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The latest articles on PleaseKillMe.com – music, art, culture, fashion, poetry and movies from the 60s through today. This Is What’s Cool!

THE ZONE IN BETWEEN: A HIDDEN ROCK & ROLL GENRE

Ben Merlis and Daniel Weizmann·April 15, 2021

Ben Merlis and Daniel Weizmann are mad musical scientists who, while staying late one night in their lab, discovered a new musical genre. Or, rather, a hidden genre, which they call ‘1.5’. It was hidden between punk and hardcore. It’s...

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ALLAN SHERMAN: WEIRD AL’S FOUNDING ‘FADDAH’

Scott Schinder·April 14, 2021

Allan Sherman, a pudgy TV game show producer, dominated the pre-Beatles record charts with a string of hit singles and albums. His blend of post-Borscht Belt humor and pop-culture references, flavored by wit and warmth, found a ready audience in...

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WHEN HENRY MILLER MET GEORGE ORWELL: A CLASH OF TITANS

Alan Bisbort·April 13, 2021

George Orwell and Henry Miller, two of the most influential writers of the 20th century, had a single brief encounter in Paris in Dec. 1936. It has intrigued and baffled scholars and fans of both writers since. At the time,...

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RICKIE LEE JONES: THE DUCHESS OF COOLSVILLE IS BACK

Cree McCree·April 12, 2021

Rickie Lee Jones is back in the spotlight with a compelling memoir, Last Chance Texaco, and a 40th anniversary box set and tour to celebrate her landmark release Pirates, the follow-up to her 1979 debut that put her, and her...

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LAURA NYRO: THE MIRACULOUS MAGIC OF HER MUSIC

John Kruth·April 8, 2021

Though Laura Nyro’s songs are familiar to millions of people–through hit versions by Three Dog Night, the 5th Dimension and others–she herself remained in the shadows during her remarkable career as a singer, songwriter, arranger and muse. An elusive and...

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BILLIE HOLIDAY: LADY DAY’S ENDURING LEGACY

Sharon M. Hannon·April 7, 2021

Few major musical artists faced the obstacles Billie Holiday had to face, but then few can match her musical legacy. She sang, she said, the way Louis Armstrong played his horn, and she sang the only way she knew—with her...

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WAYNE KRAMER TALKS DRUGS, PRISON, MUSIC, SURVIVAL

JP Olsen·April 6, 2021

Wayne Kramer of the MC5 was sent to ‘The Narcotic Farm’ in 1975, the same federal facility—part hospital/part prison—where the likes of Ray Charles, William S. Burroughs, Chet Baker, Sam Rivers and Elvin Jones had spent time. When opened in...

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G. GORDON LIDDY: REST IN PEACE (NOT)

Legs McNeil·April 5, 2021

G. Gordon Liddy was one of the memorable characters to emerge from the Watergate scandals. A former FBI man and prosecutor—he’d made a splash raiding the upstate New York estate where Timothy Leary was conducting LSD experiments—he was hired by...

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WHEN CAN I FLY?: MICHAEL BELFER, THE SLEEPERS AND TUXEDOMOON

Richie Unterberger·April 1, 2021

Michael Belfer and his Bay Area-based bands the Sleepers and Tuxedomoon were mainstays, along with Crime, of the San Francisco punk and post-punk scenes of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Influenced by the Stooges and artier fare like Eno...

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REVEREND GARY DAVIS: I AM THE LIGHT OF THIS WORLD

John Kruth·March 31, 2021

Reverend Gary Davis (1896-1972), guitar virtuoso and folk-blues giant, moved from Durham, N.C. to New York City, where he struggled for years as a blind street singer and storefront preacher. Working at first as an instructor through Brownie McGhee’s Harlem-based...

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VIN DIESEL, ARTHUR RUSSELL AND ME

Gary Lucas·March 30, 2021

Mixmaster Arthur Russell meets wannabe rapper Mark Sinclair (aka Vin Diesel). What could possibly go wrong? That’s what Gary Lucas thought when he brought these two talents together in a recording studio. At the time, Lucas was an A&R scout...

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AUTOMNE ZINGG: THE MANY STRINGS OF HER ART

Amy Haben·March 29, 2021

Automne Zingg is an artistic force. The New York City-based visual artist creates funny, surreal, psychedelic portraits and images, but she’s also an author, publishing recipe books starring the Ramones, Nick Cave, Morrissey and others. But, first and foremost, she’s...

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HUBERT SUMLIN: HOWLIN’ WOLF’S SECRET WEAPON

Elliott Sharp·March 25, 2021

As Howlin’ Wolf’s longtime guitarist, Hubert Sumlin (1931-2011) kept to the shadows, but his sweet, subtle, sophisticated leads were the perfect foil for the big man out front. His name may not have been known in every household, but Sumlin’s...

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MARATHON LENS: PHOTOGRAPHER STEVE RAPPORT ON JOE STRUMMER, STYLE COUNCIL, LITTLE RICHARD AND MORE

Amy Haben·March 23, 2021

British photographer Steve Rapport returned to London in 1980 and played “catch up” on the exploding rock ‘n’ roll scene in the wake of the punk explosion. From that time until the mid-1990s, he was everywhere with his camera, earning...

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Jack Kerouac based his muse/lover “Mardou Fox” in The Subterraneans on Alene Lee, a mixed race (Black/Cherokee) bohemian writer and intellectual who was a part of the NYC Beat circle of Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Lucien Carr. Despite her intimate connection to these writers, the real Alene Lee is nowhere to be found in most accounts and biographies—partly due to her own reticence to speak. Erika Blair did some digging and presents a more rounded portrait of this fascinating woman. Read more!

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All Please Kill Me Posts

THE ZONE IN BETWEEN: A HIDDEN ROCK & ROLL GENRE

ALLAN SHERMAN: WEIRD AL’S FOUNDING ‘FADDAH’

WHEN HENRY MILLER MET GEORGE ORWELL: A CLASH OF TITANS

RICKIE LEE JONES: THE DUCHESS OF COOLSVILLE IS BACK

LAURA NYRO: THE MIRACULOUS MAGIC OF HER MUSIC

BILLIE HOLIDAY: LADY DAY’S ENDURING LEGACY

WAYNE KRAMER TALKS DRUGS, PRISON, MUSIC, SURVIVAL

G. GORDON LIDDY: REST IN PEACE (NOT)

WHEN CAN I FLY?: MICHAEL BELFER, THE SLEEPERS AND TUXEDOMOON

REVEREND GARY DAVIS: I AM THE LIGHT OF THIS WORLD

VIN DIESEL, ARTHUR RUSSELL AND ME

AUTOMNE ZINGG: THE MANY STRINGS OF HER ART

HUBERT SUMLIN: HOWLIN’ WOLF’S SECRET WEAPON

MARATHON LENS: PHOTOGRAPHER STEVE RAPPORT ON JOE STRUMMER, STYLE COUNCIL, LITTLE RICHARD AND MORE

ORK RECORDS: STARTING AN INDIE-ROCK REVOLUTION ONE SINGLE AT A TIME

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