March 4, 2003 It all went so fast! The holidays were such a blur of shows, parties and chaos, that I think I’m still recovering. In December, I got notification that we had won a Jane Magazine competition for our Joey Ramone song, and I won a Shure microphone songwriting contest as well, so they started on a high note. Then Mickey Leigh, Joey’s brother, called me to do a holiday show for the release of Joey Ramone’s Christmas CD "Christmas Spirit…in My House". Many years before Joey’s death, I was in the recording session for the Phil Spector song he recorded with Ronnie for that CD, with D Generation on his backup band, In fact, we had planned on making that our first single on Coney Island High Records, but that whole project fell apart, along with the club. But here was the time to celebrate sharing that recording with fans and the holiday spirit, as Joey shared it with us every year at The Continental. I was really excited for the big show. There I was, all dressed up for the big Christmas show – I even made my Cat pose with me! An even extra-special surprise was the appearance of Kowalski fan and super-music buff Kamikaze Dead Boy with his friends all the way from Japan for the show! Among the spectators and performers were Mickey Leigh, their mother Charlotte, Richie Stotts (www.richiestotts.com/intro.htm) formerly of The Plasmatics, the new Misfits lineup - Jerry Only, Dez Cadena (formerly of Black Flag) and Marky Ramone, Joey’s backup bandmates Andy Shernoff and Daniel Rey, Joey’s proteges The Independents and Punk Magazine (www.punkmagazine.com) founder John Holmstrom, who did Ramones Album covers and other artwork for them. Of course, I ran around taking their photos with Kamikaze Dead Boy, as he has quite a photo collection. For the show we were supposed to play three Ramones songs. We picked "We Want The Airwaves" and "The KKK took my baby away", and I also thought we should play the Joey song that I wrote to do something different – that’ s a tribute, right? So I brought the extra copies of the CDs that I had from Jane Magazine to give out if people wanted them. One band cancelled so I asked Trigger, the owner of The Continental, if we could play again later, and he said we could. So later after a couple of beers and a couple of bands, we played AGAIN! After that, I was all out of CDs, but not before I gave one to Joey’s Mom. I figured it was the least we could do. Also, the up-and-coming band of the night that was my personal favorite was USA Wasted (www.usawasted.com)– a brother duo of guitar player and drummer. If any of you have been reading this column for a while, the guitar player is the David of the Punk Magazine 25th Anniversary Party! I may be biased, but one thing that turns me off is a band that SUCKS, no matter how cute the boy is, and I STILL like them. They must be good! We also were invite don stage with the all-star band to sing Blitzkrieg Bop, and I got to share a mike with Dez Cadena. So I think it was TWO days apart from that big bash that the Niagara Christmas party happened. That’s always like a family reunion. As I was coming in, Bob and Elizabeth Gruen were leaving, so I had to get their photo, since I got Bob a photo Album of all the pictures I had taken for his birthday. I see Jesse’s friends from Queens that I’ve known since we were teenagers, band members who were getting ready to go on tour to the UK on the new Jesse Malin record, produced by Ryan Adams, (www.jessemalin.com) and the other bar and club folks I’ve gotten to know. Don Hill was there, who gave me my first nightclub job, as were new parents Handsome Dick Manitoba and Zoe, who were beaming just weeks after Jake’s birth. This was the party where Jesse gave me the "Santa" hat I wore for every event throughout the holidays! You can even see Jesse wore his, as he is pictured with Jazz musician and Niagara regular Will. It was actually a relaxing time where I could sit down for one, not have to perform and catch up with old friends with a glass of champagne! Or two, or three, or four… It was right after Christmas when we got a big shock on the news of Joe Strummer’s death! I instantly thought back to Niagara, which was the time I really got to meet Joe after one of his shows, and he was there with Joey Ramone. Joe was so healthy, still touring and making music. Even weirder, it was outside Niagara that Bob Gruen took my photo with Joe, eating a piece of pizza. I now cannot find this photo ANYWHERE – all I have is the little image from the proof. There is a weird thing going on with my negatives. The only other time I had a photo with Joe the negatives got damaged because the camera back popped open, and now these ones disappeared. I also told Joey’s family at the Tribute show about pictures I had of his last performance, and those disappeared, too, and then re-appeared a few weeks after in a really strange place. I hope the same happens with these. Joe, give me a sign. So it comes to a few days after – New Year’s Eve. Not really the night to celebrate, but I’ve committed to a few things. The Gruens have flown to the UK for Joe Strummer’s funeral. I have a band to check out, another Jesse party at Niagara, and the Motherfucker party to go to (www.motherfuckernyc.com). Scott is out for the duration, having found his freedom, he’s ready to check out the scene – and the chicks. The first stop is Don Hill’s to see the Kick. (www.the-kick.com). They are one of the younger bands to come out of the New York "Rock Revival", and I have not seen them in six months – which is a lot of time for a young band. They are a cool blend of New York, Rock and a bit of Manchester indie rock as well. The Toilet Boys are playing as well, and that’s always a good show, but I promised to go to Niagara for Jesse’s New Year’s party, and he’s family! In fact, there are a lot of people there that I have known since I was a teenager. I introduce Scott Kowalski to longtime friend Jessica, and we share a toast for the New Year. CJ, the third of the Charlie’s Angels Rock and Roll trio of 2000, is back in town and joins us as well. The champagne flows freely, and it is one of my last opportunities to see Jesse before his band goes to Europe. Check out his new album produced by Ryan Adams. www.jessemalin.com Next stop is Motherfucker, and it is IMPOSSIBLE to get a cab, and we are waiting out in 15 degree weather. We finally get a car service car to take us over there for $20 – best $20 I ever spent. Doors are supposed to open at 2 am (yes, that’s when it STARTS), and people have been lined up since 1 am. Luckily, we run into members of Dean Dean & The Sex Machines (www.deandeanandthesexmachines.com) and they let us sneak in line with them so we only have to wait 20 minutes instead of an hour from the looks of the line. We get in, and the house is rocking – they play punk, glam and dance music and have boy and girl go-go dancers. I run into my friend Athena of Blisster and we boogie for a while. It starts getting MORE and more crowded. We walk around, and the Toilet Boys show up after their show. After a couple hours of dancing, cruising and carousing, it’s 5 am and I’m actually pooped out!! I have been going to a LOT of shows, and taking a lot of photos lately, so I will be updating more often!!! Also, my condolences to the friend and family of those killed in both Chicago and Rhode Island in the recent club tragedies. Everyone is on edge, so be safe, look for your fire exits when you enter a club and try to keep a cool head should anything happen. Treat it like you would airline safety – look for your emergency exits, understanding that the closest one may be behind you. Most of all HAVE FUN and rock! December 15, 2002 I just went to see the MICK ROCK Psychedelic Renegades exhibit last night - TOTALLY excellent: www.vividimagesdesign.com/syd/ Check it out - it’s at the Fuse/Lit gallery on 2nd Ave. between 5th & 6th Streets. The show is Mick’s photos of Syd Barrett. Syd Barrett is just amazing - also knowing his history and the history of Pink Floyd. I just love his stuff. One of my favorite photos was one of his sparsely decorated room. He had been painting the floor in alternating stripes, and painted around his stereo. It’s funny - the only thing in Syd’s room is a mattress on the floor, a guitar, a record player, and his girlfriend. They were also selling the Iggy & The Stooges 2003 Calendar, which I got. I mean, who better to rely on telling me what day it is? Good Morning, Iggy! I also bought Mick’s book - Blood and Glitter - some of the greatest Rock and Roll images in there outside Bob Gruen, Stephanie Chernikowaksi, Roberta Bayley, etc.... I think some of them are here: www.mickrock.com You will recognize A LOT of the photos on the Web site. Most recently he did all the stills for the Hedwig and the Angry Inch movie, album cover, and sleeve art. Hey, and Lou Reed TOUCHED ME! Full body brush by! I guess he had no choice since the opening was so F*N PACKED, but I’ll take it how I can get it. It was TOTALLY packed - open bar - free Rheingold’s and Absolute drinks. I had to cap it off with some Indian Food with my friend CJ. We also invited our friends from DC The Meat Joy: www.themeatjoy.com We played a rockin show with them the night before at Don Hill’s - MANY great bands - which I will write about later. Anyway, if any of you have been hanging in there for a few years reading my stuff, The Meat Joy is NOW comprised of Stacey from Squatweiler as their front person. I was REALLY bummed out when Squatweiler broke up, but very happy two bands I like have now become one. Anyway, they had a rockin’ time and Heather got the Syd Barrett T-shirt. I’m going to SF this weekend and missing Bob Gruen’s Christmas party! I usually get some great photos there myself every year. And Bob makes a MEAN turkey with stuffing! Next week we play the "In The Spirit" Christmas party at the Continental Thursday, Dec. 19th for the release of Joey Ramone’s Christmas single. That will be most excellent, so you will hear form me again soon! Kitty October 1, 2002 The Rezillos Make My Life Come True Back to the Future with Scotland’s national treasure! I got an e-mail from the faithful Scoots, who is always looking out for my best interests, saying that The Rezillos were coming to the US! I immediately began hounding every booking agent like a wild pig sniffs out truffles. By the time I track down the booing information – EVERY show and slot in our area is filled – except one – The Court Tavern! Our old friends. I hound the booker there to no end. I call the guy who is booking the tour as I helped him with info for a book many years ago. The minute he starts hedging on the show, Kitty gets rabid, shows her claws and reminds him how I opened my personal contacts to him when I didn’t know him from a hole in the wall and he’d better put out! This is very unlike me but The Rezillos are coming from Scotland after 20 years and there is no way in HELL I am not playing with them. It is NOT an option!! I never had the chance to see them! I got their record when I was 14, and by then, Jo Callis had run off to join The Human League! I even missed The Revillos, which was Fay Fife and Eugene Reynolds’ band after The Rezillos. This is a chance for me to make good! Everyone agrees – you guys are PERFECT for a Rezillos show! Check out their web site and see why: http://www.snatzo.com/revillos/welcome.htm We also hear they are touring with The Briefs from Seattle, and even the Briefs aren’t playing with them on the Brooklyn show, so we weasel our way onto the Brownie’s bill with the Briefs two days before the NJ show, just to find out any Rezillos secrets. Out own coolgrrrl Melody Liscious is playing the Brooklyn show with them with her band The Gore Gore girls. It figures, the first time her band comes here, I am playing the same night! I also tell her, "You are SO lucky you get to play with the Rezillos on that show!" She asks, "Who are the Rezillos?" I am ready to faint! The night of our Brownie’s Show, we get there for sound check, and smartly, those guys don’t hang out. I DID get to hang out with Julien of Moler fame! He was in town and was glad he had the chance to see us! He crashed with us and was very excited about the show, but was going to be gone by Sunday. We go one early, so I think only one of them was there to se us. I’m two days away from getting my big chance to meet the Rezillos. Talking to some Briefs guys after the show, I had to grill them: "What is it like?! Are they great? Are they nice?!" The answers are all yes, but they are not the gushing fan I am, I think, and are slim on the details. Or they are way cooler than me and don’t show it! I would give my eyeteeth to be the Briefs for this tour! I even bought tix to try to see The Rezillos after our show, but the timing wasn’t right. Melody left me a message that we are on the list, but we our sets were back to back and I could not have made it in time! Arrrgh! I have all my gear and no car, so I’m stuck. So, it’s Sunday, the night of our big show, and I have nightmares the night before – we miss the show, we can’t get to the gig, none of our gear works, we lose our gear. These are the kids of dreams you get before you go back to school and you dream you walk into class naked. Our drummer is coming separately, our gear got stolen a few weeks before at the Coolgrrrls.com party, so we are wingin’ it by borrowing stuff. I pack all my gear, bring my wallet with all this money to buy merch and debate bringing ALL my Rezillos stuff for them to sign. I don’t want to look too dorky. Especially since I have almost EVERY 7" they ever made, including the misprints and a couple of add imports (besides the UK that is). We get there and I see the poster with the famous Rezillos comic book graphics and it has our name on it too! Yay! It’s really happening!!! We go to set up our gear, and put everything together, and realize one of the pieces that was stolen from the Drum Hardware we need for the rack tom – and we brought a whole set of hardware! We bought another stand to try to make it work, but it won’t! Hell! What can we do? I see a stand that the Briefs are using that would work, and go to ask a big favor. "Can we borrow this?" "Gee, I don’t know…" come s the tentative answer, "We are sharing gear with The Rezillos and I don’t know if it’s OK." I am about to faint – again! Granted, these dudes are NOT required to bail our sorry asses out BUT a drum stand is NOT the kind of thing that even the gnarliest drummers ever break during a set. There are SOME pieces to a drum kit that asking to borrow is like asking to borrow someone underwear or a used condom, but this is NOT one of them. Shit. What will we do? After much convincing that we are not TOTAL losers and will NOT trash the stand, they relent. We even had to duct tape the rack to m to it to make sure it wouldn’t fall off. This show will go on no matter what!!!! The show is on! And a new Kowalski nickname is born! I was trying to say that Mike Hunt was like Ace Frehley circa 1975. What came out was, and this guy is like "Ace Freakus…" Everyone started laughing. Little nervous are we? So, he is now – Ace Freakus. We had a great show and there were a lot of people there for our set. It was total fun. The Rezillos didn’t see us, but I didn’t really care too much. They might even beat me up for stealing half their act. I was just happy to be there. We also sold a lot of merch! Our Pussy Rules shirts go over big. Even the Briefs were surprised when they finally saw us! "You’re good!" , they say, almost in shock. I’m sure they have had a lot of CRAPPY support bands. So I whip out my money and start grabbing up the Rezillos merch – all their T –shirts are COOL! I man the merch table and start drinking as any sensible girl would after a show like that! The Rezillos are on, and I abandon it and whip out the camera. The crowd goes crazy. Who can sit still to their music – you HAVE to at least bop! So in the bopping crowd I go! Get right up front for some photos. I’m moving in the Crowd, and one enthusiastic pogo-er gives my camera a whack! It does flying onto the floor – and people are going nuts. I have this vision of it being stomped and exposing my film. We get it off the beer-drenched floor, and it’s totally broken. Guru Kowalski, our tech, sees my face and gives it a few whacks and gets it into working order again. The Rezillos played EVERYTHING off their "Can’t Stand The Rezillos" album except, "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In," and "Mystery Action", I think. I also wanted to hear some Revillos – like "Where’s the Boy for me?", but no… They may have played "Can’t Stand my baby" twice – once as an encore. This is too much for words! I’m drunk, sweaty, my camera half works and I don’t care! We are loading out the gear and the promoter hands me $0, embarrassed. I don’t care – this dude made my life come true! Thanks, Dennis! He really pushed for us! ALL the people at that show, and some of them saw ALL THREE area Rezillos shows, said ours was the best. They were like, "The Kowalskis was the perfect band to play with The Briefs and The Rezillos! This was the best show by far!" Okay, so I’m NOT crazy! I knew if people would see it, that they would realize we are the PERFECT support band for The Rezillos! YAY! I am vindicated! Now, we go to the Booker. I was really loaded, but I’m NOT leaving until I get to meet The Rezillos. I said something like, "Take me to them NOW!" He said, "They’re in the office." I was like, "I don’t care! I must meet them!" He seemed to act like we would be bothering them, and guess what – we would be! I said, "We got paid $40! The LEAST you can do is take us up there." He relents, and we go up this mysterious staircase to the office. They were sweaty and tired, but were friendly and cool about it. I was like, "We’ll get out your hair right away, and we just wanted to say hi, thanks for the show and all that". They let us stay. The bartender gave us a pitcher of shots and passed them out to everyone. I think we did two and started getting stupid with the camera. By the time we are done with our sh0ts, and, well, our other shots (photos that is) I sit myself down next to Faye. Now, Faye Fife is someone that I modeled myself after somewhat. I am a Frankenstein Monster of all my musical loves, but I have to say, she would be my heart. I start rambling nonsense – the shots are kicking in! I start rambling how music is my life and I’m so glad they are still around and I don’t know what I would do without music and I’ll do this until I’m 60, and God didn’t put me here to work in a freakin’ office, etc, etc.…drunk talk. My one big conversation, and I’m a babbling moron. I fell asleep on the way home – SUPER CRASH – with visions of sugarplums in my head. This was the best Christmas EVER – and it’s not even Christmas. I lost about $400 in cash that night to boot – some lucky bastard got it, but not before I got my fill of Rezillos stuff. I sleep with my shirt every night. I did a LOT this summer and went to a LOT of shows, so I’ll write that up next! August 12, 2002 How Many Coolgrrrls does it take to throw a party in New York? All of them! Frank and The Coolgrrrls.com West Coast contingent threw two raukus rock and roll parties so far out in LA. So Frank sends out the e-mail to us New Yorkers – how about a New York Coolgrrrls Party? Sounds like fun to me. There are five of us, so it should be great, right? First of all, Adena suggests Don Hill’s because Don loves the ladies! Don is also a guy I’ve known half my life, so he’s already part of the family! I call Don and get the date. Princess offers to MC and suggests the band Live Girls, I’m going to play (http://www.thekowalskis.com) and DJ, Eva’s band The Drive (http://www.thedrive.info) is playing and Kiki says she can pass out flyers and posters and get us some press. I also called a friend who works for Tony & Tina cosmetics and got a big box of free make-up to give away. I’m also trying to think of other ways to lure people out, as if five hot chicks and the Web site isn’t enough! I couldn’t get a liquor promoter, which would have been the other way to lure people out! Frank is the MAN when it comes to printing, so we think we have flyers and poster all set! Frank totally destroys his knee and breaks his leg in half about two weeks before the event! Oh no! I scramble to make some flyers and get them to people. Poor Frank! His last request as he lies on death’s door was "Make sure you get a photo of all the NY Coolgrrrls together"! The big night comes, and our van gets broken into and they steal our bass head and drum hardware. Luckily, Don Hill has some, so we DEAL with it! The Bubble bag people drop off bags to give out, and everyone’s scrambling around to make it happen! The great thing was there was a birthday party before our event so there was TONS of helium balloons and decorations. We couldn’t have don it better ourselves. The first one to arrive (besides me) is Eva, and can you believe this is the first time we met in person! She is as great and beautiful in person as she is on the site! And The Drive were awesome! A great band with a really together look and sound – not afraid to be glamorous and not afraid to ROCK either! I was glad to finally see them. Live Girls were up next with their garage-y kind of gutter-rock. Very minimalist. I think Laura was having some technical problems, but that’s rock and roll. I’m running between helping them set up, break down, DJ, and then set up our gear for our set! Time to put in a compilation! We also showed The B Reel, full of cool NY go-go girls from Ghost Limb Films (http://www.ghostlimbfilms.com). The Kowalskis went on kinda late, but we had some of our new and old fans there – including Santiago from the Joey Ramone Birthday show, who got some great photos. But hell, considering how the night started out for us, we had a lot of fun and played a rockin’ show! Princess, being the MC, was a great sport and stuck it out until the very end, as did Sarah and Jea from The Drive. Thanks to Don, for being the most excellent host, and we look forward to making this an annual event! Hope fully Frank will be healed by then and can join us! July 14, 2002 Joey Ramone’s Birthday Bash! Gone but not forgotten, it’s the fans night to shine! Last year, it was vowed that every year we would celebrate Joey Ramone’s birthday. At that time, I wrote a song for him which is now on the Coolgrrrls.com site. I ran into Arturo Vega, longtime Ramones Art Director and manager of the Ramones Fan Club, and he mentioned a Joey Ramone song contest on the Official Ramones Fan Site (http://officialramones.com). Kitty loves a challenge, and of course, I think that Joey would really like my song. I figure I loved him so much that my song has to win, right? I send it in, and they announce that they will have the eligible contestants from all over the world come to CBGB on May 19 and play their songs to be voted on. We were so excited to be chosen, but the competition was pretty fierce! Jed from Collider was already the favorite with his "Bowery Electric" song. They were definitely using that as the A side to the Joey tribute Single. We were competing for the B Side! As the day approaches, there is confusion as Joey’s Mom and Brother are doing a show at Bowery Ballroom. I was asked, "Are you doing The Bowery thing?" and said, yes, because CBGB’s event was called Bowery Electric and it’s on the Bowery. I was WRONG! There are two events, and 50% of the people are playing BOTH, including us. We get our set time and they are BOTH at the same time. UGH! Hope these guys get it together next year to do one event. We committed to the CBGB thing first, so we stick with it. We also want to meet all the other fans and bands from all over. Arturo has a party at his house fro the bands the day before and for a group photo. It is really fun, there is plenty of Ramones-worthy treats in the form of Pizza and Pabst Blue Ribbon. We got to meet Collider, The Grimmies, Jari-Pekka Ramone from Finland who wrote a book on Joey, Calle Schewen of White Jazz Records from Sweden, Mensch, Wax On Wax Off from Germany. Other old friends of Joey’s and NY music were there, too – Jerry Only, Andy Shernoff, Danny Ray, Dr. Donna Gaines, photographer Stephanie Chernikowski, Meat Depressed, Sean Yseault of White Zombie and her new bandmate Rik Salve of Rock City Morgue. We had a lot of fun and stayed until all the PBR was gone and Arturo kicked us out! On the day of the festival, I was very nervous! We had BOTH new Kowalski members Mighty Joe Vincent and Mitzi Dodge playing, so I figured we would go ahead and try out the new lineup, since we only had 11 minutes on stage! We had one three hour rehearsal, and it was do or die time here! Oddly enough, Mitzi’s husband, Adam Roth, is also MC of the event, so we at least have one person on our side! I am also told by insiders that we are a favorite, so that makes me less nervous. At least people who loved Joey like our song. We are on before Wax on Wax Off and they are AWESOME – totally rocking! We do our Joey song right off and rip into it. People seemed to really like it. There were a bunch of Ramones fans up front that came all the way from Mexico for this! After I am sweaty offstage and come out, many folks who don’t speak much English but know enough to point, "You, me, camera, together" so I think there are a lot of photos from disposable cameras floating around Mexico right now. Another fan from Argentina, Santiago, sent me a photo of us, with me holding someone else’s merch money. After all the contestants have played, the moment of truth comes – four bands are on stage – who will me the winner? It gets down to us and Mensch in a dead heat – and it winds up in a dead heat! We are tied for winner of the popular vote! Thanks to all the folks who voted for us!!! YAY! Everyone is happy. CJ Ramone's band, Bad Chopper rocked the house. Then, Jerry Only, Marky Ramone, Dez Cadena and The Bowery Electric crew rip into some Ramones songs and the crowd goes wild! It was a sold out show, and just fun and celebration for everyone! I e-mail our new far-away friends saying, "See you next year!" June 13, 2002 Dee Dee Ramone went to a more peaceful place, I hope, though too soon. He had more art and music to make and was really getting out there with his own thing. And just over a year after Joey, I wonder if these are linked? Joey was a big loss for me because he was an idol and a role model to me, but Dee Dee was my teenage crush, my man, the one with sex appeal. I first saw him live when I was 14, and I fell in LUST in the first "onetwothreefour" (thought it didn’t sound quite like that). I even had my boyfriend put me on his shoulders so I could get better pictures of Dee Dee! I'm just glad he got to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, where he belongs, with the Ramones. His speech is just the most fucking brilliant thing. Dee Dee said very deadpan: `I'd like to congratulate myself, and thank myself, and give myself a big pat on the back, Thank you, Dee Dee, you're very wonderful.'' Dee Dee WAS very wonderful! He was just so fresh and original and creative and nothing but himself! He was childlike and guileless and I think a lot of people took advantage of that over the years. Read his famed Fanzine "Taking Dope". You can see how he looks at things and the whole thing is hand written with cuts and pastes of stuff he liked. AMAZING! A friend of mine and designer Tony Monster of Wear Wolf had just played drums with him recently out in LA. How could this happen? When he came to one of my band rehearsals MANY years ago for my band Starkist, I though I was going to faint. We used to perform one of his songs that had no name - we just called it Dee Dee. Dee Dee was really my favorite songwriter of the band. I was always amused by the songwriting debate of ``Chinese Rocks'' with Johnny Thunders’ Heartbreakers. He had come through a lot in his life – a struggle of a rough street life played out in other songs like "53rd & 3rd", but he won, writing two books, continuing with music and making art as well. I am still coveting the Dee Dee King record – Dee Dee’s rap record. I remember a funny review of that record – Robert Christgau said, "Dee Dee, we use proper English here - you’re not the BASSEST rapper from Queens, you’re the WORST rapper from Queens!" I want it anyway! I sent out an E-mail about Dee Dee’s death to the Kowalski list, and once you put something out there you never know what you are gonna get – like the love and hate mail I get from Coolgrrrls readers! One lister said: "STOP BEING SO EMOTIONAL ABOUT THESE GUYS ALREADY-THEY WERE WASHED UP ANYWAY!" …and of course, I reacted completely emotionally and BANNED this person from the Kowlaski list! Everything else I got was great memories of Dee Dee – condolences and remembrances from Sweden to Japan. Leonard Phillips of The Dickies called him the "Brian Wilson " of punk rock. The Beauty School Dropouts sent me the lyrics to Wart Hog, which now seem appropriate: "I wanna puke, I can't sit still just took some dope - I feel ill - it's a sick world sick, sick, sick - it's a hopeless life I hate it hate it." Bass players from Queens to whom he was an inspiration. Even someone who was a sometime sponsor to Dee Dee asked me if it was an OD and I had to deliver the bad news. Ugh! It is sick. Anyway, tonight I will go home and CRY and when I'm done with that, I'll write a song for him, as me gave me one of his! My condolences to Barbara, Tommy, CJ, Marky, Johnny, Arty, Monte and the rest of the Ramone family, fans and friends! Kitty we are doing a rock & roll party in NYC so you can meet the writers, get free stuff and rock out! New York CoolGrrrls.com Party with your Hostsesses, NYC Coolgrrrls: Adena, Eva, Kiki, Kitty, and Princess Friday June 14 - doors at 10 Don Hill's - 511 Greenwich St. at Spring St. Live performances by: The Drive 10:30 Live Girls 11:30 The Kowalskis 12:30 The Kowalskis welcome the rockin' Mighty Joe Vincent on Drums and Mitzi Dodge on Bass, for their first full-fledged NYC Show as Kowalskis! Glamour girl giveaways courtesy of Tony & Tina & My Bubble Bag DJ Kitty Kowalski plus special guests Ghostlimb Films' "B-Reel", starring local go-go dolls, on the screens! $7/$5 with pass or list to be on the reduced admission list, e-mail party@coolgrrrls.com just e-mail the list and how many people you are bringing! April 26, 2002 I FINALLY did one of the Monthly BITCH events at Don Hill’s. It’s a "ladies tribute to metal" and is kind of like live karaoke. Bruce, Dave Metos, and the Don Hill’s House and learn songs and if you a re a girl and they like you ,you can get up and sing. I’ve always wanted d to do this but didn’t know whom to accost. Did I ever tell you that Don Hill gave me my first nightclub job when I was a kid? Don Hill’s is like a home away from home, as Adena can attest. In fact, lots of people don’t know what Don Hill is a real person! And a personable person at that. It’s the place I go most since Coney closed, because they are like family! I was at Don Hill’s for this DJ from Q104’s birthday, and I saw they were doing BITCH and asked don how I would get in on the action. Don said to talk to Bruce who is their soundman. I attack him. I must have scared him silly. I had a makeover that night, as Yana‘s Shiny Mama was playing, and she works at Tony & Tina. So they had someone giving makeovers, and I would up looking like Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Chernobyl. The makeup artist said, "I had the most fun with you!" I can tell! Kitty the Barbie Make-up head. I think I was scaring everyone. I went up to Debbie Harry, who was literally hiding around the corner, peering into the room. I asked her, "Who are you hiding from?", and she replied, "Everybody!". I didn’t know if that included me, but I judiciously decided to leave her alone. So I run up to Bruce with my new warpaint and say, "Hi I want to do BITCH!" He either doesn’t remember or doesn’t recognize me! I say, "I’m kitty from the Kowalskis", he was like "who?". He’s mixed my bad there several times AND used to fill in at Coney every once in a while. I guess I’m not as unforgettable as I thought. "I want to do BITCH!", I proclaim. "Can you sing?", he asks. I think this is a trick question. Number one, every girl thinks she can sing. Number two, what am I going to say if I can’t – no? So I tell him I want to sing a Queen song, after debating the finer points of Nazareth, Motley Crue and some others… He decides I’m OK I have the balls to take on the ultimate Diva Freddie Mercury, so we exchange numbers and pick a song – "Now I’m here". Now, people who review the Kowalskis have called me everything from a Debbie-Harry sound-alike to a female Joey Ramone. One would-be manager said I sounded like Belinda Carlisle and proceeded to tell me,"That’s not good". Oh. But what NONE of them would have guessed is that I sing my brains out at Home to Freddie Mercury and Cheap Trick’s Robin Zander a lot. Just ask my neighbors. So we rehearse the Monday night before and it came out really good – I got to meet some of the girls that were singing – V of Queen V (www.qureenv.com)– very cool, and she kicked ass, too, singing Van Halen’s ""Hang ‘em High". I met Cathy Cervenka, who does Loser’s Lounge (they pick an artist and devote and entire night to them) AND she hosts the annual Pat Benatar tribute. Another girl after my heart! Pat does not get her props! She was kicking ass on the radio while Linda Ronstadt was still playing the broken-hearted wallflower! Woohoo! So the big night comes and I have this thing where I forget lyrics I didn’t write. I heave heard some songs a million times and don’t know the words. I practice at home and write out the words five times to make me remember but years of drugs and dyslexia screw with my memory and what I though I new, I don’t or forgot! So, I cling to my lyric sheet for dear life. We even rehearse in the basement beforehand and I do fine. I’m not used to playing without a guitar! I have to go out there and ROCK by myself and know the words – which are really weird – and I start getting nervous. My nerves make it worse, so I drink! Even better! So, Jayne County is the MC and she’s great – what an honor to be introduced by Jayne! The best! I even had my friend CJ videotape this rare event to I can show my kids what a spazz I am at a later date! I’m sure if I dropped my paper, I would know every word, but I lose my confidence and put the paper down on the monitor like a security blanket. Hey, no guitar, so I can jump around in my 4’in. pink snakeskin cowboy boot heels. Freddie will strike me dead if I screw this up! He will revoke my diva-in-training license. Anyway, I don’t know if I screwed up, but I had fun – jumped around – went crazy, played with Dave a bit on stage in a Page/Plant Perry/Tyler kind of way. When I got off stage, all I wanted to do was a SHOT! I ran to Don who was his amazing supportive self – "That was great! It was like Kitty unleashed! You went nuts! That was fun!" I also got great photos from Bobby Lundo who suggested that I put down my guitar as a Kowalski every once in a while so I can be the freak I was that night. Who knows – maybe he’s got something there. At least no one can say I’m not a BITCH!!! February 27, 2002 Kitty Comes Back from Hell By visiting Heaven South of the Border Kitty used up about 4 of her lives last year. In a two-week span, my grandmother died, one of my best friends died, my mother was hit by a car, and crazy motherfuckers drove two 747s into my backyard. So, when I was offered by my dearest and oldest friend April to go to one of the most fabulous and luxurious resorts in the world, Las Ventanas al Pairiso, (http://www.lasventanas.com) there was nothing to do but say, "HELL YEAH!!!". This was a spa, do-nothing vacation, as ALL of my vacation time for the past four years has been spent on SHOWS and TOURING, which, while it’s not "work", is certainly no day at the beach. So we go rocking in First Class all the way down to Mexico, and when we get there, a brand new SUV is waiting for us with bottled water to drive us to the hotel. Cab drivers at the airport ask us if we need a ride and where we are going, and when we say, "Las Ventanas", their eyes all say, "Cha-CHING!". We are starting to get a feel for this place. The Spa is in the Los Cabos region, which is basically a desert near the tip of Baja California. Cano San Lucas is the Spring break Party town that is about 20 minutes south of the hotel, but there is NOTHING in between except for brand new Mega-resorts, time shares and a sleepy town San Juan de Los Cabos. We get there are our bags magically disappear and re-appear at our rooms. We get a private tour of the resort, It is EMPTY – probably because it is Tuesday, Post-September 11th travel sucks and no poor bastard can afford to stay here (we used FF miles to pay for half of it). There are shallow reflecting pools EVERYWHERE and it’s just fabulous. We get to our room which is HUGE with a jacuzzi tub, fireplace, bathrobes and slippers and a patio that opens up to a heated reflecting pool. They even had complimentary tequila, shot glasses, salt and limes set up. We go straight into the pool, and no more than five minutes goes by when a waitress brings us complimentary melon ices in sugar-cane sticks. They also take our ORDER!!! We sip lemonade and eat chips and guac by the side of the pool. At night, they light torches in big stone columns and iron cauldrons all over the place and we go to eat at the Sea Grill, their restaurant by the ocean. We run into some tourists and chat. They buy us drinks and they want to know what it’s like to stay there. We offer to show them our room. They are really impressed. It’s cool, so we wanna show it off. I live like a queen here and a schmuck at home, so why not. That night, we have someone come to our room to bring wood and set up our fire. We read by the fire a fantastic book (ask Princess – she’s the literary grrrl) "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourain. He’s the executive Chef at Les Halles herein NYC, and we eat there all the time! The book is so engrossing that my friend April wants to read it too so when I’m finished with a chapter, I literally tear it out of the book so she can read it. The next day, we do more NOTHING. There are huts on the beach with hammocks, and little flag poles. You can send a flag up the pole with the time you want an attendant to wake you up! Fancy Alarm clock! I go and read more book. We buy some jewelry from a guy selling on the beach. He gives us this sob story about tourism being down and he’s supporting his family, and we buy a ton of stuff and spend $350. We get massages in our room. That night, we go into San Juan, and it’s pretty sleepy. We go into the jewelry shops and see that they are selling stuff for about 1/3 what we paid. OUCH. The Las Ventanas "Cha-CHING" factor is now really setting in. I tell April we will track this guy down and threaten to expose his scam to all the hotel guests unless he gives us free stuff!!! We went on a whale watch in Cabo San Lucas, and basically, thought it was a scam to dupe tourists out of $40. "Hey! There’s a Whale! Oops! You missed it!" We go out in this little Zodiac inflatable, which out hotel said was better – doesn’t scare the whales. We see the Arches and the Lover’s Beach and all the other sites. Basically, we are satisfied with this sightseeing trip and don’t have any hopes of seeing any whales. We’re "Cute Teenager" watching on our boat anyway! The guide shouts out, "look over there! It’s a whale!" I don’t see anything. Sure enough, a back comes up, and the tail comes out, just like some Jaques Cousteau program! Our boat is nimble enough to follow them for about 20 minutes! Our two hours is up and we have to go back to shore. We take advantage of our first CHEAP lunch and the fact that you can get drugs without a prescription, and get back to the hotel. The next day we hit the spa for one last time, eat lunch and drink margaritas in the main pool where they have tables and submerged chairs, trying to milk this place for all the vacation we can get to leave, and pay the rest of our hotel bill. We lived like Princesses and now we have to pay. American Express turned my credit card off because I owed them $17 before I left. I beg the lady in front of the hotel staff to let me have this ONE charge – about $3800 – and I’ll give her the damn $17 when I get home! My credit card is STILL void and I’m STILL paying it off, but what price for pampering and relaxation in heaven when home is HELL? October 4th, 2001 Rock and roll seems to have become less important in the last two weeks or so. I haven’t gone to any shows; I haven’t done any Kowalski stuff. The Toilet Boys cancelled their tour. It just seems that my priorities have realigned. The smell of fire is still in the air, the acrid smoke of electrical fire, - it’s hard to ignore. I had a major meltdown after my last update and thought I’d be writing from a padded cell, but neither my family nor my doctor called the truck, so I’ll be OK. I’m making September 11th my New Year, and I have some resolutions. Resolution #1: is to tell people how I feel about them – good or bad, right up front. Unless there is some otherworldly miracle, we know that Johnny Heff of The Bullys (John Heffernan of Ladder 11 NYFD) is dead. He was my favorite Bully. I had the biggest crush on him. He was so warm and strong and just radiated this grounded, solid energy. A mensch. I wish I had said to him one time: "Johnny, I have the biggest crush on you!" Yeah, he’s married, and is a father, but I just wanted to express this in the most innocent way. The dichotomy of the strong family man he was, and the ranting punk rocker he was can bee seen in The World According to Johnny (http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/273/johnnyheff.html). Listen and Learn! Kitty also has to clean house and get rid of the people who torment her and make her unhappy. You will know who you are soon enough – get ready for either my love or wrath! Resolution number 2: Give 5 – 5% of my time or 5% of my income to charity! My first check is going to: NY Police & Fire widows & Children's benefit funds, PO Box 3713, Grand Central Station, NY, NY 10163. For Johnny’s family. The second is going to the scholarship fund of one of the heroes who downed the plane in PA, saving hundreds of lives – who knows. I’ll pick some more as they emerge. Resolution number 3: Music should be the most important thing in my life! Here I am in NYC slaving 10 hours at a desk to pay ridiculous rent and not making enough time to write new songs and play and tour. I have to crack this one. How do I do this? If you have a lot of money you don’t know what to do with, I could use a patron. But aside from that, I should spend at least an hour a day writing music because that’s what I’m here for and then my second record would be done by now! No more excuses! Resolution number 4: Commit random acts of kindness. We all want to help the efforts downtown, but what about other troubled folks that are ignored? I emptied out my change purse for the guy in the wheelchair outside my bank. I blew a kiss to firemen as they rode by on a truck and waved. I used up a whole book of matches re-lighting candles by the missing persons center on my street after it had rained. I’ll replace the ones that burn out. I’ve picked up trash on the street and disposed of it properly. I want to make this a better place to occupy my time here. Anyway, I’ll get out and about soon enough, and I have a lot of stuff to post that happened before this, so I’ll get on, but with a fresh perspective and a new lease on life! Happy New Year! Happy New Life! Kitty September 14, 2001 First of all, I want to thank everyone for the amazing e-mails and posts to the message board about my safety and the safety of those in the Coolgrrrls.com community. I am so touched by this ourpouring of support and everyone's willingness to pitch in and help anyway they can. Thank you. I have hope in mankind! Kitty at Ground Zero, prayers for Johnny of The Bullys. And now a word from Nostradamus! maybe... "The great city on the maritime ocean, Surrounded by a crystalline swamp: In the winter solstice and the spring, It will be tried by a frightful wind." (Nostradamus in quatrain C9 Q48. (previously timed to occur at Fall 2001/Sping 2002) "The sky will burn at 45 degrees, fire approaches the great New City. Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up when they want to have proof of the Normans." (Quatrain C6 Q97) (New York is at 41 degrees Latitude) We are still missing a firefighter friend - Johnny Hef of the NYC band The Bullys. Apparently, his company was one of the firsts to respond, and the whole crew is unaccounted for. PLEASE pray to your higher power for him and the safety of those missing and their loved ones, or joint the volunteers digging people out! It is like a nuclear bomb went off here - there is soot and smoke in the air in the entire city. Fires are still burning. Surrounding buildings still fall - 50 stories each...not small... It's hard to get all my thoughts together. It's not over yet. The entire city is shut down. People hide in their houses. I am totally shell-shocked. I was so nervous. I saw almost the whole thing from my window at work - I came running just after the second plane hit. We thought it was an accident. A worker in my office saw the first one fly straight down 5th Avenue. More people in my office watched the second deliberately run smack into the middle of the south tower veering from their flight path. They said it was deliberate and we refused to believe it. Someone said the word terrorists and we didn't want to believe that was true. It's weird to see it small on television like it is a movie or shrunk down in miniature, but we are talking about 10-20 square blocks of debris and utter devastation. The smell in the air is awful. All we have is this cloud of smoke now...I went to work to feel normal. I hope never to live to see the day I see the horrible horrific sight I witnessed. All those people - my god. Even after that, we thought it was an accident. I am very shaken. To see the first tower collapse before my very eyes and disappear from the skyline in under 30 seconds and think of all the people inside and around...I went to our 20th story window just was the second explosion happened and stayed watching - made a few calls to find out about friends and keep Clients at bay for the day - we had no idea how bad it was going to get. We just thought the buildings caught fire. In some places, it looked like it was only confined to a few floors. The two personal friends I know that worked in the WTC - one quit her job recently and was at home with her kids, and one was on jury duty at court! They were lucky not to be there. Tens of thousands were not so lucky. New York is like a war zone now. I am very tired and my nerves are shot. I cried when I saw the first tower fall for a long time. As it fell, I screamed for all the people inside - I was hysterical at work there in our conference room. We kept losing NYC TV stations as the towers went out. I had to leave the room one we saw that the second one looked like it was going to fall - you could see it start to lean and buckle. I had a complete panic attack and hyperventilated and nearly had a nervous breakdown. I hadn't had a drink since this whole shit happened until last night and it was a friend's birthday, so in a desire to feel normal we went out. I live on 30th street. We get to Park Avenue and it's walled off with cops who are directing everyone - cars and people - south. I was trying to think - what is going on that block. All there is really is that Howard Johnson's. The air was filled with smoke and dust and it was actually hard to breathe. It smelled like electrical Fire. Kate asked what I thought was going on. I didn't know but I said, "let's not stick around to find out". We get to the bar to meet our friend Dave "Dr." Shih and he said he was just outside to see the bomb scare at The Empire State building. It was like another exodus when we got to 5th Avenue - it's 10:30 at night and hundreds of people, looking mainly like tourists, are walking down 5th Avenue. I heard the words Empire State Building come over a police radio. Oh great. Now every idiot is going to be calling these in. They didn't call in the WTC. Get a clue. So, I had a shot of tequila and a beer and wanted to go to a Karaoke bar. We stopped by a deli and I bought a paper. They had postcards. Seemed sick, but I wanted postcards with my skyline the way it used to be! They were all gone - I really had to scour to find some with the WTC in it. Karaoke! When the going gets tough, you gotta sing. Tried some new songs...my last and my best, "Don't let the Sun go down on me". And losing everything... There is this big gaping smoking hole where these buildings have been since I was a kid...It is wrong not to see them there. This is a very dark day for all of humanity. Anyone who truly loves G*d, Allah, Budda, Christ, and/or a just universe can think this is a good thing... Kitty September 6, 2001 One of the Coolest Girls I know is gone... Elizabeth Grimes 1976 - 2001 She was my partner in crime and fodder for many an update in almost all of 2000. Every post before the re-design and one after probably had a mention of Beth - my toxic twin - Elizabeth Grimes, who died Thursday, August 30th at age 25. While I was out partying at Burning Man, Beth was getting ice cream and had difficulty breathing. They called 911, gave her oxygen, and in about two hours she was dead from a pulmonary embolism. I got home and had all these weird messages on my machine, as though I was coming into the middle of a conversation - people thought I already knew. I called her parents, who said they called and left a message with my roommate, who has about a 15% delivery rate on phone messages. My roommate will tell me my sister called from San Diego (I don't have a sister in San Diego) but can't tell me that my friend's mom called and that maybe it was important? Anyway, coming off the Burning Man high, I am beaten down by the baseball bat of death. I put on her favorite song; The Replacements "Unsatisfied" while my body was racked with sobs. I still feel like I was chewed up and spat out. She had a smile from God and was kind to everyone no matter who they were. She knew the names of all the bums and crack dealers on her street and said hello to them every time she walked by. I don't want this to post to be a bummer. The world was a better place because of her, but she struggled with it, too. If you do anything today, commit a random act of kindness for a stranger or someone who looks down on their luck. Beth did this even when she was down. One time, she was feeling nearly suicidal, and walked by a woman with an infectious grin. Beth chased her down the street just to tell her that her smile had made her whole day. The word of Elizabeth: Go and do likewise. Kitty August 9, 2001 Sex Spa Well, More the Rock & Roll part of the Sex, Drugs, etc. equasion Candy Ass & Dee Dee Ramone at Spa A few weeks before the Dee Dee Ramone show at Spa there are big headlines and a report I overhear in the TV about how the nightclub Spa got busted for Sex and how it’s a sex club and all that. I have no idea what they are talking about. I’ve never seen anything remotely sexy going on there. Maybe I’m not going on the right nights. Maybe I’m not that lucky. But of course, it is the New York Post’s sensational style that hypes "a new craze in which partygoers perform amateur strip shows and allow their pictures to be screened on the Internet." They’re kidding, right? This makes it a sex club? Gee, I’ve been running a sex club in my apartment all this time and didn’t even know it. So I got shortly after this story breaks, and alas, there’s still no sex when I get there, but there is plenty of ASS – Candy ASS, that is! I have not seen them in several years. I think I saw one of their first or second shows and then - BOOM – they were off to LA. I’m sure after about a year or so of not being able to have a whole roast chicken delivered to your house at 5:00 am made them RUN back here to NYC. Anyway, I am very excited to see them after seeing them deliver a beautiful a capella version of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" at the Last Squeezebox. Also, I am excited to see Dee Dee as well, who has been in LA for a while. In a bizarre set of circumstances I find out he ins in New York making Art down at Kostabi World and doing book signings for his novel, "Chelsea Horror Hotel". Last time I saw him, we were standing outside the Chelsea Hotel and he was telling me how he was writing a novel about a murder there…hmmmmm…what murder could that be? So I find out all this from a kid who bought a Meat Puppets 7" from me on e-bay and we find out we have all these people in common – he was visiting from LA and decided to come pick up the record in person since he was coming to New York. Also turns out he is the neighbor of Dickies frontman Leonard. WE don’t need no stinking Kevin Bacon to have these bizarre degrees of separation. Candy Ass plays first – and they ROCK! With some of the highlights being "Popular Girls". Galadrial gets down into a Judas Priest bikini which is brilliant! But don’t gawk, boys, or they will kick your ass! Their sound is much more polished now. Hopey smokes on guitar, and I notice they have a new bass player since I saw them last. She is perfect – great rock and roll look with wild thundering bass! Galadrial is channeling Cherie Curie, Debbie Harry and Grace Slick all at the same time! I’m sure she gets that a lot. I’m up by the stage shoving my telephoto lens under her skirt. Rock man! Enough pictures! I go crazy and dance around with my friend Heidi ( whom I’m also dancing with like a maniac on our "Goofballs" CD). I am luck enough to score a sticker and button after the show, but have to save my money (after buying a $7 bottle of beer!!!) to buy Dee Dee’s book! Shit! Next time. And just for the record, if I’m paying $7 for a bottle of Corona, it had better come with some free sex or at the very least a strip show! These are strip joint prices! Toilet Boys Sean gives me a drink ticket, and when I give it to the bartender, he says it’s not and demands the $7! Show me your tits, Mr. Bartender! So looking to milk $7 worth of kicks out of Spa, Heidi and I take to the dance floor and dance around like hummingbird after smoking $100 worth of crack. She jumps on a passersby’s back. We get down on the floor in mock Jimi Plays Monterey style. While Heidi is on the floor, I grab her feet and run around in a circle to make her spin on her back breakdance-style. She stops spinning and poses. We dance like voodoo children trying to conjure up a sex show. People look at us like we are on drugs, which is more fun than actually having to take them. I have now taken it on as a challenge that every time I dance, I want it to be a spectacle – and the more I hate the music, the more spastic the dance will be. I refuse to walk planet earth for this one time and not at least push my dance style to outer limits. Try it. And get on the floor – I mean DOWN on the floor and watch how people react. TRY to look silly instead of cool and make and ass of yourself – it’s liberating! Dee Dee appears pretty shortly afterward. Mid-spazz, I see him as he walks through the crowd on the dancefloor, and he says hi, holding his Bass like a baseball bat. That’s what I want to see! Dee Dee with a bass, the way things were meant to be. He rips through all the best Ramones songs by Dee Dee, including 53rd & 3rd, a song about his rougher days. He starts "I don’t wanna go down to the basement" ad the band can’t keep up with him. They probably haven’t rehearsed together, but it’s kind of hard to mess up a Ramones song, you know? More bopping like a maniac! Dee Dee even gives a wink from the stage. After the show, I buy a book and have him sign it – I feel silly, but what the hell! I paid $16, he’s here, I’m here so can you sign my book please? Thanks! Cool! Usually when I have it together enough to do these kids of things, I get really drunk and lose them (left my Pristeens 7" and underwear in the back of a cab, lost my Nashville Pussy Harley #1 style tank top god knows where. I probably could start my own Kitty’s Drunk Girl Lost ‘n Found.). So after running into the usual punk rock suspects, or people that are still alive from the Dee Dee era (of which I guess I should count myself as one) like The Gruens, Jesse Malin (now of Bellvue), Heidi and Jessica Rabbit and a few other folks, but there are lots of kids, too, club-goers who probably have no idea who Dee Dee Ramone is and are looking for free Sex, and even the punk rock kid from the CBGB’s Punk Magazine Party that I once shamelessly lusted after in my heart (more Ramones-era references to a former president – and not the one that inspired many a punk song…BEFORE that one…). So that’s my Spa experience. No sex. No tits. Not enough beer to qualify it as being equal to taking drugs. Next time I’m blowing $7 at Spa, I’m getting the Candy Ass CD. It least that comes with ROCK, a show, ass, and a girl in a bikini! But I did get my $7 worth of ASS, and what a sweet ass it was.