Music A-H
Music I-P
Music Q-Z
Music named for or
inspired by Venice
Francisco and His Cosmic Beam
Francisco Lupica interview
Alan Catlin's
Harry Partch poems
What music says "Venice" to me?
Harpers Bizarre The Secret Life Of - The romantic, fanciful numbers, including several standards, are strung together around old-timey radio play interludes, resulting in a gesamptkunstwerk of sonic sunshine. This sounds like I remember Venice feeling in 1969. - Kim Cooper, Scram magazine
Chuck Mangione's album Feels So Good. I don't know why - there's no tangible connection. As far as I know he's not a Venice musician and may never have set foot in the place. It's just an emotional thing. For me, "Maui Waui" captures the feeling of skating beside the ocean at eight in the morning on a gorgeous day. - Pat Hartman
Although the Doors and X are probably the two greatest bands to arise out of Venice, Double Nickels on the Dime by the Minutemen is the essential piece of Venice music to me. Although the Minutemen were from San Pedro, a harbor town to the south, Double Nickels on the Dime, a wonderful double-LP set, released by SST, was recorded in Venice by Ethan James at his studio, Radio Tokyo, for less than two thousand dollars. Jeff Fairbanks, Mary Rogers, Chris Clarke and I recorded an EP, Quiet Sleep, with our post cowpunk band, Western Skies, produced by Greg Davis, in 1986 at Radio Tokyo. Ethan James used to be known as Ralph Burns Kellogg and was the keyboard player in Blue Cheer. The Minutemen specialized in short songs that had a big impact on me. One of the highlights of my Southern California musical career was sharing the bill with them at a great little club in Huntington Beach, Safari Sam¹s. Sam Lanni had a interesting booking policy that placed art over commerce. After this great hang-out was shut down by the Powers That Be in Huntington Beach there was a big gap in entertainment available in Orange County residents. Sam is opening a place in Hollywood, where hopefully there will be less hassle for him. The Minutemen were my favorite southern California punk band; X were my second. As Watt puts it,"I live in pedro. I work the thud staff. I jam econo." 'Truer words have never been spoken. -- Bill Jacobson
When I think of 'Venice Music,' I think of an anything
goes attitude, along with heart and soul. I carried that with me through
every band I have ever been in.
Tom Troccoli
For better or worse the Doors probably own the strongest Venice musical identity for me. (Let's get Jack Daniels to put up a shrine statue for us somewhere on the pavilion. It can be sort of Statue of Liberty-esque, where we could charge tourists to climb up to look outta Jim's eyes or whiskey bottle.) - Chuck Dukowski
Morning Shot by Rip Cronk 1991
(In a review of the movie Blast from the Past) Some of the most momentous songs are "I See The Sun" by the smoky-voiced Tommy Henriksen, whose song acts as great background music for Venice Beach, California. - Cinemagirl
