Terry McGuinness is a well-known high-desert music figure. After being on the air with Radio Free Joshua Tree, which recently called it quits, McGuinness is now part of the new Internet-radio venture Desert Rock Radio. He’s thrown some great shows at the Palms Restaurant in Twentynine Palms that have included Rikk Agnew and Jello Biafra. For more information on Desert Rock Radio, visit www.desertrockradio.com or www.facebook.com/desertrockradio. Terry was kind enough to answer the Lucky 13; here are his answers.
What was the first concert you attended?
Kiss/Styx during the Kiss Alive! tour, 1975, in Jacksonville, Fla.
What was the first album you owned?
I actually bought three albums that day: Black Sabbath, Masters of Reality; ZZ Top, Tres Hombres; and Deep Purple, Made in Japan.
What bands are you listening to right now?
Baptists from Vancouver, B.C., and Obliterations from Los Angeles.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone love, but you don’t get?
Bro-Country.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
I really regret that I never got around to seeing David Bowie live.
What’s your favorite musical guilty pleasure?
I don’t feel guilty about anything I listen to, but I guess Okinawan folk music, or good opera.
What’s your favorite music venue?
I’ve never cared for large venues or festivals. I like Café NELA in Highland Park (Los Angeles). It has a great community vibe there. Dave Travis has done a great job with that place. I also like the Hood Bar and Pizza because of their booking policy, and the Redwood Bar in Los Angeles for the ambience.
What’s the one song lyric you can’t get out of your head?
It’s not a song, but a commercial jingle from the ’70s: “Feeling 7Up, I’m feeling 7Up.”
What band or artist changed your life? How?
Probably the Ramones. I remember going to buy Rocket to Russia when it was first released, and the record store clerk refused to sell it to me. I finally convinced him, got it home, and threw it on the turntable. It had me from the very first bar of “Cretin Hop.” Also: Lipstick Killers by the New York Dolls was a big influence.
You have one question to ask one musician. What’s the question, and who are you asking?
“Hey, Lemmy. what’s up with the mole?”
What song would you like played at your funeral?
I’m going to be cremated, so probably “Burn the Flames” by Roky Erickson. But that’s already been done in the movies (The Return of the Living Dead) so I’ll have to think more on it.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
The album I go back to the most is Motörhead, All the Aces.
What song should everyone listen to right now?
Everyone needs to go out and discover something new. I’m currently listening to “Clam Stamps and “Hot Dog Slaps” by Blasting Echo. (Scroll down to hear it!)
