The Oakland A’s currently have one of the youngest rosters in all of baseball. The team’s also got as much of the rock & roll spirit as any team in the league! Former A’s infielder Scott Spiezio has his own band, starting pitcher Barry Zito is a big music lover who spends most of his down-time playing the guitar, and even general manager Billy Beane is a huge Ramones fan! Here’s what some of the members of “Generation A’s” are currently groovin’ to?

Barry Zito (Cy Young Award-winning pitcher)
*Ben Folds, Dave Matthews

Dave Justice (outfielder & ex-hubby of Halle Berry)
*Busta Rhymes, Madonna, Pink

Tim Hudson (pitcher)
*Puddle of Mudd, Outkast

Terrence Long (outfielder)
*Juvenile, Ludacris, Nas

Eric Chavez (Gold Glove-winning third baseman)
*Nothing but techno mixes

Cody McKay (minor-league catcher)
*Puddle of Mudd, Creed, Third Day, Cody’s Advice: “Don’t be duped into buying CDs by The Calling because of one good song?and you can quote me on that!”

Ron Washington (shit-talking third base coach)
*Mystikal, Usher, Heavy D, Ice Cube, Luther Vandross, Barry White, Bill Withers, Isley Brothers, Aaliyah

Billy Beane (too cool general manager)
*The Ramones Anthology, XTC’s Greatest Hits

Art Howe (old school manager)
*”Nothing really?I pretty much just listen to some country and oldies on the radio.”

The first thought one thinks when hearing the band name, CHEERLEADR, is that this band is an all girl band…it’s not – so just get that idea right outta your head! In fact these bad boys are from Canada and they are tearing up the stages in and around Hollywood and Vegas. I joined them on their roadtrip to Vegas and the poloraids will be posted shortly. This band is not for the weakhearted!

Patti was at the Getty and this tired jaded rock & roll heart needed to see her. Her voice saved me those late dark Philly nights years ago. She gave me direction then and I was lost so right now her timing was perfect.

She was in town to talk at a synposium about her friend, Harry Smith and this evening was a night of poetry and music for Harry. There was excitement in the air and the audience was friendly. She came onstage with her son, Jackson, who sat quiet as she opened with Piss Factory (the first thing I ever heard her do). It was heaven.

She read poems, sang songs, played guitar, made mistakes, cussed, spit, looked for lost pieces of paper, and told stories about Harry and her family. Jackson joined her on guitar, they made jokes at each other, we were in thier living room. The encore was one of the most rocking raw versions of Dancing Barefoot ever. There was a private reception afterwards for Patti at the Bel Air Bar and Grille. I talked to her briefly. (How do you speak to an angel?)

She apologized to a mom who had brought her kid to the show cause she had cussed on stage. She was tired, it had been a long day, she said she was suppose to stay in LA longer to do some TV dates but her mom was really sick and she had to go home. It was a sweet surreal night. The Angels can come and get me now without a fight

– Cindy Pop

Then it was off to Cindy Pop’s Kittenfreaky show at the Dangerous Curve. There was spoken word and some weird art display where you slide your credit card on the machine and if you were cool enough your name would appear rank-wise on the projected screen. Jesus’ name was on the top of the heap. Anyway, Kittenfreaky is a really cool avant garde art pop band. Cindy Pop’s vocals were amazing. Eleanor plays almost every instrument in existence during their short set, and Katherine, the drummer had some cool rolls. Fav song of the evening was “Last Supper At Denny’s”.

We stopped by the paint bomb happening, just as Paul Rosseler and Jeff was driving outta the drive way. Yep – we got there at the end…and it was still happening to check out all the photos shot that night of a guy and gal who were the targets of the paint bombs…very creative deal if you ever get a chance to check it out. It’s highly recommended to get there toward the beginning though so you can witness the explosions of the paint on the persons!

Hailing from Newark, Ohio (the state the boasts such talents such as Devo! and Roy Rogers) We were wondering what the heck was going on with Track 1 – they almost lost us waiting for the song to kick in – wondering if there was a song – but once it did kick in on “Diana” it was cool…kind of punk primitive rock – everybody singing – no pretentious silliness here. “W.’s Corporation Investigation” did not insult us. Recommend for sure. www.munkeyjuice@hotmail.com (Cindy Pop, Reverend Dan, Dawn Laureen)

At a first glance at the cd cover you think Stevie Ray Vaughn…and when listening to songs like “Getting Used To Lonely” and “Last Time Blues” on this disc, Vaughn’s influence along with a bit of Steely Dan sound is present on the tracks. Overall, enjoyable music to listen to while downing your Coors lite in addition to great musicanship! No website address but here’s an address: Rickie Mann PO Box 173, Jamestown, KY 42629. (Cindy Pop, Reverend Dan, Dawn Laureen)

Spindrift (bandmembers include some of the infamous Brian Jonestown Massacre players) set the very dimly lit stage on fire with cool spagetti western instrumentals. Toward the end of their set, they banged out the classic song “I’m Tripping on Herion” and then Sky took over the stage playing all his cool songs, including of course, “Pushing Too Hard”. At one time, a “know-it-all” walked on stage through the back stage door and said some negative things to the bass player who then publicly announced the senario that just took place with the jokster and good thing the guy bailed, because the crowd was in disagreement with him. In the middle of the set, I was given the boot (“ouch!”) because Sky’s wife didn’t want any videotaping of the show. (Dawn Laureen)

The press kit boasts of influences like Nirvana, Cheap Trick, Split Enz and The Cars. LA power pop! We like! “Superstar”, “Automatic”, “Plastecine” are a few of the cool upbeat tunes you can find on this CD. We wanna see this band live!!! www.stereo360.com (Mark Englert, WC Moriarity, Dawn Laureen)