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Excerpts from Electric Degeneration, Degenerate Press' semi-weekly e-zine, free and ad-free. A full episode contains sections for music reviews, upcoming events, blasphemy, classifieds, and anything else we feel like saying. If you'd like to subscribe just contact us.

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2/11/1999

BOOB TUBE
If you get this Wednesday night and have cable turn on the tube to TNT and see why it should be more approprately named TNA for the SI Swimsuit special.

OBITUARY
Because the Loafing hired an editor from out of town who knows nothing about the local music scene the AJC scooped ‘em recently on the story of the death of Benjamin, lead singer of Smoke, Opal Foxx Quartet, and celebrity unto himself. He died Jan. 29 at age 39. I guess everyone assumed I knew and nobody bothered to tell me so I missed his funeral parade through Little 5 on Sunday.
Monday night’s Star Bar Spotlight featured Angela Motter, who sang a song about the Crossroads. She wrapped the song up with a little speach about Benjamin, “Maybe he’s down a the crossroads now, not feeling any pain anymore. I know he’d understand me. He’d say ‘You’re a handsome boy-girl.’ and I’d say ‘And you’re a mighty handsome girl-boy.’ I’d like to thank Benjamin for helping us all be our true selves.”
I saw one of Benjamin’s last shows, at the Star Bar last year. You could tell he didn’t have much time left and when Bill Taft whipped out a banjo that had “I DON’T LIVE TODAY” scribbled on it’s front in magic marker you couldn’t help but wonder if it was dark foreshadowing. This was doubled by a short film shown before their set in which Benjamin was beaten to death. In reality it was no act of violence that would take him, just a life of lots of sex, lots of drugs, and a side of rock and roll.
Amen.

EAR PLUGS
As mentioned, we headed over to the Star Bar for the Monday Night Spotlight. This week actually had a cover charge, a whopping 99 cents. Spike Fullerton and Jeff Passifume were on stage when I arrived doing a block of Les Paul instrumentals with apparent ease. John Paskoff followed, a kid who looked like his parents, seated in the crowd, must’ve had to drive him to the gig he’s so young. He sat down and thought about what song to do, the tuned his acoustic for a moment and let loose a torrent of blues so stunning you’d think the boy must’ve visited the aforementioned crossroads and made a shady deal! I’ve seen a lot of blues in my time, literally and figuratively, but I’ve never seen fingers fly like that on one so young. The boy was fuckin’ smokin’!!
Angela Motter got the boy back up to do play behind her first tune, adding more spice, before going it alone and doing some touchy-feely stuff with a smooth soft voice. After a long break Johnny Knox got up to do his usual rockabluesy stuff and it was bedtime for us workin’ folk and I headed out.
“I’d buy that for a dollar!”
from Robocop

INFRASTRUCTURE
Just to give you a clue of what we deal with every day here at Degenerate Press:
BIBLE BELT BYPRODUCT
remember us? no you don't..
please remove me from this list ...thank you
richard
& the unheard of fucking atlanta band!
So for those of you who don’t know how we work around here, on the rare occasion when we do, here’s the inside skinny on our phat zine:
A) This is not a democracy. We do not strive to represent every act on earth, not even every act in Atlanta. Why? See below.
B) We try to keep this short and to the point. Why? See below.
C) We don’t have time to see every act under the sun, even if we had the funds, and we’ve found neither do our readers so we strive to skim the cream from the chaff and bring you only the degenerate events we can recommend from experience.
D) Please send us event notices of ALL sorts. Why?
1) Either we CAN recommend it and will.
2) We’ve never seen it and need to know where/when to go so we can see it and recommend it in the futre, or recommend avoiding it if it sucks.
Not complicated but somehow some folks don’t understand us and get all pissy because we “don’t support the local music scene” just ‘cause we won’t tell everyone to go see someone we’ve never seen or heard.
Thanks for your participation!
Degeneration Excerpt is being printed as you read this, to be broadcast this week.

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