Ozzfestering Only sissies don't like Ozzy, and The Flash ain't no sissy. He's a hard-rockin', sun-soakin', beer-swillin' American heavy-metal fan, dammit, and the sweaty, besotted, meth-ridden throngs who took over Blockbuster Desert Sky Pavilion for OZZfest '97 last Thursday were beautiful people. Overcome with nostalgia as he reeled past a...
Korean Restaurant, 1414 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, 994-5995. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Dinner, Monday through Wednesday, 5 to 10 p.m. These are the times that try men's Seouls. The Valley's Asian community is growing at a phenomenal rate. Chinese, Japanese, Thai and...
Caffe Boa, 5063 East Elliot, Ahwatukee, 893-3331. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Why do people confuse money with class? Ted Kennedy and Fife Symington, for instance, are both dripping with wealth, acknowledged or not. But...
Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth. Not only because I do not have Lou Gehrig's disease, but because it has been my privilege and pleasure for the last 90 weeks to write the column that you are now reading. All of that will...
It's the teen vengeance fantasy du jour: Scorned by mean-spirited classmates for being "different," a high school misfit flees Arizona for the more tolerant environs of Southern California, blossoms, then finally returns for the 10-year reunion in a triumphant blaze of fashion fabulosity that sets the student body on its...
Radish Restraining Bolt (Mercury) Ben Lee Something to Remember Me By (Grand Royal) Frankie Lymon was 13 when he peaked in 1955 with "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?". Two years later, his career stalled for good, and he was only 25 when he died from a heroin overdose. Lymon's...
They ain't built the CD tower that can hold Joe Myers. Just try slotting any of the Tempe solo guitarist's three homespun releases into your favorite disc organizer with anything resembling ease. It can't be done! First, House With Nine Rooms came in a slim cardboard sleeve. Next, each copy...
Copper Canyon Brewing & Alehouse, 5945 West Ray, Chandler, 705-9700. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Ireland's patron saint had quite a life. Born in Britain, the boy was captured by pirates at age 16 and...
Carol Zraket welcomes visitors to her Scottsdale home with a broad smile and the weary words, "He's in the war room." But before she can turn to call him, her husband, George, appears carrying copies of the faxes, memos, letters, lawsuits and petitions that have been his chief arsenal in...
Gregory's Grill, Papago Plaza, 7049 East McDowell, Scottsdale, 946-8700. Hours: Dinner, Tuesday through Saturday, 5:30 to 10 p.m. It's spring, and I'm in love. And why not? The object of my affection is charming, sophisticated and eager to please. After a thrilling night together, my senses are on edge. I...
Vanessa Daou Slow to Burn (MCA) Virgin Island jazz-pop/dance diva Vanessa Daou and her producer/instrumentalist husband Peter Daou earned the favorable notice of dance-club feminists in 1994 with Zipless, an album that set the poetry and occasionally the voice of Erica Jong to music (the Fear of Flying author is...
John Cale Walking on Locusts (Rykodisc) When John Cale is in his deep and heavy mode, no one in rock 'n' roll is deeper and heavier. His old partner Lou Reed has to dress like a college professor, read his lyrics from a music stand and write dry, boring pieces...
During the opening day of the South by Southwest Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas, where Kim Fowley is still revered and everyone gets a backstage pass for a weekend, Randy Newman sat uncomfortably on a stage in the Austin Convention Center's ballroom. He was there ostensibly to promote...
Crocodile Cafe, 525 South Mill, Tempe, 966-5883. Hours: Lunch and Dinner, Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight. Even though summer vacation is now in full swing, within a few weeks 40,000 ASU students will be drifting into Tempe, gearing up for...
Soundgarden Down on the Upside (A&M) Extract Soundgarden's DNA and you'll see Zeppelin molecules on one helix and Sabbath matter on the other. Keep looking and you'll uncover chunks of MC5 and the Stooges, and bits of the Beatles and Pink Floyd. You'll find, in short, the echoes of pregrunge...
Harvey McElhannon is 65 years old, a tall man with good posture, an open face, a sincere smile and a firm handshake. He is patriotic to a fault, though he'd probably say that no such thing is possible. Hanging on the walls of his office are beautifully framed copies of...
Like two boys at the swimming hole, Kieran Suckling and Peter Galvin pulled off their shorts and tee shirts and jumped feet-first and butt-naked into the coffee-with-cream-colored waters of the San Pedro River just east of Sierra Vista. It had been a hot-desert hike down from the main road. And...
Guided by Voices Under the Bushes Under the Stars (Matador) One listen to Guided by Voices' latest release, Under the Bushes Under the Stars, is convincing proof that GBV is something special. Front man Robert Pollard--a former high school football star and fourth-grade teacher turned general of the Ohio indie...
The Copper Club Restaurant, America West Arena, 201 East Jefferson, Phoenix, 379-7777. Lunch, Monday through Friday, 11a.m. to 2 p.m. Today's quiz: Choose the statement that best describes your downtown-job situation. 1. When you arrive at work, you pull into a parking spot with a) your name on it; b)...
Live Tracks (Freedom) The Derailers Jackpot (Watermelon) These two albums prove that your arms are never too short to shake hands with the upper management of Hillbilly Heaven. How else do you explain the spirit of Buck Owens' majestic late guitarist Don Rich entering the body and fingers of the...
Best Alternative Rock Beat Angels They may look and play like it, but the Beat Angels aren't really under the illusion that it's still 1979. They just don't think rock 'n' roll has gotten any better since then. "The way we look at it, there's this certain spirit that was...
Groupies are a sore subject in the Phantom Surfers' camp. "The only people who want to meet us are overweight record collectors looking for matrix numbers," says bassist Michael Lucas, sighing. "The women who attend our shows have a few drinks and leave. In that respect, surf shows are a...
