Bear's Holiday Gift Ideas...or Everything Oprah Missed!

It’s that time of the year. People have thoughts of sugar plum fairies (ahhhhh what…..) as they try to figure out what is the cool gift to give this year.

I know you probably listened to Oprah or Ellen or some other TV talking head telling you their favorite holiday gift to give this year. The only problem is I can’t afford the gifts they suggest plus I would rather support the Cleveland artists, writers, craftsmen and venues they seem to overlook. (Take that Oprah!)

Well I’m here to give you the ultimate gift ideas (or at least in my eggnog soaked mind) for the rocker in your life.

There’s a lot of books out there about rock but what you need is a book about rock and Cleveland. The best one I’ve come across is John Gorman’s “The Buzzard – Inside The Glory Days Of WMMS And Cleveland Rock Radio”. Simply I love this book. Growing up in Cleveland with WMMS playing in the background of my life, I can relate to and remember many of the stories John tells about the formation of probably the greatest rock station ever created. It was a phenomenon we were a part of as listeners and it is great to get the behind the scenes look at our version or “WKRP”. Click here to buy

Need something to play in the background while reading “The Buzzard”? How about re-living Fridays at 6pm with Murray Sauls “The Get Downs Vol 1”. I mean the original wild man of Cleveland in the 70’s gave us his on the fly rants about politics, music, drugs, karma, work, life, liberty, sex, slavedriver bosses, and every other thing that crossed his fertile mind. Everyone tuned in at 6pm to get the proper start to the weekend. Always remember "We gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta, gotta.....get down, damnit!" Click here to buy

I’ve said it over and over. The only reason to buy the Plain Dealer is Michael Heaton. Plain and simple. Michael has a way of writing that you, me and everyone else can relate to and his book “Truth And Justice For Fun And Profit” is just fun reading. It’s a collection of his best works and as you finish one, you can’t wait to read the next. It’s a book you can’t put down. His view of Cleveland is to say “unique”. Also if you can get your hands on his “The Best Of The Minister Of Culture” it is worth the price of the book for just the story “Black Leather & Love: A Rock Fantasy” about his fantasy of being Mr. Joan Jett. Click here to buy

Looking for something unique or handmade? How about coming out and supporting Cleveland’s local artists at The Last Minute Market on Saturday December 19th from 10am-6pm at the Lake Erie Building at Templar Industrial Park 13000 Athens Ave. Lakewood. Local artists and craftsmen will be showing and selling jewelry, clothing, artwork and some really, really great rock concert posters (okay that’s my booth!). So why bother going to a crowded mall buying the same old run of the mill stuff when you can come by and get something unique and that one of a kind gift. Hey at worst case, you’ll finally get to see what I look like!

Ever walk down the street and see someone wearing a cool t-shirt and wonder where they got it? They probably got it from Psycho Reindeer! They have the wildest and coolest designs you can imagine and they are only $14 with free shipping. C’mon free shipping! Try to get that somewhere else. Click here to visit their website.

Looking to put the ultimate home theater in your house or looking for that audio system that goes “up to 11” or simply need that flat screen installed on the wall so it doesn’t fall off. Then you got to check out the guys at Crave Audio and Video. These guys know their stuff and I’m telling you this as a paying customer! Look it is easy to go to some of these overpriced audio/video specialist stores that are going to push you into something they want to sell you (trust me on this!) or that Best Buy where you got your tv and now what are you going to do as it sits in a box in the middle of your living room. These are good guys where the customer is first. Give Kyle a call at 440-623-5698 for a consultation and tell him Bear sent you. (Ask him about my A7’s!)

Look it is no secret here that my favorite Cleveland musician is Alex Bevan. I’ve been listening to Alex for over 35 years and his music just hits a cord with me and his latest CD “Falls And Angels” continues the tradition. It’s a beautiful CD that finishes off with the haunting “Gunfighter Smile”. Go over to Alex’s website and pick it up and while your there pick up some of his other great CD’s. Click Here to visit the website

Got a real rock and roll fan in your family? I got the perfect gift then. How about a membership to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Never thought of it before, don’t feel bad, it’s just one of those perfect gifts you just never think about. Wow, I got an idea!!!! Instead of going out and buying “Guitar Hero” or “Rock Band” so your child can sit in front of the TV pretending to be a rock legend, why not get them a membership to the Rock Hall in their name. Not only do they get a very cool members only rock and roll t-shirt, a collectable Rock Hall pin but a membership card with their name on it. Think how cool it would be when you take your family to the Rock Hall and your kid pulls out his/her membership card and tells them at the entrance “I’m a member”. Let’s start making a new generation of musicians and teaching them the history of rock and this is a great way to get started. Click Here to go the Rock Hall website

Okay one last gift idea. Just click over to the main website, www.clevelandrockandroll.com and click on the store button and check out the selections of the Cleveland rock concert posters I have available. Janis, Floyd, Stones, Zeppelin, there all there. Go on take a look! Click Here

Wow, okay now the eggnog (spiked of course!) is settling in and I think I might have given you some very cool gift ideas (hey, I have no problem if any of you would like to give me any of them. Just a thought) and you don’t even have to go to the mall and park a mile away and fight the crowds and blah, blah, blah. Okay you get the idea.

This holiday, give a little piece of Cleveland to your rock fan.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Nuff said, least till next time
Peace Out
Bear

The 1st Annual Bear's Book Club or Oprah Who?

I was sitting around the house one day as I often do, flipping thru the television channels trying to find something that would not rot my brain and I came across Oprah hawking some guys book on her Oprah’s Book Club. They say that if you are one of the lucky ones that Oprah reaches down from Mount Olympus and blesses with an appearance in her book club, you have an instant best seller.
I said to myself as I often do, “Bear you could do that. Start your own Bear’s Book Club. You’re as big as Oprah!” Well when I say I am as big as Oprah I don’t really mean as popular or powerful, more on the lines that I think we are within a few lbs. I mean depending on what day of the week it is we are within a Twinkie of each other I believe. That doesn’t say much about either of us!

I decided to start the Annual Bear’s Book Club this Memorial Day weekend to tell all my readers what the great summer reading is around the North Coast. Unlike Oprah, I am going to give shout outs to the local writers. People that live, work and breathe Cleveland. These are some of my favorite writers.

So sit back in your favorite lawn chair, open up a Great Lakes beer, and crack open one of these great books.

First up is John Gorman’s fantastic book on WMMS and Cleveland radio in its heyday, “The Buzzard – Inside The Glory Days Of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio”. I received a copy of the book for Christmas a couple of years back from my kids and I have to tell you, I tore thru it. Every page jumped off the book with memories of growing up in Cleveland in the 70’s and 80’s when it seemed we ruled the music world and WMMS was the sound track of our lives. John does a great job of recapping the historical aspects of Cleveland radio but his insights into the background stories of the bands and how they came thru here and the on air personalities make this book a great read. If you grew up in Cleveland from the late 60’s to the 90’s you know how important WMMS was on the psyche of Clevelanders and this is a definite book for you.

A great companion book to John’s is Carlo Wolff’s “Cleveland Rock And Roll Memories – True Tales Of The Glory Days”. Carlo does a great job going thru each decade from the 50’s until today letting the musicians, DJ’s, promoters and the fans tell the stories of the music scene in Cleveland. Carlo chronicles the radio scene, the concerts, the clubs, and even the record stores from the past. He starts the book in the Alan Freed days of radio and doesn’t miss much on the road thru Cleveland rock history. I especially love the chapter on local Cleveland bands that played the endless circuit of bars in Cleveland. Bands like Pere Ubu, The Numbers Band, Cyrus Erie, Beau Coup from the perspective of the bands themselves and the fans that went to see them.

One of my favorite Cleveland writers is Michael Heaton of the Plain Dealer and really the only reason I still subscribe to the PD. I read Michael’s “The Minister Of Culture” column in the Friday PD religiously as he is able to bring the real Cleveland out each and every week in his own way and he has written a great book “Truth And Justice For Fun And Profit” that has the same wit, style and humor we expect from Michael and it should be as this is a collection of around 40 of Michael’s best published stories. Michael has a way for us to look into all sides of our world whether we like it or not with a truth some of us refuse to see at times but what makes his writing unique is that he is not here to preach to us, instead he writes about “us in a sense” with humor and a cutting wit that makes you laugh and actually take a moment and think about what you just read.

I have been a fan of Derek Hess’s art for a long time especially his concert poster work (anyone out there I am still trying to find a print of his Pink Floyd work, hint, hint) and now Derek has teamed up with Kent Smith to produce a fantastic book “Please God Save Us”. The book is a collection of stories that address a wide variety of topics from The Christian Right, Global Warming, Fake News, SpongeBob and Santa (I loved it), and of course Rock And Roll to name a few. This isn’t exactly “light reading” but it is important reading whether you agree with them or not. With Kent’s words and Derek’s illustrations they have created a book that whether you agree with them or not it will open your mind to new ideas and maybe even inspire a few.

My final author is James Henke and he has written “Marley Legend – An Illustrated Life Of Bob Marley” which is a beautiful book about one of my favorite artists. James is the chief curator of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and a former writer for Rolling Stone both which I am sure helped in putting together this insightful book that chronicles the all too short life of this amazing artist thru words and photos, many I have never seen before. This is an authorized biography and it fully expresses the thoughts of Marley’s Peace and Love message thru the words and photographs from childhood to his death at age 36. Like I said earlier, a beautiful book to read whether you’re a fan of Marley or just a fan of music.

Well that’s it for my 1st Annual Bear’s Book Club selections. I am going to wait on pins and needles to see which book I helped shoot up the New York Time Bestseller List next week. Oh hell, if I get one of you to turn off the TV, to go out and buy one of these great books and support our local writers, then I think I did a pretty good job.
You won’t regret it.

Have a great Memorial Day folks.

Nuff said, till next week
Peace Out
Bear