Recording "The Goodbye Song" Choir

Hello All. As some of you may know, the aggregate known as the Joe Iconis Rock and Roll Jamboree have been hard at work in the studio recording their debut album. Well, on Saturday, about 30 of the most amazing people ever gathered at Legacy studios to lay down the most glorious set of background vocals ever recorded in history. We have a real special treat for ya'll today that we hope will hold you over until the July 10th and July 17th Jamborees at Joe's Pub. Here's a sneak peak in to the process of recording "The Goodbye Song."


Also, be sure to check us out at Bryant Park at 12:30pm onJuly 9th, when the Rock and Roll Jamboree will take the stage as part of this summer's "Broadway In Bryant Park" series. We know, it's little early for you Jamboree night owl's out there, but rest assured it will rock just as hard. That's all for now - get your Jamboree tickets at www.joespub.com


More soon... we promise

Weekend Update with USA & Puerto Rico

This is the first straight up "Blog Entry" in a looooong whhile. First thing's first... a show is a coming folks - I promise that all you Desperate Timer folk, rock, acoustic, electri-pop, alterna-funk, prosaic-rock fans that there will be a Desperate Times live performance soon enough. We'll hopefully be playing with Kara Thrace's Secret Death Wish and The Secret Cyclon Club... somewhere in Brooklyn or the village... so please, look for that entry very soon. Leave comments like "Jared, get on this, we want to hear you again since Songs About Real LIfe (co-written with the hilariously talented Eric March) blew the roof off of Ars Nova last November!"

I hear you my children, I hear you. Give it a week and I'll have somethin' cooking that all y'all alterna-freaks and musical theatre punks will want to come see. It'll be one part prose, one part poetry, one part spontaneous rant, a whole lot of conga banging, Piano pounding and Guitar Thrashing... give or take a jews-harp plucking here or there.

I'm currently watching USA take on Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, which not a lot of Americans seem to give a shit about. Well, this American gives a lot of shits about it. Unfortunately we are down 6-1 at the moment in the top of the 5th. Go Jeter!!! More could happen, if we score - there will be a subsequent post... but we must continue.

Baseball Season is around the mother frakking corner and I'm groin-grabbingly excited to walk in to the new Yankee Stadium on opening day and re-proclaim my love for this beautiful ballpark & my loyalty to this awe inspiring team. This is it folks, this is the year we bring a championship home to NEW YORK FRakkin City! She deserves it, I deserve it, and even if A-Rod Doesn't deserve it, we'll let him ride along the victory parade float anyway just so he doesn't feel left out.

Times are tough and tight my friends. I couldn't find two quarters to rub together to get me out of borough today to save my frakking life. Oy - it makes me think there must be some kind of way out of here.

A word on the use of Frak - It's from Battlestar Galactica, the greatest show on television. Haters, give it a try - I guarantee if you watch the 3-hour miniseries and don't like it, it means you're not human and have no business on this planet.

We finally got an update from the good folks at T2R, by way of webmaster Mr. Jason "Sweettooth" Williams that Things 2 Ruin, the incendiary cyclone of Songs by Mr. Joe Iconis should be rearing it's ugly head sooner than you think. This is very exciting news for us here at Desperate Times. Mr. Iconis knows how to write a godsdamn good song... songs about hate and hope, jailbait and whiskey and Desperate fucking times. We eagerly await T2R's New home - so from us here at Desperate Times to ya'll over there at T2R blog - Godspeed and Good hunting.

Everyone else: Let's make some fucking art. If you have a poem or song or scene or picture that you'd like to see on the blog - let me know and i'll throw it up there asap! coming soon: The Fabulously Talented and ultimately adorable helen Parson and her cavalcade of comics.

Till then

Om Mani Pad Me Hum

Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)

Desperate Times Songbook Series: Part 2 (In Our Ongoing Series)

Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home): Sung by Darlene Love from the 1963 Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. The song was written by Phil Spector, along with Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich, with the intentions of being sung by Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes. According to Darlene Love, Ronnie Spector was not able to put as much emotion into the song as needed. Instead, Love was brought into the studio to record the song which became a big success over time and one of Darlene Love's signature tunes.

The song was also used during the main titles for the film Gremlins.

Watch Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) as performed by Joe Iconis and his merry band of musical theatre punks (Annie Golden, Jason "Sweettooth Williams, Lance Rubin, Matt Hinkley, Brent Stranathan, Ian Kegey, Nick Blaemire, Jason Tam, Krysta Rodriguez, Lauren Marcus, Katrina Rose Dideriksen, Lorinda Lisitza, A.J. Shively, Badia Farah, Melanie Field, Rich Krakowski, Jeremy Morse, Eric William Morris, The Kissin Kazoo Sisters (Sarah Glendening & Liz Lark Brown), and yours truly Jared Weiss) at The Joe Iconis Christmas Spectacular @ Ars Nova on 12/17/08.

When work comes before family at the North Pole

Lorinda Lisitza as an inebriated Mrs. Claus & Jason "Sweettooth" Williams as Santa from the Joe Iconis Christmas Spectacular at Ars Nova 12/17/08 (cameos by Jared Weiss as An Elf & A.J. Shively as the biblical figure Joseph of Nazareth)