Friday Night Videos

The Surfrajettes are back with a new surf guitar-driven single, "Easy As Pie," which heralds a new album coming soon. How cool is this? I've seen them live twice now and can't wait to catch them again the next time they swing through Texas. Maybe I'll luck out and they'll get a booking at legendary Gruene Hall--that way the afterparty could be held at the Lagoon of Mystery, our home tiki bar. Yeah, I can dream...

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Cyndi Lauper.

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Friday Night Videos

Last week's Riki Lindhome video sparked memories of my teenage years in the 1980s when Tipper Gore and her morality posse spent many a sleepless night worried that popular music might give me unwholesome thoughts about sex and women in general. I remember they even came out with a "Filthy 15" list of songs that were wholly inappropriate for young ears--which gave all or us teenagers a great starting place to find audio smut. I have to confess that I wasn't a huge fan of Cyndi Lauper at the time, but I found her song, "She Bop" somewhat catchy. Imagine my surprise to discover it was on the "Filty 15" list because it glorified masturbation! Really? I'd assumed it was about girls wanting to go dancing. Oh, sure, if you listen closely to the lyric you'd pick up references to Freud and going blind and such, but even today I find most of her lyrics in that song unintelligible and am only able to really make them out by reading the accompanying captions. Needless to say, once I found out what it was really about, I became a much bigger fan of Cyndi. So thanks for that, Tipper!

Previously on Friday Night Videos... Riki Lindhome.

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Chicken Ranch anniversary: CLOSURE!

On this date in 1973, the infamous Chicken Ranch brothel of La Grange, Texas, closed its doors for good. The closure followed a week (give or take--it's been tough to pin down exact dates) of broadcasts by Houston TV station KTRK's consumer affairs reporter Marvin Zindler, accusing the brothel of corruption and conspiracy. The Chicken Ranch had survived attempts to close it before, but the white-hot media spotlight proved too much for it. Today marks the 51st anniversary of its closure.

In 2024, however, another milestone was reached, with the official release of the revised, updated and expanded 50th anniversary edition of Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse. The six years I put into researching and writing the first edition (published in 2016) and the additional work I invested in the newer edition seems to have paid off as far as critics are concerned, with the book's reception being as close to across-the-board positive as is reasonably possible. I still think it's one of the weirdest stories to ever come out of Texas, as state that bases its entire identity on weird mythology.

Just a reminder--book reviews help tremendously. If you've read Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch and are willing to do so, even a short sentence or two on Amazon, Goodreads or other online book site would help get the book in front of new eyes and spread awareness. Thanks!

Inside the Texas Chicken Ranch: The Definitive Account of the Best Little Whorehouse is available as an ebook in the following formats: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and Kobo.

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