WEINERS, WATERGATE, AND WALLBANGER

If you read cookbooks from the 1970s, you'd think Americans lived on Campbell's soup and weiners back then. Maybe we did. The '70s were kind of the golden age of convenience food, when you could open a few cans, add some weiners, and proudly serve up something called a "bake," "supper" or "delight." And nobody batted an eye. Plus for dessert you could have Screaming Yellow Zonkers, or a good, boozy Harvey Wallbanger Cake, Sock-It-To-Me Cake, or Watergate Pie, which was really not a pie at all but something with pistachio pudding (wha??) and a pecan sandie crust. And nobody cared that everyone was already sauced from the cocktails. It was the SEVENTIES. I've heard this phrase used repeatedly to excuse just about everything from wife-swapping to DDT.

And the cocktails. The glorious, swanky cocktails. My grandmother was single and working for a liquor distributor in the '70s. So she had every cocktail recipe ever invented, plus lots of awesome logo swag like windbreakers, keychains, lamps and toys. We had a life size Johnny Walker Red bottle for a penny bank. A giant, blow-up canoe for the swimming pool that said CUTTY SARK on the side. And an inflatable Tanqueray alligator. She drank whiskey sours and played cards every Thursday. I adored whiskey sours as a child, but I could never understand why they'd ruin it by putting nasty whiskey in it. She used to make the powdered mix for me just with water and let me drink as much as I wanted.

So why don't we throw a party, play some canasta, and pretend that convenience foods, DDT and loads of alcohol aren't going to kill you. What the hell. Sock it to me.

SPAGHETTI FRANKFURTER SUPPER
1/2 cup each chopped celery and onion
2 tablespooons shortening
1 pound frankfurters, sliced
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
6 ounces cooked spaghetti

Cook the celery and onion in the shortening. Add the franks and brown. Add everything else and heat for 15 minutes. Serve over the spaghetti.

BEAN AND WEINER BAKE
for starving he-men

6 hot dog buns
6 weiners, sliced in half lengthwise
1 can condensed bean & bacon soup
1/4 cup ketchup
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish

Preheat the broiler. Separate the buns and put them face-up on a cookie sheet. Put a weiner half on each one. Combine everything else and spread it completely over the tops. Broil until hot.


WATERGATE PIE

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 2 (3 ounce) packages instant pistachio pudding mix
• 3 cups cold milk
• 2 tablespoons maraschino cherries, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. To Make Crust: In a medium bowl combine flour and walnuts. Mix in softened butter or margarine until mixture is smooth. Spread mixture into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until set and lightly browned. Allow to cool.
4. To Make Cream Cheese Layer: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in vanilla extract, powdered sugar, and 1 cup of the whipped topping. Beat until smooth. Spread mixture over baked crust. Chill for 1 hour.
5. To Make Pudding Layer: In a large bowl, whisk together pudding mix and milk. Mix until pudding thickens. Spread over cream cheese layer. Top with remaining whipped topping, and sprinkle with cherries and walnuts. Chill before serving.
   

HARVEY WALLBANGER CAKE

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
• 1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 5 fluid ounces Galliano liqueur
• 2 fluid ounces vodka
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 10 inch tube pan.
2. Combine cake mix and pudding mix in a large bowl. Blend in eggs, vegetable oil, 4 ounces Galliano, 1 ounce vodka, and 4 ounces orange juice. Mix batter until smooth and thick and pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes then remove and place on cooling rack. Spoon glaze over cake while it is still warm.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine the remaining 1 ounce Galliano, 1 ounce vodka, and 1ounce orange juice with the confectioner's sugar and blend until smooth. Spoon glaze over warm cake.

SOCK IT TO ME CAKE
1 package butter cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour one 10-inch tube pan. In large bowl, blend together cake mix, sour cream, oil, 1/4 cup white sugar, water, and eggs. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes. Pour 2/3 of the batter into prepared tube pan. Combine pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon, and sprinkle over batter in pan. Spread remaining batter evenly over filling mixture. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45-55 minutes until the cake springs back when touched lightly. Cool right-side-up in pan about 25 minutes. Mix together confectioners' sugar and milk. Remove cake from pan and drizzle with glaze.

WHISKEY SOUR

2 oz blended whiskey
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tsp powdered sugar
1 cherry
1/2 slice lemon

Shake everything together over ice in a cocktail shaker and strain into a chilled rocks glass. Makes one cocktail.

I Was The Walrus, But Now I Am...Paul?! - by Darin

All are aware who know me even remotely that I'm a big fan of the Beatles (to a fault if you're my spouse), but I never thought they'd ever be a part of my life story. One of the biggest thrills of my life was playing the role of John Lennon on Broadway and working with Yoko Ono in NYC. That all happened because of some homemade tapes I'd made years ago recreating early Beatles hits from scratch all by my lonesome. So It seemed like I had this sort of Lennon connection 'cause I did this dead-on impression of his voice yap yap. But that was yesterday. Today I learned that it's actually Paul.

This story begins in late fall 2004, when Austin rocker Billy Harvey called me about doing some voice overs for his new website. He had this idear of having celebrity guests appear on the site by dialing some phone numbers, and asked me to be the Beatles. So I went upstairs to my loft studio and laid down the best improvised impressions of John, Paul, George and Ringo that I could muster up, and I sent them off (to see and hear them on billyharveymusic.com, find the black phone and dial 999-9091, then click on the Beatles when they appear).

Flash forward to fall 2007. I get a phone call from Ken Scott, a well-known recording engineer who began his career at Abbey Road Studios during the Beatles era. Ken was preparing a multi-media presentation documenting his adventures recording the likes of Bowie, Elton, Supertramp, and of course the Beatles. The show included an anecdote of a session he had done with Paul during the making of the White Album, and to illustrate it he needed someone who could provide Paul's speaking voice. He found me, he said, after a mutual acquaintance sent him to Billy Harvey's website. So, giddy as a 1st grader I sprinted back up to the loft and spent a couple of hours throwing down my best candid McCartney quips and pinged them over to Ken. I didn't hear from him for another six months and wondered if he'd even liked what I'd done enough to consider using any of it. And then today I got this email:

Hi Darin,
I just wanted to drop you a quick line to once again thank you for the McCartney asides you did for me. I've now used them several times and the audiences really seem to like that section of the presentation. I even gave one at a Beatles festival in Amsterdam and the fans really thought it was Paul, so that was wonderful.

Thanks and cheers,
Ken

Well you're quite welcome, Ken. Say, you don't still have a key to Abbey Road, do you?

i fell in love at sammy's on main or the triumphant return of the silver dancers

live photos: aly toups

friday night we played sammy's in houston for the first time. we had a blast! here's an overview... there were pretty girls, a great crowd complete with dancing people, my uncle chuck, a helpful staff, delicious meatloaf, gorgeous bartenders, we played "surrender", we parked on a sidewalk, we hung with friends under the freeway, i got to hold a very pretty girl's hand while i sang a duet with darin, trish and cory brought the thunder even though they were losing a battle in the allergy war, we got to see our old friends from new years eve, benjamin found a new way to mess with me and it really works.

saturday we played a fundraiser for the zachary scott theater in austin. it was sooo much fun. there we dancers painted all silver dancing on little stages everywhere, dance troops on roller skates. i used the wireless microphone to sing to darin from across the room while slow dancing with a silver girl dressed in future clothes. people danced their asses off! benjamin invited 38 people onstage at the end. overall a super-great weekend!!! i can't wait to do it all again.

xo, johnny

HOUSTON WE HAVE NO PROBLEM

We love Houston. We'll be back there this coming Friday night at a place called Sammy's at 2016 Main. Most of us grew up in Houston, and we all have stuff we miss about it. Especially the ethnic food. Well, especially the ethnic anything. Houston is one of those places where when you're in Chinatown all the street signs are in Chinese. And now there's Vietnamese, Korean and all kinds of other Asian boroughs. It's the most international city in Texas and it seems hilarious to even use those two words in the same sentence. But it's true. We love Houston. It's supposed to be a packed show and we hope so. With lots of colorful people.

how it's done in san antonio... the photos!

hello. you read trish's blog... here are the photos.

HOW IT'S DONE IN SAN ANTONIO

We played a gi-normous party at the Argyle, which used to be a giant ranching headquarters but looks like a giant house that Scarlett O'Hara would haunt. The guest of honor was a young woman who'll be crowned as a Duchess at Fiesta, which if you've never been to San Antonio is their high society's version of a private Mardi Gras. It's a big, honkin' deal, and we don't really understand how it works but it means that lots of glamorous parties have to be thrown. Somewhere around 800 people were invited to this one, and there were two bands, us and a 16-piece salsa orchestra who flew in from Miami. They were spectacular. There were tiki huts everywhere, and a huge rowboat filled with flowers hanging over the dance floor.

You never know how people are going to react to Skyrocket!, especially people in formal wear, but in San Antonio nobody stands on ceremony for long. Or high heels either. It was a typical rock and roll throwdown after midnight. Trish had three costume changes and two boys in tuxedos to carry her around during "Material Girl."

The cutest girl at the party was from Victoria, TX and gave a detailed routine about how to work big hair. "I'm from the COAST! Honey, I know how to work the humidity!" She was hilarious. We hope we'll see her again this Friday at Cedar Street.....

SONGS WE LEARNED AT TONIGHT'S REHEARSAL

BOOGIE SHOES
Benjamin looks really, really funny when he sings this.

MATERIAL GIRL
Benjamin really, really wanted Trish to sing this.

MISTY MOUNTAIN HOP
If you already hear the song in your head just from reading the title, you're a Zeppelin fan.

MY KIND OF LOVER
Well, Benjamin loves Billy Squier.

THE BITCH IS BACK
A signature song for Hotchie. Although Darin also channels Elton John well -- he used to have this little Elton John costume he wore around the house as a kid. Kind of a "Rock of the Westies" look.

DO YOU REMEMBER?

What happened to YOU at the last SKYROCKET! show? We can't be the only ones having fun. Or confronting our personal issues. Or having wardrobe malfunctions. We carry duct tape for emergencies, so just ask....

HOW TO HAVE FUN AT A LANDFILL

Just add women with good teeth.

photo courtesy of Pam Blaine, the cute one on the right.

All too frequently our work leads us to strange places. This photo was in fact taken last Saturday night at a landfill just outside the Austin city limits. In true Austin fashion, though, it's not just a landfill. It's also an eco-preserve, exotic game ranch and special event facility. Fashionable-looking people attended, willingly danced to our music, and said they didn't smell anything weird. We had a glamorous 2,000 square-foot luxury cabin all to ourselves as a green room. What band wouldn't want that?

how i ended up in the world's greatest band. by: johnny

in the summer of 1988, i was 19 and i lived in houston. i was the singer of an odd musical project that was started by some jazz and funk musicians called, stranger. the band was only around about 4 months. anyway, we played a gig one night at houston's famed underground club, the axiom. that's where i met benjamin hotchkiss. he still remembers what i was wearing... a madonna "who's that girl" 1986 tour tank top and clown pants. really. maybe he asked me to light his cigarette or something. i don't know.

in the fall of 1988, i started a band called, panjandrum. the original line-up featured a keyboard player named, cliff tipton. cliff was the soundman for a group called, ezra charles and the works. through hanging out at the ezra charles shows, i met their very nice and very good drummer, darin murphy. i don't remember meeting darin, i just knew him. i can't remember if i saw darin's group, manic pop thrill before i met him through cliff, or after. i remember seeing manic pop thrill, at least once, at zelda's (fitzgerald's) in houston. their bass player was a very handsome and nice man named, mike belile. i don't remember meeting mike either, i just know that i liked him.

in 1991, just before i made the move to austin, some of my friends that went to rice university would go to the gingerman (on thursdays, i think) to see trish and darin. i went and i loved it. they were so funny and made such a beautiful sound together. i don't remember meeting trish either. i know i saw them at the pig and whistle and this place called the black forest tavern. they had a great scene going on and i always had fun at a trish and darin show.

in the fall of '91, i moved to austin and started playing around town with a girl named, michelle solberg. sometime in the spring of '92, i was trying to put a new band together and michelle suggested a guitar player. her friend, paul english. i remember meeting paul. he came over and i think i showed him some videos and played him some songs i had just recorded. we didn't end up playing together, but remember seeing him around. benjamin was in austin by then as well. he was in a very popular band then called, the duckhills. they were great.

over the next few years, touring regionally, we would all cross paths. darin moved to austin sometime in '94 and i ended up playing in his band, grover dill, for a while. then trish moved to austin. then mike moved to austin...... i don't remember meeting kyle either. i do remember being in the music lab (a rehearsal complex in austin) parking lot, smoking a cigarrette one day when kyle drove up blaring paul mcartney & wings, "1984". he stopped and stuck his head out the window and excitedly screamed out, "don't you think wings is the greatest band in the world?!?!" i knew we would be great friends after that.

then, one night in 2001, i was at the hole in the wall and i saw darin, benjamin, kyle, paul and mike loading in equipment. i ran up and said hello and asked what they were gonna be doing. darin said, "we're the k-tel hit machine. we're playing a.m. hits from the 70's. you're gonna love it.". and man, i fucking did! i went nuts! i realized they didn't have a keyboard player and suggested they could use me and my rhodes. eventually, darin asked me to play for a gig they had on valentine's day 2002 at antone's. i said yes. BOOM! here i am.