July 2007

Please Stand By

Note: In mid-July, when all City Pages blogs transferred to new addresses and new software, much of this blog's archives were taken offline, and nearly all links to specific pages were broken.* The web folks at City Pages and Village Voice Media LLC are working to fix the problem as soon as possible, reinstating old links and pages. Thank you for your patience. (Updates in bold.)

*Examples of links we hope to restore soon:

At the moment, in the "new blog" (i.e., any entries dated September 27, 2005 and later, i.e. after the switch to Moveable Type), anyone who links to this original post...

FIXED: http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2006/06/something_about.asp

...is now taken to this link...

http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2006/06/

...while the original link has been renamed/re-addressed as this link, without any forwarding from one to the other:

FIXED: http://mt.laweekly.com/min/pscholtes/2006/06/something_about_that_song_haun.php

The post-September/2005 blog is also missing the enlarged versions of photos, such as the one you should get when you click on the photo of Bernard "Short Lunch" Walker here:

http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2007/07/bernard_walker_short_lunch_rip.php

In the "old blog," meanwhile (including all entries dated September 20, 2005 and earlier, and beginning in April, 2003), a number of "draft" blog entries have been published as real ones, and I'll be deleting these over the next couple weeks. If you visit the month of May of 2005, for example, you'll find a number of placeholder headlines with blank photos:

http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2004/05/

FIXED: Other months, such as August, 2004, appear to be missing altogether. At the moment, the addresses for the blog entry also known as the TC Old-School Hip Hop Page, posted August 17, 2004 (in Babelogue and Moveable Type), take you nowhere:

http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/pscholtes/2004/08/17
http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/2004/08/17/

Similarly, all "story" pages have disappeared (all after 2004 or so), such as the four pages of Jamaican music links that started here:

http://blogs.citypages.com/pscholtes/stories/013284.asp

If any of the above links don't open new windows, this problem, too, is being fixed.

UPDATE: Now it appears you can look at the TC Old School Hip Hop page, by looking at the entire month of August 2004, but it's messed up, appearing in all bold, along with all the "story" pages it once linked to. In many of these the photos are gone. Also, the photos are cropped, something I hoped to fix gradually, and might not be able to now.

FIXED: You'll also notice the following words now above most entries: "Filed under: Imported" or "File under: Stories." These designations are meaningless to readers, and we hope to get rid of them.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at July 30, 2007 6:24 PM | Comments (1)

The Police, the Dutchman, Lou Pearlman, the Church

(Click photo for larger image, by Tony Nelson, accompanying this review.)

(The Dutchman at camp--see this article.)

Recently posted elsewhere:

www.myspace.com/tcallagesclubs is my new MySpace page for all-ages music clubs in Minnesota and other states, Zinefest this weekend in Minneapolis (CPCulture.com 7/13/07), Gallery: The Police serve a nostalgic Xcel crowd (Citypages.com 7/11/07), I want it that way: Did the creator of the Backstreet Boys take a local bank for $28 mil? (City Pages 7/11/07), Local vets advocate wheels across America (7/9/07), "breaking" the Prince afterparty news, after a call from Matos (CPCulture.com 7/5/07)--here's Rhena and Nick on the line outside First Avenue, more here, and Sarah on the event and perfume

Oak Street Cinema closing "for the summer" (CPCulture.com 7/5/07), Sarah White leaves Black Blondie, moves to Brooklyn--story later picked up by Reimenschneider (CPCulture.com 6/29/07), Where the Ladies at? The battles and breaks behind the first female hip-hop festival (City Pages 6/27/07), complete B-Girl Be links (Complicated Fun 6/28/07), News Briefs: A "Church" funeral: The fabled underground venue stages a last hurrah (City Pages 6/20/07), Last show at the Church (CPCulture.com 6/15/07), Paul Lundgren on MN Music blogs (CPCulture 6/15/07), previoius roundup.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at July 13, 2007 6:35 PM | Comments (0)

ATOY: '80s punk band reunites

A Madison friend's band is reuniting in Minneapolis after 20-plus years for some off-the-radar shows this weekend. Here's the email, with a few details added in brackets: "Minneapolis, MN- July 9, 2007- ATOY (A Testament of Youth) has reformed as a band [click their name for music] and kicks off a Summer tour on Friday, July 13 at Wain McFarlane's Sight and Sound [Art] Gallery [501 First Avenue Northeast, in McFarlane's Sound Construction studio; the lead singer of ATOY will display his art starting at 7:00 p.m.; band goes on around 8:00 p.m. They also play Saturday, July 14 at Stasiu's Place; 2500 University Avenue NE, Minneapolis; 612.788.2529].

"A staple on the Midwest club circuit in the early 80's, ATOY's volatile mix of styles, influences, and personalities established the band as a favorite live act among the indie crowd and the darling bud of many music insiders. Since disbanding in 1983, the band played reunion shows in Des Moines and Minneapolis two years ago, gaining the support to re-assemble.

"The four members of the band (Brad Roth/vocals, Mark Penner/bass, Greg Owen/guitar, Lonnie Urich/drums) reside in Des Moines, Minneapolis, and Madison. Current bookings include those markets as well as Omaha. Known for their electric live performances, Des Moines Cityview paper described them as "They're artier than most hard rock bands and rock harder than most arty bands".

"Friday's showcase starts at 7PM with a mingle, meet, and greet with the band. The band performs at 8PM. Sight and Sound is located at 501 1st Avenue NE in Minneapolis.

"The band follows up with a performance on Saturday, July 15 at Stasiu's (2500 University Avenue NE, Minneapolis) at 9PM. Additionally, ATOY performs at Des Moines House of Bricks on July 2O and with Minneapolis band The Slats at Des Moines Vaudeville Mews on August 31." More discussion and reviews here.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at July 9, 2007 3:39 PM | Comments (0)

Bernard Walker ("Short Lunch"), R.I.P.

I've just heard that Bernard Walker, better known as Short Lunch, has passed away in Texas. Walker (click the above photo for a larger version) was a Minneapolis/St. Paul hip-hop pioneer who appeared on the cover of City Pages on August 18, 2004. Taken by the late Charles Chamblis in the early '80s, the cover photo made Short Lunch the perfect icon for our oral history of Minnesota old-school hip hop: "One Nation, Invisible" (more here).

But Walker appeared that week unidentified: The original photo, which is archived at the Minnesota Historical Society, carries no caption. So it was left to the man's children to spot their father on the cover of City Pages and contact us themselves, eventually putting us in touch with Walker himself. It turned out he was one of the Twin Cities' first rapping DJs: Read his story here (with a little more here) to learn where local rap began. I only spoke to Walker a few times on the phone, but he seemed like a good man, and he died too young. Our condolences to his family, including his daughters and sons Prechezz, Talon, Bernard, Timiko, Orion, Aria, Nekesha, Jasmine, Ajja, Janhi, and Lasheese. We'll pass along any news we get of funeral arrangements in St. Paul or elsewhere, here and at cpculture.com.

UPDATE 7/10: Bernard Walker, 49, died of natural causes. His funeral will be held Thursday, July 12, at 11:00 a.m., at Bradshaw Funeral Home, 1078 Rice St. St. Paul. A memorial fund has been set up to help pay for the funeral ("He passed away with nothing," says his son, rapper Showni Mac, a.k.a. Bernard Shaw): Donations can be sent to U.S. Bank, Grand Avenue Office, EP-MN-0210, 1071 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55105, Account number 104-777-122-177.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at July 3, 2007 6:09 PM | Comments (1)

Farewell from Sarah White

Below is an email from local hip-hop/R&B artist Sarah White, whom I interviewed at Culture to Go last week about her recent departure from Black Blondie and imminent relocation to New York City:

Hey Peter,

I just wanted to make sure to clarify in writing a couple of things (whether you do the article or not) because it was a little hard to think on a 3 min break at work via phone.

A. I have no beef with Black Blondie. They are what they are and will be what they will be. Tons of talent in that band. My leaving is for my personal growth as an artist and musician. I feel like I've gotten SO much out of Minneapolis and my fans that come along with this splendid city, but i need to reach out my "tentacles" (for lack of a better word) and connect and network with others to progress. I fuckin LOVE the support and creativity that lives in this city. I will be back...eventually

B. I will still be working with some of my favorites up and comers in Minneapolis from the east coast. Some of the collabs I'm currently working on are with Maria Isa, Aby Wolf (previously with Omaur Bliss--fucking amazing check her out on my top friends on myspace), Manifest, Desdamona, etc. I'm looking to hook up with some fresh recording studios, labels, etc in NY right when I get there so I can get out a full length but if not, I will put out an EP on my own this winter.. Jan/feb 2008 I'm guessing. And yes, me and Rico Mendez aka DJ Don Cuco are doing it all from our home as of now...no money once you pop out a baby...gotta pinch those pennies.

C. Other favorite memories from Minneapolis include: Heavy winds at the first hiphop and Harmony Playing Dre Day 2007..shit, playing any show at the Triple Rock lets get electric dance parties Bgirlbe Old Loring Pasta Bar parties ...and all the house parties I got a little to crunk at.

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at July 2, 2007 3:24 PM | Comments (0)

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