weirdo". Now I don’t really know Mojo that well, but I’ve met him about 4-5 times. I know he doesn’t know my name, but I guess it’s better than calling me "Hey Talentless Pencilneck Asshole Computer Nerd, Who Doesn’t Belong On My Rock ‘N’ Roll Stage". We decide to leave the club & fill-up on Margaritas across the street. OK, now I’m ready to rock/party Austin! The show went really good & we had some kids dancing upfront too. But I think I made a big rock ‘n rock misfire by ordering a round of Margaritas from the stage. Hey fuck you, I’m on vacation. But the buzzkill hit hard when I had to endure a longwinded "intense" philosophical discussion about "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen between Dag & Mojo Nixon backstage. BRUTAL!!!
Now The Goldstars never played Dallas before so we didn’t really expect too much. But The Gypsy Tea Room is a really nice joint. I almost flip my lid when I find out Shaggy 2 Dope is playing in the BIG room the next day! How cool is that? Wait a minute… What did you say? Come again? You’re kidding right? You didn’t just say who is Shaggy 2 Dope, did you? YOU DUMB NERDY PUCK-ASS BITCH, SHAGGY II DOPE IS ½ OF INSANE CLOWN POSSE! Anyway, the gig was amazing. We almost sold out of merch & some freak actually requested "Hurry Up & Wait" in the middle of the set. Backstage before the show, Mojo’s drummer Wid jokingly (I think) requests we open with "Come Sail Away" by Styx. Of course Skipper & Dag know it but request he puts his money where his mouth is. Before you know it, the pot jumps up to $80. Everyone chipped in from the Toadliquors to Mojo himself. You think $80 doesn’t sound like a lot of money? Well people, it’s a hair under what the Goldstars made for the entire weekend. A few Jaeger shots later, Skipper & Dag open up the show as Goodman (later renamed Bald Man Group). With lighters high in the air, they wowed the crowd with a soaring rendition of "Come Sail Away" b/w "Ridin’ The Storm Out" by Reo Speedwagon. I’m not shitting you when I say Wid (a grown man) actually started crying (Reo is his all-time favorite group). Wait a minute! Was it because of Bald Man Group’s rock power that we succeeded in Dallas? Well, it gave me something to ponder on our 4-hour drive back to Houston…
We arrive in Houston & Pete takes us to our hotel in Downtown Houston (real nice digs this time as we were greeting by a mouth-watering warm cookie!) and meet up with Mojo & the rest of the Toadliquors. To my surprise, we had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Mojo Nixon who flew in from San Diego. She seemed like a real nice woman. I guess Mojo was losing his voice a bit so I suggested he take one of my "Throat Coat" tea bags. Now keep in mind, Mojo Nixon is one of the most macho guys I’ve ever met (and proud of it). I knew he would never EVER take any kind of pansy-ass, new age, cockamamie bullshit tea for his throat. But his wife’s eyes lit up and thank me for the tea as she looked at Mojo with a "Your going to drink this later if you like it or not." look. It’s the only time I saw Mojo fall silent the whole trip.
Speaking of home remedies, Skipper is the kinda guy who has a pill for just about everything. He’s always handing me some get-well-quick pill. Anyway, he got everyone hyped up about these over the counter pills that clean out your lower intestines or some shit (yes, pun intended). So all the Goldstars got on “The Skipper System” cuz hey, I probably have a few parasites crawling around down there anyway. So now he tells us to wait a few hours & keep drinking water. OK, so here are the results:
My refreshed feeling defiantly spilt onto (no pun intended this time) the gig. It was great & probably the biggest crowd of the weekend. We completely sold out of our merch (except for a few "magic" t-shirts). We also had a special treat in Houston as the Allen Oldies Band (one of my favorite bands of all time) kicked off the show! Mojo & the Toadliquors were great every night & I hope he doesn’t wait another 2 years to un-retire. My biggest thanks is to Pete, Bullethead (Mojo’s manager) & Kinky Friedman. Without this crazy SOB Kinky running for Texas governor, Mojo would have never done these shows… YES, KINKY IS EVERYWHERE!
See ya at the show,
03/29/05 I’m not even going to say, "It’s been a long time since my last Salspot entry" but their, I said it. Seems I always say it and it’s getting old I said it when I already said that I say it. Why am I not making sense and rambling this early in Salspot? Well, from time to time (ok, everyday) I check the www.thegoldstars.com "usage" to see how many hits we get & how many people are hitting what pages. Well come to find out that Salspot is towards the bottom of the list. It’s really kinda sad when "Skipper’s Recipe Of The Day" page is just slaughtering me and "Goodtime’s Step By Step Instructions On How To Install Windows" page has more than doubled Salspot hits. But the good news is I’m 5 hits above "Funny Things Dag Says" page. Hey, I’m not bitching or mad, I’m just trying to say nobody is really reading this so anything goes. Hell, I’m not even going to put this stupid thing through spell check anymore,, yeah that will teach um. Wow, I can pretty much say whatever the fuck I want and nobody really cares! How cool is that? I feel like I’m 0-20 years old again.
Ok, now that I’ve established that I’m basically talking to myself and typing this for no really reason other that to amuse myself, let’s get down to it. Yes, we just returned from SXSW 2005 and had a wail of a trip (see, I used the word wail and that’s just stupid, if I really thought anyone was reading this, I would have used something way cool like "hell"). Here is my day-to-day account of the wonder that is SXSW:
On my way to O’Hare, I bump into Fox from The Millions on the Red Line to downtown. We caught up on a few things & talked about The Crue concert. Yeah, who cares that Nikki looks fat & can’t play, Vince can barley sing & looks fatter than Nikki & Mick looks/acts like a corpse…The Crue still ROCKS! He then asked me why I did just get on the Foster bus to Jefferson Park, it would be much quicker to O’Hare. Damn, I hate when somebody tells me something that reminds me that I ain’t to bright… Arrived at the airport later then I wanted, but still the first one to arrive. See Skipper decked out in a sharp orange & green suit & Goodtime arrives in a slick St. Patty’s day outfit that gets all the young teens at the airport giggling. Skipper asks where’s my suit? Note to self: Got to load paper on the fax machine when I get home. We were all hungry and decided to hit the food court. This really isn’t very interesting, but I wanted it documented that Skipper ate McDonalds. We get to Houston & "The Dazzling" Pete "Wet Dawg" Gordon Gray came to pick us up. Little did we know it was going to be in the brand new Allen Oldies Band mobile. Wow, this is a bonified head turner if I ever saw one. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE OLDIES FOLKS! What more can I say… Our first show was playing after the Beatles tribute band Beetle who have a steady Thursday nite spot at the Continental Club. Now you might be saying to yourself "Cool, it St. Patrick’s day, Beetle is a great way to start the show, it’s gonna be a slam dunk boyz". WRONG! You try playing after a band that has 1,000,000 #1 hits and not send the crowd screaming for the doors. Well, it wasn’t that bad, but next time we’d prefer a Seger tribute to open please. By the end of the set we all switched instruments & got really gone with it. Kinda forgot what happened, honestly all I can remember is pulling out "Ain’t That America" and we shalt never do that again, I promise. Afterwards, the boys strolled next door to The Big Top and had a light rock All-Star jam session. I of course fell asleep backstage, but heard about a super cool rendition of Rupert Holmes’ "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)".
Now it’s time to drive to Austin. So we loaded up the Allen Oldies Band Mobile and Pete loaded us up with breakfast tacos. The mobile only gets up to about 54 mph so the trip seemed longer than usual. Oh yeah & I got the diarrhea. Had it so bad (how bad was it?), I almost took a crap on Allen’s throne on the roof, but instead yelled at the top of my lungs, “Oldies! Oldies! Oldies!” out the window all the way to Austin. Once we arrived everything seemed ok, my underwear was a touch fowl, but still dry. It was well worth it cuz Allen Hill & the Oldies Band were great! Afterwards, we hung out at the Continental Club as Bloodshot Records was having a big showcase. And get this, Dag followed Jon Langford around like a little lost puppy dog all night (I’m kidding, he didn’t, I kid, little inside joke, nobody reads this thing anyway, chill Dag…).
Well, it’s our big day as we have 3 big ass shows. First up was at the Continental Club to play Mojo Nixon’s 7th Annual: Mojo’s Mayhem Jalapeno Pancake Breakfast Staring Mojo Nixon. We had to follow the Allen Oldies Band at 11:00 am. I thought we had a real good show, glad the Bloody Mary(s) finally kicked in halfway through the set. Man I HATE Bloody Mary(s), but you work with what you got, hey, I’m really trying to be PRO this year people. Next up was an outdoor show across the street at Jo’s Cafe @ 5:00 pm. We were really lucky to get this show. After Skipper booked it he called me about the good news, but pulled one of those "but there’s a catch" deals. Here… we… go… again. Well, it’s an all-girl day at Jo’s so we’ll have to perform in drag. But the real problem had to do with the clouds getting darker & darker by the minute as our start time approached. You know things are lookin’ grim when the act on stage says, "Man, I feel sorry for the next band, well this last one goes out to Chakka". Yes, the skies opened up and it POURED for about 10-12 minutes. The sound guy seemed unaware the roof of the stage was cloth & the water just poured on the stage. GT, Dag & I ran across the street back to the Continental just getting soaked, but Skipper’s Farfisa was left behind. Could I have grabbed for him? Yeah, but there was a catch…sorry Skipper. All was not lost cuz we got to witness the great Roy "Treat Her Right" Head's set at the Continental. Man this old Texas is a madman! You want to see moves? This guy was flopping around on stage like a fresh caught bass in a row boat. It was a wild ride man. At one point, he had the packed house clear a spot in front of the stage, took a running start, and dove head first into the crowd. This guy is pushing 60 folks! Look for Roy Head Live In Chicago soon in 2005… How can you go on stage after that? Well, we had one more show back in Houston, so off we went. Allen Hill asked me to ride with him if I wanted. Two red headed front men in one vehicle is kinda scary, but it was a good ride. Guess what we talked about? Yes folks, it’s all about the OLDIES! We also exchanged some "trade secrets" about becoming highly successful front men, but I can’t go into detail, that’s confidential. Our last show was at the Big Top located next to the Continental Club. Cool little hang out. No stage, but I like it that way. Fun show, but it didn’t feel right until the double shot of something kicked in towards the end of the set. Oh yeah, we played a brand new song called "It’s All About You" and didn’t screw it up to bad…
The highlight of the trip came at George Bush airport in Houston when somebody actually recognized me. Was it a big Goldstars fan? Was it Beetle Bob? How about Robert Plant? Hey, maybe it’s a Salspot super-fan? No, but it was none other than Emily & Rebecca from Chicago’s own The Dials!!! It was nice to see some friendly faces in that Bush family’s airport. Sorry I could barley put a sentence together ladies, cuz my mind was on the DIARREA. Wow and dreams really do come true after you rock the SXSW…
See ya at the show,
10/13/04 OK, well it’s been awhile, but I finally have something to talk about. We just got back from our fun-filled jet lagged tour of Holland and I kept a journal (the guys didn’t know this)…hope you enjoy.
7:00 am: Well, our flight doesn’t leave till 7:00 pm so I decided to go into work. One of my wheels broke on my luggage on the way to the L train. Is this a good or bad sign? Also was also my last day on the job. Gonna make Rock n’ Roll my life. Don’t laugh/cry like my woman did. And don’t leave me either! The band says it’s a really really really bad idea, but hey your only middle aged once. Was delighted that after 3 years on the job, my co-workers handed me a going away card on my first break (yes, I’m Union and proud). And I thought they hated me.
1:30 pm: Skipper informs me via e-mail that we have to be at the airport 3 hours early. That means I have to now snake out at 2:00 instead of my usual 4:28. I know it’s my last day, but why burn any bridges, I mean, what if this rock thing doesn’t pan out. So I told my co-workers I’ll be right back, just going up to White Hen.
7:15 pm: Flight isn’t full, so I can stretch out a bit for this 8-hour tour. The in-flight meal was really good. I love Indian food or I’m really hungry. Skipper hands me a pill & says, “Take this”. Not bother to ask what it was I grab some water & swished it down. Wonder what I just took.
3:00 am: Wake up & realize we are at our destination in Frankfurt, Germany. Our contact Jordy from Holland who is also the drummer for the Noble Spirits (our touring buddies for this trip) picks us up at the airport holding a sign that reads “Blues Traveler”…yeah those Dutch are a gas. Now it’s about a three-hour drive to Jordy’s house in Hengelo where we are staying, so buy the time we arrived we only had about a 1 ½ hours to put our bags down and get to the club. You see it’s now Friday night people, time to rock. Luckily, the club is near Jordy’s house. Get to club Metropool and was very impressed. The stage was as big if not bigger than the area to watch the bands. They also served us really good coffee. At sound check I was busy learning Dag’s new song that I was informed we were playing (for the first time ever) tonight. As we checked the mics, I heard some of the guys in the opening band Summpimp snicker. I learned later that “Check 1, 2, Check 1, 2” translates in Dutch as “I’m wearing a Depends Diaper 1, 2, I’m wearing a Depends Diaper 1, 2.” Europe is really nice because they usually provide the bands with food. Well, Metropool was no exception. They had a nice Chinese buffet laid out for all the bands & crew. But later before Summpimp hit the stage, I used their dressing room bathroom in a mad rush. What a nasty dance. Not realizing there is a 2-3 inch open gap at the top of the bathroom door. I come out and the dressing room is completely cleared out. Watch out Holland, here come the Ugly Americans! Made Jordy drive me all the way back to his place to grab my shirt I forgot. Boy, I think he’s really is starting to hate me. Noble Spirits had a really good set and Summpimp rocked hard. We then jumped on stage to tune up, I then hear a loud THUD! Did an amp fall over? Did a lighting rig give way? No, it was our own Dag. I don’t know what exactly happened, but I couldn’t look. Did Dag break something? Was the dwarf stagehand OK? Was this a bad omen? Luckily Dag was fine and we had a great show. The Dutch wanted MORE. Back to Jordy’s house GT & I got into it. The argument is about European license plates vs. U.S. license plates. Dag wouldn’t take sides just to make us argue more and then laugh at us. But it was really boring. Even Jordy had to bail out & go to bed. Who liked which plate? Who won the argument? Who cares? Well, if your really interested, email me at Goldstars@thegoldstars.com and tell me what side of the fence you’re on then I’ll let you know what transpired…Hey, it bored me to just write this last paragraph.
Next morning GT, Dag & I woke up feeling great. We all had a real good night sleep & were ready for a hot hardy breakfast. But Jordy informed us that it was already 3:00 pm and the gig was almost 2 hours away so we had to leave for sound check in an hour. Jetlag? It kinda freaked me out; I mean we just played what seemed like a few hours ago. Wow, now I know what Urge Overkill must feel like on tour. We head downstairs to find our hot hardy breakfast: coffee, toast, butter & chocolate sprinkles. Get to Café Scooters in Drachten, looks like a pretty cool little bar. We’ll be playing on the floor & setting up the Noble Sprits PA. As the Dutch discuss a plan of attack, we head for some food. Traditional Dutch food can be tricky. They’re really into meat. Like meat on a stick, deep-fried stuff & more mystery meat. Oh, they like cheese too. Which is fine, but we ended up finding a Mediterranean place. Skipper ordered the Chicken pita & I ordered the Meat (lamb) pita. Well, Skipper went to the bathroom & the order came up. I grabbed his on accident so he ended up eating mine. Why did I bother telling this story? You’ll find out soon enough. On our way back to the bar we decide to go into this other cool looking bar on the strip. Walked in to see a bunch of people up at the bar yelling “ANDRE”, “ANDRE”, “ANDRE”! One lady was wailing. They were also singing these really horrible ballads in Dutch on the house Karaoke machine. Was this Andre music? Another lady grabbed GT and tried to sing with him like he knew the song. Who the hell IS Andre? Well later, about 2-3 days later, we find out that this Andre died on Friday. He is like the Dutch Elvis or something. They were going to telecast a big tribute w/casket throughout Holland in this big arena .Why did he die? Well, I guess Andre’s best friend was the bottle. Noble Spirits were about to hit the stage and the place was half empty. Looked like a possible grim night. Skipper has diarrhea. But as the Noble set tore on, the people started streaming in and before you know it the bar was full. Good late crowd. As we launch into our first song “She Don’t Like” I total screw it up right off the bat. Bad sign. Skipper gives me the “Are you alright” after the song is finished. I then think to myself, “What would Andre do?” so I throw back a Jaeger shot and keep on rockin’. This set is dedicated to Andre. The rest of the show was really fun. We got our biggest reaction so far & they wanted more. After playing all the songs we knew, Dag barrels into “Sweet Home Alabama”. Blew the roof off the joint. People are going nuts. Come to find out after the show that SHA is the bar’s theme song. Good call Dag.
Last show is at Café De Zenvende Hemel in Heerenveen (just incase you want to look it up on a map). It’s about 2 hours away from Jordy’s and I decide to ride with him. Jordy is a great guy who has been very cool to us during our visit. He’s really into American made cars & trucks. He has this big old Chevy 4x4 truck painted camouflage. I mean this thing sticks out like a sore thumb in Holland & many people give us funny looks on the way, but Jordy loves it. Also, the truck is loud as hell on the inside so he cranks up the Grand Funk (some weird live album w/extended jams), is going to be a long ride? He tells me about how he likes to take the truck mud bogging and wants to paint it like an American cop car/truck with all sheriff stickers (I guess you can get this shit on the internet). He’s also into Jerry Springer, Jeff Foxworthy, Lynard Skynard, Monster Trucks & Dead Moon. But he doesn’t drink or smoke. Not your typical guy from Holland, but he’s the best. But the one thing that did piss me off was he has no idea who Ted Nugent was? Dude get a clue. I mean if you’re into American redneck culture you HAVE to own “Double Gonzo Live”.
Get to the bar and it’s pretty small, but there is a stage. Gig went real good, the spars crowed really got into and wanted more. Holland loves the American R n’R and we love Holland. As a souvenir I brought back Traveler’s Diarrhea and why not.
See ya at the show,
04-01-04 Well, were back from the big SXSW Music Conference & had a blast! Thought I would go day by day with some of the highlights/lowlights. OK, strap in, here we go: Went to Texas & all I got was this handlebar mustache... Thursday 6:00 AM- Who the hell booked this flight? SKIPPER! Of course I was the first one to arrive at O'Hare, WAY TOO EARLY. But the plane was boarding to Houston, so why not, maybe I could get a window seat, slip into first class? Uh oh, wrong plane. Slinked back to our gate & rocked the new Duvall album "Volume & Density". Christian rock rules at 6:30 am! Look what the cat dragged in... Dag & Skipper (GT landed in Houston the day before- Ed) FINALLY stroll in 5 minutes before takeoff (rock stars). And they're both holding these ridiculous Vente latte espresso cappuccinos w/double shots of something or other, annoying oversize carry-ons & bad handle bar mustaches. But get this, they were laughing at ME! Finally figured out that I had one those funny mustaches too. Ouch. Who the hell came up with this great idea? SKIPPER! Houston, Houston, Houston... Arrived in beautiful Houston, TX. Our limo driver/manager Pete "Wet Dog" Gordon picked us up in his 1969 black Cadillac limousine w/round of RC Colas. Off to the club... Our first show is at the Continental Club II supporting Mojo Nixon. & It's his 2nd from last show EVER! Mojo finally arrives at the club a few hours later with a long bushy graying Afro like hair, some kinda Daisy Duke style jean shorts, work boots & a HANDLE BAR MUSTACHE. Only Mojo Nixon could trump The Goldstars. And that's why he's a living legend my friends. Elvis is everywhere... So why is Mojo retiring from rock n' roll? Is he running for president? Is he running from the law? Is Mojo planning on getting abducted by aliens so they can do that anal probe thingy? Not sure, but don't stop reading the funny papers... Although we were a bit tired, drunk & smelly, the show went great. Hey, we even sold a bunch of those things I usually use for drink coasters. Everyone in Houston treated us like stars. For dinner Wetdog treated us to some good ol' BBQ. I ordered a grape soda & asked for a "pop". Big mistake, I had the owner laughing & the regulars on edge. Hide your daughters, them damn Yankees are in the house! Oh yeah, Mojo & the Toadliquors ROCKED THE HOUSE! Talkin' about the Oldies... Friday 10:00 AM- The next morning we packed our shit & headed to Austin, TX, home of the SXSW Music Conference & The Goldstars showcase that will certainly bring us fame & fortune. Upon arrival we stopped off to check our the most amazing Oldies band playing on Congress St. & maybe the world, none other than The Allen Oldies Band! No, this ain't your Grandma's Oldies act or even your Uncle Bud's. It's more like your insane cousin Bobby's (you know, the one that lives in Aunt Carol's basement), so bring your straightjacket! It features the famous (w/screw(s) loose) Allen Hill who puts on a hell of a Rock show (notice how I capitalized the "R" in rock?). Please Please visit http://www.allenoldiesband.com/. Allen & the bands performance definitely lit a fire under The Goldstars pimply peach fuzzed Asses & we were now ready to RAWK the industry big wigs. So you want to be a Rock n' Roll star... Still Friday, but now it's 8:00 PM-Man, we had a HELL of a show, probably our best all weekend. So much so that our manager/limo driver Wetdog jumped on stage half way through the set & demanded a big record contract (with hookers & blow). Low & behold, he came back with a signed deal with Fairmont Productions on a bar napkin. So what does this mean for The Goldstars career? Will we be touring with Urge Overkill this summer? Will we now have 4 limo drivers instead of one? What about those hookers? Please e-mail Allen Hill for the answers. Almost Famous... After our blistering set Shooter Jennings hits the stage. Yes, he's son of the late great Waylon Jennings! This kid is young & talented. I think he needed a phone book to reach my mic stand. As I'm toweling off my sweaty brow, I spot Kris Kristofferson, Don Was, Charlie Sexton, & Johnny Knoxville. Yes ladies, Johnny is even HOTTER in person then in MIBII. It was cool to see all the Celebes checking out their favorite band The Goldstars. Damn were hot. After hob-knobbing with the A-list, we had to take a $100 cab ride to our hotel room to what seemed like Dallas. Who the hell booked these reservations so far from the club? SKIPPER! Got my Mojo workin'... Saturday 2:00 PM- Well, Well, Well. How do you top Friday's star studded never ending party? How about playing Mojo Nixon's 75th annual Jalapeno Pancake Breakfast Bash at the Continental Club. Oh yeah, & it's MOJO'S LAST SHOW EVER!! After slipping & catapulting my BBQ beef brisket into the grassy knoll behind the Continental, we hit the stage. Good show, but you know it's just not as exciting after you finally sign the big record deal. I mean, everyone at our beck-in call & submitting to our every whim is nice, but the fans can be a big hassle sometimes. Mojo hit the stage last at 6:00 PM & his voice kinda sounded like a raccoon getting strangled by a midget in a black tuxedo. But the show was excellent, what a way to go out, we'll miss you Mojo! Remember folks you gotta retire before you can have a reunion. Just ask OZZY! Back in the saddle again... After a tearful goodbye we headed back to the Continental Club II in Houston to support Southern Culture on The Skids. I'd like to give a big shot-out to DJ Kernel St. James. That man has the most incredible secret recipe of jammin' Oldies I've ever tasted in my life. As long as I'm shouting, I'd like to mention our incredible dancing sisters Becky & Tricia who served as our Goldstars Go-Go girls for the whole weekend. And they served us well, thanks girls! So we arrived back in Houston at 10:00 PM, but Mr. Wetdog informs us that we go on at 10:15 PM. From the limo to the stage, no time to take a piss, no time to do Jager shots (ok, maybe one) we're on! Not a bad set. I think most of the toxins in my body parachuted out of my pours & landed to safety. SCOTS torn it up & played great. Those cats's can sing & put on a real fun show! I took the blows, and did it my way... As SCOTS road crew torn down, I had enough liquor re-enter my body to suggested, I mean, DEMAND we play another fuckin' set. I think I was yelling at SCOTS to get their stupid shit off the fuckin' stage because the mother fuckin' GOLDSTARS were going to rock this damn shit hole again & maybe a third time if you show us your tits, honey! Sorry for all the swearing, but I wanted to keep it "real" and show the "kids" that alcohol is not the answer. Please drink responsibly. Overindulging can make one end up looking like a fool in front of friends & loved ones. Don't let this happen to YOU. Peace Out, Sal. Hey, this fun weekend would have never happened without these beautiful & talented people: Pete "Wetdog" Gordon (you are the best!), Pete's three cute kittens & two loving cats, Steve @ the Continental Club, Bill "thanks for taking all the facial hair photos" Shirley, Trisha & Becky, The Allen Oldies Band, Mrs. Hill & her famous breakfast soufflé, Mojo Nixon, the wait/bar staff at both Continental Club Austin & Houston, GT, Dag & SKIPPER! And don't forget GOD! Wow, some really bad liner notes huh. See ya at the show,
12-30-03 Well, it's almost the end of the year & damn I have lots to be thankful for. Our CD release party Dec. 6th was a smash success & lots of fun! I really want to thank our friends/family/fans from the bottom of my heart who came out and helped us rock! But I promise next time not to have "rock n' roll amnesia" and forgot to grab something before the encore. What bass? But why even bring it up, I doubt anyone really noticed…Also, I really enjoyed the Peelers rock n' roll fury & hope to play with those cat's real real soon. Did you know it's dangerously close to the 1 year anniversary of Dag in The Goldstars? Hey, did you think it would ever last this long? More importantly, did DAG ever think it would last this long? I did & LOVE rocking with him! But the only problem with having a hot-shot player is sometimes he won't take my calls. Hey Dag, if your reading this, are you getting my messages from your management team? Yes, your Secretary (whoops, Administrative Assistant) is a doll, but I'd like to chat with YOU sometimes? Please, I mean, this is kinda humiliating. I know your super busy and all, but a minute of your time would be special… To avoid any band tension/jealousy, I'd like to also give a "shout out" Detroit style to Skipper & Goodtime, stay cool guys! Peace. Last week we had a blast at the taping of Chic A-Go-Go, you know, the hottest kids dance show on Chicago Cable? Hosts Ratso & Miss Mia were really cool & fun to party with! I'd like to thank Lily, Jake, Ravi, Anya, John Battles, and all the other cool kids for dancing up a storm during our performance. This show is going to air on Tuesday, December 30th @ 8:30 pm & Wednesday, December 31st @ 3:30 pm (replay) on Chicago Cable Channel 19. Can't watch it because the OC is on? OK, then set your VCRs or Tibos & check it out later! Also, visit www.rocktober.com/chiagogo/index.html for more info. See ya at the show,
10-06-03 Hey, I’d like to first clear up a mis-print in my last Sal’s Spot. Well, I said The Romantics (Yes, my favorite band- period!) is FINALLY releasing a new album called “61/49” on 9/9/03 (what you didn’t get it yet?) which is true. But I said it was a split CD w/The Dirtbombs on In-The-Red Records. This is not true, it’s a normal 10 song full-length album on Web Entertainment Records. Still confused? If so, then visit http://www.romanticsdetroit.com/. FYI-I still think Eminem is a “punck ass BITCH”, that was not a mis-print… Wow, now I feel much better! Oh yeah, speaking of cool rock albums, you Goldstars fans have spoken and have decided our first ever CD release will be called... “Gotta Get Out” Thank you for voting. We have since delivered the finished album to the “higher ups” at Pravda Records (www.pravdamusic.com) and are sitting by the phone waiting for the “thumbs up, good job guys, this is going to be HUGE, lets break out the champaign” talk. But we do know it will be released sometime in November and will be having a CD RELEASE PARTY with our fans (you!?) & tons of local celebs (Serot, Schwimmer, Dick Biondi?) Stay tuned! I really want to thank everyone who shelled out 18 clams to see us play w/Dada at the Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge! Boy, the show was a trip man. Where do I start, do you want to hear this mess of a story? Well, we pulled up to the Pickwick in Skipper’s bread truck at 5:00 pm and who’s fancy silver tour bus is blocking the load-in area, you guest it, Dada. I mean who do these guys think they are, some high-priced headliner? Um, well Dada was to load-in and sound check shortly after 4:00 pm. As I squeezed around their bus into the doorway, I noticed no Dada equipment in sight, only PA monitors, speakers, mics (some still in boxes!), and stage lights on sticks- all gear read Peavey. I then talked to the promoter Jerry (great guy), loaded in our equipment and bumped into the Dada road manager. Forgot his name, but this dude kinda looked like Captain Lou Albano minus the rubber bands. He was pretty nice, but I wouldn’t want to deny this guy his backstage deli tray. Anyway, he said they (Dada) were gonna “take a pass” on the show. I learned quickly that “take a pass” means get back on the bus and leave for the next town. Found out the band had a little disagreement with Jerry about a few of the finer points on their contract. What, these guys can’t rock w/Mr.Peavey? Well, not sure if that was the problem, but I did see Jerry’s “business partner” (some guy w/white hair who looked like he saw a ghost) hand Captain Lou something, Captain Lou smiled, motioned to his road-crew (yeah, these guys really have a road crew) and said “OK, gigs on, unload the gear”. Yes, in rock things can turn around instantly with a short trip to an ATM. It’s now after 6:00 pm, door are to open at 6:30, but I’m thinking they won’t cuz we all still had to sound check right? Wrong! At exactly 6:30 doors open and kids come running down the aisles chasing each other for the best seats in the house. Kinda weird huh? Yes, we still rocked the joint, had a blast, and the crowd was great! In other words “It felt like going to Disneyland”, ok I know, but I had to say it… Hey by the way were playing the Double
Door October 21st, please visit our GIGS
page for more details.
8-5-03 Hello Hello, what"s up? Hey, I"d like to thank you guys for being real loud at The Beat Kitchen last Friday! You guys were great! We got to debut two brand new songs, ñOh Yeah!î & ñWhere"s My Ring?î, hope you liked them. Both tunes will be on our new, yet-to-be named full-length album. We"ve had quite an experience recording this record at ACME studios. For example, during one of our early sessions, producer Chainsaw received a fax stating ñWe regret to inform you that all employees are officially laid-off and will be shutting our doors in two weeksî. Needless to say, we immediately flushed the blow, kicked the hookers to the curb, and got serious! About a week later, I shit you not, Dag was in the middle of laying down a solo on ñGotta Get Outî and the studio went blackÜ NO POWER BABY! We couldn"t help but die laughing. How rock is that? Hey, what did we expect, we"re getting cut rates! But instead of calling it a day, Goodtime says ñHey I have a generator at home, what do you think?î Chainsaw"s not sure it"ll work, but says, hell it"s worth a try. How many rockers have Craftsman generator for crying out loud? But thank God for white trash rockers & orange power cords, because it worked and ended up being a very productive day! You don"t learn much in this biz, but you defiantly learn to adaptÜquickly. Stay tuned, I will have more info on our progress soon! Our web-chick, DoBee will have brand new sound clips up ASAPÜ ALERT, ALERT, ALERT The smell of well-oiled leather is coming to your stores soon! Yes, my #1 favorite band EVER (ICP is a close #2, yes Eminem still sux!) Detroit"s own The Romantics are FINALLY releasing a new album (actually a split LP w/The Dirtbombs) called 61/49 on 9/9/03 fromIn-The-Red Records. For more info, please visit http://www.romanticsdetroit.com/. Hey Wally, Coz, Mike, Clem, some weird manager or hangers-on, if you read this, we want an opening spot when you rock Chicago, please page me and I"ll call you! OK, gotta goÜ See ya at the show, Sal
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