Photo of the Day

Check out this interview with TooFastJim of The Nebulas in the Boston based webzine Idle Hands Art!

So which Nebula is getting married?

You can now listen to Los Straitjackets on National Public Radio's World Cafe. Follow this link and click on the red Listen button to hear a very interesting interview and some great music!

(Note: This article was originally posted to the Cowabunga Yahoo Group by Wavy aka psychodogger2001 on December 17, 2001. I thought this post was worth saving due to the scarce amount of information on The Fender IV and the great stories Randy tells. I've edited it slightly... - BN)

Alright, a couple of days ago I asked the leader of legendary surf-band Fender IV Randy Holden if he had some fun stories from the sixties (since there`s not very much stories about this band before outside an interview in Goldmine and on the Blue Cheer-webpage). It turned out he had quite some words to share, both about the music and band-life in general. He also said it was ok to share his stories with a bigger audience, so here it is: RAW and UNCENSORED; Days of the Fender IV.

Remember that this band originally hailed from the East-Coast, and moved all the way to California just to hope for a better, guitar music-friendlier crowd than the typical R&B-based stuff that was hot over in Baltimore.

I've put name tags in front of my questions so it`s hopefully gonna be easier to read. I've also tried to sort the topics, and leave out a couple of personal comments (not because they`re so doggone personal, but because they wouldn't make much sense in here). BUT; he jumps a little back and forth here and there, so it wasn't easy to really sort it. Also: this isn't an interview or an article, simply subjective considerations from one person in the year 2001 about something that happened almost 40 years ago. Thus, don't read it too scientifically, but take it for the good clean fun-stories they are. It`s quite massive, so perhaps you should print it out and read it on paper rather than on the screen...just a suggestion.

Here is a repost of the Randy Holden interview we had on the original SG101 site.

Randy Holden was the lead guitar player for the short lived and somewhat obscure mid-sixties surf band "The Fender IV." However, if you were lucky enough to find their music, you were in for a special treat. Randy's playing was powerful and ferocious, with an intensity and mastery that rivaled Dick Dale. The Fender IV's mission was to play loud, clean, and fast, ensuring that no one could follow them on stage. They influenced a number of 3rd wave surf bands as witnessed by the numerous covers of genre defining songs like Mar Gaya, Malibu Run, and the barn burning Everybody Up!

Randy later went on to other bands and notably played and recorded one album with Blue Cheer. He left music for many years and became a skilled artist. He has recently returned to making music. Visit his website and check out samples of his music and artwork. Luckily for us, he has released a CD containing most of the Fender IV's recorded output, including some songs that were never released at the time.