KISS at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, NJ 1976

Nearly 14,000 fans packed into Jersey City’s Roosevelt Stadium for KISS
“KISS: The Lost Concert” DVD is not authorized by Gene Simmons, but that didn’t stop The Sexy Armpit from getting his hands on it. While the KISSology DVD collection included a ton of rare footage, concerts, and videos that I’m glad to own, that series neglected to include many important shows in KISSTORY. One of those shows took place at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey on July 10th, 1976. Fortunately it was “…discovered, restored, and remastered” by Passport Video in 2003 and it’s a must buy for those of you KISS Army members who are also certified New Jersey geeks like me.

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Gene Simmons always mentioned that he had tapes of every KISS show stored in the “KISS Vault.” This may not be true since this “Lost Concert” wasn’t a priority for the band to release to the public, so it is possible that KISS did not have a pristine recording archived of this show. For 34 year old footage, The Lost Concert provides a high quality black and white picture with an excellent audio track. But that’s not the best thing about this DVD, what’s even cooler is that this specific concert is special for other reasons.

On KISS’ “Spirit of ’76” tour, the costumed NYC band was on the verge of becoming permanently embedded into popular culture. It was fitting that they played at Roosevelt Stadium since it was a grand venue for presenting one of KISS’ explosive shows. The stadium, named after Franklin D. Roosevelt, opened in 1937 and was demolished in 1985. There is an elite list of concerts that took place there during it’s existence, and fortunately KISS is on that list. Prior to being KISSED, the stadium was known for holding sporting events ranging from baseball, boxing, and football games, some of which are legendary.

Here’s the set list:
1. Cold Gin
2. Do You Love Me
3. Watchin’ You
4. God of Thunder
5. Flaming Youth
6. Firehouse
7. Black Diamond

The Sexy Armpit’s Guest Post at Strange Kids Club

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The ridiculously awesome blog, Strange Kids Club, invited The Sexy Armpit for a guest post! Click the link below to check it out!
In a short time Strange Kids Club has skyrocketed to the top of everyone’s must read blogs, and for good reason. Following in the elite footsteps of sites like X-Entertainment, and Shawn Robare’s Branded in the ’80s, Strange Kids Club will appeal to all of you nostalgia freaks. Join the man behind the blog, Rondal Scott III, for his “horror infused blog of pop culture retro geekdom.” Thanks Rondal!

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.44: Lois & Clark

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GRANT GENDELL: “Forgive me but we have a few routine security questions to ask you…have you visited a foreign country in the last 7 months?”
LOIS LANE: “Does New Jersey count?”

This line comes from the Season 4 episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman titled “Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark.” The episode originally aired on November 17th, 1996 and features Antonio Sabato Jr. as Deathstroke, a character loosely based on the DC comics assassin, although here, Sabato’s alter ego is Bob Stanford instead of Slade Wilson.

Lois and Clark was merely a stepping stone for Teri Hatcher, but unfortunately it was a career pinnacle for Princeton graduate Dean Cain. The show never matched up to my high expectations and I stopped watching the series after it became an average soap opera which also just so happened to star a major superhero. As crazy as it sounds I enjoyed the often shat upon Superboy TV series much more.

NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 61: Jersey Girl Cola

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The Jersey Girl/Coca-Cola T-Shirt 
available at finer Shop-Rite stores in New Jersey

Is there someone out there who really always wanted a Jersey Girl t-shirt that parodied the Coca-Cola Classic logo? I’d sincerely love to know how many women across the country had this one at the top of their Christmas wish lists last year. Actually, I take that back because there are quite a few collectors of Coca-Cola paraphernalia who would probably hurl me out of the way to get to the rack of these babies. I would imagine that if you are a female obsessed with Coca-Cola, and hail from New Jersey, this mashed up tee is a divine offering.

The New Jersey Steambath

Are you looking for a fun activity to do to your significant other? Well look no further than Urban Dictionary for a potpourri of different options that are sure to spice up any stale relationship.

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I’ve lived in Jersey my whole life and this is the first I’m hearing of the New Jersey Steambath a.k.a The NJ Sauna. Are 15 year olds writing the entries for Urban Dictionary? I really hope Urban Dictionary doesn’t permeate our culture like Wikipedia has or this world is going to straight into the shitter. Have you heard of the NJ Steambath, or am I living under a rock?

Jersey Shore Halloween Costumes

via Costume Craze and Fashionably Geek

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It’s inevitable that you’ll be seeing people at Halloween parties across the country dressing as Snooki, The Situation, and the rest of the Jersey Shore cast this year. Dressing as a member of the Jersey Shore cast is not only fairly easy to pull off, but you’re also guaranteed to get recognized and bothered to take many Facebook photos with party goers, no matter how ridiculous you look.

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You could probably slap together a more authentic costume based on your favorite Jersey Shore character on your own, but for the lazy ones out there, Costume Craze has whipped ’em out for you. The website is offering Snooki, The Situation, and DJ Pauly D costumes in deluxe and lower budget versions. For the cash strapped, you can be The Situation with the purchase of the cheap and easy equivalent of the Tuxedo T-Shirt complete with painted on abs.

I’m not surprised that nobody wants to dress as J-Woww. With that big shot attitude of her’s she’s not exactly inspiring a generation of J-Wowwnabes. Hey, if you really want to be original why don’t you just go as a giant grenade?

NJ T-Shirt Tuesday 60: Bluto and Wimpy

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I grew up knowing him as Brutus, but he’s more commonly known as Bluto. No matter what he’s called I bet he’d fit in quite nicely with the sweaty, juiced up guidos down at the Jersey shore. In today’s first t-shirt, Bluto is pictured begging for you to hit him with your best shot, because he’s from New Jersey and obviously he loves pumping Pat Benatar’s Crimes of Passion CD while cruising up and down Ocean Avenue.

Wimpy is seen on the second tee defying all Popeye comic rules and regulations. Wimpy only eats hamburgers, not pork roll sandwiches! The front of the shirt claims that you can’t get REAL PORK ROLL anywhere else but New Jersey, and for some mysterious reason, that is true. Maybe if he was from Jersey he would be hooked on the previously posted Jersey Burger, that’s the best of both worlds. In the end, that cheapskate wouldn’t last a second in a Jersey diner because they wouldn’t stand for his wily hamburger scams.

For more of Popeye’s adventures in New Jersey check out Volume 45 of NJ T-Shirt Tuesday!

TNA’s Hardcore Justice Reunites Original ECW Crew

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I keep hearing “F*ck You Vince” chants linger in my head. The ferocity and passion of ECW fans fueled that anti-Vince McMahon chant, even though he IS the father of modern day professional wrestling. Why was the crowd audibly burying the Vin-man during the finale of TNA’s Hardcore Justice pay per view on Sunday night? Because Vince refused to give ECW the proper send off they deserved. After WWE consumed ECW they downgraded it into another secondary show. Do you think ECW was going to give up and die that easily? It turns out they didn’t need the name recognition of WWE Superstars, they didn’t need their own ring names or company name, and they didn’t even need their leader Paul Heyman to reign supreme.

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Former co-host of The Sexy Armpit Radio Show, The F.B.I’s Big Sal E. Graziano 
makes his summer residence at The Jersey Shore in Snooki’s pool house

Most of the guys who were called to appear at the TNA event were enthusiastic to relive a night of glory, and you know what? They deserve it. After Vince McMahon made ECW into a generic, stripped down WWE show, it ended the ECW legacy on a strange note. Do you even remember that Ezekial Jackson went out as the last ECW champion? The Abraham Washington Show? WWE Diva Tiffany as GM? It was definitely NOT a fitting send off. Regardless of what some “critics” are saying, Hardcore Justice succeeded. Aside from not hearing Joey Styles call the matches and the absence of Paul Heyman, for fans of ECW, this was a proper reunion.

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TNA wrestler Matt Morgan talked about how he used to be a bouncer at Bar A in Belmar, NJ when they held an ECW show in their volleyball sandpit. “People came by the drones,” Morgan said. Did you mean droves, Matt?

Although playing second fiddle to WWE is not TNA’s mission statement, it’s a title they have been living with for several years now. Dedicating an entire pay per view to ECW was a risky manuever by owner of TNA, Dixie Carter. It was a chance to say “Hey, we’re not only a wrestling company, but we are fans of wrestling history as well.” Even the most superficial fan has to respect that the company handed over the booking for an entire pay per view to Tommy Dreamer and told the rest of their roster to take the night off. Or is it just that TNA was in a paralyzing submission hold desperately reaching for the ratings rope? Whatever their reasoning, I had fun watching the event.

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“Kahoneys” aka Balls Mahoney hails from NUTley, New Jersey

The fact that the ECW guys were reuniting on a show run by a company who is hungry to finally establish themselves lent a more genuine feel as opposed to having Vince throw tons of money at the ECW alums just to have an artificial moment and higher buy rates. In fact, this was almost too genuine. Some of the competitors haven’t missed a step. Seeing The F.B.I cut a rug…I mean a ring mat, hearing that Simon STILL has a problem, Kid Kash’s spring board off the top rope, and the extreme drama of Raven and Tommy Dreamer’s final showdown showed that these guys are still as entertaining and bookable today.

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Raven was born in Short Hills, NJ

The Jersey Burger

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Columbus Farmer’s Market in Columbus, NJ

The Columbus Farmers Market features tons of stores that sell fresh produce, antiques, collectibles, toys, housewares, pets, candy, clothes, jewelry and more. All that shopping will probably make you hungry so naturally there’s plenty of places to eat. During your visit you may want to stop and try The Jersey Burger!

As if reality shows and movies aren’t enough, even hamburger joints have jumped on the Jersey bandwagon. Obviously, this burger ain’t nothin’ compared to the monstrous New Jersey Breakfast, but it’s a nice appetizer in comparison. I would opt for American cheese over Swiss when eating pork roll, but that’s just me.

For the best burger coverage check out my friend Tommy Salami’s blog PluckYouToo.com and Brian and Allison’s Burger Blog at EatinBurgers.com.

Scarlet Carson Quoted The Sexy Armpit!

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Yesterday I spotlighted New York City’s The Dirty Pearls, and today it’s New Jersey’s own Scarlet Carson.  The Dirty Jersey Rock and Rollers were ready to open for KISS, as were The Dirty Pearls, but since Eventful’s contest is clearly predetermined it doesn’t look like that will be happening, even though both bands deserve the shot. The bands at the top of the contest rankings literally came out of nowhere and have double the votes than the other top bands. Most of my friends and concert freaks that I know have never heard of the bands that have taken over the lead for the opening slot at the KISS show on 8/20/10 at PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ.

Scarlet Carson have an ad out in the local music newspaper The Aquarian to help rally some new votes, and in the top left I was stoked to discover that they quoted from The Sexy Armpit’s review of their latest album! To a guy who has been writing since he knew how to hold a pencil, that is quite a high honor and I greatly appreciate them doing that. I remember when Matt from X-E wrote about how his quote was used on The Ghoulies DVD, and I just thought that had to be the coolest thing in the world and indeed it is!

For one of the best rock shows you will see, you MUST check out Scarlet Carson if you are in the area. The Stone Pony will be welcoming Scarlet Carson opening for Skid Row on Saturday August 28th, 2010. Once again, a big thanks to Scarlet Carson for quoting The Sexy Armpit!

Here they are performing “Not So Innocent” 
at 2009’s Bamboozle Festival at The Meadowlands