It is always interesting to wonder whom within any given band really influences what sound. Does the bass player want the group to sound like P-Funk, is the guitarist pushing for some Coldplay, the keyboardist hoping to cover Suicide? Often times you never really know the give and take process unless one of the band members leaves the group to pursue other endeavors. This was exactly the case with Colin Johnson, who left the great Minneapolis band Vampire Hands to head to school out West, but has since begun recording music, most recently under the moniker Capricorn Vertical Slum.
While I still wish Vampire Hands would have continued down the awesome path they were traveling with their last few releases, I am slowly coming around to the split. When I need a classic rock fix, I can go with the new Vampire Hands, when I need a noisy, sound-collage fix, I can look to Capricorn Vertical Slum (or whatever Johnson is doing at any given time). While they sounded great meshed together, with each new release I am realising that they sound pretty great on their own, too.
Wilson-Lipps furor heats up // Broadcaster asks fines; Ditka defends hit website defamation of character
Chicago Sun-Times December 2, 1986 | Dan Pompei To hear the Bears, the only villains in the Otis Wilson-Louis Lipps incident were NBC announcers Charlie Jones and Jimmy Cefalo.
Wilson says he is considering suing Jones and Cefalo for defamation of character.
To hear Jones, the villain list should include Bears coach Mike Ditka and linebackers coach Dave McGinnis as well as Wilson.
Jones says Ditka should be fined $20,000, McGinnis fined $10,000 and Wilson suspended as long as Lipps is sidelined.
Ditka and Pittsburgh Steelers coach Chuck Noll absolved Wilson of blame after viewing films of the play in which Wilson knocked out Lipps with a forearm to the jaw, resulting in a concussion, during Sunday’s game.
Before seeing the film Ditka had criticized Wilson and Noll was said to have been furious.
“I guarantee you it wasn’t premeditated,” Ditka said. “I will defend him.” “I don’t think there was anything intentional,” Noll said. “I don’t think it was a malicious attempt to knock anyone out.” Wilson said game films verfied his claim that the hit was legal.
Noll viewed Wilson’s action as an attempt to meet a block.
Ditka said Wilson’s hit was a natural reaction, and that Wilson did not wind up to label Lipps.
“He was just doing what a normal player is taught to do since he starts playing football,” Dikta said. “A blow to the head is football. There are a lot of blows to the head every day out there that go unnoticed and unpenalized.” Blows to the head are illegal. Ditka acknowledges that and says Wilson “put too much into it.” Because Wilson hit Lipps in the head and because television made such a big deal out of it, Wilson probably stands to be fined by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle.
“I think the only reason I would hear something (from the NFL) would be because of those two,” Wilson said of Jones and Cefalo.
NFL director of operations Jan Van Duser said Rozelle has a videotape of the hit. Van Duser said Rozelle won’t need additional game film to make his call.
“This is extremely clear from the television tapes,” Van Duser said. “It’s clear it was a foul. Whether or not it was fineable or over and above that, a disciplinary measure is up to the commissioner.
“The first thing we want to find out is why it wasn’t taken care of on the field.” Jones wondered the same thing during the game.
“I feel it was blatant, premeditated, uncalled for – the type of violence we’ve seen more and more of this year,” Jones said yesterday in a television hookup with Ditka on WMAQ. here defamation of character
“I believe you have to stop this violence at the top. I think Mike Ditka should be fined $20,000, and so should (Green Bay coach) Forrest Gregg,” Jones said in reference to the Charles Martin body slam of Jim McMahon. “And the linebacker coach for Chicago and the defensive line coach of Green Bay (Dick Modzelewski) should be fined $10,000.” Ditka called it “absurd” to discuss the Wilson hit and the Martin hit in the same conversation.
Yesterday Rozelle heard Martin appeal a two-game suspension and is expected to rule this week.
Ditka said he sees no purpose in fining a coach.
“I don’t control that on the field,” Ditka said. “I don’t teach it, I don’t condone it, I don’t coach that way.” Ditka said he thinks Jones and Cefalo should not have criticized the way they did.
“I think it’s really a tragedy to be tried, condemned and convicted and sentenced to death by announcers. That’s what happened in Charlie Jones’ case and I think that’s a travesty to football. His job is to record the events of the day and not to pass judgment on anybody,” Ditka said.
“I don’t think the NFL said, “Hey, Charlie Jones, you and Jimmy Cefalo clean up the NFL.’ If he has something he wants to say to me about my tactics, tell me or tell the commissioner. Don’t tell people on the air when the player has no way to rebut against him except probably what our player will do – file suit against him.” Wilson called Jones and Cefalo the “two worst” commentators and said he is having his attorney write them a letter.
“I understand Otis Wilson wants to sue me for defamation of character,” Jones said. “I’m not sure if it’s for his character or my character. If he wants to take this into a court of law, that’s fine.” Lipps, who is listed as “probable” for the Steelers’ Sunday game, yesterday let the other principals do most of the talking.
“All I remember is going in motion, that’s it,” Lipps said. “When I woke up I was lying on the ground.” Wilson said when Lipps woke up, Wilson told him he hoped he was all right and the hit was nothing personal.
Ditka took another Wilson hit personally, however. Wilson was penalized for a late hit after Mike Singletary’s fourth quarter interception, and Ditka said the play “aggravated the death” out of him.
“It’s hard enough for us to go 90 yards and we get penalized back to the 4 because (Wilson) runs into a player three seconds after the guy has been tackled, which is bad football,” Ditka said. “I told him about it and I told the team about it. That bothered me. It’s stupid.
“I really agree if an incident comes up again when a player hits someone else that late after a whistle, that player will come out of the game and face disciplinary action from me, and it could be suspension.” Ditka said the two hits by Wilson overshadowed a splendid performance.
“He was over people, under people, through people, knocking people on their butts,” Ditka said. “He was playing super.” Dan Pompei
Loving this already. You can definitely hear some Westerberg in “Palatial Estates in Wallpaper.” Very cool.
This review is total trash, full of false assumptions about the band Vampire Hands. Once again reviler has proven it can write a few paragraphs without doing any research, or talking to anyone involved. CVS is great, this article is shallow, and bad.
What is your beef, specifically? I don’t think that Josh was doing any shit talking here – in fact its a pretty positive review
“reviler has proven it can write a few paragraphs without doing any research, or talking to anyone involved”
That is why we get paid the big bucks. We actually thinking of making that our mission statement.
By the way, I am a big Vampire Hands (and CVS) fan, so if other anonymous readers felt similarly, I apologize, because they are both really great bands.