Most Popular
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An ancient Apollo statue landed in Cleveland and touched off an international outcry
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Joe Cimperman hopes to tear down his former hero, Dennis Kucinich
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Beat Down
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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Everybody Hates Mike
The peril of coaching an icon.
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Secret Valentines Notes from C-Town Celebs
Our I-Team uncovered the private love letters of Cleveland's biggest names. You'll be shocked by what we discovered.
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$100 Bounty on That Kid (19)
Copley-Fairlawn finds a way to keep the impostors out.
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At Indie-Rock Singles Night in Cleveland, an event for hipsters lacks one key ingredient: Hipsters (14)
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Dennis Kucinich’s brave talk about working and fighting — from the safety of the officer’s tent (10)
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Beat Down (3)
Cleveland teachers swap stories of school violence.
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Sour Notes (434)
Underneath its glossy exterior, the Cleveland Orchestra has a dark side. His name is William Preucil.
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Crazy Talk
Miranda Lambert is a lot like any other girl with a soft spot for guns and setting exes on fire.
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The Bravery's New World
New-wave revivalists discover the power of three-chord guitar rock.
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Beer, BBQ, industry schmoozing: Rounding up SXSW 2008’s local delegates
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Keep on Truckin'
Jason Isbell finds life after the Drive-By Truckers.
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It took them 10 years, but the Sadies finally craft a country-rock classic
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A gentle proposal to Cleveland sports fans: Quit bitching and enjoy it
07:29AM 03/10/08 -
In Minnesota, smoking ban no match for local thespians. Why didn’t we think of that?!
07:01AM 03/10/08 -
Joyce Banjac may be Myers University's best hope
05:29AM 03/10/08 -
Akron mom embezzles $12,000 from PTA
05:21AM 03/10/08 -
Dispatch: Either Derek Anderson gets roster bonus in '09, or Quinn fans celebrate
02:49PM 03/07/08
What we are writing about
- Black Sabbath
- Bob Dylan
- classic rock
- Cleveland art
- Cleveland dining hotspots
- Cleveland theater
- family films
- foodie media
- Get religion!
- great video games
- hip-hop
- indie pop
- indie rock
- jazz
- legal eagles
- Metal
- murder & mayhem
- must-see movies
- Neil Young
- Ohio City
- political clap-trap
- Punk
- R&B
- racism
- read your music
- Singer-Songwriter
- sporting life
- urban crime
- weird theater
- white-collar baddies
Recent Articles By Mark Wedel
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Guitar legend Adrian Belew gigs with kids half his age, tries to keep up
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DEVOtional 2007
Saturday, August 25, at the Beachland.
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Stan Ridgway
Celebrating Wall of Voodoo's Call of the West. Tuesday, August 7, at the Beachland.
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Riders in the Sky
Friday, June 1, at the Kent Stage, Kent.
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? & the Mysterians
With Lords of the Highway and Dad of Rock. Saturday, May 19, at the Winchester, Lakewood.
National Features
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Houston Press
"It Was Like an Armageddon Movie"
For days after Hurricane Rita, a Texas prison was hell on earth.
By Chris Vogel -
SF Weekly
The Candidate
Our columnist knows Ralph Nader's running mate all too well.
By Matt Smith -
The Pitch
How Not To Be a Rap Star
First of all, lay off the Ecstasy.
By Nadia Pflaum -
Village Voice
Project Runaway
What becomes a gossip columnist most?
By Michael Musto
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy and the Altamont Boys
With Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival, Blk Tygr, and Miss Firecracker. Saturday, May 19, at the Beachland.
By Mark Wedel
Published: May 16, 2007Even if you've heard it before, "Paralyzed," the Legendary Stardust Cowboy's 1968 hit, will smash your head with rubber-mallet insanity. With its whoopin' 'n' hollerin', guitar abuse, and manic drumming, you might dismiss the tune as gratuitous noise, but then the bugle solo ties it all together -- and pushes it off a cliff.
In a letter to www.stardustcowboy.com, NASA mission controller Terry Watson confessed to employing "Paralyzed" as one of the astronauts' wake-up calls for the 1973 Skylab mission. But due to a flurry of complaints, NASA banned the song from waking further missions.
Those astronauts just weren't crazy enough to enjoy the Ledge (born Norman Carl Odam in Lubbock, Texas, in 1947). But David Bowie loved him and used the Cowboy as an inspiration for Ziggy Stardust. By the '80s, psychobilly and outsider-art fans took notice, affording the Ledge the chance to perform in clubs and not get his guitars smashed by drunk rednecks (which happened on occasion back in the '60s).
The Legendary Stardust Cowboy is now backed by the Altamont Boys, led by Dead Kennedys' western-music weirdo Klaus Flouride.
