Re: shaman's den dvd & cd II

(Champ wrote:)

thanx frank...we'll probably just have copies of it to distro and give away at shows...perhaps for donations...might have to cut it down a bit too so it can fit an audio CD...so perhaps we'll just put in only the set we played together and cut out the part we played without you...i was thinking of having mikey do a cover for it...

will you be down for it mikey? it would be great if you could...i really dig your style...let me know if you are up for it...
we wanna incorporate more of other peoples art in our stuff just so it can be xposed to different people and circles...

we are also of thinking of doing more visual stuff with our music perhaps incorporating the different media and technology in what we do...also, i would be interested to do a LUVER show..lemme know how it workz?

anyways, what was the story about vale? im all for stories...

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mikee would love to do the cover!

Now for the V. Vale story. Back in the Mabuhay days, it was obvious that I made him and his girlfriend extremely nervous. But over the years people have had a hard time believing me because after all he documented the fringes, etc. But a few months ago [when I was googling FRANK MOORE] I found this long essay at http://www.researchpubs.com/features/whatispunk.php.

What is Punk Rock and How Did It Begin?
an essay by V. Vale

Back in the Seventies in San Francisco, life was a lot simpler. The Punk Rock "Garden of Eden," where Punk was born in San Francisco, was the Mabuhay Gardens on Broadway, the only venue in town that would dare host Punk Rock. Why? Because the policy of Dirk Dirksen, who booked the "Fab Mab," was to give anyone at least one chance, without a preconceived, restrictive aesthetic. The Mab was open seven days a week, with three to five "acts" a night, so this was a lot of time slots to fill (this was before the rise of the DJ). Thus was created a nearly "anything goes" opportunity for anyone who came up with a live act. No other local club had this booking policy and this is the reason San Francisco Punk started at the Mabuhay.

One of the most unusual acts that played regularly through the first years of San Francisco Punk was Frank Moore's Theatre (they have not gone down in Punk history). It was whispered that Frank, along with his wife Linda (who struck me as a kind of Manson girl), headed a commune in Berkeley, and that everyone slept together in one huge bed. Their act seemed a bit "creepy." Frank, confined to a wheelchair, had the wizened, twisted little body of a geek or spastic, with flecks of drool on his clothing. He wore a headband with an antenna on his head that enabled him to communicate--usually in arhythmic shrieks and yelps that were near-impossible to decipher. But Linda seemed to understand him perfectly; she was his "medium." Frank Moore's group, which looked like Manson girl runaways and social misfits, enacted bizarre performances incorporating rants, music and dance that were definitely elementary enough to be "Punk Rock," even though most Punk Rockers had difficulty processing the act and were puzzled ... yet too baffled to show outright disparagement. Looking back, Frank Moore's show truly realized the Punk credo of "Do It Yourself/Anyone Can Do It." Because if Frank Moore could do it, truly anyone COULD do it. He took the "Do It Yourself/Anyone Can Do It" punk proclamation seemingly about as far as it could go.

In Freedom,
Frank Moore