Category: Multimedia

Bajaj sidecar antics, starring POCPhil

Bajaj wheelie!

Rossi is allright, but he’s no Phil Waters, who sent us his tips for scooter sidecar jackassery, in this case featuring a Bajaj/Scooterworks sidecar combo:

  • 3-wheel-skid: “With a 120 lb. rider we achieved full 3 wheel drift with a reasonable amount of control. Note the tire stripes on the entire parking lot.”
  • Stoppie: “We completely “Stoppied” a sidecar rig (with the back tire a foot off the ground).” [no video of this one-2sb]
  • Wheelie: “More dangerous than you’d think– If you try it from a dead stop or anything other than a left-skid it pulls too strong to the right causing you to simply ‘drive around’ the sidecar and nothing goes airborne… but you do end up running into whatever is to the right of you.”

Video from POC’s Avon Lake Ohio City testing ground: clip 1, clip 2, clip 3. (right-click to download)

International Pop Overthrow 5

The fifth annual International Pop Overthrow is currently underway in Chicago. Two great bands featuring Chicago scooterists play Wednesday night at Wise Fool’s Pub (2270 N. Lincoln): Jeff Tudor’s band The Shifties, play at 8:30 and The Sonnets, featuring Vee Sonnet and Mike Durso, headline at 11pm. The festival continues here through May 6, then continues at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where both bands will play later in May.

Revealed: Excerpt from Quadrophenia the Musical

Jimmy:What the bloody hell you doin’?

Postman:We could’ve killed you!

Jimmy: (Singing) Ah, fuckin’ heellllll!
Look what you’ve doooone!
You cuuuunts!

Postman: (chanting) Why didn’t you stop? Why didn’t you stop!

Jimmy: (Singing) You’ve killed me scooter!
Look what you’ve doooone!
Fuck off! Leave it alone!
Get off it! Why don’t you kiiiiilll me?
All of ya! Fuck off! (jazz hands)
(etc.)

Quadrophenia heading for the stage

First there was ABBA’s “Mamma Mia”, then Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” We even have the “Boney M” musical arriving in London’s West End later this year.

However, pretty soon it looks like we will have The Who’s Quadrophenia made into an on stage musical as well.

I wonder if they will have the scooters riding around on the stage?

(note: we just realized the linked story was from 2001… oh well.)

Scoot 2 Go Podcast

scoot2go-av.pngPodcasts, for all their hype, are generally pretty dissapointing, but Scoot 2 Go has a lot in common with 2strokebuzz: Rob, the Australian host, doesn’t have the world’s best speaking voice, his two-year-old regularly distracts him, and what he lacks in scooter-specific knowlege is balanced by, well, the fact that he was bright enough to be the first person to do it. After 7 quality episodes (well, the first is a bit shaky, ha) Rob has become the self-effacing champion of scooter podcasting, and good for him. He covers the same broad range of scooterdom you’ll find here. Newish scooterists will find the show informative and valuable, and oldtimer know-it-alls will just be happy to know that no one expects them to make a podcast now (whew). In any case, the show’s a must for long drives to rallies. Note that the show can be downloaded directly from the Scoot 2 Go site (where Rob helpfully posts links to everything he mentions on the show), from Apple Music Store (it’s free), or many other podcast directories.

Waxon7 Headlines Double Door Thursday

Waxon 7 at Double Door flyerAs any longtime 2strokebuzz reader can tell you, Waxon7 is pretty much the house band of Chicago scooter parties. Abe (the “singer”) leaves his desk at Scooterworks every night to become the Patrick Bateman of Rock and Roll, stripping it down like a Lincoln Park Trixie layered-up in JCrew for a Chicago winter. Guitarist Vee Sonnets crashed my wedding in a red velvet suit. The other guys in the band, well, I’ve never heard them speak, they’re barely human, just some vaguely hispanic mutants Abe brewed up in his crawlspace to help him spread the word. Add some barely-legal go-go dancers and a crowd full of scooterists, and any basement shithole they play is magic. Thursday night just might be their definitive show, they’re headlining the Double Door, the biggest venue they’ve ever played. Cover is $7, or $5 with this flyer, and they’re handing out W7 t-shirts to their fans. Don’t miss it.

Motorcyclist Airbags

I’m not quite sure how much motorcycle airbags would help the chap in the video who is riding a sports bike in a t-shirt, but you can’t help the low levels of common sense in some people. Still, great to see this idea/technology put into practice. Personally, I would forget I’m wearing it, and end up looking much like the Michelin man after I forgot to unhook myself.

What Rocks Us: Stereolab

Super-ElectricStereolab:
“Super-Electric”
from the Black Sessions (French radio?)

Alfredo and I went to see Stereolab last week (thanks Alf!), and while the show was really really great, it was the first time I’d seen them without guitarist/backing vocalist Mary Hansen, who was killed in a bicycle accident in London in 2002. The band bravely and wisely went on without her, replacing most of her vocals with french horn and trombone, which works amazingly well. I only recognized a few songs they played, it was heavy on the newer stuff, which, again, is all very good, but their spiffy professional musicianship now lacks the slacky, noisy indie charm of their first few records, in the same way that today’s Belle and Sebastian just isn’t the same as “Lazy Line Painter Jane.” Both bands have always been tight and densely layered, but both have mellowed out sonically with age.

So in tribute to Mary and the concert last week, here’s a great live version of their first Too Pure single, “Super-Electric,” with Lætitia and Mary on vocals, from French radio circa 1993. It was my favorite Stereolab song until Vina and I decided to get married while “Jenny Ondioline” happened to be playing.

This post is hidden from unregistered readers. It will only be available for one week (Friday to Thursday). Right-click to download, don’t overload our bandwidth by playing it online. If you’re somehow related to the existence of this great song and you’re angry we’re posting it, please let us know and we’ll gladly remove it, but first consider that this is free exposure to a very small group of real music fans who frequently buy records.