The Chillmaster, Karma and Bluesco

Some posts are going to be a little out of sync here at TWM, while I spend time looking for a job.Today’s post actually happened last Monday evening, but I had a post scheduled for Tuesday and on Wednesday and Thursday’s I’ve decided to post quickie video posts and then Friday is Happy Hour day, so this got held up till today? Confused? Well, just pretend like this happened last night and all will be in sync.

Okay, it’s been a while since the Chillmaster has made an appearance on TWM...wait a second, The Chillmaster has never been on TWM, it’s time to correct that right now! I got a call from The Chillmaster last week and he told me that his friend, Ron Britt was playing with his band, Bluesco at Karma Bar, which is just about a block from the Chillmaster Lair. He invited myself and told me to tell anyone else who wanted to come along that they are more than welcome. And so it’s off to The Chillmaster’s we go!

Here we are on a familiar path, one I've walked many times. It's a path that ultimately leads to...

The Chillmaster! Check him out in his new, refurbished window! Pretty cool!

Together again! Cheers from myself and the Chillmaster!

Nice to see the legendary Chillmaster table with all its artifacts in place, and there's Gumby...hey, what's he doing?

Looks like Gumby is having a Divinyls moment there!

While one Gumby touches himself, another is chilling the fuck out in the chiller chair.

I love this photo of Obama smoking a blunt, too funny!

Cheers from the Chillmaster, chilling out in the Chillmaster patented chair!

And looking out the window, I see a familiar face...

It's Chillmaster's pretty neighbor, Nikki, who's been at several of the Chillmaster parties in the past.

Chillmaster and Nikki clown around with Gumby.

And gazing out the chill window I spy another familiar face...

It's frequent TWM guest star, Shawn Chittle who's greeted by The Chillmaster.

Okay, time to start chilling the fuck out with a few drinks and then it's off to...

Karma bar to see Chillmaster's friend, Ron Britt's band, Bluesco. I tried to meet Ron when I was doing my MAD blog and was searching for his infamous Free Willie Nelson RV. Sadly the RV caught fire and isn't around the East Village anymore, but Ron still is and I'm looking forward to meeting him and hearing his band.

The bar is crowded and it's smoky in here. Karma is one of the few bars in New York that you can actually smoke in. They got a break, because they were a hookah bar before the non-smoking law went into effect.

There's artwork on the brick walls and Shawn is taking a look at one of the pieces hanging there.

Hookah pipes sit on a wooden shelf opposite the bar.

Here's the bar in the basement, where the band is going to be playing.

Nikki and Shawn are at the bar getting drinks.

And here's Ron with The Chillmaster. Ron gave the Chillmaster and I a tour of Bluesco's rehearsal space which is nearby Karma. The space is known as "The Shop" and dates all the way back to the days of CBGB's. Ron asked that I didn't take pictures, but maybe in the future we can do a post on this place, time will tell.

Chillmaster, Nikki and Shawn settled in to a spot in the corner of this basement space.

After a bit the room is filled and Bluesco takes the stage.

Ron handles the lead vocals and blows a mean harmonica. The band plays disco songs in a unique blues style that produces a sound that you've never heard before.

Nikki is up and dancing after the first few beats.

And soon The Chillmaster and Shawn join in, it's a mobile Chillmaster Dance Party!

Here's Ron walking in the crowd and playing his harp, he's a great showman!

The band is very tight and Ron's vocal styling's are somewhat a cross between Fred Schneider of the B-52s and David Byrne of the Talking Heads.

Nikki and another woman in the crowd are up dancing near the stage.

Get down tonight!

And all too soon the show is over and the stage is empty. It was a great show by Bluesco and I thank the Chillmaster for the invitation and Nikki and Shawn for coming along and hanging out on a wonderful night.

Further Reading and watching: EV Grieve, Reverbnation and YouTube.

I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire,
Don't touch me I'm a real live wire.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

Happy Hour At Teneleven

Okay, it’s Friday and time for the weekly Happy Hour here at TWM. This week’s Happy Hour destination was suggested by frequent TWM guest star, Shawn. He suggested a bar to meet at that I’ve never been to called, Teneleven in the East Village which has a seven hour Happy Hour, from 2PM to 9PM, sounds good to me!

And here we are at Teneleven, there's no sign out front, just look for the windows and the red door to the right. (I have to confess, this isn't my photo, the first few photos I took got deleted somehow, I found this on Grub Street.)

It's still early afternoon when I arrive, so there's plenty of room at the bar. Carrie was bartending, but was really tired as she had closed the bar (it's open till 4 AM) and had to reopen it at 2 PM, so she didn't feel like having her picture taken and I can't blame her. There was a pretty and friendly woman named Malika who let me take her photo, but as I said above, somehow the first few photos got deleted, so hopefully I'll run into Malika again in my travels and you'll get to see her! Okay, on with the tour of the bar.

There's a nice display of lit up bottles behind the bar.

And a decent selection of beers are on tap at Teneleven.

Here's Mikey and Andrew who are regulars here at the bar.

A long shot of the silver-topped, wooden railing bar.

Peanuts!

A genuine Broadway Joe Namath jersey hangs on the blue bricked walls in the bar.

Framed art hangs on the red wall opposite the bar.

Malika (who's picture got deleted) pointed out this painting behind the bar. It's by artist James Quinn, who is the nephew of the owner of the bar.

And another James Quinn original hangs in the center of the wall behind the bar.

There's a lot of cool stuff here in Teneleven, but nothing more cool than this. Bartender Carrie told me that this is a picture of an autograph by Davy Jones of the Monkees on the ass of the owner of the bar, Evelyn. Evelyn got Davy to autograph her ass and then had it permanently tattooed there and this is a photo of it. Very cheeky!

At the far end of the bar is an entrance to another room in the back.

There's a small little bar back here.

There's tables and chairs to sit at.

Here's a shot from the back of the room and you can see there's a small stage at the front of the space.

And as night settles in, the candles come out on the wooden railing opposite the bar, nice!

And some of the TWM Happy Hour crew arrive and settle in at the bar.

It's kind of hard to tell who's who, with my unflashed photos...

So we all posed for one group photo taken by Carrie. From left: Dave, Shawn, Elie, THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N., Yours Fooly, The Duncester and Alvah.

And as the Happy Hour came to a close, I took one glance out the windows...

And hit the road and was homeward bound. Thanks to everybody who showed up, it was a great Happy Hour at TWM!

Teneleven
171 Ave. C (Near 11th St.)
Happy Hour: 2 PM to 9 PM with three buck beers and various drink specials.

Further Reading: New York Magazine, New York On Tap and New York Hard Times.

Sirens crying,
Gotta grab the next thing back to our town,
Before the whole thing crumbles to the ground.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!

1976

As I posted yesterday, I’m kind of taking Wednesday and Thursday's off from the blog, but I still want something new up here, so when people come here they won’t feel cheated. So I’ve decided to post videos related to one person or subject on these days instead of taking a trip somewhere. Today I’ve chosen to post some videos from 1976. That was a big year for me, because I graduated high school. I couldn’t wait to get out of high school and it felt so good when I finally did. So here’s some video from that magical year for you to enjoy! See you tomorrow for a real almost live post featuring the weekly Happy Hour!

1976 was the year of the Bicentennial celebration and everybody was using it to sell their products. "Be a patriot, drink 7-Up." I remember thinking how hilarious it all was. But then again, everything was hilarious to me back then because I was usually stoned out of my gourd on a variety of substances!

The Last Hard Men. I remember seeing this trailer in a movie theater and I couldn’t stop laughing at the title, too fucking funny! And yes, I was stoned out of my gourd on a variety of substances!

The Runaways self-titled album came out in 1976 and I immediately fell in love with the whole band, especially Joan Jett who I’ve always considered the coolest Runaway. This is a video of the Joan Jett-penned song, “You Drive Me Wild,” from that album.

On June 14th of 1976, The Gong Show debuted nationally on the NBC television station. There was nothing else on TV quite like it and I loved it. And by now we all know that I was stoned out of my gourd on a variety of substances while watching it. Check out this clip, I think it’s Paul Reubens, a.k.a. Pee-wee Herman’s debut on TV.

The Clash formed in 1976, inspired by The Ramones. Johnny Ramone recently paid them the ultimate compliment by placing them number two in his top ten list of favorite punk bands from his posthumous autobiography, Commando. His number one punk band on the list? The Ramones, of course! Here’s their demo of “White Riot.”

Further Reading: platypuscomix, Longbored Surfer and amc filmsite.

Surprise link, click on it...I dare you!