with
Danny Blitz
by Greenmuse

Danny Blitz - Hollywood
Label: doorslammer
Rating: 

I can�t profess to know anything about Danny previously to receiving this CD, so I cant give you a history on the man and his music. But what I do know is this album is very solid through and through. 

Through the course of the album Danny tells the tale of a Texan who lives in the urban cesspool known as Hollywood, Ca. The musical landscape painted by this album is one populated by supermodels, sleazy agents, hotrods, ex girlfriends, a longing for the earlier part of last century and the lovable Ozzy Osbourne.

Musically, all of the tracks are rock solid with great vocal and guitar work. Most of the songs have almost a rockabilly feel with Chuck Berry-esque solo work. Which is always a good thing. Unlike a pie, there�s no filler here, though oddly the liner notes only have the lyrics for two songs "Hollywood" and "If Ozzy Was My Dad". Of course, "If Ozzy Was My Dad" is quite the standout track of the album, mainly because it�s poking fun at the TV show �The Osbournes.� which definitely needs fun poked at it. Out of the two version I prefer the iron man mix version, during the bridge it slows to the intro of iron man and in the iron man voice the words "I am Kelly Osbourne" can be heard, or at least I think its Kelly's name, it might be Sharon�s name as the voice is hard to understand word for word. I�m also rather fond of the track "the fifth" as its nifty little play on words about a relationship gone bad, and he�s taking the fifth as in the fifth amendment and refusing to incriminate himself, but the fifth also refers to a volume of alcohol as we hear in the chorus, "drink it down to the bottom, I�ll take the fifth".
In a nutshell this album is just great rock n roll. Danny also gets extra points for his nifty 1955 Chevy.

Danny was born in Houston, Texas when he was very young. This did not amaze the doctors.Anyway, he was involved in lots of sports activities that he thought would attract chicks. This did not work as well as he hoped, so he begged his parents for a drum set. His parents were amazingly resistant to his endless whining so he settled for a saxophone.This began the "band dork" phase of his career. 

For those unfamiliar with the term "band dork", it simply means a person who for some unknown reason will spend a tremendous amount of time and energy to doing marching exercises with a sadistic individual called a "band director" while wearing a torture device known as a "band uniform". These kids work very hard only to be referred to as "band dorks" by their fellow students. 

This did not bring the flood of chicks that Danny thought musicians were supposed to have.

The next instrument was a Baldwin console piano. While his parents bought a large supply of earplugs Danny worked very hard to play songs that chicks would dig. Around this time, Mr. Blitz managed to convince his parents to buy him an acoustic guitar. He lied convincingly that he would only play John Denver and Willie Nelson songs on it. Also around this time, Danny lied about his age to begin working at a local restaurant and starting saving his pennies. Soon he had the HOLY GRAIL in his hands! A plywood Electric Guitar and a 10 watt transistor amp!! DISTORTION!! FEEDBACK!! OUT OF TUNE SOLOS!! 

The piano was soon forgotten... 

Now that little Danny had an instrument that would produce the proper testosterone pleasing roar he had to figure out what to do with it. To discover the forces that twisted his musical direction we must backtrack a bit. There were a handful of records from his earliest childhood that had shaped his tastes.

They were: (in no particular order) 
-David Bowie �Changes� compilation
-Hank Williams (Sr.) Greatest Hits
-Buddy Holly's Greatest Hits
-The Everly Brothers' Greatest Hits
-Van Halen 
-Walt Disney's "The Jungle Book" soundtrack
-Bluegrass music blasted out by his West Virginia-born Mother

Danny thought it was perfectly logical to play these style of tunes with a "Van Halen" type of guitar sound. His sound was born kicking and screaming.

This also made it impossible to find musicians to form a band with. All of the budding musicians he knew were listening to progressive rock or metal or some other such stuff. He resigned himself to never being a "real musician".

Eventually Danny found some players that were so weird that nobody else would put up with them, and "The Blitz" was born. 

This was a REALLY STRANGE BAND. For example, at one show Danny insisted on having a bugle solo between EACH SONG. This despite the fact that NO ONE in the band could actually play the bugle.

This was before Danny was the singer in the group. The singer called himself "Mark Ten" and he and Mr. Blitz wrote songs about pirates, girls with questionable sexuality, and the evening news. This version of "The Blitz" consumed a 

GREAT DEAL of beer and destroyed a fairly respectable amount of equipment. Alas, as all weird things must end, this version of the Blitz finally imploded. 

A very, very important event occurred at one of the last shows of the first version of "The Blitz". Danny won a small 4 track recorder. Now armed with his guitar, a borrowed bass, a Radio Shack microphone, and a cheesy "Dr. Rhythm" drum machine, he could realize his pure musical vision! Songs about Elvis and girls who would wouldn't go out with him flowed forth like a discounted 12 pack of Shaefer beer! Another important piece of the puzzle is that Danny had a real talent for staying unemployed.

After a few months of writing lots of wacky tunes about cutting his hair with a chainsaw, Mr. Blitz decided it was time form another band...

Enter "The Blitz" - the sequel. 

Now Danny was the singer, songwriter, and lead guitarist of the band. Another important event occurred at this time. Danny finally heard The Ramones. He realized that he was playing PUNK ROCK!! This may be hard for someone to believe, as the Ramones had been around a LONG TIME. But it is absolutely true.

Now he realized there were A LOT of twisted people out there. And now HE HAD TO SING ABOUT IT!

"The Blitz" performed all over Houston playing mostly Danny's songs and a few covers such as "God Save The Queen" and "Your Cheating Heart". Danny met The Ramones at this time. Anyway, "The Blitz" finally split up and Danny decided to move on�

Touring around the country and brief stays in Nashville and Washington DC finally led Danny to Los Angeles� Hollywood to be exact. YEAH BABY!

Hollywood has been an interesting experience for Danny. Here are some highlights:

Danny signed a contract with MTV and the Osbournes show to use his song �If Ozzy Was My Dad� on Season 2 and the �Osbournes Phenomenon Special�.

The band won the LA Rock War 2000 and attained the title of �Best Live Band In Southern California� Yeeeehaaw!

Danny was nominated for �Songwriter of the Year� in the Los Angeles Music Awards.

Lots of cool press.

Danny has just appeared in his first movie! He plays a high school athlete/greaser in a 50�s romantic comedy. The film entitled �The Trouble With Lou� was a winner at the Slamdance Film Festival and will be released later in 2002.

He has been hanging out with Leif Garrett. He is a nice guy.

That is all for now. If you go to any NHRA Championship Drag Racing events look for Mr. Blitz and his tall hair near the front!