Dead Man's Party

Time to plan for this year's Halloween party, my favorite time of year!

People Are Strange

Wow it has a video, I did not know that.

Little Ole Me

Now a brief introduction to myself. I'm 31. I was born in the summer of 1980 to Marg & Barry. I have one older brother who is 40 in December, he is partially responsible for some of my more questionable music tastes as the sound would drift down the hallway and under the crack of my bedroom door. Whitesnake mingled in with The Smiths, Sex Pistols, The Police followed by Bon Jovi, no wondered I ended up with such schizophrenic music tastes I was slowly being brainwashed as a child while I slept. 

My first single I ever bought was Who's That Girl by Madonna. At seven, I think that was a pretty good choice. By the end of the eighties I hit high school and the world of rock music  and rebellion was introduced to me. I said goodbye to my Barbies and Michael Jackson (no joke intended! Bad was one of my first favorite albums) and hello to Guns 'n Roses, Pearl Jam, Aerosmith, REM & Husker Du. I started to spend longer and longer in my room as I tried to wait out puberty. 

I started smoking and drinking and cursing. I hung around street corners at night with my friends and removed rear view mirrors & radio aerials off of parked cars with sporting equipment for fun. I watched late night horror movies and frightened myself so much I couldn't sleep. I grew my hair long and wore the same old boots for most of high school. I would go days without speaking, locked inside my own head convinced the world didn't understand me. I watched far too much television. I dreamt about being in a band and took up learning the guitar but dropped out of music class when I realised it required hard work. I really found my niche in Art and I never skipped a single class. I loved painting, I still do. The posters on my walls of unicorns and rainbows were replace by posters of bands and half naked heartthrobs. I discovered the real reason god put boys on the planet and I was reborn. 

House party after house party, beer and stupidity ensued. I discovered weed. I discovered The Doors (really i think them 2 discoveries came hand-in-hand). I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, and now I am grown up, I still don't know. I continued to have fun until the clock struck 12 in 1999. Now life is very boring and quite serious, sometimes when I'm sat at my computer at work drawing something up to sell someone something, I like to think back to those beautiful times when all I had to worry about was my breast size and smile. I have no regrets about how my life is turning out (I am also quite happy with my current breast size), things are actually pretty good and I'm sure there are plenty of crazy days ahead, but if someone asked me if i'd like to give my young adulthood another go. I'd say HELL YES in a second! 

Peace & Love

Holly

xox

Celebrated Summer

Bye bye summer. I've had better I'm gonna be honest. *sad face*

Heathers

I was always a 'Veronica' and never a 'Heather', and maybe that's why as I grew I developed a personality. But Heathers was always a film I could relate to, I didn't secretly want to kill my girl-friends at school because they were hopelessly shallow and vacant to the point of being space itself. Infact, I was in the 'crazy - don't talk to them' weed-head crowd at school, all long hair and army boots. Which meant that I avoided the trials and tribulations of being or not being popular, but still that doesn't mean that I didn't observe them from a distant corner somewhere, bemused. 

I find it very hard to believe anyone would be brave enough to make this film now. A comedy about teenagers who kill off the popular kids at high school, at first a prank gone too far that quickly escalates to a planned mast homicide. Back when this film came out it seemed so extreme, that it was safe to laugh and not feel guilty. Like a Tom & Jerry cartoon. Because this would never actually happen, right? But heavy subtext aside, this film is genuinely funny and it should be just taken for what it is, an 80s teen comedy that bites back at you and draws a little blood. In a world of 3D smurf movies and remakes of remakes of remakes we can only remember with fond memories how good and original movies used to be. You could rewatch them until you knew ever quote and every background song. I've seen this film SO many times I could talk you through the whole film. I won't, but just know that I could if I wanted to.

Remember when Christian Slater was cool, and everyone was saying he was gonna be the next Jack Nicholson, because they had similar sounding voices,  vulcan-esque eyebrows and a forehead that went on FOREVER…? Well this is the role that earned his place on my bedroom wall and in the hearts of many teenagers (helped along by his role as DJ Happy Harry Hard-on in 'Pump Up The Volume' but we will cover that in another post). I remember seeing this film as a girl and wanting a boyfriend like JD, with his motorcycle, earring and homicidal tendencies. A trend I thought I'd grow out of eventually, but alas the change never came. 

Also worth watching just to remember the days when Winona ruled the world, and every month she'd be in another film playing a misunderstood small-town teenager who falls in love with the crazy/dead/scissorhanded weirdo kid just to be rejected but find her true self. But don't get me wrong, that's what we all loved about her.

Watch this film now, tell your boss you don't feel well, go home and on the way pick up some snacks, beer and a copy of this on dvd. Go now. Rebel a little, it won't hurt you.

"I like it. It's got that what-a-cruel-world-let's-toss-ourselves-in-the-abyss type ambience."

Peace & Love

Holly

xox

Soundtrack Highlight/Big Fun - Teenage Suicide (Don't Do It)

Lips Like Sugar

Just when you think you've caught her, she glides across the water,

She calls for you tonite, to share this moonlite.

Out of the Cellar

As I dig through the cassette treasures I've found in the depths of the house ironically I came across, Ratt's Out of the Cellar. This is one of my guilty pleasures, this 1984 album features probably their best known song 'Round & Round'. Personally, I hate this song. I don't know if it's the overplaying on the radio or the fact that there are better songs on the album, it lies there in the middle of side 1 which makes it impossible to skip with any ease. This only amplifies my annoyance.
But my favorite track is 'I'm insane' and that song almost always features on tape mixes I do for my friends. I must say I find it very easy to put into words what I hate about certain songs, albums etc. but find it incredibly difficult to explain what I love about something. I love this song, and hearing it makes me happy. I think you should listen to this song so it's makes you happy too. Other stand-out tracks worth a listen have to be 'She Wants Money' (another song perfect for dancing round like a crazie) & 'The Morning After' (bizarro funny lyrics 'lift your skirt, high in the night?!' - not sure if they're suppose to be funny). If this back-combed monster album comes clawing it's way straight out of your 80's metal cellar. I say 'Let it out!!'

Peace & Love

Holly xox

Behind The Sun

The sun goes up, and the sun gets down.

He's So Strange

One of my all time MOST favorite songs. Ever ever.

Nightmare on Elm Street

In the 80s & the start of the 90s my mum had a video rental business, and she would keep some of the stock at home, under the stairs. Supposedly hidden from me. Now let me tell you something about me, I'm a hide and seek champion, if you hide something from me, chances are I'll find it. Christmas presents, Car keys, Beer - no match for my powers of deduction. Anyway far back in my youth, during a sleepover with my friends we decided to obtained a video to watch from the stash, and on the recommendation of one of my friends at the time, this film was the first. I'd never seen a horror movie apart from Lost Boys, which to date is still my number one favorite film of all time, and although it was a little scary it was about the level of Goonies with teeth. 

For a girl of about 8, I'm not sure a film about a dirty old heinously disfigured child killer with a hand of knives that invades your dreams and kills you may have been the best choice. And for the years of therapy later I can definitely say it wasn't. But this film really did genuinely scare me as a kid, to the point that I had recurring Freddy dreams weeks and months afterwards. I started to suffer from some pretty trippy night terrors, and spent most of the next few years sleeping with the light on. 

But in some unhealthy way this experience made me obsessed with horror films as I grew older. And that credit lies solely with Fred Krueger. From the Jaws-esque Freddy hand in the bath, the freaky long arms in the alley, the tongue telephone and possibly the greatest death scene on film, liquidation by your own bed. The amazing eighties soundtrack that is the music equivalant of nails down a chalkboard. This film is a classic, watch it now and if you've already watched it some years ago and merely skimmed over it because it's not 'serious' horror, re-watch it. 

They just don't make films like this anymore, and that's a real shame.

"Just tell me who did it, I'll go get him, baby!" 

Peace & Love

Holly

xox

Soundtrack Highlight/ Terror in the Tub - Charles Bernstein

Nice Boys Don't Play Rock 'N Roll

Now I do love G'N R but the original of this song is Fierce. With a capital F. Face melting Fierce.

Rose Tattoo, go buy every record they've ever made. It's my birthday on Thursday, instead of getting me a gift go buy yourself a Rose Tattoo album. Please. Trust me.

Hey Ladies!

Nothing says 'sexy' quite like Polyester clothing and a cowbell.

Walk This Way

Schoolgirl sweetie with her classy kinda sassy, little skirt climbin' way up the knee...

The weekend is here....

Party on, Dudes! *air guitar solo*

God gave Rock 'N Roll to you

If you're tired of wishing on a falling star. Just put your faith in a loud guitar.

My New Sneaks

Let the Good Times Roll

Let the stories be told, let them say what they want....


The Cars - Let The Good Times Roll by Dan_of_the_Land

Too Fast For Love

Seriously, say what you haters wanna say, I was Crüe for LIFE after hearing this album at a friend's house. And nothing gives a rush of blood to the head (in all senses of the term!) quite like this cassette. These songs just make me wanna dress slutty and get drunk, forget that I have a job to hold down and rent to pay. Fun, loud, obnoxious but strangely melodic is how I like all my bands, this one is no exception. But I must admit it I wasn't a fan in my youth, Shout at the Devil was my first & only Motley Crüe vinyl. Soon seeing the error of my ways and purchasing Too Fast on cassette later down the line. And although Guns 'N Roses were my number one band-love as a teenager, Crüe are now a close number two. Partly down to Nikki Sixx. He always looked SO fuckin' cool! par exemple....

And also down to the fact that Crüe always looked like they were having more fun than everyone else, and in hindsight they clearly were! You either loved these boys or you didn't, and I wish I'd been on the Crüe train from the start I'm sure it would've been quite the ride! :D
So to right some wrongs I'm paying homage to the Crüe, proving that wearing your sister's makeup and jeans gets you all the ass you can handle. Teaching every teenager that you can wear what the fuck you like as long as you've got the attitude and brute strength to back it up. I'd like to take a little few minutes out of my day to salut Motley Crüe for the ride we never had!


Peace n Love


Holly xox


Crüe Highlight / Starry Eyes

I'm Eighteen

I gotta get out of this place....I'll go runnin' in Outer Space!

No Country For Old Skaters

When I was a kid I had a BMX not a skateboard, partly down to the fact that I liked my knees with skins on them. But I was aware of it's existence but I claim to be no kind of expert. That said, I love the style and fashion linked to skateboarding, especially during the eighties. If your tee doesn't give passers by a headache, you need to buy a new one. And denim should never look like it hasn't worked hard for a living. Customised and bastardized until you've made it your own, an ethic I still work with today.

No film better encompasses this vibe than Thrashin'. A west side story set on the skate ramps of Venice Beach where 'The Daggers' rule. Unfortunately 'Hook' the leader of 'The Daggers' younger sister is from outtatown and has a taste for clean cut uncool Valley ramp boys with no piercings (Josh Brolin). This causes no end of embarrassment to 'Hook' when he finds out, and triggers a gang battle the likes of which we have never seen, hot car park pursuits, late night duels by gaslight and a downhill of death. So many music skate montages I lost count. This been on account of the soundtrack being SO rad, with Meatloaf serving up the title track, and Red Hot Chili Peppers & Circle Jerks following. And a cameo from Tony Alva (not singing! - just Thrashin').

If you love to see an uncool underdog sock it to a guy who wears too much hair gel and delibirates over whether he should wear the skull earring or the hoop, then this is most definitely the movie for you. If you loved No Country for Old Men and thought to yourself 'I wonder what this film would be like with teenagers on skateboards?', then again, this movie is definitely for you! If you ever wanted to skateboard down Hollywood Blvd & Vine Street and wanted tips on the route to take or leave your house via a roof ramp instead of the front door, then stop reading because you've found what you're looking for. Buy a copy before it becomes another dvd casualty.

Here come the Daggers!
Peace and Love

Holly xox

Soundtrack Highlight / Staring Down The Demons - Animotion

Sunday Song

I'm a wild child! Come on love me! I want you!!!!

Fright Night

Now, in my eyes, a late Saturday Night spent watching old horror films is not a Saturday ill spent. And last Saturday was no exception, as a result of hearing of the remake of Fright Night soon to come to our movie theaters I felt I needed to see the original again. My memory of the film was a little hazy, I remembered a few things - Roddy MacDowell as Peter Vincent, 'Evil Ed' and a lot of topless women. Only the first been a real reason to re-watch the film. Unless you like topless women.

So I settled in for a night of Fright on the sofa with some microwave popcorn. I have to say that boobies did feature within the first few minutes, but this is an eighties horror film and without them it would've seemed inferior to it's competition. They are also the only real boobies on display so make sure you get a good look. Jerry the Vampire is SO an eighties TV wet dream in his 'grey is the new black' outfit, his well-oiled hair, manicured nails & tan (on a vampire? seriously?). I LOVE the Club Radio 'seduction' scene when he woos Marcy from Married with Children with some well choreographed dance moves and a pumping Synth track. Judging by the effect this man has had on her hair alone, I think she's in for a good time. If this scene features in the new film, scene for scene, I will be smiling on the inside. Sure it's cheesey but how often these days do people start a dance montage in the middle of a horror film. I'm telling you now, maybe the genre needs to go down this road and stop taking itself SO seriously. Let's just dance, have a good time then get dismembered. Everybody wins.

So, anyway, if you love eighties horror films like me, then give this a re-watch, I promise you won't be sorry. Now go check you have locked all the doors and windows. And remember - 'Never invite a vampire into your home, you silly boy, it renders you powerless!' (that's from Lost Boys....I know)

Oh you're so COOL, Brewster!!
Peace n Love

Holly

xox

Soundtrack Highlight / Sparks - Armies of the Night

Sweet Child O' Mine

I recently had the privilege of seeing Slash come to my hometown. And I will tell you now it was
one of the best sets I have ever seen. When I was a kid I was too young to go see Guns N Roses play
and when they split a little part of me died knowing that I never would. Growing up Slash has always been one of my idols, partly because he was always such a sexy bitch and he had first poster next to my pillow position but mainly down to the fact that his guitar playing was like no other. When guitar solos were all you ever heard on the radio, I could always recognise a Slash solo and instinctively would hit 'Record' on the tape deck. The man is and will always be a legend to me, and it wasn't until I stood in a small dark smoky room with a crowd of sweating people and heard him play Sweet Child O' Mine that I realised just how bigger fan I am (yep I almost cried!). My teenage days of Guns N Roses may be over but in my eyes, that guy has carried the spirit of that music on with him. That raw Rock 'N Roll Badass Sexy Vibe that music lacks these days. You can tell the guys that have lived Rock 'N Roll and the guys that just play it (You Son of a Preacher Boys know who you are!). If I could just get me a time machine I would go to every gig that man ever played.
So this month I salut Slash for being awesome & making me wanna cry and take my clothes off at the same time!

Peace n Love

Holly xox

Welcome to my world

I've never had a blog before, and considering this is 2011 you may say I've led a sheltered life. Let me explain why I felt it necessary to take to blogger.

I recently bought myself a Hitachi boombox from an ebayer and I must admit it has been one of the best
purchases I have made in life! When I was a kid these things were only available in dreams as they were worth more than our house but these days you can get a decent one for the price of a CD album, and although i have not managed to get past '4' on the volume slider without the neighbours banging on the wall, one day I'll take it straight up to '10' and take the roof off! :D

This has opened the door to a magical world I left behind when I stopped being a teenager, and became an adult with rent to pay. Tapes & vinyl that I had stored in a spare room in cardboard boxes but couldn't bring myself to throw away have recently seen the light of day. A magical world of denim, leather jackets and guitar solos that time seems to have forgotten. Some may say for good reason, but I'm not one of those people. Music that you just don't hear the likes of anymore. Music that makes you want to get up and throw yourself around a room like you're having some kind of psychotic episode. The kind of music that gives you 'Whiplash' and requires a neck brace. That's the kind of music I want to listen to.

So here I am, using this stage to present to you some of my favourite bands & songs. I'm not an expert in any sense of the word nor am I a critic, I'm just a fan.

Peace n Love

Holly xox