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mohamed’s falafel star

from ween posted in music by pete_nice

While preparing to shoot the video for "I Can't Put My Finger On It" off Chocolate and Cheese, Ween approached director Chris Applebaum (video director for Rihanna, Britney Spears, and other pop stars) and asked him, "Have you ever seen a succulent lamb shank skewered and spinning on a rotisserie while lit by a beautiful amber light?"

Applebaum replied that there was a falafel shop down the street from his apartment, at the corner of Avenue A and E. 8th st. Applebaum negotiated for six hours of shooting ($125 location fee), and sent a picture of the owners to Ween. They loved the look of the brothers who owned the shop, so Gene asked them to be in the video to look like his rap posse.

While shooting at the location, Mohamed brought out a collection of knives that he stored in the backroom where he and his brother slept. They are featured (along with the brothers' friends) waving them at the end of the video.

Deaner's introspective solos were shot at Coney Island (also Ween's idea).

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city gardens

from ween, danzig posted in music by pete_nice

City Gardens is a New Jersey punk rock institution. Opened as Chocolate City (based on the Parliament-Funkadelic song) in 1976, the name changed to City Gardens in 1979. Since then, a number of interesting moments in music history have happened at City Gardens.

Ween played one of their first club gigs at City Gardens, opening for the Butthole Surfers as teenagers. They later released a live cassette of a performance at City Gardens called The Live Brain Wedgie. In the 33 1/3 book on Chocolate and Cheese, one of the band's friends recall Ween getting pelted with change by straight edge kids when they opened for Fugazi.

Danzig played their first show at City Gardens. A Flock of Seagulls, Thompson Twins and Sinéad O'Connor all made their American debuts at City Gardens.

The Daily Show host Jon Stewart was a bartender at City Gardens for several years before he started doing stand-up. James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem was a bouncer there for months.

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isla de encanta

from the pixies posted in music by nevereatshreddedwheat

Black Francis referred to Puerto Rico as "Isla de Encanta" in the song of that name, sung in Spanish about leaving the island, off the first Pixies EP Come On Pilgrim. The correct Spanish name is "Isla del Encanto" which translates to "Island of Enchantment." Charles Thompson (before he was Pixies frontman Black Francis) went to Puerto Rico as part of a six month exchange program after his stint at U-Mass. He was living in Puerto Rico when he sent Joey Santiago a letter about starting a band when he returned.

He would also draw on his experience there with a crazy roommate for the Doolittle song "Crackity Jones." The line "He got friends like Paco Picopiedra" was a reference to the voice of Fred Flintstone that roommate claimed to hear in his head, but once again Black Francis didn't quite get the Spanish right. Spanish speakers know Fred Flintstone as Pedro Picapeidra.

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ringing rocks park

from ween posted in music by pete_nice

Ringing Rocks Park in Pennsylvania contains a natural wonder known as "ringing rocks." These rocks have a property of resonating like a bell when struck, creating a music-like effect.

There are specific places in the world where this mysterious phenomenon occurs. This park in Upper Black Eddy contains them; other locations include the Musical Stones of Skiddaw in the English Lake District, and the Bell Rock Range of Western Australia.

Ringing rocks are also known as sonorous rocks or lithophonic rocks, and are used to create a musical instrument called the lithophone.

Ween's 1994 release Chocolate and Cheese features an interior picture of Dean and Gene Ween frolicking in a waterfall at Ringing Rocks Park.

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brewster-douglass housing projects

from the supremes posted in music by ratsnamgod

“[T]he nation’s first federally funded public housing development for African Americans” and childhood home of future Motown stars, Smokey Robinson and (pictured here walking through the projects in 1965) the Supremes' Diana Ross, Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard.

Demolition began on September 4th, 2013.

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