Sing, O Muse, of the Amazonian guardian who leans
against the sunlit bronze gates of the inner palace,
fierce and barefoot, clad in gleaming polished armor.
Daughter of war and storm, with sun-bronzed limbs aglow,
she stands eternal sentinel of the Queen’s realm —
spear firm in her grasp, eyes like flashing thunderbolts,
unyielding shield against the rage of gods and mortal treachery.
Hail to thee, O swift-footed warden of the Sun Citadel,
glory of the Amazon host, terror of all who dare approach!
Curious. How would Artair react to a subordinate who sees him as a father figure?
Artair is both fond of that situation and very much not. On one hand, he’s quite used to being respected, looked up to, and treated like someone both kind and impressively capable. Someone seeing him as a father figure isn’t too much of a stretch from how most of his subordinates see him, anyway, and he does kind of enjoy being able to lead in even that way. He’d be softly fond of a subordinate who openly sees him in such a positive light. But on the other hand, such a relationship isn’t exactly appropriate for the military, and Artair would worry that the way that subordinate sees him is getting in the way of their duties and success. He wouldn’t want anyone to be held back by their attachment to him or personal feelings.
As focused on duty as he is, Artair wouldn’t be sure what to do with that. On his own, he finds it heartwarming that he can be such a good influence on someone and a stable figure in their lives, but he also doesn’t like that he’s not behaving in a fully professional manner. There’s no room to be so soft on people in the Guard, no matter how much he wishes he could be. However, the reality (as it is) is that Harlow already sees him in a similar light, so as long as the subordinate in question can keep their feelings mild and prevent them from interfering with either their duties or his, Artair would likely let it continue... especially if it leads to better results.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]A inédita coleção resultante da parceria entre PUMA e THE HUNDREDS foi vendida, primeiro, na própria loja online da marca californiana e acaba de chegar ao Brasil. Composta por tênis e peças de vestuário, ela foi inspirada no estilo colegial dos anos 1990 e pela evolução do streetwear nas últimas 3 décadas, com o lookbook…
Chega Ao Brasil A Coleção PUMA X The Hundreds foi originalmente publicado no SneakersBR
An interview with Emitt Rhodes from the punk zine Flipside, 1983
It’s a bit difficult to read, so I transcribed it. You can read it here:
A brief history of Emitt Rhodes - South Bay kid, got out of high school, went to continuation school, and at the age of 15 played drums in the Palace Guard. They not only had a minor hit with “Falling Sugar”, but were also the house band at the legendary Hullabaloo nightclub in the 60’s. After that he was the guitarist, singer, and songwriter in the Merry-Go-Round, who had a minor hit with “Live” and “You’re A Very Lovely Woman”. After their second A&M album was never released, Emitt took to the studio and recorded four solo albums, usually playing and singing everything by himself. Later, he also became a staff producer and A&R man for Elektra, got fired and now spends his time recording other artists in his backyard 24 track studio. The many years of rock biz wear and tear, and the critical praise, but elusive #1 hit seemed to make Emitt rather cynical, but witty (then again he may have always been this way) about many subjects.
He didn’t particularly to discuss the Merry-Go-Round days (MGR from now on) but did so openly, after much recollection. He seemed to possess many different personalities which I do my best to transcribe onto paper (often being friendly, sarcastic, funny, burnt out and sharp at once). He was an inspiration to myself, Sue (Bangles) [Susanna Hoffs] and Mike (3 O’clock) [Michael Quercio] and so the three of us after driving around and asking people where he lived, interviewed Emitt in this Hawthorne home. Mike fired away with most of the questions, and exchanged barbs, while I watched Emitt eying and nudging Sue and by the end of the conversation, I got to know all a bit better.
I thought it would be interesting, informative, and a different sort of interview than what most Flipside readers are used to reading and I hope you enjoy it. -Pooch.
Mike: How long were you in the Palace Guard?
Emitt: Kind of off and on for several years. At one time it was called “The Emerelds”, everybody wore bowling shirts with that name on the back, then it became “Palace Guard”, then everybody wore coats.
Mike: And then you started the MGR?
Emitt: I got fed up with being a drummer and carrying the drums around.
Mike: And you just took up the guitar…
Emitt: Yes. I still don’t know how to play guitar, just kind of made up my own chords.
Mike: How did you meet the other members of MGR?
Emitt: The lead guitar player (Gary Kato) I met in school. The drummer and bass player I was introduced to by my mentor.
Mike: Was the MGR set up by A&M?
Emitt: We went in and made a record, and then were signed to A&M because my mentor…
Sue: Who was that?
Emitt: A fellow by the name of Russell Show. He worked in the mailroom of A&M.
Pooch: So you were brought to A&M?
Emitt: Ya, his father, who was my publisher, took it to Larry Marks, who was working at Columbia at the time, liked it or didn’t like it or whatever, but somehow or other, became but producer, and we got signed. I got to meet Jerry Moss and Herb Albert.
Pooch: You were, like, their first rock band?
Emitt: Ya, pretty much. It was Chris Montez and Sergio Mendez.
Mike: And they released your demo of it, ya? Or you go back and record it over?
Emitt: No They kinda released it. Everything’s a demo, you know what I mean? And if it’s a record that makes money, I guess it’s a record.
Mike: And it became a hit in LA?
Emitt: Ya it was a hit in LA, it was great. I used to get to drive around and hear it on the radio …
Sue: Could you play the Whisky A Go Go?
Emitt: Oh I played the Whisky A Go Go, well, the Hullabaloo, you know, the house band was the Palace Guard…
Sue: What bands did you play with?
Emitt: Well just about everybody I guess. This was at the time making records. The Buffalo Springfield, the Yardbirds, the Byrds.
Mike: You guys opened for the Yardbirds?
Emitt: Maybe at sometime or another, it’s all a nightmare to me. I don’t keep the clippings, I think my mother has just a scrapbook or something. She lives right across the street.
Mike: And then you went and did an album?
Emitt: Ya. That was kind of a bunch of times, also. We remixed “Live” and “Time Will Soon Be Wiser”. You know, you mix everything at one time so it all sounds like the same record I guess.
Pooch: Did you record a second album for A&M?
Emitt: Ya. I recorded a bunch of things for A&M. They were fools, they kept giving me studio time, so I got to go in and fool around. They they didn’t release a record until after I went out and made a record on my own.
Sue: Was there a big drug scene at the time?
Emitt: Isn’t there always? (Joking, I think?) You got any drugs? Didn’t I already ask that?
Sue: What kind do you want? (Kidding)
Emitt: Well right now I could go for a few luges. Unless you want to get lewd, and that too
(nudge, nudge)!
Mike: Would you say you were corrupted at an early age?
Emitt: I was definitely corrupted at an early age. As soon as my arm was long enough, that’s what my momma says.
Mike: What was it like to be so young and in a popular rock band?
Emitt: I’m not sure, I wasn’t there at the time. I can’t recall.
Sue: Was the Sunset Strip different?
Emitt: (Perks up) Oh the Sunset Strip was very much different then, than it is now. Everything was very much different then. It was like way more exciting, like the dawning of a new era, or at least it seemed like that. Things were alive then, people were out on the street at nigh, everybody would hang out. It was a real street scene for sure, that doesn’t happen now.
Mike: Riot on the Sunset Strip.
Emitt: Ya well it seemed like it every evening, I guess the Police had a hard time dealing with it. I think there were a lot of people getting hassled.
Mike: You played a big show with Sonny & Cher, remember that?
Emitt: Well, kind of, I remember vaguely. I think it was in Anaheim and we played with the Doors, and Sonny & Cher were there. Everybody was taking drugs and jumping up on the stage. [Nothing’s changed - ed.]
Mike: There’s a picture of you in a 68 magazine with a tattoo on your hand and a model.
Emitt: (laughs) Oh ya. I got to keep the tattoo, the model I had to give back. I was one of those things.
Pooch: What happened with the MGR?
Emitt: Well you know, the bands and everything, after awhile you get sick of one another.
Mike: Did you tour the nation?
Emitt: Ya, I flew back and forth a few times across the country, stopping in a few places.
Mike: Were your songs received as well as they were in LA?
Emitt: Pretty much, ya.
Pooch: KRLA were really behind you.
Emitt: I suppose, ya well, we were the local group that was making records, I guess we played everyplace, did everything.
Pooch: How did you get to be house band at the Hullabaloo?
Emitt: The Palace Guard were signed to the guy bought the Hullabaloo. For awhile there it was great, ya know, all the pizza you could eat and you get to hang out at the Hullabaloo.
Pooch: Did you ever do any solo things live?
Emitt: Well ya, once I made records where I played everything, I went out and played. I got some friends together and then I went out on the road and toured around, and made another records and got some more friends together and went on the road and toured around. Got to see the country a little bit and have a good time and spend all the money I made on the road and that was it.
Sue: Do you like playing live?
Emitt: I liked it when I did it a lot. You know, after you do it a whole bunch you get used to it then it’s ok. Then it doesn’t scare the shit out of you and you don’t have to sit on the toilet for 1/2 hour before going on stage and all that kind of stuff. After everything’s really competent and everybody’s confident with what they do, you’ve got everything down, it’s kind of fun. You get up there and you have a good time that was alright, but that gets to be a lot of work.
Pooch: So touring wasn’t much different then?
Emitt: Well ya know, everything’s different all the time, it’s like where you are at the time and what you’re doing.
Sue: What was NY like? Was it like Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick, or was that already gone?
Emitt: When I got to NY, it was like a lot of other big cities, dirty, smelly, suburbs, writing on the walls, steam rising up on the ground and people everywhere, above you, below you, everywhere you looked.
Sue: Do you remember the clubs that were happening then in NY?
Emitt: Everything was in the Village, and you’d go into a long rectangular, dark, smoke filled room and sweat for an hour or so and then you’d get drunk and throw things all over the place.
Mike: Were there screaming girls at MGR gigs that ripped your clothes off?
Emitt: (Thinks for a second) Well, yes after you think about it, I guess, they were ripping clothes and grabbing body parts. Hey, that was good! Lots form a band and go on the road! That was great stuff. Ya, they don’t do that at the supermarket anymore.
Sue: Did you ever get up on stage with Jim Morrison, or anybody like that, and do a song together?
Emitt: Oh no, that was kind of like, you’d open up and there’s your dressing room. Everybody gets in the back and they all eat some food and drop some drugs. You’d play around in the dressing room, that kind of stuff.
Sue: Did you ever go to England?
Emitt: OH yeah. I went there and I was surprised. I felt like a real barbarian, a real brute in Briton. I didn’t know how to be English I guess. I started talking like them though, in no time.
Sue: Did you get a lot of McCartney comparisons when the solo stuff came out?
Emitt: Yeah, I did over here. I was the American McCartney. Over there I was the…American McCartney III (laughs).
Mike: They still play “Live” on the radio.
Emitt: Ya, every once in a while somebody calls me up and tells me.
Sue: My band even may record “Live” for our new record.
Emitt: Oo I get to go to the session?
Sue: You were the A&R man for…
Emitt: Elektra-Asylum.
Sue: Who did you sign?
Emitt: I signed a singer-songwriter by the name of Bim (short for Bimbo).
Pooch: You produced that didn’t you?
Emitt: Yeah, I produced a record for him and Dale Kaplan (kinda shyly) and that’s about it. I hung out at a number of sessions and just kinda filled in when whatever was needed at the time. I was an engineer at the time and ran a studio for them. And then I became an A&R person and then I sort of became a producer and got paid more for doing less.
Mike: Did MGT do any television?
Emitt: Sure I did television all over the place. American Bandstand, Hullabaloo show, Shindig, Boss City.
Pooch: Where did you practice?
Emitt: In my parents garage, wherever. I mean, doesn’t everybody start in the garage? I spent my whole life in the garage. I’m in the garage now……
Mike: Where did you guys buy your clothes at? Any special boutiques?
Emitt: Just at the store. I mean where do you go now to buy your clothes? Army/Navy store right? Go down to the end of the street. I go to Pic ’n Save myself. It’s like everyplace was hip, everyplace was mod.
Mike: Will you release any other MGR stuff?
Emitt: I doubt it, not me. I don’t have anything to do with that (family enters). I don’t know. I might use an alias and re-record something.
Pooch: You should put out your old stuff through Rhino, or something.
Emitt: You got the number? Let’s call ‘em up. Let’s get ‘em on the phone! (We tried). What’s the name of your band (to Mike)?
Mike: The 3 O’clock.
Emitt: Is that when you used to get together and rehearse?
Mike: Ya, exactly, such a stute man! How did you come up with the MGR?
Emitt: I don’t remember exactly how. I think it was Russell Show’s idea, and I just kinda said ok.
Mike: Your music is very accessible now, as it was then.
Emitt: well it’s (?) much (?) stuff. Everybody’s doing the same stuff [How true - Ed.]
Pooch: When did “American Dream” come out? Was that your first solo stuff?
Emitt: That was the record I made after the MGR broke up and I just kinda went into the studio and just used anybody that was anybody and made a record. They kind of put them all together, and it never got released until after I’d made my solo record where I played everything (“Emitt Rhodes”), then that was selling, so what you do is put out the other record and try to capitalize on your investment. That’s what A&M did.
Pooch: Then you released “Mirror”?
Emitt: Well let me see, it was the Emitt Rhodes record, the it was “Mirror” then it was “Farewell to Paradise” and by that time it was farewell. I was burnt out, still am.
Sue: Was it drugs?
Emitt: Oh no, it was like I was doing something I liked an awful lot & enjoyed doing, and you can’t stay alone in a garage too long. You go bananas. I’m schizoid. You talk to yourself. You gotta do something else for awhile. I also got married and had kids and all that kind of stuff. That changes you too.
Pooch: Do you ever want to do anything in a band format?
Emitt: Now I want just androids, robots, synthesizers and drum machines. A life synthesis machine! (Laughs) I don’t know.
Sue: What kind of guitar did you play?
Emitt: I had the Gibson 335 that was immortalized on the back of the jacket. We put it up in the burnt down house, next the grand piano that was smoldering.
Pooch: Where was that taken?
Emitt: Oh that was in Bel-Air, somebody was careless, you know, smoking in bed, tsk tsk…
Pooch: That was a great album, I listen to it quite a bit.
Emitt: That’s very nice of you to say. I don’t listen to it at all.
Sue: Do you personally not like what you did back then?
Emitt: Yeah, well I appreciated it for what it was when I was doing it, but it’s not the kind of thing I would want to do now. I enjoyed it then. I had a good time, I was real inspired and real excited about it and it was wonderful turning on the tape machine, running, sitting down, playing your instrument, running back and listening to it. Sticking all those things together and making order out of chaos.
Pooch: Did you do that back here? (Present studio)
Emitt: No. I did that in my parents garage and it was a lot less than what I’ve got in my backyard now.
Pooch: So did you just bring your solo record to the company?
Emitt: Ya, I pretty much had to. Somebody in the A&R department at Dunhill heard it and he came out and listened to the tracks without the vocals and I sang over the tracks. Then we went back and I got a deal for no money and that was that. I was launched into my second career. They could probably make some money off it, because it cost them nothing to buy it.
Pooch: Did they do a lot of push for it?
Emitt: Ya they spent the money that they didn’t spend on acquiring me for promotion, which was better, in fact, in the long run, because more people got to hear of it that way, I guess. It made money, I hear. I never got to see any of it.
Mike: Do you know how much MGR sold?
Emitt: No, I think I’m still paying back the debt. Record companies, what can I say? You never make any money until you own the company.
Pooch: Why did it take so long before you did “Farewell to Paradise”?
Emitt: I got real unhappy. I went into suspension instantaneously. I got a deal where I was supposed to make 2 records (This is my story, right?) a year. It was real hard hanging out in the garage for a year making records, and I seemed to be only able to produce one a year and still live. They started suing me, and I got unhappy about that. It seems like the more successful you are, the more pressure is involved, and I didn’t like that. I had way more fun when it didn’t mean anything, when it was just behaving a good time. When it becomes dollars and cents, then it’s a job. It’s much more fun in the garage.
Pooch: What were some of your favorite moments?
Emitt: I think, the day my children were born. I can’t think of anything else I was more excited about.
Pooch: Not even playing live?
Emitt: Oh no, that’s not that exciting. It’s just kind of nerve wracking.
Mike: Did you do “She’s a Very Lovely Woman” live?
Emitt: Ya I’d do that live. I certainly didn’t do it dead (yuk, yuk). Aren’t we having fun here? Wanna get drunk? I’ve been working on that all day. Ya. I used to take drugs, now I’ve decided my dad was right, alcohol’s much better.
Mike: Do you have any comments of wisdom for musicians out there?
Emitt: Well, life is like fusion, that’s about it, in a nutshell. Just remember that it outs everything in perspective. I read my physics and saw God.
Pooch: While you were in A&R, which bands did you pass on?
Emitt: Well that was your job in A&R, is passing.
Pooch: So why did you get out of it?
Emitt: Oh I was fired. Record companies, they’re a trip just like real life. They had gotten a new head of A&R, and his job was to get rid of all the dead wood and sign as much stuff, spend as much money and have as much fun as he possibly can, before he gets fired. That’s what kind of happened. I went in and told them all the wrong jokes. (Did you hear about the guy who lost his left side? He’s all right now) and…there’s the door. I didn’t take the right kind of drugs.
Pooch: Did you do a lot of drugs?
Emitt: No, I didn’t do a lot of drugs.
Mike: You seemed to be a very nice boy.
Emitt: I was a real nice boy. I was a real American dream. I showered, brushed my teeth. Then I became a bit embittered and disillusioned and jaded by society.
Pooch: Did you tend to get jaded by just staying by yourself and playing, as opposed to going out to the studio with other musicians?
Emitt: No, I think it was everybody coming over that jaded me. “Here smoke this, remember me, we went to kindergarten, we hung out in the playground”.
Pooch: Did you just like being by yourself?
Emitt: I just like being. I like being with people and having a good time. I like nude bars and naked women (nudge nudge) and the Bangles. I love the name. I like it much better than Bangs, even looks better.
Mike: Are you still friends with the guys from MGR?
Emitt: Sure, Gary and I hang out every once in a while.
Pooch: So what kind of stuff are you doing now?
Emitt: Oh, just a lot of drugs (laughs), something we were doing then. I don’t know, trying to get laid (nudge, again). Ya I’ve got all the latest films. “Debbie Does Dallas 1 and 2”. “Taboo 2”…
Sue: Taboo 1 was pretty good.
Emitt: Taboo 1 was the best……… (We then checked out his studio, pretty nice, talked some more, and come back…….)
Emitt: If there’s something you want to say that you hadn’t asked me, just make it up, whatever you like. I’ll say, “Ya, I don’t recall”. Because it’s like that. I love buttons, don’t you love buttons?
