Month: February 2008

Mekons: Work All Week

Thanks for registering for 2strokebuzz. As a bonus to registered 2sb users, we’re relaunchng our quasi-legal “What Rocks Us” music column. We’ll try to post a new song every Monday. Enjoy!

Work All WeekThe Mekons:
“Work All Week”
from Virgin 7″

All my friends know how nuts I am about the Mekons. They’re a band that’s hard to explain, they’ve been around for 30 years, gradually moving from Leeds to Chicago, as bandmates came and went and came back, and they switch styles every few albums (Post-punk, art noise, country, indie rock, country again, sea shanties, electronic disco, more country, disco versions of their greatest hits, etc.). When they play live it all comes together and makes sense, and there’s something there for everyone. Probably my favorite thing about the band is how they temper their highbrow musical, political and literary references with lowbrow boozy self-deprecation and a great sense of humor.

The sleeve for the 7″ of “Work All Week” is a good example of their appropriation and humor, and the song is a good example of their very early post-punk style, basically a sloppier, catchier version of their Leeds neighbors Gang of Four. It’s not their best song, but I chose it because it’s a bit rare (This mp3 was made from the Meek’s third single from 1979, it’s never been released on CD in the U.S.) If you hate this song, don’t write them off, somewhere in their vast repertoire there’s something you’ll like. There’s finally a must-have (import-only, sadly) Greatest hits album, which was always nearly impossible considering all their label-hopping, that’s a great place to start, or pick up “Rock and Roll” or “So Good It Hurts,” both are late-80s masterpieces finally available on CD again.

This post is hidden from the public and search engines, only registered 2sb readers and RSS subscribers can see it. Please right-click to download, don’t overload our bandwidth by playing it online. If you’re somehow related to the existence of this great music (thanks!) and you’re angry we’re posting it (awww!), please let us know and we’ll gladly remove it, but please consider that 2sb and our subscribers love music, and buy a lot of records. We’re not giving away Metallica CDs here, we’re trying to give some exposure to underexposed artists that we love.

Scooter hit-and-run in Denver

We see a lot of scooter accident reports, but this one’s particularly disturbing: A Denver scooterist was struck by a Chevrolet Tracker on Colfax Ave. last night. She was thrown from the bike while the driver continued to drive another block with her scooter trapped under his vehicle. He eventually pulled over, removed evidence from his car, and fled the scene. One report claimed the fleeing driver took the woman’s purse from the scooter and stuffed it in a storm drain.

Optimism for Aprilia USA

Paolo Timoni is feeling good about Aprilia’s future, based on the popularity of the Tuono 1000 R Factory sportbike, but it looks like Aprilia’s biggest growth was in the scooter market. From a Piaggio Group press release:

Aprilia’s U.S. scooter retail unit sales, which rose 56 percent over the 12-month period, were aided by the addition of two models: the newest and most powerful addition to the Scarabeo family, the 500 ie, and the sophisticated, urban-dwelling SportCity 250.

Aprilia scooters are in a tough spot, marketing-wise, They’re expensive, and their Piaggio and Vespa brethren get all the attention from scooter fans while the sportbikes get all the attention from Aprilia fans (and, often, dealers). The situation is further complicated by the Scarabeo line being marketed separately from Aprilia’s other scooters. Scarabeos have their fans, but the SportCity seems to be a pretty good bike that you rarely see on the street.

No Show

3760
A couple people have asked if we’re covering the 2008 Cycle World International Motorcycle Show this weekend at the Stevens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL.. We’re not.

We’ve been there in 2003 (review), 2004 (review), 2006 (review), and 2007 and every year it’s pretty much the same. If you’ve never been, it’ s a good time, but after five years, all the choppers and sportbikes blend together. If anyone is going and wants to write up a story and send some photos, we’d be happy to post it, but we’re going to rest our legs for DealerExpo next weekend.

Surprise!

Welcome to the new 2strokebuzz! There are still a couple quirks we need to work out, but for the most part, things are up and running and looking more or less like we’d hoped. Enjoy the changes and drop us a comment if you see anything goofy or have any suggestions! Thanks for reading 2sb for 12 years, here’s to 12 more!

Bajaj sales down

Following recent news that Italian scooter sales have dropped, Bajaj Auto’s January report shows a 15% drop in two-wheeler sales. More astonishing: In 2000, Bajaj sold close to 800,000 Chetaks, if we’re reading this data correctly, only 1,100 of the 1,66,492 two-wheelers they sold in January are scooters (presumably Kristals, their only current model). All you readers who wonder why we cover Bajaj might have a point. (TradingMarkets.com)

Archive: Ian and Rob, 1996

6644

Ian Whalley and Rob Stuhr, Niagara Rally, 1996

Ian and Rob, the Tundra Schmucks, had already been running the Niagara Rally for a few years when I met them in 1996. Niagara is one of the longest-running rallies in North America, and this year will be the last one Ian will be handling. Sure, it’s the same every year, muddy, cold, and predictable, with a side trip to hand out loonies to Polish strippers at Mints, but that’s the way we like to kick off the North American Rally Season. (Nevermind that every year a few more rallies pop up before Victoria Day Weekend.)