Boy Howdy Music Heads!
     This week in Ocean City it’s a feast of fully functioning fanfare featuring fat boys, soft tails, and other motorcycle related hoopla! The social changes regarding motor bikes and their stigma from the present to the not-so-distant past is astounding. In years past, bike gangs always presented a bad rap. Marlon Brando and his gang in the classic film “The Wild One” featured knife-wielding ruffians looking for a rumble. This continued through the ‘60s with Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson depicted as drop-outs from society, misanthropes distancing themselves form the status quo and the trapping therein. Now these are Hollywood versions, sensationalizing these biker toughs and adding even more mystique to the myth. However, we all saw Hells Angels brutality in real life from Altamont Speedway in the The Rolling Stones Concert film “Gimme Shelter’. The result of all this made most of the ‘squares’ in America fear for their safety any time they found themselves around more than just a couple of bikers. The shift to fashionable ‘biker chic’ came slowly to the present day. Twenty or twenty-five  years ago if a local restauranteur or hotel owner wrote ‘Welcome Bikers’ on his marquis, his friends would have had him committed to the laughing academy, boobie hatch or puzzle factory (whichever you prefer). Now, not only is bike culture tolerated, it is encouraged, especially at the beach. This week can be a banner measure in time for our OC shop keepers who now embrace this gathering of heavy metal, leather and denim. Trouble makers in any group of people generally average 2 percent. That average notwithstanding, I’ve found the biker set in Ocean City to be the salt of the earth. These are mostly work hard/play hard types letting off a little steam. This is also a healthy setting of blue collar and white collar types getting along with one another famously. Common goals are a cohesive thing: babes, beer, noise and acceleration! Even the consumables have taken a softer touch. Back in the day bikers almost exclusively drank Jack Daniels and Budweiser, now I notice they put away a lot of Coors Light! Git your motor runnin’!
    Here we are in September, the schools are in and the adults are out. Keep in mind when driving in OC. Use extra caution and be aware. I’ve noticed more than a few idiots in motion while driving down Coastal Highway this week.
    Enjoy all there is this week. We’ve got blues, southern rock, and country all over town. Look at the ‘Who’s Where When’ section in the following pages of the Coconut Times to point you in the right direction.
    Check out Jettstream at Coins Pub on 28th St. on Fri/Sat 9/18-9/19. Tom Larsen at the 707 on Rt 707 in West O (Fri. 9/18) is a good bet! Of course the boys of Pompous Pie are busy this week. Fri. (today) 9/18 at The Caribbean Pool Bar, Sat. 9/19 at Micky Fins in West O (5pm) and Sunday M.R Ducks (4pm).
    Have a fun week!
        Tah!! – Marco Ink