IN THIS ISSUE OF COSMIK DEBRIS: Interviews with Dave Alvin of The Blasters, Jim Roll, and porn legend/stand up comedian Ron Jeremy. We begin our series on the abuses suffered by artists at the hands of the record industry. Our farewell to Waylon Jennings had to show his warm, gentle nature, and we decided nothing did that as well as our 1998 interview with him, so we've reprised it in his memory. Plus columns, stacks and stacks of CD and other reviews, and...uh...gee, I guess that's it.

COSMIK RADIO!: We SWEAR there's a new Cosmik Radio just around the corner, as diverse and downright strange as you expect and demand, but in the meantime there's still the one you now have memorized. You just need a RealAudio Player to listen. If you don't have one, go pick one up. Cosmik Radio is just the kind of Net-Only audio that radio station program directors don't want you getting hooked on. So go ahead. Inhale!

MAJOR LABEL MICROSCOPE - Part One: The 7-Year Rule and What Does that Really Mean???. Cosmik Debris begins a series examining the methods used by some major labels to take money from and basically enslave recording artists. The series kicks off with this article by music attorney Dina LaPolt.

THE RETURN OF THE BLASTERS! - It's only gonna be for a little while, but the Alvin Brothers and Co. are taking to the stage for a handful of shows in the Los Angeles area this month in support of their anthology, just released on Rhino. Guitarist and songwriter Dave Alvin took time out from an outrageously busy schedule to talk about it with DJ Johnson.

LISTEN CLOSELY TO JIM ROLL - This singer/songwriter has the writing chops, the singing chops, and the unique distinction of having the endorsement of the literary journal, McSweeney's. With some of his lyrics penned by writers accustomed to writing books, his album, Inhabiting The Ball, is on of the most interesting of the year thus far and is likely to hold that description. Jim stopped to answer some questions for Shaun Dale.

CAN RON JEREMY DO STAND UP? - Porn legend Ron Jeremy is no stranger to mainstream America (and he's pretty well known in many other countries, as well). He's one of the few who have had success in non-porn films and television, though it's not a transition because he's never left the porn industry. There's even a documentary film about his life making the rounds of the film festivals (and doing well), and guess what he's doing now! Stand-up comedy! John Sekerka talked to Ron as part of his Tape Hiss Interviews series.

WAYLON JENNINGS: 1937 - 2002 - There's no way to overstate the importance of Waylon Jennings to the world of country music, or rock music for that matter, but his passing is a loss for more than the music community. This was one hell of a guy. After a brief introduction, you'll find his 1998 Cosmik Debris interview in its entirety here. We decided to do this after several drafts of a farewell article that just didn't capture the warmth of the man the way that interview did. We think you'll understand when you read it.


CD & RECORD REVIEWS - Another pile of CDs teetering too and fro, threatening to crash down on our... RUN!!!!!!

EVERYTHING ELSE IN REVIEW - For all things that don't fit in your CD player.



CLOSET PHILOSOPHY - After years and years of training at the Closet Philosphers Complex in Boulder, Colorado, Rusty Pipes hopes to put it all together in one perfect routine and go for the gold.

PIGSHIT - Gary Pig Gold's memories of those Dave Rave days (and say, Gary, did those Ukraine girls really knock you out?)

COSMIK BLUES - Eric Steiner examines the blues portion of the Grammys and completes his State Of The Blues Address.

MASS APPEAL MADNESS - Jason Thornberry reveals his true love: hip-hop. (Like, big surprise!) But wait, he's got some points to make, so siddown!



CREDITS - The names and e-mail addresses of the people responsible for this thing.

COSMIK RADIO - Want an hour of music that fits the personality of Cosmik Debris Magazine? That's right, Sinatra segues into Megadeth into Peter Tosh into Man Or Astro-Man into... well, you get the picture. It's a little something we like to call Genre Whiplash. Or maybe you're in the mood for a trip into The Fog Machine, our mix of music of the ethereal variety. All you need is a RealAudio player. Come on in.

OUR OWN WEBSITES - Many of the Cosmik Debris writers have websites of their own. We have some links right here.



This month we begin something we've talked about for ages by running the first article in a series about the abuses artists suffer at the hands of major labels. It doesn't stop there. Managers, publishers, and all sorts of people in the music industry take a piece of the pie, usually living well on the money generated by a band that has to share an apartment and live on rice to get by. The abuses are now coming to light, but only in small doses. We hope to bring you a series of articles and interviews from many angles and corners of the business, from artists who have been screwed out of money and even their careers to publicists who went independent because they couldn't stand being part of the team doing the screwing anymore. We'll also offer people on the label side opportunities to write articles. Whatever happens, it should be interesting. Meanwhile, enjoy issue number 81 of Cosmik Debris Magazine.

DJ Johnson
Editor

Did you miss an issue? We now have many of our back issues online, including sound clips and extras. Check out interviews with The Witches, Electric Frankenstein, the Vampire Beach Babes, Jeff Berlin, Curve, Michael Shermer, Steel Pulse, Transglobal Underground, Mark Helm, The Southern Rock All-Stars, Ottmar Liebert, Jason Noble of Shipping News, Phil Vassar, Joel Dorn, Mark Cline of Love Tractor, Texas Terri (of Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones), Mike Keneally, Chris Shinn of Unified Theory, Alley of Wise Monkey Orchestra, Mario Escovedo of The Dragons, The Clarks, Big Ass Truck, Richard Cheese, Paul Krassner, Tony Iommi, Ron Dante...