Terry Gordy vs. The Missing Link

Terry Gordy gears up to wallop the Missing Link but good! Did this match happen in World Class or in the UWF? Inquiring minds would like to know!

Movie Review: 1990: The Bronx Warriors

DIRECTOR: Enzo G. Castellari. CAST: Stefania Girolami, Mark Gregory, Vic Morrow, Christopher Connelly, Fred Williamson, Elisabetta Dessy, Rocco Lero, George Eastman, Carla Brait, John Loffredo, Enio Girolami, Enzo G. Castellari.
This Italian knockoff of The Warriors and Escape from New York is quite amusing at times, although whether it is intentional or not is up for debate. 1990 sees the Bronx devoid of any police presence and taken over by an arms manufacturer who buys up all of the property. Gangs run the streets with no interference. That changes when the Manhattan Corporation’s sole heir—a guilt-ridden debutante—runs away, hiding in the Bronx and joining up with the area’s toughest biker gang. Vic Morrow is the crazed mercenary hired to retrieve her, as the Manhattan Corporation expects her to inherit the CEO position and serve as a corporate puppet. This empty-headed epic becomes watchable with Morrow and Fred Williamson’s presence, as well as its use of locations and the fashionable gang members. Otherwise, it is notable for being Morrow’s final role before his untimely death during the filming of The Twilight Zone.

20 Years Ago Today at the Stork Club

ASUNDER guitarist Seth Baker and EXITWOUND vocalist Melanie Chevarria tied the knot and threw one helluva a show for their wedding reception. LIKE FLIES ON FLESH came back and ruled it again! I believe this was one of ASUNDER's first shows, if not their very first. How many of you have a copy of the ASUNDER/LIKE FLIES ON FLESH split LP? EXITWOUND called it quits shortly after this show because their drummer Ross was due to move to Belgium, in which he would form SKEW WHIFF with ex-members of HIATUS and UNHINGED. They would return a couple years later with new drummer Jon Stanley. I still can't believe a show this good took place at the fucking Stork Club.

Crate Digger

Microcosm Publishing, 2015

We’re not supposed to have role models in punk rock, but there are always going to be those whose commitment to the ‘core serves as an inspiration to others. Bob Suren was one of those figures for me. He fronted the Florida hardcore band Failure Face during the ‘90s—their All Pain, No Gain EP is one of my favorites of the decade. Bob also ran the Sound Idea record store and mailorder distributor for over ten years. Sound Idea was more than a mere record store; it served a small community and music scene. Bob kept his prices as low as possible because outrageous music should be affordable to those who would benefit from hearing it the most. Places like Sound Idea are vital in unlikely locales like Brandon, Florida. I have known more than a couple people whose lives changed for the better thanks to time spent under Bob’s tutelage at Sound Idea. Personally, I think it is a crime that there is not a Sound Idea or a 924 Gilman Street in every small town across America.

Bob Suren with copies of Burn Brandon zine.

Crate Digger is the story of Bob Suren’s 30-year punk rock love affair. Each anecdote centers on a specific record, from the obvious to the obscure. We all have stories of what we were doing the first time a new band opened another door to a new, exciting world. Bob tells his fair share here. I particularly enjoyed the stories about being a young small-town kid getting into punk in the early ‘80s. That was back when zines like MaximumRocknRoll were your primary information sources, the internet didn’t exist to tell you that Minor Threat broke up six months ago, and dinosaurs roamed the earth gobbling up young punk rockers at will. Punks were making it up as they went, giving themselves wacky nicknames like “the Reverend Mike Fucking Anarchy” and hoping that the local police didn’t shut down the show before the touring headliner showed up.

Bob’s interest in punk increases with each new addition to a growing record collection,

Sound Idea Records, the hub of punk rock activity
in Brandon, FL.

becoming an obsession. His obsession leads him to playing in his own bands, starting a record label, and opening Sound Idea. While getting the store ready for the public, Bob goes to the hardware store across the street for supplies and meets his future wife. Things are awesome for a long time, as Bob lives the life of a record store owner, band vocalist, and show promoter.

However, there is the other side that Bob slowly begins to neglect after some time. I’m talking about the life that is lived when the store closes or the show is over for the night. Bob’s punk rock obsession costs him what matters most—his marriage. She breaks up with him the day before a particular record arrives in the mail; an old ’77-era punk single that had eluded Bob for 20 years. This

“The first VKTMS record is the last record I’ll ever own.”

moment puts 43-year-old Bob Suren’s life in its proper perspective. Collecting thousands of punk records had been the love of his life when his wife should have been instead. Bob proceeds to sell off his entire record collection, which was easily worth six figures and very likely not sold for its maximum value. Crate Digger ends with Bob starting over in a new town, broken but still hoping for the best.

Crate Digger’s story is fun, but also a heavy reminder of what happens when the hobby becomes all-consuming. I had been coming to realizations of a similar nature when I met Bob Suren briefly at a reading in Berkeley several years ago. Bob was a nice guy and even invited me to join him and friends for dinner afterward, but I had to respectfully decline. Too many emotions were running through my head as I thought about his stories and relating them to my own life. I didn’t want them to spill out at the dinner table that I was too broke to sit at anyway. I too had placed more importance on the wrong things and cost myself a lot in the process. I walked the long way back that night with a lot on my mind. Crate Digger affects me the most personally out of all the books on punk.

Movie Review: Cape Fear (1962)

DIRECTOR: J. Lee Thompson. CAST: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin, Martin Balsam, Jack Kruschen, Telly Savalas, Barrie Chase, Paul Comi.
This dark Hitchcockian masterpiece is one of my favorite suspense thrillers and it has never gotten old. Gregory Peck is Sam Bowden, a family man stalked by a relic of his past—a convicted rapist sent to jail by his testimony. Robert Mitchum is Max Cady, the crafty ex-con using the law to his advantage. Stalking laws did not exist back then, so nothing Cady does to torment the Bowden family is actually illegal. Sam is a lawyer, but will have to find other ways to manipulate the law and fight back when it becomes apparent what Cady has in mind for Bowden’s wife and teenage daughter. Mitchum is fantastic here; he doesn’t need a bunch of tattoos and profanities to come across as a bad, bad man. His stare is menacing enough. Max Cady is not a man selling wolf tickets. Cape Fear utilizes the psychological approach of not showing or discussing the actual act of rape. Film censor boards in 1962 would not have allowed that to happen, but it is still obvious what is going on here. Cape Fear’s strength is not in what it says, but what is implied.

Movie Review: Hot Potato (1976)

DIRECTOR: Oscar Williams. CAST: Jim Kelly, George Memmoli, Geoffrey Benney, Irene Tsu, Judith Brown, Sam Hiona, Ron Prince, Hardy Stockmann, Metta Rungrat, Supakorn Sunssermvorakul, Somchai Meekunsut, Veerapol Pitavan, Puchong Makaraj, Yuen Biao.
This follow-up to Black Belt Jones bears no resemblance to the original; I imagine it was a marketing decision made after the film was already completed. Jones (no Black Belt) travels to an undisclosed Asian country in search of a senator’s daughter held for ransom. Jim Kelly kicks some ass in scenic locations, but it is not enough to be worth the price of admission. Out-of-place comic relief renders Hot Potato more appropriate for the Saturday afternoon kid’s matinee set. This movie is less than an hour and a half, yet its poor pacing makes it feel twice as long.
AKA Twist the Tiger’s Tail.

Elvira Meets Jesse "The Body" Ventura

Elvira and Jesse “The Body” Ventura prepare to call the action at WrestleMania II! Did anybody else want to see Elvira as a horror-themed valet?