Houston Blog

I suggest you quit hatin' and let Barbara in. If she was good enough to tour with Johnny Cash, she ought to be good enough for the "Houston 100." And except for Loretta's "The Pill," no song brought the sexual revolution home to country music like "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed."

We can't throw open the field to bands like Groceries, Japanic and Lucky Motors, simply because they aren't very well known outside of this area.

Believe me, I could fill up two or three top 100s with obscure songs by Houston artists, but we're not gonna do that here.

But we aren't gonna base this on sales either, so don't expect me to bend over and take it from a crappy song like "Hate Me" just because it was the big single off an unaccountably popular album.

Weldon "Juke Boy" Bonner wrote some of the greatest songs ever about our fair city:

I Live Where The Action Is (also was covered by Sonny Boy Terry)
Stay off Lyons Avenue
Struggle Here in Houston
Stranded in Houston

Also, check out "Houston" by Johnny "Clyde" Copeland

Also, there's "Midnight Special" by Leadbelly, "Telephone Road" bu Steve Earle and "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell and the Drells (I'm sure you knew about those three...sorry for re-stating the obvious).

The other Telephone Road - Rodney Crowell

"What's "Midnight Special" got to do with Houston?"

Mentions Houston and the consequences of getting crossways with the law here...

I was always partial to that weird country houston oilers theme song. "Luv Ya Blue".

Oo, oo and what about Kashmere?

1. Tapes 'N Tapes- In Houston
2. There's a Beck song from the album 'Odelay' that mentions james coney island, does that count?

John, I'll give on the Motors and the Groceries if I have to but Japanic really did put out great music and represented Houston well, opened for the Violent Femmes and played a few nights at CBGB so show them some love, especially if your preliminary list has Devin the Dude, and South Park Mexican. (Way too much rap on that list, but if you are gonna put up some rappers how about Tela?)

Also how can The Judy's, perhaps one of the top five bands to ever come out of the Houston area not get one song on the list???

everyone knows your an idiot Lomax, you know squat about music, just disappear already.

That list is preliminary, and there are already more than 100 songs on it, so not all of them are going to make it.

Too much rap? SPM could sell out venues from here to Denver at his peak, and Devin is one of the most critically esteemed rappers in the history of the genre.

As for playing CBGB, who has not nowadays?

That's not a knock against Japanic...It's just if we put everybody's favorite cult bands on there there would be room for little else, and we would end up with a list that would puzzle the great majority of people.

Personally, I think Horseshoe should be all over the list, and about five or six songs off the Haaga solo record, five or six Arthur Yoria tunes, a jam off the new Church of Philadelphia record, a couple of Tody Castillo numbers, a couple by Simpleton, a few by Los Skarnales, a few by Chango Jackson, a few by Sideshow Tramps and Banana Blender Suprise, and so on and on and on.

Or I could fill another list with nothing but unjustly obscure blues and zydeco, or soul and funk sides from the Skipper Lee Frazier archives.

Then there's the '70s folk-country scene. You could easily come up with 100 great songs just combining the catalogs of Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell and Guy Clark, not to mention one-time fellow Houstonians Lucinda Williams and Steve Earle, and then you've also got Eric Taylor, Nanci Griffith, Richard Dobson, Don Sanders and Shake Russell and so on.

But then few of you would agree with me, and I'm sure you could come up with big-ass punk, noise, or indie rock lists.

That's way this has to do more than reflect personal taste. Mass national or at the very least regional popularity has to play a part.(Which does incline me to allow Blue October on there somewhere.)

PS: The Judy's "Guyana Punch" is a given to make the final top 100. It's not on the preliminary list through an oversight -- I had some stored on a word doc and others on a spreadsheet and not all of them got transfered.

Troy's "Wanna Be a Baller" and Keke's "Southside" both charted nationally, and Keke is still a legend of Texas rap. Big Moe also made the charts and used to be on MTV.

I also said I was inclined to have Blue October on there, about two-and-half inches above your comment.

John remind me to cold-cock you next time I see you.

That is all,

Love
Ramon

Darkest Side of Houston's Finest Day by Blue October

Ramon -- I have a size 8 head, so it's an easy target. (Sorry for leaving LPQ off my list -- "Cole Porter" "Bongfire" "Brain" and "Thorn" are all 5-starred on my iTunes if it makes you feel any less disposed to punching me.)

Trey -- Helstar and King's X are both eminently listable. Same goes for Dead Horse.

Dean Martin's "Houston" is listable, especially since it was written by Lee Hazlewood, who is from the Beaumont area and might have spent some time here.

Ok well that will get you downgraded to a nut check.

But seriously - your criteria is pretty much nutters. I mean by your hipster obscurity meter Really Red's "No Art in Houston" or Culturecide's "Houston Lawman" would be out. WTF? Are you trying to compile the best songs about Houston or are you trying to compile something within that set?

It's like in the scene in the jerk where Steve Martin tells someone if they win the carnival game they can win anything displayed...not including this this and this and this and this..or this.

Really Red is another oversight -- they could make it on there. Not sure about Culturcide. Thanks for mentioning specific songs instead of just saying "This band should be on there."

There has to be some kind of notoriety baseline.

So far I'm getting a lot of shit from the rock people. I imagine when and if this post hits the rap crowd, I'll be getting called a moron for not having more Z-Ro, Trae and K-Rino on there too.

Michael -- and I left off Jug O'Lightnin', Clouseaux, the John Sparrow, the Jinkies, the Westbury Squares and Sugar Shack. Not to mention the Suspects, 30footFall, and John Egan.

Egan reminds me of Chris Whitley, who by a fluke of chance, was both born and died here. Barry White was born in Galveston. I think both should not be included, since neither really grew up here.

good thoughts :)

either way - you're still a good guy john. i like what you're doin here.

Steve Earle, "Home to Houston" Great truck drivin' song, and has that added Halliburton cachet.

A master list of everything recorded at SugarHill - if there is such a thing - might help us out tremendously.

Jewel Akens "Birds And The Bees" was born in Houston. H.B. Barnum "Lost Love" likewise. Beyonce is also a Houstonian as is Chris Walker "Take Time" How Moving Sidewalks fronted by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.

lomax, you KNEW you were gonna get shit from us blue fans, glad to see your atleast accepting a bit more flack from us than you were previously. theyre our boys, were proud of them, we love them adn we want the world to know about them. luckily we dont have to work as hard now as we did 2 or 3 or even 8 to 10 years ago.

while ive got your attention, id just like to say thanks for "Screw October". i freaking laughed my ass off at that article. as i said, i love those boys hell im even related to one of them adn i still think that article was hilarious.

ill put in a vote for DSoHFD again.

c.

Steven -- have you sent a copy of that record by the Press?

I'm going to second that The Judy's must be represented. Pearland certainly qualifies as greater Houston.

Would be nice to see Jana Hunter on this list somewhere too, a rising star we can claim our own.

Niki -- define "big in Houston."

I don't think she used the words "big in Houston" anywhere in her comment, so I don't know who you're quoting.

John -- I listed that song as a joke, which is why I went into the inane details of it's relevance to the list, and in any case, it will not be available on vinyl until October. However, I can send a copy of the 7" we put out last month straight to your desk :)

I was merely stating that local bands are still making relevant music, and NO, just because someone outside of Houston is not familiar with a band, it does not mean they are less relevant to your readers.

The fact that you outright cut local indie/punk/garage/etc. bands from your list because they are too "obscure," doesn't speak well about your affinity for local music, and you are the MUSIC EDITOR of the alternative weekly rag. It's your job to get knee deep in our creative juices, or at the least, tell someone else how to.

In the end, you just don't seem to like said genres of music as much as blues, country, folk, rap, and pop rock. They are seemingly at the bottom of your totem pole, which is just fine. I do understand that everyone has their opinion, and that's not something I'm going to overlook.

In that case, maybe you should get someone on staff that does appreciate the local underground, and if they're already there, give them a voice. That way a lot of us little guys don't feel so overlooked...

Yours truly,
SG

What the hell is wrong with "Bootylicious"? If you can't dance to that, you should have your pulse checked.

Oh, man...

I was completely neutral about Blue October until I read those lyrics.

WTF?

Did those lyrics win third place in a high school poetry contest?

Sign that guy up for Who's Who.

She said "who the heck cares if a band's not big outside the city."

So then she must mean that there are some bands who are big in Houston that should be included.
I want to know what that means to her.

You said: "The fact that you outright cut local indie/punk/garage/etc. bands from your list because they are too "obscure," doesn't speak well about your affinity for local music..."

A few things here.

1) I have not cut music from those genres from the list at all. I have only said that it must have some notoriety outside of Houston. The Judy's were a punk-y new wave band. By Houston rock standards, they were very successful. Indeed they were so cool that Austin has tried to claim them as their own, which that city has done with tons of our best music over the years. One of the reasons I am doing this is to combat Austin's hijacking of our music.

And Really Red probably deserves to have a song on there too.

2) The fact that I may or may not have an affinity for certain styles of local music does not mean that I lack an affinity for local music in general. You yourself noted a half-dozen or so styles I do evidently enjoy.

It only means that I may or may not lack an affinity for certain types of music, period.

The fact that you equate all "local music" with the subset you play is a narcissistic flaw I find to be all too common. Since the days of Public News, "the scene" has always been defined as whatever is happening in two or three indie rock bars in Montrose and on Washington.

In fact, there is no one "scene" here. There never has been and never will. There is not even one unified rock scene.

And the challenge still stands -- please tell me which songs I have already thrown out there should be replaced by songs from the indie/punk/garage scene, and name the songs, not just the bands, that should take their place. Believe me, I don't love all or even a clear majority of the songs I have thrown out there already. In fact, I hate some of them. My bias should not disclude them from making the list. I am only one man with an opinion.

3) Those of you saying I should allow in songs from cult bands, I also ask this: Cult bands of which era? Right now? The late '90s? The early '90s? The '80s? The late '60s acid rock scene?

What about cult rap acts, or cult country acts? Cult rockabilly from the '50s?

You see where this is going? We would have a list of 100 songs, and most of the readers would not have heard of most of them.

The same thing is true in every large city: Sadly, there are thousands of great songs that come out over the years that have only a few hundred fans each.

I will not be including my own personal cult favorites, even though I could come up with probably 300 or 400 of those, more than a few from the indie-punk-garage scene you think I despise.

But the inclusion of any one of them in a list of the 100 top songs from that city of all time would cause thousands of people severe case of what-the-fuckitis.

This is not the top 100 songs of the last five years of Houston's hipster community -- it is the top 100 songs from Houston (or by Houstonians) of all time, from Sippie Wallace's Okeh sessions in 1923 through "International Playa's Anthem". That's 84 years of music from about ten genres.

PS: And you have the nerve to come on here and complain about us not covering your record when you haven't even sent it our way? For shame. :)

PPS: I have seen the 7" on shelves. Nice job on the package, seriously. Very cool. If I didn't have two kids and wasn't flat broke, I would have bought it.

"This isn't all about hipster music, and if it's too obscure for you, ask the next 100 people on the street who Sippie Wallace is and give yourself some perspective."

Yes, but that was not always the case. There were probably not 100 people in Harlem who had not heard of her in 1926. She recorded with Louis Armstrong, King Oliver and Albert Ammons. Bonnie Raitt later cited her as a prime influence. She did Letterman and the Today Show. And in 1980-something her homecoming festival gig at Hermann Park was attended by thousands of people. (I was there, I remember.) I think she got the key to the city, all that jazz.

"Bands are coming together, and the fact that you haven't noticed is an issue."

I've heard that before. I would be ecstatic if this peace and harmony thing were true, but after six-plus years in this gig, forgive me a little skepticism.

"you really should just kill yourself"

Nope, that's the coward's way out. Almost as as cowardly as posting crap like that anonymously on the Internet.

I'm with Lomax once again. Houston rock & "garage" bands are terrible. There hasn't been any good houston "indie" bands since zz top drove the eliminator to the moon. Indie is just your word for won't bother practice. Then when no one goes to your shows you wine about it like anybody cares. Forget it, if someone care you'll see them at your three hipster clubs. As for me I'll see the rest of you 5.5 million at Continental tonight.

"ask the next 100 people on the street who Sippie Wallace is and give yourself some perspective."

And you could go the Galleria, the downtown tunnels, a Harrisburg flea market, Hong Kong City Mall, Greenspoint Mall, the Kemah Boardwalk or Hermann Park and ask 100 or 1000 people about Japanic, Groceries, the Dimes and even the Judy's and Really Red to give yourself some perspective.

"i'm saying .. use smaller bands. make use of the bands that aren't well known."

And then all of you would tear the list to shreds, because they wouldn't be the same smaller bands that you like.

So would more casual music fans, because they would have heard of few or none of the songs listed.

This is not strictly an exercise in aesthetics, it is also and attempt at gathering history.

What about Moses Guest--Southland (or any MG song for that matter)?

they tour nationally, and are played on sirius/xm regularly. does that count as not being a local "cult" band?

Someone made the comment that Blue October's "Chameleon Boy" won a third place in a high school poetry contest yet they neglected the lyrics of "Bootylicious". I must say the same words they did, WTF? Surely you jest. I'd like to see your lyrical genius. Well, anyway, I'm going to have Destiny's Child take on Blue October as well. I didn't feel like putting myself through the agony of looking up lyrics to songs that do not have basic English words spelled correctly, or made up words for that matter.

Chorus:
I don't think you ready for this jelly
i don't think you ready for this jelly
I don't think you ready for this
Is my body to bootylicious for ya baby
I don't think you ready for this jelly
i don't think you ready for this jelly
I don't think you ready for this
Is my body to bootylicious for ya babe

vs. one of Blue October's most positive songs for those that think they are only depressing and angry. This is a song anyone can relate to, it's strictly about self confidence and getting back up when you're knocked down.

Chorus: Inner Glow by Blue October
I'm on your side if you fail at least you tried
To keep your aching, celebrating, wonder making heart alive
and your pride don't keep it all inside
Don't keep your aching, celebrating, wonder making heart alone
Write you own song

Whatever happened to our inner glow
Whatever happened to the song the soul the me i used to know
Whatever happened to my radio
Whatever happened to my song
It is my song

For the one that wants something to dance to "Italian Radio" (Argue With a Tree version it's faster) and since you obviously don't listen to lyrics when you dance "X Amount of Words". I love the lyrics but when you realize what he's saying it actually makes you think (god forbid).

And just because I don't like you right now John, here's another Blue October song that anybody that has ever truely lived can relate to as well.

Kneel down
Close your eyes
Hit the ground
I want you to, to kneel all day
Alone in this desolate cave
So I said
Scream if you want to
Cause no one is around
I want you to
To scream all day
Cause there's eleven words that I've rehearsed to say

And I say
How I love to hate you! [repeat]

You're
not so brave
When I'm the snake
And you're my prey
Let me tell you I'll eat all day
Alone in this desolate cave
So I say
Squeal if you want to
Cause no
no one is around
I want you to
To squeal all day
Cause there's eleven words that I've rehearsed to say

And I say
How I love to hate you! [repeat]
James, how I love to hate you
Oh, how I love
How I love to hate you...

Well maybe that's a little too strong for what I feel but there's another Blue October song anyway.

Thank you.
p.s. sorry if there are any typos,I'm tired.

Ahem...

Webster's New Millennium™ Dictionary of English

Main Entry: bootylicious

Part of Speech: adj

Definition: sexually attractive, esp. in the buttocks

Etymology: booty + delicious

Usage: slang

It may have been a made-up word once, but now it's an honest-to-God part of the English language. And a welcome one at that.

Name me another song from the "Houston 100" - or any H-town-spawned song, for that matter - that can make that claim.

It should probably be No. 1 just for that killer "Edge of Seventeen" sample anyway.

steven, you know you can't keep me quiet. you've been trying for almost 3 years and it always ends the same.

"And you could go the Galleria, the downtown tunnels, a Harrisburg flea market, Hong Kong City Mall, Greenspoint Mall, the Kemah Boardwalk or Hermann Park and ask 100 or 1000 people about Japanic, Groceries, the Dimes and even the Judy's and Really Red to give yourself some perspective"
i'm not gonna dispute that. it's true. but when i read about a band that gets a good write up or is getting a lot of buzz, i check them out. i know, i'm more obssessed about music than most common people but maybe if you include these bands, they'll get more recognition. and i'm willing to bet that more people in Montrose and the Heights read the houston press than people in other areas. right now, i live out in the garden oaks area and i can't think of a single place that even carries the press. i have to wait until i'm in the montrose area, where i work, to pick one up.

as for tearing your list apart if i saw smaller bands i didn't know or didn't like .. some people might, you're right about that. as for me, it might open my eyes to a great band that i overlooked. or i might still think they're terrible and if that's the case, so what. you like something i don't. it's not like that's never happened before.

houston has a great garage and rock scene coming up. and i'm so excited for it and to be a part of it. in a few years, it could be amazing. but it's going to take more than just the bands playing it. it's gonna take everyone in the city opening their eyes and realizing what's going on and supporting it. the only thing that's going to help that is a paper writing about it and letting people know about what's going on.

and enough of this blue october crap. i went to hspva, i'm sick of hearing about it already. they may have won some poetry award but i also saw kids do some really ridiculous stuff that was considered 'great art'.

My buttocks are tingling with all this stimulating debate.

cursed tag strips!

attempting to add this to the debate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEzyIm8Aa3w

After watching the video, all I have to say is green 1986-vintage E was a helluva drug.

"I noticed that you neglected to mention any of the Blue October songs that have been presented to you."

That's because I was, um, stunned by them. They reminded me of something...I couldn't remember what, and then it hit me. They remind me of this:

Ode to Stephen Dowling Bots, Dec'd

And did young Stephen sicken,
And did young Stephen die?
And did the sad hearts thicken,
And did the mourners cry?

No; such was not the fate of
Young Stephen Dowling Bots;
Though sad hearts round him thickened,
'Twas not from sickness' shots.

No whooping-cough did rack his frame,
Nor measles drear with spots;
Not these impaired the sacred name
Of Stephen Dowling Bots.

Despised love struck not with woe
That head of curly knots,
Nor stomach troubles laid him low,
Young Stephen Dowling Bots.

O no. Then list with tearful eye,
Whilst I his fate do tell.
His soul did from this cold world fly
By falling down a well.

They got him out and emptied him;
Alas it was too late;
His spirit was gone for to sport aloft
In the realms of the good and great.

“Rockin’ in the Coconuts,” Hop Wilson....

Song title is actually "Rockin' in the Coconut Top" and the singer was Ivory Lee Semien, with Hop Wilson.

The mistitling is another gift from the Roy Ames "legacy"...

Another great "Houston blues woman" from antiquity is Elvie Thomas. "Motherless Child Blues."

"Amos Milburn was cited by Fats Domino as one of his key influences, and Charles Brown wrote two or three songs that have become American standards. But both of them were gay and black when you weren't allowed to have mainstream success if you were either."

Eh....Amos and Charles had huge hits in the '40s, so I don't know what you mean.

Never heard of Charles Brown being gay...?

"You're Gonna Miss Me" WAS recorded in Houston. On January 3, 1966, as a matter of fact. At Andrus Productions on Broadway.

The "Dallas" myth was started ex post facto by Lelan Rogers, who was 2000 miles away when this session was done.

"If Lightnin' had died in 1959 he would today be firmly lodged in the "cult artist" realm and few people would have heard of him. So would that disqualify all of his recordings from consideration also?"

No, because Lightnin' had sizable R&B hits in the early 50s.

"Eh....Amos and Charles had huge hits in the '40s, so I don't know what you mean."

Ergo, "mainstream" in "mainstream success." Amos and Charles were "race record" stars, not pop stars.

Thanks for your clarifications and corrections on the other matters.

But I would have thought that if anybody could grasp the perils of allowing in wonderful obscurities it would have been you, with your dedicated scholarship and unparalleled historical knowledge.

I agree, there have been thousands of great songs that have come out here that too few people have heard. The problem is, no two people would probably agree on more than about ten of them, even if you sat all these people down and forced them to listen to all of these songs three times apiece.

Some people would just refuse to accept that Willie Nelson's "Night Life" is not a better song than the showstopper from their favorite bar band with an audience of three dozen. Maybe they don't like country. Maybe they don't know much about music. Maybe their kid or boyfriend is in the bar band and they just think he's the best ever.

So like I said, as much as I love bands like Horseshoe and Jug O'Lightnin and songs like "Crackerjack" from the Americans of '72 and "Cool Sticks Beat" by the Ambassadors of Soul, I can't include them. Otherwise I would be imposing my aesthetic on something that is supposed to be for the whole city.

This is not a list of anybody's favorite Houston songs. It is intended to be a list of everybody's favorite Houston songs, which I know now more than ever is an utterly impossible undertaking.

But it is slightly less absurd than the quantum cat-herding that would be the task of tracking down the 100 most aesthetically pleasing Houston songs ever, and then thinking that anyone besides the list's compiler would be content with it.

PS: Yes, Charles Brown was gay.

Man. Now I remember why I never leave the house.

I still think your "cult" qualifer is dumb and just becasue a song was recorded here it counts.

Um, could you define "everyone?"

Pop/Rock

“Rock Awhile,” Goree Carter
“Chantilly Lace,” The Big Bopper.......

Hmmm...only two possible candidates from 1949-1958? One might get the impression looking at the list that there was little to no rock ' roll happening in Houston during those years. And that would be grossly inaccurate.

A few other potential candidates should at least be considered, 'cult' status be damned:

Moonlighters: Rock-A-Bayou Baby
Moonlighters: Broken Heart
Genev Dunlap: Made in the Shade
Sleepy LaBeef: All the Time
Sleepy LaBeef: Tore Up
Sleepy LaBeef: Turn Me Loose
Connie Mack Booker: Love Me Pretty Baby
Piano Slim: Lot of Skakin' Lot of Jivin'
Charlie Cuevas: Do You Wanna Jump
Rocky Bill Ford: Mad Dog in Town
Hub Sutter: Gone Goslin'
Sonny Fisher: Rockin' Daddy
Sonny Fisher: Pink and Black
Sonny Fisher: Rockin' and Rollin'
Link Davis: Sixteen Chicks
Link Davis: Have you Heard the News (Good Rockin Tonight)
Link Davis: Bon-Ta-Rou-La
Link Davis: Airliner
Glenn Barber: Shadow My Baby
Glenn Barber: Atom Bomb
Bob Doss: Don't Be Gone Long
Joe Hughes: Make Me Dance Little Ant (his first record, which is wild rock and roll, not blues)
Vern Pullens: Bop Crazy Baby
Royce Porter: A Woman Can Make You Blue
Ray Doggett: No Doubt About It
Ray Doggett: Go Go Heart
Bennie Hess: Wild Hog Hop
Rudy Grayzell: Ducktail
Rudy Grayzell: Let's Get Wild
Little Joey Farr: Rock and Roll Santa
Turner Moore: I'll Be Leavin' You
etc.....

*Um, could you define "everyone?"

You know EEEEEEvryone. When you throw in "Artists that aren't very well known outside of this area." and "This is not the top 100 songs of the last five years of Houston's hipster community"....your are basically talking about everyone. Welcome to Houston!!

To quote Clinton Heider "Yeah, hipsters. I know what you're talking about; we call them KIDS!" You're basically the old man telling kids to get off his lawn, when you do that. "Those damn kids with their crazy rock and roll music!!!! Going out and playing music in bars having and a good time! Get a job, you little bastards!"

Well I'm telling you that in the last 5 years there have been a bunch of great bands that I think define Houston brilliantly.

Now you say there is a problem with perspective as they are so close to us now BUT that's quite different that dismissing them as a bunch of obscure hipster bands - which only goes to show that you rarely if ever go out to clubs. If you ever got out to the Prole, Rudz, Walters, et al. you'd find that the Indie Rock Community - oh wait I mean "Hipsters" actually are putting out some great stuff.

You want an obscure hipster example. "It's Ok not to skate" by Gay Marriage. Band lasted only a short time and broke up last year but that EP and that song was incredible. Nobody knew them outside of small circles but it's out as it's not going to cater to the vast majority of people who read your paper because you are basically conceding that your readership really doesn't give a shit about music - that they don't want to go out and seek things, that they don't want to really explore their own history or experience their present. You are basically making some middling list that will have as much relevance as a VH1 Special.

Ultimately here is why your article will blow. You shouldn't try to come up with the best 100 Houston songs. You should just
try to make YOUR top 100 Houston songs with all your biases thrown in. By doing that we will get an honest list that we can disagree with but at least you are not claiming it to be a representative list of Houston music. Music critics are supposed to have biases and niches they like. Fine throw them on the table and let the chips fall where they may.

A) Hipsters do not equal "the kids."

I think they do. Hispters are nothing more than a bogeyman.

B) Prole, Rudz, Walters does not equal "the clubs."

I never said they did. You dropped the definite article in there not me.

C) Indie rock, punk, garage etc does not equal "the scene."

See above you rhetorical poser.

It is "A" scene and a damn good one that has been vibrant for quite some time with a pretty wide mixture of genres and styles [I define it broadly enough to include everyone from John Muzak to Bright Men of Learning, from Tambersauro to Rusted Shit, and, from Jenny Westbury to Insect Warfare]

D) Me not covering this stuff does not mean I do not go out. I go to plenty of shows I don't see you at either, Ramon. Last week I went to four shows and a CD release party. And you?

Then write about those shows.

Me? Lets see...
This friday I was at the Whorehound/Rustler show and raced over to the show at Walters with Dizzy Pilot and American Sharks. Then before that I think it was the Ume show at the Proletariat...I think that was the Saturday before though I was still hungover from the show the night before with the Dimes/Bring Back the Guns show at the Proletariat again. How's that? Hey those are all local shows with great bands...go figure.

I'm not saying you have to follow the indie scene. So,to you they are abunch of annoying hipsters. Fine whatevs - just don't outright dismiss it. The Press Music Awards always have a strong showing from these bands and without them it would be much less entertaining. I say just lay your cards on the table and be done with it. When you cover what you like (like any music writer) it reads better. Which is why I'm saying a definitive list is bollocks. Just tell us what you think are 100 great definitive houston songs and it will make for a better column. If I did a list it would include The Party Owls, The Jonx, Sharks and Sailors, Jana Hunter, The Dimes, Dry Nod, Brown Paper Dog, Turmoil in the Toybox, and well I can go on but the point it would be my list based on my biases. People could come back and say well you didn't include this and I'd hey it's just my list; you know, subjective.

My point is nuts to the committe approach and play local music critic and give us your biased list. I'd be much more interested.

"Hispters are nothing more than a bogeyman."

So are those kids at Last Concert hipsters? What about the kids at Million Year Dance shows? Blue October shows? Z-Ro CD release parties? Insane Clown Posse tribute gatherings? Fifth Ward zydeco dances?
Charlie Robison gigs?

Hipsters are no more a bogeyman than jocks, preps, gangstas or any other subculture. Each of those groups sets themselves apart from each other through the clothes they wear, the music they listen to, the cars they drive and the food and drink they put in their bodies.

You just happened to be immersed in that culture, both online and in real life, so you mistake it as universal.

I'm just saying is that "I think that part of music culture is people trying to say that they have a deeper and more extensive knowledge of music. The hipster bogeyman gives the critic a simple target on which to prop themselves up. It distinguishes them from those shallow music-as-fashion hipsters."

I don't know any hipster subculture. I have no clue what a hipster looks like. Really. It's like sasquatch, I've never seen 'em. What I do see is a bunch of kids making music, being creative, supporting each other, and having fun. The kids are alright to borrow a Who title.

So I think the disconnect for me comes in just not knowing what the hell yr talking about with the whole hispter thing.

Oh, wow, Ramon Medina doesn't know what a hipster is?

How about this? A hipster is someone who defines themself as someone who doesn't listen to Nickelback.

http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-03-01/news/building-a-mystery/

I'm not saying Nickelback is good. That band fucking blows.

But anyone who defines himself distinctly as someone who doesn't like what he perceives everyone else likes, well, that's a hipster.

And there's nothing creative about that. That's the opposite of creativity actually.

So maybe "hipster" isn't the best word. Let's just go with "douche."

"But anyone who defines himself distinctly as someone who doesn't like what he perceives everyone else likes, well, that's a hipster."

I just don't think people really operate like that. That's too much work. I mean yeah everyone has that really bad guilty pleasure pop song that they'd never admit to liking but defining yoruself exclusively on what others like or don't like - it's a bit much don't you think?

So people have similar tastes - what unites them is what they like. Like at Noise and Smoke when Chris Ryan whipped out the Hall and Oats record and everyone immediately got to dancin' like it was some peanuts Chrismas special...probably not very "Hip" but who cares when yr having fun.

I think that much of the discussion here (as with the HoustonPress in general, though less than others) reflects a limited perspective.

Does any of Jelly Roll Morten's work here qualify?

Regarding Fito Olivares "El mensajero" and "Aguita de melon" are excellent but i think "La Gallina" best represents his unique style and "Juana la cubana" is an international HIT coverd by countless bands. I consider him an ambassador.

My understanding is that these hits came after his move to Houston.

Ask people in a couple of dozen countries if you need perspective.

I sincerely think it's nice that some Houston homies made it big with La Mafia but I can't think of anything to include on the list despite their being internationally famous.

I look forward to some one pointing out how wrong I am.

Should "I Can See Clearly Now" be on the list?

Definitely some Bobby Blue Bland.

claro que si

look me in my eyes

Totally off topic, but I really hate the whole idea of "guilty pleasures." If you like a song, who gives a shit if anyone else thinks your lame because of it. It's not like they have to listen to it just because you like it. I mean, "Maneater" is the jam and I'll scream/sing it from the mountain tops.

And now back to our regularly scheduled bickering...

Dusti,

there is nothing wrong with "Guilty Pleasures" but if you are, say, rocking out to the Puffi Ami Yume theme there is always that part of you knows you shouldn't be - much like watching Predator II and enjoying it. That is half the fun where, despite all rational thought and the fact that put against the wall you can't justify it, you still like it.

PS - Chris' Hall and Oats selction was for the record "You Make My dreams come true."

ask lomax and the rest of his know-it-all white belt wearing hipster friends. http://www.houstonpress.com/2005-01-06/music/guilty-pleasures-part-ii/

anything by don and seymour

Smokey Stover - The Ballad of Jimmy Hoffa

Troy Hess - Please Don't Go Topless Mother

DRI hailed from Houston, actually Spring Branch and while they were a punk/metal band they put out over 10 full length CD's and toured world wide for many years. They played to 10's of thousands of fans all over the world and were one of the early cross-over punk metal bands. Also Really Red "Teaching You The Fear" should be included

Party Owls had a great song about Texas and Shiner Bock called "Texas Pride"

Late 80s rap in Houston:
Royal Flush and Willie D's "Controversy"
on Rap-a-Lot.

Flush had a song about being on the cover the Houston Chronicle. Willie had a song about killing Morton Downey Jr. Those were the days!

Hate to bust everyone's "Boom Boom" bubble, but I did some homework and unfortunately Paul Lekakis belongs to New York City. Damn Yankees.

Really disappointing, because I was pulling for "Boom Boom" to make the list. That song has way better lyrics than "Bootylicious," even.

"boredom" poor dumb bastards

"bWd says:
everyone knows your an idiot Lomax, you know squat about music, just disappear already."

I just love it when flamers can't even spell and have no grasp of grammar. It's "everyone knows you're an idiot Lomax ..." You're, as in "you are," not "your."

Retarded bWd.

The Clique, a local Houston Band recorded "Sugar on Sunday" in 1969. Sugar on Sunday rose to the top 20 nationally by Billboard. The CLique is being unducted into the Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame on January 19, 2008. The Gulf Coast Music Hall of Fame is in Port Arthur and is formerally known as the Janis Joplin Hall of Fame. The Clique recorded on Houston's local Cinema lable with "Splash 1", then on Scpepter lable then on to White Whale lable. The Clique is one of the most outstanding local Houston Bands, made up of local Houston band memebrs Larry Lawson, Bruce Tinch, John Kanesaw, Randy Shaw, David Dunham, Sid Templeton, Tom Pena and Oscar Houchins. The Clique sold over 5 million records to date.

Could you help me. In real life, unlike in Shakespeare, the sweetness of the rose depends upon the name it bears. Things are not only what they are. They are, in very important respects, what they seem to be.
I am from Palau and now teach English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Airline carry on restrictions liquids."

Thank you so much for your future answers :o. Bastiaan.