Rush Hour Soul's Thriller At The Gig [Show Recap]

Hey Soul Mates,
thanks to everyone who made it out to our show last night. It was blazing. Literarily. The stage was so hot, we each lost 15 pounds performing. The Gig was packed with the hottest clientele in Los Angeles.

Our set was preceded by a screening of our video, A Talent For Loving. As the curtain rose we launched into a blistering version of Fall Out. Bryan and I rocking the S-curls, Doug twirling his sticks. Yow! But no jumping tonight. Oh, that hip.

Mostly a fast-paced set, we slowed only once to perform our ballad Done Lost My Mind, which was dedicated to the lovely Mrs. Soontaree Simms. A truly joyful moment. The highlight for many was the unexpected cover song we performed at the end of the set. I won't tell you what we did, although there is a clue in this blog title, you'll just have to watch the free webcast from the Gig up now! You will see how hot it was on stage.

Set list:
Fall Out
U Had The $
Done Lost My Mind (for Soontaree)
Down By Love
I Can't Cry For You
A Talent For Loving
Surprise Cover (debut) This is a song I've wanted to perform live my entire life. I think we did it justice.

The Gig is such a wonderful place to play. Great staff and great sound. We hope you all enjoyed the show and that you'll continue to enjoy it via the webcast.

Have a great Friday all.
Love, Power, Peace

Rush Hour Soul Apparently In YouTube Contest

Hey Soul Mates,
we ask you to visit our YouTube page and vote for us in their Underground Video contest. Due to snafu's turns out we're actually in it. And in it to win it! So pass this message along to your friends.

There are three RHS videos you can vote for (but only once per video) "A Talent For Loving," "From L.A. With Love," & "Fall Out (Live)." Visit each video and look for the Underground icon to the right of the screen. Then vote for Rush Hour Soul

See you tomorrow night at the Gig for some funtastic musical happenings.
Love, Power, Peace

Rock Hall Nominations Class Of '07

Hey Soul Mates,
Happy Halloween. And special Halloween birthday shout-outs to King AdRock (Adam Horovitz) and Larry Mullen, Jr. Hard to believe the AdRock is 40. Yikes. Time flies when your fighting for your right to party.

The nominations for the Rock Hall Class of '07 have been announced. And the nominees are: R.E.M., Patti Smith, Chic, the Dave Clark Five, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Ronettes, the Stooges, Joe Tex and Van Halen. Included in the announcement was this: "In January, five of the nine nominees will be selected and will participate in the induction ceremony on March 12th at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City." I take that to mean that the Hall intends to enshrine a minimum of 5 of these acts. This could be good and bad.

If you think up to 5 of these groups are worthy or if you've been disappointed in their choices before this is good news. If you think that less than 5 of the acts should get in, you may find yourself asking "why did they arbitrarily add an undeserving band?" Conversely, one might wish that all 9 be inducted. I think they're doing it to ensure a variety of acts get in and that the night of March 12 will be as entertaining as possible. It's a case of hedging your bets.

That said, here's my rundown of the nominees:

R.E.M. - A first ballot no-brainer. I didn't like REM for the longest time. But I have come to appreciate their impact, their music and their steadfast political beliefs. As far as 80's pop/rock groups go, they may be second only to U2 in popularity and importance.

Patti Smith - Never been a fan. Before my time, so to speak. But as far as women proving they could rock with the punks, she's always the first name mentioned. A good bet the Rock Hall wants her in. [Note: Not to be confused with Patty Smythe of Scandal]

Chic - If you have to ask, you've never met me. Dammit, put them in already. And let me give the speech!

The Dave Clark Five - Not the first nomination for this seminal British Invasion group. For a time (1964-65), the Beatles' only true rivals. I vote Yes!

Grandmaster Flash - When, oh when, will the Rock Hall put in their first Hip Hop act. Flash & the Furious 5 must go in before the Beastie Boys and Run DMC. Now would be a good year for that. [Note to the Rock Hall, you really need to consider nominating German electronic geniuses Kraftwerk at least once]

The Ronettes - First time nominees. A wonderful girl group led by the heavenly, stunning Ronnie Spector from Phil Spector's heyday. Just not as essential a pick as some of the other nominated groups who've been looked over in recent years.

The Stooges - Iggy Pop's breakthrough group. True pioneers of punk. They may get in on this ballot. Lots of fans of Detroit's legends in the voting ranks, I suspect.

Joe Tex - A contemporary of Jackie Wilson, James Brown and Sam & Dave. Most of you know his song I Gotcha from Tarantino's Resevoir Dogs. Skinny Legs and All, his induction is probably a few years away, if ever.

Van Halen - A lot of my schoolmates will say "Finally!" This one's tough. Eddie Van Halen has come off as a duplicitous unkind bandmate in the last 10 years. Which version would be elected Diamond Dave's or Slammin' Sammy's? Too many question marks for a really tremendous group that put the guitar solo back into Top 40 Rock and Roll. I predict voters will want to see the VH reunion spectacle/debacle at the Waldorf as soon as possible.

So my best guesses are, if they hold fast to putting in 5 acts, that they will be: REM, the Stooges, Patti Smith, Grandmaster Flash and Van Halen. Of course, if I were voting, I'd replace VH and Ms. Smith with Chic and the DC5. What do you think? Who would you put in or keep out? Remember the Rock Hall made trailblazers like Bob Marley and Steely Dan wait several long years of balloting to make it.

Love, Power, Peace

Soontaree's October Surprise

Hey Soul Mates,
I hope your Sunday was as wonder-filled as mine. I spent the day at Wat Thai, the local Buddhist temple, volunteering for a bone marrow match drive for my dear friend Soontaree. Soontaree is duking it out with Leukemia. She was diagnosed while we were in England. In fact, the band found out right before we performed in Huddersfield.

Soontaree is Thai ('tho born in the USA) and needs a bone marrow match for a transplant. This was the third drive I've done with Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches (A3M). It's pretty amazing to hear how the odds are stacked against people needing marrow transplants due to the lack of potential donors and the finiteness of the categorical matches. Anyway, with a group of mutual friends, family and full-timers from A3M, we've gone to events and locations searching for Soontaree's match and getting the word out about the need in general.

Of course, I signed up and did my buccal swab first time out; so pain-free. I certainly didn't mind putting a Q-tip in my mouth for her. "Sexy swabbing for Soontaree." Well, this drive was our most successful yet in terms of signing up potential matches for her and others who desperately need a marrow transplant. After several hours of work and a few trips inside the temple to pray and meditate and more jaunts to the food-vending area for Thai iced-tea, chicken skewers and sugary rotee, we had a major surprise. Soontaree and her husband Mike appeared. How surprising was this? This morning they were in Houston, Texas and none of us knew they were coming. Everyone was blown away.



Here's the gorgeous dame and yours truly from this afternoon. What a thrill to see you, Soontaree! She's making that bald thang look good! She looks like a mini-monk. And I'm sporting my too fresh "Save Soontaree" shirt. Represent! We also got an extra blessing from the real monks in the temple.

Her visit certainly helped reinforce how precious life is and how limited our time is in this life. Make the most of it and love the people you need to love... which would be as many people as you can. Hope is real. Love is real.

Gotta jet, but you all have a great week. Go forth and build that good karma, that righteous juju. And we'll see you on Thursday at the Gig!
Love, Power, Peace