Quite Possibly The Most Awesome Japanese Characters Ever

First, as a bit of backstory, about six months ago I expanded or wrote every Wikipedia article about Bon Scott-era AC/DC albums, most of the articles for those albums' songs, and even ones for Back in Black, ACDC Lane and more. I also strengthened a few other music articles, but High Voltage to Highway to Hell was my primary focus. A lot of man-hours were involved, but I like the concept of Wikipedia and felt, as a writer/editor, that I had a duty to help them out in whatever small way I could. I'm sappy like that.

Back to the present, I still patrol those pages on a fairly regular basis -- you know, make sure no jealous Brian Johnson fans are messing up the place, that sort of thing. And every now and then, I go check out other countries' AC/DC pages, just to see what they've got cooking. Tonight, I hit up Japan's page... which is why I'm now pleased to present six series of Japanese characters you can wear without fear that they say something unflattering. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you -- AC/DC, THE BON SCOTT VERSION, IN JAPANESE!!!

エーシーディーシー

ボン・スコット
アンガス・ヤング
マルコム・ヤング
クリフ・ウィリアムス
フィル・ラッド

Thank you, Tokyo! Goodnight!

Some Album Recommendations

We've been doing a lot of music downloading lately at Beat It, Nerd -- all legal, of course -- and as with all things in life, some of it was good and some of it sucked. As a result, I have some fresh album recommendations for you. And though I didn't originally mean "fresh" in the old-school rap kind of way, I just now decided that it's exactly what I mean. So here we go:


• Alice Donut: Bucketfulls of Sickness and Horror in an Otherwise Meaningless Life (1989): The sophomore release from this punk-influenced NYC band known for its noisily harmonic music and love-him-or-hate-him lead singer. Though "known" probably isn't the right word, 'cause they're not a particularly well-known band. Regardless, this album saw the Donut evolve from a novelty song-type band into a bona fide artistic force. If you like Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore, maybe even the Butthole Surfers, you'll probably enjoy this... if you can get past Thomas Antona's voice. I can, but then again I think Johnny Rotten is the greatest rock singer ever. Really. 4 out of 5 thumbs up.


• Gogol Bordello: Gypsy Punks - Underdog World Strike (2005): If you're not familiar with Gogol Bordello, they offer a fusion of traditional eastern European music, rock, dance and dub. And their lead singer/mastermind Eugene Hutz sports a ridiculously bushy mustache. That said, this isn't some kind of goofy front on the band's part; it's primarily comprised of eastern European immigrants. If you're looking for something decidedly different, you can't go wrong here. Fun album! 4 out of 5 thumbs up.



• Peter Tosh: Equal Rights (1977): Another sophomore release! I was never really into reggae -- where I come from, it's goddamn hippie music -- but have been playing around with it of late. Some of it, especially the political stuff, ain't bad. And few come more political than Tosh. He's got some crazy sounds going on with the bass and presumably synthesizers here, especially on "Stepping Razor" and his take on "Get Up, Stand Up," which rules all over the Wailers' version. We'll call it even at 4 out of 5 thumbs up.

• AC/DC: Kicked in the Teeth Again (1977) & Rarities VIII (1978): Yes, I saved the best for last. These bootleg releases -- which again, I obtained in a completely legal manner -- document live Bon Scott-era recordings in San Francisco, CA on 9/2/77 and Columbus, OH on 9/10/78, respectively. Both capture what became, for a time, the World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band, before they became that band, rocking hard enough to tear a hole in the space-time continuum. Unfortunately, Kicked suffers from bad sound quality, and Rarities appears to have been pieced together from multiple sources (including radio broadcasts), but that won't stop me from giving both of 'em 5 out of 5 thumbs up!

That's it for now. Oh, and a big "Sa-lute!" to the good people at The Far North End for a hot tip about one of these, the identity of which will remain hidden to protect the innocent. Ciao, babies.

New iTunes = HOT

Well blow me down! If you're a regular iTunes user like the staff at Beat It, Nerd, then you've probably already downloaded the latest update. If not, I'd recommend you do so immediately.

Unlike the last update, there are some big graphical upgrades with this one. For one, you don't have to manually add album art for songs that you don't buy from the iTunes Music Store -- there's a new option that will automatically find art for just about any album under the sun! Plus, there are two new "view" options; instead of just looking at an endless list of tunes, you can: a) view all songs by album, with the album art displayed to the left of each album's track listing, or b) use the new "cover browser," which puts a big window above the song tracks. In the center of this window is the album you're listening to, with the previous and next albums to the left and right, respectively. Kind of like looking at a jukebox! Sweet!

iTunes' new "grouped by album" view -- click it for a larger image!

The "jukebox" view -- click this one for a bigger version, too!

And no, Apple didn't pay me for this post. I wish. Those who know where I work know I could use the money.

UPDATE: Sweet! The iPod-interface features are super-upgraded, too! Bon scottetite!

Stabbed For WHAT?!?

Sweet mother of christ, what kind of animals would do such a thing?! It's insanity! Look, even Angus is crying about it, and he's not the type of guy who cries easily.

A teenager who was stabbed in the eye during her school lunch break said a "gang mentality" singled out pupils for their music and fashion tastes.

[...]

"Somebody asked me on the first day what kind of music I listened to, so I said AC/DC."

She said that, as a result of this, she was told she was a "metaler" and found herself being shunned by other classmates.

This never would've happened under Bon Scott's watch. Everyone loved AC/DC back then. Everyone!

Interesting Numbers

Morning kids. Have you ever checked out the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) website? There's some interesting data available there. For example, I just found out that only 22 music groups/solo artists are in the "50 Mil" club -- meaning, have sold more than 50 million units in the U.S. (I'm sure the number goes up worldwide, but I didn't find that chart yet).

You can find the whole list of top U.S. artists here. Strange stuff, no? Nice to see my boys Pink Floyd and AC/DC representing in the Top 10, but I didn't realize they were both bigger sellers than the Rolling Stones at #11. Other highlights:

• U2 and Kenny Rogers have the exact same levels of consumer appeal. Take that, Bono!

• Why is Michael Jackson ever referred to by his self-appointed "King of Pop" title when Billy Joel and Elton John also sing pop and have sold more records than him?

• How is it that Garth Brooks outsells George Strait by a 2-to-1 margin, and how is he the #3 best-selling artist of all time? And why hasn't Johnny Cash outsold them both combined? What the hell is wrong with you mainstream country fans?

Also of note are groups that didn't make the chart at all, especially considering that the cut-off is 10.5 million albums. You're telling me there aren't at least 10.5 million Americans (in a country of nearly 290 million) who have bought at least one Ramones album in the past 30 years? Preposterous!

Open Letter To Angus & Malcolm Young

Dear Los Bros. Young:

As you may or may not have noticed, it’s now mid-August 2006. Why is this significant? Because you’d promised a new album this year, and guess what? The year’s almost over, and you haven’t even so much as stepped foot in a studio. Which makes me think that you might have what the French call “ze cold feet.”

Back in their Bon Scott days, AC/DC played a show so loudly that 17 audience members' heads exploded in the first 20 minutes. Fortunately, all 17 casualties turned out to be evil shapeshifting aliens, marking the first of many times the world was saved by this remarkable band.

Not that I can blame you. Don’t get me wrong: you’ve put out some of the best damn albums in the history of rock ‘n’ roll. I mean, you guys even beat the infamous Three-Good-Records-Tops Curse that seems to strike 99% of all bands. T.N.T., Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Let There Be Rock, Powerage, Highway to Hell. Pure gold, every one of them. Even that first Brian Johnson album, what do you call it, Back in Black. Not your best work by any means, but listenable.

But then, well. Each successive release just got worse and worse, didn't it? Culminating with the steaming pile of crap that was 2000’s Stiff Upper Lip. Why? I put the blame squarely on Brian Johnson’s shoulders. Just look at him! His limited vocal range and asinine song writing are bad enough, but what really puts the stripe on the skunk is that stupid, ever-present, Fred Sanford-style cap. Frankly, if he were my lead singer I’d have cold feet about going back into the studio, too.

Brian Johnson is so fucking stupid that he once showed up to sing at a Guns N' Roses concert by mistake. Needless to say, he was resoundingly booed off the stage.

After hearing all that you’re probably thinking, “Why does he even care if we go back into the studio? He clearly hates everything we’ve done in the past 25 years anyhow.” Guilty as charged. But every now and then, some old, washed-up band that hasn’t had a decent album in ages finds a way to reach deep inside the flabby modern incarnations of themselves and pull out the inner screaming demon of rock ‘n’ roll that made them great to begin with. Personally, I think you can be one of those bands, and I’d love to hear the results.

That said, don’t even bother if you plan on bringing Johnson into the studio with you. He’s a bloated, talentless lamprey sucking off your shark-esque twin guitar power, and hasn’t even written any lyrics since ‘88’s Blow Up Your Video. No. Best thing to do is fire his lame ass, then either hire a hungry young new singer/songwriter, or -- and I’m sure I don’t need to point out the genius in this move -- bring in former Sex Pistols frontman Johnny Rotten. Eh? No less than 12 major world cities would be in flames within hours of that announcement, lads. Think about it.

I guess that's it. Oh, and if maybe we could hang out some time, you know, and maybe you could show me some hot guitar licks, whatever, that would be pretty sweet. But, you know, I’m not expecting it or anything. No pressure.

Your fan,
Shelton