Updates
December 3rd 2007
Our loving and devoted followers Sarah and Jeannie in the Land
Down Under have dedicated themselves to creating an Austrailan
street team! They can be found on MySpace drumming up support
for John Michaels and the Invisible Dogs. You can join up by
friending them, or your can go the more direct route and friend
us. Heck, why not do both and get twice the love and attention!
October 2007
Hey there everybody, happy Tuesday, well, at least it's not Monday anymore.
For those of you who might be curious about the results of the band member give away Ellie May Willmington was the winner and Andy was the prize. The weird thing is that Ellie May is my ex-girlfriend so that seemed a bit strange for me. She claims her two weeks with Andy have been the happiest of her life, but Andy on the other hand said that he's exhausted and didn't really like having to change his name to Jethro for two weeks.
For those of you who might be wondering what people actually think of the band let me give you some quotes
Jennifer Bates: “Your bass player is really really hot!”
Mary Rinaldi: “Your bass player is a show in and of himself”
Stephanie Peterson: “I just love your bass player, is he married?”
Jim Roberts: “Your bass player is really freakin awesome man!”
Mi Mi Wang: ”Your bass player does some really interesting stuff and I love the way he moves, and you're good too.”
This Friday is everyones chance to come out and see why our bass player is so awesome and why I'm good too. There won't be a band member give away at this one, but it is going to be videotaped and recorded. That's why we need everyone to come out and do some screaming and hollering, and there will be plenty of applause signs lighting up all over the place to help you know when to do it.
They have great food at Rascal's and the balcony will be open with a bar so you can have a bird's eye view of the band if you wish. One word of warning though, the last time we played there a girl up in the balcony got so excited when Brian started gyrating while playing his bass that she fell off the balcony and broke both of her legs. So please, use the balcony responsibly, we don't want any more tragedies at the show.
Have a great week and I hope to see you there,
John
Rascal's
1136 N Maple Ave
LaGrange Park Illinois—(Near Brookfield Zoo)
Show time 8:30
Free
Hey all, we've been called to fill in for a band that had to cancel tonight at the Elbo room.
It's a last minute notice, but for anyone around the city looking for something to do tonight feel free to drop in and let loose a howl.
Cheers,
John
Elbow Room
2871 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago IL
$5.00 cover
Showtime 8:30
Hey there everybody, looks like the show this Saturday at Legends in Addison is going to be a real spectacle. I've been getting bombarded with phone calls and emails from women who are coming and the numbers are in the thousands. We had a secret surprise planned, but it seems the word got out and it's creating quite the buzz. So what's the big deal, well, we're featuring the first ever band member give away.
That's right, all the ladies who come will get a raffle ticket and who ever has the winning ticket will draw a band members name from a hat. Whoever's name is drawn…well, he's your slave for two weeks. He will shop, do laundry, cook, clean, and do whatever you wish of him within reason. The only stipulation is that he will still be required to attend rehearsals.
So if you're planning on coming to this gig, you'd better get there early. I don't know how many people this place holds, but I suspect some are going to be turned away.
Also, now that summer has ended, I want to thank everyone who volunteered this year and gave their time to the ‘Save the Flies Foundation' that we created and sponsor. It was estimated that some 9.7 million flies were spared do to our collective efforts, so our heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you who contributed.
I would like to share with you a testimonial from one of our newest members Linda Peterson.
“I was about to smash the six legged flying shit eater with my flyswatter, but then I thought about what John Michaels and The Invisible Dogs said at one of their shows and I put my flyswatter down. Instead, I captured it in a jar and then set it free. I can honestly say that I have never been more at peace with myself or one with the universe since that day and I will never kill again!
Linda Peterson
There you have it, not only do we work hard to put on a good show, we fight for the little guy and we always will.
Hope to see you at the show, please no more phone calls or emails, I can't promise anyone a seat, its first come first serve, sorry.
John
Legends Music Café
701 West Lake St
Addison IL
$5.00 cover
Showtime 8:30
Hey there everybody, it's show time again for me and the invisible dogs and next to the All State Arena and the United Center these are two of our favorite places to play. Legends Music Café in Addison and Rascal's in LaGrange Park near Brookfield zoo. Every once in a while we like to take a break from the big arenas and do something more intimate and these are the perfect places.
The problem with these less than arena size shows is that we have to do a lot of them to give everyone a chance to see us up close and personal, so we'll be doing thirty five shows in a row at Legends and then taking one night off before we do another forty in a row at Rascal's.
The other nice thing about these shows is that we are in charge of them so we don't have to deal with any Donny and The Douchbag bands telling us that they've changed our time slot. My bass player Brian came up with that name for them and I think it's very fitting.
These shows are shaping up to what should be amongst our best and lots of fun should be had by all. Though there are plenty of them to choose from I recommend the dates and show times mentioned below.
Just to let you know ahead of time. Cameras will only be allowed by special permission from our press agent who will be stationed at the door.
Hope to see there,
John
Saturday October 6th
Legends Music Café
701 West Lake St
Addison IL
$5.00
Showtime 8:30
Also performing Lost Dog and ActionFinger
September 2007
Greetings everyone and happy Labor Day,
By the way, just what the heck is Labor Day anyway? Is this the day we take off to acknowledge our working lives? If so, I think Labor Day should be celebrated once a week. Personally I think the idea behind Labor Day should be changed and it should be a day to salute women who have gone through labor and survived it, especially those who have done it multiple times.
I think women and children born on Labor Day should be given special status and that Labor Day births should be televised from hospitals all over the nation. Heck with the picnic, lets watch some women pushing, sweating, screaming, and pushing bloody crying babies into the world for a real Labor Day celebration. Then they can show the men too looking all nervous, fidgety, sick, bewildered, fainting, and throwing up. Ok, so all guys aren't wimps about this, there are some who will actually hold her hand and say-“Push honey, you can do it” now there's a real Labor Day man. Ok, enough of all this Labor Day stuff, whatever it's all about I hope you're all having fun.
Its show time again for me and the Invisible Dogs and this one is sure to be memorable. We've decided that we haven't been creating enough of a stir so we're changing the name of the band for this show to Johnny and The Jockstraps. I will be doing the show with nothing more than a pair of boxer shorts and Brian, Andy, and Mike will be in nothing more than Jockstraps. Though we may find ourselves feeling a bit more vulnerable than usual, I think this is going to be a real character building experience for us as a band. The show is at the Tonik this coming Friday and the details are below.
Cheers! Hope to see some of you there.
John
Tonik
Friday Sept 7th
Show time 9:00
7247 Roosevelt Rd
Forest Park IL
August 2007
Greetings everyone, I hope you all had a great weekend and that your Monday at work has sailed by or is sailing by painlessly and quickly.
Normally I like to share with you the details of a good show, but these are the details of a show that never was. Though we were all looking forward to playing at Sylvie's Saturday night, and though we had a decent turn out of friends/fans it never happened and here's why. We were told that our slot was 10 or 10:30 so we told people to be there around 9:30 or 10:00. When we got there one of the bands along with Sylvie conveniently decided without consulting us that we wouldn't have any problem going on at midnight instead. Now even though I feel I've paid more than enough dues at my age, I'm still willing to pay more as long as I can have some fun doing it and as long as it's under certain conditions. I stress to my band mates that we handle and present ourselves professionally and that we do. We aren't a garage band of teenage rock star wannabes who have cigarettes hanging out of our mouths while performing a delusionary massacred version of Jumping Jack Flash. We're organized, cooperative, we work hard to put on a good show and we're professional. In return we expect bands, venue owners, and the people we work with to treat us professionally and with the respect that we deserve, and that was not the case Saturday night. We are not about to ask our friends to sit around for what would have amounted to nearly three hours for some of them to see us do a show when it would have gone something like this. Our friends would have been forced to listen to two bands that they didn't come to see. Then when it would have been our turn, do you think the other two bands and all their friends were about to stick around and support us? There would have been a whole lot of “We'd love to check you guys out, but--- blah blah blah blah blah blah blah and blah.
We discussed it and considered the feedback from people who came to see us and decided to pull out… Whenever Brian or I have booked a show with other bands and one of them has the last slot we always make sure that they're cool with it. We don't tell them one thing and then give them another. It's simple, do unto others as you want done to you and if you can't, then you can play from ten until one in the morning. If you don't have enough material to fill the night, then maybe you and Sylvie can try doing stand up comedy to keep the customers around because we're not about to be duped into doing your dirty work for you.
Fortunately we were able to catch everyone before they went in and paid the cover charge. If by some chance any one of you showed up after we left and wound up paying just let me know and I will be happy to reimburse you.
I know all of you who came out were looking forward to it and we're sorry it wound up the way it did. Jim, Gail, Pam, you guys came a long way…sorry Thanks to all of you who did come out and a bigger thanks for understanding and supporting us in our decision.
Have a great week.
John
Greetings again everyone,
I hope you are doing well and making the most of these last days of summer.
It's show time again for me and the Invisible Dogs, and that means I will be strapping on my acoustic, Brian will be strapping on his bass, Andy will be strapping on his electric, and Mike will be rolling out the drums for another night of musical adventure. Unlike most jobs that have a certain amount of predictability, when it comes to shows we never knows what's going to happen, and that my friends is where much of the fun and adventure lies. Of course that's what can also give me a thundering migraine headache, make me a total nervous wreck, and bring forth yet one more personality that I didn't know I had.
We are going to start an audience gallery on the website that will have video clips and pictures of our friends and fans howling and barking at the moon with us. So if you're suffering from a lack of attention and would like to have your face available for international viewing come on out and smile for the camera—or flip the bird if you wish.
There is lots happening with the band and I will be sending out one of my infamous newsletters at the end of the month to let you all in on it. Until then, soak up the sun, take some long evening walks, ride your bikes, climb your trees, watch the migration of the night hawks, and take in as much as you can before old man winter shows his ugly face again. Details for the show are down below, oh yeah, there's actually parking around this place and it doesn't cost ten dollars a minute.
Hope to see some of you at the show,
John
The Dead Are Rising tour begins on
Saturday August 18th
Sylvie's Lounge 1902 West Irving Park Chicago IL
Showtime—9:30
Also performing—Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley
July 2007
Greetings new friends and old friends of the dogs…The Invisible Dogs that is.
It's time for the J.M monthly newsletter on what's happening and been happening with the pack. Last Saturday I had low expectations for our show at the Gallery Cabaret. For one reason or another all of us in the band were beat and tired, and it turned out the starting time was 10 instead of 9 and the owner wanted us to go until 2. That was not the kind of news this tired pack of dogs wanted to hear. On top of that it appeared that it was going to be a low turnout of people which can make any night feel like an eternity.
The first sign that I was wrong was when Barbara Holleck started her set. There was a medium sized crowd by then, but it was a great listening crowd and the listening was well deserved. Barbara was in top form and with class and style she strummed, picked, and belted out over an hours worth of emotionally charged tunes that proved to be the perfect way to start the night.
Thanks to a bunch of Andy's friends showing up by the time we started the place was full and lively. Once we got a few bugs out of the mix we were off and howling in our usual fashion and it turned out to be a fun night with a great audience. The highlight for us of course was going nuts at the end of our last song and the picture was something like this--- Brian the bad ass bass player jerks his triple jointed rubber neck around and I mean the one attached to his head, and he continues it while he lays on the floor gyrating. Andy motorizes his hands until they look like their possessed by humming birds flying up and down the strings while the guitar steadily screams, my acoustic is nearly inaudible at that point so I simply beat the shit out it to make as much noise as possible, and Mike does his best to look like the serious musician while he murders his drums and slaughters his cymbals. If you'd like to witness this spectacle first hand we'll be doing it again this Friday at Legends out in Addison Illinois, and no, that isn't Buddy Guy's Legends. Legends is a great venue with a nice stage, lights, friendly people, and plenty of room for the dogs to run wild.
In other news, thanks to Brian's latest brain child, we are presently mapping out our first video which will be for the song “Made For Each Other” and hope to have that and one more done before the end of the year. Also on the table are plans for the first recording that will feature The Invisible Dogs and the song will be the ever popular “Mr. Hyde”. That too we hope to have available as a promotional single before the end of the year and it will be the first step to get the second CD underway. We have a monumental amount of work to do, but I am encouraged by the response we are getting and hopeful that these dogs may have their day. We are still keeping an eye out for the missing dog to complete the pack and he's out there somewhere in the form of a guitar player.
With that, have a great fourth of July and don't get blown up. I will be celebrating it by flying to Arizona tonight for a historical event. Tomorrow at high noon I will be shot out of a cannon across the Grand Canyon as human cannon ball. We're still going over some of the logistics as to which side I'm supposed to land on and exactly where I'll be landing. Hopefully I'll have a good video clip of it to put up on the website so stayed tuned for that.
January 2007
Welcome to the Website release party! it started today and will continue until who knows when. Pour yourself a drink, grab a snack, and let me tell you what's been happening.
First of all some novel news. My CD is on three Juke boxes in Belfast Northern Ireland thanks to my Irish connection - my brother Mat. He thinks he's Irish. Other than the owners, no one knew that he was my brother and he had a blast watching the response when he played the entire CD at each place. My favorite of course is one gentleman who asked my brother, "Who is this?" My brother replied, "It's a guy from Chicago who is starting to get popular there." To which the gentleman replied, "Well he's going to be huge here!"
I'm not getting too excited about such a remark because first of all I don't know how much he had to drink, I don't know how much my brother had to drink, and I don't know if they were actually listening to my CD. On the bright side, maybe he'll turn out to be a prophet. Mat will be heading back to Ireland in February and plans to get the CD some airplay. For those of you who bar hop it's also on two juke boxes here in the city as well. All the names, addresses, and websites are on the links page.
Another Novel note about the Cd's in Ireland; they have a different title and different artwork. Those are the collectors edition with the title; The Anything Goes Show.
Lets see, on with the novel news. On And On She Goes was aired on WLUV 88.7 FM Tuesday 3/6/07 and again on 3/8/07 as well during the Razor and Die show which airs between 11 Pm and 2 Am. For those of you who are local, feel free to call in and make a request.
I've been busy writing new songs, writing all kinds of stuff in general, plotting and planning, and opening up for the Punk Alternative band NatureDevil so what do I have in common with them musically? Well, we haven't figured that out yet, but we're having fun so who the fu#k cares! If you're in the mood for a rare mix of music and fun come on out and have an earfull. Hopefully we'll leave you feeling schizophrenic and satisfied at the end of the night.
Due to compliments and popular demand, posters of the album art work are also in the works and there is a lot more coming to the site so stayed tuned for the updates. In the meantime feel free to browse around and contact me with any thoughts, comments, personal problems or anything else that you might like to pass along. I always write back.
John
