Rock and Roll Credibility ....................................
Well I might be an old fuck, but I have lived a very exciting life...more than any 5 people combined! I have always been emphatuated with music, indeed The Beatles showed me a bigger world....I wanted to be a Priest until Beatlemania...then it was GIRLS and MUSIC! The Beatles even opened my mind to discover Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis. Eventually the combination of the Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, and Life Magazine had me looking to expand my mind with POT and LSD. Fortunately my older Brother was at University in Ann Arbor at the time and was able to connect me. I eventually become an ACID Barron, supporting myself with drug revenues. I must have sold Tens of Thousands of very righteous hits, always over 1000 mics. I was a tripping fool! But except for a very few bad trips...it opened my mind, big time! I saw God, my own mortality, the future, and the very true realization that there is a thread that connect us all. My first Spiritual foray was creating "The First, One True, and Only Church of Jesus Christ, the Hippie Newtonian Physicist", which has essentially morphed into the First Church of Zenta, which is based on Rock & Roll Spiritualism, an undeniable truth. I started into the live music forum first by being a roadie and fix it guy, and in 76 convinced Battle Creeks best Axe man to start a Punk Rock Band w/ me. We called ourselves Funhouse, I was the vocalist, and we billed our selves as doing "Power Pop Madness." We had a good deal of success in the Punk Rock circuit, playing Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, etc....we were written up in papers, Trouser Press and Bomp magazines with good reviews. We recorded an EP, but were unable to get it pressed cause the guitar player and drummer spent the Band money on low-brow drugs (PCP.) That ended that!
I wanted to keep the momentum going on the circuit, so I floated through several other bands, eventually founding, "Rank Confusion and the Audio Clones", which included the late and loved: Billy Harter on Vocals and myself on Bass. This was short lived when I jumped ship and joined the defunct "Lips" becoming: "The Lips are Back", (TLAB). After some personnel changes, I was on vocals and Fin from "Funhouse" was back on Lead Guitar. We also had pretty good success with the Punk Rock circuit, playing Bookies in Detroit on a regular basis. We opened for lots of bands, including, Iggy Pop, Squeeze, Robert Fripp and many others, often sharing the bill with other contemporary Detroit bands, like the Mutants, and the Denizens, etc.......That Band imploded because of drugs, sex, and a Psycho Rhythm Guitar player, Feisty Mike, who attacked me and try to steal my P.A.! We recorded several live shows, but never officially released anything except a Cassette we sold at shows.
I then joined my most successful and fun band "The Latin Dogs". We played the circuit, and even expanded into Canada and Chicago. We were a four piece Beatnik-Hardcore Band", (as described by the Ann Arbor Press), and included Poetry reading by Brother Pogo Rey, often reading Ginsburg and Kerouac before we played and when we broke strings. Years later, I showed Allen Ginsburg a review of the Band and the poetry reading, and he signed my copy of HOWL" and dubbed it a working copy! We recorded a well received EP called WARNING and it has been bootlegged on compilations and recently in its entirety (it can be purchased at Speed City Records). Right on!..It was always about the MUSIC anyway. We drifted apart in 81 (actually late 82 with some re-unions...thanks Blue) because Joe (drums) and Allen (guitar) moved to California, and I moved to Detroit/Windsor to finish University, John DA MOOSE (bass) being the only one to stay in Battle Creek.
In Windsor I guested w/bands and fronted a few (Probing Questions and Psychotrop 13), even charting on CJAM with a comedy record UKEALOUIE and a live Time has Come Today"!
I eventually moved to another city in Ontario and became a Professor and Academic Coordinator for two programs, which I still do today. So I had to re-establish my well earned Rock and Roll Credibility (CRED) in a place where I was a stranger. I jammed, did guest spots and eventually was accepted into the local artists community. What a long strange trip its been! I still have wild adventures and often get thrown out or admonished at gigs for being too wild…I say...let the Hippie Dance! I will relay some specific stories/ adventures at a later date, But this will have to do for now
Brother RZ
Rauk Zenta aka Rank Confusion, Runk, Rack, Cookie McCartney, Karzi Harrison
For FREE Latin Dogs download go to:
http://www.somethingilearned.com/index.php?s=latin+dogs
Note: right click on songs and select Save Target As..., Dont forget to copy the cover as well...ENJOY!
-RZ
