Don’t Believe A Word I Say with Bob Segarini

The Monday Morning Mailbag for October 19^th, 2009

In today’s Mailbag: More comments on The Segarini Band, Baseball, and Marge, Marge, Marge!

Thanks to Greg Simpson, I’m in London, Ontario at the end of a long day that was full of new memories and good friends old and new. Got to take the stage with Chris Murphy and his fine band, Garwood Wallace, and the amazing Johnny V, all in the name of a reunion for Fryfogel’s…a long gone legendary music venue in London. I’d write more about it right now, but I’m done like dinner.

I do want to share a couple of stories about the reunion, and let you in on a great place in Toronto called The Green Room…and I will…but not today…

Here’s this week’s Mailbag…

Robert McGirr: Happy thanksgiving Robert…have a great day.. :0)

Trish Todd: Happy spanksgiving Bob….lol, luv the after dinner chasers…hehehe

SEG SAYS: Yeah…it was a good one. A happy one to you, too. Spanksgiving…are you familiar with Spanksrecieving?

David Bendeth: Where are my royalties and my jack and coke!!!!

SEG SAYS: Royalties? Applied to money owed to the label…isn’t that where most of them go? David is a brilliant guitar player, a fine producer, and the man responsible for the great Elvis “1” CD, that put Elvis back on top, and hooked yet another generation on his music. He also helped me play out the last of my ‘Segarini’ gigs, and played on the A&M EP that started me on the way to Gotta Have Pop. Hey David, it’s a pleasure to see you here. Let’s do another record…

Greg Morris: don’t forget the LIME! I used to make them for him. “1 for Bob,1 for me, 2 for Bob 2for me, 1 for Bob 2 for me.”

SEG SAYS: Greg refers to putting a lime in a Jack and Coke. Later, I learned that putting fruit in a drink made with bourbon or whiskey was verboten, and in California, lead to the expression, “NFL”. No Fucking Lime!

John Catto: The Cheetah Club, I remember that party!

Greg Ioannon: Wow, you can remember where it was?  Didn’t we just do that? Like, 30 years ago or so?

SEG SAYS: It was a great party, wasn’t it? I remember thinking that we would be lucky to have another night that good…and then got pleasantly surprised with years of them.

Aunty Em Ericann: Where did you find Valerie White, who did the cover? She also did the DRASTIC MEASURES logo.

SEG SAYS: Valerie may have done some work for Rodney Bowes on one of our album covers, but I do not recall her. If she did work on one, please thank her for a job well done…

Peter Angrove: Hey Bob, take a look at www.bandsforbaskets.com

SEG SAYS: This is a charity I suggest you all check out. Just click on the link above.

Monetizing the net, the downloads, and the wardrobe…

Brian Wakelin: Right on, Robert. The record industry ate itself.

Gnu Jet: Nice to see that you all agree on this…

Just Andy: I loved it Bob… your writing is an “Easy Read” Thanks

Michael Tomasek: Great read, as always. I admit that I have downloaded stuff occasionally via torrents etc. Mostly dead people and some who just have dead careers. I am willing to pay. However I am not willing to pay the going Itunes rate. I look forward to an arrangement that is equitable to both end user and license holder.

SEG SAYS: iTunes got monetized because Jobs charged enough money to make the labels happy. It is too much, and the labels are fooling themselves if they think the public will continue to pay those prices. Jobs doesn’t care…he supplies the hardware they need to download the content he provides…he will make money no matter what happens. Subscription is the answer, but every old school industry type will fight it until the artists they own are no longer what people download. These are very interesting and exciting times.

Keith Sharp: Bob…I am working on a book on the history of Music Express and I am at the part where we first met in Calgary when you were promoting Gotta Have Pop.
There was an Englishman with you on your promo tour.
I believe his first name was David.
Could you let me know is full name.
Cheers
Keith Sharp
Publisher
ACCESS Magazine

SEG SAYS: Great to hear from you Keith!
That was Dave “Daddy Cool” Booth, the man who set all the clocks and my watch ahead an hour so I wouldn’t be late for anything…
Please stay in touch. I’d love to get together soon.

Take me out to the BALL game…

Greg Simpson: Now, that’s a headline for the ages A Rod Goes Deep, Wang Hurt.

Mark Vukovich: I’ve never heard baseball described in such flowery terms Bob…gotta go check and make sure my balls are tightly wound along with my firm bat…!
Vuke in Lodi

SEG SAYS: Makes baseball a whole lot more layered, doesn’t it. Let’s all pray for Wang’s recovery…

Marge, Marge, Marge…

Freddie Pompeii: Yo Bob…She a sexy bitch, yo!!!!!

Kim Haworth: Ha! I was just reading about Marge being on the cover and lo, there she is!

Glen Bringslid: Is there a photo spread too?

Roy Roberts: I bet you that rabbit isn’t real LOL

Chris Cook: what a foxy babe

Pete Moseley: DOH!!!!!

Stella Hunt: well, I don’t know who looks less real, Madge or Hef??

Brent Coursey: Yeah, no $h!+, Hef has DEFINITELY had a “face lift” or two…

Mark John Vukovich: Bob you know Hef..he hit that shit..!

Toni Ambiel: Sure she did!

Carla Lockhart: Poor Hef, trying to keep up with his image – all he really wants to do is watch “Steve Allen” reruns and drink a little tea.

Robert McGirr:…poor Marge…now she has two adult babies to deal with…

I think I’m going to buy this issue…y’know…just for collector item purposes…yeah…that’s it…

Cherie Blackwell: OMG you realize what issue that is copping?

Robert McGirr: Darine Stern…October 1971..the first issue with an African/American on the cover…

Trish Todd: thought Homer was Hef….hehehe

Peter Kashur: come on, dish it! reid asked earlier….does the carpet match the drapes? where’s stewie when you need him…….

Barry Roden: Maybe she virtually di

Greg Simpson: I just want to know if any of Marge’s poses including showing yellow.

SEG SAYS: The amount of mail for Marge is second only to the amount of mail I got when I posted the picture of a Hostess Crème Filled Cupcake. The readers of this column are not about music. They are about food, and cartoon porn. ADMIT IT!!!

More stuff about stuff…

Jaimie Vernon: Bob, The Bob Segarini biography movie-of-the-week/Wonderful World Of Disney Special/C.O.P.S. Episode should be called: “It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time”.

pete kashur: …any wiseguys out there who want to ‘wack’ bono?

SEG SAYS: Sonny’s already dead, (killed by a tree), so I assume you mean the Irish guy. Sure…I’m in.

Frank Gutch Jr.:Right on, as usual, Seg. Am in the process of seriously checking out Ali Milner and Tim Chaisson (and group) in detail. I don’t always hear what you hear, but you get it right often enough that I’m afraid not to follow your lead. Also subscribed to del Calliano’s blog. Maybe I’ll learn something.

Mike Campbell: Hey Bob, Nice to see you mention Tim Chaisson. If it’s the same Tim, he played at my club – The Carleton – in Halifax this summer. Showed up with Gordie Johnson who I organized a show with over the phone on a Sunday night – for the immediate Thursday – and sold it out in 36 hours without aid of anything except our club email newsletter. Gordie produced Tim’s album and brought him with him to play in his acoustic band for the show. Tim played guitar, fiddle and sang. Tim’s guitar player

Bob and Tim photo by Wendy L Rombough WLR Photography

(whose name escapes me right now) was also on stage. They were very cool and good. Oh, the night was also helped by John Angus MacDonald (of the Trews) who played most of the 3 1/2 hour show with them, hahaha…If any of your readers are coming to Halifax, they should check out our kick-ass club! http://www.thecarleton.ca Thanks to your example, I swear to God I’m going to start writing shit down…

SEG SAYS: Normally, I’d charge you for this plug, but the scallops! THE SCALLOPS!!! Just make sure there are scallops. Mike has a great club, terrific taste in music, and along with Cam Carpenter, a night of East Coast music at CMW  with a seafood buffet that is so good, I can’t…stop…eating…

Gordie has been outdoing himself this year with Grady, The Respectables, and Tim.I wonder if he’d produce a record for me…

Mark Vukovich: Jack and coke, beer and pot…jack and coke, beer and pot..what no chemicals..? Mark in Lodi, California.

Frank Gutch Jr.: Actually, you probably had it down to an art by then, so add “the art of being delusional” to that dictionary. I just listened to the album last night. You’re right. It still sounds fresh. One of my all-time favorite albums (though my favorite track has always been “Goodbye L.A.” Stop the Cliff’s notes. More details.

SEG SAYS: Mark…Frank…There are chemicals everywhere. All I can say is, I should have just said no. Details about Gotta Have Pop this Wednesday, Frank…hehehehehehe…

Jim Chisholm: Great story Bob. It’s amazing that 31 years have passed since then.
When i first heard When The Lights Are Out on the radio I knew it was your voice and the chiming guitars were all that I cold hope you would serve up. We didn’t get much of the vibe in Calgary but I did my best to talk up you and your records. I lived for a while in a party house with some musicians. We played your records and played several GHP songs in our jam/rehearsals. Steady Eddy, Dressed In The Dark and When The Lights…It’s great to celebrate the success and memories with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIxT_KKspJg

pete kashur: …the great thing about bob is that he let us play….the music was organic and we were allowed free reign to takes chances….sometimes train wrecks and sometimes magic….bob’s name is on the songs but they were the band’s songs as well….and the band still is proud of the songs and greatful to bob for allowing us to be a part of it……and i think all the hit men have been contacted and the contracts terminated……i think….maybe i should check!

Gary: Not bad, as you say, for a kid from Stockton ! Always enjoy your column Bob !

Glenn Peacock: It is so very cool to read about history after I left Montreal for the States in 1978. Bob was one of the few people from the U.S. that gave me a sense of what the music business might be like in the States. His vibe, creativity, his cool…
Once I arrived in the U.S. I remember thinking “why did he leave and come to Montreal” It took me about year or so to figure it out. The grass is always greener…..I miss Montreal but like the Borg, I got assimilated. I’ll be reading!!!

SEG SAYS: Just let me say that I am humbled by your positive recollections of me and our music. I love you all…in a “non-sexual, let’s get drunk, hey, check out that chick”  kinda way. I’ll pick the bar…you guys are buying.

pete kashur: …Gary Sperrazza! … !!!

SEG SAYS: Sperrazza deserves an entire column dedicated to him. A super guy that has endured as many ups and downs as myself. One of the great things he did was collaborate with Lester Bangs on a huge article for Creem Magazine about the Wackers. It never ran in Creem, but Gary put out a special edition of his Buffalo based fanzine, Shakin’ Street Gazette all about Montreal, and ran the article there. I will be running it here in a couple of weeks.

Jim Chisholm: Bob, I’m quite sure it was you who already turned us onto Live From Daryl’s House. You probably talked about it at a different message board, though. I like all the episodes that I’ve seen and thanks for the reminder to cheek it out again.

SEG SAYS: Yer welcome, Chis. One of the best music experiences on the net, don’t you think?

Keith (Keef) Fraser: Pentti ‘Whitey’ Glan’s kick drum turned on it’s side always fascinated me. I never saw it before and have never see anyone play like that since. Roy Kenner’s voice was perfect for that type of soul full sound. Not to forget Mike McKenna and Domenic Troiano incredible talents.

SEG SAYS: True, dat. Sometimes, people have to be reminded of just how much great music was being made in Canada BEFORE the CanCon rules. You would be surprised to know that we didn’t always need the government to make sure Canadian artists got airplay, and the pioneers did it on the strength of their music and live shows. The people you mention, Keith, were a part of that wonderous, organic, musical community that helped put Canadian Artists on the map.

Thanks to all of you who wrote and shared your stories with us. That’s why we’re here. See you all on Wednesday…

That’s enough for now. Email me at segarini@fyimusic.ca with your comments, complaints, and thoughts, and remember…don’t believe a word I say.

Bob “The Iceman” Segarini was in the bands The Family Tree, Roxy, The Wackers, The Dudes, The Segarini Band, and Cats And Dogs, and nominated for a Juno for production in 1978. He also hosted “Late Great Movies” on CITY TV, was a producer of Much Music, and an on-air personality on CHUM FM, Q107, SIRIUS Sat/Rad’s Iceberg 95, (now 85), and now provides content for radiothatdoesntsuck.com with RadioZombie, The Iceage, and PsychShack. Along with the love of his life, Jade (Pie) Dunlop, (who hosts and writes “I’ve Heard That Song Before” on RTDS), continues to write, make music, and record.