Folks outside of the LA rock scene may not know the individual that is Karen Centerfold. But that should all change with the release of the documentary Centerfold Centerfold.
The subject of this forthcoming documentary is the unique, uncontainable, enigmatic Hollywood/LA rock scene fixture Karen Centerfold - known mainly for her presence on LA cable public access TV and at local rock shows (in addition to political activist, adult model, and office worker).

"If you spent any time at weird rock and roll shows in LA you probably have a Karen Centerfold story. As for me she always insisted on introducing one of my bands everytime we played.  She would then always get the name wrong and spend most of the show smacking us on the ass.," my friend Brandon Perry (aka WFMU DJ Marty McSorley & fka KXLU DJ Paula Poundstone) from the defunct band Explogasm [mispronounced "Explorgasm"] recently told me. Perry continued that the "gender-bending destroyed puzzle of a human that only LA could create" is exactly as she appears in the documentary trailer below and that she typically will  "show up, be loud, sometimes try to take over shows, and just try to cause a scene in general!". The film is directed by Eckse, with production and editing duties handled by Xenia Shin, Angie Meng, and Margot Padilla.  Responsible for the film is longtime LA underground promoter Sean Carnage - the documentary's executive producer. This week I caught up with Sean Carnage to ask him about himself, his film, and of course its colorful subject. That interview follows the trailer for the film below.
 

INTRO

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The recent business news story reports on the $27 billion sales figure deal by radio station-owning company Clear Channel Communications to Bain Capital and THL Partners have focused on how the two big investment giants had, as of last week, sued a cadre of major Wall Street banks to force them to finance the extremely large dollar takeover.   You see, with all the recent drama and fallout and uncertainty of the US economy, the Wall Street bankers who were supposed to finance the takeover (initially agreed to in 2006) basically got cold feet.

In court Bain and THL said that the banks supposed to pony up the cash essentially had "buyer's remorse" when they realized that, with the recent turns in the US economy, that they would not rake in the profits they once foresaw.

 Anyway, all of this news merely blurs, or perhaps further highlights, the real news story here:  The story of the slow decline and final death of (commercial) radio, once upon a time a vibrant creative media form which in the last decade and more -- thanks in great part to Clear Channel, along with other like-minded, huge but soulless entertainment conglomerates -- has been drained of its former glory and destroyed essentially.  This new deal is just the final nail in the coffin.

Of course there are still amazing non-commercial radio stations (especially if you are lucky enough to live in the Bay Area) as well as oodles of great specialized streaming online music feeds, not to mention your iPod's collection of your favorite fifty thousand songs. But long ago commercial radio also satisfied that same need to hear good music, new music, different music, and presented by DJs who personally programmed (and loved) what they played.   But the days of fun, freeform creative commercial radio stations - a la the fictional WKRP Cincinnati or the real KSAN San Francisco- are long long gone.