Mae West & Sex

I heard the most amazing story on public radio this morning.


In 1928, on this very day, Mae West (a personal film hero of mine), was just launching her career by writing, directing and starring in a Broadway play called SEX.


In her words, the play was about “a woman who gets a reputation and doesn’t mind at all.” You’ve got to love a woman who’s willing to take it so far out in 1928!


The play was panned by the critics, drew large audiences anyway. But the reason this is NEWS is because midway through the run, the entire cast and crew was arrested. Mae herself spent 10 days in jail. The rest were released.


You’d think she’d have gone on to have a career as a porn star, or none at all.


But instead, she ended up in Hollywood. In the now famous scene, a woman compliments Mae West’s diamond jewelry, saying, “My goodness. How beautiful.”


And West replies, “My dear, goodness has nothing to do with it.”

the ever sexy ever attitudinal Mae West

She was an instant sensation. Soon, she was starring opposite Cary Grant. One year, she was the SECOND HIGHEST PAID PERSON IN AMERICA, right after William Randolph Hearst.


It's funny because, just two nights ago, I was trying to sing a part in the studio, and the thing that finally got me over the hump -- of summoning enough attitude & technical prowess -- was pretending I was a drunken Mae West.


As an artist & entertainer, this is the lesson I got from this story.


1. Never be afraid to be yourself. We gravitate towards people who go their own way, who stand out from the pack.


2. Go all the way! Even if you need to tame it down later, it’s way better to know who you are then never to have discovered it. If you can’t find the essence of what makes you you, why would others be interested?


3. Sometimes you just need to hold on ‘til the curve catches up with you.


4. Etiquette is overrated. We’ve always been a little hungry for the bad girls. And someone who’ll tell it like it is.


Leaving for the West Coast tour tonight. If you know anyone in Phoenix, Tucson, Tempe, San Diego, San Francisco, or LA, please spread the word.


Mae West’s story will be my inspiration to turn the heat up a few notches, let the provocateur within me out to play.


Who’s your favorite bad girl in Hollywood or rock ‘n roll?
~Jessie


*                         *                        *                        *

the power of a good dance song

I've been thinking about dance songs recently... For one thing, I'm nearly done writing the Please, Please Me's very first dance number. To help get unstuck with that last verse, I've been doing some research. I asked many of you to send me your fav dance songs and have been listening on youtube.

Reaffirmed, I hate dance music!  Soo shallow & that terrible drum sound.

Songs about dancing, however, are a different story. Mostly, I've come back to old favs -- Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark & Billy Idol's Dancing with Myself... I'm even partial to Nouvelle Vague's remake.

Also, I feel this pull -- perhaps we can blame it on how normal & stereotype-affirming a lot of music being blasted on the radio & in stores is today -- to find something that speaks to the feminist ethic. The way a woman is able to have power by claiming her own pleasure, losing herself in music, moving in a  sexual way for the mere sake of having it, owning it, showing it, but not sharing it.

Have you ever danced alone in your bedroom to your favorite song, shouting at the top of your lungs?

       How do you feel after?

                   REBORN

WATCH BRUCE -- Dancing In The Dark (1984) by GMRedskins

Of course, men can derive power or a sense of self by giving themselves to the music too. Just watch Bruce swivel his hips and beg for salvation. 


But I keep picturing it as a  scene in a 1970's Dolly Parton movie, and wonder why I can't find it any films today. 

There's that one image I'm looking for that's just out of reach. The one I need to finish this song. 


A working class woman who toils to pay rent, for her kids, parents, boyfriend, or just to keep it together -- no fancy clothes, no fancy car. But once she steps on the dance floor, the beauty and power and sexuality she possesses is undeniable.

If you asked me what the Please, Please Me is trying to convey, what makes us unique... it's this.

     We ain't rich, we ain't always beautiful, and we may not be the best at everything -- but when we do it, we own it. And rock 'n roll can lead the way.

ps-- this is why I love the Arcade Fire. they stand up for the not rich 'n beautiful.


pps-- that's totally Courtney Cox in the crowd scene. Love you Bruce!


WATCH BILLY IDOL -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG1NrQYXjLU

Dear God, where the F is my van???

Let’s see if I can tell this story in 10 lines or less.

1. Have spent the last 10 days furiously scanning Craigslist for a vehicle that will get us through our next tour…. Austin à Kansas City à New York

2. After wavering between cars, vans, pimped out trucks, keepin’ it simple…. Saw this guy and fell in love.

3. Holy shit, it's in my price range!

4. Took a day off of teaching, grabbed my trusty guitarist/car expert Duncan & went to New Braunfels, planning to unload $3,500 from my bank account & drive home w/ a van that night.

5. The owner, a very nice straight-shooting responsible perhaps even booooring man, takes us for a tour. Van drives beautifully. And so so cute. Does not smell like cigarettes, rock bands, mold or old man. Extra plus!

6. Duncan & I spend 4 ½ hours & way too much money staying caffeinated at a Starbucks all afternoon while the van is inspected by a local mechanic.

7. 4:38pm… finally a call from the mechanic.

8. The verdict: brakes (front & rear), U-joint going, flush the coolant, replace original fluids, blah blah “I am speaking a language that you don’t understand & not trying to translate, but if you pay me $2,800, I can fix it all.”

9. $2,800?!! F(*&(, Sh)(*9

“I think they’re conning us, I can get that stuff fixed cheap, we should get it,” says Duncan.

10. Mulling over the next move, I ask the owner if I can drive it back to his place, test the brakes, feel it out some. A block & a half from his place, CLUNK! And there we were, stuck in the middle of the street… van not moving, reason not known.

Jessie still vanless (and perhaps lucky I killed that car when I did)

My fav cop shot. "sir you can't leave that thing in the middle of the road..."

Has anyone else killed a car while test driving it?

This is a first! Even for a Torrisi.

Go Midwest Young Band

Wow, our 1st Midwest Tour was off the hook.

A picture of the boys in the van.

And a boy & a girl on the bridge.


Midpoint Fest rocked our world.
Quote Dave, "This is a big fuckin' deal."

Personally my favorite moment was the next day in Cincinnati. We were playing around with our beatbox pedal on the sidewalk when we were joined by a surprise guest. "i'm just a lonely boy, you're just a lonely girl."



We'll leave you with an original song.



More soon. Thanks a gajillion.
~the Please, Please Me

The Please, Please Me hit the Big Easy

Mementos from our last trip: June 15-17

Alissa w/ beignets at Cafe du Monde (while talking on the cellphone & balancing her cello against a trashcan)


Getting ready to play Cannonball live on WWOZ



Bloody Mary's (how else are we to wash down the beignets??)




Loney Abrams's birthday bash at our Circle Bar show

The tradition of pinning dollar bills to your shirt on your birthday never fails to crack me up



Wild crowd. We do our best to whip up the energy; they took it & ran with it so fast, we weren't quite sure what had happened after. Never seen so many broken kazoos.

Wish i had pictures of us climbing the statue in Lee's Circle and looking out at the city after.

ps-- Alissa's new wig & the necklace I got off the mannequin are to die for.

Thanks Zack Smith (host with the most), George Ingmire (radio DJ who let us crash his show), Lu Rojas (the one & only... be back to record soon), Luke Huddleston (Silent Cinema & our guest trombonist) and Jason Songe (the Circle Bar) for making magic happen.

Back in Action: New Rolling Stone Q&A

David Fricke/RS: Dear jessie, what's up? Why no blogs recently?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: Well David, ironically, the better things are going, the less time i have to blog. I've been a busy rock 'n roller as of late. Doing shows in Bryan, New Orleans, we finally broke into the Parish in Austin. Demo'ing some new stuff with the band. And, get this, I'm also a college professor. I've been teaching an Intro to Mass Media class at ACC.

David Fricke/RS: Inculcating young minds?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: While I've been playing rock star & trying to make sense of how the whole world is charging, I'm also getting to study the digital revolution in communications, new business models and teach students how to make the most of how the world is changing. *Blog all about it.* But sadly, or apologetically, by time I get home at night, the last thing I want to do is log on. I'd much rather strum a few chords and finish that new song that's been nagging. Or have a beer with friends. Or read a good book.

David Fricke/RS: Did I hear you say studio? Do tell... what's brewing with the band? Are you working on the 2nd record?

Jessie Torrisi/PlsPlsMe: Well, let's start with the good news. We've been recording four brand spankin' new songs out of Carlos Mendoza's living room studio the last few weeks. These are songs that have really evolved with the band -- having the drummer decide to give the whole thing a James Bond soundtrack twist, or having the cello & trombone come to me with harmonies that make the hairs on my neck stand up. And 6th & A, the one heartbreaker ballad, an ode to New York City, being lonely & drunk in the East Village (think Ryan Adams) would have probably never seen the light of day had Carlos not helped me rewrite it. So for once, it's a real band effort. I mean, I came up with The Please, Please Me as a name because I wanted people to think of me & the whole experience we create as that of a band, not a singer-songwriter. But now it's happening. As a result, I think I'll measure up to some of my indie songstress heroes with these in a whole new way.


The Impromptu Please, Please Me Kazoo Chorus

RS: What are you going to do with these recordings???

JT: That's the $20 million question. We're still waiting to see if the results will sound hi-fi album ready, or that we need to go into a fancier studio or grab William Berlind (my producer in NYC), and find a way to lure him out here to record it. I would really like to go that route, but it seems I've spent all my money on touring and kazoos as of late. Am hoping that by having these demos a few interested labels or possible sponsors of the arts might come forward and decide to really make this happen. Y'know what Prince says? Money changes everything. I'd like to start working on a 2nd record, but if it's not in the stars, we'll release an EP, or give away new tracks one by one in exchange for fans support/email addresses/help in other arenas.
*** like if you can silkscreen Please, Please Me panties or make a cool video, we'll prob show up at your house every morning for a month and serenade you.

RS: Does the uncertainty worry or frustrate you?

JT: Definitely. But when I lived in New York, I had not near enough time to really live art, make music my life. In just a year in Texas, I feel i've truly become a musician & a performer, not just someone who wants to be one. I'm a much more masterful songwriter. I have a kick-ass bands, fans, songs I'm really proud of. But I had more better ways to make money in New York, and here, I'm still trying to find my way in the marketplace.

RS: But you'll be back in New York soon, I hear.

JT: Oh well yes, one summer in Texas was enough for me. 60 days over 100 degrees last year. Besides you can take the girl out of the city but not the city out of the girl. Last summer, I happened to be in NYC when they did a 20th anniversary sing-along screening on Purple Rain in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. These kinds of things -- the experience of shouting Purple Rain into a night with 10,000 other New Yorkers from all conceivable walks of life -- they change you. They make you feel unity that can only come from art & diversity & a certain electric current that runs through the city. I can't live without that completely.

RS: Ok, yes yes, I get that. I mean, sometimes you think the price of working at a major magazine is having to live in a crowded, dirty, noisy city. And other times, you think Thank God, I'm stuck here.

JT: Yes, it's the question that never answers itself. If i can't find peace of mind in New York City, can I manage to feel fully alive elsewhere?


Jessie Torrisi & the Please, Please Me at The Parish

RS: So you're hitting the road again soon. What do you want to leave readers with?

JT: Well, to everyone I've met this year.... in Colorado, Portland, Philly, and TEXAS, especially all those dancing easy-going fools here Austin who turned out at SxSW, who kazoo their hearts out, who show up to the Parish on last-minute notice, THANK YOU.

(If you want to hear the new EP, or catch us live, just drop a line to rockstar@jessietorrisi.com. Our new website's not up yet, so for now, this is the best way. If you have a vote for what song we should make a video for, or live somewhere we should come play, we'd love to hear that too.)

The record's only been out 6 months, but it feels like more. And y'know, If a rock 'n roller gives the show of her life & no one's there to hear it... it doesn't make a sound. It might be perverse to measure success in comments on my Facebook page, or fans who send me annoyed emails b/c I didn't send an invite out in time & they missed the show, or how many kazoos I need to rush to print, but I do.

Tour Photos: NYC- As Dark Lit & Lovely as Ever

We here at Please, Please Me headquarters are finally recovering from the SxSW plague, sweeping that scruffy indie rock boy (crashing in the living room by the amps) dust out & reveling in SPRING in TEXAS.

Over the next few weeks, we'll be rolling out the awesome footage we collected on the Winter '010 tour. If you missed it...East Coast, Pacific Northwest, then Colorado en route back to Austin.

It all started in New York City! Where else...Neither blizzards nor back pain from hauling guitars onto subway platforms could stop the rock.

Thanks to David Bowles from MTV for capturing the magic at the Living Room.

(Will Berlind-piano, Ryland Kelly-upright bass, John Brodeur-drums, Matt McDonald-trombone, All of You-kazoos!)

Photos: 1) setting up, 2) audience kazooing on Cannonball (nyc still holds the record for # onstage), 3) me drumming & singing on Runaway Train (how long before a reviewer compares me to Levon Helm??), 4) the band, incl. Josh Wise (electric guitar on record) 5) Me showing off a red-shot kazoo (matches the Living Room walls!)

THANK YOU NYC! SEE YOU SOON.

SxSW!

My southby ssssucked last year.

My Aunt Dot died. My scooter (which belonged to a friend in Nicaragua) was towed & took some fancy forgery to free. My best friends from New York came but I'd just started this crappy waitressing job & couldn't hang. I had a wristband & hardly got to use it.

I missed all my fav artists. I'd just moved to Austin & didn't have a band yet... or gigs. I had to sit there & absorb the noise assault while riding down 6th St. every day to shitty job.

But this year I vowed it would be different. And it will!
The Please, Please Me have been on a tear... & there are no signs of slowing down. So get ready for our SxSW assault.


1) Friday, March 19, 7pm, Botticelli's
The full band will take it to Austin's prettiest wine garden, right on South Congress across the streets from Jo's Coffee in case you need a pick-me-up

2) Saturday, March 20, 2:30pm, Rethink Pop Music Showcase
At Chupacabra, run by Couch Professor Entertainment, 400 East 6th St. by Trinity

The Couch Professor crew's got their shakin' booties on the pulse of everything hip & rockin' in Austin these days. Party line up's here.

3) Monday, March 22, 1pm, Waterloo Records @Airport
... And they all go home. If you're killing time at the airport (& you should get there early - i can tell you horror stories of years past), Alissa & I will be doing an unplugged set at Waterloo, Austin's indie record store. Bring yr fav musicians home with you. (Otherwise, you're gonna have to explain to your gf or bf what you were really doing during southby.)

we'll be in the Hear TX listening station at the regular Waterloo Records as well


*other hot tips: don't miss Xo Publicity's Thursday party @ Stompin' Grounds, 3601 South Congress w/ American Songwriter & WOXY (maybe you can help me convince ben sollee we should go on tour together; at least don't miss him; Yo Yo Ma for the hip-hop generation.)

& Dart Music's global pop round the clock showcase @ Mi Casa, 503 East 6th St. i've heard that White Denim is especially worth your time.

Bring on the hungry masses! We're ready.

Hello 2010!

I've been a busy rock star-in-training in 2010....
*booking an east coast, northwest, colorado, then SOUTHBY tour.
*trying to master the mechanics of web television.
*designing please, please me panties -- his & hers.
*& experimenting with writing on keyboard.

So stay tuned for new songs -- live & about to be recorded -- along with other goodies.

After going to cali over the holidays & then being stranded more normal parts of texas for "work" for a few weeks... I have come back with a newfound LOVE of AUSTIN.

The city's not perfect, hell it may not even be a real city, but it is starting to feel like home.

I hosted Steve (philly throwback, hip-hop maven) for new year's, then old Bklyn friends Anna Bliss (freshman wesleyan roommate) & Michael Schaeffer (yamaka-wearing head-shrinking indie rocker), last weekend.

I've been racking up a list of Austin must's. Here they are.

1) The Jazz Vipers @Lambert's -- Sarah Sharpe, as always, knocked it out of the park with standards like "When I get low, I get high" and "Our love is here to stay." The white sangria is the best I've ever had. The foot-shimmying dancers turned up en masse... doing the lindy hop & the balboa, changing shoes between songs & making us feel like we'd been sent back to the 1920's, speakeasy-style.

2) Dessert @theEastSideCafe -- cherry cobbler & silk chocolate pie, hmm hmm good. Try the acorn squash if you don't believe in having dessert first.
And traipse through their backyard garden on your way out.

3) Sunset walk in the Greenbelt, to be followed by grazing at Whole Foods

4) An after-hours romp at the St. Cecilia -- This is the newer, fancier, more secluded & exclusive hotel run by the people who own the San Jose. You need to know someone staying there to get made-to-your-tastebuds cocktails & lounge by the fire by night or pool by day. But it is heaven! White peacocks on the mantels. Record players in each room with a vinyl library at the front desk. Spoon was doing a photo shoot in the vintage car perpetually parked out front while Steve & I were shooting some impromptu videos... this place is capital f Fabulous.

Go if you can! And stay tuned for the videos. They'll be part of an upcoming lightning bolt arriving from the rock 'n roll future (i've been sworn to secrecy 'til they're up)....

Thank you Austin for finally throwing your arms open 1 year after i left the big bad city behind.

TV Debut

this morning, josh, alissa & i were on the fox morning show playing...
X in teXas.

ok, so i have a little trouble waking up to a 5:45 alarm & looking adequately rock star by 7:30am.... but tv is fun! (& the local fox station in austin is not so christian right afterall.)

check it out below. once the snazzy hairstylist and new outfits arrive -- to match the brand new jessie torrisi kazoos! -- those morning newscasters won't know what hit 'em.