Pheaturing Boz Boorer

Hey there, welcome to another entry of the Phile. Before we start I have to say sorry. Last entry on Friday I forgot the Mindphuck and most of you told me. I feel so stupid... Mindphuck is pretty much a Phile staple and I have had one on the Phile every entry for a fee years now. I have no idea how I forgot to add one to the last entry. So, I will show it right here and then get on with the monologue.

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. They'll be another one in a few minutes. Now let's see what is going on in the news.  Clinton Foundation Chief Executive Officer Maura Pally admitted yesterday that the charity made mistakes concerning the way it listed government donors on its 2014 tax returns and will be refiling to amend the error. What cannot be amended however is the fact that this opened the door for Hillary Clinton's second scandal of the 2016 election cycle. Expect 30 or 40 more before Christmas.  Chipotle has just become the first major restaurant chain to discontinue the use of GMOs (genetically modified organisms) in its products. This is kind of a bummer, actually. I was a big fan of their Pegasus carnitas.  Apple is rejecting the inclusion of an app called Fart Watch in the iTunes store for its new Apple Watch. The very important app... which connects your iPhone and smart watch to create a sort of high-tech whoopee cushion was rejected because, according to Apple, it "is primarily a fart app" and "we do not accept fart apps on Apple Watch." See, I knew there was a reason to hold off on buying the Apple Watch.  Hip-hop mogul Jay-Z explained during a series of tweets last night that his unpopular and critically panned music streaming service Tidal is actually quite popular and very good. If you've heard otherwise, that's only because, according to the rapper, “There are many big companies that are spending millions on a smear campaign." Jay-Z is probably cursing himself for getting in bed with the Illuminati now.  New research shows that many babies today are watching television, interacting with smart phones and using other electronic devices before they are even able to crawl. More than half of the babies studied had watched TV before the age of one and one-third had manipulated a touch screen. If one of these infants is reading this, please get in contact with me. I need some help getting my photos off my iPhone.  I know you all probably saw this already but the first picture of Jared Leto as The Joker doesn't really look like The Joker.

I knew something was brewing, but this is quite a shock! This is truly The Joker as we've never seen him before. He looks like a super-villain who went on tour with a rock band, specifically the rock band Thirty Seconds To Mars. He looks like a crazy man who hangs out on St. Mark's Place and spins the Astor Place Cube. He's a tattoo artist's dream and a dentist's nightmare. He is Hot Topic on bath salts. It must have taken a lot of work to turn such a pretty face into this haunting portrait of a comic book villain. At least Jack Nicholson had the advantage of already being known for his creep factor, whereas Jared Leto somehow managed to look attractive even as a strung-out meth addict.  But Leto is not the first actor to have tattoo's like this. Remember Ben Affleck's first Batman photo?

Haha.  I am still watching the Star Wars trailer over and over again, and one thing I don't like is the synergy Disney is putting into it. You don't know what I'm talking about? Take a look...

It just doesn't seem right.  So, my girlfriend makes fun of the way I park my car all the time. Well, I'm not the only one who doesn't know how to park. Aladdin parks like an asshole too...

On Friday I showed you a Muppet look-alike. Well, here is another...

You see it, right?  I have to mention this... today's guest Boz Boorer is from England like me. Well, there's some interesting names of streets in England such as this place...

A lotta shit comes out of there. Moving on... You know I live in Florida, right? Well, a lot of strange stuff happens in Florida that happens no where else so that's why I started a pheature called...

There are always risks to sleeping on the job. For one gas station attendant in Oakland Park, FL, those risks include drunk douchebags stealing a cooler full of ice cream. Police identified the man in the video as Dennis Norman. He seems to not care about hiding his face as he notices the clerk sleeping, spits all over the floor, flips off the security camera, wipes his face on his t-shirt, and drags a $2,500 cooler full of ice cream out the door. Police later arrested Norman on grand theft charges, but he's since been released on $1,000 bond. Maybe he paid for it by selling the cooler? There's no way to know. Details on this story are sketchy... about as sketchy as Dennis Norman.

I didn't forget this time. If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. This one is a little bit hard to figure out.

Jayne Meadows
September 27th, 1919 — April 26th, 2015
It Happened to Jane.

This is so bloody cool! Today's guest is an English guitarist and producer most known for his work founding the new wave rockabilly group, The Polecats, and later for his work as a co-writer, guitarist and musical director with Morrissey. He has his own solo album's available on iTunes... "Miss Pearl" and the latest "Some of the Parts." Please welcome to the Phile... Boz Boorer!

Me: Hello, Boz, welcome to the Phile at last. I am a huge fan, you're an amazing guitarist, and it's a pleasure to have you here. How are you?

Boz: I'm not too bad thanks, a little hungover due to the cider I consumed last night.

Me: I have to ask, where did the name Boz come from?

Boz: When I was 10 at school Nick Cregor came up with Bozzy Boy, a week later it was Bozzy and for the rest of my life, Boz.

Me: You should record or go on tour with Boz Scaggs. Have you ever met him?

Boz: No, but I think I have played a gig at his club in San Francisco.

Me: You're from England like me, Boz. What part are you from?

Boz: I was born just outside London in Edgware, Middlesex.

Me: Your band The Polecats were one of my favorite bands in the late 70's as I always loved rockabilly. You must of grew up listening to Eddie and Gene, is that right? My dad was a huge rockabilly fan as well.

Boz: Yes, the influences of The Polecats were many and varied, Eddie and Gene sure, Chuck Berry, glam rock via T.Rex, a teddy boy band from the 70s Crazy Cavan and the Rhythm Rockers and punk bands like the Rezillos and Wire, 999, Generation X and everything really all rolled into one rockin' mess!

Me: When did you start to play the guitar, Boz? At an early age I am guessing.

Boz: I was 12 years old when a mate at school showed me a couple of things on an acoustic in the music room then after that we used to play in the language lab with the teacher there Mr. Wood, he always had a guitar and he let us have gos on it during lunchtime, one of the other lads who attended the lunchtime sessions was Matthew Ashman who played with Adam Ant and Bow Wow Wow.

Me: What make of guitar do you prefer to play the most?

Boz: Telecasters, Martin acoustics, Gretschs.

Me: I am also a fan of Dave Edmunds, who I would love to be on the Phile, but that would never happen. Have you ever worked with him?

Boz: The first tour I ever did in 1980 was supporting Dave Edmunds and Rockpile and he produced The Polecats first album. I bumped into him a couple of years ago at the Stray Cats gig in London, but he didn't seem to recognize me.

Me: Haha. well, you have changed the way you look. I have to show this picture of The Polecats from back then.

Me: At one time you left The Polecats and then rejoined them. Do you guys still do a lot of gigs together?

Boz: Yes, last year we played more shows than ever, a lot of festival type gigs. I left in 80s when I had a band called The Shillelagh Sisters with my wife Lyn on slap bass, the band were managed by Phil, the Polecats' bass player... he was going out with the singer Jacquie who later became the replacement in Bananarama.

Me: You guys came out the same time with The Stray Cats, I am guessing you guys toured together a lot. Were you fans of what they were doing?

Boz: No, we didn't come out at the same time, we had been playing that music for a few years before, we never played on the same bill but after they came over and got all the press it was easier for us to get on, we were knocking at the door but they helped us to break the door down!

Me: One of The Polecats' hits was a cover of David Bowie's "John, I'm Only Dancing." Did you guys ever hear from Bowie on what he thought of that version? I liked it better then the original.

Boz: At the time it was reported in NME that he was seen in Virgin buying some records and that was one he bought, but when I first met him I asked him if he remembered it and he said he didn't.

Me: I am guessing the guys in the band were all Bowie fans.

Boz: We liked a lot of different music and glam rock was certainly one of the musical styles we listened to.

Me: You and I have something in common, Boz, which is a stretch. I worked for Disney for 27 years, and you have a Disney connection. They used The Polecats song "Make A Circuit With Me" for the WALL-E TV trailers. Did you know that was gonna happen? I almost shit myself when I first heard it. Someone at Disney has great taste, apart from me of course. LOL.

Boz: No, we didn't know that was gonna happen, it would have been better if it was in the actual film! Also Bill Nye the Science Guy did a version of' "The More You Ignore Me" and changed the words to a lesson about energy.

Me: He did? Man, I hate Bill Nye. I have to ask you about Morrissey, Boz. You started working for him in the 90s after he left The Smiths, is that right?

Boz: Well, not straight after The Smiths, he did have a few records out as a solo artist before I started working with him.

Me: When did you first meet him, and how did you end up working with him?

Boz: My friend Chas Smash from Madness took me out to lunch with Morrissey and then he invited me to the studio to record "Pregnant for the Last Time."

Me: His music is so different from yours, I don't think of rockabilly when I think of Morrissey. You did write one of my favorite songs of all time "The More That You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get." You've been working with him for a long time, are you guys still gonna work together?

Boz: His music isn't different from mine, his music is my music! Yes, we have just announced some shows in June and July.

Me: You became his musical director, right? What exactly does a musical director do, sir?

Boz: Directs the music! Its my responsibility to arrange the songs and to make sure the band are playing the right parts, the sound on stage is good, the setlist is correct, everything to do with the music basically is my responsibility.

Me: As well as Morrissey, you worked with Jools Holland (another musician I would die to have on the Phile) and Kirsty MacCool. Do you remember where you were when you heard she had drowned? I was a big fan of hers as well. Is there anybody you worked with that you would never work with again, and is there anybody you never worked with but you love to?

Boz: Kirtsy MacColl wasn't drowned, she was hacked in half by a motor boat that was in waters where it shouldn't have been, I was shopping in Chiswick when I got the call from her drummer Dave Ruffy telling me she had died. I've enjoyed most of the people I have played with, and there's loads of people I'd like to work with, for instance Richard Hawley, I think he's great but he is a great guitarist and doesn't need another one!

Me: You're right about Kirsty... my bad. Speaking of working with, you are a brave man, my friend. For awhile you worked with your wives band The Shillelagh Sisters. How did that go? If I was a musician and my wife was, I don't think I could work with her. We would kill each other.

Boz: It was a mostly enjoyable period, we did a lot of great gigs and the records we made were fun.

Me: Boz, you own your own studio called Sere Vista Studios in Portugal. Is that where you live now? I am guessing it's beautiful there.

Boz: Serra Vista Studio is a nice quiet place hidden in the mountains north of Monchique in The Algarve in the south of Portugal... I record bands there when I can last year I made about 10 records with bands over there, bands like Shoot the Image from Canada, The Hot Sprockets from Ireland, the Stringbeans from Finland, The Murdering Tripping Blues from Portugal, Louise Aubrey from New York, and many more.

Me: I have to talk about your solo album's. I loved them and downloaded them from iTunes. I also downloaded "Demolition Man" from the album you were on called "The James Dean of the Dole Queen." You did a duet with Adam Ant on "Miss Peal" which is cool. Did you work with him in the past?

Boz: I co-wrote 10 songs I think on Adam's album "Wonderful" in 1992 and we toured in America, I've just started playing and writing with him again.

Me: "Miss Pearl" was named after one of your daughters, right? Did your other daughter get jealous and want an album named after her? Oh, wait, was your daughter named after the album?

Boz: My youngest daughter is called Pearl, and that song is a cover of an old unreleased sun records tune by Jimmy Wages, my eldest daughter is Billie Rose, she's not jealous, she got to be in the video for "The More You Ignore Me."

Me: Are there any new projects you are working on that you can tell the readers of the Phile about?

Boz: Well, Morrissey is about to do some more shows, I'm producing a band called the Nu Niles from Spain next week in Portugal... there's always something going on.

Me: Boz, thanks so much for being here on the Phile, you are a rockabilly legend. Go ahead and plug your website and anything else you want to. This was a great honor, and I hope you can come back again one day. Thanks again, sir.

Boz: Cheers. Facebook.com/BozBoorer.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thnaks to Boz... who probably thinks I am the dumbest interviewer ever. Haha. Anyway, the Phile will be back next Sunday with singer Brett Ryan Stewart. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye.

Not if it pleases me. No, you can't stop me, not if it pleases me. - Graham Parker