L.A. Story

I went out to L.A. this past weekend to visit some friends. They were going to have a party to allow me to meet some of their single buddies, so I was super excited. Of course after meeting everyone and mingling I made my decision. Turns out the one I liked was the one friend they had to invite to the party but didn’t want me to go out with. He’s cute and a lot of fun to be around, but quite a partier and very much a player. Apparently not relationship material. Oh well.

In happier news, L.A. has an Amoeba Music store. Amoeba is a new & used CD store, and my favorite one is on Haight Street in San Francisco. The great thing about these stores on the West Coast is that music industry people will go there to sell their used discs. A lot of the stuff you find there is out of print, or promotional discs that didn’t get released to the general public.

On this excursion, I found a U.K. promotional single from Courtney Love’s old group Hole. The cd had 2 (two!!!) unreleased songs. Who needs a man when I’ve got super-rare Courtney Love recordings??? I also picked up a Bright Eyes live disc and a free promotional disc by some artist I’d never heard of. All in all, a good spree.

Courtney’s new solo disc, Nobody’s Daughter, was supposed to be released last year, but unfortunately it hasn’t materialized. I’m scared and excited to hear it. Excited because I love Courtney (pun intended) and can’t wait to hear new material from her. Scared because she had sobered up by the time she recorded it. I know that she’s a mother and a human being and that this is the best course for her to live a long and healthy life, but personally I like my rock stars to be f*cked up.

There’s a quote from the British sit-com ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ that goes, “You can’t play rock and roll on a diet of corn, veggie juice, and Linda bloody McCartney’s Tofu Treats.” I couldn’t agree more. Drugs, sex and alcohol don’t make for a long life, but it does make for some great music. Witness Billie Holiday, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Pete Doherty, Amy Winehouse, etc. etc. They all were/are emotional and pharmaceutical train wrecks as people, but made/make great music.

So while as a humanitarian I wish Courtney all the luck in the world as she lives the sober life, the music fan in me is going to be skeptical until I hear the new disc. Hopefully she will prove me wrong and the new disc will be awesome. But if it’s not, I know I’m going to wonder if going straight caused Courtney Love to lose her edge.

Whether it’s romantically or musically, I seem to be drawn to the same type of individual. Someone who is quite a partier, very much a player, and not really relationship material.