The Machine's Pump | Brave Combo

The Machine’s Pump Volume 22 – #11 – November 2019

Sometime in August, about four months ago, Texas was really hot. I was concerned about our AC at home. It shouldn’t still be working so well. We thought we might have to replace it years ago, but it just keeps on doing its thing. Anyway, Christmas Holiday music seemed a long way off. Polka season hadn’t even happened yet. Slowly, but surely, though, time marched on. The days got shorter and by October the temperatures began dropping dramatically. Not much Autumn in Denton this year. September was stupidly warm, then, suddenly, it was cold. Then everyone was anticipating Halloween and once that happened, the flood gates opened. Halloween equals Thanksgiving equals Christmas equals New Year’s Eve. Bam, Bam, Bam, Bam! Everyone’s all revved-up now, ready to travel in bad weather and spend, spend, spend. An unseen force has taken control and is moving us along. I find this phenomenon both curiously entertaining and curiously annoying. No one can really escape being involved to some degree. Our poor little town is bursting at the seams and it appears Dentonites are hitting the stores in record numbers this year. Why not? We have Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Best Buy, Kohl’s, Rooms-To-Go, Party City, Macy’s, Guitar Center. You name it, we’ve got it. Just like you, wherever you are. We even have our token struggling mall and two different theaters where you can eat a full meal during the movie, just like watching TV at home, without the luxury of being able to pause it. This town is full of stuff, ready for the masses to buy and take home. And the masses in Denton number about 10,000 more people than were here in 2018. Whatever, during this “most wonderful time of year,” stuff is definitely king. New things in boxes give us a thrill. We simply LOVE boxes with stuff in ‘em. The problem is that we sorta do this all year long. Most of us, if we can afford it, treat ourselves every day to special things. According to reruns of the old TV show, THE RIFLEMAN, back in the wild west days, for Christmas, you might only get an orange. I know, I know. This isn’t a new observation. People have been trying to get back to “the real meaning of Christmas” and away from over-commercialization since I was a little kid. But, apparently, a healthy economy depends on all of us spending extravagantly as much as possible. I mean, would things fall apart if we didn’t buy tons of new crap constantly and then, at the end of each year, go consumer berserk? It doesn’t matter. I’m just thinking out loud. Nothing can change, so it’s hardly worth pondering. And besides, the holiday season has been very good for Brave Combo over the years. It has added about 30 songs to our permanent repertoire. Bob Dylan even covered one of our arrangements (“Must Be Santa”) for his Christmas album a few years ago. We did a whole tour of Japan in support of our album, IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN, a year before we even released it in the USA. Did you know Japan goes Christmas bonkers, too? Maybe even more so. But Jesus isn’t really part of the festivities. Love hotels are, though. Anyway, I’m always thinking about how to improve something or make it more efficient or, perhaps, even more meaningful. It really bugs most people around me that I’m constantly unsettled. From my point of view, there’s always something different around the corner, waiting to be discovered, created or fixed. The world is forever new. Merry Christmas!

Speaking of now, Brave Combo has some super-duper shows coming up. The Holiday Funhouse is waiting for you! On Friday, December 6, we return to Andy’s, in Denton, for our annual hometown bash. On Saturday, December 7, we’ll be at Poor David’s Pub, in Dallas, for our annual North Texas bash. On Friday, December 13, we are really excited to bring the funhouse to Knucklehead’s, in Kansas City. Our good friend, Mike Dillon, will be joining us for this show. If you live within 100 miles of KC, you must attend this event! On Saturday, December 14, it’s the ultimate Christmas happening, at mighty FitzGerald’s, in Berwyn (Chicago), Illinois. Another good friend, Danny Jerabek, will be on stage with us, playing some excellent notes! And on Sunday, December 15, it’s matinee party time at the Zoo Bar, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Get off your butt and come out and party with us. You can sing along with everything! “O, Holy Night (Cha Cha Cha)!”

Speaking of Christmas music, we have just received a shipment of IT’S CHRISTMAS, MAN CDs. This has been somewhat tricky to order in recent years, so we’re glad to have a decent stock for the holidays. BUT, do not tarry, if you want one. They tend to sell out. It’s a classic. Go to our store right now and order several today!

So, here we are, nearing the end of another year. Things seem hopeless, in many ways. The United States is divided into two tribes and, it appears, the best we can hope for is “our side” keeping a lid on “their side,” whatever that means to you. Unfortunately, winning-at-all-costs doesn’t really work anymore, especially when our enemies are the people with whom we share the country. I think people want to get along more than certain people in high places would have us believe. When I’m walking my dogs, and cars pass by, I usually wave and smile at the drivers. Almost every time, even if those people don’t look anything like me, they will do the same. Most people want you to like them and they want to please you, believe it or not. We are united in our insecurities and long for acceptance. This is a wonky world and no one knows what will happen next. It might behoove us to concentrate a little more on the ways we’re all similar. For instance, I’ve had a pretty terrible cold for over two weeks. I bet we can all be united in our desire to not catch really bad colds. See, that’s a place to start. Most of us like our favorite foods and hate road construction. We all, I assume, hope to sleep well and wake up refreshed. And I’m sure we would all like to put five dollars in a slot machine and get back five thousand. That would put almost everyone I know in a good mood, even if they had a headache. Oh yeah, no one likes headaches, probably. We can agree on that, right? Okay, you can take it from here. Have a Damn Happy Holiday Season. Make music part of your fun. Yes, fun! Have some fun!

The Machine’s Pump Volume 22 – #10 – October 2019

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For some reason, the 7” 45 rpm (revolutions per minute) vinyl record (we called ’em singles or 45s) became a special, sacred thing to me, when I was a youngster. I started collecting these magical objects at a frenzied pace, buying my first one at, like nine or ten years old. It was perfect; round with a big ol’ hole in the middle. Made out of flattened vinyl with tight little grooves and an interesting, informative label glued to it. And there was a song on both sides. Each circular masterpiece was nestled in its own sleeve. I liked holding them and twirling them on my finger. Probably got pretty good at that. Anyway, I became, what I would call, addicted. I couldn’t stop buying them. My brother and I discovered places around Texarkana that sold old ones that had been in jukeboxes. These were only about a quarter apiece. We would buy, easily, 10 to 20 per visit and half of them I’d never heard of. The top hits for the week, on the other hand, would be around a dollar each. Had to be more discriminating with those. Whatever, I acquired lots and lots of the new and old and in-between. I had my favorite recording stars from all different eras. I dug Lou Christie, Neil Sedaka and James Darren as much as something more with-it, like “Dirty Water,” by The Standells. I could appreciate Liberace’s “Tico Tico” as much as anything else, especially if it was on a single, because it would be so direct and to the point. Albums were okay, too, but they weren’t as cool. Ultimately, my shelves and racks of LPs dwarfed my singles, and everything else in the house, but those were never as precious. Following are six early (pre-British invasion) pop musical influences in my life. I still own all of these, of course.

https://youtu.be/IcL5rz1V6dU I Saw Linda Yesterday
https://youtu.be/hBtcJwDrYrA Rhapsody in the Rain
https://youtu.be/8zAX5StHD6A Foolish Little Girl
https://youtu.be/cBJrrz6mKcs Paper Tiger
https://youtu.be/vvRq91JkFL0 Her Royal Majesty
https://youtu.be/UqTP4SCVgDQ I Wish I Were a Princess

BIG-ASS NEWS! Our Grammy-nominated live album, KICK-ASS POLKAS, is being re-released by Cleveland International Records, with the original cover photo. Our scheduled release date for the album was September 11, 2001. As things usually go, we were a little late and didn’t quite get it out right on time. Then two airplanes hit the World Trade Center and everything turned upside-down for everyone. When we decided to go on with the release we realized the jacket photo, an explosion, might not be the best image, at that time. The USA was still shell-shocked, so we went with generic text only. Now, here we are, 18 years later. Steve Popovich, Jr., son of the late founder of the label, Steve Popovich, Sr., is rebooting Cleveland International and Brave Combo’s recordings for the label get new lives, as well. To make it a special event, we decided to go back to the explosion photo for the 2019 version of KICK-ASS POLKAS and present it as we first intended. The album is now available for digital purchase and streaming on all the popular platforms! https://orcd.co/vr5qarx

LET’S PARTY (and fix stuff around the house)! Our final Oktoberfest/Polkafest for the year is behind us and we’re gonna see what it’s like to not play non-stop for a few weeks, before Christmas crushes everything in its path. Mastering the new recordings will definitely happen while we’re not gigging and jamming. I need to clean, straighten and organize the BC office a bit. I’m at the office now. It’s a block south of the downtown Denton square. I can hear a solo horn, might be a soprano sax, playing “Autumn Leaves.” I don’t know where it’s coming from. I also will spend more time at home with my animals. They all love me a lot and seem to like hanging out with me, even when it doesn’t involve food. But, you know, everyone and everything has an angle. Stray cats will start to trust you because you feed it and show it compassion. They’re just like people; attracted to those who make them feel good and safe. Love something and it will love you back…..usually.

RIP Michael Galbreth, one-half of the Houston duo, The Art Guys. He and long-time collaborator, Jack Massing, transformed themselves into living, breathing conceptual art pieces and had major impact on the art world, at large. If you are not familiar with their work, Google “The Art Guys” and
check them out. We were invited to participate in a few of their happenings over the years, including one which involved composing and recording a song about them and how great they were. It’s called “The Art Guys Polka.” People die. Art lives on. A big thank you to Michael and Jack for including Brave Combo in their world.

Okay. Gotta move on. So much to do and the second hand taunts me. Look at our itinerary on occasion. We just added some new dates and at one of them you just might find the answers you need. So make your plans to attend whatever, wherever, whenever. The Cosmos says hello.