BONGWATER - What is Anne and Kramer doing now?

Sean-Did you hear that Rhino is supposed to be putting out the two Jobriath records WITH UNRELEASED TRACKS? I heard he recorded a whole album before he was dropped. I asked my friends at Rhino about it and they said there's no definite release date. Morrissey suggests his listeners buy the record on the liner notes of his new Best of--hopefully Rhino will be swamped with requests and they'll have to get it together.

Ann has a new show called Rave Mom. It details her experience as a 40-something cult figure/sitcom actress taking ecstasy, hanging out with the kids at LA raves and Burning Man and all that crap. Also some stuff about her affair with that money manager who bilked all of his famous clients, Dana Giacchetto.

She did something at an art event here in LA last summer at the notorious cruising hotel the Coral Sands. It was all about her attempts to win the part of Eminem's mother in his upcoming movie. She read from the script, it sounded pretty funny. They gave the part to Kim Basinger, I think.

She also played Mariah Carey's publicist in Glitter.

And she's appearing this weekend at the El Rey in LA with the burlesque troupe Velvet Hammer.

I agree, Todd, I don't think she's ever topped her work with Bongwater. Too bad it ended so badly.

My old roommate used to play with Ann Magnuson when she did that Jobriath medley. I'm meeting up with him today, I should see if he has a tape of it.

Bongwater's covers were amazing. Actually, a band The Impossibles did a cover of their cover of "The Drum" back in the '80s. I thought that was great.

its a shame she isn't doing anything musically right now, but perhaps she did as much as she felt she was able to.

www.annmagnuson.com offers 'the luv show' as her latest cd. has anyone actually heard it? what is it like? i'm thinking how nice it would look next to 'the power of pussy' in my cd collection, and wondering if it is in the same sort of vein as bongwater.

i wonder if anyone will reply, or if this thread will disappear for another 3 years.

I had the pleasure of meeting Kramer some years back (I did some PR work for Shimmy Disc in the UK), shortly after 'The Luv Show' had come out. He told me that Ann dropped her lawsuit against him when her solo record only sold a few hundred copies and she realised Shimmy Disc hadn't exactly been making millions all along.

Bongwater was hit and miss at best, Power of Pu$$y being thier strongest IMHO.

I spent a summer working for shimmy disc in it's hey day...terrible experience sans for free boredoms/ruins/naked city records.

"Oddly enough, of all the luminaries who showed up at this tacky Vegas hotel, the most truly amazing of them all was a nondescript JREF staff member who goes by the name of Kramer. 15 years ago, Kramer was among the most brilliant guitarists and songwriters in American rock. If you've ever seen Wayne's World, in particular the scene where Wayne and Garth are prostating before Aerosmith wailing "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!" then you have an idea of how Kramer is perceived by fans the world over. So it was a bit stunning to see him humbly carrying out JREF duties in the background while the celebrities got all the attention. Why is an ex-rock star working as a JREF staffer? Because he felt there are more important things in life than rock'n'roll and that JREF offers some hope of restoring sanity to a deranged world.
Despite its flaws, the sceptic movement is attracting dedicated idealists, such as Kramer, who believe in the potential of science and rational thought to cast out our many demons."

JREF is the James Randi Educational Foundation, a group of self-styled "skeptics" out to promote scientific enlightenment whose agenda is, in my opinion and the opinion of this article, rather dogmatic and defensive.

Ann features prominently in the Klaus Nomi documentary and in February Arthur and I saw her at the special LA screening where she and Kristian H., a v. good friend of Arthur, answered questions afterward. She seemed to be in good spirits!

How about the over-the-top description of Kramer's legacy though. I mean, is he really "an ex-rock star"?

Anyone hear The Brill Building? Don't know what he's doing these days. I've got about 4 of his solo albums, mostly very good.

Kramer has a new music project: Let It Come Down. Working with singer Xan Tyler. Sorta sounds like Kramer's take on This Mortal Coil. Sometimes it sounds a lot like the Moles. Good stuff! Less shaggy than a lot of his work.

I just listened to the few official videos, I wondered if I was hearing a bit of Kramer's vocals, I hope he's still singing.

He's singing on some of it. The album is good all the way through.

Okay, this is a read and a half:

https://believermag.com/logger/three-questions-for-kramer/

Could do with some more questions tbh.

1. What if I threw your car keys in the lake?
2. What if I scratched all your Sister Sledge?
3. What if I twisted it in like a knife?

IRL LOLZ