Used to tend bar at the Zoo early 80's. So saw him alot. But when i was not and out with friends, we often sat near the front. And, i kid you not, Nancy, a friend of ours, would get a pitch of beer spilled on her every time. We always thought Charlie had picked her out, somehow. Long live 'Breathe for me Presley' and 'Met my baby at a garage sale'. RIP
I wanted to touch base. I saw your column on Charlie Burton. As a member of the Modern Day Scenics, I believe I did my first show with Charlie at the Lift Ticket lounge in 1979. We went on to do several shows with them at Saner's Lounge and the Howard Street Tavern.
When I left the music business to focus on my career, I lost touch with Charlie. But in 2017, we opened a pub / live music venue (Growler USA initially and then renamed to Mars Bar and Grill after we broke away from corporate).
The first time we had Charlie perform in 2017, he was in the middle of the song Rogue Cop when one of our servers said there was someone at a table that wanted to speak with me. I went over and the man immediately launched into a tirade about the song (he was a cop) and suggested he would never be back and would tell everyone he knew to not visit our establishment. I tried to make the free speech argument but they just walked out.
A few Charlie shows later at our place, he and I sat down to catch up a bit and I relayed the story about the cop to him. He was mortified. He apologized up and down and felt bad for hurting our business.
So that night when they played Rogue Cop, he introduced the song by saying that it was just ONE cop, not all cops and that he had many friends that were cops.
We closed down just before Covid closed businesses in Omaha. There is no way we would've survived that anyway. We bled out a bunch fighting corporate when we broke away from the franchise. We won, but were pretty much out of funds ad that point.
You mentioned in your piece that Charlie played a house show during the pandemic. That was our house. We felt bad for the bands that had nowhere to perform and we already had a studio in our basement, so we decided to add cameras and a switcher to stream the bands so they could make a few bucks. (We hosted over 600 shows at our pub in the 3 years it was open and nearly 80 shows from our home during the pandemic).
It was definitely nice seeing your name again and I have fond memories of some of our chats back in the day.
I remember the Modern Day Scenics. I haven't lived in Nebraska since 1986 but family and friends are still there and visit annually. That house concert you did was definitely a highlight of the pandemic for me. I imagine it now stands as a legacy, as his final recorded performance. I wish there was a way to get those final songs out. I have some old tapes of early Rock Therapy shows that are pretty awesome. Thanks for your note.
When I interviewed Charlie for my documentary, he told me what really soured him on writing for Rolling Stone (and music criticism in general) was when he gave Iggy Pop's band, The Stooges, a bad review for their album, "Funhouse." Charlie said everyone at the magazine was upset with him, especially Jann Wenner. Charlie said he learned that Rolling Stone had a policy of never giving certain bands (like The Stooges) a bad review. Later, after being yelled at for his bad review of Boz Scaggs, "Moments," Charlie said he didn't want to write for Rolling Stone or anyone else after that. Sadly, Charlie didn't think anyone still liked (or cared about) his music anymore, even though I tried to convince him otherwise. I wish he could have seen the outpouring of support from all his fans these past few days.
Yeah, it's sad that the acclaim and attention for Charlie now finally comes after he's gone. I have that "Funhouse" review somewhere and it seems to me that it was positive (and didn't he know Iggy at the U of Michigan?). He was a great writer, but also became a great performer/songwriter.
Those live performances at the Lift Ticket and the Zoo Bar!!! I think you’ve captured how so many of us felt about Charlie and are wondering at why he wasn’t a huge success.
Used to tend bar at the Zoo early 80's. So saw him alot. But when i was not and out with friends, we often sat near the front. And, i kid you not, Nancy, a friend of ours, would get a pitch of beer spilled on her every time. We always thought Charlie had picked her out, somehow. Long live 'Breathe for me Presley' and 'Met my baby at a garage sale'. RIP
I definitely remember having to hold onto my beer whenever he started climbing on those rickety Howard Street tables.
Roger,
I wanted to touch base. I saw your column on Charlie Burton. As a member of the Modern Day Scenics, I believe I did my first show with Charlie at the Lift Ticket lounge in 1979. We went on to do several shows with them at Saner's Lounge and the Howard Street Tavern.
When I left the music business to focus on my career, I lost touch with Charlie. But in 2017, we opened a pub / live music venue (Growler USA initially and then renamed to Mars Bar and Grill after we broke away from corporate).
The first time we had Charlie perform in 2017, he was in the middle of the song Rogue Cop when one of our servers said there was someone at a table that wanted to speak with me. I went over and the man immediately launched into a tirade about the song (he was a cop) and suggested he would never be back and would tell everyone he knew to not visit our establishment. I tried to make the free speech argument but they just walked out.
A few Charlie shows later at our place, he and I sat down to catch up a bit and I relayed the story about the cop to him. He was mortified. He apologized up and down and felt bad for hurting our business.
So that night when they played Rogue Cop, he introduced the song by saying that it was just ONE cop, not all cops and that he had many friends that were cops.
We closed down just before Covid closed businesses in Omaha. There is no way we would've survived that anyway. We bled out a bunch fighting corporate when we broke away from the franchise. We won, but were pretty much out of funds ad that point.
You mentioned in your piece that Charlie played a house show during the pandemic. That was our house. We felt bad for the bands that had nowhere to perform and we already had a studio in our basement, so we decided to add cameras and a switcher to stream the bands so they could make a few bucks. (We hosted over 600 shows at our pub in the 3 years it was open and nearly 80 shows from our home during the pandemic).
It was definitely nice seeing your name again and I have fond memories of some of our chats back in the day.
Hope all is well,
Brent Malnack
I remember the Modern Day Scenics. I haven't lived in Nebraska since 1986 but family and friends are still there and visit annually. That house concert you did was definitely a highlight of the pandemic for me. I imagine it now stands as a legacy, as his final recorded performance. I wish there was a way to get those final songs out. I have some old tapes of early Rock Therapy shows that are pretty awesome. Thanks for your note.
When I interviewed Charlie for my documentary, he told me what really soured him on writing for Rolling Stone (and music criticism in general) was when he gave Iggy Pop's band, The Stooges, a bad review for their album, "Funhouse." Charlie said everyone at the magazine was upset with him, especially Jann Wenner. Charlie said he learned that Rolling Stone had a policy of never giving certain bands (like The Stooges) a bad review. Later, after being yelled at for his bad review of Boz Scaggs, "Moments," Charlie said he didn't want to write for Rolling Stone or anyone else after that. Sadly, Charlie didn't think anyone still liked (or cared about) his music anymore, even though I tried to convince him otherwise. I wish he could have seen the outpouring of support from all his fans these past few days.
Yeah, it's sad that the acclaim and attention for Charlie now finally comes after he's gone. I have that "Funhouse" review somewhere and it seems to me that it was positive (and didn't he know Iggy at the U of Michigan?). He was a great writer, but also became a great performer/songwriter.
Lots of memories of Charlie, and his rotating bands, here in Austin. Thanks for your writings. Lovely stuff.
Those live performances at the Lift Ticket and the Zoo Bar!!! I think you’ve captured how so many of us felt about Charlie and are wondering at why he wasn’t a huge success.
I must say, I'm not ok with the -2024 just sayin
Agree
Thank you, Roger.