Weekend Mix: Viva Le Foglizard!

I've been in one kind of band or another since I was 9. Everybody likes to think that with an audience and some lucky breaks, their band could "make it". Foglizard has never given a shit about that. We like to function as a modern Wrecking Crew. Come in, knock out some tunes, and go home.

We like what happens when we get together. Until now, we didn't even have a cd.

Foglizard has never played a live show, but all the recordings featured here were performed live in the studio in one or two takes. The only overdubs were vocals and a few post production tricks. 

I always say there are no great bands without a great drummer, and we have one in Q. 

Beast has a degree in film scoring and composition from Berklee. He plays lead on baritone guitar.

Sharky Tao Mao, aka Maestro plays bass.

I play play rhythm and fills on various guitars. 

Usually Beast is panned left and I'm on the right.

We all sing.

We've been a band since 1998, in various incarnations (Friends Of Harry, Chariot!, Barti Ddu, The Smoove Sailors), and have  maintained a rehearsal space/recording studio. 

Foglizard has never been interested in touring. Hauling equipment gets old real fast. 

You and it gets beat to shit. It's a hard life. We never wanted to lose the fun.

We went on haitus in 2010, when Q went on family leave, but have continued to get together sporadically.  We've recorded an album's worth during the break, and have about 60 more in the can waiting for vocals.

This collection celebrates a renewed commitment, in 2016, to regular sessions, and covers from 2004-10. It was difficult boiling it down to a single disc. These aren't demos. 

Viva Le Foglizard!

This was inspired by the site "Hot Chicks With Douchebags", which shared a link to our video. It's had over 14,000 views. 

The songs:

"Almost July" is about Vicodin addiction. In 2006 I was hit by a car on my bike in NYC. In the emergency room I got a prescription for "pain management". It said "take 2 or 3 as necessary". I took 3 and got high as a Georgia pine. I didn't know what Vicodin was so I looked it up. Subsequently at every step for my shoulder surgery I was written another prescription. When all was said and done, I had over 70 pills. One day I took one for fun, and started planning a schedule for the rest. Instead I flushed them down the toilet. No wonder it's such a problem today.

"Whitesnake '86" is about a whiny drum tech and his misadventures on tour. A riff I stole is referenced in the lyrics.

"Floater's N Foam" When it really rains and the facilities are overwhelmed, raw sewage is released right out into the ocean. And that's also when the surf is up. This is about the guy who works at the sewage plant responsible for yanking the chain, and he's a surfer. It's also about me. I got sick twice surfing in the filthy, stinking ocean.

"Sportin' Life" chronicles the misadventures of a whigger boy heading to the dark side to buy drugs. At the top there's a bunch of chatter, including me saying, "I guess we are the new Mother's Of Invention". I'm refering to one of the comments for the above video. We'd never made the connection, but the falsettos recall Flo and Eddie, and our peurile tendencies kind of make the case. For a few months in 2006, one of our friends would hang out at our sessions. He'd bring a folded dollar bill filled with Peruvian Marching powder. We had to ask him to stop. We were coked to the gills, hence the insane chatter at the top. From now on I'll just say that the "Dark Prince" made an appearance. 

Q overdubbed tamborine.

"Saturday" is an old song of mine, and one of the few I wrote both words and music.

 It dates back to the '80's and is about one summer when some friends and I dropped acid just about every Saturday. My old band in North Carolina played it, and Mr Crack N Roll, drummer and vocalist of that group reprised his vocals here. Beast added a cool synth part in post production.

The original meaning of "Pistil Whipped" has escaped me, but the title references Lou Reed's "Vicious". Willie Cox, of Mexican Elvis, is guest vocalist on this one.

"Jiggernaut" is about the first chimpanzee in space and what happened when he found the mini bar.

"WUMF" isn't even take one. It's a mic check.

"Don't Worry, It'll Fit" is about a brown eyed girl. 

"Make My Dave" came out of our local news. It concerns road rage outside a comedy club. Pipsqueak gun shop owner got mad at a comic double parked out front, and fired some shots in the air. I happened to be serving on Grand Jury and heard the case.  The spoken word is all taken from Pipsqeak's chat on the internet. His handle was "Not too shy to talk".

"Soveriegn Blues" is about the joys of malt liquor. 

"Uncle Dirty" is about a 90 year old former body builder, who was into porn and wore a leather studded thong at the beach. His nephew blogged about him, but the family had him take down the post, but not before we saw it.

"Beanie Babies" is about a group of high school girls and their pact to graduate pregnant.

"Balls Dropped" is a differnt take on "Lola". Features additional vocals by GX Joe.

"Von Douche" See above.

"Suzy From The West" was a working title. Our friend Pink took it and contributed words and vocals. I haven't figured it out what it means, but there is at least one in-joke about someone's mom I can't explain.

"Swordfight"A Super Bowl inspired, homoerotic gladiator spaghetti epic. GX Joe is in the house.

"College Rock" is about the Bush girls evading the Secret Service, and going wild.

"General Choad's" is our Vietnam song concerning a whorehouse and chicken. "You don't know, You weren't there!".

"Doc Ellis D" is about his famously pitching a no-hitter while tripping on acid. "the only hit of the day". Willie Cox guests on vocals.

"Clocking Out" a now infamous road trip to Holyoke, for a friends wedding on New Year's Eve. The "Dark Prince" rented an RV. The title refers to the moment when you've had one beer too many.

"Stepanie Knows Who" is our only cover. Actually we're covering The Move covering Love. The Dark Prince was in the house. Features GX Joe on vocals.

Thanks for listening. It will be a long time before I abuse our relationship again.

There is absolutely a money-back guarantee.

Enjoy!

Viva Le Foglizard

No copyright issues this time.