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| steve conte |
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| a near dog death experience | | i almost lost my miniature pinscher ziggy a few months back... | |
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sometimes when we leave my apt to go for a walk I'll just let him out the door with his collar on but not the leash..i always thought what if he ran to the elevator and got in w/ the leash trailing behind him? | |
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so i was taking him out one day w/ collar & leash on and for some reason i dropped the leash and he ran for the elevator while i was fumbling for my keys to lock the door i heard the "ding" of the elevator bell...i yelled "ziggy - no!! come here!!" but he wasn't coming. i ran for the elevator and just as i got there the door was closing with his leash partly still outside the door. i hit the button frantically but then my worst night mare - it started going up...his leash was sucked up under the crack of the elevator door. then my heart sank i heard him yelp a big "owww". oh shit, i thought, that's it, I've killed my beautiful dog, his little neck just snapped, maybe worse. | |
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i saw the elevator light stop 2 floors up so I bolted up the stairs but by the time I got there it was there and gone. I kept picturing my dog lying on the floor of the elevator in god knows what kind of condition, going up, up, up all the way to the penthouse. Every floor I saw go by my heart sank further. i dropped to my knees and prayed "please god, let him be allright, let him be alive" my mind told me it would be a miracle if a little dog survived something like this but i prayed and prayed and tried to tell myself there was a chance. as the elevator came down floor by floor i wondered what people were getting in and what they were seeing...was my dog a lifeless piece of meat by now? | |
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it stopped on almost every floor, not knowing was agonizing. finally the door opened before me and the elevator was full of people but i saw no ziggy on the floor. then at the back i saw a patch of his fur, a woman was holding him in her arms- and he was totally alive and seemed fine. she said she was wondering what he was doing in the elevator by himself and picked him up because she knew he was mine. my god, i checked his neck, felt the bones, squeezed to see if he had any pain but nothing. then i put that leash on him and took him for a walk vowing to never let him out the door on the leash again. | |
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whew! | |
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love that dog. | |
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| | 2 inspiring flims i saw on flight to europe for dolls tour... | | as much as i really wanted to go to sleep on the flight so i wouldn't be jet lagged - i stayed up the whole time watching 2 great music film documentaries. | |
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the 1st was, "where the road bends...tales of a gypsy caravan"- the filming of a tour of Romani music that took place a few years back in the USA, augmented by scenes filmed abroad in the musician's native countries. there were different groups of players/singers, from spain, romania, india, coming from different cultures yet they shared the language and asthetic of gypsy music. it's all about the feeling and the spirt ("duende" as the spanish call it) and is not formally learned. you see their hard lives back home so it's very human as opposed to just a tour film. it would take me an hour to write a whole essay on what happens in the film and how it impacted me but trust this "gadzo" - go see the film and prepared to be inspired. especially by the singer "esme" and the violin player nikolai. the film was championed by johnny depp who makes a short appearance in it and talks about how the culture needs to be better understood and how this music needs to be more widely recognized. it certainly is getting it's due as more & more gypsy bands seem to be popping up these days... | |
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the 2nd film - i had no idea how great it would be. get ready - it was the rolling stones "shine a light", the documentary by martin scorcese...a concert film done at the beacon theater in ny w/ lots of behind the scenes footage and old 60s footage spliced in. the set list list was incredible...lovin cup, as tears go by, she was hot, shattered, loads of surprises. no satisfaction or honky tonk women here. i have always been of the mind that keith is the heart & soul of the stones, which he is of course, but in this film mick jagger is unreal onstage. it's not as if we all haven't known his abilities as one of the best front men in rock history but the way he gives constantly onstage and so graciously had me roaring in my seat. he let jack white sit in with them which was not so amazing but then buddy guy plays with them and man, it had me in tears. anyway, enough of my yackin' -- just go see it.
| | R.I.P. BO DIDDLEY - My Memories of The Man! | | What a guy, what a loss... | |
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I feel lucky that i got to spend some time with the legend in the studio when we were making the New York Dolls record "One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This" back in 2006. On that session Bo played his guitar through a synthesizer that made steel drum and "Seinfeld slap-bass" sounds, told long jokes, and kept offering to buy my 50's airline resonator guitar, which i would not sell (but i did get him to autograph my '59 danelectro guitar!) | |
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Bo kept telling me he had a song for the Dolls to cover - it was called "I'm A Bad Seed". When I went to see him play @ BB King's the next day he announced from the stage "this next song that is gonna be covered by a rock & roll band...and one of them is out there in the audience tonight...." and he performed "Bad Seed", not remembering my name or the name New York Dolls...but he was sure it would happen. Still could...I remember the tune! | |
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i loved him and his music...so many great songs...that signature beat with those maracas shaking...it was kinda like a new orleans "second line" beat but he had his own unique slant on it. some of my favorite songs? | |
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"hey bo diddley" with that tribal groove...it's only one chord but you could listen to it for hours...it just made you wanna dance!! | |
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"pills", of course...the dolls took a song about being sick in the hospital and gave it a different meaning (wink, wink) which was perfect for who they were at that time. syl tells a great story about the original dolls going to see bo play @ a club in long island called "my father's place" and they were all standing right in front of him at the edge of the stage yelling "Pills...do Pills!!!" and bo had them thrown out because he thought they were trying to sell drugs... | |
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so many other songs i love that have been covered and made popular by rock & rollers over the years...."roadrunner"..."can't judge a book by it's cover"..."ride on josephine"..."before you accuse me"..."crackin' up"...."and most of all - "i'm a man", a song so good and unique that the great muddy waters "borrowed" it and retitled it "mannish boy"! | |
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(and i have to mention the intro of "diddley daddy" - a riff so cool that the stones stole it for "19th nervous breakdown"!) | |
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he was a funny man too....if you go to the dolls myspace page you can find the clip of him telling a dirty joke at the dolls recording session... | |
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most of all, Bo was a natural, visceral musician...totally inspiring to me and countless others...i'm glad i got to have an experience or two with him while he was on this earth. | |
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-steve conte | |
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to read Bo's story & obituary the new york times copy & paste this long-ass url into your browser ... | |
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http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Obit-Diddley.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=69973153Q2FQ27dztQ27Q5EeN4TeeaSQ27Q20Q3CeBg.BzQ27Q20Ta4Q27_kDQ3Dt.aDQ22.Q5EQ5EgzQ7CrRaVg | |
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| | more news... |
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| discography |
the contes - bleed together (thunderdog recordings)
crown jewels - bubble & squeak, bootleg rarities (thunderdog recordings)
crown jewels - linoleum, spitshine (thunderdog music)
new york dolls - morrissey presents: the return of the new york dolls, live from royal festival hall (attack/sanctuary)
new york dolls - one day it will please us to remember even this (roadrunner)
adrienne frantz - anomaly (wrong records)
dr. selflove - deuce bigalow: european gigolo soundtrack, SC - better things (sony)
various artists - altogether now: a beatles children's album featuring SC, the bangles, grandaddy & rachel yamagata (little monster)
maceo parker - funk overload (W.A.R.)
peter wolf - fool's parade (mercury records)
billy squier - tell the truth (capitol records)
yoko kanno - cowboy bebop, wolf's rain, brain powerd, song to fly, ghost in the shell (victor)
company of wolves - company of wolves, rhythm & booze (mercury records), steryl spycase, shakers & tamborines (ryf records)
various artists - bigger than the beatles: a beatles tribute (main man records) SC - working class hero
steve conte - turn, turn, turn-(CNR/arcade)
mr. henry - tremolux, jackhammer, 40 watt fade (mighty hudson music)
jessica owen - ever-so-slightly rearranged (sway gypsy records)
better days - leaving the blue (bd records)
pancho's lament - leaving town alive (as you wish music)
slaves of new brunswick - (westwood entertainment)
paul king - joy (epic records)
alex rozum - lost to the street (warner bros.)
drive she said - (music for nations)
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| video |
new york dolls - morrissey presents: the return of the new york dolls, live from royal festival hall
new york dolls - dance like a monkey
new york dolls - gotta get away from tommy
company of wolves - call of the wild, the distance
glen burtnick - follow you
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| equipment |
| guitars: |
gibson - 59 & 60 les paul juniors, 70 les paul custom, 77 ES-335, early 60s melody makers (6 & 12 string), 2005 white les paul supreme, 2006 non-reverse firebird w/ 3 p-90s
fender - 62 stratocaster, 68 telecaster w/B bender, 63 fender VI (6 string bass)
other - 59 danelectro "jimmy page", MSA pedal steel, lap steel
acoustics - martin D-18, gibson J-160E, guild 12 string
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| amplifiers: |
67 marshall "plexi" 100 watt head w/ 70s 4x12 cabinet
62 vox AC30 (non-top boost)
65 blackface fender bandmaster head w/ 2x 12 cabinet
60s ampeg reverb rocket
60s brownface fender princeton
60s sano hi-fi lounge amp
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| effects: |
boss CE-1 chorus ensemble
maestro echoplex
e-bow
colorsound & vox wah-wah pedals
electro harmonix small stone phase shifter
mutron II envelope filter
voodoo lab tremelo pedal
ibanez analog delay pedal
ibanez tube screamer Pedal
boss octaver pedal
boss graphic EQ pedal
sans amp stomp box
jen tonebender pedal
ampeg "scrambler" pedal
seek-wah pedal
digitech "jam man" looping pedal
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| education |
B.A. in jazz guitar performance from rutgers university, NJ (studied with kenny barron, ted dunbar & paul jeffrey)
A.A. in music, brookdale college, NJ
private studies with barry finnerty, dennis sandole, chris spedding, harry leahey and mike santiago
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| other |
| (musical director, televison, touring, recording, songwriting) |
| jill jones (paisley park), glen burtnik (A&M), john waite, chuck berry, the uptown horns, robert gordon, etta James, phoebe snow, dan hartman, charlie midnight, delmar brown & bushrock, jules shear, francesca beghe (SBK), tina arena, bernard "pretty" purdie & the hudson river rats, chynna phillips (EMI), suzi quatro (polydor), blood, sweat & tears, sam moore, taylor dane, david cooper (FNAC), fiona flanagin, shy talk (CBS), the late show with david letterman, late night with conan o'brien, the henry rollins show, the jonathan ross show (UK), the chart show (UK), canal tv (FR), new year's eve 2006 little steven's underground garage, live from hard rock cafe (ESPN), the today show, solid gold, top of the pops, MTV, MTV europe, much music (canada), regis & kathy lee, westwood one radio network and sony worldwide radio network (live) and the uncle floyd show. |
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