5.12.2006
....News! Shows! Free Tunes!!! That's right, you heard me! First off, we have two shows booked comin' up....full on/full band High Action Boys shows!! First off is on the night nobody ever wants to play...the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend...so...naturally...we want it! Friday, May 25th, at the Lakeside Lounge 10 pm......normally, gigs on Fridays at the Lakeside start at 11 pm.....hopefully, we can start earlier for this show, so we can play longer. There's not any venues anymore that really let you 'stretch out'....it's all 45 minutes and you're off. BORING! Hell, not only are we just gettin' warmed up after 45 minutes....it's at that point we're just about remembering who each other are up there!!! Craig's realizing his amp's been off the whole time, Glenn realizes he's not at a samba gig (put your shirt back on and put that funny bongo thingy away!!) and Phil is just arriving, sandwich in pocket. Which leads us to the next show......
As some of you know, Craig's fascination with the Ukulele has put him in the spotlight as the new "Luke (Skywalker) of Uke" (Duke of Uke was already taken, and seeing he always fancied Mark Hamill...) and has formed his present group, The Musical Proverbial Knee Highs http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=152547100 ....recently, Craig had booked them to play on the wide open yet-to-be-booked night of Monday, June 18th at Otto's Shrunken Head in NYC. Craig, being one smart toll house cookie, realized it was your's truly's b-day....now...I wasn't gonna celebrate this year after decades of big bashes...(the one two years ago ended with me using my spinal column as a surf board....riding the waves of my basement stairs....damn cowboy boots....damn Budweiser...) Craig asked if I wanted to do something on that night, and graciously offered up his gig to the High Action Boys.....it's gonna be a hoot. Things are kicking off at 7 (they have a GREAT 2 for 1 Happy Hour there!!!) with The Musical Proverbial Knee Highs, then the High Action Boys (for two hours, including our Question and Answer period, and Request-A-Song!) and then....a BIG surprise band (just waiting for the comfirmation!!!) It's gonna be a dang good time.
Which brings us to this....FREE SONGS!!! Remember when I was taking request for my Kitchen Recordings, way back when? http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=64465503 They're back! I was taking requests from friends and total strangers for cover songs, to be changed every couple of weeks on myspace. The rule was (and still kinda is, with the exception of this one....) I had to learn, record, mix, and post my song (your request) all in one morning, before I even put my pants on. And that's how it was done......this weeks song has a few cheats that I'll admit....it was requested by 'Jen'....and it's a Mike Nesmith sung Monkee's song, ironically written by Michael Martin Murphy of (yes, girls...) "Wildfire" fame. I recorded it the other day, and that was gonna be that...but then Glenn came over to use the studio to practice, and I said "Hey, Glenn, come in here a second (I respectfully HAD put my pants on at this point....) Glenn duly added Shaker and Tambourine....THEN Craig came over after work and added the high harmonies. It's almost a H.A.B.'s song! (Philip was in Myrtle Beach, participating in the Shirley Booth Memorial Golf Classic.....) So check it out, and don't forget to download it!!!! It'll only be up a couple of weeks....and make more requests!!! AND!!! The other freebie you're gonna get is the New Years Eve Live recording of our soon to be classic "If That's Country Music (I'd Like to Know What Country It's From!)" that was recorded during the Patti Smith Shows at the Bowery Ballroom!!! You get to hear me say 'Puh-triotic'...instead of 'Patriotic'!!! See! One for you collectors! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxo see you there, Kiddies! Tom
Tom Clark
http://www.myspace.com/tomclarkandthehighactionboys
Friday, May 25th
Lakeside Lounge
Ave. B between 10th and 11th Sts.
NYC
10pm
Monday, June 18th
Tom's Birthday Debacle
Otto's Shrunken Head
538 14th St.(between Ave. A and Ave. B)
7pm SHARP!
2.15.2006
Hello, good folks! Yep, lame-ass blizzard blowing outside. Hmph. I've got a Ramones snow globe that blows up a more ferocious snowstorm than what we have outside. My radiator has decided to make unbelievably loud bangs, non-stop, all night long. And i need my beauty rest (I'm about 11 years behind on it....) On the upside, Me and my pal Philip are doing one of our old-school duo's at Sidewalk on Friday, Feb. 16th at 9PM, as part of the Winter Anti-Folk Fest....at 9 pm sharparoo! It's free, it's fun, and did i mention free? Check out the video on myspace of me and Philip at the Sidewalk in the 90's doing the Louvin Bros. 'River of Jordan'! Good times...good Christian Holy times...... xoxo tom
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=614500583
Tom and Philip
Sidewalk Cafe
Corner of 6th St. and Ave. A
Friday Feb. 16th, 9 PM Sharp
Free!!
12.7.2006
Well, well, well.....it's that time o' year....ain't it?!!! You know how my Holiday diatribes can go on and on and on...well, i might just spare you this year..but I've only begun to write this, and I have a WHOLE pot of coffee zig-zagging through my system, making me more nervous than a Catholic priest at a junior high wrestling match. Each year, as i put up the little tree Ma Clark lovingly sent me the first year I was in this apartment, 20 Christmas's ago, it gets a little dustier, a little more bent up (uh, I didn't mention that it's not a REAL tree!) and last year, the little string of lights gave out. But when this little fella comes out of the bag, Christmas Time is here! I was just thinking (this is where I lose most of you....'uh oh.....here he goes again.....') of two (out of 4) brothers, Jim and Mitch (the Halloween Nazis!). Days before the fat guy got here (no, not Dom Deluise), they would, literally, map out their Christmas Morning plan. They would draw an actual ROUTE from their beds, down the hall, down the stairs, to the tree. I kid you not. They would set an alarm to go off twice...once, just to go down and "peek" at the cache, then another for the actual attack, which was usually right before sun-up. They would actually test EVERY stair for creakiness, and write down where exactly place their feet on each stair for the desired silence, lest mom should wake. Trust me. You did not want to wake mom....let alone dad. I was not "in" on this, for, apparently, I could not be trusted. So, secretly, I hoped they would tumble down the stairs breaking something on their person, the perfect gift, for me, untrusted little brother. Oldest brother Steve, would sleep through the holidays, waking sometime in April, and little brother Tim was still a tyke, sleeping soundly in his fartsack (what we called his footie pajamas...you figure it out....anything that 'happens' in the night, stays in there til unzipped in the morning.....nuff said) with visions of the Six Million Dollar Man doll in his bowl-haircutted head. I would really love to have one of those maps now, but sadly, they had to be destroyed like all spy maps do. I did just find a mother's day card my brother Mitch made for my Mom, lovingly illustrated with a vacuum cleaner on the front. What can I say, the kid loved his Mom. Well, anyway, that's what I was thinking about this morning. And posted here, is a picture of me, the year we got punching bags, boxing gloves, and a weight set from Uncle Bill. I think I played mostly with the boxes they came in. Obviously. What were they trying to make us?? Buff killers? The oldest kid at that time was NINE!!! "Hey, bro, wanna pump some iron before you go to THIRD GRADE??!! And yes.....the GIG I mentioned in the subject line.....
After our recent Mercury Lounge and Bowery Ballroom successes, I feel the need to "bring it to the peeps, free of charge!" SO, in true Jimmy Stewart Holiday style, I'll be giving a free show for you, and, as an added gift, won't be using those other creeps I'm often seen with onstage. Unless they can do the gig, that is. Craig actually has tickets for the opera. Sissy. It's not over til the fat lady sings, unless you're in the Magic Numbers, then the gig would be over after the first song. (I really like that band, by the way!! They're great!) It's another 'post-happy hour gig. So, go to 2A for the two-fer-one, and at a quarter to 8, scurry up to the Sidewalk Cafe for my 8 O'Clock set!!!
THURSDAY, December 28th, 8 pm, Sidewalk Cafe
Corner of 6th St. and Ave. A, NYC!!
http://www.myspace.com/tomclarkandthehighactionboys
11.29.2006
Tomorrow, Tommorw...we love ya, Tomorrow!!! Enough show tunes, I'll leave those up to Craig.....but it's true. Tomorrow, Thursday,November 30th at the fantabulous Bowery Ballroom. What a hoot this is gonna be!! We are completely jazzed to be sharing the bill with the ever-happening Rhett Miller (of the Old 97's), and his band the Believers, as well as the newly added chap who goes by the name of AM (check out his myspace site, nice songs!) It's gonna be a helluva hooley! Come down and shake the last effects of triptifan out of your body! They don't mess around with the showtimes at the BB, so come early! Doors open at 7, show starts at 8! Wait til you see the new ugly suit I bought for the show, it's shinier than Homer Simpson's head (after he put it in the "Shine-O Ball-O" at the bowling alley.....ahhhhh, never mind. I love that episode...it's too early to come up with "shinier than...." things....ugh. ) And, thanks to Thanksgiving and Anheuser Busch, it's also tighter than......oh...i give up. See you there, you crazy kids!! xoxoxo tom and the boys
Thursday, November 30th
Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St.
212-533-2111
PS: We wanna guarantee that we play there again, so let 'em know at the door who you're there to see!! Don't forget Thanks!!!
11.13.2006
Newsflash!! Just a quick email, expect a longer one later!! We just got the news!! Tom Clark and the High Action Boys will be supporting Rhett Miller of the great Old 97's at the glorious Bowery Ballroom on Thursday, November 30th, at 8:00!!! What a great match up, if i do say so myself!!! check out his music on myspace (his solo stuff is beautiful, and check the live old 97's song he has up....sounds a LOT like the H.A.B.s, don't ya think???) start planning now!! Get your tickets, these bowery shows sell out FAST!!
http://www.myspace.com/rhettmiller
http://www.boweryballroom.com/
10.24.2006
Well, Hello there, everybody. Nice ta see you. Yep. Back again. I just sat down to write you this little note, when my phone rang. My new-fangled cell phone thingy. Now, that in itself is startling, since only about 4 people have that number, and I'm related to half of them. Not recognizing the number, I dared to answer. The nice lady on the other end said "Hi, it's the Riverside Animal Clinic, and I just wanted to remind you that it's time to bring Tuffy back in for a check-up". I thought this was very sweet and thoughtful, especially since it would be hard for Tuffy to say "Yo,I need a check-up". There's one thing though, I don't have any animals. SO, if you know someone with a Tuffy in their lives, pass it on, o.k.? The Tuff-ster would probably appreciate it.
Me and the Boys are charging up our batteries for a "rilly big shoo" at the Fabled Mercury Lounge this Friday!!(the 27th). It's gonna be a pretty sweet night, I'm telling you. DON'T GO HOME AFTER WORK!!!! Since the Merc is a block away from the ever luscious 2A Bar...we booked the EIGHT O'CLOCK slot , and YOU can go dig the 2-fer-1 drinks at 2A before the show. Donovan will be your bartender. Then, y'all just scoot over to the Mercury En Masse (don't be late, kids) and watch us shake our stuff (new song for this show, our loving ode to shitty modern country music called "If That's Country Music (I'd Like To Know What Country It's From)". We're looking forward to playing, and we might even put real strings on Craig's guitar for this show (his guitars are usually strung up with thread, horsehair or fishing line)!! And, we'll let Glenn turn his drums around and actually face the crowd for this one! He's made it through his hazing, and is an official High Action Boy (turns out he actually LIKED the whole paddling thing!! "thank you sir, may i have another!!!") Phil is just happy to still be around, and will be accepting donations. (Don't ask, just give!) So here's the deal:
1) 2A gathering, oh...sometime between 4 and 7:45 for happy hour- 2nd st. and Ave A
2) Drag yourselves/each other (you might have to help jim lorey) to the Mercury Lounge at 217 E. Houston St., NYC
3) Bask in our love (with a hint of Hate) for 50 solid minutes of pure....something.
4) Partay. It's Friday, baby!
Friday, October 27th, '06
8 SHARP! and i mean SHARP! xoxoxxoo t and the HABS! x
8.2.2006
Due to scheduling conflicts, we will NOT be playing at the Lakeside Lounge this Friday (sadly!!!) we WILL be rescheduling the Live Recording! So sorry...we'll miss y'all!! TC and the Boys
5.31.2006
It's here folks. Come down and be obnoxiously part of history. Tom Clark and the High Action Boys, Live at the Lakeside Lounge. The time is set for 11 (we're gonna try to start earlier...I'll let you know!!!) The place will be rockin' and a little crowded, but don't fear, it'll be just like Woodstock! Honest! Less hippies (even BETTER!!!) Bring your blankets and sit outside the windows if ya can't get inside. For this particular show, unlike Woodstock, I WOULD take the brown acid....if I were you. We'll be recording the whole show, and it's a good bang for the buck...FREE! We will be doing some older songs from back in the earlier HAB's days that never saw light of vinyl, so you might not know a few of these, or , you old timers might dig hearing 'em again, and, finally get to own em on a slab of plastic! It's gonna be quite an interesting cross section of HAB'S classics, newies, standards, (ahhhh, the cheek......) Please make this a special night out and spend it with us. If all goes well, you should have this sweaty piece of musical mirror in your grimy little hands within a month!! (see.....in the biz....this is called a 'buffer'....something to package and sell you folks whilst you await the new studio record!....you know....sell you stuff you already bought before in a different package......just kidding. ) I don't have to tell you when to get there, because fashionably late is the new un-fashionably stupid! Come for the music, stay for the booze!!! We will see you there, good people! Tom and the Boys!
Lakeside Lounge
Ave. A between 10th and 11th Sts.
NY NY
Friday, June 2nd
11pm Sharp
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5.8.2006
Yep....it's been a while...you know...a show without those OTHER guys. The one's that take up all the GOOD spots on stage. The spots where the lights are brighter, better colored, and the beer is always colder in those OTHER spots . The girls are always a little prettier in front of those spots, the sound is a little better and the chance of being electrocuted is almost nil. I want and deserve THOSE spots. So I shall have them . Thursday. My elbows will not be scabbed this night from rubbing up against Philips sharpened headstock on his bass, and Craigs barbwire-wrapped right arm will not be pricking me at 100 mph. Glenn's razor sharp cymbals will not be slicing into my backside like a crazed human -jerky making machine. Free at last, Free at Last , Thank Rod (Stewart, without the Faces) I'm free at last. Well, for one night. Then it's back to all that other stuff.
This Thurday, May 11th, I will be doing a little solo show at The Living Room, 154 Ludlow st. (right below Stanton, next to Piano's) I've arranged for it to be FREE for you. That's the kind of things I do for you, my friends. Believe you me, if I had to do this gig with those other guys, from the other spots onstage, it would NOT be free. It would really really really cost you. I'm just sayin'....that's all....
Oh.... I don't like to get too political or environmental ....but my mom sent me this pic from back home, and you know how when things 'hit home' we really sit up and take notice! This bird flu thing...it's really gotta stop...look at how it's affected Ma Clark's trailer park....so so so sad. xo tom
Thursday, May 11th
The Living Room
154 Ludlow St.
NY NY
10 PM Sharp (come early....how MANY times do I have to stress this!!)
5.2.2006
It's that time of the month again. It makes you cranky. Unreasonable. You cry for no reason at all. You lash out at the ones you love. You feel bloated and agitated. Yep. The High Action Boys are playin' again! That's right. It's the first Friday of May, and we are rarin' to go. Please remind me to turn off my cell phone before we start. Gee, I would hate to interrupt a tender moment with the Death Disco ringtone. Yeah, I got one of those things. I fought it kicking and screaming, but had to give in. I really really wanted one made of wood, with a crank on the side. Like on the Andy Griffith show...Crank crank crank...."Sarah...get me Barney"....to no avail. I couldn't even get one with a party line to save money. Or even a rotary dial! The times they are-a changin'....
This Friday at the Lakeside...10:30....get there early. It's been a real madhouse. We can only play an hour, so it's BANG ZOOM, see ya soon! Remember, it's also the countdown to the recording of our new live album (something to keep you busy while making the other one!)...that'll be at the June show! Oh....it's FREE, too!
Friday, May 5th
Lakeside Lounge
Ave. B between 10th and 11th sts.
NYC 10:30
Free
See you there!!! xo tom
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