It happened on the way to IRVING PLAZA...

On May 19^th we were lucky enough to get the opportunity to play at Joey Ramone’s Birthday Bash. It’s a celebration of Joeys Birthday as well as a fitting tribute and benefit to raise money for Lymphoma, the raging beast responsible for Joey and countless others, demise.

The show itself was pretty unbelievable, all the bands were great and also the nicest, most gracious group of people backstage. Well except for one J But I will not mention names I would just like to say that if the only way to the bathroom is through a room that somehow you have taken over to have a last minute private rehearsal, 5 minutes before I go onstage, do not be surprised when I bust through your door and your band all nervously look at me and one of them manages to squeak out “this is private, we are practicing, you can’t be here” Please know that I will ignore you all, run downstairs to the bathroom ( when a girl has to pee, a girl has to pee) and when I come back through that room, I am for sure looking at you when I say “I’m sorry I interrupted your rehearsal and I’m not wearing the super decoder ring I need to be in here but stop being such a princess – damn” and then I get through the other door to the other dressing room where I am a hero for my outburst, and musicians with manic panic-ed hair are cheering, patting me on the back, offering me one more beer from the cooler.

I’ve been Matt Pinfielded…. and it was good....

If like me you were ever a fan of 120 Minutes on MTV and 101.9 RXP you know who Matt is and he could not have been anymore sweet, funny, charismatic and all around charming. He delighted us with old Joey stories and gave us one hell of an intro.

Lots of people at the show said the sound was amazing and one in particular said that when Spanking Charlene hit the first few chords of ‘I Hate Girls’ the wall of sound that came out went through the crowd like a wave, the bottom halves of everyones body was vibrating and he instinctively grabbed his balls. And that kittens, is why we love rock and roll J

We had the best time on that stage and when the set was over I briefly considered handcuffing myself to something so they couldn’t get me off but there will be many more stages and much more fun so I did indeed let the curtain come down.

As a musician, hell as a human being, its sometimes so hard after a gig like that. You are on such a high for a day or two and then CRASH, SPLAT back to the business of being a mortal. Day jobs, laundry, bills and trying to keep your spirit alive enough to write that next song, get to the next gig and find that high you only find when you are on stage with a microphone in your hand.

At risk of this blog being too much of a rambling mess… NEWS…

Spanking Charlene is in the studio out at the new CTS in Brooklyn with producer Eric “Roscoe” Ambel at the helm. More news to come on just when and where you all can get your hands on the new stuff, which if I do say so myself sounds UNBELIEVABLE.

We’ll be at the Lakeside Lounge, Saturday June 19^th at 10:30PM with a batch of new songs and ready to blow the roof off of our beloved Lakeside. Please come out, have a drink and let NYC know that you enjoy LIVE music and venues like the Lakeside need to be here.

Lastly, many thank you’s to the many people who keep us going, entertained, and sorted out at all times. Thanks to Jules Rousseau, Mickey Leigh, Photographer fantastaroo Daniel Root, Christopher Bryson and Waxed Paper Press and Eric Roscoe Ambel.

As always, Peace, Love and Soul – Spanking Charlene