Chatter: One of the biggest Mojo Nixon legends pertains to Don Henley unexpectedly jumping onstage with you in Austin and singing "Don Henley Must Die." What's the truth about that encounter?
Mojo Nixon: My manager heard that Henley was in town and that he might drop by the Hole in the Wall for our gig. I thought he probably just wanted to whip my ass. He'd cut his hair off right before this, so I didn't recognize him when he came in. But when we did the song, I looked over and there he was.
He was completely hammered, and I said something like, 'Do you want to kick my ass, [or] do you want to sing?' This was when there was a bunch of talk about the Eagles getting back together for some huge money gig, and Henley just went with it and sang the lines about "Don Henley must die / Don't let him get back together with Glenn Frey." It was great.
C: So have you ever talked to or seen him since?
MN: Nope. But the weird thing is, this has become like an urban legend. The Hole in the Wall holds maybe 80-90 people, but I've had at least 5,000 people tell me they were there that night.
C: You also skewered teen pop star Debbie Gibson with your song "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My Two-Headed Love Child." Did she ever confront you about that?
MN: Actually, she was in the touring company of Grease and came on my radio show in Cincinnati once. She was very cool about the whole thing. But, you know, her mom was her manager and we got her on the phone during the show and she still hates me. A lot.
C: What's been your biggest song?
MN: Easily "Elvis Is Everywhere." I'm amazed at how many people know that song.
C: What do you see as the crown jewel of your repertoire?
MN: I'm really proud of "Tie My Pecker to My Leg." I set that to the tune of this old cowpuncher song, "Chisolm Trail," you know, rhymed it with "come a tie yie yippie yippie yay." "Elvis Is Everywhere" may be the song everybody knows today, but I'm telling you, a thousand years from now some astronaut is going to be out in deep space screwing some hot alien chick and he'll be humming "Tie My Pecker to My Leg."
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NEWS FEED
Iconic Houston blues-rockers ZZ Top were named among the 2011 recipients of the Texas Medal of Arts last week. Administered by the Texas Cultural Trust, the awards go to Texans for their achievements in music, theater, film, journalism, literature and the visual arts, as well as corporate sponsors and individual patrons. Past musical honorees include Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, Clint Black and Austin City Limits. Governor Rick Perry will present the medals to ZZ Top and the other 2011 recipients, including Houston's Alley Theatre, Asleep at the Wheel front man Ray Benson, and actors Bill Paxton and Marcia Gay Harden at the annual gala this Tuesday night at Austin's Long Center for the Performing Arts. For more information see www.txculturaltrust.org/tmaa.
