Rockin' Totz

CONFESSIONS OF A BUGALOO!

admin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 20:31:53 +0000

We are proud to announce an exclusive interview with John Philpott of the Bugaloos. John lives in France with his wife, and rarely speaks about his past, although he agreed to talk to Rockin’totz in detail!

What kind of music did you listen to as a kid? Did you parents encourage you to play?

As a child, I could not recall listening to much music. I was very energetic, I would be at school, and go out in play. Until my teenage years, I wasn’t that interested in music. My father would play the piano. The songs were very fun to be around and sing along to. In later years, I picked up the drums after seeing Keith Moon and everything changed.

I remember seeing Keith Moon in the early days of The Who. I remember them being one of the loudest bands in England. One concert I went to was in this massive hall filled with people. The sound was so great and I was pretty much deaf two days afterward. It was so fantastic seeing Roger Daltrey, you could almost touch the guy, and he had the habit of swinging his mike right out into the crowd then pulling it back to retrieve it, absolutely amazing.

Keith Moon was always very colorful. I remember the kicking’ drums he had were always so colorful. Remember the song Pictures of Lilly? Yes, that is the one. The drum kit was always different for that one. I eyeballed, in particular, the Premier kit. So after seeing that, I bought my first Premier drum set, but I could never ever be as good as he was. I have a lot of memories of Keith Moon. He lived his life on the edge, it was so sad when he went. I would have loved to have met him. The only link I had with Keith Moon was when I was recording in London. I went to Premier to see if they could lend me a kit. I am the only person to have played the same kit as Keith Moon. I still feel much honored about that, to be linked with Keith Moon in a small way. I literally played drums in my bedroom to records. I was told sometimes to keep the noise down. “Keep it down! Keep it down! Keep it down!”, my parents would say. I got into music more because I wanted to be involve; the fact that I wanted to play drums. I never really considered myself a Rock star; I never really felt the need to be that person. As time I went by I bought some Beatles records and a band called The Thirties. It didn’t inspire me to write, but I wanted to play along to it.

What was the name of your first band?

They were called The Truth. We played a lot of cover songs, basic Rock’n Roll stuff, local gigs in Kent (England), because getting yourself know in London is very difficult. A lot of stars are born out of Kent. Generally, it is a place where a lot of stars go on tour.

Where you acting professionally when you found out about Bugaloos?

At that time, I was doing a lot of local work. I did singing and drumming. I found out in the paper they were looking for four British kids that can actually sing, they held auditions, and it went from there. I got a telegram on my birthday to call a number, and I was on it. There was a huge response for the Courage opening, even people like Phil Collins. One by one, we were asked why we wanted to be a Bugaloo. At the interview, I made them laugh, and the following day I was told I needed to move to London to prepare. It took some preparation before I got to L.A.

Did you have an acting coach?

Yes we did. Her name was Barbra Speaks. We did a lot of preparation to get ready for America.

What was it like landing in L.A.?

It was my first long-haul flight. It was a twelve hours, very long. It was amazing from start to finish. Yeah all four of us were sat together. The flight was very exciting for all of us.The whole thing about touching down in America. I remember when I saw my first palm tree, and the welcoming crowd, the press, all really good and fantastic. It was a total contrast. One of the famous promo shots is us when we got off the plane with coats on because we were not used to the climate.

You guys were created by producers like the Monkees; did you have that kind of similar experience?

The Monkees were huge, a great show, brilliant. We met Davey Jones in America and we used to go see him. When they tried it on their own though, it didn’t happen so much. Going from a production to their own light was difficult for them.

You see, we never really got to do what we wanted to do; go out and play to our fans. We could not actually go out and meet them. I think we never felt like a real band, it was more of a production; recording and promoting. We were desperate for a tour. We did acting, but the main thing was missing was what the kids wanted; that live, musical performance. Everything was there, it came natural, you could understand Caroline and Wayne were actors, but I and John were the musicians. We worked hard to get where we were. It was a wonderful blend. Where they lacked, we helped them, and where we lacked, they helped us.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

admin — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:19:09 +0000

The Tiny Masters of Today have a new album coming out next week and we can’t wait! Anyone who havn’t heard about these Brooklyn based mini-rockers should know that they indeed get it. 14 year old Ivan and 12 year old Ada are super talented and their music is not just for kids.

According to their Myspace page:

Their influences are surprisingly diverse, ranging from the Ramones to Abba, but their inventive writing, arrangements, and playing are uniquely their own. Youth is certainly part of their charm but only to the extent that it contributes to the generally unaffected ambience. Amidst the general youthful exuberance is a refreshingly anti-authoritarian stance which spares nobody, from elementary school cliques to the President of the United States.

here is their web site. Look out for a new album in July!

Fender Hello Kitty Strat!

admin — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:34:14 +0000

Nothing says cute like Hello Kitty, and nothing says rock and roll like a Fender. Put them together and you get a birthday gift guaranteed to put a smile on any girl’s(or boy’s) face. Heck, even Dad may finding himself practicing his power chords on his own Kitty.

This guitar is a must-have for all jr. rockers and their parents. Yes, folks this is a real adult size Fender Strat. Your tyke can now share the Fender heritage with the likes of Hendrix and Clapton. Some other Stratocaster players have included: Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, Dick Dale, David Gilmour, Buddy Guy, Yngwie Malmsteen, Richie Sambora, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

For those of you who want to learn more about Strats check here.

Hello Kitty info can be found here.

To purchase guitar go here.

Floyd Plays Harrison!

admin — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:44:06 +0000

One of our favorite pretend, foam-rubber guitarists is Floyd Pepper from The Electric Mayhem (Kermit’s personal Velvet Underground). Floyd is the lanky one who spent most of his time making sarcastic comments to the like of Miss Piggy, and is known in rock-puppet hood to be a musician’s musician and a pretty mellow fellow.

YES, he was named after Pink Floyd (He is pink) and the Beatles album Sgt. Peppers (notice the left handed bass playing?) Floyd is a homage to classic rock and, although he didn’t get the level of attention as Dr. Teeth or Animal (bassists seldom do), rumor has is he was the true creative force in the band.

Floyd’s face tells the story of Rock and Roll. Don’t his hollow eyes bring to mind many nights on the road with the Electric Mayhem? Animal keeping them up till’ all hours of the night? Floyd does seem to be Animal’s giver. Can you say LITTER BOX?

Floyd was voiced by Muppet pioneer, Jerry Nelson, who is famous for being the first man on the planet to step into a Snuffleupagus costume. He is also known for his close relationship to his mentor, Richard Hunt, and together they were the famous Blue Two Headed Monster.
We will be covering more about the Electric Mayhem and how each member contributed to Puppet-Rock history in the future, stay tuned.

This is a great clip of Floyd playing a cover of the Beatle’s classic, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. He plays guitar in this song, as opposed to bass, and shows an incredible amount of sensitivity with regard to the material.

Lets see if you can keep back the tears.

The first “Girl Power” Band!

admin — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:07:34 +0000

Before Spice Girls there was Josie, Melody and Valerie better known as Josie and the Pussycats. An animated all girl bubble gum band that first aired on CBS in 1970 and was running for 7 long years but it was however re-conceptualized in 1972 as Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space. And who knew that the singing voice of Melody was non-other than Cheryl Ladd that we came to love in Charlie’s Angels.

Minni Monkees!

admin — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:14:54 +0000

I can’t imagine anything cooler than custom Monkees action figures. Check out Mickey, Peter, Davy and Mike! I think they captured Michael Nesmith’s side burns perfectly. They always said the Monkees were made of plastic!

The only thing is, they were never made, they were custom made, in the classic Mego style. The Mego company made rockin action figures in the early 70’s, but the company has been out of business for years. Don’t fear, loyal fans are keeping the dream alive by re-manufacturing them! See the Mego Museum and check out the kind of toys Daddy played with as a kid.

You can read about Mego in this Wikipedia article:

In 1972, The Mego made a landmark deal and secured the licenses to create toys for both National Periodical Publications (later DC Comics) and Marvel Comics. During this time period, Mego released the very first ever comprehensive line of DC and Marvel character action figures and coined the term World’s Greatest Super Heroes! To start the line, Mego introduced Batman, Robin, Aquaman and Superman. But others soon followed. read more.

If we could just get those Mego guys to make some rock themed action figures. Hmm. . .custom Mego/Beatle action figures! While I wait for my birthday you should check out some of our action figures here

Shreddy Van Halen!

admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:48:45 +0000

Watch Yuto Miyazwa pound the frets! This kid is one of the youngest, fastest guitar players the world has ever seen.

I think this clearly shows the Japanese are way ahead of the U.S.A. in terms of mini-shredders. Wake up America! Get your children started early or we will loose our global standing as shredmeisters. While your children are falling asleep in their Cheerios, Yuto has clearly been planning to dominate the world.

According to his MySpace page:

Born February 21, 2000, in Tokyo, Japan, Yuto Miyazawa has been playing guitar since the ripe age of 3. Although he has had a few guitar lessons, the bulk of his expertise comes from truly wanting to play…all the time. Generally, if he is not in school, he has a guitar in his hands. As his videos rack up views on YouTube and Vimeo, and his name is scattered across hundreds of forums and blogs, Yuto Miyazawa is truly the internet’s latest sensation. “

Head Bangers from Argentina!

admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:14:16 +0000

Los Gauchos de Acero rock and they rock hard, covering bands like Iron Maiden, Pantera, Black Sabbath and many more. The three brothers Agustin 11, Martin 12 and Emilio 15 from Argentina became YouTube sensations in 2006. They had submitted a video to a popular TV show in Argentina but were rejected by the producers, their father took matters in his own hands and uploaded it to YouTube and the rest is history. Although these boys are definitely going places we think their little sister is the one to watch!

Beatles For Babies!

admin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:45:31 +0000

Love those Beatles Cartoons!

We discovered these old Beatles cartoons on-line and just had to have them. My 2 1/2 year old son is crazy about them and now knows loads of Beatles songs. The content is very child-friendly, but please be aware that the quality of the DVDs may vary. The copy we purchased was not great, but we enjoy them anyway.

The Beatles cartoon ran from 1965 to 1967 on ABC and a total of 39 episodes were produced. The Beatles themselves wanted nothing to do with the series. Actor, Paul Frees did the voices of John and George, while Lance Percival did the the voices of Paul and Ringo. Supposedly, the band hated their depictions on TV, although it is rumored their stance softened in later years.

We particularly recommend Season 3 (9-10/1967) Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields. This episode contains a fantastic sequence animated to Strawberry Fields. In this episode the band brings color to some lonely orphans. The Beatles actually take to the air and fly over the countryside in a artistic montage of color and sound that should not be missed.

This is the site where they sell hand painted cartoon panels signed by the original artists and directors.

Check out some of our own Beatles related products here.

Bugaloos for You!

admin — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:39:32 +0000

We are hooked on the Bugaloos and how can you not be? Please listen and enjoy.

Here is some info from our friends over at the Bugaloos official site, Tranquility Forest:

The Bugaloos originally hit the airwaves back in 1970, and came from the highly creative minds of Sid and Marty Krofft. The Krofft brothers are well known for providing high quality children’s television in the 1970s. The Bugaloos was the second show in their wide and varied library.

The Bugaloos was a show about four musically-adept, teenaged kids, living in Tranquility Forest, along with their friend, Sparky the Firefly. Tranquility Forest was located about 10 miles outside of Rock City, where Peter Platter spun records at Kook Radio. Rock City was located in Rock Land, which was also the home of Benita Bizarre (nemesis to the Bugaloos), who lived in a huge jukebox, and was forever trying to find a way to get her records played on Kook Radio.

Here is the link to the Bugaloos website.