My first serious, non-hippie job-- my friend Andy started calling me "corporate Howie"-- was working for Sire Records. At the first label meeting, Seymour Stein assigned me responsibilty for The Ramones, Talking Heads, The Smiths, Depeche Mode, Erasure, The Replacements, Echo and the Bunnymen, Ice-T, Aztec Camera, Book of Love, Throwing Muses, the Tom Tom Club, Ofra Haza, Yaz, Seal, k.d. lang, Kid Creole & the Coconuts, My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr. and The Pretenders. Seymour said I looked glum. "What's the matter? You're not getting Madonna." I responded, "I don't want Madonna; I don't even know what her music sounds like. I want The Cult." So he, grudgingly, gave me The Cult too.The band is back together and in July they'll embark on a long tour of the U.S. and U.K., culminating (at least so far) on Halloween at the legendary Roundhouse in London. The U.S. portion kicks off in San Diego on July 25 and circumnavigates America to end with two nights in L.A. on September 7 and 8. They'll be performing their entire 1987 smash album Electric. Ian Astbury came up with the brilliant idea of hiring Grateful Dead postermaker Rick Griffin (of Zap Comix reknown) to design the artwork for the "Wildflower" single and 12" from Electric. 700 numbered prints were made and around 100 were signed by the four band members-- Ian Astbury, Billy Duffy, Jamie Stewart and Les Warner-- and Griffin, who was killed in a motorcycle accident 3 years later.Blue America wants to offer one of the ultra rare, fully signed, numbered, framed prints to a Nick Ruiz supporter. Nick told me he wore out his cassette copy of Electric and he's eager to see them at the House of Blues in Orlando August 14.Here's how you win; it's simple. Just contribute (any amount) to Nick's congressional campaign at the Blue America page and you get a chance to win the print. We'll pick one random donor. And if you don't want to contribute just because Nick wore out his Electric tape, how about because he's one of the only candidates running for Congress with the courageousness and independence of Members like Alan Grayson, Barbara Lee and Bernie Sanders?"Politics doesn't have to be a humdrum affair," Nick told us. "Politics can be serious, meaningful, creative-- and fun, too. No one knows that better than Blue America, and I really enjoy being able to be part of this kind of work. We're raising awareness about the campaign, but we're also letting people know that politics is an art form, as much as anything else. I can't thank Blue America enough for the work they do. And especially, to Howie, for parting with a very elegant piece of rock memorabilia."
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