Noi Mahoney

Chrysta Bell

One of San Antonio's most beautiful and talented ladies is singer-songwriter Chrysta Bell. I've had the luck to profile her for a couple of different newspapers. Here's one of her latest videos:

Tony Wilson dies

Tony Wilson, the British guy who founded Factory Records in the 1970s, has died. Factory records made Joy Division, New Order and the Manchester, England music scene famous. Wilson was the subject of the 2004 movie "24 Hour Party People." RIP

Thai Boy/Girl Band

I don't know what could be more horrifying than falling for a beautiful girl who turns out to be man. Isn't that the plot to "The Crying Game"
Anyway, Sony BMG has given the world Venus Flytrap, a Thai transsexual pop group. It's kind of scary how good looking they are. They have described their sound as a mix of European pop mixed with Thai lyrics. They have an album out called Visa for Love.

My new favorite singer

Her name is Amy Winehouse. The British singer look's like a sexier Sarah Silverman and sounds like Eartha Kitt. Her new album "Back to Black" has a cool song called "Rehab." She recently had show in Austin that critics raved about. Apparently, Amy likes to party. After cancelling two recent shows in London, she admitted to the press she smashed her front tooth in a drunken fall. She recently had dental surgery to fix the chipped tooth.

The Godfather of Rock'n'roll

  Anyone who grew up loving rock'n'roll in SA in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, remembers Joe Anthony. He was a legendary DJ at KISS-FM radio. Joe played African-American music when it was unfashionable to do so, some say. He was also said to be responsible for breaking such acts as Triumph, Riot, Budgie and Judas Priest, and was a huge supporter of Canadian music. Joe was also instrumental in the launch of Z-Rock.

Joe Anthony's life story would make a good documentary.

Neko Case

I just discovered Neko Case. I love her song "Star Witness." I was listening to my Sirius Satellite Radio the other night. As usual, I was listening to channel 30, "The Coffee House." Good stuff.

Ray LaMontagne

I was listening to my Sirius Satellite Radio the other night and heard a song called "Trouble" by Ray LaMontagne. I never heard of him before, but I'm a fan now.

Locals recall infamous Sex Pistols show at Randy's Rodeo

In a converted bowling alley in 1978, Olmos Park resident Sig Izbrand listened as the Sex Pistols began their concert with, “God Save the Queen,” their sonic attack on the British monarchy.
Like many others in the audience that night, Izbrand said she felt she was part of an epoch-making moment.
“There were TV cameras outside, and cameras inside everywhere,” Izbrand said. “People from as far away as California came to the concert. It was a show you didn’t want to miss.”
“Once that show happened, Austin wasn’t the same,” said Margaret Moser, a staff writer for the Austin Chronicle. Moser grew up in San Antonio and graduated from Robert E. Lee High School. “The whole punk scene exploded in Austin.”
The Sex Pistols, an English punk rock band, had become a sensation the year before as the antithesis of corporate rock. Moser and Izbrand were among the 1,200 people at the band’s now notorious show at the old Randy’s Rodeo on Bandera Road.
It was a show where even famed Rolling Stone photographer Annie Leibovitz was said to have turned up. During the concert, some say a girl wearing devil horns bit Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious on the lip, prompting him to swing his guitar at the audience in a homicidal rage. Others say Vicious went ballistic after taking a beer can in the face. No one denies that spit, beer cans, bottles and other projectiles were frequently hurled through the air that night. The next day, The San Antonio Express ran a frontpage headline: “Sex Pistols win the San Antonio Shoot-Out.”
“People were there because they wanted to see if someone was going to get murdered,” said Joe Pugliese, who grew up Thunderbird Hills and graduated from O.W. Holmes High School. Pugliese’s band The Vamps opened for the Sex Pistols that night.

The Randy’s Rodeo show was part of the Sex Pistols only North American tour. Along with Vicious, original Sex Pistols members included lead singer Johnny Rotten, guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook. The band picked San Antonio over more likely destinations Austin and Houston.
“I was one of many who went down from Austin to see the show,” Moser said. “The Sex Pistols only played a handful of shows in the U.S., and they had a mystique about them.”
“At that time, San Antonio musically was the heavy metal capital of the world,” Pugliese said. “Bands like Budgie and Riot were huge here.”
In addition to being in The Vamps, Pugliese also worked the ticket booth that night at Randy’s Rodeo.
“The show wasn’t a sellout, it broke even,” Pugliese said.
Attendees said they weren’t disappointed, even though musically the Sex Pistols were sub par.
“When I heard them play, they were terrible,” Izbrand said. “But the show was exciting because they had terrific presence. That’s what so brilliant about them. They became a legend on very little accomplishment, basically one album.”
Although credited with jumpstarting the punk rock movement in England in the 1970s, the original Sex Pistols had effectively broken up by 1978. Still, they are remembered for songs such as “Anarchy in the UK and "Holidays in the Sun."

Moser said it’s a myth that the Sex Pistols started punk rock music.
“They were as manufactured as The Monkees,” Moser said. “They took their cue from The Ramones (a New York band).”
But everyone remembers the feeling of hope and inspiration that came from the Randy’s Rodeo Sex Pistols concert.
“It was about DIY ethic, do it yourself,” Pugliese said. “You didn’t need talent or a big record company. All you needed was desire and attitude to become a rock star.”
Pugliese is now an independent concert promoter and producer who works primarily out of Nashville, although he is still based in San Antonio. After the concert, Izbrand moved to Houston went to work as assistant to legendary Texas entertainment mogul Bill Ham of ZZ Top fame.
Moser also said the “do it yourself ethic” was the heart of the punk rock movement.
“It was a directive, if this music does something for you, go out and form your own band,” Moser said. “If you can’t play or sing, be the band manager. If you can’t do that, hand out fliers, do something.”