Country Music Coolness: Dime Box CD

<Autumn: We have a shiny new toy here.
Cindy: It's called Dime Box.
A: It's not really a box.
C: But it came in a box.
A: A special box. All the way from Los Angeles.
C: That's so far!
A: A mystical place.
C: My sister lives there.
A: Rather than tell you how cool Dime Box is...
C: We think you should go here...

CD Review: Dime Box - Five and Dime Waltz

A: From Wednesday Week to this.
C: Johnny Cash would be proud.
A: Johnny Cash is proud.

Cat - the Sugarcubes

Cindy Jacobson, Leather Trio Productions: There's a really cool song on the Sugarcubes' Life's Too Good CD called "Cat." The song scratches and jumps just like a mischievous kitten. Although it's sung in Icelandic I know what it's about cause I read an interview once where Björk, the Sugarcubes' singer, tells the story of the song. I'm not going to give it away though, cause I want it to be like a secret. I've always been strangely curious about cats, but I've never owned one. There's this really cool cat that lives somewhere in the Haight near where I work. He's black with yellow eyes, but his eyes and fur seem to change color in different shades of light.

In the Sugarcubes song the girl has what I would call a cat fetish. But she channels it in a rather unusual way. This is what I'm not giving away. Pretty sly of me, huh? I always thought that cats have a people fetish. Autumn says cats do whatever they like. But they attach themselves to people in very odd relationships. The black cat in the Haight always greets me when I get off work. He just stares at me and gives me a sweet meow and then I ride off on my motorcycle. I don't even know his name or where he lives, but we've become friends. Even on nights when I work late he's there waiting. Like he knows.

There are some days when I take the bus and after work I'll walk up the street to the bus stop and the cat will be there waiting around the corner, watching for me. So strange. I love cats. They move like the fog. They think they know you. They know they're cooler than you. I don't think I'll ever get one of my own, although in a way I sort of have one. And I don't think I'm going to tell you what the Sugarcubes song is about cause it's so very strange and such a sly secret. And if you really like cats you probably wouldn't want to know anyway.

originally published in:
Album Network, June 24, 1988
The Blind Armadillo (Oklahoma City fanzine), issue 11, Spring 1989

Ramones!!

Cindy Jacobson/Autumn Meredith, Leather Trio Productions.

Cindy: We found out if you say f**k in the Album Network they'll put cute little stars after the "f." Album Network is PG-13.
Autumn: We thought it was R. We're sorry. Now we've been trying to think up all sorts of badness we can sneak in here and get past the star placer.
C: Like my boyfriend Billy has this one fetish where he'll...
A: Gross, Cindy! Don't tell them stuff like that.
C: Really girls, give me a call. I squirm in ecstasy.
A: This Crusade is supposed to be about the Ramones. If all you're gonna talk about is your pervert boyfriend, I'm leaving.
C: They're going to edit this anyway.
A: Me and Cindy met in the 9th grade. One of the first things we did together was go see the Ramones.
C: Everyone danced and sweated like mad all night. Except Autumn who stood up by the stage and watched them.
A: Johnny Ramone kept throwing guitar picks at me.
C: Like she had been chosen as his special groupie or something.
A: I was only 15. I didn't care about his stupid guitar picks. I just let them bounce off me and fall to the floor. All these kids were scrambling around for them. It was so cute.
C: The Ramones played so fast and loud I couldn't even tell the songs apart. And if Dee Dee hadn't yelled...
A: One, two, three, four!
C: ...between each one, I wouldn't have been able to tell where one song ended and the next began. We had so much fun.
A: Now you can have the same kind of fun with Ramones Mania, a frolicking two record set packed with all the hits.
C: On Sire!
A: So everyone call Howie Klein.
C: Or dash on down to your favorite record store. Have your Visa card ready.
A: You yuppies can use your American Express.
C: I think we're in trouble now.
A: Pretty typical for us. At least we didn't say f*ck.
C: Or there would've been stars all over this Crusade.
A: Play the Ramones!
C: Loud.
A: Fast.
C: And young.

June 17, 1988, Album Network

RIP: Joey Ramone (1951-2001); Dee Dee Ramone (1951-2002); Johnny Ramone (1948-2004); only the drummers remain...

OU812 - Van Halen

Autumn Meredith, Leather Trio Productions. This is my first "solo" Crusade, so don't laugh if it comes out stupid, ok? Cindy's always giving me shit cause I was sort of a tomboy when I was growing up. So unlike most girls, I know something about boy stuff. Lately my boyfriend Cliff has been telling me that the new Van Halen album is the greatest thing to happen to rock music since Metallica did a Killing Joke cover. I was only ten when the first Van Halen album came out so I sorta missed all that fuss. But there was this boy across the street who I grew up with. We used to throw the football around when we were kids. When I was in high school we saw Van Halen on their 1984 tour. I thought David Lee Roth was a penis brain, but Eddie Van Halen, now he was pretty cool. And it was so cute seeing all those boys in denim jackets stand on their seats and chant, "Eddie! Eddie!"

So I borrowed Cliff's copy of OU812. There's some really good songs on this album like "Mine All Mine" and "Finish What Ya Started," which are both totally pop. These guys even get real mushy on "When It's Love." And of course there's Eddie's guitar making love to Valerie Bertinelli all over the place. OU812 is no Jesus and Mary Chain album, but it gets the Autumn stamp of approval. Just don't tell Cindy, ok?

June 10, 1988, Album Network

Rice Burners in LA

"...One last thing: check out the live version of 'Taste of Cindy' from the B-Side of the new Jesus and Mary Chain single. They wrote the song about Cindy Jacobson of Leather Trio Productions." -David "Ikky Bop" Sadof, KLOL (Album Network, May 13, 1988)

Cindy Jacobson Leather Trio Productions. Besides my sister I don't know too many people who live in Los Angeles. But the last time I went there I met Colleen, who some of you may know cause she works at that Image Consultants place. She says stuff like, "could you just die?" whenever she gets excited about something. She has the exact same problems with boys that I do. She rides a Honda Rebel and I ride a Honda Shadow, so we've become known as "those two girls on rice burners" whenever I'm in town. Colleen is also the coat check girl at Cathouse which means she knows the inside of the local scene. She keeps me updated about the L.A. underground.

A little while ago we were talking on the phone and I just happened to mention how much I like "Time Forgot You" by Legal Weapon from that Dudes soundtrack. And she said, have you heard their album, Interior Hearts? I didn't even know they had an album, so she sent me a copy. It's totally cool. Then just a few weeks later MCA put out a new Legal Weapon album, Life Sentence to Love (their fourth!) and it's even better. As Autumn would say, "it just crunches." Legal Weapon's lead singer Kat Arthur wears black clothes and has blonde hair, you know, kinda like me. And she sings like she's been there, like she's seen shit. My favorite songs on the album are the slyly seductive single "Hurt" and "SKB (Skateboard)," which is a real poppy song. Colleen likes "Interior Hearts" best. It's the title song of their last album which they re-recorded here. Totally cool. Totally crunching guitars. And the voice of Kat. Could you just die?

Personal to Ikky Bop at KLOL: "...talkin' Cindy to everyone, till she's had her fun." Yeah, they wrote it about me.

May 27, 1988, Album Network

Sidewalking - the Jesus and Mary Chain

Cindy Jacobson and Autumn Meredith. Leather Trio Productions/San Francisco.
Autumn: There's a new Jesus and Mary Chain single out. It's called "Sidewalking." It just crunches.
Cindy: On the B-side there's a live version of "Taste of Cindy," the song they wrote about me.
A: The A-side has loud guitars from William Reid. The kind of crunchy guitars that radio wimps are so afraid of. So cool.
C: Sure "Sidewalking" is great, but the B-side--
A: Cindy, I don't think anyone cares about the B-side. It's an old song. And they didn't write it about you. They've never even met you.
C: They did too write it about me. You're just jealous cause it's not called "Taste of Autumn."
A: I'm not listening to this. "Sidewalking" has sly lyrics, cool mysterious vocals from Jim Reid and a great thumping bass from Douglas Hart. This is their best single ever.
C: With their best B-side ever.
A: Before we go we just have to say one more thing...
C: That Sinead O'Connor sure has cool boots.
A: Doc Martens. Yeah.

Album Network, May 6, 1988
"Sidewalking" is available on 21 Singles by the Jesus and Mary Chain

A Distant Shore - Tracey Thorn

Cindy Jacobson. Leather Trio Productions/San Francisco.
I guess I'm one of those dreamy, beach walking types. Sometimes I'll ride my motorcycle to the Golden Gate Bridge, then go down Lincoln Avenue along the Pacific coast. I'll stop at Baker Beach or that little China Beach, which is always pretty quiet. Whenever I ride down to Carmel, where they have a beautiful beach with white sand, I always stop at this place called Pelican Point. It's near Half Moon Bay. It's not a really incredible beach or anything, but there's hardly ever anyone there. You can stand on a bluff that overlooks the ocean. Ever since I was a little girl I've always liked the sea and fog. Whenever I hear a foghorn out on San Francisco bay I just get all warm and dreamy. It makes me feel, I don't know, my friend Autumn says, "safe." I like that word.

One of my favorite albums is Tracey Thorn's A Distant Shore, which came out in 1982. She expresses so much about the way I feel about being in a relationship. My favorite song is "Seascape" which is the dreamy, long walks on the beach song. I just love the line, "thought I knew the sea and all its secrets too." After A Distant Shore Tracey formed a band called Everything But The Girl with her boyfriend Ben Watt. They have four albums out now. I haven't liked everything they've done, just a few scattered songs here and there. But their new album, Idlewild, is their best so far. On "These Early Days" Tracey sings about the difference between being a small child when you unknowingly live in a world that seems safe (there's that word again) and being an adult when you know better. I know "These Early Days" is sentimental and mushy, but to me it's like hearing a foghorn at night when I'm all alone. It makes me feel safe. Like a child feels with his mother. I like living in a world where we have things like beaches and foghorns and people like Ben and Tracey who can express my feelings in music.

Album Network, April 15, 1988
Tracey Thorn released a great solo album, Out of the Woods, in 2007.