November 19, 2009
November 19th Updates to the Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Online Music Lists
Today's additions to the list of the online best of the decade (2000-2009) music lists:
The A.V. Club (best albums)
The A.V. Club (best metal albums)
Bandwagon (songs)
Credit to the Girl Next Door (most influential albums)
The Drink Up, Honey (best albums)
eMusic (best albums)
The Media Crunch (best albums)
Musings of Mark (albums)
N. Frank Daniels' Cruel World (best albums)
also at Largehearted Boy:
other daily updates to the list
list of the online best of the decade (2000-2009) music lists
Online "Best Of 2009" Music Lists
Online "Best Of 2008" Music Lists
Online "Best Of 2007" Music Lists
Online "Best Of 2006" Music Lists
Online "Best Books of 2009" Lists
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
other lists at Largehearted Boy
Daily Downloads (free & legal mp3 downloads)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
musician/author interviews
tags: music cd list lists indie 2000s albums
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November 19, 2009
Shorties (Sufjan Stevens, The National Book Awards, and more)
Stereo Subversion lovingly profiles singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens and his music.
The New York Times ArtsBeat blog looks to the history of the National Book Awards and its selections.
Jacket Copy wraps up last night's National Book Awards ceremony and winners.
Myspace has added music charts.
SEE interviews Charles F of Winter Gloves.
“I don’t think we have this Montreal sound at all,” Charles says. “For me, the Montreal sound a couple of years ago was Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, and a bunch of bands influenced by British music and being dark with a lot of reverb. In Montreal a lot of people like dirty music and I don’t feel like Winter Gloves is a part of that. There are more bands playing with keyboards and vintage loops, so I feel like we belong to the Montreal scene more than the Montreal sound."
Melissa Auf der Maur shares her iPod top 10 with the Montreal Gazette.
The Globe and Mail profiles the rise of The Rural Alberta Advantage into the public eye.
But the intimate and lively music of love and loss, memories of yesterday and imaginations of tomorrow, sparked devotion one person at a time online. Starting with a glowing review on Halifax blog Herohill through to exposure a year ago at music retailer eMusic.com, the band's slow and steady stroll to attention arrived in Austin, Tex., in March at South by Southwest. A deal with a stalwart American indie label, Saddle Creek of Omaha, Neb., followed.
The Reno News Review profiles singer-songwriter Marry Mannor.
Guerrero mentions “Ms. Sanders” as a personal favorite on Come Home. The title of the song, in a move sure to inspire some nerd crushes, is an obscure Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference. But the song is a sort of delirious, allegorical rumination on loss, with Guerrero’s high, yearning voice lilting, “My hands, my hands, my hands, they don’t dig like they used to …”
io9 lists 20 eagerly anticipated 2010 science fiction novels.
Monitor Mix waxes nostalgic for the music blogs of the '00s and shares screenshots of several in their earlier incarnations (including Largehearted Boy).
Gilbert Hernandez talks to Comic Book Resources about his new graphic novel, The Troublemakers.
Cage the Elephant's 11-track self-titled album is on sale at Amazon MP3 for $2.99.
Singer-songwriter Brendan Benson visits The Current studio for an interview and live performance.
Follow me on Twitter for links that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
online "best of 2009" book lists
online "best of 2009" music lists
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
tags: music books popculture indie
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Daily Downloads (Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Cymbals Eat Guitars, and more)
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:
All Smiles: free and legal The Comparison Blouse EP (click "free demos") [mp3]
other All Smiles posts at Largehearted Boy
Bonnie "Prince" Billy: "Death to Everyone" [mp3] from Funtown Comedown (out December 15th)
other Bonnie "Prince" Billy posts at Largehearted Boy
Charlie Alex March: "Carot No. 9" [mp3] from Home/Hidden (out February 16th)
other Charlie Alex March posts at Largehearted Boy
Man & Dog: several demo tracks [mp3]
other Man & Dog posts at Largehearted Boy
The Minor Leagues: "Good Boys" [mp3] from This Story Is Old, I Know, But It Goes On
The Minor Leagues: "The Love That Never Was" [mp3] from This Story Is Old, I Know, But It Goes On
other Minor Leagues posts at Largehearted Boy
Oh, Starling: free and legal Joy Christmas EP [mp3]*
other Oh, Starling posts at Largehearted Boy
Pixie Carnation: "When the Lights Go Out" [mp3] from Fresh Poems
other Pixie Carnation posts at Largehearted Boy
Plasticines: "I Could Rob You" [mp3] from About Love
other Plasticines posts at Largehearted Boy
Wild Yaks: "River May Come" [mp3] from 10 Ships
other Wild Yaks posts at Largehearted Boy
*registration required
Free and legal mp3s of live performances at other websites:
Bo Bedingfield: 2009-11-11, Athens [mp3]
other Bo Bedingfield posts at Largehearted Boy
Cymbals Eat Guitars: Daytrotter session [mp3]
other Cymbals Eat Guitars posts at Largehearted Boy
The Jesus Lizard: 2009-11-16, New York [mp3]
other Jesus Lizard posts at Largehearted Boy
Magic Wands: Daytrotter session [mp3]
other Magic Wands posts at Largehearted Boy
Royal Bangs: WOXY Lounge Act session [mp3]
other Royal Bangs posts at Largehearted Boy
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous free and legal mp3 daily downloads
2009 Bonnaroo downloads
other music festival downloads
online "best of 2009" book lists
online "best of 2009" music lists
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD release lists
tags: music download indie mp3
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November 18, 2009
Antiheroines: Lisa Hanawalt
The Antiheroines series features author Jami Attenberg interviewing up-and-coming female comics artists.
In May I saw Lisa Hanawalt, author of I Want You (Buenaventura Press) and the Ignatz award-winning mini-comic Stay Away From Other People, do a slide show presentation as part of a group show at Hi Christina, a wee venue in Williamsburg.
During Lisa's extremely dry but charming performance, she did this short bit about her week. She talked about how she had gone thrift shopping and bought a pair of overall shorts for a dollar, and the tag on them read "Teen Bibs." That made me laugh pretty hard and when I looked up she was actually wearing the overall shorts. I appreciated that very much. I hadn't been paying attention when she was introduced, so I never knew her name, but I thought to myself: You should interview that girl. She's got something special going on.
But then I didn't. I had a lot on my mind that month. It's hard to follow up on every idea. You try it.
Then, a few weeks ago, I was at the bookstore on Bedford Ave, the one with all the art books. On the way out I picked up the beautiful little book of illustrations Vice did for "Where the Wild Things Are."(I am loath to promote that movie but I enjoyed looking at the book, and it is always good for creative people to be getting paid.) And Lisa had a piece in there. A little missile fired off in my head. Oh there you are, I thought. But I wasn't sure if it wasn't the same woman or not.
So I looked on the Hi Christina website for the event, and her name wasn't on it. I looked at the Facebook invite, and her name was not on that either. I emailed the guy who curated the show and asked him to tell me the names of all the people who read. Again, the list did not include her name. "Was there not another cartoonist? Am I hallucinating?" I emailed him back. "Oh yes," he said. "Lisa Hanawalt, our Los Angeles transplant and Williamsburg truck-driving, dog-loving, cartoon-making woman. She good."
Yes. She good.
I want to do this interview in the correct order, because I believe you are a very orderly thinker. I suspect this because you make a lot of lists in your work. So the first thing I want to know is how you got into making comics, and if you see yourself doing this for the long haul.
I used to think I was on a path towards becoming a fine artist, showing my drawings exclusively in galleries, but that world seemed less feasible after I graduated from art school and got more interested in illustration.
Around that time, one of my best friends from high school asked me to collaborate on an autobiographical comic about his life, and for the next two years I worked with him on Tip Me Over, Pour Me Out. I'd always loved comics, but for the first time I was drawing them in an orderly way and getting a strong sense of what I liked and didn't like. After getting more confident in that arena, I self-published a couple of minis, and then serendipitously met Alvin Buenaventura.
I was at my first comic convention, a little show called "Super*market" (organized by an acquaintance from UCLA, Jessica Gao) in the back room of Meltdown Comics. I was sitting there nervously with printed copies of Tip Me Over, Pour Me Out, my first mini-comic, It's Sexy When People Know Your Name,and I'd taped some artwork up on the wall behind me.
Alvin came by and we talked a little about my drawings, but I had no clue who he was - until I realized he published Kramers Ergot, and I had a delayed reaction of freaking out. I figured he was just being nice and wouldn't remember who I was the next day, but he kept in touch. He asked me to contribute to the Arthur comics page, invited me to Comic-Con and encouraged me to make my next mini, Stay Away from Other People.
Right now I'm lucky enough to be doing comics, illustration and fine art, and I'd love to keep doing all three for the long haul – as long as there's enough balance and I don't feel stretched thin, of course.
Do you feel like you get different things out of doing comics versus doing fine art? Like there's an obvious catharsis for me when I'm writing essays about my life, but everything feels safe and easier in my little fantasy world when I write fiction.
Drawing comics is a lot harder because I have to think about issues like narrative and character development, and make sure everything is clear to the reader. And I have to draw things like grocery store shelves and rows of airplane seats. When I'm making fine art, I can draw whatever I want and it feels so mindless and cozy by comparison. But the feeling of having a finished comic is much more rewarding, I think, due to the challenge and time invested.
And, I think, you have the opportunity to reach a wider audience with a comic, which is pretty exciting. There's also more to interact with, in a way, because your voice is so present, and I think that can be rewarding for an author. You're probably going to get a lot more fan mail for a comic.
Oh, that's an excellent point about the wider audience - you aren't as likely to get fan mail for having nice paintings up in a gallery, comics are so much more accessible. And I love fan mail.
I think I like your list comics ("Mistakes we made at the grocery store" "Things I should probably hide before a date comes over for the first time") so much because they feels so personal. Also because I am the kind of person who makes lists of things to do for my day and then adds really easy things on to the list that I know I can do really quickly, just so I will have more to cross off at the end of the day and feel a bigger sense of accomplishment. What attracts you to making lists?
I make shitloads of lists, including everything I can think of: small tasks like writing emails, then medium errands like buying groceries, then larger responsibilities like sorting out my health insurance, and I usually end the list with some major lifestyle choices written in all-caps like: "DO YOGA 3X A WEEK!" and "ABD!! "(Always Be Drawing.)
It seems crazy but it's actually a way of easing anxiety. If I put it down on paper, I don't have to lie awake worrying about it.
Maybe that's why the lists in my comics come across as personal, even if they aren't directly autobiographical; I think the compulsion to make them comes from wanting to poke fun at my own anxiety.
I would be remiss if I didn't ask you about all of your animals in clothes which appear in your comics. Do you think of them as animals or humans or something in between?
I think they developed as a way of doing loosely autobiographical stories, or ones where drawing myself feels too personal. So they are often representative of aspects of my personality or people that I know. The argument She-moose has with Account-cat about whether to play a game or see a movie is taken straight out of an email exchange. And sometimes, like in "Lunch Break," they're just used to illustrate a daydream. I like how the animals can be eased in and out of reality; the mundane stuff in their world makes just as much sense as the hallucinatory.
I just read your comic again, and saw a part where you said your mom sent you a slideshow of eagles fishing. Are you into nature?
I'm so into nature! But more in a "look at this weird bug under a microscope and then read a book about it" way than an outdoorsy adventuresome way. My parents are both biologists, so they taught me how to get excited about horrifying things like videos of cancer cells multiplying.
We have now arrived at the Largehearted Boy Mini-Music Questionnaire portion of the interview. Do not be afraid.
What was your first rock show?
I went with my parents to see Paul Simon, and I was really pissed when he performed "The Boxer" and sang "leh leh leh" instead of "lai lai lai" during the chorus. Doesn't he know how his own song goes? I'm still pissed.
What was the best performance you've ever seen?
Cirque de Soleil. Every time. Especially now that they have speakers inside every headrest in the theater.
What albums do you listen to while you work?
Quirky electronica like Hot Chip and Metronomy gets the most air time, but I will listen to anything from rap to neo-soul to country to classical, as long as it isn't too mellow.
What music did you listen to when you were growing up?
Weird Al Yankovic, Paul Simon's Graceland, soundtracks to musicals. The first band I lost my mind over was the Beatles, after my brother made me listen to the White Album the entire way through on our record player.
Did you ever date anyone in a band?
Yeah! When men play instruments, it casts an embarrassingly potent love spell on me. My boyfriend plays the ukulele and it drives me crazy!
Lisa Hanawalt links:
Lisa Hanawalt's website
Lisa Hanawalt's Flickr photostream
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Antiheroines interviews
musician/author interviews
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
guest book reviews
52 Books, 52 Weeks
tags: books music literature comics
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November 18th Updates to the Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Online Music Lists
Today's additions to the list of the online best of the decade (2000-2009) music lists:
Alternative Press (best songs)
Awesome with a Side of Sweet (albums)
Berkeley Place (best independent rock albums)
A Blog Supreme (most important jazz albums)
The Boy Kicked Out at the World (songs that defined the decade)
The CDP (top concerts)
The Daily Deuce (top rock bands)
Go Go Randy Go (best albums)
Jazz and Blues (best jazz albums)
Jazz Chronicles (best jazz albums)
The Lost Boy (top songs)
Music and More (best jazz albums)
No One Cares What I Think (best albums)
Switchblade Comb (favorite albums)
That's What Steve Said (top music videos)
also at Largehearted Boy:
list of the online best of the decade (2000-2009) music lists
Online "Best Of 2009" Music Lists
Online "Best Of 2008" Music Lists
Online "Best Of 2007" Music Lists
Online "Best Of 2006" Music Lists
Online "Best Books of 2009" Lists
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
other lists at Largehearted Boy
Daily Downloads (free & legal mp3 downloads)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
musician/author interviews
tags: music cd list lists indie 2000s albums
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November 18th Updates to the Best of 2009 Online Music Lists
Today's additions to the list of the online best of 2009 music lists:
Art Vinyl (album artwork)
Big Hollywood (top power pop albums)
Christopher Dudley (Underoath) (top albums)
A Cold Sweat (most bafflingly well-received albums & songs)
Dunjamon's Blog (albums)
Esquire (best songs you probably didn't hear)
Esquire (top songs)
Film Punk (best songs)
High School (best songs)
Insound (bestselling albums)
M Shadows (Avenged Sevenfold) (favorite albums)
The Open Neck Shirt (top albums)
The Recordstore Blog (albums)
Rolling Stone (best new artists)
Toon World (favorite albums)
also at Largehearted Boy:
other daily updates to the list
Online Best of 2009 Music Lists
Online Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Music Lists
Online Best of 2009 Book Lists
2008 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2007 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2006 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
other lists at Largehearted Boy
Daily Downloads (free & legal mp3 downloads)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
musician/author interviews
tags: music cd list lists indie 2000s albums
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November 18th Updates to the Online Best of 2009 Book Lists
Today's updates to the list of online "best of 2009" book lists:
Book Patrol (best books about books)
EarlyWord (list of major national lists)
Flashlight Worthy (best books for tweens)
FreeInfidel (top atheist books)
ITs Food (best foodie books)
Kathleen Rooney (best poetry books)
Kristi Maxwell (best poetry books)
Professor Doddley's Occasional Weblog (favourite books)
Stepcase Lifehack (best productivity books)
also at Largehearted Boy:
Online "Best Books of 2009" Lists
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
daily updates to the list
Online Best of the Decade (2000-2009) music lists
2009 Online Year-end Music Lists
2008 Online Year-end Music Lists
2007 Online Year-end Music Lists
2006 Online Year-end Music Lists
other lists at Largehearted Boy
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Anitiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
52 Books, 52 Weeks
tags: books literature list lists indie 2009 fiction nonfiction
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Shorties (Bad Sex in Fiction Award Shortlist, Girls, and more)
The Guardian examines the shortlist for the 2009 edition of the Bad Sex in Fiction Award.
The shortlist:
Paul Theroux for A Dead Hand
Nick Cave for The Death of Bunny Munro
Philip Roth for The Humbling
Jonathan Littell for The Kindly Ones
Amos Oz for Rhyming Life and Death
John Banville for The Infinities
Anthony Quinn for The Rescue Man
Simon Van Booy for Love Begins in Winter
Sanjida O'Connell for The Naked Name of Love
Richard Milward for Ten Storey Love Song
NPR is streaming the new Fever Ray album, Live at Lulea, in its entirety.
The Guardian's book blog profiles author Dave Eggers.
Neon Indian's Alan Palomo shares his favorite things with Pitchfork.
Billboard offers musicians sound advice on publicizing their music.
Muso's Guide interviews singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer.
Muso’s Guide: You blog and use Twitter a lot; it feels like you share a lot of very personal stuff. Do you hold anything back? Does there need to be any mystery to keep fans intrigued?
Amanda Palmer: I hold things back that could possibly harm others. But no, I think deliberate intrigue is not my forte. I’ll leave that to PJ Harvey.
The Telegraph lists the 100 best jazz recordings of all time.
io9 examines the visual history of 16 science fiction classics' book covers.
Drowned in Sound interviews the members of the Fiery Furnaces about the band's future projects.
NPR's All Things Considered profiles two doctors who write, Abraham Verghese and Terrence Holt.
Girls visit The Current studio for an interview and live performance.
Vote for your favorite dog in literature.
Follow me on Twitter for links that don't make the daily "Shorties" columns.
also at Largehearted Boy:
online "best of 2009" book lists
online "best of 2009" music lists
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
daily mp3 downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and full album streams from this week's CD releases)
weekly music & DVD release lists
tags: music books popculture indie
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Daily Downloads (Beach House, Free Vulture Whale EP, and more)
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads:
Beach House: "Norway" [mp3] from Teen Dream (out January 26th)
other Beach House posts at Largehearted Boy
Capgun Coup: "Sitting on the Sidewalk" [mp3] from Maudlin
other Capgun Coup posts at Largehearted Boy
CFCF: "Big Love (Fleetwood Mac cover)" [mp3] from Continent
other CFCF posts at Largehearted Boy
Dragon Turtle: "Moon Fallout" [mp3] from Almanac
other Dragon Turtle posts at Largehearted Boy
The Ibilisi Takedown: free and legal The Ibilisi Takedown EP [mp3]
"Lariat Roughouser" [mp3]
other Ibilisi Takedown posts at Largehearted Boy
Toro Y Moi: "Blessa" [mp3] from Causers (out February 23rd)
other Toro+Y+Moi posts at Largehearted Boy
Various Artists: 50 mp3s from Insound's 50 bestselling albums of 2009 [mp3]
Various Artists: free and legal The Seven Year Itch album (a covers compilation by Paper Bag Records artists) [mp3]
The Very Most: "Away in a Manger" [mp3] from The Winter EP
other Very Most posts at Largehearted Boy
Vulture Whale: free and legal Bamboo You! EP
other Vulture Whale posts at Largehearted Boy
Free and legal mp3s of live performances at other websites:
Agent Ribbons: 2009-11-07, Los Angeles [mp3]
other Agent Ribbons posts at Largehearted Boy
Cory Chisel: Luxury Wafers session [mp3]
other Cory Chisel posts at Largehearted Boy
Generationals: LaundroMatinee session [mp3]
other Bob posts at Largehearted Boy
Henry's Dress: 2009-11-14, New York [mp3]
other Henry's Dress posts at Largehearted Boy
The Ibilisi Takedown: 2009-08-26, Athens [mp3]
other Ibilisi Takedown posts at Largehearted Boy
Port O'Brien: HearYa session [mp3]
other Port O'Brien posts at Largehearted Boy
Sharon Van Etten: 2009-11-07, New York [mp3]
other Sharon Van Etten posts at Largehearted Boy
also at Largehearted Boy:
previous free and legal mp3 daily downloads
2009 Bonnaroo downloads
other music festival downloads
Try It Before You Buy It (mp3s and album streams from weekly CD releases)
weekly CD release lists
tags: music download indie mp3
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November 17, 2009
Try It Before You Buy It (November 17th, 2009 Music Releases)
Try It Before You Buy It features free and legal mp3 downloads and full album streams from this week's music releases:
The Doors: Live in New York
full album stream
Globes on Remote: The Woo Hoo Hoo
"D.T. Lipps" [mp3]
"Space Camp" [mp3]
A Grave With No Name: Mountain Debris
"Open Water" [mp3]
Continue reading "Try It Before You Buy It (November 17th, 2009 Music Releases)"
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November 17th Updates to the Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Online Music Lists
Today's additions to the list of the online best of 2009 music lists:
100 Greatest Songs of the Noughties (greatest songs)
The A.V. Club (best comedy albums)
The A.V. Club (best electronic albums)
Consequence of Sound (albums)
The Corsair (top albums)
Enormous Yes (albums)
I Am Gary Hampton (top albums)
I Taught Myself to Grow Old (best albums)
The Indecision (top songs & albums)
Jolt Country (favorite albums)
The Night Bird Calls (albums)
NME (greatest albums)
NPR Music (most important albums)
Open Room (defining songs & albums)
Ragged Words (top albums)
Rock n' Rolly (top albums)
Skip to the End (best albums)
Songs from the Id (top albums)
Strangeluv Music and Film (best albums)
also at Largehearted Boy:
other daily updates to the list
Online Best of 2009 Music Lists
Online Best of the Decade (2000-2009) Music Lists
Online Best of 2009 Book Lists
2008 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2007 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
2006 Online "Best Of" Music Lists
Online "Best Books of 2008" Lists
other lists at Largehearted Boy
Daily Downloads (free & legal mp3 downloads)
Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
musician/author interviews
tags: music cd list lists indie 2000s albums
Posted by david | permalink | post to del.icio.us
Book Notes - David Henry Sterry ("Hos, Hookers, Call Girls & Rent Boys")
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Hos, Hookers, Call Girls & Rent Boys collects stories, poems, and essays by sex workers. Compiled by David Henry Sterry and RJ Martin, Jr., the book organizes this collection of refreshingly genuine and brutally honest writings by category (love, life, money, etc.).
The New York Times wrote of the book:
"From the unappealing title, you might think this is a truly trashy paperback. Far from it: it’s an eye-opening, occasionally astonishing, brutally honest and frequently funny collection from those who really have lived on the edge in a parallel universe. Their writing is, in most cases, unpolished, unpretentious and riveting — but don’t worry, their tales are also graphic, politically incorrect and mostly unquotable in this newspaper."
David Henry Sterry reads tonight in New York at the Museum of Sex at 7 with Xaviera Hollander.
In his own words, here is David Henry Sterry's Book Notes music playlist for his book, Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money, and Sex:
Hos, Hookers, Call Girls & Rent Boys took me six years to write. Which is odd when you consider I didn't actually write it. It's an anthology I put together with my partner in crime RJ Martin, Jr. They are 71 writers in this book, and the only thing they all have in common is that they made money in the sex business. They are from the creamy top and shitty bottom of the economic food chain, and everywhere in between. $2500 an hour escorts, $100 rent boys, and $10 crack hos are bedfellows in our book. Trust me, it's just as strange as it sounds to wrangle 71 industrial sex technicians. A bit like herding cats in heat. With many of the same drawbacks and benefits. Ironically, this book full of hos was an act of pure love. After we paid everyone, we actually lost money. And it was such a stupidly difficult book to put together. We were inundated with submissions from industrial sex technicians all over the world. From Xavier Hollander, the happy hooker; to Dr. Annie Sprinkle, Post Modernists Porn Priestess; to Georgina Spelvin, legendary star of the greatest movie with sex in it ever made, the Devil in Miss Jones. And lots of work-a-day, meat and potatoes, working stiffs. Frankly, most of the writing was atrocious. Actually, that was the only other thing these people have to have in common. Their writing had to be good. But a big huge chunk of it came in handwritten scrawls. We had to transcribe and edit all that. Add the fact that it took us years of constant failure and rejection, from huge publishing houses, C-list agents, university presses, publishing houses that specialize in exactly this kind of book, even publishers so small that when you call them, someone picks up the phone and says, "Hello, this is Joe's Publishing, I'm Joe, talk to me." This book changed my life profoundly, from Hollywood calling, to prostitution abolitionists and decriminalizationists both calling for my head on a pike. But while I was making it, I often felt like Sisyphus, pushing that big huge rock up that big huge mountain for what seemed like eternity. Agony, ecstasy, exhilaration, exhaustipation, and finally a sense of intense satisfaction. And with me every step of the way was the thing that has always soothed my savage beast: music. These are songs I turned to a lot when I put this together. I also accumulated a long list of songs about industrial sex technicians, which I'm including.
1. "Just a Gigolo/I. Ain't Got Nobody," Louis Prima
People forget what a musical genius Louis Prima was. Yes, of course he had that big huge voice and personality, he was in some ways a buffoon, in the best sense, lovable and over the top. But it was he who put these two songs together. And in doing so he captured something of the essence of what it's like to be in the sex business. It has a huge beat, it's boisterous and it’s massive amounts of fun. There's that wild call’n’response section at the end, where Louis seems to be having so much fun improvising that he actually runs out of breath. But underneath is a terrible melancholy. There will come a day, when youth will pass away, what will they say about me? When the end comes I know, they'll say just a gigolo, life goes on without me. Cuz I ain't got nobody. Having lived for so long with all the stories sex workers sent me, a theme seemed to run through the whole thing. Yes, you often have a crazy, fun loving posse, but there is a feeling of not fitting into the world. Of not having anyone. Or rather, there's a good chance the people you do have may well be gone tomorrow, or are only there because of the money you can generate from them, or the sex they want from you. So many people have secret lives. But when you are an industrial sex technician, it is accentuated, the tension tightened, the stakes higher. I always felt like I was too straight for the freaks, and too freaky for the straights. This dichotomy of dark and light is brilliantly captured in this song. Plus it's great to both sing along to, and dance to. Btw, I think the David Lee Roth version sucks. It has absolutely no soul, and none of the sweet melancholy I'm talking about.
2. "Louise," by Paul Siebel
This is a haunting song about a sex working woman who gets killed. It's terribly sad and poignant. Louise rode home on the mail train, somewhere to the south I heard them say. Too bad it ended so ugly. Too bad she had to go that way. But the wind is blowing cold tonight. So goodnight, Louise, goodnight. There's so much violence in the world of sex 4 $. In our anthology is a beautiful piece by Dr. Annie Sprinkles about a vigil she started to honor those killed by the Green River Killer, who said he murdered so many prostitutes because he knew he could get away with it, that no one would care. When I myself was in that world I fell madly in love with a woman/child named Jade. I was insanely in love with her. She was either 15 or 40, depending upon when you looked at her. She was a very very high end teenage call girl. We had the same employment counselor/pimp: Sunny. I myself was slightly untethered from reality at this point in my life, and I used to have these crazy fantasies of us getting out of Hollywood and moving to the Galapagos Islands or somewhere and making beautiful little biracial babies together. One day I got a call from Sunny. Jade was dead. Killed at the hands of the trick. There two versions of this song that I love. They're very different. One is by Bonnie Raitt. Early Bonnie Raitt, so it's very stripped down and not slickly produced. The other is by Leo Kottke, that 12 string madman virtuoso, with that heavy heavy baritone. And an exquisite slide guitar solo that just hugs at the strings of my heart, which is usually at that point on my sleeve.
3. "Sex Machine," by the hardest working man in show business, James Brown.
Plowing through all those stories, I frequently fatigued. This song always makes my drawing click save go to sleep glands squirt. This track drips testosterone. The guitar hook, the beat, the funk, it's all so good. Plus, when I used to be in the Life myself, I thought of myself when I was on the Job as a machine. A sex machine.
4. "Cocaine," by Rev. Gary Davis
The recording I have was done when the good Rev. was about 150 years old, so he has this amazing old bluesman rasp, and his incredible finger picking style is very percussive but also has a lilting melodious quality to it. There's so many drugs in this book. I was a cocaine addict. It wasn't nearly as much fun as it sounds. I haven't had any cocaine about 10 years. Not that I wouldn't, if you were sitting here and you offered it to me. I just don't go out of my way to look for it anymore. But this song, and the raw quality of the recording, always helped me get back in touch with the dragon that must be fed, the monkey clinging to the back, the 600 pound gorilla in the room of every addict.
5. "Lady Marmalade," written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan
I happen to enjoy both versions, the original Patti LaBelle (produced by New Orleans legends Allen Toussaint), and Christina Aguilera, Lil' Kim, Mya & Pink, from the Moulin Rouge Boz Lerman soundtrack. Depending if I'm feeling modern or old school. "Voulez-vous couchez avec moi, ce soir?” For those of you who don't speak French, the loose translation is: Do you want to f*ck me tonight? What could be more appropriate for a whole book about the intersection of f**king and money. Sexy, fierce, majestic, and throbbing with pussy power, this song just puts a smile on my face, my body starts dancing, and it shakes my brain free.
6. "Walk on the Wild Side" by Lou Reed
That double bass lines which dominate this song feel so slinky and sexual and subversive, no matter how many times I hear it. And that hardcore yet effortless singsongy thing that Lou Reed does feels so much like the underground world of sex 4 $. And of course that absolutely prescient, transcendent line: But she never lost her head, even when she was giving head. Words to live by for anyone, but especially for industrial sex technicians.
7. "YMCA," written by Jacques Morali, Victor Willis, Henri Belolo, and made famous of course by the one, the only Village People.
There are lots of rent boys and male hustlers in this book, and this song and its campiness, plus it's cockeyed optimism and sense of funfunfun made it a constant companion throughout the writing of this book. And it's actually mentioned in one of my favorite stories in the book by fantastic writer, Perry Brass.
Here are the songs about sex workers I’ve accumulated over the years.
TOP 25
"Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody," Louis Prima
"Love for Sale," Noel Coward & Billie Holiday
"Louise," Bonnie Raitt/Leo Kottke
"Christmas Card from a Hooker," Tom Waits
"Walk On the Wild Side," Lou Reed
"Lola," The Kinks
"Ten Cents a Dance," Ruth Etting
"Gotta Get a Gimmick" from Gypsy
"Lady Marmalade," Patti Labelle
"I’m a Mighty Tight Woman," Sippie Wallace
"Tecumseh Valley," Patty Griffin
"Dance Hall Girls," Candye Kane
"Cracked Actor," David Bowie
"Private Dancer," Tina Turner
"Call Me," Blondie
"She Works Hard for the Money," Donna Summer
"St. Teresa," Joan Osborne
"Money Talk," Pretenders
"Darling Nikki," Prince
"Streetwalking Blues," Memphis Minnie
"House of the Rising Sun," Animals
"She Want to Sell my Monkey," Tampa Red
"Hustlin Blues," Ma Rainey
"Red House," Jimi Hendrix
"Roxanne," Police
THE REST
"Hustlin Woman Blues," Memphis Minnie
"The Whores Hustle and the Hustlers Whore," PJ Harvey
"Prettiest Whore," East River Pipe
"Skin Deep," The Stranglers
"She Sells Sanctuary," The Cult
"Sell Your Love," Iggy Pop
"Down on the Street & Little Doll," the Stooges
"Take it off The E-String," Put It on The G-String
"Acapulco Goldie," Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
"Make That Money," Robi Rob's Club World
"Angel is a Centerfold," J.Geils Band
"Women got my Money," Rusted Root
"Fancy," by Bobbie Gentry
"No Diggity," Black Street
"Take It Off," The Andrew Sisters
"Chelsea Girls," Velvet Underground
"La Grange," ZZ Top
"Ladies," Jethro Tull
"Back Street Girl," Led Zeppelin
"You Got to Give Me Some of it," Buddy Moss.
"That Stuff you Sell Aint No Good," Walter Davis.
"Eight Hour Woman," Edith Johnson
"Tricks Ain’t Walkin’ No More," Lucille Bogan
"Down in the Alley," Memphis Minnie
"Good Girl Blues," Memphis Minnie
"You Can’t Give it Away," Memphis Minnie
"Girls, Girls, Girls," by Motley Crue
"Teenage Prostitute," Frank Zappa
"I'm Your Late Night Evening Prostitute," Tom Waits
"Femme Fatale," Velvet Underground
"S&M Airlines," NOFX
"Sweet Painted Lady," Elton John & Bernie Taupin
"Ballad of Chasey Lane," The Bloodhound Gang
"Bad Girls," Donna Summer
"High School Hooker," Forgotten Rebels
"He's a Whore," Cheap Trick
"Teenage Whore," Hole
"53rd and 3rd," the Ramones
"Hustler," Boss Hog
"Jennifer Jason Leigh," J Church
"Pasties and a G-string," Tom Waits
"Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves," Cher
"Jennie Lee," Jan and Dean
"When the Sun Goes Down," Arctic Monkeys
"What Do You Do For Money Honey?," AC/DC
"Pro Girl," Janis Ian
"Mexican Blackbird," ZZ Top
"Lady Of The Night," Isaac Hayes
"P.I.M.P. The S.I.M.P," Rick James
"Cosmic Slop," Funkadelic
"Flores Nocturnas," Silvio Rodríguez
"Trash A-Go-Go," Funkadelic,
"Perfect Gentleman," Wyclef Jean
"Best Little Whore House," Dolly Parton
"Barcelona," Sinceros
"Whores," Jane’s Addiction
"Prostitute Flange," Lil Wayne
"Jezebel," Sade
"Hooker," Pink
"The Love I Fake," Chris Robley
"He’s a Whore," Cheap Trick
"Midnight Caller," Badfinger
"Wild Thing," Tone Loc
"XXX," Helium
"Concrete Angels," Martina McBride
"You’Z a Ho," Ludacris
"Strutter," KISS
"Fancy," Bobbi Gentry
"Taylor," Jack Johnson
David Henry Sterry and Hos, Hookers, Call Girls, and Rent Boys: Professionals Writing on Life, Love, Money, and Sex links:
the author's website
the author's Wikipedia entry
the book's website
Bust review
California Literary Review review
New York Times review
New York Press review
Publishers Weekly
The Rumpus review
Scribes Sounding Off review
Tiger Beatdown review
Whore Madonna review
Express Night Out interview with the author
Lee Bob Black interview with contributor Melissa Petro
San Francisco Chronicle interview with the author
Tonic interview with contributor Candye Kane
also at Largehearted Boy:
other Book Notes submissions (authors create playlists for their book)
online "best of 2009" book lists
online "best of 2009" music lists
best of the decade (2000-2009) online music lists
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
guest book reviews
musician/author interviews
52 Books, 52 Weeks
tags: books music literature non-fiction
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