Sarah Blackwood hits repeat status

You know how some albums become addictive almost immediatly? Rare stuff right? It just clicks on that weird level and it sounds like and old friend right from the start.

Found one some time ago, good country by a girl with a great voice and true rock and roll spirit and her name is Sarah Blackwood (of The Creepshows in case you were wondering) and the record happens to be her debut as a solo artist. Its called "Way Back Home" and has been playing in the shop stereo over and over alongside instant classic J.Tex & The Volunteers "One Of These Days" and Fatboy "In My Bones", its like the country-style holy spirit in the Saint 21 recent musical trinity. A blonde Hirohito to complete our Axis of Music!

Seriously, this album IS a killer. Either buy it now or come down to the store, listen and then buy it, its inevitable!

Historien bakom Depalma

Legenden om David Clay DePalma
Han föddes 1913 i den lilla fattiga staden Gilbert i Clay County, Georgia. Dave gick aldrig i skolan utan började istället tidigt att jobba som springschas i den lokala järnaffären. Under förbudstiden 1920-1933 då försäljning av rusdrycker var förbjuden enligt Amerikans lag ökade den olagliga hembränningen explosionsartat.

Den hembrända och olagliga spriten som i dagligt tal kallades moonshine behövde naturligtvis distribueras ut från de hemliga brännerierna. Detta gjordes på nätterna och slanguttrycket för de sprit kurirer som körde bilarna var bootleggers. David kom i sextonårsåldern att bli en av dessa unga män som på nätterna riskerade livet för att få fram spriten till svartkrogar och marknader runt om i den amerikanska södern. Att vara en bootlegger var ett livsfarligt yrke.

Att nattetid köra i hög hastighet på dåliga vägar och ofta med polisen hack i häl resulterades allt som oftast i dödsfall eller fängelse. För att se vem som hade den snabbaste bilen började dessa bootleggers också att tävla med varandra. Man tävlade på söndagar och tävlingarna kom med tiden att bli mycket populära på den amerikanska söderns landbygd. David gjorde sig ett namn genom att vinna flera tävlingar och blev lite av en lokal kändis.

1934 lämnade David södern och begav sig västerut till Kalifornien. Vad han gjorde mellan 1935 och 1942 finns det inte mycket uppgifter om men 1943 blev han inkallad i armen och skickades till Europa. Då David var tillbaks i USA efter krigsslutet började han jobba hos sin gamla barndomsvän Joseph Gecco. Firman hette Fresno Car Delivery och Davids jobb var att leverera bilar till kunder över hela USA. Med tanke på Davids tidigare erfarenheter passade jobbet honom bra.

Att leverera bilar krävde långa körningar och det var nästan alltid bråttom att få fram bilarna i tid. David körde vid ett tillfälle en 1963 Impala SS från Denver till San Fransisco på 15 timmar. Just den speciella turen kom att inspirera enfilmmakare att 1971 skriva ett manus om en liknande historia. David hade jobbat för Joseph i över tjugo år när polisen, i september 1969, hittade honom död i en totalt demolerad 1951 Mercury Coupé, några mil utanför staden Jackson, Mississippi.

1972 bestämde sig Joseph och hans son Jr för att hedra sin goda väns minne genom att namnge deras då nystartade företag efter David Clay DePalma. DePalma Clothing tillverkade slitstarka arbetskläder för bilmekaniker och blev snabbt populärt bland bilverkstäder som verkade i och kring södra Kalifornien i början av 70-talet.

Idag har DePalma Clothing vuxit och blivit ett populärt märke för unga Greasers and Dolls. Märket har sedan starten 1972 alltid hämtat inspiration från den amerikanska Hot Rod- och Custom-kulturen som uppstod i södra Kalifornien i mitten på 50-talet. Klädmärket DePalma återskapar och speglar det som David Clay representerade och stod för; att leva livet kompromisslöst, oavsett vad andra tycker.

Ol Skool

Old school swingers in zoot suits making a comeback at Mejeriet, cocktails in hand.

Retro Hair Styling day in Malmö

Lördag den 8 november anordnar Big Hair Mama en styling kväll på salongen. Det är Club Hepcat på Tangopalatset som är slutmålet för denna kväll. Nosey Joe spelar och hela Tangopalatset förvandlas till en swingjazz joint á la 40-tal. Blanka skor, prickiga klänningar, illröda läppar, pin-up tatueringar och grymma hårkreationer i en och samma kväll. Stylingen startar kl 15 och avslutas 22. Vi kommer att ha snacks och dricka under kvällen. En make-up artist finns på plats för att ge dig alla tips för en bra retrolook. Intresserad? ring oss eller maila till yen@bighairmama.se

Building a lounge

We've gotten tid of the printers and their gear in the back of the shop. Their old space is gonna be transformed into a cool lounge with places to sit around and enjoy music and maybe an old movie or two.
At the moment it's a bit of a mess down there...
We've moved the fridge and the microwave into the kitchen, where they belong.

It made more sense to keep the food in the kitchen/office with the records than to keep it in the back with the clothes.

In other news; J.Tex and The Volunteers did a great job opening for Fatboy at KB last night and our friend Marcus from The Cardinals was featured in an article on Americana in Malmö in Sydsvenskan.

New stuff from Dirty Devil

We've got a whole bunch of new stuff from Dirty Devil, the clothing line created by Roger Miret of Agnostic Front and Roger Miret and the Disasters.

For this photo shoot we found a new location; the back doors to the garage. We're still shooting outside in natural light, so Jimmy was a trooper in the cold.
My fingers were ice cold after a few minutes, and I was wearing a hoodie and fingerless gloves to keep warm. But it's a small price to pay when you can look this cool!

This year's Christmas Bash

This year's Retro Blaster Christmas Bash 2008 is the answer to the prayers of all you rockers, rockabilly’s, hillbillies, swing cats, surfers, hot rodders and whatever!

Welcome to Las Vegas 1959 - The Flamingo Stingers bring some burlesque entertainment from the historical era of sin. And they’re not in the boat alone, one of today's most respected bands Astrolites, are entering the bash for some Christmas fun with Hi-Speed and Hi-Class rockabilly. Of course no Retro Blaster Christmas Bash is complete without our blood brothers Wild Wax Combo from Copenhagen.

Stay tuned and don’t miss this night… you going to regret it!

Newsdesk

Hot music from the roaring 20's!

Jut got home from a roaring 20's style swing night with Sothern Syncopaters at Scat Cat's Ballroom in Malmö. If ya missed it there is a new chance on the Monday Night Swing at Mejeriet on the 24^th of November

Swing Salsa Tango Party

Saturday 25th of October we invade Tangopalatset in Malmö and arrange a huge party where Swing Tango and Salsa battle it out on the dance floor. There will be dace shows, crash courses and mixed DJs all night long

Be sure to support the swing click by buying your tickets at HepCat Store.

“Swing or Die!”

/The Cat and Crew

New song by The Headlines

Our friends The Headlines have posted a new song on their Myspace. The song, called "Love and Hate" was recorded as pre-production for their upcoming second album.

You can buy The Headlines' first album here.

New photos from Retro Blaster

The photos from J.Tex and Buckshot's performance at Retro Blaster are now up in the gallery. Go check 'em out!

Thanks to everyone who came out to party with us! We hope to se you all at the X-mas bash on the 6th of December.

The Buckshots at Mejeriet

Gothenburg's finest rockabilly band, The Buckshots, will play one of their last shows at Retro Blaster at Mejeriet in Lund this Saturday. Don't miss this kick ass show!

The evening will kick off with J.Tex doing his solo act. If you saw him play in our tent at A-Bombers Old Style Weekend you know how good he is.

Mejeriet has a new entrepreneur behind the bar so drop by, have a drink or three and listen to some fine music.

In the meantime, here's The Buckshot's video for "I hope I'll meet you soon" featuring Mary West. If you look close you can spot Saint 21's own Jimmy and our outstanding model Eddie from The Cardinals.

J.Tex will open for Fatboy

We just learned that our very own J.Tex will open for Fatboy at KB in Malmö on the 25th of October. Check out their albums in our store!

J.Tex will also open for The Buckshots at Mejeriet this Saturday. This will be The Buckshots' last gig in Southern Sweden so be there or be square.

Happy Birthday Rob!

The snuff brothers Eddie and Rob during todays photo shoot at Saint 21.

Rob is celebrating his 41st birthday today. But this morning he got confused and thought he was turning 42. Not quite yet, dear.

Maybe it's those firemen that dropped by Rob's apartment yesterday and left him a love note that's making him confused.

Happy Birthday from the Saint 21 crew!!

Merch from The Bristles

We're now selling merch from Swedish punk band The Bristles. Check out their album featuring the best and the rest of the Bristles!
T-shirts, hoodies and tank tops will be in stock soon.

Thanks to our models Eddie and Danii.

Hellbilly Boys sneak premiere

We've teamed up with Killer Cobra Records so you can get the Helbilly Boys new album before anyone else. Their self-titled album is released on the 20th of October, but we have it in the store right now!
If you wanna read more about the Hellbilly Boys check out their website or their myspace.

Check out all items from Killer Cobra Records in the store. We've got albums from Märvel and La Fleur Fatale.

Saint 21 pomade back in stock

It's one of our bestsellers, it smells like vanilla and it's back in stock.
Get your own can of Saint 21 pomade before we run out of it again.

We brought our first batch to A-Bombers Old Style Weekend this August and we sold it all in a day.
Boys like it in their hair and us girls like the smell of vanilla and the fact that it's not as greasy as other pomades.

Made to our specifications by Adam Dorsett of High Life Pomade. Get it from our webshop or stop by our store at Sankt Lars väg 21 in Lund.

Rob stocks up the shelves at Saint 21 with Saint 21 pomade.

Shopping around

Jimmy and Rob check out magazines at the gas station where we stock up on essentials like candy, milk and snuff.

Let's just say we don't have the healthiest of eating habits at the garage... We're getting better.
If you leave candy or cookies unattended they're gone in minutes, but we've always got plenty of coffee.

Books for the people!

I've just ordered some new books for the shop. One of them is "50-talets Bästa Vänner" published by Retromega. A book about 1950's affictionados in Sweden with a lot of fabulous photos.

The other book I ordered is "Pyssel de luxe" by Josefin Ekman. You can check out her blog "Dear Martha" here. I found this book at the Göteborg book fair last weekend.

Both "50-talets Bästa Vänner" and "Pyssel de luxe" make great gifts for yourself or a friend. Remember, Christmas is gonna be here sooner than you think!

Once they are in stock you'll find them here.

Gettin' out of here

The Black Cat is leavn’ this (ex) loon asylum garage a.k.a Saint 21, early tomorrow morning to get some sun in Alicante…

First blog...

We're starting our very own Saint 21 blog!

Check us out at the hepcat store and heptown.