TAD's Back-Up Plan

#528: The smallest Air Force base in the world

2012-02-14T01:14:00.000-08:00

I've bn stuck in some pretty small places. Ankara Air Station in Turkey (where I was assigned by the US Air Force in 1990-91) was about 4 blocks long & 3 blocks across -- a home 10,000 miles from home 4 the 2,000 or so Americans assigned there. It's all closed up now.
Onizuka Air Station in Sunnyvale, Calif., was even smaller. Not counting the 3-story parking garage, you could almost throw a baseball from 1 side of the base 2 the other.
But that'd B leaving out "The Blue Cube" -- a 4-story, windowless high-tech block, "shrouded in secrecy" (as the local newspapers put it), that was the whole reason the base was there.
Unfortunately, the Blue Cube sat right next 2 US Highway 101, where hundreds of thousands of cars passed by every day, possibly with 1,000s of people inside them wondering what went on inside that huge light-blue building....
Onizuka's whole mission was satellite tracking -- including GPS satellites that I assume were used 4 enemy surveillance & target-spotting during the 1st Gulf War. But in 1992, when I was there, We Couldn't Talk About Any Of That. It was all still Top Secret. This was LONG B4 everybody & his brother had a GPS system in their car.
I'd bn in other places where we Couldn't Talk About Our Mission -- in the 3 years I was at Francis E. Warren AFB in Wyoming, I could never Confirm or Deny the existence of nuclear missiles at any particular location. Everybody just knew they were Out There ... somewhere. That's about as detailed as I could get.
Onizuka AS was even MORE secretive. Imagine being a public-affairs guy at a place like that. Sure you could talk 2 the local media -- you just couldn't tell them what the base DID.
Imagine being a base newspaper guy at such a place. What the hell could you write about?
Well, somehow I found SOMETHING to fill the 8-pages-per-week of the Xerox-copier-reprinted typing-paper-sheet-sized ONIZUKA ORBITER. Since I couldn't talk much about the mission, I tended 2 write lots of humorous pieces, & focused on base intramural sports & people with intresting off-duty hobbies -- the 1's who'd talk 2 me about those. 1 guy wouldn't talk about being a member of a local rap group (when he was off-duty) Bcos he thot it would signal 2 his superiors that he didn't take his job seriously.
I had 2 put up with this heavy-handed Big Brother take-your-job-deadly-seriously stuff EVERY DAY. It was the kiss of death 4 a reporter who tried 2 have fun with his job. & it helped me decide 2 get out of the Air Force that much sooner.
In an AF base newspaper, 1 of a reporter's highest callings was sposta B 2 write a "mission feature" -- a slice-of-daily-life-style piece that would vividly show how 1 person's or 1 unit's job helped get the mission (national defense) done. In a place as secretive as "Oz," mission features were tough 2 write. Impossible, even.
1 unit didn't like the fact that I led off a story by focusing on the 9 empty 3-pound coffee cans they had stacked up in their break room. I thot the coffee cans showed the kind of demanding, ongoing, routine kind of job they did -- as important as it was. They wouldn't let me print the story with that description in it. I was able 2 convince their section chief of my reasons behind including such an image -- she even agreed with me. But she said publishing it would cost her her job. So I backed off.
Another unit (as close as I could get 2 the satellite-tracking center of the base's mission) was offended when I pointed out that their main work area (a cluster of huge satellite dishes that sometimes had 2 B climbed out on 2 B cleaned) included a "Pigeon Attack Zone" -- this area ID'd by big signs next 2 the door out 2 the dishes.
The guys thot the signs were hilarious -- so did I -- but they didn't want the signs (or the kind of "attacks" the pigeons often dive-bombed them with) mentioned in the base newspaper. We talked it over, & I held on. & the story ended-up winning an award.
But after that, fewer offices & work areas around the tiny base would talk 2 me in NE depth. Mission features got tougher 2 find. So much so, that 4 an April Fool's Day edition, I wrote a mission feature on the base's janitors -- a dozen guys who spent hours each nite vacuuming carpets & mopping miles of tile floors. I thot the story was hilarious -- so did the janitors. & when I printed the story under a "Mission Feature" banner, nobody could miss the joke. That story also won an award.
I fought the overly-secretive silliness every way I knew how -- not always good-naturedly. & I told every1 I knew there that I couldn't see why everything was so hush-hush -- we hadn't bn THAT secretive during those 3 years I served at the biggest missile base in the world (which I promise 2 write more about soon).
...It wasn't all bad. Tho I wasn't there 4 the very 1st issue of the ORBITER, they let me re-design it a little with the 2nd issue. Since the Sunnyvale/San Jose area was even then known as a high-tech mecca 4 computers & such, I chose a modern, high-tech look 4 the paper, with a sorta computerized-looking sans-serif typeface that let me squeeze even more info in2 every issue's 8 (or sometimes more) pages.
& despite the frustrations, I wrote some stuff I was pretty happy with. 1 piece was on 1/2adozen base guys who had up&coming parts in the Bay Area rap music scene. I wish I coulda done more of that stuff. I hadda lotta fun with base intramural sports -- usually attracted 2 the losers, but trying pretty conscientiously 2 get everything covered. It was a small base & pretty EZ 2 keep up with.
Possibly the best story ever while I was there was on a base golf tournament -- & naturally, I followed around some REALLY BAD golfers, including R base Chaplain who was still learning how 2 play. He was hilarious -- after he scored a 9 on the 1st hole & a 10 on the 2nd, we were all crying from laffing so hard. & luckily the comedy came over in the story.
But all the stuff I Couldn't Talk About left me with a lotta stuff I Couldn't Write About -- & sometimes if I tried, people I'd never met would rewrite me 4 reasons unknown. Certainly not Bcos of National Security. I was able 2 convince most of these folks that I Knew What I Was Doing. But their rewrites would always stand. I started taking my name off of lots of stuff -- the only way I could noticeably protest.
I'd bn planning on getting out of the AF since B4 coming 2 Oz. When things started going bad, I started sending out a dozen resumes a week 2 Real Newspapers, begging 4 a writing job. Finally, in Sept 1992, The Smallest Daily Newspaper In The World -- located in Worland, Wyoming -- offered 2 hire me as a managing editor. It was the beginning of a whole new adventure.
After 10 years of service, the AF did at least let me out when I asked nicely. & I left Oz with a couple of end-of-the-year awards, 4 AF Space Command's Best Feature Writing & Best News Writing of 1992. (The 2nd of these was kinda a joke. There was no "news" at R base. Not Officially.)
...Oh, music was important in all this, 2. The cheapest house we could find 2 rent was 45 mins away from the base in San Jose (which then had the most Xpensive rent prices in the nation, we were told). 2 dare California's freeways (101, 680, 880, etc), music was ESSENTIAL. It was while driving these freeways that I realized Madonna was an Artist -- a mix-tape of her songs that I could actually STAND ("Open Your Heart," "Live to Tell," "The Look of Love," "Oh Father," "Dear Jessie," "Dress You Up," etc.) probly kept me from wrecking the car a dozen times. On the way 2&from work I also played the HECK outta mix tapes I'm still playing 2day.
& that 45-minute commute was on the Good Days. When it rained -- which it seemingly always did each Fri aft -- the drive home could stretch in2 3 hours....

#527: Messin' 3

2012-02-10T02:14:00.000-08:00

Xperiments continue on the humans. Tho there have bn some signs of progress, I remain in grave doubt about these Earthpeople. I swear that during what they call the evening "rush hour" I could play "Deutschland Uber Alles" or Bloodrock's "D.O.A." on the store stereo & no1 would notice. Maybe I should try it as a test!
Nevertheless, the following "pop" songs were inflicted on the unknowing general public Thurs nite, with a few encouraging responses (which follow):

Hall & Oates -- How Does it Feel to be Back?
Pogues -- Lorelei.
Who -- I Can See for Miles.
Eagles -- Peaceful Easy Feeling, Seven Bridges Road, James Dean.
Outlaws -- I Can't Stop Loving You.
Georgia Satellites -- Keep Your Hands to Yourself.
Aerosmith -- Dude Looks Like a Lady.
Billy Ocean -- Love Really Hurts Without You.
Quarterflash -- Find Another Fool.
B.W. Stevenson -- My Maria.
Tricia Yearwood -- X's and O's.
Mary-Chapin Carpenter -- Downtown Train, This Shirt, You Win Again, Middle Ground, The Hard Way, He Thinks He'll Keep Her, Passionate Kisses.
Doobie Brothers -- Nobody.
Guess Who -- No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature.
Mott the Hoople -- All the Young Dudes.
Warren Zevon -- Werewolves of London.
Bubble Puppy -- Hot Smoke and Sassafras.
Kinks -- Victoria, Village Green Preservation Society, Dead-End Street, Shangri-La, Apeman, Sunny Afternoon.
Men at Work -- No Sign of Yesterday.
Buffalo Springfield -- Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing, Broken Arrow, Rock and Roll Woman, Go and Say Goodbye, On the Way Home.
Joan Armatrading -- I Love it When You Call Me Names, Drop the Pilot, When I Get it Right, Temptation, Talking to the Wall, Me Myself I, All the Way from America, I Need You, The Weakness in Me, Persona Grata.
Monkees -- Porpoise Song, Tapioca Tundra, Your Auntie Grizelda, Zilch, No Time, Sunny Girlfriend, The Door into Summer, Love is Only Sleeping, Daily Nightly.
Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks -- Without a Leg to Stand On.
Fleetwood Mac -- World Turning, I'm So Afraid (live), The Farmer's Daughter, Silver Springs, Fireflies, One More Night.

...Not the most outlandish lineup, but 1 must fit in, & a good proportion of these Rn't normally played on US radio.
RESPONSES: 1 Regular said he liked coming in 2 the store at nite & hearing the music. 1 young woman said she liked coming in at nite 'cos the music keeps things lively (this was during "Tapioca Tundra"); I responded that the music keeps me awake -- & HAPPY. 1 man asked about Joan Armatrading during "Talking to the Wall," so I got a chance 2 show-off summa my ignorance about her; maybe he'll buy summa her stuff -- hope so, she's pretty great. Another Regular came in while I was howling along with the Xtremely loud "I am in love with you" choruses of Armatrading's "Persona Grata" -- & she just smiled at me. 1 guy said "Hot Smoke and Sassafras" sounded pretty good, & we both agreed that was a long time ago & you don't hear 2 much stuff like that NEmore. 1 woman "vaguely" recognized "Daily Nightly" (she was humming along with it) & wasn't suprised 2 hear how old it was....
So, a better crop of responses than usual. Progress is being made. Radio-weary ears R being opened. However, all this Xperimenting was done after 9 pm. B4 8 pm it doesn't seem 2 matter what music is used as a soundtrack -- the Earthers R 2 wrapped-up in their "rush hour" activities 2 notice.
Xperiments will continue, however. My cover story remains safe Bcos nobody cares. They all ignore me cos they don't know I'm really a spacer from those UFOs....

#526: Global warming...?

2012-02-08T00:20:00.000-08:00

It was sunny & in the mid-50s here on Tues, the 5th consecutive day of Spring-like weather. I even went out & MOWED THE LAWN Tues aft. How sick is THAT? & I hadda pretty good time, 2. It felt pretty good being out there. Not at all like work. I was even laughing. It was almost relaxing. Didn't even havta hum little songs 2 keep me motivated. A body in motion....
I would love it if this were the Official Start Of Spring, but I'm fairly sure Mother Nature/La Nina is just softening us up 4 another round of rain & cold & crap. In fact, it's already started sprinkling 2nite. But it was nice while it lasted. Next time we'll see the sun will probly B in April. Or June....

Spent the past couple of days reading Judith Merril & Emily Pohl-Weary's BETTER TO HAVE LOVED (2002), Merril's life story pasted-2gether by her granddaughter Pohl-Weary after Merril's death in 1997.
Merril was a prominent science-fiction writer, book critic & anthologist from the '50s in2 the '70s -- her wide-ranging selections in her '60s annual YEAR'S BEST SF short-story anthologies influenced current SF writers like William Gibson.
I remember Merril best as the book reviewer 4 THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION in the mid-'60s when she championed the works of Samuel R. Delany, Philip K. Dick, J.G. Ballard, Roger Zelazny, R.A. Lafferty, & most of the British "New Wave." But her columns weren't just book reviews -- they were travelogues of the places she visited (mid-'60s London, the brutal '68 Chicago Democratic Convention), descriptions of writers she met, whatever struck her fancy.
The book is a bit of a grab-bag: The opening chapters that follow her life story R pretty riveting, as she meets The Futurians in New York City, marries writer/editor Frederik Pohl, argues & collaborates with C.M. Kornbluth, befriends a ton of SF writers (including lifelong friends Virginia Kidd & Katherine MacLean), & has affairs with star SF writers Theodore Sturgeon, Fritz Leiber, Walter M. Miller Jr., & others.
She was a tough woman, & she went thru a lot. But after witnessing Chicago '68 up-close she moved 2 Toronto 2 become a "resource person" at the city's experimental Rochdale College. & after that the book sorta slowly dribbles away as the details of her life get thinner. Pohl-Weary sorta apologizes 4 this up-front. But there's no need.
The best part of this book is as good & as vivid an SF reminiscence as Damon Knight's THE FUTURIANS and Frederik Pohl's THE WAY THE FUTURE WAS. If you're an old-time SF fan, you'll probably love it. & as a peek behind the scenes, it's pretty priceless.
& some of it's beautiful. Here's Merril's opening, written by a woman who outlived nearly all the lovers in her life:
"Every way to lose a lover is unbearable. ... Grief is not knowing where to give the love that does not stop."

Have also been trying 2 read Ray Coleman's massive LENNON biography (1984/1995/2000), but I'm suprised about how surfacey it is. Some of the descriptions of the early days in Liverpool & Hamburg R pretty fresh, but the later stuff thins out drastically, & I think Coleman even gets summa the minor details wrong.
Maybe there just isn't anything new & fresh left 2 say in this story. But I'd think in 700 pgs of text (originally published as 2 books) that Coleman coulda found something new -- he'd interviewed Lennon many times.
It is, at least, better, more positive, more optimistic than Albert Goldman's wretched THE MANY LIVES OF JOHN LENNON, which was so outrageously negative that I couldn't finish it -- despite being locked in by Goldman's earlier ELVIS.
At this point I'm not looking 4 new dirt, & I don't need the same old facts repeated again, I'd just like the story told with some depth, insight, style, feeling.... Is there any way 2 make it all new again...?

COMING SOON: Early (& Late) Al Stewart.

#525: The Stupor Bowl!

2012-02-04T02:21:00.000-08:00

Hey, hear there's some big football game coming up this weekend, Giants/Patriots, a lotta people R Xcited....
Yeah? So what? Who cares?
The Giants won the Super Bowl last year, the Pats have won a buncha times. So what? It's the same old guys in there. Big deal.
Won't miss NOT seeing it. Glad I'm workin.
I hear that big-screen TV sales go thru the roof in the weeks leading up 2 the Super Bowl every year.
I also hear that more & more people suffer heart attacks every year during the game -- especially if it's really close. They just can't take the stress.
+ it's a fact that there R more Domestic Violence incidents reported on Super Bowl Sunday than on NE other day of the year.
So, since we're having all this "fun" already, I've thot of a way the National Football League can hype their annual championship game even more. If the NFL's smart -- & they usually R when it comes 2 $$$ -- they'll adopt this idea....
Why not have the 2 WORST teams in the league during the regular season face-off in a sorta pre-Game game, & have the prize B who gets 2 pick the 1st college draft-choice in the off-season?
Of course the "winner" of this game would havta B the LOSER, Bcos the worst team overall always makes the 1st pick.
THERE's a game even "my" Seattle Seahawks would B thrilled 2 play in -- would B thrilled 2 LOSE -- Bcos even by losing they'd win, if you see what I mean. + they'd B on national TV & all -- & losing, something they usually do, would B a worthwhile goal in this match.
They could call it The Stupor Bowl -- a chance 4 the 2 teams who faced the utmost futility during the regular season 2 fight it out 1 last time 4 "bragging rights"....
MayB the Seahawks weren't actually bad enuf 2 B "invited" 2 The Stupor Bowl this year -- but it sure SEEMED like it. MayB they didn't go 1-15 for the season. Maybe they were only 4-12 or 6-10 -- doesn't matter. Who cares?
My point is, a pre-Game game like this would get some NEW TEAMS in the spotlight, some folks you don't C all the time -- 4 obvious reasons. Some teams that got overlooked in the pursuit of Xcellence.
Let's see -- I'm thinking Seahawks/Raiders, maybe? Or Seahawks/Bills? Who was REALLY BAD this past season? Detroit? Cincinnati? (I didn't really pay much attention....)
Look, I useta B a BIG football fan. For YEARS. Back when I was married & spent mosta my Sundays doing laundry, that TV was tuned 2 football from 10 am 2 10 pm, & I yelled & cheered & screamed when my favorite teams did well. There was nothing on TV as pretty as seeing Joe Montana complete an 80-yard pass over Jerry Rice's right shoulder just as the clock ticked down 2 the end of regulation time.
But a couple days B4 the Super Bowl of 2000, it was like I OD'd on football. I called the cable company & told 'em 2 pull the plug & come get the equipment cos I was done.
& Xcept 4 the Seahawks' wasted trip 2 the SB a few years back, I haven't watched a single game all-the-way-thru since.
& I haven't missed it.
In fact, most sports events seem more & more pointless the older I get.
Basketball season was almost cancelled this year? So what?
Baseball? They're all WAY overpaid.
Jeez, I don't even watch HOCKEY anymore, & I thot I'd NEVER break THAT addiction.
But I think The Stupor Bowl has possibilities. I'd switch-on the TV 2 C the 2 worst teams of the year face-off 4 1 last all-or-nothing match-up. & if I would, I'm sure there's 1,000s of others who'd watch, who mayB don't give a crap about the Real game....
R U listening, NFL? Give me a call or drop me an e-mail & we'll do lunch....

#524: Open letters....

2012-02-03T02:44:00.000-08:00

1st, a big shout-out 2 the folks at http://www.kindakinks.net/, who stumbled over that off-the-cuff review of the Kinks' VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY in my last post, latched a link on2 it, & sent me ... nearly 200 visitors over the past few days, making that "Laundry-doin'" post suddenly the 2nd-most-viewed post EVER here at the Back-Up Plan.
I'm not used 2 this kinda response. As of this update (5 Feb 12, 2 am), apparently about 225 folks have looked at that post. That's wonderful, of course -- but it would B great if some1 would comment, if only 2 tell me that VILLAGE GREEN has been a great Lost Classic album since late 1968 & where the hell have I been?
Who can ever predict how this InterWeb thingy works....?

Ever wanted 2 tell your boss what you REALLY think of him? Maybe write a resignation letter he'll NEVER forget?
Keith Altham's THE PR STRIKES BACK (2001) is a series of open letters from renowned press-flack Altham 2 summa the many music superstars he's handled publicity 4 over his 30+ years as a PR & music journalist.
It's pretty funny. Altham uses the letters 2 poke fun, remember old times, & maybe settle some old scores & frustrations. Included R letters 2 & reminiscences about Mick Jagger, Pete Townshend, Rod Stewart (whose last name is mis-spelled on the back of the book), Sting, Jimi Hendrix, Van Morrison, Brian Wilson, Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Emerson, Ray Davies, Marc Bolan & a coupla dozen more.
The letter 2 Jagger is pretty brutal. The letter 2 Rod the Mod includes Ronnie Wood's description of The Tartan-Clad One's famous stinginess: "Tighter than two coats of paint."
Altham's directness is often brutally funny. Not all the letters R criticisms -- the letter 2 Sting calls him misunderstood. The letter 2 Brian Wilson sez no1 in rock has suffered more 4 his art. The closing letter 2 Pete Townshend takes a tone of near-adoration -- despite Pete's ugly temper & the fact that Altham was fired 4 times from doing publicity 4 The Who.
Altham calls Manfred Mann "arrogance personified." The letter 2 Joan Armatrading makes it clear that "Me, Myself, I" really was her theme song. The letter 2 Van Morrison is about what you'd Xpect. & Altham nails Squeeze when he sez they had "plenty of talent but absolutely no charisma."
A letter 2 Justin Hayward calls him "the steel spine that glued The Moody Blues together."
Some of the most moving letters R 2 stars who R no longer with us -- Hendrix, Bolan, Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, etc., or 2 those who disappeared when they couldn't cope with fame -- Brian Wilson, Scott Walker, etc.
It's a lite, breezy, fast read, & very enjoyable. If you're a Brit fan, you should eat this book up.
Only a few complaints: The farther you get in2 the book, the more typos there R & the more words R dropped thru bad proofreading.
Also, this is the 1st 300-page book in YEARS that I've bn able 2 read in just a coupla days -- that's cos you only get about 200 pgs of letters. Every artist included gets a full-page photo, & the section-heads (the artists' names) each take up a full pg. There's a lotta wasted pgs here.
All that said, I'd B happy 2 devour another volume-full. Got anymore, KA?

Have also bn trying 2 get thru Don & Jeff Breithaupt's PRECIOUS AND FEW: POP MUSIC IN THE EARLY '70s (1996), a good companion 2 go with Rhino's old HAVE A NICE DAY series of '70s hits repackages.
I should love this book, it's the period I 1st started listening 2 the radio, & I know almost all the music that's discussed. But I'm finding it a tough read.
Not the Breithaupts' fault. They know their stuff, & the book is intended as a lite, breezy, silly read, nothing 2 deep. They look at 100s of pop singles released from 1970-75 in 30 short chapters, & they mention dozens of other almost-hits in passing. & tho they love the period, most of the book's played 4 laffs -- the kinda comedy that comes from looking back with warm-hearted nostalgia.
It's mildly amusing. I wish it was funnier. & it's meant 2 B a quick read, not Deep And Meaningful Rock Criticism. 1 of their points is that the early '70s is kinda hard 2 take seriously. Musically, at least.
No real complaints, but I got farther in 1 afternoon with Altham's book than I did in a week of trying 2 read the Breithaupts'. This might just B my taste; if you agree the early '70s Rn't worth taking 2 seriously, you might like this.
Oh, & the Breithaupts apparently missed Climax's follow-up 2 "Precious and Few" -- a nice little number called "Life and Breath," which failed 2 make the Top 40 in the US. & they missed Edward Bear's follow-up 2 the Top 3 hit "Last Song" -- the much-better "Close Your Eyes."
But Xtra points 2 them 4 mentioning ALL the singles by Five Man Electrical Band....

#523: Laundry-doin' music!

2012-01-31T23:44:00.000-08:00

So, what music do YOU use as a soundtrack when you're doing chores around the house? I usually use Fleetwood Mac's TUSK, but on this particular Tuesday it was....

Can -- Father Cannot Yell, Soup.
Pogues -- Sunny Side of the Street, If I Should Fall From Grace With God, Lorelei, Thousands are Sailing, White City, Fairytale of New York, Fiesta.
Kinks -- VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY: Village Green Preservation Society, Do You Remember Walter?, Picture Book, Johnny Thunder, Last of the Steam-Powered Trains, Big Sky, Sitting by the Riverside, Animal Farm, Village Green, Starstruck, Phenomenal Cat, All of My Friends Were There, Wicked Annabella, Monica, People Take Pictures of Each Other, Mr. Songbird, Days, Do You Remember Walter? (alternate mix), People Take Pictures of Each Other (alternate mix).
King Crimson (live) -- Get Thy Bearings, Travel Weary Capricorn, Mars, The Talking Drum, 21st Century Schizoid Man.

"Father Cannot Yell" features Jaki Leibezeit's great propulsive drumming, Malcolm Mooney's hypnotic chanting vocals & Michael Karoli's screeching guitar. Pretty riveting, especially 1st thing in the morning. But it was WAY 2 early 4 the just-plain-noise of "Soup"! Both from ANTHOLOGY.
Ah, the Pogues. I've loved them from a distance ever since buying their IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD album back in '88. The title song from that album has now bn immortalized in a Subaru commercial. "Sunny Side of the Street" is nice & bright & bouncy, but not essential.
The folky siren-call of "Lorelei," however, is gorgeous -- 4 me it's the best thing they ever did. "Thousands are Sailing" is also pretty good, a story-song about the Irish immigration 2 the US. & of course "Fairytale of New York" is freaking great, & on its way 2 Bcoming a Christmas comedy classic, hopefully -- along with the fact that it's also a really sweet lovesong. "Fiesta" adds sax & sets a FRANTIC pace. All from ESSENTIAL POGUES.
The Kinks' VILLAGE GREEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY is a cult classic, released a year 2 late at the end of 1968 -- it probly coulda bn a big hit if it'd bn released at the end of '67 in the afterglow of SGT. PEPPER. Its lite, bubbly, mildly psychedelic childhood-in-England approach woulda fit right in. By the end of '68 the mood had changed & the Kinks hadta compete against the WHITE ALBUM and BEGGARS' BANQUET. As a result, VILLAGE GREEN failed 2 make any known chart.
Which is 2 bad, cos it's really charming -- short songs with lotsa acoustic guitars & lite keyboards & very subtle strings. Xcellent waking-up music from the opening sing-along title track thru the hilarious "Do You Remember Walter?," about how people change but your memories of them don't. "Picture Book" continues this theme, as does "People Take Pictures of Each Other."
There R a coupla weak spots -- "Johnny Thunder" & "Last of the Steam-Powered Trains" especially R ... kinda dull.
But then there's the great "Big Sky," which I think is about God -- & "Animal Farm" is perfect from the opening line: "The world is big and wide and half insane...." There's King Kink Ray Davies' world-view in a nutshell.
There's lotsa room 4 fantasy in these small-town songs: "Phenomenal Cat" opens with a chorus of flutes & follows-up with some silly vocals, & the lite & playful lyrics Rn't far away from the Incredible String Band. Any1 who's ever bn embarrassed in public will B able 2 relate-2 "All My Friends Were There." "Wicked Annabella," about a witch, opens with a spooky gtr riff. I wish it was just a little more playful, cos then it would fit right in with the liteness of the rest of the album. "Monica" adds a little Spanish flavor.
Then there's "People Take Pictures of Each Other," which gets a lotta complex mileage outta the photo-album theme & features Ray's almost Dylan-ish lead vocal. "Mr. Songbird" is pretty great despite its kinda silly title -- the lyrics & choruses about the meaning of music R pretty ace.
The bittersweet "Days" was a hit in England & is possibly the showpiece here -- the heartfelt choruses R especially good. Modestly-gorgeous & nostalgic, I'm sure I'll B returning 2 it.
Overall, pretty Xcellent, with a lite old-world pastoral British-fantasyland feel that I didn't Xpect Dspite the reviews I'd read about it. Maybe not old-style Kinks rock&roll, but really nice & very diffrent. I'm sure I'll B playing it again.
Crimson's "live" trax from the FRAME BY FRAME best-of R a mixed bag. "Get Thy Bearings" is a very 1969 inducement 2 get high & make love, & the sound is dodgy, but there's some nice sax from Ian McDonald & atonal screaming gtr from Bob Fripp. "Travel Weary Capricorn" sounds tired. "Mars" is a long funeral march that slowly builds in intensity & loudness until an Xplosion at the end.
This version of the always-Xcellent "Talking Drum" features LOTS of screechy mellotron & violin. "21st Century Schizoid Man" is the usual screaming trauma, with some intresting bluesy(!) soloing from Fripp & John Wetton's overpowering bass.
Time 4 lunch!

#522: The Walkman at tech school

2012-01-29T03:47:00.000-08:00

Feb 1983, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana. In the middle of winter, 18 degrees & 2 inches of snow on the ground, & I'm stuck here 4 a 10-week journalism & public affairs course so I can go out & work on base newspapers 4 the U.S. Air Force.
Fort George Harrison was an Army base, with officers' homes dating back 2 the late 1890s. But I spend my 1st few days in a low-budget open-bay dormitory with a dozen other Army guys, some of whom yell pretty loud & slam things around when they get drunk over what seem like endless weekends....
After a few days I get "promoted" in2 the Air Force dorms, called "the condos" by the Army guys -- 3 guys share a room, there's a decent bathroom in each room, actual comfy beds & DESKS(!), & a real window you can open 4 fresh air, if you dare.
The dorms R cushy, but there's a problem: They're COLD. My theory is they're built out of permafrost. The central heating isn't on, 4 some godawful reason....
Classes start -- & they're terrifying. 1st thing the instructors do is inflict on us a 2-hour 200-question grammar test, 2 see if we know enuf about English 2 actually BE here. We're all scared shitless. I comfort myself by repeating over&over that I may not know parts of speech, but I know what they do, how they work. I end up with a 71 on the test -- nothing 2 B proud of, but I'm told it's the 3rd-highest grade in the class. Some folks bomb completely & get sent 2 Remedial Grammar -- & spend 2 MORE weeks in Indiana....
Then classes REALLY start. Basic stuff. Can you write in English? (Seriously.) Can you construct a news story? OK, now go out & interview somebody about their job, or about their neat hobby. Take photos 2 go with it. (You mean -- *GULP* -- actually TALK to someone? Interview them?! That's right, Scoop!) People start bashing on typewriters late in2 the nite all 'round the dorm.
While dealing with that, the Public Affairs part of the course gets rolling: Make a speech about the following military-related topic, completely unprepared -- GO! Oh, you survived that? OK, write a 20-page research paper on the following topic, & then B prepared 2 do a speech based on your research paper, with visual aids, & have it ready by the end of the week -- so we can videotape you!
Oh, & by the way, tomorrow you're going 2 shoot a photo essay somewhere on base. You know what a photo essay is? Great. Make sure you ask people B4 you take their picture. & if they yell at you -- you're on your own, kid....
This week we're gonna publish our own base newspaper. You, you & you -- you're the editors. Make it happen. It's due Friday. Oh, & this'll count 4 1/2 your grade 4 the whole course.
This went on 4 2-1/2 months, with 100 young Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines & Coast Guard folks scrambling 2 get all this work done. There was drinking, there was partying, there was carousing, there was womanizing. Marriages crumbled. I mainly hid in my room.
Every single week I was absolutely CONVINCED I was gonna flunk out. Somehow I survived it.
No suprise that I turned 2 music 2 help get me thru it. Almost immediately upon arriving on base I splurged & bought a Sony Walkman & a handful of cassettes 2 help screen out interference when I was studying & help me sleep thru my roommates' alarm clocks at 5 am. + we didn't all have the same musical tastes, so when there were other folks in the room I'd put the headphones on out of courtesy.
(Not everybody did this -- 1 of my roommates liked 2 fill the room with funk from 1 of Indy's top urban stations, EVERY morning B4 he went 2 class. It got him motivated. Hard 2 argue with that. Do you wanna get funky with me? It's too funky in here! We want the funk, give us the funk! Slightly later on it was Michael Jackson's "Beat It" & "Billie Jean" -- great, but WAY 2 loud....)
I'm convinced that Walkman & those cassettes got me thru tech school alive & relatively sane.
I was cripplingly lonely; I'd bn married 3 months & the separation was ripping me up -- I sent 20 pages' worth of letters home 2 the new Mrs. every week. Bob Seger's "Even Now" was my freakin' theme song 4 the 1st coupla weeks I was at school.
Then things got better. 1 of my roommates was a pretty good guy -- young & petrified, like me, but no dummy, & fairly talented. We could converse like humans & help each other study. & when we got on each other's nerves I'd put the headphones on.
Caught Modern English's "I Melt With You" on 1 of Indy's FM stations & bought the cassette, AFTER THE SNOW. 2nd side was freaking brilliant; 1st side kinda turned in2 very quiet art-rock.
Followed it up with Dire Straits' LOVE OVER GOLD, which I hadn't heard a note of, just loved their previous album MAKIN' MOVIES & figured I couldn't go wrong. LOG had 1 perfect cinematic 14-minute opening track called "Telegraph Road" (still my fave Dire Straits track ever), & the title track was pretty. "Industrial Disease" was kinda silly. "It Never Rains" was kinda bitter. & "Private Investigations" was kinda mood-music.
Grabbed Steve Winwood's TALKING BACK TO THE NIGHT cos I liked his previous album ARC OF A DIVER, & saw the video 4 "Still in the Game" & was sucked-in by the choruses. "Game" turned out 2 B the best thing on the album, but I remember picking up trash around the dorm building while the Walkman played "Valerie" in2 my ears....
Loved U2's 1st album BOY & thot their follow-up OCTOBER had some nice stuff on it, so I grabbed WAR when it appeared -- & discovered that ghostly guitar sound of theirs had mostly disappeared 4 the harder, more martial sounds on "Sunday Bloody Sunday" & "New Year's Day." I'm not sure I ever got any farther....
There was other music in the air, 2: The local FM stations loved Men At Work's "Be Good Johnny" & Genesis's "You Might Recall." I was hooked on Fleetwood Mac's mournful "Wish You Were Here." Def Leppard's "Photograph" summed-up a gorgeous young Air Force woman 1 of my classmates had convinced himself he was in love with....
Late at nite I'd stumble downstairs 2 the "day room" on the ground floor where my classmates would B pounding typewriters or shooting pool, & the TV would B on with MTV running stuff like Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" -- a song that more than 1 person there said summed me up pretty well....
& of course when Michael Jackson's THRILLER album hit, we all heard "Beat It" & "Billie Jean" 24/7. Culture Club's 1st coupla hits were getting played constantly, Ghod forbid.
& 1 Indy station featured "The Seventh Day" -- 7 albums played back-2-back every Sun nite -- a great way 2 wrap-up the weekend even if it was all albums you already knew: DARK SIDE, Cars' 1st, Boston 1st, ABBEY ROAD, REVOLVER, WHITE ALBUM, BACK IN BLACK, etc. ....
Music was everywhere with the students. Noticed 1 classmate was listening 2 Rush's SIGNALS, so I mentioned I really liked their previous MOVING PICTURES, but hadn't heard the new 1 Xcept 4 "New World Man." He & I started playing stump-the-band 2 test R musical knowledge. Can't remember what-all we played, but I remember his big trick question was the slashing, driving opening riff from King Crimson's "The Great Deceiver" -- WAY too easy....
...Somehow I survived it, 10 weeks in Indy, graduated in May & then went on my way 2 a job at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas -- a job that did NOT involve working on an AF newspaper. As I climbed in2 a taxi 2 the airport, suddenly 1 of the Navy women who I knew in passing grabbed me, gave me a huge hug & a great big sloppy-wet kiss on the cheek.
"Oh, I'm SO excited for you!" she said. "Graduated and you get to get the hell outta this place! Good Luck!"
"Thanks!" I yelled as the taxi pulled away. But all I could think was: Where the hell has she been for the last 10 weeks...?

#521: "That's Entertainment"

2012-01-27T03:22:00.000-08:00

The snow & rain R over with here, 4 now. Instead, it's just freaking cold. Great hibernating weather. Can't I just sleep til April? Or May?

Spinners -- It's a Shame, I'll Be Around, How Could I Let You Get Away?, Could it be I'm Falling in Love?, I Could Never Repay Your Love, One of a Kind Love Affair, Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You, Ghetto Child, Mighty Love, I'm Coming Home.
Left Banke -- Pretty Ballerina, She May Call You Up Tonight, Barters and Their Wives, I've Got Something On My Mind, Let Go of You Girl, Evening Gown, Walk Away Renee, What Do You Know?
Louis Jordan -- THE BEST OF: Choo Choo Ch'Boogie, Let the Good Times Roll, Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Saturday Night Fish Fry, Beware, Caldonia, Knock Me a Kiss, Run Joe, School Days (When We Were Kids), Blue Light Boogie, Five Guys Named Moe, What's the Use of Gettin' Sober (When You Gonna Get Drunk Again)?, Buzz Me Blues, Beans and Cornbread, Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying, Somebody Done Changed the Lock on My Door, Barnyard Boogie.
Doobie Brothers -- Sweet Maxine, Neal's Fandango.
B-52's -- TIME CAPSULE best-of: Planet Claire, 52 Girls, Rock Lobster, Party Out of Bounds, Strobelight, Private Idaho, Quiche Lorraine, Mesopotamia, Song for a Future Generation, Summer of Love, Channel Z, Deadbeat Club, Love Shack, Roam, Good Stuff, Is That You Mo-Dean?
The Jam -- THE VERY BEST OF: All Around the World, The Modern World, News of the World, David Watts, A-Bomb in Wardour Street, Down in the Tube Station at Midnight, Strange Town, When You're Young, Eton Rifles, Going Underground, The Dreams of Children, Start!, That's Entertainment, Funeral Pyre, Absolute Beginners, Town Called Malice, Precious, Just Who is the 5 O'Clock Hero?, The Bitterest Pill (I Ever Had to Swallow), Beat Surrender.

HIT & RUN: We've got a lot 2 cover here, so this is gonna havta B fast (hopefully). Hold tight on the curves.
Wanted 2 start this marathon session slowly, so pulled out the Spinners. I'm a sucker 4 early-'70s Soul. All the hits still sound great, especially "I'll Be Around" & "I'm Coming Home." I heard "Could it be I'm Falling in Love?" on the radio last week 4 the 1st time in awhile, & it still holds up.
Summa the stuff included here (from Rhino/Atlantic's DEFINITIVE COLLECTION) is intresting mainly 4 its off-the-track-ness: "I Could Never Repay Your Love" is a long vocal solo with the spotlight on main vocalist Philippe Wynne. "Don't Let the Green Grass Fool You" has a very glitzy Vegas-y big-band-style arrangement. "Ghetto Child" is pretty heavily orchestrated 4 what was supposed 2 have been a tough inner-city tale. Yvette Davis's lyrics on "How Could I Let You Get Away" R kind of a mystery. The singing thruout all this is Xcellent, of course....
Left Banke's "She May Call You Up Tonight" is classic mid-'60s pop, an overlooked treasure with an Xcellent Steve Martin vocal (not the actor/comic) & lots of the harpsichord Michael Brown liked 2 use. If you like this kinda stuff, I urge you 2 track this 1 down. My only complaint is it's TOO SHORT. "I've Got Something on My Mind" is another classic (the B-side 2 the magnificent flop "Desiree"), & the lyrics R pretty advanced 4 1966. The brief "Evening Gown" is a throwaway, just a little 2 thin. "Pretty Ballerina" & "Walk Away Renee" both still sound great. But "What Do You Know?" is Xcessively-twangy COUNTRY, without a harpsichord in sight. All from ALL THE SMASH HITS.
Louis Jordan's BEST OF is a collection of jump-blues jive tunes from 1941 thru 1954, some of which you've probly heard even if you think you haven't -- some of it's bn used in commercials & TV spots. The best of it sounds like the Marx Brothers locked in a recording studio -- hilarious & upbeat with great funny vocals & Xcellent sax.
"Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" has silly lyrics & great horns. The hilarious 5-minute "Saturday Night Fish Fry" has a funny story + great piano ... & GUITAR! "Beware" has some hilarious advice 4 dating-age men. "Knock Me a Kiss" sounds a little dated -- like it was mastered directly off an old 78. "Five Guys Named Moe" really moves & has great sax 2 go with the silly lyrics. You've probly heard "Beans and Cornbread." But the real masterpiece here is "Barnyard Boogie," a work of genius with a fast pace, spacey guitar, & a 1st 1/2 completely made up of silly animal noises....
I'm a sucker 4 the Doobies' "Neal's Fandango," which coulda gone on 4 another 10 mins & I woulda bn happy. Don't know why they rushed the recording -- it had all the makings of a hit, but it cuts off 2 abruptly. "Sweet Maxine" seems kinda muddy & bass-heavy -- cleaned-up it mighta worked. Both from STAMPEDE.
Xcept 4 "Roam" -- which I think is the greatest Go-Go's impersonation of all time -- the B-52's never did much 4 me. Mosta the stuff on their TIME CAPSULE best-of still didn't grab me -- maybe they hadta get less silly B4 I could relate, or maybe they just had 2 learn how 2 write a hook. Generally, I think the band got better, stronger, poppier, more memorable as they went along.
"Planet Claire" has a "Peter Gunn"-like riff & spacey B-movie sci-fi lyrics -- which I understand was sorta an obsession 4 these folks. The vocals on "52 Girls" Rn't unlike Florence + the Machine, 2 go along with the '60s/surf gtr. "Strobelight" is at least funny. By the time of "Private Idaho," Kate Pierson & Cindy Wilson's backing vocals R getting better -- the band gets better the more often the girls sing. "Deadbeat Club" is nostalgic & has gorgeous girl-vocals. "Love Shack" was just silly fun, of course. & "Roam" is still just awesome. "Good Stuff" has great group-vocal choruses, & "Is That You Mo-Dean?" finally realizes all the band's B-movie/sci-fi aspirations.
Never heard much by The Jam beyond their 90-percent-brilliant punk concept album SETTING SONS, where every single song is worth hearing over&over -- Xcept 4 the WORST version of "Heat Wave" that you'll ever hear. Hoped 4 more greats on their VERY BEST OF, & found a few....
On their early singles, The Jam came across as angry young punks, with nasal vocals that sound like the Sex Pistols meets the Ramones, & punchy songs about "the youth explosion." But these Jammers learned what they were good at fast: "News of the World" has some good gtr, & the vocal harmonies R stronger. "David Watts" is a decent cover of the old Kinks song -- with added piano!
Producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven joins 4 "A-Bomb in Wardour Street," & suddenly The Jam have lots more bass & a WAY bigger presence. "Down in the Tube Station at Midnight" is about getting beaten up in the subway -- & main songwriter Paul Weller's lyrics R very strong on how it felt, looked, smelled. EZ 2 C why he doesn't wanna go back down there again.
"Strange Town" is 1 of 2 trax from SETTING SONS (the Xcellent "Eton Rifles" is the other). "Strange Town" is diffrent from the rest of that album Bcos it's funny. It's a tale of alienation in the big city -- literally: Weller sez he's "really a spacer from those UFO's." It's punchy, there's great gtr, & the choruses R hilarious. "Eton Rifles" is also superb, with Xcellent angry lyrics, catchy choruses -- & organ!
"Going Underground" has some Xcellent lyrics about not understanding what society wants. "Start!" has more good gtr & nice vocal harmonies. "Funeral Pyre" is grim enuf that it coulda bn included on SETTING SONS -- that is not a criticism. It's powerful. But the real masterpiece here is "That's Entertainment," a low-key, bitter, all-acoustic classic.
The rest is OK -- Motown touches on "Town Called Malice" & "Precious," horns on "5 O'Clock Hero," female backing vocals on "Beat Surrender" -- but it's all aftermath 2 me. These guys really shoulda sold more records in the US. Maybe they were just TOO English?

#520: "He knew the Marquis de Sade and Jean-Paul Sartre VERY well...."

2012-01-24T00:49:00.000-08:00

4 a time back in the early/mid-1960's, Rolling Stones producer/manager Andrew Loog Oldham was sorta the English version of Phil Spector -- at least in terms of his drive & his belief in himself & what he wanted 2 do. Oldham's STONED (2000) is a sort of "oral history"/autobiography of his life as producer/manager of the Stones during their early years.
Tho some of it's fascinating & vivid -- especially in its details about how the pop biz in England worked in those days B4 "Swinging London" -- the book unfortunately ends B4 the Stones have even toured America.
No offense 2 Oldham or his early history, but the book actually starts on Page 139, Chapter 7, when American record-producer Shel Talmy (early Who, early Kinks, Easybeats, etc.) gets interviewed about how he became part of "The British Invasion." After that, it's pretty involving.
& of course the book takes another jump up on Page 184, when The Rolling Stones finally appear.
Oldham claims -- & others attest -- that in effect Oldham took his own drives & frustrations & amplified them on2 the Stones. ALO KNEW there had 2 B an alternative 2 The Beatles, & when he saw The Stones he took what was there & just amped it up 2 the highest possible degree. He urged them 2 B as ugly, scruffy, rude & disdainful as possible, Bcos he knew at least some segment of the young audience would love it. & they did.
ALO did this in part by cutting down the group -- dumping piano-player Ian Stewart, pushing Brian Jones 2 the side, putting the focus firmly on Mick Jagger & Keith Richards. & it worked.
ALO Xpresses little remorse 4 the things he did. He knew what his goal was. 1 of the pleasures of this book is when ALO takes a break from telling his story & lets others tell their parts in it 4 him. People like Pete Townshend, John Paul Jones, Gene Pitney, Marianne Faithfull, film-director Michael Lindsey-Hogg, etc. Keith Richards is quoted from other books, but as ALO notes, none of the Stones consented 2 B interviewed 4 these memoirs.
There's some fairly bad behavior on display here. There R lots of dirty business dealings -- Oldham & his business partner Eric Easton stab each other in the back many times. There is lots of drug & alcohol abuse, tho attempts R made 2 laff it off or at least underplay it.
& there is ALO's constant I-I-I story as he learns how 2 produce records on Decca Records' $$$ (& sometimes NO1 knows who's paying 4 the sessions), how he breaks all the rules 2 get his Stones on2 the charts, on2 TV, & in 4 the share of glory he knows they're due.
I wish it was funnier. The funniest stories come from the others who R interviewed, not Oldham.
If you're a fan of the early Stones, you might enjoy this. It's a look at the band while they were still sorta human & reachable. Bet you'll never read NE descriptions of Jagger being unsure of himself NEwhere else....
Oldham sez his memoirs will fill another book -- & I assume they continue in STONED 2. In that book I'd imagine ALO helps the Stones conquer America, then slightly later gets fired (not sure why, I don't know his story that well), then founds Immediate Records -- which lands some pretty good talent (The Nice, Small Faces, Marianne Faithfull, P.P. Arnold, etc) but doesn't last long & ends up in disordered bankruptcy. At that point I assume ALO crashes & burns & takes a long time 2 decide whether 2 keep living or not, based on what he sez in this book.
I trust there's more bad behavior on display in that later book, 2. I just don't know if I wanna go there....

#519: Up 2 R ankles in it....

2012-01-20T02:58:00.000-08:00

Got the double- or triple-whammy of snowstorms out here over the past coupla days. It was still snowing lightly as of 15 mins ago. We got off EZ -- only about 6 inches max here in town. In Seattle they got about 4 inches, & the folks on CNN were laffing at "us" pampered wussie urban idiots.
But south of Tacoma, 30+ miles south of us, they got up 2 a foot & 1/2 of the white stuff -- a lot 4 Western Washington. As of midnight the local news-radio station (Seattle's Xcellent KOMO) reported that some 275,000 people in the area R without electricity 2nite -- no heat, & it's about 25 degrees outside. Some of them have been without heat & lights 4 more than 24 hours. & it's estimated some of them won't get electrical svc back til sometime over the weekend....
As I said, we got off EZ. My biggest problem is I can't get my car out of the driveway -- & if I try, the Cadillac'll slide down the snow-covered hill, keep sliding across the street, & wind up in somebody's living room....
Oh, & I've had 2 walk home from work the past couple nites. & that hasn't bn hard at all. But it beats driving in this messy stuff. + I don't havta deal with those other idiots out there Bhind the wheel....
It's sposta warm up 2 the low 40s & start raining Fri aft. Never thot I'd think rainy & in the 40s would sound pretty good. But I'll believe it when I see it. It ain't getting any warmer yet, & this snow has already bn here 24 hrs longer than it was sposta be....
Oh, & I also played some music while putting off going 2 work 4 as long as possible....

Squeeze -- ARGYBARGY: Pulling Mussels From the Shell, Another Nail in My Heart, Seperate Beds, Misadventure, I Think I'm Go Go, If I Didn't Love You, Farfisa Beat, Here Comes That Feeling, Vicky Verky, Wrong Side of the Moon, There at the Top.
From Squeeze's GREATEST HITS: Take Me I'm Yours, Goodbye Girl, Cool for Cats, Up the Junction, Slap and Tickle.

We played Squeeze's work a lot back in my record store daze. ARGYBARGY was a big in-store favorite, & we useta play the 1st side of EAST SIDE STORY a lot, 2. Course we couldn't GIVE AWAY the albums -- it was Idaho, nobody wanted 2 know, they hadn't heard it on the radio, etc.
& while I always loved "Pulling Mussels From the Shell" & "In Quintessence," some of their stuff went right by me ("Tempted"), & some of it I hadn't heard in 30 years....
Squeeze always useta get hailed 4 Chris Difford & Glenn Tilbrook's clever lyrics & songwriting, but I never read NE critic talking about Tilbrook's neat guitar breaks or Jools Holland's catchy keyboards -- that's what sets a lot of these songs off, along with the sometimes kinda seedy lyrics about falling in love by accident & hangin round the pub -- + the generally bouncy upbeat sound.
"Pulling Mussels" still sounds like it shoulda sold a million copies -- it's all the best things about this band in 1 quick 4-minute dose. Catchy choruses & great keyb & guitar work. "Another Nail in My Heart" is almost as good, with another Xcellent chorus supported by cool keybs.
"Seperate Beds" is a down-home story of young love with funny lyrics: "Her mother didn't like me, she thought I was on drugs/My mother didn't like her, she'd never peel the spuds."
"Misadventure" is high-speed bounciness about getting in trouble in foreign countries. "I Think I'm Go Go" slows the bounciness down, & "If I Didn't Love You" is a good Xample of the kind of jerky sounds the band comes up with on the album as a whole.
"Farfisa Beat" sounded GREAT in the record store 30 years ago. Hearing it again all these years later, I was kinda disappointed that it wasn't as catchy as I remembered -- & there's not enuf Farfisa organ. MayB if I played it LOUDER...?
"Here Comes That Feeling" is darker than usual 4 these guys. But the real forgotten classic here is "Vicky Verky," another charming tale of young love & how it almost goes wrong -- but not quite.
I remembered the choruses of Jools Holland's "Wrong Side of the Moon" from 30 years ago. Tho Difford co-wrote, this has a diffrent sound & feel from the rest of the album. MayB if they'd given him more space, Jools wouldn't have left.
Overall, this was an above-avg new-wave pop album 4 its time, & at least 9 of the songs R pretty memorable. But on a gray, snowy day like Thurs, I wished it was even MORE lively....
Kinda ironic 2 call Squeeze's best-of GREATEST HITS, since they only hadda couple of almost-hits in America, but the early stuff here ("Take Me I'm Yours" & "Goodbye Girl") is actually smoother & more melodic than mosta the stuff on ARGYBARGY. Not necessarily more distinctive or more memorable, however.
Producer John Wood joins on "Cool for Cats," & this track is much more like the Squeeze I know, more bouncy & jerky -- plus there R more production tricks here, female backing vocals & etc. There's also a sorta lower-class British accent on the lead vocal making it impossible 2 tell who's singing (& the CD's liner notes don't help).
"Up the Junction" is another bouncy, charming tale of love that goes bad. "Slap and Tickle" has a modern(!)-sounding synth opening, it's almost disco-y(!), & there's mildly amusing lyrics about love&sex....
I'll B getting back 2 these guys. There's at least a dozen more trax on this best-of that I've never heard -- all that later stuff I know nothing about....

More soon. I finally got some Louis Jordan back in the house (hilarious jump-blues singer & his band, hysterical lyrics, the missing link Btween late-'40s pop & rock&roll -- this is the stuff Joe Jackson covered 30 years ago on JUMPIN' JIVE), & there's a best-of The Jam on the way....

#518: Noodling Btween snowstorms

2012-01-17T23:55:00.000-08:00

On a clear, sunny (but not warm) Tues aft -- the calm Btween 2 snowstorms -- I didn't feel 2 terrible & was able 2 play a LOT of new-2-me music. 1 thing the new CD player has bn forcing me 2 do is start at the START of a CD & play it all the way thru 2 get 2 what I want 2 hear -- which is very much against my usual habit. The CD player has a remote but no batteries yet, so I can't skip around like I useta do. This may B a good thing 4 me. It's at least a change in habits. A playlist & comments follow....

Hatfield and the North -- (1ST ALBUM): The Stubbs Effect, Big Jobs (Poo Poo Extract), Going Up to People and Tinkling, Calyx, Son of "There's No Place Like Homerton," Aigrette, Rifferama, Fol De Rol, Shaving is Boring, Licks for the Ladies, Bossa Nochance, Big Jobs No. 2 (By Poo and the Wee Wees), Lobster in Cleavage Probe, Giant Land Crabs in Earth Takeover Bid, The Other Stubbs Effect, Let's Eat (Real Soon), Fitter Stoke Has a Bath.
Spinners -- Games People Play, Sadie.
The Fifth Dimension -- THE MAGIC GARDEN: Prologue, The Magic Garden, Summer's Daughter, Dreams/Pax/Nepenthe, Carpet Man, Requiem: 820 Latham, The Girls' Song, The Worst That Could Happen, Orange Air, Paper Cup, Epilogue; Last Night I Didn't Get to Sleep at All.
Animal Collective -- In the Flowers, My Girls, Also Frightened (opening).
Van Morrison -- ASTRAL WEEKS: Astral Weeks, Beside You, Sweet Thing, Cyprus Avenue, The Way Young Lovers Do, Madame George, Ballerina, Slim Slow Slider.
Hatfield and the North -- Share It, Lounging There Trying, (Big) John Wayne Socks Psychology on the Jaw, Chaos at the Greasy Spoon, The Yes No Interlude.

I wish the Hatfields were as good & as funny as their song titles. When they stuck 2 their charming, tinkly, sparkly stuff I thot they were OK; when they got heavier they were harder 2 listen 2. The Hats' 1st album (1974) featured 15 songs that flowed 2gether in2 side-long suites. Bassist Richard Sinclair's baritone vocals & silly lyrics (at the Bginning & end) were always nice 2 hear, but there weren't enuf of them on the 1st album, & some of the rest is tough going. Not enuf TUNES 4 me.
Mostly the 1st album is pleasant noodling that sometimes Dgenerates in2 noise -- usually when Phil Miller's screeching feedbacky guitar or Dave Stewart's sometimes-atonal keyboards take over. There R also nice airy backing vocals from The Northettes. "Land Crabs" has a nice jamming finish that gets cut off. Drummer Pip Pyle's lyrics on "Fitter Stoke" sound kinda lonely.
After that I needed something more down-2-earth. Always loved the Spinners back in their heyday. Hadn't heard "Games People Play" in awhile & was suprised how pleasantly it bounces thru 4-1/2 mins. It's almost TOO smooth, but the changing vocalists helps. "Sadie" is a hymn of praise 2 a young mother -- a relaxed, underrated R&B hit. Both from THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION.
The 5th Dimension's MAGIC GARDEN is a 4gotten 1968 concept album with lyrics & arrangements by songwriter Jimmy Webb -- it's based on a bad relationship he had. Bones Howe produced with his usual great vocal sound; L.A.'s "Wrecking Crew" of top studio musicians (Hal Blaine, Larry Knechtel, Joe Osborn, Tommy Tedesco, etc.) play on the trax. Despite the 5D's Grammy-winning "Up, Up and Away" the year B4 & "Aquarius" a year later, MAGIC GARDEN bombed -- it didn't even make the BILLBOARD Top 100 LP's. "Carpet Man" & "Paper Cup" were minor hits.
Reportedly, British folksinger Nick Drake loved this album 4 the way it mixed pop vocals & orchestrations. All that said, some of it's very dated. "Summer's Daughter" especially -- Dspite the gorgeous group vocals -- is very Flower Power/1968-ish. But the title track opens with gorgeous, bouncy, sunshiney group vocals -- like late '60s soundtrack music at its very best. Then there's a dreamy closing. "Dreams/Pax/Nepenthe" sounds very vocal-lessons/show-offy, Dspite the occasional nice vocal textures. There's even some sitar....
But "Carpet Man" is just freakin' great, & the vocals really soar.
Some of Webb's lyrics on "Requiem: 820 Latham" R pretty vivid & passionate, & the solo vocal by 1 of the 3 guys in the group (which 1 isn't identified, & I don't know) is pretty great. "The Girls' Song" has a nice lead vocal by Marilyn McCoo. "The Worst That Could Happen" is just slightly less punchy than the later hit version by the Brooklyn Bridge -- & there's no real ending.
After that, I hadta put on "Last Night I Didn't Get to Sleep at All," which I've always bn a sucker 4, from GREATEST HITS ON EARTH. It's SO 1972. I'm a sucker 4 "If I Could Reach You," 2....
I've tried sevral times 2 hear Animal Collective. From what I can tell, their 2009 MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILION album is sorta trancey, pounding, synth-wash-type stuff. The keyboards R ever-present, the songs R built on a bed of them. But there's not enuf structure 4 me 2 grab ahold of.
The middle section of "My Girls" brightens somewhat, but their songs progress melodically as little as some of Coldplay's less-inspired stuff. The lyrics R the same lines chanted over & over. When the opening of "Also Frightened" looked 2 B more of the same, I hadta stop.
So instead I went 2 1 of Van Morrison's jazziest albums. "Astral Weeks" itself is musically very pleasant, tho I'm not sure about the lyrics. "Sweet Thing" is perhaps the best thing here, with a nice mood & good choruses -- it's also the closest thing 2 a structured song so far....
"Cyprus Avenue" has some nice fiddle & piano. All of this noodles along & drifts quite pleasantly -- the diffrence here is that I can HEAR what's going on, the production is very clear.
The horns R kinda corny & soundtracky on "The Way Young Lovers Do," which was an obvious attempt at a possible single. "Slim Slow Slider" is brief & the last verse is disturbing, & it cuts off abruptly. & then there's "Madame George"....
This isn't rock&roll, it's way closer 2 jazz. I don't know if this album is worth all the melodrama that rock critic Lester Bangs 1nce wrote about it -- I tend 2 think Lester's cosmic review was better than the album -- but it's hard 2 believe that this was all recorded in a coupla days, or that Van basically gave no musical direction 2 the backing musicians. If it weren't 4 them, the 7-minute "Ballerina" would have no structure at all....
Returning 2 the Hatfields' 2nd album THE ROTTERS CLUB 2 close: "Share It" features Richard Sinclair's usual good vocal & twisted lyrics. "Lounging There Trying" has the Hats' (& National Health's) usual sound -- Phil Miller's rather-more-delicate-than-usual gtr over Sinclair's busy bass & Dave Stewart's lite keys. A lot of National Health's later stuff sounds like this (as it should, only Sinclair is missing from that later band).
Then it gets heavier & noisier again with "Big John Wayne" & the suite that follows....

More soon. I've got some new Squeeze music in the house, & I only know about a handful of their songs, others I haven't heard in 30 years....

#517: Waiting 4 the snow....

2012-01-15T02:38:00.000-08:00

Waiting 4 the season's 1st snow 2 hit. It reportedly spat snow all around us on Sat, in some places it even stuck. Nothing here yet, tho lotsa people R panicky. Last time it snowed here a coupla years ago, we got a foot & 1/2 overnite & everything STOPPED. & then the snow hung around 4 a week & 1/2....
Meanwhile, I've bn inflicting the following music on unsuspecting members of the general public while at work. I vouch 4 the high quality of almost all of the following -- especially the stuff you don't recognize....

Happy the Man -- Service with a Smile, Wind-Up Doll Day Wind, Open Book.
Group 87 -- Future of the City, Magnificent Clockworks, One Night Away From Day.
Scarlet Rivera -- Day of the Unicorn.
Synergy -- S-Scape.
The Nice -- America.
Nektar -- Do You Believe in Magic?, The Dream Nebula Parts 1 & 2, It's All in Your Mind, King of Twilight, Wings, It's All Over.
The Who -- I'm One, 5:15, Love Reign O'er Me, Bell Boy, I've Had Enough, Doctor Jimmy, You Better You Bet, Long Live Rock, Life With the Moons I, Naked Eye, University Challenge, Slip Kid, Poetry Cornered, Blue Red and Gray, Life With the Moons II, Eminence Front, The Relay, Bag O'Nails, Call Me Lightning, Let's See Action, Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes.
Pete Townshend -- Give Blood, A Little is Enough.
The Waterboys -- A Life of Sundays.
Marvin Gaye -- What's Goin' On?
Rush -- The Big Money, Manhattan Project, Force Ten, Time Stand Still, Mystic Rhythms (live).
Pat Metheny -- Ozark, New Chatauqua, The Search, Praise.
Lyle Mays -- Ascent.
Aaron Copland -- El Salon Mexico, Simple Gifts.
Steve Tibbetts -- Ur.

Response 2 this Xperiment has bn comparatively thin. Is it possible NE muzak at all is ignorable by most folks? Maybe it's just the wrong week. Maybe I'm not playing the stuff LOUD enuf....
The Happy the Man, Nice & Nektar trax did cause a few people's eyes 2 pop open, & a couple Who fans seemed 2 B enjoying those pieces, but no comments were received. Research will nevertheless continue....

...While I will vouch 4 the high quality of American progressive-rock band Happy the Man's trax listed above (which R from their Xcellent 2nd album CRAFTY HANDS, 1978), while waking up on Sat & continuing 2 break-in the new CD player, I spun Happy's 1st album from back in 1977 & was (again) mildly disappointed. Tho it sounds fine (it should, Ken Scott produced & they spent Ghod knows how much $$$ on it), the material is kinda thin & it's programmed sideways.
They shoulda led with the gorgeous "On Time as a Helix of Precious Laughs," which is by FAR the best thing here & the only track that can stand with any of the work on CRAFTY HANDS. It's also the 7th track of 9 on the CD, so I wonder how many folks have actually HEARD it.
Tho the 2 trax that follow wrap-up the album pleasantly enuf, they're not Xactly stunning. There R gorgeous guitar, sax & keyboard textures thruout, & guitarist Stan Whitaker's kinda mechanical & nasal voice fits right in.
But some of this stuff is background muzak at best ... & I LIKE these guys. The leadoff track, "Starborne," is lite soundtrack music. "Stumpy Meets the Firecracker in Stencil Forest" has some nice sax work from Frank Wyatt. 2 bad that Wyatt's lyrics 4 "Upon the Rainbow (Bifrost)" R a mouthful that don't help that piece NE. Only "Precious Laughs" is worth playing repeatedly.
If you like Yes or Genesis's more lyrical instrumental moments, you might like these guys. But start with CRAFTY HANDS. & watch out 4 the inflated album prices some folks R asking 4 these guys' work....

(PS, 16 Jan 12, 1:35 am -- We got Xactly 1 INCH of snow, just enuf 2 make things wet & intresting. But now we're in2 a hard freeze, so all the roads R skating rinks -- great times! At least I've got a coupla days off....)

#516: All-Brit Music Fest!

2012-01-13T02:31:00.000-08:00

2 celebrate the new CD player working just fine, here's a ton of almost-all-new-2-me music, all from the British Isles, & from all diffrent time periods....

WARM-UP:
Florence + the Machine -- Only if for a Night, Shake it Out.

THE REAL PLAYLIST:
Madness -- One Step Beyond, My Girl, Night Boat to Cairo, Baggy Trousers, Madness, The Prince, Embarrassment, Return of the Las Palmas 7, House of Fun.
Wire -- 12XU, It's So Obvious, Mr. Suit, Three Girl Rhumba, Ex Lion Tamer, Lowdown, Straight Lines, 106 Beats That, Strange, Reuters, Field Day for the Sundays, Champs, Feeling Called Love, I Am the Fly, Dot Dash, Practise Makes Perfect, French Film Blurred.
Gang of Four -- Ether, Natural's Not in It, Not Great Men, Damaged Goods, Return the Gift, Guns Before Butter, I Found That Essence Rare, Glass, Contract, At Home He's a Tourist.
Incredible String Band -- October Song, The Tree, Chinese White, First Girl I Loved.
Nick Drake -- Cello Song, PINK MOON album: Pink Moon, Place to Be, Road, Which Will, Horn, Things Behind the Sun, Know, Parasite, Free Ride, Harvest Breed, From the Morning.
Strawbs -- Ghosts, The Battle.

Florence's 2 trax R from the recent CEREMONIALS, in case you missed me mentioning it a couple dozen times by now.
I'd heard a handful of trax by Madness back in my record store daze, but hearing "One Step Beyond" again made me wonder why I couldn't hear them BETTER way back then. Always loved "Embarrassment" & "Our House," but the rest of their stuff is lite & bouncy & silly, & they had a great sax player. My only complaint upon hearing "Embarrassment" again is that I thot it had a bigger hook. "Los Palmas 7" is a pleasant but kinda pointless instrumental. "Night Boat to Cairo" has some especially good sax sounds. "House of Fun" has some great lyrics. These guys were just a lot of bouncy fun. How come I couldn't hear them back in 1980? Oh, I remember -- I was still in my Prog Phase. All from THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION.
Wire -- Wow, Punk Rock! Very abrupt, short songs, deceptively simple-sounding. "Ex Lion Tamer" has some more lyrical guitar sounds & even backing vocals! & it breaks the 2-minute barrier! "Lowdown" breaks 2-1/2 mins! "Straight Lines" adds some clanking keyboards -- I think. "Strange"'s droning guitars push it 2 almost 4 mins! (This is how Wire got 21 songs on their debut album, PINK FLAG, way back in '77.) "Reuters" is hypnotic, & the lyrics R pretty brutal; not sure about that ending, tho.... "Field Day for the Sundays" possibly sets a record at about 15 seconds ... unless there was something shorter & I missed it. "Dot Dash" has really good rhythmic vocals. "Practise Makes Perfect" goes beyond annoying & in2 funny, with its screeching vocals followed by echoing laffter....
Not sure about this stuff Xactly, but it's obvious they were Up To Something. I'll B returning 2 this. All from their ON RETURNING best-of.
Gang of Four -- Just as stark as Wire, very clean-sounding, no feedback or show-offy gtr, but also very flat ... so their anger showed thru more clearly, I imagine. Xcellent rhythmic drumming from Hugo Burnham. Andy Gill's scratchy gtr was also pretty unique. What Wire mighta turned in2 if their songs had bn longer, I'd imagine. Very political -- the politics of everyday life. All from ENTERTAINMENT!
I was familiar with the loonies in the Incredible String Band -- their 1968 album THE HANGMAN'S BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER is spooky & funny Olde British Folk, very rustic sounding in places, but with a ton of hippy spaciness & comedy. But I'd never heard much else of their vast output Xcept 4 the opening section of the full-side "Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending" -- a title that sez a lot about this band.
The 1st 2 songs here R from their very 1st album, 1966. "The Tree" features songwriter Mike Heron's very Bob Dylan-ish vocals. "Chinese White" is carried by what sounds like a very screechy violin. "First Girl I Loved" is way more like it -- nice acoustic gtr & memorable choruses, & the lyrics R charming. I'll B investigating these guys a lot more. All from BEST OF 1966-1970.
Nick Drake's "Cello Song" is 4 mins of gorgeous cosmic bliss, from FIVE LEAVES LEFT & the WAY TO BLUE best-of.
"Pink Moon" is 2 mins of gorgeous existential terror. It & all that follow R from Nick's last album, 1972's PINK MOON -- which is regarded by some as the closest thing 2 a suicide note. Tho I hadn't planned on playing the whole thing -- & still vastly prefer Drake's gorgeous BRYTER LAYTER, 1 of the great albums of all time -- PINK MOON is soothing & lulling, & Drake's gtr-playing & vocals R beautiful.
However, it gets a bit more depressing as it goes on. "Things Behind the Sun" sounds like a profoundly sad self-portrait, especially the last verse. Several of the songs sound like very knowing self-portraits, especially "Parasite." But coming after all this stark & dark stuff, the closing "From the Morning" sounds even more uplifting -- almost optimistic. But probly not what I should B playing in the middle of a cold, dark winter.
The folk-proggy Strawbs' "Ghosts" features nice keyboards & gtr, & lotsa melodrama. As always with them, this is very visual, cinematic music. You see the videos 4 the songs in your head. "The Battle" is an early, folky track, but with keybs, strings & brass added 2 increase the impact. The song's based on a chess/war metaphor. Again, very visual -- but neither R up there with "Down by the Sea," "Where is This Dream of Your Youth?" & "Hero and Heroine" among the band's very best work. Both from the HALCYON DAYS best-of.
More soon!

#515: Recording The Beatles, Take 1

2012-01-12T03:27:00.000-08:00

Geoff Emerick was The Beatles' sound-engineer from REVOLVER onward. Emerick was the guy who made John Lennon's voice sound like John was the Dali Lama chanting from a far-off mountaintop on "Tomorrow Never Knows." Emerick's idea of sending John's voice thru a rotating Leslie speaker kept Lennon from being suspended by a rope from the studio's ceiling & swung past the microphone....
Pushed by The Beatles at their creative height 4 ever-newer & more unusual sounds, Emerick ended up winning engineering Grammy Awards 4 SGT. PEPPER & ABBEY ROAD. He also engineered Paul McCartney & Wings' BAND ON THE RUN album, among many others.
He's also the guy who walked out 1/2way thru sessions 4 the WHITE ALBUM cos he couldn't take the stress -- endless long days of Beatles arguing with each other & snapping at the studio staff.
Despite his reputation as Beatles' producer George Martin's ever-loyal low-key right-hand man, some of Emerick's opinions might suprise you.
Emerick & Howard Massey's HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE (2006) starts with Emerick being promoted at the start of the REVOLVER sessions, then backtracks 2 his childhood -- where Emerick's discovery of a box full of old 78-rpm records triggers his lifelong obsession with sound (I admit I skimmed most of this).
Then we follow as young Geoff applies 4 an engineer/tape-operator job at London's EMI studios -- & is miraculously accepted. These early chapters show clearly the almost laboratory-like atmosphere of EMI's Abbey Road complex before The Beatles came along: the strict studio hierarchy, the engineers in their regulation long white coats, etc.
Emerick is there 4 The Beatles' 1st session & follows their career from that point on. He sees how the Fab 4 help the young engineers & tape-op's at EMI loosen up. The long white coats R eventually dropped, but shirts & ties stay as required studio wear.
When Emerick gets promoted 4 REVOLVER (upon engineer Norman Smith's departure 2 produce Pink Floyd's 1st album), Emerick dreads how the Fabs might react if he makes a mistake. He's especially worried about that acid-tongued Lennon, & the often-grumpy George Harrison. But he gets thru that, & he & McCartney form a lifelong friendship.
The details from the years of sessions that follow R solid -- you might not learn NEthing new about the Fabs, but Emerick's stories will confirm what you've already heard or read. There R 2 long chapters about the making of SGT. PEPPER that paint probly as clear a picture as Beatles fans will ever get.
The chapters on the WHITE ALBUM might B tough 2 read if you're a fan, but it's a matter of record that those sessions were stressful. The LET IT BE sessions were worse. Emerick's only around 4 a little bit of that, but his only chance 2 meet legendary producer Phil Spector ain't a pretty picture.
What suprised me was some of Emerick's opinions about some of these people. He points out many times what a stuffed shirt George Martin was -- how Martin apparently wanted no1 on the studio staff 2 get credit 4 the technical end of Beatles recordings Xcept himself. In Emerick's view, Martin always wanted 2 appear essential, irreplaceable 2 the recording process. (Emerick sez this despite the fact that Martin later offers him a job at Martin's AIR Studios, & Emerick takes it.)
Emerick also sez & shows that Martin was often exasperated by the Fabs' requests, by their immaturity, by their inability 2 grasp what could & couldn't B done thru recording. But Martin & Emerick & their crew found some way 2 make it work anyhow.
Emerick also zings Harrison repeatedly -- talking about how it often took George HOURS 2 get even the simplest guitar solo down properly, & how George's early songs often failed 2 inspire the band's best work. It isn't until ABBEY ROAD -- when Harrison shows up with "Something" & "Here Comes the Sun" -- that Emerick allows George a little respect. He sez at that point George seemed 2 have settled in2 his role in the band, found a place 4 himself & relaxed in2 it.
Some of Emerick's fellow engineers also get zinged. Engineer (& later producer) Chris Thomas gets jumped on 4 not knowing his place & talking 2 much during Martin's sessions. (Remember that studio hierarchy?) Engineer & later producer Ken Scott starts work during the WHITE ALBUM sessions, & ends up replacing Emerick on the project. & the brief up-close look we get at Phil Spector makes him look like an out-of-control maniac.
It's not that I don't think this is how things were, or that Emerick doesn't have a right 2 his opinion -- it's that this score-settling is unexpected coming from the kind of low-key, gentlemanly guy that Emerick was always portrayed as being.
There's a lot more: Emerick works a few years at Apple, recording & producing Badfinger among others, & trying 2 get Apple's basement studio straight. 1nce he gets the studio set, within a coupla years the Apple "management" levels the building.
Emerick travels 2 Nigeria & dodges lizards & giant cockroaches 2 record Paul & Wings' BAND ON THE RUN. He produces Elvis Costello's IMPERIAL BEDROOM & others. He continues 2 engineer Paul's later solo albums, TUG OF WAR, PIPES OF PEACE, GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROAD STREET, FLAMING PIE, & others. He helps assemble The Beatles' ANTHOLOGY's & records the 2 "reunion" singles that Paul, George & Ringo make based on John's demos. & he receives a "Technical Grammy" 4 lifetime achievement in recording.
& at the end of the book it's clear he isn't done yet.
If you're a Beatles fan you might like this -- the chapters on REVOLVER & PEPPER R especially good, filled with great stories & lotsa behind-the-scenes info. But the later chapters featuring the Fab 4 arguing endlessly Rn't much fun 2 read. Even ABBEY ROAD ain't all that much fun.

#514: Messin' 2

2012-01-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

This cold, wet, dark winter is really starting 2 kick my ass -- like every winter lately has done -- but my sociological/musicological study continues. This weekend's at-work playlist looked something like this:

Journey: Spaceman.
Mary-Chapin Carpenter: This Shirt.
Boz Scaggs: You've Got Some Imagination, Dinah Flo.
Billy Squier: My Kinda Lover.
Queen: It's Late.
Bob Seger: Feel Like a Number, Hollywood Nights.
Cars: Dangerous Type.
Heart: Straight On, Mistral Wind.
Foreigner: Do What You Like, Rev on the Red Line.
Katrina and the Waves: Walking on Sunshine.
Clannad: In Fortune's Hand.
Eric Clapton: Let it Rain, Bell Bottom Blues.
Gordon Lightfoot: Summer Side of Life.
Turtles: She's My Girl, Let Me Be, It Ain't Me Babe, You Baby.
America: I Need You, Sandman.
Elton John: Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding.
Dan Fogelberg and Tim Weisberg: Tell Me to My Face.
Steely Dan: Gaucho.
Police: Omegaman, Secret Journey.
Phil Collins: Droned/Hand in Hand.
Paul McCartney and Wings: Love in Song.
Rickie Lee Jones: We Belong Together.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive: Blue Collar.
Chicago: Questions 67 & 68, Critic's Choice, In Terms of Two.
B.W. Stevenson: My Maria.
Joe Jackson: One to One.
Righteous Brothers: Dream On.
Delaney and Bonnie: Only You Know and I Know.
Dion: Ruby Baby.
McGuinn, Clark and Hillman: Don't You Write Her Off.
Donovan: Season of the Witch.
Marshall Tucker Band: Heard it in a Love Song.
John Lennon: Instant Karma.
Johnny Rivers: It Wouldn't Happen With Me, Memphis.
Beach Boys: Kiss Me Baby.
Elvis: Promised Land.
Chuck Berry: You Never Can Tell.
"I Know" (but I can't remember....)
Paula Cole: I Don't Want to Wait.
Dionne Farris: Kiss the Rain.
New Order: Regret.
Wallflowers: 6th Avenue Heartache.
Dog's Eye View: Everything Falls Apart.
Natalie Imbruglia: Torn.
...& a few repeats from the earlier playlists....

Responses remain thin, but I'm getting more of them compared 2 The Same Old Radio Crap.
1 Regular correctly identified BTO's jazzy/R&B-ish "Blue Collar" -- said he had the album when he was a kid. He also correctly ID'd Boz's "Dinah Flo," & pointed out how it sounded a little like Van Morrison.
1 guy asked me who was singing the Turtles' "She's My Girl," & when I told him who it was he said his wife'd probly like it, he was more a fan of '80s stuff; I said he missed the batch of that I'd played earlier.
1 woman in her 30s liked Chuck Berry's "You Never Can Tell," & we both got a laff when I told her that song was older than me, but at least it keeps me bouncing around.
Couple guys told me I was having "too much fun" bouncing around 2 stuff, I told them I hadta have SOMETHING, & they just laffed, but I can't remember what was playing at the time....
Jury's still out on whether tossing-in slightly-off-the-wall music in2 a public retail work environment makes much diffrence compared 2 the radio's usual carbonated crap. I just know it makes ME feel better. Luckily, I still have a couple million $$$ left on my federal-gov't grant 2 study the effects of off-the-wall pop music on the avg public, so there's still plenty of time left 2 compile results. I still have tons more mixes 2 fish out of my bottomless bag of cassette tapes....

I will B breaking-in a new CD player over the next few days & so might actually have some NEW sounds 2 report on shortly. The old CD player was Bcoming very picky & (you'll love this) had 2 B touched in JUST EXACTLY THE RIGHT WAY B4 it would play NE music at all. It had developed a deplorable Xcess of Personality, & a distressing habit of breaking down in the middle of songs it apparently didn't like -- most often old Gong trax, oddly enuf....
So hopefully there will B some new sounds 2 report on next time around, possibly including music from Wire, Gang of Four, Madness, the Incredible String Band, & possibly others....
Hope wherever you're at you're actually SEEING THE SUN, unlike those of us in Western Washington....

#513: Messing with people 1 song at a time....

2012-01-07T02:41:00.000-08:00

Continuing 2 provide my own soundtrack at work as local radio continues 2 suck. The 1 nite I didn't take my own music 2 work this week was the worst work nite I've had in awhile. More recent nites' playlists have been a touch more subversive, see below. Effect on the unsuspecting general public remains iffy at best. Comments follow the playlist:

Bailter Space: Retro.
Cat Power: He War. (Thanx 2 Rastro 4 these 2.)
Blue Oyster Cult: Astronomy (IMAGINOS version).
Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Stranded.
Cars: Hello Again, Magic, Drive.
Genesis: Paperlate, You Might Recall....
Journey: Still They Ride.
Pretenders: 2000 Miles.
Blondie: Angels on the Balcony.
Bob Seger: Even Now.
Steve Winwood: Still in the Game.
Tracey Ullman: They Don't Know.
Elton John: Empty Garden.
A Flock of Seagulls: Wishing.
Toto: Africa.
Pete Townshend: Slit Skirts.
Saga: Wind Him Up.
Fanny: Charity Ball.
Uriah Heep: Easy Livin'.
Guess Who: Road Food.
Lobo: A Simple Man.
Glen Campbell: Try a Little Kindness. (I always thot this song was kind of a joke, but I'm not sure Glen could figure out the irony. He sounds sincere -- the lyrics don't, not really....)
Mason Williams: Classical Gas.
Fendermen: Mule Skinner Blues.
Trashmen: Surfin' Bird.
Rivingtons: Poppa-Ooo-Mow-Mow.
Dramatics: Whatcha See is Whatcha Get.
Tommy Boyce & Bobby Hart: I Wonder What She's Doin' Tonight.
Carlene Carter: Little Love Letter #1, Every Little Thing, Sweet Meant to Be, Little Love Letter #2, Heart is Right.
Beatles: Tell Me Why, I'm Happy Just to Dance With You, Things We Said Today, Anytime at All, No Reply, I'll Follow the Sun, Everybody's Trying to be My Baby, There's a Place, I'll Be Back, She's a Woman, The Night Before, I Need You, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, I'm a Loser, I'll Cry Instead, I Should Have Known Better, And Your Bird Can Sing, Norwegian Wood....
...There were also a few repeats from the previous list....

...Have I mentioned that I'll vouch 4 the high quality of all this stuff I'm inflicting on people? Wonder if I could get a government grant 2 study people's reactions? 1 guy bounced around pretty good 2 the choruses of the Cars' "Magic," & a Regular got the giggles just from hearing "Surfin' Bird."
...I've noticed I haven't used much Heavy stuff so far (does Cream's "Badge" count?), but there's more stuff in my bag of tapes, & I'm looking 4 more stuff 2 suprise people with.
Course it hasta keep ME bouncy & motivated & happy in my work 2, so....
More updates will B posted in the future on how this ongoing study is proceeding....

PS -- Currently about 1/2way thru Geoff Emerick's HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE, about his Xperiences recording & engineering the music of the Beatles & others. Emerick sound-engineered 4 the Beatles from REVOLVER onward. Xcellent details -- you really get a good feel 4 the almost laboratory-like atmosphere at EMI's Abbey Road Studios when the Fabs were 1st starting out. So far, looks like a really Xcellent Bhind-the-scenes book. Only weirdness is Emerick seems 2 have a bit of an axe 2 grind against George Harrison & George Martin; not sure what's up with that. Review coming soon....

#512: Back when my hair was short....

2012-01-05T03:23:00.000-08:00

Up til now, the best Punk-era history book I could find was Jon Savage's ENGLAND'S DREAMING. Simon Reynolds' post-punk history RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN (2005) can sit on the permanent shelf right beside it.
The books don't have much in common. Savage's book is a history of the Sex Pistols & the rise of British punk, written by a guy who was present 4 many of the events he recounts so vividly.
Reynolds' book covers what happened after the Pistols fell apart, & is written by a guy who was listening & enjoying the music that poured out of the British Isles Btween 1978 & 1984.
In America, we called the "poppier" end of this stuff New Wave. But there were still lotsa musicians who were dead serious about what they were doing, & Reynolds recounts the stories of a bunch of them: John Lydon & Public Image Ltd., Joy Division/New Order, Gang of Four, Throbbing Gristle, etc.
Not that there wasn't any fun involved: Reynolds also covers Madness, Malcolm McLaren's various silly doings, Bow Wow Wow, Adam and the Ants ("Antmusic"! "Goody Two Shoes"! "Stand and Deliver"!), Culture Club, Wham!, etc.
There's a lot here, covered in a lotta depth & squoze in2 400 pgs. I was even wrapped-up in the stories about bands I'd never heard of or didn't care about. & there's a really Xcellent chapter on the UK's independent record labels.
The only way it coulda bn better is if there was even MORE stuff covered. I'm not sure Xactly where Reynolds' post-punk cutoff line is. Some rather obvious names never appear in the text. U2 finally make an appearance toward the end, but The Clash, The Ramones, The Pretenders & Blondie R barely mentioned, & The Police R never mentioned at all. & summa my heroes such as The Bangles, Go-Go's, Squeeze & Split Enz never appear. There's probly some other obvious names I've 4gotten. Course adding all these folks woulda made the book 100 pgs longer.
(Elvis Costello? Not here. But Talking Heads get a lot of space. Punk or post-punk? -- Some folks Rn't that EZ 2 classify....)
But here's what I like: Reynolds' descriptions have already made me order albums by Wire, Gang of Four & Madness (who I'd actually heard a handful of songs by) -- & I'm also looking in2 folks like The Mekons, Raincoats, Residents, Slits, & others. If you want your musical horizons Xpanded, this book will do it. 4 me, that alone makes it worth reading.
Here's something else I liked: Even if you think you don't want 2 know the stories Bhind Frankie Goes To Hollywood or The Human League or Soft Cell or Wham! or Culture Club or Devo, Reynolds makes those stories enjoyable & worth reading. There's a lot of funny stuff here -- tho no 1-liners I can steal 4 use in this review.
I'm not a fan of all the artists in this book -- Reynolds wasn't, either. But if you're curious about the period, here's somewhere you can start & get some really solid background info. You'll also B grateful the book has an INDEX....
The last section of the book actually points 4ward 2 Reynolds' recent RETROMANIA (see review below). He feels that 1984 started the "Retro" boom that pop music still seems 2 B stuck in. Course there was also a later Rave and Hip-Hop boom that Reynolds touches on....
...I'm not doing this book justice. This is not 1 of my clearer or more-clever reviews. There's a lot of good info here, & I was carried along enjoyably from start 2 finish & never bogged down 4 2 long, even in the areas I didn't think I cared about.
I'm also now pretty convinced that I don't need 2 hear NEthing by Public Image Ltd. or Throbbing Gristle. Not sure I could TAKE Joy Division. Wish there'd bn more about New Order, tho. The section about The Fall was pretty enlightening. The Art of Noise sounds like a lotta fun. & there's probly a whole BOOK that could B written about Trevor Horn & Paul Morley's ZTT label....
4 this & a lot more, Simon, thanx. Did you ever write a sequel...?

#511: Caving in

2012-01-04T01:37:00.000-08:00

While upbeat rock&roll is keeping me happy & bouncing around & even productive at work, at home I'm fairly bored musically. This + the current string of mostly dark, chilly, rainy weather (& some cheap CD deals at Amazon) has perhaps led me in2 some musical places where I might otherwise not go (it ain't Prog, is it?). These areas range from unbelievably popular current stuff 2 my more usual Olde Stuff 2 some just plain strange stuff. Comments follow....

Florence + the Machine -- Only if for a Night, Shake it Out (x2), What the Water Gave Me.
Adele -- Set Fire to the Rain, Rumour Has It, Someone Like You.
Neil Diamond -- Love to Love.
The Cramps -- Green Fuz, Goo Goo Muck, Rockin' Bones, Voodoo Idol, Can't Find My Mind, Jungle Hop, Green Door, Human Fly, Surfin' Bird.
Butthole Surfers -- Birds, Cough Syrup, Pepper, My Brother's Wife.
Radiohead -- Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box, Pyramid Song, Knives Out, Morning Bell.

Florence was played strictly as a warm-up, & I only played "Shake it Out" 2wice this time. It's still the best thing I've heard in years. From CEREMONIALS, as if I haven't mentioned it.
Now, then: Adele. *AHEM* "Set Fire to the Rain" is as gorgeous & dramatic as her "Rolling in the Deep" is nagging. "Rumor Has It" sounds like a really good '60s R&B number -- it's even FUNNY!
BUT. "Someone Like You" is UNBEARABLE, & radio is playing the shit out of it, naturally. Sounds like a straight version of Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughta Know," with all the rage & screaming left out. Creepy. I've heard this 1/2adozen times & can NOT finish it. Is there some1 out there who LIKES this & can Xplain Why without getting all angry? All these R from Adele's 21, which ... yes ... I caved-in & bought, used, cheap. 4 the 2 good songs on it.
Neil's "Love to Love" is nice, but the last time I heard it (in 1974) I coulda swore it ROCKED a little more. From Neil's early-best-of THE BANG YEARS, which BTW has some Xtensive liner notes from Neil that combine rose-colored memories of the Good Olde Days when he was Just Starting Out pretty equally with cliched descriptions about how he felt back then. Intresting how his lyrics R SO MUCH better, so much more original, than his liner notes....
The Cramps. Hmmm. Well, when you wanna hear something New & Diffrent & you can hear it Cheap, you might journey in2 some odd places. I wish The Cramps' music lived up 2 their reputation as Really Out-There Weirdos, the return of psychobilly or whatever.
"Goo Goo Muck" has some pretty out-there lyrics about running around looking 4 trouble & gettin' laid, & it Almost works; some nice twangy guitar thruout all these trax, cool but just not strange enuf, kinda dull. & the on-purpose thin production don't help.
"Can't Find My Mind" sometimes sounds like Steve Martin's on lead vocals. "Human Fly" is at least funny. "Surfin' Bird" is finally more like it -- after the "verses" it turns in2 a chaotic 5-minute jam ... which my CD player conked-out on & then refused 2 budge. All these R from PSYCHEDELIC JUNGLE/GRAVEST HITS.
Butthole Surfers sound like what The Cramps maybe COULDA been -- "Birds" is WAY 2 fast with LOTSA guitar -- these guys have clearly had WAY 2 much coffee ... But they can't keep it up....
"My Brother's Wife" is swirling psychedelic noise that gets more intense & nightmarish as it goes, the synth starts out sorta nice & swirly, & then there's steadily building churning vocals & noise -- sorta like an exorcism. Not pleasant. All from ELECTRICLARRYLAND.
Radiohead's 4 trax from AMNESIAC were kinda hypnotic, but they didn't move around much & I wasn't Xactly knocked out. I can see where Pink Floyd fans might kinda like this....

COMING SOON: Further investigation of the Incredible String Band, The Headboys, & possibly others.
COMING NEXT: A review of Simon Reynolds' post-punk history RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN.

Any recommendations 4 a listener who's musically bored...?

#510: And the hits just keep on comin'....

2012-01-03T00:18:00.000-08:00

Just got thru a coupla brutal, long weeks at work. I worked both holidays. Christmas Eve wasn't bad, but Christmas Nite was unbelievably busy -- after about 6 pm we were the only store open in the neighborhood. The folks just kept on comin' in....
The radio was useless all thru it. The local radio folks didn't seemta realize it was a holiday, or even a weekend. Not enuf upbeat energy-filled stuff 2 keep me bouncing around & keep my mood up. So....
Realizing that local radio would likely remain useless, & knowing I'd probly need the NRG & support, I packed-up a bag of CDs & 20-year-old homemade cassettes 2 use as appropriate motivational music 4 New Year's Eve & New Year's Nite.
Neither nites were as busy as Xmas nite, but the music kept me moving, happy & bouncing around. & the tapes worked so well I never even GOT 2 the CDs.
I also had my own agenda of sneaking in subversive shoulda-been-hits rather than the Same Old Shit the radio always plays. This wasn't a total success -- tho I'm sure folks noticed that I stayed happy & NRgetic thru both nites & didn't collapse until after work Sun nite. But only a few folks noticed what was playing -- or at least noticed that it generally wasn't the Same Old Shit. (OK, SOME of it WAS the Same Old Shit, but a lot of it was Great Stuff radio oughta B playing.)
NEway, my mission was accomplished, I sneaked thru some Great Stuff people didn't realize was Bing secretly inflicted on them, & I may start doing this every nite I work. Hey, ya gotta change the world in the only ways you know how, right?
More about all this below. 1st, the playlist:

Clash: Train in Vain (Stand by Me).
Easybeats: Friday on My Mind.
Bobby Fuller Four: I Fought the Law.
Creedence Clearwater Revival: Who'll Stop the Rain?
Rolling Stones: Tumbling Dice.
Raiders: Hungry, Him or Me -- What's it Gonna Be?
Badfinger: No Matter What, Baby Blue, Day After Day.
Cheap Trick: Surrender.
Ronettes: Be My Baby, Baby I Love You.
Bob Seger: Rock and Roll Never Forgets.
Five Man Electrical Band: Absolutely Right.
Spencer Davis Group: Gimme Some Lovin'.
Four Tops: It's the Same Old Song.
Martha and the Vandellas: Dancing in the Street.
Cyndi Lauper: Money Changes Everything.
Buffalo Springfield: Bluebird, Mr. Soul.
Jefferson Airplane: Somebody to Love.
Rod Stewart: Maggie May.
Three Dog Night: Celebrate.
Chicago: Feelin' Stronger Every Day.
Blue Ridge Rangers (John Fogerty): Hearts of Stone.
Freddy Cannon: Palisades Park.
Mary-Chapin Carpenter: Passionate Kisses.
Tricia Yearwood: Wrong Side of Memphis.
B.J. Thomas: Rock and Roll Lullabye.
Richie Valens: La Bamba.
Buddy Holly: Peggy Sue.
Poco: A Good Feelin' to Know, Here We Go Again.
Queen: Need Your Loving Tonight.
Billy Joel: Traveling Prayer, All for Leyna.
Supertramp: From Now On.
Steve Winwood: Valerie.
John Lennon: Stand by Me.
Neil Diamond: Do It, Crunchy Granola Suite, Holly Holy, Soolaimon.
Elton John: Teacher I Need You.
David Bowie: Suffragette City.
Bangles: Everything I Wanted, Let it Go, September Gurls, Hero Takes a Fall, All About You, Dover Beach.
Traffic: Glad.
Mark Knopfler: Going Home (Theme of the Local Hero).
Jane Wiedlin: Rush Hour.
Fleetwood Mac: Everywhere.
Dream Academy: Life in a Northern Town.
Pentangle: Light Flight.
'Til Tuesday: Maybe Monday.
Heart: Alone, Never.
Tracey Chapman: Talking 'Bout a Revolution.
Byrds: I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better.
Camel: Sasquatch, Manic.
Tears for Fears: Broken, Head Over Heels.
Joni Mitchell: Coyote.
Icicle Works: Birds Fly (A Whisper to a Scream).
Cream: Badge.
Van Morrison: Wild Night, Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile), Caravan, Into the Mystic.
Paul McCartney: No More Lonely Nights.
Youngbloods: Get Together.
Pat Benatar: We Belong.
A Flock of Seagulls: I Ran, Space Age Love Song, Wishing.
Prince: 1999.
Everly Brothers: Walk Right Back.
Joe Cocker: Feelin' Alright.
Grand Funk Railroad: Rock and Roll Soul.
Supremes: Up the Ladder to the Roof.
Elton John: Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!).
Ian Thomas: Painted Ladies.
Bullet: White Lies Blue Eyes.
Brewer and Shipley: One Toke Over the Line.
Christie: Yellow River.
Jeff Lynne: Every Little Thing, Lift Me Up.
Paul Simon: You Can Call Me Al.
Bruce Springsteen: Rosalita.
Rush: Show Don't Tell, Time Stand Still, Distant Early Warning.
John Cougar Mellencamp: Authority Song.
Pat Metheny: Praise.
Gordon Lightfoot: High and Dry.
INXS: New Sensation.
Bob Dylan: One of Us Must Know.
Jefferson Starship: Find Your Way Back.
Steve Tibbetts: Ur.
Glass Moon: Solsbury Hill.
Roxy Music: The Thrill of it All.
REO Speedwagon: Roll With the Changes, Blazing Your Own Trail Again.
Journey: Feeling That Way, Anytime.
ELO: Twilight, The Way Life's Meant to Be.
Kate Bush: This Woman's Work.

...So, as you can see, only mildly subversive stuff ... until I started sneaking Roxy & Kate Bush in there.
& while I KNOW people noticed that I was pretty happy & NRgetic, only a couple folks asked about the music that was keeping me that way. 1 guy guessed right on B.J. Thomas after I gave him a coupla hints, but he didn't know the song. Another guy knew he was hearing Rush but couldn't place "Time Stand Still" -- it was "too new" for him. I know the feeling....
I had more stuff planned 2 play, & still do -- I had halfadozen more tapes in my bag. But after 2 nites of almost-non-stop bouncing around 2 the music & actually doing SOME work ... I got a helluva headache & had 2 dope-up & shut the music off until the headache went away....

COMING UP NEXT: "CAVING IN" -- listening to current (very) popular sounds, old sounds, & some just plain weird sounds....

#509: Nothing but the Beast!

2011-12-26T23:07:00.000-08:00

It's That Time again. Barring any further miracles, here R the winners of the 2nd Annual TAD Awards 4 the Best Music and Books of 2011. These awards go 2 the stuff that impressed me the most over the past year, no matter how old it is....
I know you've bn waiting 4 this, so let's get right 2 it....
* BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR -- Easy: The Beach Boys' SMiLE SESSIONS. Gorgeous, timeless music, beautifully produced & assembled, without a single let-down track. Absolutely not an anti-climax, totally worth the 44-year wait. 2 bad it's really from 1967....
* BEST CURRENT ALBUM OF THE YEAR -- I guess by default it's Florence + the Machine's CEREMONIALS, even tho I wasn't knocked-out by every song. But I don't think I listened all-the-way-thru 2 NEthing else that was current all year long, so....
* BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR -- Also easy: Andrew Foster Altschul's DEUS EX MACHINA. Brilliant & vivid & involving from the 1st pg -- even funny -- with just a slightly weak last couple of pgs 2 mar the story. If you've ever bn wrapped-up in any kind of "Reality TV" show, you'll probly love this book. I had a brief infatuation with SURVIVOR & LOVED ROCK STAR/INXS, so....
* SONG OF THE YEAR -- Florence + the Machine's "Shake it Out," the only song all year that made me laff & cry & clap my hands & shout along. The lyrics R brilliant, the performance is amazing.
* SONG OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP'S -- Kelly Clarkson's "I'm Already Gone," great vocals, haunting lyrics; Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain," ditto, her whole career's bn worth it just 4 this; The Launderettes' "Red River," the 1st 45-rpm vinyl single I've bought in YEARS; Sara Bareilles's "Love Song," love the choruses & the way she weighs the words "You'll see" at the end....
* BEST MUSIC BOOKS (tie) -- Will Romano's MOUNTAINS COME OUT OF THE SKY and Mark Powell's PROPHETS AND SAGES. Romano's book is beautiful 2 look at & features a pretty solid, detailed history of progressive rock with just a few minor errors. But there R a lotta people included who I wouldn't call prog (much late-'60s British Folk), & there R areas I wished were in a lot more depth. Hope Romano gets 2 write a sequel. Powell's PROPHETS is a goldmine of data on obscure & overlooked prog albums -- but it's FULL of typographical errors in what seems 2 B Bcoming a British Prog tradition. I hope Powell gets 2 write a sequel 2 -- & I've already offered 2 help him proofread it....
* BEST REVIEWS -- John Clute's 4 books of science-fiction book reviews: STROKES, SCORES, LOOK AT THE EVIDENCE and CANARY FEVER. Great, wide-ranging, cosmic, funny.
* BEST BIOGRAPHY -- Julie Phillips' JAMES TIPTREE JR.: THE DOUBLE LIFE OF ALICE SHELDON. Tho a little thin on the last 10 years of Tiptree/Sheldon's life, this is an amazing portrait of 1 of the top SF writers of the '70s, a woman pretending 2 B a man, trying 2 get her amazing stories written any way she could.
* BEST REFERENCE BOOK -- Joel Whitburn & BILLBOARD's TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002, a goldmine of pop-music chart trivia.
* BEST REISSUES (tie) -- WALL OF SOUND: THE VERY BEST OF PHIL SPECTOR 1961-1966 and BE MY BABY: THE VERY BEST OF THE RONETTES. The Spector collection is crammed full of timeless classics, from The Crystals' "He's a Rebel" 2 Ike & Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High" -- I just wished there were MORE. The Ronettes' best-of isn't all timeless classics, but you can't do without "Be My Baby" & "Baby I Love You," & some of the other trax DO have some of the same massive impact -- especially the wondrous "I Wonder." RUNNER-UP: Neil Diamond's THE BANG YEARS. I bought this just 2 hear the great "Love to Love," which I hadn't heard since about 1974. The package also includes a dozen classic early hits from back when Neil was Really Good, from "Solitary Man" & "Cherry Cherry" 2 "Shilo," that have appeared previously on Neil's GREATEST HITS (on the Bang label), DOUBLE GOLD and CLASSICS: THE EARLY YEARS (on Columbia), which I've already worn-out a coupla copies of. Great stuff, & I'm still a sucker 4 "I've Got the Feeling (Oh No No)."
* MOST OVERPLAYED/MOST OVERRATED -- Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." I know why the rhythm locks this song in2 people's heads -- it locked in2 my head after the 1st couple of listenings & I don't even LIKE it. 4 me, the best thing here is Adele's background singers (which might B Adele herself) chanting "You're gonna wish that/You had never met me...."
* MOST POPULAR POST -- Good Lord, "Back to the Roots!" has 2wice as many viewings as NE other post I've ever done here at the Back-Up Plan. Ghod knows why....
* MOST POPULAR RECENT POST -- "Hot August Night 2!," I guess cos that's what Reality is like, sometimes.... Either that or there's a whole bunch of Neil Diamond fans out there....
...Management reserves the right 2 change these results if something really earth-shaking should alter my consciousness during the last 5 days of the year....

#508: Retrophobia

2011-12-23T03:07:00.000-08:00

I'm a sucker 4 nostalgia, so you'd think a book like Simon Reynolds' RETROMANIA (2011) -- about how popular culture & especially pop music celebrates & wallows in its own past -- would B right up my street. But it wasn't.
Doesn't mean you shouldn't track down a copy & read it tho -- especially if you're 1 of those people (like me) who finds that most newer music doesn't seem 2 hit very hard.
Reynolds' thesis is that a majority of pop-music artists R busy getting their inspiration from the past -- & making music that SOUNDS like it's from an earlier decade -- Bcos no1 can imagine a workable future that's NE diffrent from Right Now.
You might want 2 think about this the next time you hear Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" or NEthing by Adele on the radio. What was "Rehab" but an old Aretha Franklin R&B number with updated lyrics? Replace the lyrical content & it coulda come straight outta the '60s. Adele seems almost a throwback 2 those sensitive singer-songwriters of the late-'60s/early-'70s -- Carole King or Laura Nyro, say. Janis Ian, maybe?
Reynolds doesn't critique any particular artists. He's not zinging NEbody 4 some kinda massive artistic Failure Of Nerve. He'd just like 2 hear Something New. & he hasn't heard it lately.
& the problem isn't just in pop music. It takes Reynolds a pretty in-depth, fairly Ntertaining 430 pgs 2 outline this. Along the way there's side-trips in2 other popular art forms showing that EVERY1's stuck -- no1 can imagine a real future anymore. He looks at fashion, filmmaking (endless re-makes), modern classical music, fine art, architecture, even science-fiction writing (more obsessed with what's happening right now than with NE imagined future)....
He also Xamines in-depth dozens of diffrent genres of pop music -- everything from hip-hop 2 techno 2 New Wave 2 rave & punkabilly & something he calls "hauntology" -- which sounds like some of that droning, decaying, spooky stuff that my buddy Gardenhead sometimes writes about over at ASLEEP ON THE COMPOST HEAP (http://onavery.blogspot.com/).
Reynolds finds Xcellent works & talented artists everywhere he looks. But he fails 2 find what he calls "the rush of the New."
This is a little frustrating, even tho I agree with him & you probly do 2 if you've ever shut off the radio in frustration Bcos "everything sounds the same" or Bcos they're always playing the same old stuff....
But tho Reynolds finds good work in every genre he looks at (& if nothing else this book will give you a list of new artists 2 check out), at times he sounds like those music fans & critics who were eagerly awaiting "The New Beatles" even B4 Elton John came along....
Reynolds stops short at the end of the book from saying that the whole world is "stuck." But that's the picture his book paints. Nobody in the arts seems able 2 break on thru & find something Totally New on the other side. & after the economic collapse of the past couple years, it seems even LESS likely that pop music will Xplode with some new sound.
If something Totally New were 2 arrive 2morrow, I'm not sure I'd B able 2 hear it. & I'm sure I wouldn't B alone. Some might nominate Lady Gaga 4 this; Reynolds refers 2 her as a "cyborg diva." Again -- it's not artists he's critiquing, it's the structure of pop music -- & by Xtension the rest of Reality -- as it is 2day.
There's LOTS more -- how the Internet & YouTube have helped create a reality where pop's complete past is available at the click of a mouse, & how musicians & artists have used that EZ access 2 further borrow & scramble sounds & influences.
There is a GREAT chapter on record-collecting as hobby, obsession, neurosis -- how it can become an anxiety sink, a way 2 shore yourself up against (or block out) the things in life that bother you, how it becomes a place 4 yer mis-directed energy & anxiety 2 go. Reynolds coulda written a whole book on this. I unfortunately have no trouble at all relating 2 this stuff.
There R also some laff-out-loud moments -- Reynolds cracks a great music-related joke on the 1st page that will have all of you out there shaking your heads in agreement. But there shoulda bn more moments like that. Reynolds' side-trips in2 other art forms help bolster his thesis, but the book gets long & kinda dry in places.
I kept reading hoping there'd B a big summation at the end. There isn't.
Hey, the world's a grim place right now. Nobody knows what's ahead -- nothing but big ugly questions nobody wants 2 face. Maybe the 2000's Rn't what we dreamt of when we were growing up. No suprise so many people would rather look backward. Ghod knows I do.
I don't much care if the music I listen 2 is "Totally New" or cutting edge. I'd just like 2 hear some more great new songs. Something that'll stick with me & maybe haunt me 4 awhile.
If you feel up 2 a lengthy, pretty serious, in-depth cultural study, check RETROMANIA out. If nothing else, you'll come out with a long list of new artists 2 track down.
I found a copy of Reynolds' RIP IT UP AND START AGAIN -- a history of late '70s/early-'80s post-punk -- & plan 2 dive in2 it soon. Reynolds sez it's 1 of his favorite musical periods, & it's 1 of mine 2. More soon.

#507: "If We Were Wise"

2011-12-19T03:17:00.000-08:00

Can't believe I haven't reviewed Providence's classic 1972 album EVER SENSE THE DAWN in-depth in the 2+ years I've been here at Blogger. Know I reviewed it at my old dead website, & I've mentioned it in passing a coupla times. It's 1 of my all-time favorites.
So, in celebration of Simon Reynolds' RETROMANIA & his pop-music-devours-its-own-past thesis, Merry Christmas....

Providence's EVER SENSE THE DAWN is a sorta kinder, gentler Moody Blues album, released on the Moodies' Threshold label back in 1972. It's the only album by this classical&folk-based Boise, Idaho band -- who strangely enuf have their own Wikipedia page. SOMEBODY out there musta bought the album back in the day....
I'd heard OF the album & band, but I THINK all the music I'd ever heard from it prior 2 1977 was the last 30 seconds of one song, "Fantasy Fugue," played over Boise's KFXD-AM at the end of 1973. But the memory's hazy. I could B wrong about the time. I remember the DJ saying at the end of the track, "I love those people...."
Flash-forward to mid-1977. The 1st time I ever walked in2 the record store where I later worked 4 3 years, I asked the manager if they could order this album. He told me no, it was out of print -- but I could buy his copy ... for $2,000!
Flash-forward 6 more months: My highschool sweetheart gets a spot in the Boise State University orchestra -- where it turns out she's playing viola next 2 a former member of the band! & he tells her he doesn't know where she can find copies of the album either....
A friend of ours named Thom West has a copy of the album -- Mt. Hood on the cover, photographed thru what looks like a sailing ship's porthole. The 6 members of the band R on the back, photographed with their instruments in Boise's Julia Davis Park.
Thom lets me tape the album -- along with some Wings & Who & Wackers trax I don't have -- & the music is way diffrent, not Xactly rock&roll, kinda soft & folky, but with some great group vocals & cool guitar. There's even 1 track that sounds a little like the Moodies. Not bad, definitely something diffrent.
Then there's a rumor that a TINY hole-in-the-wall record store on the east edge of Boise's then-nearly-deserted downtown MIGHT have a coupla copies of the album 4 sale. I go there, & the store is smaller than the 8x40-foot trailer I later end up living in. But they've got lotsa vinyl all right, & after a bit of digging, I come up with halfadozen copies of the album -- at $2.19 each! I keep 1 & give the rest 2 my friends as Christmas presents. Thom gets a new copy, so does his girlfriend Melissa, my soon-2-B-X sweetie Allison, & my best friend Don. I don't remember where the other copy went.
Soon I'm playing the album constantly. Along with Gryphon, it's 1 of my 1st "Strange Music" discoveries. It suits my mood a lot -- laid back, not 2 intense, kinda folky & poetic, & with a little formal classical flavor provided by the group's violin-viola-cello trio.
Tho it's all pleasant enuf, 4 trax R immediate standouts, & I think all coulda bn radio hits. "Fantasy Fugue" is a catchy singalong travel-song that starts with autoharp(!) & builds until everybody in the studio is apparently singing along. "If We Were Wise" is a stark poem about human nature that starts with Bart Bishop's moody vocal accompanied by cello & develops in2 some great group-vocal choruses. Bassist Bob Barriatua's lyrics R the album's best. There's also a great "string break" in the middle section.
"Neptune's Door" is a spritely number about taking things 4 granted when wonders surround us -- it seems like a throwaway at 1st, but sneaks up on you. "The Stream" is another brief, dramatic number with simple lyrics & an Xcellent string arrangement.
"Mountain" is also very pleasant, & in its placement at the start of the record, seems like an Xcellent "settling in" track. There R also a couple of instrumental "sketches" featuring the string trio -- "Sketch Number Two" that leads in2 "The Stream" is especially good.
Only 1 track seems 2 miss what it aims 4 -- the closing "Behold: A Solar Sonnet" seems like an attempt 2 move in2 Moodies territory, with a little more drama, more electric guitar, & a touch of what sounds like a Mellotron. It actually succeeds pretty well until the disappointing early-Bee Gees-like ending.
The songwriting credits were pretty evenly shared. Tho Bishop dominates, Barriatua, guitarist Andy Guzie & the string trio all get multiple credits. The result is a light, airy record that never gets 2 heavy. But there's some obvious talent at work here.
Produced rather sparely by Moodies producer Tony Clarke, the album got a very brief review in ROLLING STONE. I don't know how well it sold -- apparently well enuf 4 Providence 2 get a shot at recording a 2nd album. In an on-line interview a coupla years back, Clarke said Providence recorded an entire 2nd album, scheduled 2 B called HEAVENLY HARMONIES. But he said the master tapes were stolen & never recovered. Providence was then apparently left 2 beat themselves 2 death on the Pacific Northwest's "boogie" circuit.
Not sure what happened after that, or how quickly. Barriatua went on 2 Bcome a doctor in Portland, Ore. Bishop apparently stayed in music. Not sure about the others.
All I know is I played the album constantly 4 the next few years, say '77 thru '82. If nothing else, it made great background music 4 R group's Xtremely informal get-2gethers. I still put it on now & then & play the high points -- "Fantasy Fugue" & "If We Were Wise" & "Neptune's Door" & "The Stream." I give "Behold" a listen now & then 2 -- I still think it gets across about 8 out of 10 times.
The last time I was back home in Idaho a coupla summers ago, I saw my old buddy Melissa 4 the 1st time in 30 years. She had a copy of this album propped-up on a shelf in her living room. I noticed it at the time, tho I don't clearly remember mentioning it. I think 4 both of us this album summed-up that whole '77-'78 period we went thru. I know it did 4 me.
You may have thot I didn't notice it. But believe me, M, I noticed....

3 years/500 posts?!

2011-12-14T00:19:00.000-08:00

Somewhere around this time about 3 years back, I started posting "shorthand" reviews of off-the-wall music & books at my old dead website.
My son got me started, as a way 2 keep me writing when I was sorta missing my old reporting career -- & possibly just as a way of keeping me writing so that my dream of 1 day writing some kinda Great Novel wouldn't completely die.
After about 8 months, when my old website started developing Major Issues, I moved over here to Blogspot, where things have bn mostly pretty smooth ever since -- despite 1 computer dying (knocking me out 4 2 months), & me being unable 2 connect 4 parts of last March & April....
Along with reviews, I posted some other off-the-wall stuff at that old website -- nostalgia pieces & silly autobiographies, fictional album reviews, & a long rant about Michael Jackson's death & the way CNN reported almost nothing else 4 the next 2 weeks....
Some of that material has bn fiendishly recycled here, heh heh heh. & summa the nostalgia pieces (especially the 1's about early-'70s Top 40 AM radio) I might try re-writing from scratch in the future.
Somehow, I posted somewhere around 225 pieces at the old website in the 8 months I was there. Still not sure how. My all-time record is still 6 reviews posted in 1 day. & when the 7th got sucked in2 the Internet Twilight Zone never 2 B seen again, I knew it was time 2 take a break.
Add those 225 2 the 280+ I've posted here with Blogger, & I'm somewhere past the 500 mark -- closer 2 about 506, I think. I've deleted some updates & other short-term stuff along the way, so this is my best guess. (I might number them from now on....)
Anyway, all this is just an Xcuse 2 say Thanx 4 Reading. I'm still having fun with this, still learning ways 2 mess with the "review" format, still adding stuff 2 the blog. It's still as compulsive 4 me as it ever was. If I don't post something new every couple of days or so I start getting twitchy.
I hope it's fun 4 You Folks Out There sometimes, 2.
It's weird, because I thot I was All Written Out about 18 months ago. But that hasn't bn much of a problem lately....
Thanx 2 all you who read here, & especially 2 The Regulars -- Crabby & Drew & Gardenhead & Rastro (who seems 2 have vanished since he started doin' his Xtremely popular Tumblr site), & Perplexio & all the others who stop in now & then. & 2 ADD, of course, who maybe Knew Not What He Started.
Thanx 2 guys like Mark Prindle & Don Ignacio who set me up with links from their sites early & FAST, Ghod bless 'em both. & again 2 Drew, who's sent me more readers than I can even believe.
& thanx 2 every1 who helped make November my best month ever, with a freaking 1,160 pageviews. Jeez.
I still don't know how many of you folks out there R actually READING this stuff & how many sorta stumbled in here by accident. I'd like 2 hear from more of you.
& then there R all those folks in Germany & Denmark & Russia & the Ukraine & the Netherlands & the U.K. -- somebody over there is sure looking at a lot of stuff. Can't ALL B by accident. There was even some1 from New Caledonia who dropped-in very briefly a few days back.
I'll get back 2 the usual reviews & oddball stuff next, just wanted 2 say thanx 4 making this all worth it. It's nice 2 know there's people out there who R as weird & passionate about this stuff as I am.

COMING BEFORE THE END OF THE MONTH: The 2nd Annual TAD Awards 4 the best Strange Music & Books of 2011....

"December Will be Magic Again"

2011-12-12T02:37:00.000-08:00

We here at the Back-Up Plan R THRILLED that R local radio stations Bgan seriously playing Christmas rock&roll favorites this past week. The best of these songs R marvelous oldies & it does yer soul good 2 hear them at least 1nce a year. They really light us up.
Don't know if we've got the Christmas Spirit yet -- it's bn a long time since we felt "Christmasy," possibly as long ago as 1971, but still. If we've gotta choose Btween "Hotel California" & Xmas oldies, we'll take the Christmas songs every time.
Local radio started Thurs nite with Elton John's whirlwind "Step Into Christmas," 1 of his greatest hits -- love the bells & chimes & synths & the cool acoustic guitar. & the whole thing's a great production.
Then we heard John Lennon's classic "Happy Xmas (War is Over)," 1 of the 1st 45-rpm singles TAD ever bought, on green-Apple vinyl, way back in 1971. John was a sentimental guy, tho he denied it, & "War is Over" still sounds great. & how bout that huge Phil Spector production?
We were shocked on Fri nite 2 hear Peter, Paul and Mary's 1962 "A'Soulin," a magical Christmas classic from their album MOVING -- the same album that had "Puff the Magic Dragon." "A'Soulin" is pretty dark & mysterious 4 an Xmas song, but it's also hypnotic & a lotta fun. & the vocals R -- do we have 2 say this? -- just freakin great.
We've even heard Andy Williams' "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," 1 of the best things HE ever did. His voice is so rich, from that '50s "crooner" background he came from -- & the song conjures up images of happy shoppers & good-natured holiday bustle ... so you KNOW it's a fantasy. But it's a good 1....
Also heard the Carpenters' heartwarming "Merry Christmas, Darling," a real classic from 1971. Their Xmas album, A CHRISTMAS PORTRAIT, has a lotta great stuff on it, if you can get past the fact that it's THE CARPENTERS. Best of all is "It's Christmas Time," which starts as a wonderful intimate Karen Carpenter-with-piano miniature & then turns in2 a huge production with chorus & orchestra. It's really moving. 1 of their best ever.
Our local classic rock station also played Cheech and Chong's hilarious "Santa Claus and His Old Lady" -- not a song, but freakin great anyway. Tell your kids Mom & Dad (or Grandma & Grandpa) useta talk like this sorta....
& on Sun nite, 1 station unXpectedly bashed out Darlene Love & Phil Spector's glorious "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." You've heard it even if you don't think you have -- it played under the opening credits of the movie GREMLINS some 30 years ago. It's from Spector's acclaimed CHRISTMAS ALBUM that we here have never heard. But if that's a sample....
Haven't yet heard Kate Bush's gorgeous "December Will be Magic Again," & don't really Xpect 2, but it would do the American public a lotta good 2 hear it. Also haven't heard the Royal Guardsmen's "Snoopy's Christmas," a terrific 1967 masterpiece that -- in its 6-minute long version -- was to us the 1st real "rock opera."
When TAD was a kid, his favorite Christmas carol was "Carol of the Bells," possibly Bcos when those choral vocals start building up it sounds like some kinda wild windstorm comin on. But he's heard so many versions of it since then that it's kinda lost its attractiveness.
These days he leans more toward the almost supernaturally beautiful "O Holy Night" -- when it's done right it puts a lump in his throat & a tear in his eye every time.
Hope yer local music-providers R playing something good 4 the holidays.
NEbody out there heard Barbra Streisand's hilarious version of "Jingle Bells"?
...& we personally don't care if we ever hear "Jingle Bell Rock" or "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" EVER again....

Awds and Enz

2011-12-10T02:32:00.000-08:00

We're all agreed that Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" is the most overplayed, most overrated song of 2011, right? It's also the most downloaded song of the year, according 2 iTunes. & it'll probly clean-up at the Grammys, which I think is 2 bad.
There's no question Adele can sing, & I can understand why the rhythm locks the song in2 people's heads -- it locked in2 my head after a coupla listenings, & I don't even LIKE it.
4 me, the best thing in the song is Adele's background singers going "You're gonna wish that/You had never met me...."
BUT. Has NE1 heard what I assume is her follow-up, a little number called "Set Fire to the Rain"? I heard it 4 the 1st time Fri nite at work, & it's pretty great. I was grabbed immediately by the drama, & it's got great choruses. I'm looking 4ward 2 hearing it again.
It even makes up 4 "Rolling in the Deep"....

Seattle-area radio has Bcome a little more boring. Over Thanksgiving, the good folks at "The Mountain" 103.7 FM -- which had Bcome my favorite local station -- went from their fairly-wide-open lotsa-new-stuff format 2 Bcome a 2nd-hand album-rock/oldies station just like the rest. I haven't heard the Cowboy Junkies do "Sweet Jane" in a coupla weeks. But I've heard LOTS of what the Other Guys play. 2 bad.
So instead I've stumbled over Seattle's "Click" 98.9 FM, which claims 2 play "Modern Music" -- which can B NEthing from Coldplay's latest stuff (yeccch) 2 Adele 2 Florence + the Machine (including something that I assume is from their 1st album LUNGS, a kinda raucous number called "Dog Days Are Over"), 2 Mumford and Sons ("Little Lyin' Man," "The Cave"), 2 "oldies" from Third Eye Blind & Fall Out Boy & All-American Rejects.
It ain't all great, but some of it ain't bad, & at least they IDENTIFY everything they play, so.... I might get dragged in2 current music yet, kicking & screaming all the way....

Currently re-reading rock critic Robert Christgau's ANY OLD WAY YOU CHOOSE IT (updated edition, 1973/2000), a collection of his early writing that I wasn't that impressed with the 1st time around. But coming on top of David Browne's FIRE AND RAIN (see review below), it has some nice critical counterpoints 2 Browne's work. Good pieces on the Monterey Pop Festival, how much Christgau hates the Eagles, Wilson Pickett, Tom Jones, Captain Beefheart, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Jethro Tull, the Beatles (2gether & apart) & lots more. Worth tracking down.
Am also re-reading Frederik Pohl's THE WAY THE FUTURE WAS (1978), a memoir of his life in science fiction up 2 that time. Great stories about editing the old GALAXY magazine, being an agent 4 most of the SF writers in the field back in the '40s/'50s, editing a magazine at age 19(!), etc. Also a diffrent sorta look at The Futurians than Damon Knight did in his Xcellent (tho 2-short) book on the group (reviewed elsewhere on this blog).
If you wanna C what the 92-year-old Fred is up 2 these days, his blog is at http://www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/.

Be-Bop Deluxe -- Maid in Heaven, Kiss of Light, Sister Seagull.
Gong -- Master Builder, Radio Gnome Invisible, Flying Teapot, The Pot Head Pixies, Zero the Hero and the Witch's Spell.
NOTES: More & more "Maid in Heaven" sounds like a lost classic that cuts off 2 abruptly. If you're a fan of flashy guitar & Roxy-like group sound, you should like this.
By the time of "Kiss of Light," Be-Bop had apparently smoothed-out a little, away from the flashiness. "Sister Seagull" has some nice stratospheric gtr, but not enuf of it. All these R from RAIDING THE DIVINE ARCHIVE/THE BEST OF. Why Rn't "Heavenly Homes" & "Crying to the Sky" on this CD, instead of the clanking & chugging "Ships in the Night"? (Best thing on that is the sax solo.) At least they included the brilliant "Sleep That Burns," the best thing Be-Bop ever did. I assume if they'd tossed in NE of these, then you'd have more than 1/2 of the SUNBURST FINISH album -- & then they wouldn't B able 2 sell you that 1. SUNBURST FINISH is well worth tracking down NEway, if you're in2 flashy gtr & lotsa drama....
"Master Builder" & "Radio Gnome Invisible" R both good waking-up music, nice sax by Didier Mahlerbe & spacey synth from Tim Blake on "Builder." "Flying Teapot" is a very nice riffy-jazzy-floaty 11-minute piece with silly chanting vocals that get really rhythmic & catchy, taking off from the phrase "Hava cuppa tea, now have another one...."
By the time I'm into "Pot Head Pixies" & the 9-min "Zero the Hero and the Witch's Spell," the silly lyrics & vocals start 2 make a kind of sense -- I'm starting 2 LIKE the silliness rather than Bing faintly annoyed. "Witch's Spell" has a nice long, spacey closing riff that unfortunately cuts-off abruptly. All these R from ABSOLUTELY THE BEST OF GONG.
These guys ain't bad. I kinda like this. My Ghod, R the drugz finally kicking in?

Bill-paying music!

2011-12-07T01:23:00.000-08:00

Oh, those tough fiscal days of the month, when you're bashing onna calculator & scribbling figures in yer checkbook, hoping you'll have enuf $$$ left after paying the bills 2 actually buy food. Or, this month, 2 squeeze-in Christmas.
Might wanna put some music on. Loud is good. Something 2 drown-out the sound of your checking account emptying with a flush -- a giant sucking sound like the entrance 2 a black hole. Fast is good, so you get it all over with quick. & silly is good, so you can maybe avoid facing the fact that you have a grand total of 29 cents left 2 yer name til next payday.
Or maybe you'll start laffing & look up & realize that as long as you gotta roof over yer head, food in the fridge, & heat in the house, the rest of it doesn't really matter that much....

Florence + the Machine -- Only if for a Night, Shake it Out, No Light No Light, Seven Devils, Heartlines, Spectrum, All This and Heaven Too, Leave My Body, Remain Nameless, Strangeness and Charm, Bedroom Hymns, What the Water Gave Me (demo).
Be-Bop Deluxe -- Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus, Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape, Maid in Heaven.
Gong -- The Pot Head Pixies, Tropical Fish: Selene, Flute Salad, Outer Temple, Inner Temple, Eat the Phone Book Coda.

I remain impressed by Florence + the Machine, & especially by their powerful choral vocals that save even the weakest songs on their latest, CEREMONIALS (2011) -- of which there R only a couple. "Only if for a Night" has nice choruses & the sound of church bells ringing that sounds like it was taken from 1 of my favorite movies ever, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL.
I only played "Shake it Out" 3x on Tues aft, but I still think it's the best thing I've heard in years. Course I was hooked on it as soon as I heard the line "I can never leave the past behind." Luckily, the rest of the lyrics R freaking brilliant too.
"No Light, No Light" is my choice 4 the next single -- tho it has an almost-conventional breakup-song-type structure. Some of the same power of "Shake it Out" & "What the Water Gave Me."
"Seven Devils" sounds like some kinda gothic horror-movie soundtrack, & not in a good way. "Heartlines" has nice choruses, & "Spectrum" has a great "say-my-name" chorus. "All This and Heaven Too" also has nice, powerful choruses -- it's these vocals & choruses, along with the often pounding drums, that gives these songs such power. "Bedroom Hymns" has Xcellent keyboards, good chanting vocals, more pounding drums, & almost overpowering choruses; it coulda gone on longer.
The demo of "What the Water Gave Me" is quite a bit diffrent from the released version -- some of the lyrics R diffrent, without as heavy or moody an impact. Otherwise, all that's missing is the huge, booming, gothic-spooky production.
What I get as Florence's message from all these dramatic, booming, heavy, dark songs is that life is hard & love is WAY harder -- but worth it, even if you can only connect 4 a little while.
So maybe paying my bills on-time is somehow a noble & worthwhile thing 2 do. Onward.

Have always loved Be-Bop Deluxe in theory. Flashy guitar & dreamy, futuristic topics with Roxy/Bowie-style vocals -- OK, I'm listening. I always thot their SUNBURST FINISH (1975) was 1/2 of a REALLY GOOD album.
But their early "Jet Silver and the Dolls of Venus" seems kinda simple compared 2 their later stuff. "Adventures in a Yorkshire Landscape" is pleasant ... but there isn't enuf flashy guitar in it.
"Maid in Heaven" is more like it. Suddenly there's a whole 'nother level of electricity here -- sparkling electric gtr runs, & generally just LOTS more rifferama gtr. Some Xcitement! That's what I want! There's a near-Roxy sound. But it's 2 short, & it ends 2 abruptly. But I'll havta listen 2 more of this. All from RAIDING THE DIVINE ARCHIVE/THE BEST OF.
So maybe I'll just stylishly glide my way thru a check 2 Capital One. & then 4get 2 sign it....

Gong. Yes, well. I've said B4 that mayB I'm just 2 STRAIGHT 2 fully appreciate these hippie sillies. Ghod knows I've tried. & their post-Daevid-Allen almost-jazz-rock SHAMAL (1975) has some very nice atmospheric stuff on it. & Ghod knows it's more ... uh ... sober. I've had a copy in the house since '78.
But their earlier "classic" period that gets all the raves? Well, I ain't heard all that much. But I'm trying 2 fix that.
"The Pot Head Pixies" has Xcellent-as-usual sax from Didier Mahlerbe, & the group's usual silly vocals. "Tropical Fish: Selene" has more Xcellent sax & some pleasant, spacey riffing -- + Gilly Smith's spacey wordless vocals. "Flute Salad" has, of course, Xcellent flute, again by Mahlerbe, & some very spacey synth from Tim Blake. "Inner Temple" has some nice percussion effects at the end. "Eat the Phone Book Coda" has some Xcellent drumming from Pierre Moerlen & some tight group riffing.
It's tough 2 Xcerpt this stuff out, Bcos everything flows 2gether. All these R from ABSOLUTELY THE BEST OF GONG, which I'll B Xploring more of, especially the longer, spacier, jammier, riffier trax (allegedly). 4 me, Mahlerbe's great sax & flute work make this band, at least during their earlier "classic" period. That musta bn some great acid they were on, back in the day.
If I write-out a 29-cent check 2 Bank of America do ya s'pose they'll get off my back 4 awhile....?

1970: A book report

2011-12-04T03:08:00.000-08:00

by little TAD, age 11 in 1970

David Browne: FIRE AND RAIN: THE BEATLES, SIMON AND GARFUNKEL, CSNY, JAMES TAYLOR, AND THE LOST STORY OF 1970 (2011)

I liked this book. But that doesn't mean I think it's REALLY GREAT or anything like that.
If you're a fan of any of the pop stars that Mr. Browne's book follows, you'll obviously want to read it. There's some good behind-the-scenes information about the chaos surrounding Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's recording of DEJA VU, their second album. And you'll learn a lot about James Taylor's struggles on his way to stardom. There is quite a bit about the stresses Simon and Garfunkel went through while recording BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER -- a lot of it probably won't be new to big S&G fans.
But Mr. Browne doesn't add much behind-the-scenes info to the stories you've probably already heard about the Beatles' recording of LET IT BE.
As a recounting of what these four acts did back in 1970, this book is solid, clear, vivid, detailed and enjoyable. There are a few laugh-out-loud moments. And there is a truly unbelievable amount of drugs consumed by the people in this book.
But the ending is disappointing, and I think I know why.
How much you get out of this book will I think depend on whether you think the year 1970 itself is a "lost story," as Mr. Browne says he does in his Introduction.
I turned 11 years old in the summer of 1970 and was vaguely aware of most of the big events mentioned in this book -- the Kent State shootings, Charles Manson's murder trial, the US invasion of Cambodia, the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin, the breakup of the Beatles. It wasn't really that long ago, & I think most of these events are unlikely to be forgotten by folks who were around at the time.
And if the book is intended for younger audiences, I'm not sure Mr. Browne makes connections that would make a younger audience care.
I kept waiting for Mr. Browne to find some deeper significance in these people's stories, some deep inner meaning to be found by looking back from 40 years later -- but Browne doesn't do it. He doesn't find any bigger meaning other than showing in his "October 2009 Coda" that most of the players survived it all and went on to other things. Life went on. I'm not sure that's enough. I wanted it all to mean more.
Nobody reads history primarily to make sure all the facts and details are right -- they all seem to be right here, though occasional words are dropped and one minor player is incompletely identified the first time he's mentioned.
Written history is about trying to find a context or a meaning for what happened. I don't think Mr. Browne found the big picture he was trying to show. Or maybe he did and I just can't see it. I don't get his "lost story" theory. I don't see what was supposed to be here that people might have missed.
BUT: If you're a fan of any of these artists, FIRE AND RAIN is worth checking out. There's some things in it even big music fans probably don't know:
* I didn't know early-'70s singer Rita Coolidge was one of the many factors that helped break up CSN&Y.
* I didn't know singer-songwriter Carole King got BOOED when she toured with James Taylor (usually as his opening act) while James did concerts in support of his SWEET BABY JAMES album. Despite all those great '60s hits King co-wrote ("The Loco-Motion," "One Fine Day," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," etc.), she was virtually an unknown to audiences, a year away from her own breakthrough album, TAPESTRY. King also gets one of the big laughs in the book when someone calls in a bomb threat to one of her and Taylor's shows.
* I didn't know Stephen Stills played piano on Ringo Starr's "It Don't Come Easy," one of the first 45's I ever bought.
* Maggie and Terre Roche (later of the Roches) first met Paul Simon by auditioning for a songwriting class that Simon taught. He let them take the class for free, and later produced their first album, SEDUCTIVE REASONING.
There's a lot about social and student unrest in FIRE AND RAIN, and there's a long section about the Kent State shootings. It's also interesting -- apart from CSNY's "Ohio" and Graham Nash's "Chicago" -- how far AWAY these artists were from depicting social unrest or registering protest through their music. They didn't exactly reflect the turbulent times, musically. Taylor was depicted at the time as sort of an alternative to unrest -- music to chill-out by. As Mr. Browne notes, "Not everyone was enthralled by this."
To sum up: If you're a fan of any of these acts, this book is worth reading. You may also be interested in the way the cast-members cross paths and appear on each other's songs. There's some really good writing about David Crosby recording his rather free-form first album, IF I COULD ONLY REMEMBER MY NAME. The book wasn't enough to make me a big James Taylor fan -- I still think he has maybe three great songs in his career. But the in-depth looks at the artists' various albums are valuable, and Mr. Browne nails S&G's underrated "The Only Living Boy in New York" when he calls it "one of their most magnificent creations."
FIRE AND RAIN also comes in a very 1970ish-style book cover, which I don't think does it any favors.

"The Man With the Child in His Eyes"

2011-12-02T02:54:00.000-08:00

Back in my record store daze, I had a manager named Robyn Royball (who helped get me hired) who was a big across-the-board pop music fan -- BIG Tom Petty fan, British pop & new wave bands, 10 c.c., Ramones, Cheap Trick, Hollies, like that. Also a big booster of women artists -- BIG Chrissie Hynde fan, just like I was. Liked Fleetwood Mac but couldn't always figure what all the fuss was about. Knew a lot about a lot, like the rest of us at the store. Also a big enuf fan 2 turn people on 2 stuff that was good 4 them.
Don't know how we got on the subject, but at 1 point she tossed me a tape of Kate Bush's 1st 3 albums + stand-alone singles. MayB it was cos I picked up a copy of Kate's 1st, THE KICK INSIDE (1978), & said something about always wondering what the British child-prodigy (helped along by Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour) was like.
& Robyn said "Oh, she's GREAT. She's AMAZING. I'll make you a tape...." That would B Robyn....
Somehow Robyn squoze 3 albums (KICK INSIDE, LIONHEART, NEVER FOR EVER) + 3 uncollected single-sides on2 a 180-minute cassette (remember those? Ever have 1 that didn't break?) & I got sucked in2 it almost immediately. I was amazed by Kate's singing & keyboard-playing & her spacey adventurousness. & I ended up buying all the albums & singles anyway. Most of 'em were only available as imports.
I say I was sucked in "almost" immediately. 1 of the big knocks against Kate on this side of the pond is that her voice is "too weird" -- 2 high, sometimes almost shrieking. I think 1nce you adjust 2 her voice you don't even notice the high notes NEmore. & I think KICK INSIDE leads-off with 1 of its weakest trax, "Moving." Maybe it was the whale sounds that put me off....
But after that the 1st side coulda bn minted in gold -- with the gorgeous, moody "Saxophone Song," the upbeat "Kite," the women's-mystery "Strange Phenomena," & the wondrous, perfect, brief miniature "The Man With the Child in His Eyes."
Ah, I've got it! I wondered what Kate was like cos Robyn & I had both heard (over&over while working in the record store) Pat Benatar's version of Kate's "Wuthering Heights." If you kept Kate's sometimes a-little-loopy vocals & added Neil Geraldo's guitar pyrotechnics from Benatar's version, then the song'd B perfect! ...I thot back then. Now I think Kate's version is sorta ... modest. She coulda shrieked even higher.... & summa the lyrics were pretty great: "How could you leave me/When I needed to/Posess you/I hated you/I loved you too...."
I wasn't that thrilled with the 2nd side of KICK INSIDE -- "Feel It" was embarrassingly sensual, "Them Heavy People" sounded kinda preachy, others fell flat. But the intimate closing title track was great. & the guys from British rock band Pilot (Ian Bairnson, guitar; David Paton, bass; Stuart Eliot, drums -- also the instrumental core of the Alan Parsons Project) made sure the music hit hard; Andrew Powell's strings & production added nice studio polish.
So I listened more. LIONHEART (1979) was Kate's difficult, rushed 2nd album. She's mayB a little Mbarrassed by it now, but there were some great things on it: "Wow"'s story about what stardom is really like is pretty hilarious, & Kate's singing is great; "Don't Push Your Foot on the Heartbrake" has some nice drama; "In Search of Peter Pan" is pretty; & "Symphony in Blue" is a nice positive opener. The spooky closer "Hammer Horror" is about the only thing on the 2nd side that I can stand. But there were some nice production touches here & there. Just maybe rushed a bit.
Kate co-produced NEVER FOR EVER (1981), & it's more solid. & MUCH more adventurous.
"Babooshka" opens the album with a rush of loopy energy in a song that seems 2 B about an affair -- Kate had never bn this outgoing B4. "Delius" is 1 of my favorites -- a moody, summery picture with a lotta sound effects & neat instrumentation. "The Wedding List" is an ironic scream, if you're in2 irony. "Infant Kiss" is a bit like "Feel It" -- a bit uncomfortable. Peter Gabriel guests on "Breathing," a dramatic tale of the bombs dropping as told by a baby still inside her momma's tummy. It's pretty unnerving.
There were some things I didn't care 4 -- "Army Dreamers" is pretty downbeat, "Violin" is feverish, almost outta control. But all the songs were pretty wild. I was looking 4ward 2 more.
Robyn saved the best 4 last -- 2 of the singles made me a permanent fan: "December Will be Magic Again" is just glorious, a gorgeous Christmas song that'd make a great video -- you can almost see Kate floating down thru the sky atop a snowflake, waiting 2 land on the "icicled roofs" of her song. The stark "Empty Bullring" is Kate alone at the piano telling a brief story of a relationship falling apart. It's freaking brilliant.
From then on, I was on the lookout 4 more music by Kate Bush.
But the record store job ended. B4 that, the company had $$$ troubles & the store had nothing good or new left 2 sell, & Robyn & I both got cranky & said mean things 2 each other. I didn't leave under the best of circumstances....
Years later, I tripped over a Kate best-of called THE WHOLE STORY that features summa the above + 2 more great songs, the intense "Running Up That Hill," & the vivid & hypnotic "Cloudbusting," another song that'd B perfect 4 a video. You can already see it in your head....
While in Turkey I grabbed a copy of Kate's THE SENSUAL WORLD, mainly 4 "This Woman's Work," an intense & hypnotic piece that I 1st heard in a John Hughes movie, SHE'S HAVING A BABY. The song works as a metaphor 4 a lot of diffrent things -- I think there's a lot of pain in it, & now it's hard 4 me 2 even listen 2. When my son was 2 years old it was his favorite song in the whole world.
A few years back I got a copy of Kate's CD-era best-of, THIS WOMAN'S WORK, which features mosta the songs mentioned above. It's worth tracking down, tho I didn't like the sevral re-mixes included in the package. The originals R good enuf 4 me.
If she'd come along earlier, I think Kate woulda bn classified as "art rock" or Prog. I haven't heard much of her more-recent work. But I never woulda heard her at all if my old boss Robyn wasn't such a big music fan. I owe you, RR....

"Back on the Chain Gang"

2011-11-29T00:51:00.000-08:00

I went off 2 Air Force basic training in Dec 1982, after 5 years of pretty great dead-end jobs, & after a year of total unemployment with no sign of things improving in the future. I'd bn married less than a month. The new wife & I agreed that this was something I could do that might get me closer 2 my chosen career (writing) + bring in a little $$$.
So away I went. I was almost looking 4ward 2 a Great Adventure. I knew all about basic training horror stories -- I was pretty sure nothing would come as much of a suprise. I was wrong.
After 1 of the worst airplane flights I've ever had -- I was absolutely CERTAIN the plane was somehow flying sideways, & later that we were skidding down the runway out of control ... as we flew thru a thunderstorm an hour B4 we landed at San Antonio -- I arrived 2 7 weeks of non-stop screaming, total regimentation, & Bing marched everywhere 24/7.
I wasn't worried about some of it -- I didn't worry about my hair (which was down below my shoulders) all being cut off. I Xpected that. I didn't Xpect the total rush-rush all the time, being screamed at 4 the slightest minor infraction, the unnecessary heavy stress that made summa the guys in R 50-bed open-bay dorm talk or scream out in their sleep.
I thot I handled it pretty well -- better than some, even tho I got "recycled" 6 days, graduated with a whole diffrent group of guys than the 1's I'd gotten 2 know, & at 1 point was forced 2 use crutches 4 a coupla days when a badly-fitting pair of combat boots crushed the nerves across the top of my foot.
But it wasn't totally bad. The food was actually pretty good -- I GAINED 12 pounds during basic, Bcame addicted 2 breakfasts & the fresh slices of fruit pie the chow hall constantly served up.
Some of the classes weren't bad, tho I hated the way we were force-fed some stuff as gospel. 1 sergeant defied us 2 name 1 person who'd "made it" in life without 1st "making it" in the military. The only guy I could think of was Jimi Hendrix, but I wasn't gonna suggest him 2 that crowd. Now I'd know at least a couple of others -- Robert Mitchum ... & I'm sure there R others I've forgotten....
San Antonio wasn't bad -- the little bit of it I got 2 see during basic. & it was good that I felt that way, cos I'd B spending mosta my next 3 years there. Waking up B4 dawn wasn't so bad either -- there was breakfast 2 look 4ward 2, & seeing the 50-man flights of trainees Bing marched 2 the chow hall with their AF-issued flashlights making little circles of light pooling & flashing across the ground....
We were sometimes given A LITTLE free time 2 clean the dorm or shine shoes or write letters home -- letters from home & VERY occasional phonecalls held us all 2gether, & we all Oooh'ed & Aaah'ed at pictures of each others' wives & girlfriends....
1nce in a very great while we were allowed 2 have music in the dorm. I remember hearing Toto's "Africa" & The Who's "Athena" & maybe some Hall & Oates. A buncha guys did a great impromptu performance of "The Message" 4 those of us who were on KP duty during Christmas Day. But that was about it....
Finally it came 2 an end & we all survived & graduated, & we were allowed as a group 2 visit the nearby "Shopette" 2 bag essentials B4 we were shipped out the next day. & as I circled around the tiny store looking 4 shoelaces & Dr Scholl's air-cushion insoles & shoe-shining stuff & Ghod knows what, I heard the store's sound system & Chrissie Hynde's voice singing something new....
"The powers that be/That force us to live like we do/Bring me to my knees/When I see what they've done to you...."
Knew it was Chrissie -- I'd played the 1st Pretenders album 100's of times -- it had gotten me thru 1980 in 1 piece. & the best parts of their 2nd album had certainly helped brighten up 1981. But I hadn't heard them lately....
"And I'll die as I stand here today/Knowing that deep in my heart/They'll fall to ruin one day/For making us part...."
It was like a letter from home. It seemed 2 sum up how I felt about my situation, & about being separated from my new Mrs. But in its bittersweetness it also seemed 2 say that things would B OK, that things would get better & life would go on.
It was just what I needed 2 hear at that time, in that place.
I went on 2 the Armed Forces Journalism School at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis, Indiana, in early Feb, & soon got sucked in2 a wide-ranging, demanding 10-week journalism & public-affairs course that I thot I would flunk out of EVERY SINGLE WEEK.
There was more good music I heard there that helped hold me 2gether until I graduated in May -- Bob Seger's "Even Now" & Stevie Winwood's "Still in the Game" & "Valerie," & Genesis's "You Might Recall," & Dire Straits' LOVE OVER GOLD album, & Modern English's "I Melt With You" & their AFTER THE SNOW album. & Michael Jackson's "Beat It" was all over the radio. & Men at Work's "Be Good Johnny," Fleetwood Mac's "Wish You Were Here," & more I can't even remember now.
I heard "Chain Gang" again on the radio a few nites back. I hadn't heard it in awhile, but every time I do it takes me back 2 that time -- hearing it 4 the 1st time in that little store at basic training, & how it seemed 2 sum-up what I was living thru at that time, & how it still sums-up parts of my life, looking back:
"Like a break in the battle was your part/In the wretched life of a lonely heart...."

Florence + the Machine

2011-11-27T03:01:00.000-08:00

I'm Bhind the curve again as usual on this 1, Bcos apparently Florence + the Machine's 1st album LUNGS got nominated 4 a Grammy & topped the British charts.
But CEREMONIALS (2011) is the 1 that grabbed me -- 1st thru "What the Water Gave Me," which I heard a coupla wks back on 103.7 FM "The Mountain" (which has weirdly Bcome my fave local radio station, & they don't even play oldies....).
Got the CD a coupla days back, & thru a 1st listening of about 1/2 of it (I'll Xplain), I'd say that Florence & the army that's Bhind her sound (at their best) like what I'd always hoped Clannad woulda turned out 2 B -- heavily-atmospheric British/Celtic-flavored folk-rock that actually ROCKS, with lotsa drama & passion ... & with an occasional mood-changer thrown in so everything doesn't sound the same (no matter how good it is).
When I 1st heard the moody "What the Water Gave Me," I thot it WAS Clannad -- because of the dark atmosphere & the moody female vocals & the chant-like construction. I thot it was very nice, haunting, intense, guaranteed 2 grow on me.
Then a few days later I heard "Shake it Out," & it stopped me in my tracks at work.
It's a wondrous, defiant, powerful, joyous "shake-off-the-demons-of-your-past" number with LOTS of drama & pounding drums & great chanting vocals -- & it makes me laff & cry & clap my hands & shout & screech along. It's amazing. The lyrics R freaking great. I have a new nominee 4 Song Of The Year.
In fact, the reason I'm only 1/2way thru the album is cos I keep going back 2 hear "Shake it Out" again. I played it about 1/2adozen times Sat aft & hoped the radio would play it again Sat nite while I was at work. (They did, but I missed it by a coupla seconds.)
I can report that there R some other good things here, & that musically Florence + the Machine R really something.
"No Light, No Light" has some of the same power & force of the above 2 songs, in a slightly more conventional lovesong-type story. & the lyrics R Xcellent. Hope it gets some airplay.
"Breaking Down" & "Lover to Lover" come across as almost "normal" keyboard-based pop in contrast 2 summa the stuff here. "Only if for a Night" is an OK opener, but they coulda opened with "Shake it Out" instead & knocked people out.... (it's the 2nd track instead).
Florence Welch, who wrote or co-wrote all the songs & does all the lead vocals, has something of an obsession with the idea of drowning -- she admits this in the liner notes -- & that does add a dark undercurrent 2 this stuff. It's the subject of "What the Water Gave Me," & probly others.
& man, can she sing.
I would think any fans of Clannad, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, Fairport Convention, British folk-rock, or just plain great music would enjoy this.
...I'll add 2 this 1nce I get thru the rest of the album. But in terms of current stuff, this is the 1st CD 2 knock me out on 1st listening since Fleet Foxes' 1st. & I couldn't wait 2 talk about it.
I only have 1 complaint, & it's not about the music.
The CD package comes with a booklet that features a dozen photos of Florence lounging around in lingerie at some mansion. Her backing band -- which includes at least 5 members -- doesn't even get mugshots, tho they R mentioned repeatedly in the performing credits, which take a pg & 1/2. There R EZer ways 2 get that information across....
I'd've traded the shots of Florence 4 a lyric sheet. It's not that she's unattractive -- tho I think the photographer tried 2 hard -- it's just that I don't get what the photos have 2 do with the music. & I wonder who wanted them? If I'd created something this good, I wouldn't want it plastered with cheezy high-priced photos of me.... Better yet, Universal/Republic coulda made the booklet shorter & charged a lower price....
Forget the pictures, get the CD or see if NE of your open-minded(?) local radio stations R playing NE of it.
More soon....

2 years in Turkey! (NOT as in "gobble-gobble"....)

2011-11-26T03:33:00.000-08:00

The 2 worst years of my life! That's how I felt about my 2 years in Turkey, at the time. Sorta still feel that way.
But 2 good things came out of it: My daughter was born there. & I wrote some of the best work of my life.
After 3 years in Wyoming telling every1 I'd stay permanently if they wanted, the Air Force sent me 2 Ankara, Turkey, a city of 4 million people located in a bowl in the middle of hilly Anatolia.
The X-wife & I were Xcited about going. Prices there were CHEAP -- we were told we could take a "luxury" bus from 1 end of the country 2 the other 4 $10. There were lots of ancient ruins 2 crawl around on & "Oooh" & "Ahhh" at, plenty of neat stuff 2 see. All that history! A whole diffrent place! A totally new Xperience! So much 2 learn!
We flew over early in Dec 1989. Practically right after we arrived, the 1st Gulf War started. So most of R plans 4 touring the country went right out the window....
The 2nd big shock was Ankara itself. We landed in the middle of winter, & the Turks use coal 2 heat their homes & the MANY apartment bldgs around the city. & in the winter, the smoke from that coal -- along with the Xhaust from a coupla million cars -- hangs in the air, & stays there until the temperature warms up.
We noticed during R nighttime ride from the airport in2 town that the air was BROWN. In the daytime it was more of a gray-white, but the smog was so thick we couldn't clearly see the apartment bldg NEXT DOOR. At night there'd just B squares of lite from other people's apartment windows, seemingly hanging in the air....
Ankara Air Station itself was tiny -- a few blocks wide by mayB 6 blocks long -- home 2 a couple hundred Americans. Home away from home. We had a grocery store as big as 2 7-11's stuck together -- with great milk from Germany, & my 1st-ever Xperience with bottled water, since the public water supply wasn't considered really safe. We had a small base exchange -- like a tiny WalMart, the 1st place I ever saw CDs.
We also had 1a THE BEST bookstores ever. The Stars and Stripes Bookstore was crammed full of the latest paperbacks & LOTSA newspapers, cos 1 thing most of us DIDN'T get every day was News From Home. Most of us didn't have access 2 the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service, which showed lotsa reruns, tape-delayed sports events, & 5 mins of AF-approved news each nite.
So the S&S Bookstore carried the weight. It had LOTS of war-fiction, + TONS of science fiction, horror, mysteries, thrillers, romances, bestsellers, lotsa Tom Clancy & Stephen King. Oh, & lotsa porn, 2. The owners knew who their audience was....
There was also a ton of books from Great Britain -- stuff like the great PENGUIN GUIDE TO POPULAR MUSIC, & M.H. Zool's GOOD READING GUIDE TO SCIENCE FICTION.
There would B something new & cool on the shelves there every week. It still amazes me how many books we brot back from Turkey. A partial list: Thomas Harris's THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS & RED DRAGON, Kathe Koja's THE CIPHER, Gael Baudino's GOSSAMER AXE, Jesse Sublett's ROCK CRITIC MURDERS, Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling's YEAR'S BEST FANTASY AND HORROR, Gardner Dozois's YEAR'S BEST SCIENCE FICTION, Karl Edward Wagner's YEAR'S BEST HORROR STORIES, Edward Lee's over-the-top COVEN, & LOTS more....
Books & newspapers & letters were about R only connection with Back Home. After a year, when we got an apartment that had actual TV, the X & I Bcame Major League Baseball fans just so we could see something CURRENT that was actually happening in America!
We didn't know what THE SIMPSONS was 'til late in our 2 years -- when I saw the 1st couple episodes I laffed til I cried, & then I laffed til I about threw up. America was a mystery that was 10,000 miles away 4 us -- Rosanne Barr sang the National Anthem at the World Series?! What the hell is GOING ON Back Home...?
It's hard 2 Dscribe the sense of isolation we felt. All of us who were there felt it, I think. So we tried 2 have some fun with it, have some good times. You never knew when the electricity would go out -- possibly sevral times a day. You never knew when the water would stop running, or if the toilets would flush.
But the work never stopped. 1nce I settled in I was a 1-man-band on the newspaper, which kept me hoppin -- & eventually Xhausted me. I got 1 week off in 2 years.
The paper itself looked like a little magazine, which was cool -- it had photos & cool graphics & everything. & there was room 4 me 2 write personality features & comedy & off-the-wall stuff if I wanted. & somehow I Bcame a sportswriter -- I guess Bcos of the freedom it gave me compared 2 just-the-facts reporting. & base intramural sports were a blast 2 cover. 1 of the 1st big stories I wrote after arriving was on the base basketball championship game -- which went 2 quadruple-overtime!
While doing all the other stuff I could just have fun with sports -- I wrote stories about the base's 2 worst baseball teams, including a team from the British Embassy that went winless all season but laffed all thru it. Their captain assured me they'd B back next season: "We might even know the rules by then."
I also wrote about the base's worst volleyball team -- fielded by the base Clinic: doctors & nurses & paramedics & admin people -- some of whom went on leave rather than face losing another match....
Pieces like this won me U.S. Air Forces in Europe's Sportswriter of the Year Award in 1991, & I was runner-up 4 the command's Journalist of the Year Award. I was thrilled. Speechless. & it was the freedom I got thru sportswriting & comedy that got me that recognition.
Probly my fave story in 2 years was the Dog Bone Awards, about the ways the base's Finance Office kept morale up during tough times. The Dog Bones were presented every Fri 2 the Finance troop who did the most embarrassing thing all week. I attended 1 of these blowing-off-steam sessions, thot it was hilarious, wrote it up 4 the paper -- the story wrote itself, only took about 30 mins -- & the week after the story appeared, the Finance folks gave ME a Dog Bone. & the plaque is still hanging on my wall....
It wasn't all fun & games. Elsewhere in the country Americans were getting shot at by terrorists. Not all Turks thot it was OK that we were bombing Iraq. We were told 2 "dress Turkish" -- wear dark clothes, don't speak English, go without a shower 4 awhile, blend in, take diffrent routes 2 work.
1 morning in late October 1991, a friend of mine -- a computer Xpert who'd bailed me & the paper outta computer problems 100 times -- got blown-up by a car bomb on his way in 2 work. Everybody at the base went in2 shock. The X & I spent R last month in Turkey in a daze. & we left in Dec 1991. I haven't bn back. I don't really miss it that much.
Ankara Air Station was closed a few years back as a cost-saving measure. It feels weird that a base where I spent 2 years of my life isn't really there anymore. I can still see it....
Don't let me give you a bad impression of the Turks, either. Mosta the folks we met were Xtremely nice, & they were especially kind 2 my son & my golden-haired newborn daughter.
& if you were 2 visit Turkey today, you might like it. The southern coast is gorgeous -- the little I saw of it. My daughter was born in Adana, & that place was like Florida with Turkish roadsigns. There were even palmtrees!
It all depends on where you're at, what you see, & yer attitude. In the middle of that 2 years I spent 3 weeks in Athens, Greece, helping close-down another base. The Greeks think Athens is a toilet -- totally polluted. I thot it was so dazzlingly bright I hadta buy a pair of sunglasses.... It was like California only with what looked like Russian roadsigns....
After we left Turkey, the Air Force sent me 2 San Jose, California, 2 the smallest base in the entire AF. Where the biggest building was a 4-story Blue Cube that 1,000's of people drove by every day. & the base had a mission that I Couldn't Talk About....

Tay-jazz and other adventures....

2011-11-25T02:41:00.000-08:00

The X-wife & I spent 3 years living in San Antonio, Texas, in the mid-'80s, while I was assigned to the Army and Air Force Hometown News Service -- my 1st Air Force job, where I ruined my eyes coloring forms with yellow & purple markers so other people could turn that highlighted information into news stories 2 B sent 2 servicemembers' hometown newspapers -- stories about promotions & awards & being sent overseas & such. So much 4 being a journalist -- that came a little later.
Meanwhile, San Antonio was a great town -- plenty to do, great food, friendly people, always something happening. Once we found somewhere 2 live, we carefully Xplored the area. You could get lost 4 DAYS in the malls there -- & it was amazing how much unspoiled pastureland & rolling hills were inside the city limits, & all you had 2 do 2 find them was get off the main roads. I had my favorite backroads 2 work, 2 my favorite dry-cleaners (4 my AF uniforms), 2 all the decent 2nd-hand book & record stores.... 1 backroad led up the highest hill in town & you could see SanAn sprawl 4 MILES in every direction from atop it....
We started R adventures by trying out the local food. Of course SanAn is great 4 Tex-Mex & Hispanic foods of all sorts -- but weirdly we were homesick 4 Chinese food, & made an ongoing tour of summa the WORST Chinese restaurants ever opened. I mean, REALLY bad. Like the 1 where a young Oriental mom was CHANGING HER BABY'S DIAPER on the front counter. She looked up, saw us, smiled welcomingly ... & we turned around & walked right back out....
The search 4 cheap books & music went EZer. Wasn't hard 2 find used book & record stores in a city of 1-million+. The best was a HUGE sprawling 2nd-hand store somewhere near downtown -- we took the backroads 2 get there. In this dusty, ramshackle assembly of what seemed like 3 or 4 diffrent houses I tracked down/discovered great albums by Fairport Convention (CHRONICLES), Van Morrison (MOONDANCE), Amazing Blondel (FANTASIA LINDUM), & more. & in the used books section I found stuff like a complete run of Damon Knight's far-out ORBIT series of paperback anthologies, back in the days when you could get them 2nd-hand CHEAP.
Next door 2 my dry-cleaners was an even dustier & darker 2nd-hand store, where I stumbled over a copy of Nick Drake's BRYTER LAYTER. Up til then all I'd heard by Nick was "Northern Sky," so I figured the resta the album hadta B pretty good 2. & it was -- amazing, really. All this music has bn with me ever since.
Meanwhile, the X & I were listening 2 then-more-current stuff like the Go-Go's TALK SHOW (we saw the girls live in concert in SA in something like '85, they were GREAT), the Bangles' DIFFERENT LIGHT, & the Moody Blues' THE PRESENT. These Bcame my daily soundtrack as I drove 2 & from work, & we used most of these as backing music as we drove around SA & the area Hill Country. + we threw in some others -- Tears for Fears' SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR, Pat Benatar's PRECIOUS TIME, Pete Townshend's ALL THE BEST COWBOYS HAVE CHINESE EYES, Dan Fogelberg's THE INNOCENT AGE and PHOENIX, the Pretenders' LEARNING TO CRAWL, Cyndi Lauper's SHE'S SO UNUSUAL, etc. All this stuff is still with me, 2....
I also got addicted 2 Aaron Copland while in Texas -- listening 2 Eduardo Mata & the Dallas Symphony's versions of "Rodeo" & "El Salon Mexico" & the "Simple Gifts" section of "Appalachian Spring" -- cranking that HUGE American-folksong-flavored symphonic stuff WAY UP as we buzzed down the highway or thru the Hill Country. Still the best versions of Copland's work that I've heard....
1 winter while we were in SA, 18 inches of snow fell overnite & the city STOPPED 4 about 3 days. People thot the X & I were nuts as we walked 2 the store in T-shirts while everybody else shivered in big, heavy coats. We thot it was a nice break from the usual 99-degrees & 99-percent-humidity ... with occasional thunderstorms & torrential rains thrown in.... Heaviest, hardest rainfall I've ever seen was in Texas, along with lightning storms that would crackle & zap across the sky 4 HOURS without a drop of rain falling. The X & I would sometimes sit out on R apartment's backporch just 2 watch the lightning zap around....
I also got addicted 2 1 of my heroes, writer John McPhee, while I was in Texas. Co-worker & Army Sgt. Ron Pruitt got sick of me asking questions about his home state of Alaska, & tossed me a copy of McPhee's massive COMING INTO THE COUNTRY, which paints as clear a picture of Alaska as you're ever going 2 get from a book. Since then I've read at least a dozen more of McPhee's books, all of them well worth tracking down. I still wish I could write 1/2 that well....
My job did NOT involve working on a Air Force base newspaper as I was told I would B doing, so after 3 years of wrecking my eyes the AF transferred me to Wyoming (see previous posts). It was probly 4 the best -- I already felt like a robot or zombie at work, even tho I later got 2 PROOFREAD the news stories we sent out 2 newspapers around the country. But it wasn't reporting -- it was fill-in-the-blank stuff on a production line, & we hadta keep crankin' out the numbers....
This robotic feeling got worse 1 morning when I played Philip Glass's KOYAANISQATSI Soundtrack in the car on the way 2 work -- suddenly EVERYTHING became mechanical, everybody was a robot, all the cars on the freeway were on their own machine-determined tracks, nobody had Free Will, everybody was an android ... until I got 2 work & switched the music off ... & realized I didn't remember the drive 2 work AT ALL. I don't think I've played the album since (tho the movie is a real spacey time if you ever get a chance 2 see it -- & with Glass's music you don't need any other conciousness-expanding assistance....).
NEway, SanAn was great & I do sometimes miss it -- never been back. But I did have my consciousness raised there: My 1st job out in the Real World, 2,000 miles away from home. The X & I showed we were grown-ups & could handle life on R own.
But we about died from homesickness. Something that never happened in Wyoming....

Boycott Black Friday!

2011-11-21T23:05:00.000-08:00

So, Thanksgiving's coming up pretty quick, & then -- Black Friday. The biggest retail bizness day of the year.
The day when MILLIONS of consumers climb outta bed WAY TOO EARLY after barely sleeping-off their Turkeycosis from the day B4, pile in2 SUVs & race hurriedly 2 their nearest mall 2 B there at 4 am when WalMart or Target or Macy's throw their doors open 4 the massive totally-Byond-Blief never-2-B-repeated Xmas-kickoff sales -- when HUGE 72-inch thin-screen plasma TVs sell 4 $99, when the latest videogames R slashed down 2 $5, when the latest in smartphones & other high-tech goodies R cut 2 the bone in massive across-the-board never-2-B-repeated UNBELIEVABLE sale prices....
The day when hapless minimum-wage WalMart Mployees get trampled just trying 2 get the front doors open, when every year dozens of assaults R reported Btween shoppers trying 2 elbow or punch their way closer 2 that 1 big bargain that just CAN'T B resisted, when millions of people go even further in debt trying 2 get a jump on the Xmas gift-giving season, trying 2 take advantage of prices that will NEVER -- NO, WE MEAN IT THIS TIME! -- NEVER B repeated....
Please.
What sane person would do this? What normal, thinking human being would want 2 take part in such an ugly, mindless rat race?
Actually, my X-wife useta get up way 2 early the day after Tgiving & go hit the malls, thinking she'd get the jump on something Really Good. (I don't know if she still does this.) Sometimes she took the kids with her. She said she tried 2 make it "an event."
Yeah, that's some event, all right. Driving 4 an hour or more in freezing temperatures with no sleep so you can stand outside some big-box retail store, freeze some more, & then beg 4 crumbs when they "run out" of the bargains you were hoping 2 score. That's a great Family Tradition 2 pass down 2 your kids. Tiredness, drudgery, stress, frustration, Xhaustion. What a way 2 open the Holidays. It always brot the X home stressed-out, angry, frustrated, Xhausted. & broke.
What thinking person would do this? & why do so many millions do it every year? Has no1 figured out that big retailers have plenty more goods Byond just the "unbeatable-bargain" 1s they use as bait 2 entice you 2 the store with? Does no1 remember those after-Xmas sales where prices on the same goods you fought 2 get at a month B4 R slashed 50-, 70-, 90-percent off? Does NE1 remember anything anymore?
Is it somehow more fun 2 race 2 the malls at a given day & time like lemmings, & then fight the crowds, like rats running thru a maze? You know there's some cheese in here somewhere, but you don't know Xactly where it IS, do you, Mr. Jones?
It's insanity.
The ads R all thru your junk mail, in all the newspapers, all over the TV, & it's only gonna get worse. Shit, I'm getting unwanted Black Friday Sale ads in my e-mail!
There's only 1 thing 2 do:
Boycott Black Friday.
Stay home! Sleep in! Imagine all the chaos you'll miss out on, the screaming & crying & physical violence, the car wrecks you won't have 2 witness! Sleep off that huge turkey dinner. You've earned it.
Talk your kids in2 waiting 'til the After-Xmas sales. Those new tennies or that new smartphone will B just as great then -- even better, cos they'll B 75% OFF! Tell your kids they'll get MORE presents if they wait 24 hours longer. Your kids won't fight you very hard -- they know MORE is BETTER.
Bsides, who the hell wants 2 fight all that mess? Who wants 2 deal with the General Public? I make it a point never 2 deal with the General Public when I'm not working. & then I havta deal with them every day. & believe me, they R a beast. They never stop Wanting. & Demanding.
If this avoidance therapy works 4 you, there's other steps you can take 2 reduce the hassles in your daily life. Try shopping during off-beat hours when you can avoid the crowds. I remember back in the day when I could go grocery shopping at 2 am at my favorite local 24-hour grocery store. You'd B suprised how EASY it is 2 get your shopping done then, how fast you can burn thru that place -- it sure ain't crowded then, & the same stuff is on sale.
Yeah, there's some weirdos out at 2 am. But they're out in the daytime, 2. You just can't tell. Bcos there's SO MANY of them these days.
In case you're wondering, yeah, I have a bias. I work retail. & I've worked a few Black Fridays. They're No Fun 4 NEbody. The last 1 I remember working -- at a Gig Harbor, Wash., Target store back in 2002 -- was a screaming chaotic blur from the time I got there til the time I went home. I was told I did a good job & actually helped people, & that some customers told my bosses how cool & helpful I was under pressure. But I know I never stopped talking & pointing & moving & running & sweating, never caught my breath & never hadda chance 2 relax ... all day long.
So, do your part 4 the economy, do right by yer kids & loved 1's. But save yourself the stress.
Boycott Black Friday. It ain't worth it. Those great, unbeatable, never-2-B-repeated deals will B back again. The day after Xmas....

Cold weather music!

2011-11-20T04:03:00.000-08:00

Winter's arrived in Western Washington, somewhere Btween 25 & 30 degrees outside right now -- pretty cold 4 us -- & every nite this week has bn colder than predicted. But we've dodged the snow so far, somehow. R more usual winter weather -- pouring rain -- hit earlier this week & is Xpected 2 return Mon & Tues, with highs in the 40s, heavy rain & potential flooding.
Which doesn't sound so bad compared 2 what it's like outside right now....
It's not bad INside -- the pellet-stove is keeping up with the cold pretty well, tho my feet sometimes get cold. In an attempt 2 warm things up, a little bit of everything follows:

The playlist:
Spinners -- I'll Be Around, I'm Coming Home.
Left Banke -- She May Call You Up Tonight, Desiree.
King Crimson -- Happy With What You Have to Be Happy With.
Gong -- Oily Way.
Rare Bird -- Epic Forest.
Fruup -- The Seventh Secret.
Curved Air -- Back Street Luv, It Happened Today.
David Sancious and Tone -- Ever the Same, Prelude #3, Interlude, Matter of Time.
Can -- Oh Yeah.
It Bites -- The Old Man and the Angel.
Os Mutantes (The Mutants) -- Ando Meio Desligado.
Sugarcubes -- Birthday, Delicious Demon, Mama, Motorcrash.
Cocteau Twins -- Lazy Calm, Throughout the Dark Months of April and May, Feet-Like Fins.
King Crimson -- ProzaKc Blues.

NOTES: This overview is liable 2 B brief & brutal so my hands & feet don't get frozen. This should B fun 2 read, at least. 10-word reviews, NE1?
The Spinners trax R both classics -- even after 40 years I still think "I'll Be Around" is pretty hypnotic, it seems simple but there's so much going on -- even tho I still can't figure out summa the words cos of the way Phillippe Wynne enunciates. But I don't even care. No problems with "I'm Coming Home," which shoulda bn a bigger hit & includes great backing vocals. From THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION.
"She May Call You Up Tonight" is prime mid-'60s pop & shoulda bn a hit -- apparently was never even released as a B-side. Not so much of the classical, ornate sound the Left Banke useta specialize in, just a really nice gloppy love song with sweet vocals. "Desiree" of course is closer 2 a concerto 4 voices, harpsichord, strings & horns -- & they all crowd in2 John Abbott's dense, cluttered production. A knockout, of course, & a little clearer on CD than the old 45.... From ALL THE SMASH HITS.
Crimson's "Happy" is better & funnier live, but the lyrics R still great.... From THE POWER TO BELIEVE.
Gong's "Oily Way" is a brief slice of their Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy that features great-as-usual sax&flute from Didier Mahlerbe, OK singing from Daevid Allen & some decent backing vocals. Jazzy & spacey, even funny -- but not 2 silly like I think summa their stuff was. If all their stuff was this good I'd B a fan 4 life....
"Epic Forest" is a 9-minute multi-part psychedelic suite about The End Of The World ... only there's a pretty, happy ending. Great keyboards, guitar, vocals & mood -- the ending is especially nice, but the whole thing is worth it. Sounds VERY 1972, but these guys shoulda had more success. I've bn a fan of this track since I fished the album, EPIC FOREST, out of a bin at Goodwill 10 years ago 4 $2. There's only 1 other good song on the album, but it's Xcellent: "Birdman." & if 2 great songs Rn't worth $2, what is? Probly available at a Goodwill store near you....
"Seventh Secret" is a brief narrative that sounds like it's delivered by a Hobbit. Kinda silly. Hobbit fans might like it.... (These last 3 R all from WONDROUS STORIES: A COMPLETE INTRODUCTION TO PROGRESSIVE ROCK.)
"Back Street Luv" is the longest 3-1/2 mins I've sat thru in a long time. It's just dull. "It Happened Today" has OK guitar & keyboards, & Sonja Kristina's throaty voice isn't bad, but she doesn't do much with it. Darryl Way's violin -- supposedly 1a the focal points of this band -- can only B heard in "Today"'s coda. Disappointing. Possible candidates 4 Really Bad Prog. Sorry.... From WONDROUS STORIES and SUPERNATURAL FAIRY TALES: THE PROGRESSIVE ROCK ERA.
Ah, David Sancious. Whatta guy. I've written here B4 about how the former E Street Band keyboardist's wild jazz-rock TRANSFORMATION: THE SPEED OF LOVE was 4 years my FAVORITE album in the world 2 clear unwanted guests outta the house -- & there was some REALLY GORGEOUS piano & synth stuff on it, 2.
In 1978 Sancious released his follow-up, TRUE STORIES, & I remember Bing disappointed Bcos it didn't have NE of the outrage of DS's earlier work -- almost like he'd tried 1/2way 2 "go commercial."
The CD reissue of TRUE STORIES includes brief notes from Sancious about how The Dummies at Arista rejected the original album -- which was made-up-of 4 9-to-15-minute instrumental jazz-rock suites -- & instead asked DS 4 songs that "might somehow find their way onto a playlist in some format, somewhere." There was probly some great stuff on that earlier album, but we'll never know.
That said, musically this album ain't bad & ain't that diffrent. Sancious bowed just a LITTLE 2 commercial pressures. Minus Alex Ligertwood's not-that-bad lead vocals, "Ever the Same" sounds VERY much like the Sancious of previous albums -- the same sweet-yet-jagged melodic phrases with sudden stops & turns. "Prelude #3" is an especially good Xample of this, tho it's closer 2 lite instrumental jazz-rock. "Interlude" is VERY lite jazz, with rainfall & flowing-water sounds -- almost New Age. Brief & pointless. "Matter of Time" has some nice instrumental interplay (with bassist Gerald Carboy & manic drummer Ernest Carter) in the midsection, & some brief wild guitar near the end -- but the lyrics R kinda silly. As a big album-closer it's disappointing.
Can's "Oh Yeah" opens with thunderstorm noises, but it's far from New Age. Then it's Jaki Leibezeit's typical propulsive drumming, & Damo Suzuki's backwards(?) vocals -- I don't know what Damo's saying, but it works really well with the rhythm. Also nice tinny gtr from Michael Karoli & good washy keyboards from Irmin Schmidt. Why wasn't this on their best-of? From SUPERNATURAL FAIRY TALES.
"Old Man and the Angel" has Dcent choruses & OK group backing vocals, but that's all. It's not very suprising. From WONDROUS STORIES.
The Mutants R late-'60s Brazilian psychedelia -- they sound like a stranger Sergio Mendes & Brazil '66. There's some nice organ, & it gets louder & freakier toward the end. A little dated, & not that strange. But this was just my 1st taste. They've got a pretty good reputation.... From EVERYTHING'S POSSIBLE!
It must get awful cold & isolated up there in Iceland. Was The Sugarcubes why Bjork was a big deal? "Birthday" features her howling & screeching, but I actually like Einar Orn's Germanic-sounding voice better. This stuff is OK 4 a break 2 clear-out your head, like a walk in the cold Icelandic air. & summa their lyrics R ... intresting, especially on "Mama." From LIFE'S TOO GOOD!
Cocteau Twins ... pleasant, washy, pastel ... gtr&keyboard & female vocals, good going-2-sleep music ... "Feet-Like Fins" breaks in2 a pretty Indian-flavored chant with voice & gtr ... that doesn't go on long enuf.... From VICTORIALAND.
"ProzaKc Blues" features Adrian Belew's ugly low-treated vocals, but the lyrics R funny. I just thot it was better & funnier LIVE, as most of KC's comedies R (see "Happy," above).... From THE CONSTRUCTION OF LIGHT.

Coming soon, I hope: More new stuff....

Sometimes I feel so uninspired....

2011-11-15T00:28:00.000-08:00

Probly not the best title ever 4 a post. But NEway...
Nothing much on my mind currently. Course I've bn writing my ass off 4 the last 6 weeks or so, so mayB it's time 2 cool off a bit.
Have bn wondering how many of you Out There R listening 2 LITTLE STEVEN'S UNDERGROUND GARAGE, still my favorite place (currently) 2 hear new rock as well as great forgotten overlooked classics. A couple weeks back they aired their 500th weekly show. & I understand they have a show (or channel?) on Sirius XM satellite radio, if NEbody has that....
Sun nite's show was a tribute 2 movie director Martin Scorsese & played summa the songs Scorsese has used in his films over the years -- opening with the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" & moving thru classics like Badfinger's "Baby Blue," Mott the Hoople's "All the Way from Memphis," The Who's "Bell Boy," The Beatles' "I Need You," Cream's "Those Were the Days," & The Searchers' "Ain't That Just Like Me?" (Why didn't those guys have more hits...?)
Along with the oldies, Steven threw in the show's latest batch of faves, including Michael Monroe's ferocious getting-high-on-life rocker "Trick of the Wrist" (sounds kinda like AC/DC meets Meat Loaf ONLY WAY BETTER!), Tom Morello's "Black Spartacus Heart Attack Machine" (great timely lyrics & great harmonica!), Sir Reg's hilarious Irish-punk "Bolloxology," Christian McNeill & the Sea Monsters' driving horn-propelled "Zero," Blondie's "Mother," J.P. Soars' silly R&B "Doggin'," & Butch Walker & the Black Widows' "Day Drunk." All great stuff.
This on top of recent great oldies like the Yardbirds' "Heart Full of Soul," Cream's "Deserted Cities of the Heart," & Frank Sinatra's HILARIOUS version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson" featuring radically re-written lyrics -- the funniest thing I've heard in a long time.
(The 2 Cream songs listed above have convinced me that maybe there R more than 3 good Cream songs -- previously I just thot "Badge," "I Feel Free," "I'm So Glad" & maybe "Crossroads" qualified -- & that mayB WHEELS OF FIRE is an album I should check out. I know 40+ years later is a little late 2 get this news, but ... hey, it's a new record 4 me....)
Have also, thanx 2 local oldies station KMCQ-FM, had repeated chances 2 appreciate how great Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue" was back in 1975 & still is. You can sing along with it, it's got great semi-mysterious lyrics & an easily memorable chorus ... probly also not news 2 big music fans....
Lately have also tried 2 let a few fairly "current" (4 me) songs play out B4 changing the station -- heard a pretty, intense version of Lou Reed/Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane" by the Cowboy Junkies, & Jessie J's nice hip-hop piece "Price Tag." I like the lyrics about wanting to make the world dance & not caring about money.... & why is everybody so serious? This is not my usual sorta thing, but I like the optimistic message.
Other fairly recent stuff that's grabbed me includes Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody," & Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" -- which sounds a little like Michael Bolton ONLY BETTER ... & I see now that it came out in 1991.... & Everlast's "What it's Like," which is only 13 years old.... Obviously, I hava lotta catching up 2 do....
Here, 103.7 FM "The Mountain" seems 2 have the most wide-open playlist (they also air Little Steven every Sun nite from 10 pm-midnight & have made my Sun nite at work a lot EZer 2 get thru), but they still play the same songs over & over. Meanwhile, KJR FM 95.7 in Seattle really DOES play the same 100 oldies over&over EVERY NITE. I wonder if they realize people may listen more than 1 nite in a row -- but probly not much longer than that....
Finally got thru KT Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" without changing stations -- it's only, what, 6 years old? -- but otherwise there's still 2 much overwrought-young-depressed-girl-with-piano-type stuff playing on the radio in my neck of the woods.
& you...?

Really Gloppy Love Songs!

2011-11-13T03:11:00.000-08:00

My X-wife useta give me a tough time about getting all emotional & caught-up in gloppy old "girl group" songs like "Be My Baby" & "Baby I Love You." Obviously she didn't have a romantic bone in her body. Of course, she thot ABBEY ROAD was a comedy album, 2....
I've always bn a sucker 4 a good gloppy lovesong, as long as it's not COMPLETELY over-the-top, as long as it doesn't try 2 bury me in strings & orchestration & melodrama. There's no defense 4 liking some of the songs listed below, but I don't care. Let it roll....

The Playlist:
Ronettes -- Be My Baby, Baby I Love You, The Best Part of Breakin' Up, I Wonder, Do I Love You?
Stylistics -- You Are Everything, Betcha By Golly Wow.
When in Rome -- The Promise.
Celine Dion -- Nothing Broken But My Heart.
Paula Abdul -- Blowing Kisses in the Wind.
Earth, Wind and Fire -- After the Love Has Gone.
Bonnie Raitt -- I Can't Make You Love Me.
Fifth Dimension -- Wedding Bell Blues.
Sting - Fields of Gold.
Mamas and the Papas -- Dedicated to the One I Love, Twelve Thirty.
Lovin' Spoonful -- You Didn't Have to be So Nice.
Pam Tillis -- When You Walk in the Room, I Was Blown Away.
Mary-Chapin Carpenter -- Passionate Kisses.
Bread -- Everything I Own.
Pat Benatar -- We Belong.
Vanessa Williams -- Save the Best for Last.

NOTES: Hey, there's no Abba in this list....
NEway, what can I say about the Ronettes that my (suddenly much more easily workable) CD player didn't say a coupla weeks back? I can again point out that "Baby I Love You" shoulda bn a MUCH bigger hit. #24 just doesn't cut it. "The Best Part of Breakin' Up" sounds kinda like a rewrite of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love," only with a great fake ending. "I Wonder" is a classic that shoulda bn a hit & apparently was never even released on a single -- what was Phil Spector THINKING? "Do I Love You?" was kinda disappointing -- the best parts R the instrumental sections.
Did you know the Ronettes' "chart life" only lasted a little over a year & they only had 1 #2 hit? "Baby I Love You" peaked at #24, "Walking in the Rain" at #23. Wonder why? I guess because the Beatles came along & Phil found other things 2 do, other acts 2 produce. 2 bad. NEway, all the Ronettes trax R from BE MY BABY: THE BEST OF.
The Stylistics at their best were SO SMOOTH. Later on they got a little TOO smooth. "You Are Everything" & "Betcha By Golly Wow" R classics that bring back the winter of 1971-72 pretty clearly 4 me -- even if I could never hit the high notes like Russell Tompkins Jr. did.... From THE BEST OF.
"The Promise" is a gorgeous piece of electro-dance stuff that I NEVER would've heard if I hadn't seen NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, still The Ultimate Idaho Movie.... From the ND SOUNDTRACK.
"Nothing Broken" is the only Celine Dion song that's ever grabbed me. If every artist (even Whitney Houston) has 1 song they were MEANT 2 do, that was Celine's. Paula Abdul's was "Blowing Kisses," a gorgeous symphonic # that I thot peaked a pretty useless career. I still think it's breathtaking. My only complaint has always bn that the ending just trails off.... After hearing it, I even started liking her earlier hit "Straight Up"....
EWF's "After the Love Has Gone" I was a sucker 4 back in my record store daze. Great horns, & really nice laid-back group vocals. 1 of my local radio stations plays it almost every nite, & that's overdoing it, but still....
"I Can't Make You Love Me" is the best thing I've ever heard Bonnie Raitt do. & it's gorgeous. But I admit I haven't heard much by her.... & why'd it only peak at #18? Can't people HEAR? (These last 4 trax were from homemade tapes....)
"Wedding Bell Blues" is a giant embarrassing piece of cheez -- which went 2 #1, of course -- but I love it 4 Bones Howe's old-timey production, the backing vocals, & the way Marilyn McCoo emotes all over the place. The late Laura Nyro wrote it, + 4 other hits 4 the 5D's.
...But why R the 5D's so uncool? "Aquarius" is cool, & "If I Could Reach You" is freakin' gorgeous, & I love a couple of the others ("Carpet Man"). But maybe it's cos they sound SO 1970. Not enuf soul? Gorgeous vocal blend tho, really underrated.... From THE GREATEST HITS ON EARTH.
"Fields of Gold" isn't gloppy? I think this nostalgic, vivid, possibly remorseful peek in2 the past is the best thing Sting's done solo. It's gorgeous. & I only just started noticing it a few weeks ago.... From THE VERY BEST OF STING & THE POLICE.
I'm a sucker 4 "Dedicated," a prayer I've loved since highschool. & "Twelve Thirty" has always bn my fave Mamas&Papas song, even more than "California Dreamin'" -- I've adored it ever since it had a little revival in Fall '73 on KFXD in Boise, where it got played a ton 4 all the kids who missed it back in 1967, I guess. Why did this gorgeous hymn only peak at #20? Both from GREATEST HITS.
"Nice" is my fave Spoonful song. I like "Do You Believe in Magic?" & "Darling Be Home Soon" & "Summer in the City," 2. But I can't stand "Nashville Cats." Or "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" Lotsa good-timey stuff there, also underrated.... From GREATEST HITS.
"When You Walk in the Room" is perfect & shoulda bn a HUGE hit. Jackie DeShannon wrote it, the Searchers almost hadda hit with it (#35 in '64), & radio programmers musta bn deaf not 2 play this 1 on pop stations. Great vocals, great guitars, really punchy. "Blown Away" is guaranteed gloppy, but there's some great -- tho brief -- guitar work during the middle break. & there's Pam's sweet vocals. Both from SWEETHEART'S DANCE.
"Passionate Kisses" is just about perfect & still makes me bounce around the room. From COME ON COME ON.
Bread did lotsa great stuff & they're still underrated. "Everything I Own" was my absolute fave back when I was 13 years old, & it still sounds great all these years later. I love the way it builds in drama. From THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION -- which includes a lot of their REALLY GREAT B-sides & album trax, which you really should check-out -- Xcept 4 the absolute classic "Been Too Long on the Road," which some dummy left off the 2-disc set....
"We Belong" is the best thing Benatar ever did, tho I still like hard-hitting "Hard to Believe" & "Precious Time" & her cover of Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" & a coupla others.... From TROPICO.
I always thot "Save the Best for Last" was a lump-in-the-throat masterpiece -- gorgeous piano, the hushed mood, & Vanessa's great vocals. & I like the story the lyrics tell. From THE COMFORT ZONE.

...I probly left some things out. Most pop songs R lovesongs, so there's probly something obvious I listen 2 all the time & just didn't play on Sat. Like Abba. Which means there'll havta B "Even MORE Really Gloppy Love Songs" -- Coming Soon!

Where are the laffs?

2011-11-09T01:25:00.000-08:00

These R grim times.
As any look at a newspaper or any random 5 mins of CNN will tell ya.
Now more than ever, we need laffs.
& I don't mean in silly movies or in TV situation comedies or in comedy clubs or on "Reality TV."
I mean in the very media that bring us down every day:
TV news & newspapers.
About the only time TV news & newspapers R the slightest bit funny these days is when they're covering the latest screw-up on the Republican presidential campaign trail. (Did you see Herman Cain's latest act on Tuesday? Oh my Ghod! Couldn't stop laffing!)
Things R getting so freaking serious that we NEED SOMETHING 4 a break. When the GOP fields the Usual Gang Of Idiots as potential presidential nominees, when there R STILL 10 million people out of work, when Congress is useless & the President is helpless & the US teeters on the brink of becoming another 3rd World country....
We need SOMETHING to help us lighten up. About the only time that happens these days is if the media MAKES A MISTAKE (Ghod forbid!). Or if some soundman or camera guy accidentally farts during a press conference.
(Of course you'll never hear THAT on the 6 o'clock news....)
4 Ghod's sake, at least give us another Republican debate 2 laff at....
(If Herman Cain would just ADMIT that he's got a thing 4 white women, we could all have a big laff & then get on with our lives....)
Things didn't useta B this serious. & the media useta have a lot more fun with covering the news. These days the only reporters I see REGULARLY making fun of what happens out there in The Real World each week are Jeanne Moos at CNN & Craig Wilson, who writes a weekly lite-humor column called "The Final Word" 4 USA TODAY. (Is Dave Barry still writing his syndicated humor columns 4 newspapers? I haven't seen them in quite awhile.... Maybe he gave them up 2 write books?)
& there is NOBODY in my immediate local area writing topical humor 4 any of the newspapers -- that I've noticed. Almost all the reporting & commentary is viewed straight-on. There's an editorial columnist 4 the TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE named Peter Callaghan who occasionally does screamingly funny Q&A columns about hot statewide political issues. But he otta write them every week. His newspaper could use a little more life.
It didn't useta B like this. Back in my newspaper days it seemed like every paper had somebody who could write comedy. When I was working on Air Force base newspapers in the '80s & '90s I went outta my way 2 try 2 find some lite & funny stuff 2 counteract all the dead-serious & sleep-inducing stuff we hadta print.
I remember writing columns about "Air Force Medals You Don't Want To Win" (like the infamous "Air Force Condemnation Medal"), an Air Force "Glossary" (in which a bureaucratic phrase like "alcohol-related incident" was decoded into its real meaning: "A drunken brawl"), & "Air Force Bases You'll Never Want to Serve At" -- an atlas of fictional bases located in desolate West Texas, desolate Southeastern Oregon, & desolate Western Wyoming ... 2 go along with the real bases we already had in Greenland, Iceland, Korea, the Aleutian Islands, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana & other Ghod-forsaken places....
I also wrote an off-the-wall sports feature on an AF doctor named Joe Kenny who competed in stair-climbing races during his off-duty time -- a hobby that got his name in2 the GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS. Not Xactly yer standard AF-newspaper-type sports coverage....
When I left the AF & started working 4 civilian papers, I discovered real-life comedy was all around, all I had 2 do was notice it. & it practically wrote itself.
I wrote silly lite-comedy features about a married couple who used multi-colored carpets 2 replace their front lawn after their grass died -- & about how many traffic jams & car wrecks in front of their house this led to; about how a computer glitch led 2 3-dozen turkeys being delivered 2 a local Senior Citizens' Center just in time 4 Thanksgiving; how a small-town council had 2 subpoena a pot-bellied pig 2 a council meeting 4 a discussion about the town's livestock ordinance; how some packets of Holly-brand sugar got a 5-second close-up during an episode of THE X-FILES (there was a Holly Sugar factory in the Wyoming town where I lived); how a local highschool senior wanted 2 impress President Bill Clinton during a National Honor Society visit 2 the White House -- so the boy performed a gorilla impression....
...& lots more. Some of this stuff got picked-up by the Associated Press & sent 2 newspapers all over the country. & it was an absolute BREEZE 2 write, like a gift from Ghod. It was a great break -- & a great RELIEF -- from my usual straight-news reporting about council meetings & car wrecks. Most of these silly stories I could crank out in 30 mins or less, & it was like every word flashed in2 my head perfectly from beginning 2 end.
It was my favorite part of being a reporter & the 1 thing I miss most about the newspaper business.
& I knew that after writing a story like that -- after sharing a laff with readers on the front page -- I knew I'd done my job & a whole lot more. I'd earned my paycheck ... & hadda great time doing it.
You can't fake comedy. It's either good or it isn't. & you know when it's good. Not just because you're laffing. You get that sorta glow....
I really miss that.
& even tho these R grim times, we could use a lot more real-life comedy. Fun stories. I know they're out there, even at the worst of times. Because people still have a sense of humor -- & still use it 2 get thru their days -- no matter how bad things get.
I don't know if newspaper & TV reporters' hands R tied or if everybody's just 2 tense these days 2 try 2 crack a joke....
But it's the 1 thing I hardly ever see anymore on TV news or in newspapers. & it's the 1 thing I would most LIKE 2 see.
We could all use some laffs. LOTS of them....

All SMiLEs

2011-11-05T16:06:00.000-07:00

Jeez, this is GORGEOUS.
The Beach Boys' brand-new SMiLE SESSIONS is amazing, beautiful, & only 44 years overdue. It sounds GREAT. It makes 4 Xcellent early-morning wake-up music -- I'm listening 2 it right now. & it really will make you smile.
There's no point recounting the history -- if you're reading this you likely already know at least the "high points" of the story Bhind this, the most famous unreleased album in rock history. Bsides, books have been written about this album. I'm not gonna try 2 add 2 that here.
4 me, this package has bn worth the wait. I've bn waiting since about 1974, when I 1st read about this mysterious Beach Boys album that never appeared. I went 4 the 2-CD "highlights" version of the sessions. 4 1, Bcos I was afraid if I went 4 the 5-CD box with all the added attachments, I'd disappear in2 it 4ever.
Bsides, I couldn't afford the $140 or whatever....
It all sounds wonderful. But there's a catch here, of course. If you're a big enuf fan of this stuff 2 have grabbed all the late-'60s/early-'70s Beach Boys albums that the bits & pieces of SMiLE came out on over the years, + you bot the Boys' THIRTY YEARS best-of back in 1993 (which included 1/2anhour of SMiLE trax), & grabbed Brian Wilson's reconstruction/update of SMiLE that came out in 2004 ... maybe you even found summa the vinyl & cassette bootlegs of these sessions that came out over the past decade or so .... then there is very little of this music that you haven't already heard. On 1st listening I noticed maybe a new keyboard part & some vocal sections I hadn't heard B4.
The diffrence is that here it's CLEAR & DETAILED & LOUD & UP-CLOSE, & it doesn't sound like a fuzzy/goopy 5th-generation re-recording of some badly-recorded scratchy old acetate floppy-discs. & of course having it ALL TOGETHER & in 1 place, well....
It's freakin gorgeous. Crystal clear & airy & cosmic & happy. You can hear why Mike Love mighta gotten nervous about the "commerciality" of it all way back in '67. It sounds VERY diffrent even from PET SOUNDS -- & the most out-there sections sound even more out-there than "Good Vibrations" did back in the day.
But it's all of a piece. Even "Good Vibrations" fits right in. & THAT still sounds great.
There's a basic 19-song SMiLE album here that flows 2gether nicely. There's "Heroes and Villains" section mixes & "Parts 1&2" that R pretty great -- including that vocal section that sounds like The Muppets got 2gether 4 a Group Orgasm session.... There's a backing vocal montage that's as hypnotic as summa the songs. & the parts interweave & could go on 4ever as far as I'm concerned.
I still think that if the Boys had bn able 2 piece all this 2gether back in '67, the strongest songs woulda carried it Dspite Mike Love's worries -- there's no arguing with "Good Vibrations," "Heroes and Villains," "Cabin Essence" & "Surf's Up." Even the stuff I've never liked much -- "Wonderful," "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow" -- sounds pretty great here. Even the instrumentals -- "Do You Like Worms," "Look," "Holidays," "Love to Say Dada" -- sound great, & fans of previous BB instrumentals like "Let's Go Away for Awhile" & "Pet Sounds" & "Trombone Dixie" should enjoy these.
Capitol/EMI knows what they've got here. They oughta, after 44 years. Look at the way the album's packaged -- check the cover: It's packaged as SMiLE. That "SESSIONS" subtitle is a bit of an afterthot. There's also some proof of how absurdly optimistic Capitol was the 1st time around: As a special "bonus" bonus track, there's a Capitol sales promo spot from '66 boosting the original album: "With the happy cover and the happy sounds inside, we're sure to sell a million units ... in January." Maybe THIS time, guys....
There's also some other bonuses, some funny comments from the Boys & session musicians scattered thruout the last 1/2 of the 1st disc & all of the 2nd, some funny "playlets" here & there, great session talk among the Boys during the "Our Prayer" sessions & at the end of the "Good Vibrations" session highlights.
But that's all 2ndary 2 The Good Stuff -- 19 trax that make up the Real Album, + 22 bonus trax. It's as close as we're ever gonna get. & if you're a fan, it's worth it. Go get it.
Great, cosmic, gorgeous vocals, beautiful music, the best. Words fail me. I've got my SMiLE button, & I'm wearing it.
Album Of The Year, obviously. 2 bad it's from 1967. Hope Brian & the Boys get a Grammy or somethin, tho....

The Boogie Monster and other adventures....

2011-11-03T04:08:00.000-07:00

At the end of May 1986, the Air Force transferred me from San Antonio, Texas, to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where for the 1st time in my 3-year AF career I was finally gonna get the chance 2 write 4 a real base newspaper.
To celebrate, my then-wife & I took a 2-week "great circle" tour thru the Plains & the Intermountain West -- across west Texas, thru New Mexico & Arizona, then north up thru Arizona & Utah, across southern Idaho 2 see our folks in Boise, then back east across Idaho & thru the wilds of Wyoming 2 Cheyenne.
We stopped at every National Park we could find along the way -- the Grand Canyon (which is really stunning), Bryce Canyon (which isn't really a canyon), Zion (which was as awesome & as much like going 2 church as Grand), Craters of the Moon, Yellowstone, etc.
By the time we got 2 Yellowstone we were pretty tired & pretty bored with the whole thing: "What, another scenic climax...?"
When we finally got 2 my new base -- Francis E. Warren AFB on the western outskirts of Cheyenne, then the biggest intercontinental ballistic missile base in the country -- the folks at FEW put me & the Mrs. in temporary housing til we found somewhere 2 live. Their temporary housing was more like a huge cabin -- over a hill from the main base, down by a creek, surrounded by trees, quiet -- like still being on vacation.
The cabin had all the essentials -- beds, couches, TV, radio, kitchen, etc. Naturally, I turned on the stereo the 1st evening 2 C what kinda music I'd B forced 2 put up with in Cheyenne. I was dreading that it might all B Country, something like being back home in Idaho.
Instead, 1 of the 1st stations I found was (I think) KOA AM outta Denver, playing some rare R&B track from the early '60s. & then the DJ came on. He called himself The Boogie Monster.
At 1st I thot he was some kinda 2nd-rate Wolfman Jack -- same deep voice, same kinda jive come-on, a little cheezy, in a good way. But soon I realized he wasn't 2nd-rate at all. The stuff he played I'd never heard anywhere B4. & he sure had a lotta fun with it.
In fact, it soon Bcame clear that listening 2 The Boogie Monster was like some kinda lunatic had escaped from the asylum & locked himself in2 the studio with a pile of ABSOLUTELY GREAT previously forgotten records, & he was gonna play EVERY ONE OF 'EM, & you were gonna LOVE ALL OF THEM. & that's how it was gonna B 'til the police kicked down the door.
Now here's the catch: I don't remember 4 sure ANY of the stuff he played. I didn't keep any lists like that back then. I know it was all great. I think I mighta heard Brewer & Shipley's brilliant "Witchi-Tai-To" 4 the 1st time on his show, & some long but intriguing number by a short-lived late-'60s "supergroup" called Sweet Thursday. But I might B wrong. It mighta bn some other syndicated "forgotten oldies" show.
I know I listened 2 The Boogie Monster sevral times during the 3 years we lived in Cheyenne. But I know I also kinda took him 4 granted, figuring he'd always B there, & that I'd always B around (I told LOTS of people I'd stay in Wyoming til I retired if the AF would let me), that I'd have plenty of time 2 listen 2 more at my leisure. But it didn't Xactly work out that way.
Besides, I had other things on my mind, like how 2 write in English for an Air Force newspaper, how 2 run the whole thing myself, how to write, photograph, layout, & distribute the thing all over the base on Friday morning. Usually alone. Sometimes in 2 feet of snow.
Sometimes I had help. I invited 1 of my co-workers & his wife over 2 the house 4 dinner in an effort 2 make the office/work atmosphere more comfortable. Then I stumbled over the issue of What Music To Play? My co-worker & his wife were rather fundamentalist Christians, & I had no gospel or sacred music in the house. But I wanted something that rocked a LITTLE.
So I tried 2 turn them on 2 Fairport Convention -- which they said was "too morbid." That'll teach me 4 starting out with "I'll Keep it With Mine." Shoulda opened with "Listen, Listen," or "Come All Ye." Or maybe tried something else instead. The Moody Blues? Hey, if they wanted morbid, I shoulda put on Nick Drake. Or I coulda played King Crimson & just scared 'em the hell outta the house....
We also hadda couple of broadcasters in the Public Affairs Office (at 1 point we had 3, Ghod knows why), & they moonlighted with off-duty jobs at local radio stations. 1 of 'em invited me 2 drop in on him while he worked at 1a the local Album Rock stations.
So I drove over 1 nite after work & watched him do his thing as "Steve Cheyenne" on the air 4 a coupla hrs. It was pretty cool. We both cracked up about how obvious his on-air name was, & we were both frustrated by how tight the station's playlist was -- because the ramshackle studios were CRAMMED with albums -- there was vinyl piled & scattered EVERYWHERE. It was a freakin treasure-house of tunes & there were only maybe 200 songs on the station's playlist.
Just being IN the station was cool, especially at nite -- it was not at all the brightly-lit high-tech place I Xpected -- in fact, the rundown dark-shadows condition of the place was almost an Xact match 4 the station described in Gregory Nicoll's spooky 1989 horror story "Dead Air," 1 of my horror faves.
While I was in Cheyenne, a co-worker dragged me along 2 a writers' workshop in Denver, where I got 2 meet a couple of my favorite science fiction writers, Edward Bryant & Connie Willis. I found out that pro writers put their pants on just like every1 else. I raved 2 Bryant how knocked-out I'd been by his great Wyoming story, "Strata." I was pretty incoherent tho, probly sounded like an idiot. He said only a couple of people had ever noticed that story before....
Tho there was some job-related stress, I didn't realize til later that I was Living The Good Life. The X & I were no longer homesick 4 Idaho (like we had been in Texas), & despite the brutally cold winters, Wyoming was pretty great. We were pretty happy. Our son was born in Cheyenne in 1988.
But I made the mistake of telling 2 many people I'd stay permanently. & the AF sent me 2 Ankara, Turkey, at the end of 1989. That was also an adventure, but it's a whole diffrent story.
When I left Cheyenne, The Boogie Monster was still on the air. But I've never been back there, or NEwhere close 2 Denver, so I don't know if he's still on the air 20+ years later & still crankin out those great forgotten tunes. In these days of the Internet where nothing is ever forgotten, The Boogie Monster doesn't have a Wikipedia page, & I'm not even sure I got the KOA call-letters right.
But I remember. Sort of. I remember....

Don't quit your day job....

2011-11-02T01:39:00.000-07:00

Yeah, well, I know y'all weren't Xpecting -- or even WANTING -- this, but ... I've written another song. My 1st since last January's "My Degeneration," & I just couldn't wait 2 share it all with you.
This was inspired by last Friday nite at work (I'll "celebrate" 8 YEARS on the job as of Nov. 7), & it's dedicated 2 the energy-drink-fuelled Younger Generation -- those 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds who are ALWAYS in a hurry, always on their cellphones, always rushing 2 get SOMEWHERE, never have time 2 B polite or catch their breath or even let you finish a sentence -- got 2 B somewhere, 2 many things 2 do, I'm already LATE, Goddammit, hurry it UP!
Oh, I'm starting 2 sound like an old fuddyduddy. Well, 2 hell with that.
The following should B delivered in a series of angry shouts, as quickly as possible, with accompanying HEAVY guitar -- something like The Ramones meets 1 of those obscenely-loud heavy bands with the low growling vocals, only BETTER.
It's called "Whatever We Want." I think it's hitbound. You write the "music" (Haha) & we'll split the massive profits 50-50. Here goes:

We fuck whoever we want!
We drink whatever we want!
We steal whatever we want!
We do meth whenever we want!

'Cos that's all we wanna do!
And who the hell are you?!
To tell us we can't do
Whatever we wanna do!

We speed whenever we want!
At least we'll look good in the ditch!
Your sister's a stupid little bitch!
And so's your mama!

So who are you to tell me?!
I can't do what I want -- I'm free!
To kill myself as quick as can be!
'Cos I hate everything I see!

I don't care about you!
You all can just go screw!
I know that I'm a physical wreck!
'Cos we're the children from Heck!

(Repeat 1st 2 verses.)
(Followed by massively-loud total-feedback guitar solo with huge explosions....)

NOTES: This could B done in a hip-hop version, complete with a breakdown & room 4 variations B4 the final repeat of the 1st 2 verses. There could B an emo version with lots of high-pitched screaming vocals. I still see more of a heavy/death-metal-meets-Ramones sorta vibe, but as the composer, you could create the (in-)appropriate musical setting. I'm just the lyricist here.
Think it was Pete Townshend who said all rock lyrics should B written as quickly as possible -- just whatever shit comes right off the toppa yer head. Well, I think it's obvious that's the approach I used here.
Maybe I could throw-in a couple more verses with some refrences 2 dope-smoking or lying-around whining or being unemployed or collecting foodstamps or playing videogames til my eyes bug out, or some other topical refrence? Ghod, I feel like Paul Leka throwing more cliches in2 "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" just cos I KNOW it's so goddamn good that it's going straight 2 #1 within a month....
I'm sure this will get as many rave reviews as "My Degeneration" did back at the turn of the year. Damn, I feel inspired. My true talents R going 2 waste in my current career. Lemme know what you think?!

Even MORE schlocky #1 hits!

2011-11-01T02:20:00.000-07:00

Because you asked 4 it, & because I couldn't resist, here comes Part 3 of Musical Junk Through The Years, an embarrassing compendium of huge #1 hit singles (according 2 BILLBOARD magazine) -- mosta which should never have bn released ... or which supposed "rock&roll fans" never should've bought....
...Don't know how I missed some of these in my researching -- I plead poor eyesight, or it could B because I actually LIKED a couple of these. Nevertheless, here's another list of embarrassing not-very-rock&roll hits up thru about 1992, which is when I started seriously tuning-out most "current" stuff....
We'll start with some stuff from the early-to-mid '70s that I somehow overlooked. Comb thru yer collection & see how many of these you own -- & then recycle them IMMEDIATELY!:

* Guess Who -- "American Woman."
* Beatles -- "The Long and Winding Road."
* Three Dog Night -- "Black and White."
* Elton John -- "Crocodile Rock." (wore out pretty quick....)
* Bee Gees -- "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?" (a pretty pile of cheez....)
* Barry Manilow -- "Mandy."
* Elton John -- "Philadelphia Freedom," "Island Girl."
* Tony Orlando & Dawn -- "He Don't Love You Like I Love You."
* Paul McCartney & Wings -- "Listen to What the Man Said." (So SLICK & meaningless. But the album it's from is pretty great....)
* Neil Sedaka & Elton John -- "Bad Blood."
* C.W. McCall -- "Convoy."
* Diana Ross -- "Theme from MAHOGANY (Do You Know Where You're Going To?)."
* John Sebastian -- "Welcome Back."
* Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta -- "You're the One That I Want."
* Frankie Valli -- "Grease."
* Player -- "Baby Come Back."
* Commodores -- "Three Times a Lady."
* Donna Summer -- "MacArthur Park." (& "I Love You" barely got in2 the Top 40....)
* Exile -- "Kiss You All Over."
* Olivia Newton-John -- "Magic."
* Sheena Easton -- "Morning Train (9 to 5)." (& "You Could Have Been With Me" barely made the Top 20....)
* Air Supply -- "The One That You Love."
* Blondie -- "The Tide is High." (Tired!)
* Christopher Cross -- "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)."
* Steve Miller -- "Abracadabra."
* Toni Basil -- "Mickey."
* Men at Work -- "Down Under." (Wore out REAL quick.)
* Stevie Wonder -- "Part-Time Lover," "I Just Called to Say I Love You."
* Wham! -- "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go." (Is this the most annoying #1 song of all time?)
* Whitney Houston -- "The Greatest Love of All." (George Benson's version is better....)
* Patti LaBelle & Michael McDonald -- "On My Own."
* Bananarama -- "Venus." (Shocking Blue's original was Great Trash, & also went 2 #1 back in 1970....)
* Phil Collins -- "A Groovy Kind of Love." (Jeez, Phil's had 7 #1's?! & yet "You'll Be in My Heart" only peaked at #21...?)
* Beach Boys -- "Kokomo."
* Bangles -- "Eternal Flame." (Yes, I loved them too, but this was as much cut&paste hackery as anything by Barry Manilow....)
* Bette Midler -- "Wind Beneath My Wings."
* Whitney Houston -- "I Will Always Love You." #1 4 14 weeks in Winter '92.

...& justa quick note 2 say thanx 2 every1 4 making October my 2nd-best-read month ever with 850 page views. The 17 posts I bashed-up were the most in quite awhile 2, but I hadda lot I wanted 2 tell you about.
If you're still out there crouching in a yurt somewhere on the Mongolian steppe -- & I can tell by my readership statistics that some of you ARE -- please let me hear from you.
I still can't tell how many of you R actually READING these ravings & how many of you have stumbled in here by accident. You don't havta comment, but feel free 2 click on those immediate-response buttons at the end of this post & all the other posts. Don't be strangers....
Up next: Something new, I hope....

More schlocky #1 hits!

2011-10-29T02:43:00.000-07:00

After the overwhelming(?) response 2 last nite's post on schlocky #1 hits from the Golden Age of Classic Rock, I thot I'd post some more Mbarrassing #1's from 1977 & later, just 4 the sake of completeness -- & including a few earlier 1's I overlooked somehow.
B4 I do that, however, a couple attempts at clarity:
* What I call "schlock" is different from what I usually call "Great Trash." "Wild Thing" is Great Trash. "Sugar, Sugar" is Great Trash. "Louie Louie" is ... well, it's 1 of a kind. Like that. "The Night Chicago Died" is just junk.
* I think my buddy Crabby may have a point about the "memorability factor" of old junk such as I've bn listing here. Back in the day, even the worst piece of hackwork -- "One Bad Apple," say, or "Knock Three Times" -- had a nagging chorus or some other hook that would weld the song in2 yer brain, especially if you didn't want it in there. That's why they were big hits. That's why some of us can still recite the lyrics 2 them without the help of cue cards -- even 40 years later. But that doesn't make them GOOD. Just better than today's average hackwork.
See how many of the following members of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Shame (all former #1 hits according 2 BILLBOARD magazine) you remember....

Sammy Davis Jr. -- The Candy Man (thanx a lot 4 reminding me of this, Crabby!)
Michael Jackson -- Ben.
John Denver -- Annie's Song.
B.J. Thomas -- Hey Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song.
Barry Manilow -- I Write the Songs.
Carl Douglas -- Kung-Fu Fighting.

Maybe 1977 was the real Bottom Year 4 schlock. Check these winners out:
Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr. -- You Don't Have to be a Star to be in My Show.
Barbra Streisand -- Evergreen (Love Theme from A STAR IS BORN).
Abba -- Dancing Queen.
Eagles -- New Kid in Town.
Hall & Oates -- Rich Girl.
Glen Campbell -- Southern Nights.
Leo Sayer -- You Make Me Feel Like Dancin', When I Need You.
Fleetwood Mac -- Dreams.
Bill Conti -- Gonna Fly Now (Theme from ROCKY).
Alan O'Day -- Undercover Angel.
Shaun Cassidy -- Da Doo Ron Ron.
Barry Manilow -- Looks Like We Made It.
ANYTHING by Andy Gibb. (He had 3 #1's -- "Shadow Dancing" topped the charts 4 7 weeks.)
Debbie Boone -- You Light Up My Life (10 weeks at #1!).
Bee Gees -- How Deep is Your Love?

Hold yer stomach, there's more:
Paul McCartney & Wings -- With a Little Luck, Coming Up.
Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams -- Too Much Too Little Too Late.
A Taste of Honey -- Boogie Ooogie Oogie.
Anne Murray -- You Needed Me.
Neil Diamond & Barbra Streisand -- You Don't Bring Me Flowers.
Rod Stewart -- Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?
Doobie Brothers -- What a Fool Believes.
Peaches & Herb -- Reunited.
Herb Alpert -- Rise.
M -- Pop Muzik.
Barbra Streisand & Donna Summer -- No More Tears (Enough is Enough).
Rupert Holmes -- Escape (The Pina Colada Song).
Captain & Tennille -- Do That To Me One More Time.
Lipps Inc. -- Funkytown.
Barbra Streisand -- Woman in Love.
Kenny Rogers -- Lady.
Dolly Parton -- 9 to 5.
Eddie Rabbitt -- I Love a Rainy Night.
Kim Carnes -- Bette Davis Eyes (9 weeks at #1!).
Diana Ross & Lionel Richie -- Endless Love (9 weeks at #1!).
Olivia Newton-John -- Physical (10 weeks at #1!).
Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder -- Ebony and Ivory.
Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton -- Islands in the Stream.
Whitney Houston -- Saving All My Love for You.
...That takes us thru Fall 1985. By the way, Whitney's wretched version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" topped the charts 4 14 weeks in late 1992. 1 of the worst vocal performances ever, used 2 clear birds off runways at busy airports....

...What a rockin list, huh? Some real headbangers there, am I right? Jeez the late '70s & early '80s were flat & boring musically, at least in terms of what the majority of folks were buying....
So again, don't let the Classic Rock fanatics convince you that things were somehow better musically back in the '60s & '70s. They were DIFFERENT, but maybe not that much better. There was still a ton of garbage around, & a lot of it was REALLY popular, as shown by the last 2 lists.
...& when "we" had the discretionary-spending muscle, when we voted with our wallets 2 choose who the big music stars would be ... we messed up big-time. We got a few right -- Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, the Beatles, the Stones, the Who, Bruce, Hendrix, U2, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, etc.
But tho great songs come & go, schlock goes on FOREVER. How recently has your local Classic Rock/Oldies station played "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia"? Or "Billy Don't Be a Hero"? Or "The Night Chicago Died"? I hear them at least 1nce a week.... & then I change the station....
That ain't what I call rock&roll....

The end of "real" rock and roll?

2011-10-28T03:31:00.000-07:00

OK, a coupla things: 1st off, Seano over at CIRCLE OF FITS (http://seanoandjefe.blogspot.com/) recently posted something he picked-up from Buzzfeed called "12 Disappointing Facts About Rock and Roll" -- basically a list pointing out that new, young pop stars like Katy Perry & Ke$ha & the Black-Eyed Peas (or older middle-of-the-road stars you never cared about like Celine Dion & Barbra Streisand) have been more successful & sold more albums than the Beatles, Hendrix, Nirvana, Springsteen, Queen, Michael Jackson, etc. (I don't 4 a minute believe that the cast of GLEE has charted more songs than the Beatles, but....)
The drift of all this seemed to be that maybe good 'ol' rock&roll as we know it has reached its sell-by date -- 2 B replaced by ... whatever The Kids R listening 2 these days.
Of course, The Kids R gonna have Their Own Music, just like you & I did. Just because my kids sang along with "Behind Blue Eyes" doesn't mean your kids R going 2.
1 commenter hit it on the head 4 me. He said older generations always hate the younger generation's music. & he's right. You didn't let your parents pass Final Judgement on YOUR music, did you...? Of course not.
...& then 2nite I saw my buddy Crabby's list of summa his favorite "Pop Fluff" from his teen years (which you can read at http://www.rscrabb.blogspot.com/) -- & hoo boy, there's some great stuff from the early '70s listed there. & there's also some Real Crap I STILL won't listen 2.
So: If you think there's Nothing New & Good on the radio anymore (like I do sometimes), & all The Kids listen 2 is garbage, then maybe you're ready 4 the idea that Classic Rock is Over With. That maybe all those sales records held by the Beatles & Michael Jackson deserve 2 B toppled.
Maybe. Records exist to be broken. It's a bigger consumer market now, & it's EZer now 2 "sell" a tune thru downloading & etc.
But the undercurrent of summa this bugs me. The assumption is that Back In The Day (meaning the '60s & '70s), only Good Stuff got played on the radio, & only musical artists with creativity & vision & soul were rewarded.
Like hell. There was a LOT of crap that sold massively back then. Maybe my fellow Classic Rock Brothers & Sisters will try 2 convince you otherwise, but lotsa good stuff back then went unheralded, while lotsa pure hackwork went straight 2 #1.
I'd like 2 say quality work always lasts. I do believe that. But....
The mass of consumers -- who may not B rabid music fans, just want something good 2 listen-2 in the car -- always buy schlock & always will.
4 proof, I call upon Joel Whitburn & BILLBOARD's TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002. This invaluable book is not only great 4 tracking down Great Lost Singles, it also has easily-accessed lists of #1 hits, year by year.
Let's take a look back at some of the timeless classic songs "my" generation -- the generation that now listens 2 Classic Rock & thinks most new music is trash -- helped push 2 #1 in the US.
Starting with Beatlemania & the "British Invasion," back in 1964, some of these forgotten #1 classics include:

Dean Martin -- Everybody Loves Somebody.
Lorne Green -- Ringo.
Bobby Vinton -- Mr. Lonely.
Freddie & the Dreamers -- I'm Telling You Now.
SSgt. Barry Sadler -- Ballad of the Green Berets.
Frank Sinatra -- Strangers in the Night.
New Vaudeville Band -- Winchester Cathedral.
Frank & Nancy Sinatra -- Something Stupid.
Bobbie Gentry -- Ode to Billy Joe.
Herb Alpert -- This Guy's in Love With You.
Bobby Goldsboro -- Honey.
Jeannie C. Riley -- Harper Valley PTA.
Henry Mancini -- Love Theme from ROMEO AND JULIET.
Ray Stevens -- Everything is Beautiful.
Carpenters -- Close to You, Top of the World, Please Mr. Postman.
Partridge Family -- I Think I Love You.
Tony Orlando & Dawn -- Knock Three Times, Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Old Oak Tree.
Osmonds -- One Bad Apple.
James Taylor -- You've Got a Friend.
Donny Osmond -- Go Away Little Girl.
Melanie -- Brand New Key.
Mac Davis -- Baby Don't Get Hooked on Me.
Chuck Berry -- My Ding-a-Ling. (Yes, he deserved a #1, but this?!)
Helen Reddy -- I Am Woman, Delta Dawn.
Vicki Lawrence -- The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.
Paul McCartney & Wings -- My Love, Silly Love Songs.
Charlie Rich -- The Most Beautiful Girl.

...The peak year 4 Total Schlock was 1974. Take a look at THESE classics:
Barbra Streisand -- The Way We Were.
John Denver -- Sunshine on My Shoulders.
Blue Swede -- Hooked on a Feeling. ("Ooga-chakka, ooga, ooga, ooga-chakka, ooga, ooga....")
Elton John -- Bennie and the Jets.
Grand Funk -- The Loco-Motion. (Heard Little Eva's version lately?)
Bo Donaldson & the Heywoods -- Billy Don't be a Hero.
Paper Lace -- The Night Chicago Died.
Paul Anka -- You're Having My Baby.
Olivia Newton-John -- I Honestly Love You.
Dionne Warwick & the Spinners -- Then Came You.
Helen Reddy -- Angie Baby.

Take a deep breath. There's more:
Neil Sedaka -- Laughter in the Rain.
Frankie Valli -- My Eyes Adored You.
Elton John -- Philadelphia Freedom.
Freddy Fender -- Before the Next Teardrop Falls.
Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds -- Fallin' in Love.
John Denver -- I'm Sorry.
Silver Convention -- Fly Robin Fly.
Staples Singers -- Let's Do it Again.
Starland Vocal Band -- Afternoon Delight.
Elton John & Kiki Dee -- Don't Go Breakin' My Heart.
Walter Murphy & the Big Apple Band -- A Fifth of Beethoven.
Rod Stewart -- Tonight's the Night.
Mary MacGregor -- Torn Between Two Lovers.
David Soul -- Don't Give Up on Us.

...That takes us thru early 1977, about the time Fleetwood Mac's RUMOURS was released, & I'm sure there R LOTS more Mbarrassing Xamples I could add, but this is probly enuf.
...Now some of those R OK songs ... I guess. I even bought a couple of them. (I plead peer pressure!) But they ain't Xactly rock&roll, R they?
Want some more disgusting facts from the days of good 'ol' rock&roll?:
Helen Reddy had 3 #1 hits, & 7 Top 10 singles.
John Travolta had 1 #1 single, 3 Top 10 hits, & 6 Top 40 hits.
The Carpenters -- who I didn't think were COMPLETELY terrible -- had 20 top 40 hits & 3 #1's.
Tom Jones had 19 Top 40 hits, 5 in the Top 10. A couple of 'em were pretty cool. But most....
Engelbert Humperdinck -- who's name I NEVER thot I would mention here -- had 9 Top 40 hits, 2 in the Top 10 -- in 1967 & '76. Rock & roll?
Barbra Streisand has had 21 Top 40 hits, & 5 #1's.
Olivia Newton-John had 28 Top 40 hits, & 5 #1's.
Moving 2 something a little newer:
Whitney Houston had 11 #1 hits up to late 2002.
Mariah Carey had 15 #1's thru the end of 2002 -- & can you NAME any of them other than "I'll Be There"?

...This list of forgotten classics isn't Xactly a triumph 4 good 'ol' Classic Rock. But I think it all depends on when you started listening & what you were listening TO. Some old-time fans could say "real" rock&roll was dead by 1958, or 1960. Or 1967. Certainly by 1975. Or '77.
Whenever the cutoff date is 4 you, I don't think Paul McCartney is 2 worried about some1 selling more songs than the Beatles. I also don't think Elvis & Michael Jackson R 2 concerned, wherever they R....
Today's no-talent flash-in-the-pan will be forgotten in 2 years. Keep playin' the Good Stuff, & let the rest go. You can bet that fans of Elvis, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong & Benny Goodman did the same thing in their time....

The CD Player takes over!

2011-10-26T00:10:00.000-07:00

Thank God! Now maybe we'll at least get some decent sounds going in here....

Ronettes -- Be My Baby, Baby I Love You, I Wonder, Walking in the Rain, I Can Hear Music, You Came You Saw You Conquered.
Crystals -- Uptown, There's No Other Like My Baby.
Righteous Brothers -- You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling.
Ike and Tina Turner -- River Deep Mountain High.
Turtles -- Sound Asleep, Grim Reaper of Love, Chevrolet Camaro Commercial.
Brenda and the Tabulations -- One Girl Too Late.
Nigel Olsson -- Only One Woman.
Gong -- Oily Way.
It Bites -- The Old Man and the Angel.

Lenny Kaye's excellent liner notes to BE MY BABY: THE VERY BEST OF THE RONETTES start out: "This is the sound of yearning." Damn straight it is. Between the Ronettes and their producer Phil Spector, they create a vision of love so pure, so perfect, so wonderous, so overwhelming it's almost angelic, heavenly.
TAD's always been a sucker for "Girl Groups," but BE MY BABY is stunning. The clarity of these recently remastered CD's (The Ronettes' and Spector's BEST OF) really brings out Hal Blaine's powerhouse drumming, the glockenspiels and chimes and Spector's ever-present castanets. And those huge backup choirs. But for maybe the first time ever, everything's crystal-clear and ... separate. You can actually HEAR the individual parts. Did you know there was a harpsichord buried under the Cast Of Thousands in the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"? Neither did we.
"Be My Baby"'s a timeless classic of course, but why wasn't "Baby I Love You" a bigger hit? And "I Wonder" is really marvelous, breathtaking -- and it wasn't a hit either, and oldies radio never plays it. "Walking in the Rain" is also charming and has that usual big Spector production.
The only disappointment we heard on Tuesday was "I Can Hear Music," which, because it wasn't produced by Spector, doesn't have the usual overwhelming production. It was produced by Jeff Barry, and sounds sorta like a warmup for Barry's later "Sugar Sugar." There's actually TOO MUCH room for Ronnie Spector's vocals here -- something we never would've thought possible before. Because she doesn't sound like she's drowning, there's no drama. The production's a little thin, not claustrophobic enough. And the Tijuana Brass horn fanfares don't help, either. No surprise this peaked at #100 on the BILLBOARD singles chart. The Beach Boys' version is WAY better.
"You Came, You Saw, You Conquered" is more like it, with Phil back in the producer's chair and those huge swelling choruses.
The Crystals' "Uptown" is also pretty charming. Spector's first single on his own Philles label, "There's No Other" is also very nice but too short. Easy to see that the Beach Boys were paying homage to this in their later version on BEACH BOYS PARTY!
"Lovin' Feeling" came on before TAD had a chance to shut it off. All he could do was laugh and surrender to the inevitable. It's a timeless classic, of course, and it still packs a huge punch. And in that pause for breath near the end, you can hear lotsa backing instruments you couldn't hear before, plus Hal Blaine knocking around on water jugs and whatever else they had in the studio. And the finish is HUGE -- and clearer than ever.
Speaking of huge -- "River Deep, Mountain High" hits harder than ever now, and it no longer seems like Tina's screeching to be heard through the Wall Of Sound. A criminally overlooked classic. All of these are from WALL OF SOUND: THE VERY BEST OF PHIL SPECTOR 1961-1966.
"Sound Asleep" is still hilariously trippy and should've been a way-bigger hit -- and how about the quacking-duck chorus it goes out on? "Grim Reaper of Love" is still grim and driving and should've been a way-bigger hit; and the Chevy Camaro Commercial is the funniest car comedy since Jan and Dean. All from SAVE THE TURTLES!: GREATEST HITS. Only two complaints: There's 20 songs included on the CD -- why aren't the gorgeous "Lady-O" and the cheery "We'll Meet Again" on here?!
"One Girl Too Late" was co-written and co-produced by Van McCoy (who did "The Hustle"), and is light and pleasant early-'70s girl-group stuff, not unlike a less-glitzy Diana Ross and the Supremes. Probably not the Lost Classic Of The Ages that TAD had hoped for, but nice.
"Only One Woman" was written by the Bee Gees, and you can hear their influence in the way it's arranged. Very pleasant and uplifting forgotten single from Elton John's drummer -- sounded exactly the way TAD remembered from the one time he heard it in a noisy pizza joint in Boise, Idaho, in early 1975. Definitely a lost classic.
I still completely refused to play Gong's "Oily Way" and clogged up repeatedly about 10 seconds into It Bites' "The Old Man and the Angel." TAD doesn't need to disappear back to his progressive-rock period -- we've just recently brought him to the point where he can almost hear CURRENT stuff. Nostalgia, fine. Prog, no.
After that I just got confused and wouldn't play ANYTHING. And I'm not even going to TALK about the few times I tried to take off one of his fingers by slamming the CD drawer shut before he was ready for it....
But TAD still got a couple hours of music out of me. Not sure what more he expected ... ed ... ed ... ed ... ddd ...

...& that's clearly enuf of THAT. I'm back in charge now, with both of my hands firmly on the controls here at the Back-Up Plan, & don't let NEbody or NE THING make you think I'm NOT.
HAVE actually bn listening 2 some fairly new stuff recently -- and the place I'm hearing the best new music is on LITTLE STEVEN'S UNDERGROUND GARAGE, a syndicated retro rock&roll radio show that runs from 10 pm 2 midnight every Sun nite, where I'm at. I've Bcome addicted 2 the show since July.
Recent great music Little Steven's played includes Butch Walker and the Black Widows' powerful & poignant "Day Drunk," a follow-up to their recent "Summer of '89," with some absolutely great choruses -- great playing and marvelous group vocals by this bunch; Tom Morello's driving "Black Sparticus Heart Attack Machine"; Sir Reg's hilarious Irish-punk "Bollocksology"; J.P. Soars' silly blues "Doggin'"; Spanking Charlene's "Canarsie" (great guitars & driving choruses); and of course the Launderettes' "Red River." But I wish Steven would get back to Spanking Charlene's hilarious "Dismissed with a Kiss"....
Some great OLDER stuff Steven's played lately would include the Supremes' "Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine" (the SILLIEST thing I EVAH hoid!), the Hollies' "Look Through Any Window," & the Ronettes' "I Wonder"....
Not everything Steven plays is great, but a lot of it's at least intresting, & I almost always LEARN something from his shows. There was even a show a coupla weeks back that was suprisingly flat, not sure what went wrong there, 2 much stuff I already knew, or just the wrong music 4 me. But usually it's a really superb 2 hrs, & it is by far the best thing on the radio around here....

Have bn slowly making my way thru Chuck Eddy's ROCK AND ROLL ALWAYS FORGETS (a sorta best-of collection, 2011) & a re-read of his earlier STAIRWAY TO HELL: THE 500 BEST HEAVY METAL ALBUMS IN THE UNIVERSE (updated version, 1998). And I realize now that I made some errors while briefly mentioning these 2 books a month or so back. I'll try 2 correct those in a real review of both coming up soon.
The thing about STAIRWAY that suprised me most on re-reading is how much of the music mentioned in it I've heard & Njoyed -- & I'm not much of a metal fan. But then, Eddy's definition of "metal" is pretty wide-open. This book is a lotta fun, & tho Eddy's high-speed style might Xhaust you, there R lotsa laffs & I'm learning a lot....

Just a few more things....

2011-10-22T15:03:00.000-07:00

Still finding neat info in Joel Whitburn & BILLBOARD's TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002, tho I think it & I R both about Xhausted, so this'll likely B the last list of Great Lost Singles chart info....

* Tracy Chapman's "Talkin' Bout a Revolution" peaked at #75 in Fall 1988.
* Mac Davis's "It's Hard to be Humble," #43, Spring '80.
* The Wackers' "I Hardly Know Her Name" failed to reach BILLBOARD's "Hot 100."
* Love: "My Little Red Book," #52, Spring '66.
* Manfred Mann: "My Little Red Book" "bubbled under" at #124 in '65.
* Pratt and McClain's "When My Ship Comes In" failed 2 reach the Hot 100, early '74.
* Monaco: "What Do You Want from Me?," #61 on the Airplay chart, Summer '97.
* Bette Midler: "You're Moving Out Today," #42, Spring '77.
* Creedence Clearwater Revival: "I Put a Spell On You," #58, Winter '68; "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" (edited), #43, Winter '76.
* Marshall Crenshaw's "Whenever You Are On My Mind" failed to reach the Hot 100, Summer '82.
* Buddy Miles: "Them Changes," #62, Summer '71.
* John Miles: "Highfly," #68, Spring '76.
* Mrs. Miller: "Downtown," #82, Spring '66. (A funny tone-deaf cover of Petula Clark's big hit....)
* Steve Miller: "Living in the USA," #94, Winter '68/#49, Spring '74.
* Frank Mills: "Love Me Love Me Love," #46, Winter '72. (Kinda creepy....)
* Beatles: "I'm Down," #101, Summer '65. (Hilarious B-side of "Help!")
* Monkees: "Porpoise Song," #62, Fall '68; "Listen to the Band," #63, Summer '69; "Goin' Down," #104, Winter '67; "As We Go Along," #106, Fall '68.
* Moody Blues: "Ride My See-Saw," #61, Fall '68; "Never Comes the Day," #91, Summer '69; "Blue World," #62, Winter '83.
* Motels: "Take the 'L'," #52, Fall '82.
* Records: "Starry Eyes," #56, Fall '79. "Teenarama" failed 2 reach the Hot 100 -- not really a suprise....
* Mouth & MacNeal: "Hey You Love," #87, Fall '72.
* Graham Nash & David Crosby: "Southbound Train," #99, Summer '72.
* Van Morrison: "Wavelength," #42, Fall '78; "Moondance," #92, Fall '77.
* National Lampoon: "Deteriorata," #91, Fall '72.
* New England: "Hello Hello Hello," #69, Fall '79.
* Randy Newman: "It's Money That Matters," #60, Winter '88; "I Love L.A." failed 2 reach the Hot 100.
* Nilsson: "Remember (Christmas)," #53, Winter '72.
* Nirvana: "All Apologies," #45 on Airplay chart, Winter '94; "You Know You're Right," #45, Fall 2002.
* O'Jays: "992 Arguments," #57, Winter '72.
* Alan Parsons Project: "Days are Numbers (The Traveler)," #71, Spring '85; "You Don't Believe," #54, Winter '83; "Psychobabble," #57, Winter '82; "The Raven," #80, Fall '76.
* Pretenders: "Stop Your Sobbing," #65, Summer '80.
* Prince: "Anotherloverholeinyohead," #63, Summer '86.
* Donald Fagen: "New Frontier," #70, Winter '83.
* Jose Feliciano: "Feliz Navidad," recorded 1970, #70 on Airplay chart, Winter '98.
* 13th Floor Elevators: "You're Gonna Miss Me," #55, Summer '66.
* Austin Roberts: "How Can I Tell You?," failed 2 reach the Hot 100, Spring '73.
* The Who: "The Kids Are Alright," #106, Summer '66.

One-Day Music Fest!

2011-10-21T03:46:00.000-07:00

OK, here goes: In the middle of a coupla long weeks at work. Got 1 day off 4 my "weekend," so when I woke up early Tues & the sun was out & I felt almost human, I decided 2 Seriously Music-Out like I haven't done in MONTHS.
Just 1 minor little problem: My 6-year-old $100 CD-player/turntable/receiver/cassette-player/coffee-maker/rocket-launcher/inflatable-date had ideas of its own. The turntable didn't always turn, the CD player didn't always play, eventually resulting in a complete breakdown & cessation of all musical proceedings.
Nevertheless, I got about 45 songs played over a period of 6+ hrs, & covered a pretty wide variety of stuff -- old faves, brand-new stuff, weird crap, etc.
It is also time 4 me 2 begin SERIOUSLY looking 4 a new, cheap music-generation device. So feel free 2 click on that DONATE button you'll find off 2 the right 2 help keep those of us here at the Back-Up Plan up 2 R necks in .... Whatta ya mean? I FORGOT 2 set-up the friggin DONATE button? Well, DAMN.
Whatthehell, here's the playlist:

Raiders -- Do Unto Others, Country Wine, Song Seller.
Lighthouse -- Pretty Lady, Sunny Days, One Fine Morning.
Left Banke -- Desiree, She May Call You Up Tonight.
5th Dimension -- Carpet Man.
Indigo Girls -- Closer to Fine.
Launderettes -- Red River.
Kracker -- Because of You (The Sun Don't Set).
Captain & Tennille -- Ladybug.
Chris Hodge -- We're On Our Way.
Brewer & Shipley -- Witchi-Tai-To.
Casey Kelly -- Poor Boy.
Doobie Bros. -- Neal's Fandango.
Sheryl Crow -- Every Day is a Winding Road.
Pam Tillis -- Homeward Looking Angel, When You Walk in the Room, Melancholy Child.
Church -- Reptile.
Fleetwood Mac -- Murrow Turning Over in His Grave, Say You Will.
Vertical Horizon -- Everything You Want.
Keane -- Somewhere Only We Know, This is the Last Time, Bend and Break, Your Eyes Open.
Coheed and Cambria -- The Road and the Damned, Feathers.
Sarah McLachlan -- Stupid.
Jordin Sparks -- Worth the Wait.
Jade Warrior -- A Winter's Tale.
Fleet Foxes -- Blue Ridge Mountains.
Van Morrison -- Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile), Into the Mystic.
Love -- Alone Again Or, Maybe the People Would Be the Times or Between Clark and Hilldale, You Set the Scene, Your Mind and We Belong Together.
Wackers -- I Hardly Know Her Name.
Nektar -- Cast Your Fate, King of Twilight, Oop's (Unidentified Flying Abstract), Fidgety Queen.
Happy the Man -- On Time as a Helix of Precious Laughs.
Brian Wilson -- On a Holiday, In Blue Hawaii.
Gong -- Oily Way.
Wigwam -- Prophet/Marvelry Skimmer.

NOTES: "Do Unto Others" (Fall 1967) is sorta "Louie Louie" meets "Wild Thing," with lyrics that seemta support urban rioting. Hypnotic & a little disturbing. Also 2 short. "Country Wine" still sounds as bright & optimistic as it did back in '72. Jimmy Webb's "Song Seller" is a little 2 clever, but gets help from Mark Lindsay's usual over-the-top vocal. All from THE ESSENTIAL.
I 1nce called the lyrics 2 Lighthouse's "Pretty Lady" "smarmy." Now 4 some reason they sound lonely, modest, heartfelt. Hmmm. Great choruses, 2. "Sunny Days" is a hippy anthem from '72, & the long version of "One Fine Morning" adds NOTHING 2 the brilliant single edit. All from THE BEST OF.
"Desiree" is cluttered but gorgeous, shoulda sold millions in '67. "She May Call You Up Tonight" is just plain gorgeous & shoulda bn a single. Both from ALL THE SMASH HITS.
I'm a sucker 4 the 5th Dimension's unison vocals. "Carpet Man" just soars. May sound kinda cheesy now, but shoulda sold millions in '68. From the 5th/Jimmy Webb/Bones Howe concept album THE MAGIC GARDEN.
"Closer to Fine" is a little over-serious, a little 2 solemn, but I love the Girls' vocal blend.
I regret 2 report that "Red River" sounds better coming outta the radio during LITTLE STEVEN'S UNDERGROUND GARAGE than it does coming outta my stereo -- which I blame on my stereo's tinny speakers. Great song anyway, & the 1st 45-rpm single I've bot in YEARS.
Kracker's album LA FAMILIA arrived a few days back in a cover meant 2 resemble a cigar box. Turns out they were on ABC/Dunhill. & holy crap, their album was produced by Stones & Traffic producer Jimmy Miller! "Because of You" sounds diffrent than I remember -- faster, & not as much bass (which I blame on my stereo), but otherwise it sounds right. Just might take some getting used 2, like....
"We're On Our Way," another old favorite, which I still can't believe sounds so much like a T. Rex track. Far as I know, Hodge never did an album....
"Ladybug" is by far the best thing The Captain & Tennille ever did -- so joyous & uplifting it feels like the sun coming out after weeks of rain & cold. From COME IN FROM THE RAIN.
"Witchi-Tai-To" is a lost '60s classic, 7 minutes of chanting & strumming & vocal interplay, hypnotic, marvelous, joyous. From WEEDS.
"Poor Boy" is a poppy 1-shot from an Elektra Records folky, pure 1972.
"Neal's Fandango" otta B 8 minutes long. The Doobies rush it -- what's the hurry? Pat Simmons hasta scramble 2 get all the words in, & there was plenty of room 4 flashy guitar heroics -- which they decided not 2 do. Why not? A lost '70s classic from STAMPEDE.
"Winding Road" is the best thing Sheryl Crow ever did. I find mosta her stuff amazingly ... average.
"Homeward Looking Angel" is a gorgeous, mournful country lullabye with amazing guitar work from Larry Byrom & Paul Worley. Jackie De Shannon's "When You Walk in the Room" is an almost perfect lovesong & shoulda bn a huge hit. "Melancholy Child" is driving yet mournful. Mary-Chapin Carpenter wishes she hadda band as good as Pam Tillis's. From HOMEWARD LOOKING ANGEL, SWEETHEART'S DANCE & PUT YOURSELF IN MY PLACE.
"Reptile" is sorta David Bowie-meets-Lou Reed. The Church shoulda bn more popular, but they were also kinda inconsistent. From STARFISH & UNDER THE MILKY WAY/THE BEST OF.
"Murrow" is the best NOISE Fleetwood Mac's made in a LONG time. & I'm a sucker 4 "Say You Will," especially the choruses & the ending.
Like the tenseness & submerged-threat feeling of "Everything You Want."
Haven't heard much from Keane lately. Wish they were still that cute little pop band with the breathy vocals & the pounding piano. "Somewhere" was the hit, "Last Time"'s nearly as great, "Bend and Break" is their turn-it-up masterpiece, & "Eyes Open" is smooth.... All from HOPES AND FEARS.
"The Road and the Damned" is sorta Ozzy-meets-Rush, but with a gorgeous, haunting guitar theme. & it's short. "Feathers" has everything you'd ever want from a great heavy-pop single Xcept 4 a good ending. Worth it just 4 the great catchy choruses....
"Stupid"'s still the best thing McLachlan's done.
"Worth the Wait" is a bonus track on Sparks's 1st album. Compared 2 summa her louder productions it's hushed & intimate, simple & brilliant.
"A Winter's Tale" is a pastoral from the guys who invented New Age way back in 1972 -- nice LOUD guitar at the end. From LAST AUTUMN'S DREAM.
"Blue Ridge Mountains" is my fave track off Fleet Foxes' 1st album. If I play the disc from the start I get sucked in2 the whole thing....
"Jackie" & "Mystic" R probly known 2 every1 now, still 2 of my all-time faves from Van. From STILL ON TOP/THE GREATEST HITS.
"Alone Again Or" is a kind of loneliness tango with some gorgeous sections & very '67 vocals, really beautiful; "People Would Be the Times" is a portrait of the scene Love leader Arthur Lee useta hang-out in, very clever; "You Set the Scene" is a gorgeous, stirring psychedelic suite; "Your Mind" is a twisted, Hendrix-like piece that goes off in 3 diffrent directions B4 settling in2 some heavy guitar at the end. All from THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION.
"Hardly Know Her Name" shoulda bn a hit -- pure rush, great group vocals, punchy guitars, & all over with in 1:58. From HOT WACKS.
"Cast Your Fate" is worth investigating; "King of Twilight" is killer, 1 of Nektar's great heavy moments & later covered by Iron Maiden; "Oops" is a kinda formless jam with some good guitar from Roye Albrighton; & "Fidgety Queen" is a lost classic with great choruses & more brilliant Albrighton guitar. All from THE DREAM NEBULA/BEST OF.
"Time" is merely gorgeous. Happy were really on2 something special -- as gorgeous as Genesis or Yes at their best.
"Holiday" & "Hawaii" R my fave trax from Brian's reconstruction of SMILE.
Gong's "Oily Way" started out with some rather-nice-as-usual flute from Didier Mahlerbe, but just as Daevid Allen began 2 sing "Down the oily way you go....," my CD player suddenly rejected the disc & WOULD NOT PLAY IT ANY FURTHER, despite multiple repeated attempts.
This sounds like a critique, 2 me. Maybe I'll let the CD player post some reviews in the future. It's gonna need SOMETHING 2 do, Bcos it ain't gonna B HERE much longer.
"Prophet/Marvelry Skimmer" is a long, flat, kinda dull guitar&keyboard meditation from the early phase of Wigwam's career. It has none of the rumbling, relentless menace of their later classic "Bless Your Lucky Stars."

...& that's where I gave up. More coming soon, assuming the CD player & turntable keep cooperating & that nothing else goes wrong. The cassette-player that was part of the package stopped working almost immediately after I bought it. & Ghod knows with MY luck, something else will probly ... grgsk ... shprttt ... grong ... ning .... brsp.....

Al Kooper sets the record straight

2011-10-19T03:04:00.000-07:00

Now THIS is hilarious.
4 at least the 1st 1/2, Al Kooper's BACKSTAGE PASSES AND BACKSTABBING BASTARDS (2008) is the funniest rockstar autobiography I've ever read. The big laffs drop off later on as Kooper's life gets more serious, but the 1st 1/2 of the book is a non-stop scream.
Kooper is 1 of the all-time greatest behind-the-scenes guys in rock&roll. Just a few bits from his resume: Played organ on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." Produced the 1st 3 Lynyrd Skynyrd albums. Formed Blood, Sweat and Tears (& was later forced out of what was supposed to be His Band). Played French horn & organ on the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." Produced the 1st Tubes album. Wrote "This Diamond Ring." Was a member of The Blues Project. Then there were his various Adventures & Super Sessions with Stephen Stills & Mike Bloomfield, etc....
You get 2 read about all this & a lot more Bsides in BP&BB -- there's stuff Kooper's done that he never even MENTIONS. He's been a busy guy since the early '60s. & he's still workin'....
You follow Kooper as he starts out as a songwriter trying 2 get something going in New York's Brill Building neighborhood. (He goes 2 great lengths 2 Xplain how the "Brill Building Sound" is a misnomer, that the Bldg. had already peaked in the '40s & '50s, & that the songwriters who came out of that area in the early '60s were in the neighborhood but not actually IN THAT BUILDING -- 1 of his goals in writing this book was 2 set the record straight about things he witnessed.)
You'll watch as Gary Lewis and the Playboys take Kooper's "This Diamond Ring" & turn it in2 what Kooper calls "a turkey milkshake" (he didn't like their version). You'll laugh as Kooper & friends watch the national charts & see "Diamond Ring" go right 2 #1 -- & all Kooper can do is laff in disbelief....
You'll B shocked as Kooper is edged out of his own band (BS&T) in an ugly power struggle that leaves grudges that last 4 YEARS....
You'll laff as Kooper gently nudges his way in2 a Bob Dylan session & ends up contributing a classic organ part on "Like a Rolling Stone" -- on an instrument Kooper barely knows how 2 play.... Then Koop finds himself in demand as a session player 4 acts who wanna get "that Dylan sound."
You'll B there in the studio as Kooper produces the 1st 3 Skynyrd albums -- & then MCA Records stonewalls Kooper 4 his producers' royalties 4 almost a year....
You'll meet a notorious music-biz mgr who collects Kooper's royalties 4 YEARS & then hasta B pursued in court....
You'll B there as Kooper plays organ on the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" & offers 2 overdub horns on the song -- & a year later gets a tape from Mick with a note that sez "Add whatever horns you want...." & Koop then blows his lungs out trying 2 get that introductory French-horn part down perfect....
& more, & more. You'll see Kooper on stage with Dylan; meeting artist Norman Rockwell 2 pose 4 a classic album cover with guitarist Mike Bloomfield; you'll see Bloomfield back out of stage appearances with Kooper MULTIPLE TIMES 4 no clear reason....; & in the midst of all this Kooper occasionally puts 2gether a few solo albums....
Things get pretty serious in places: Koop has an addiction 2 painkillers which he beats; later on he loses most of his eyesight but carries on songwriting & recording; eventually he starts getting recognized 4 all his behind-the-scenes work. As the book's cover sez, these really R the "Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor."
But the book gets a little long -- over 300 pgs. In the last 1/2 the laffs drop way off as Koop battles his vision problems & a brain tumor(!), along with some of the other Fun Parts of growing older. By the end he comes across as just a talented-but-modest down-to-earth guy who's no longer trying to make a joke of everything.
An earlier version of this book came out in the late '70s & was edited by Ben Edmonds. It's probly a non-stop scream. 4 this version, I'm tempted 2 say we coulda used less about Kooper's love life & health problems, his multiple marriages & his partying -- but there is A LOT about the '60s & '70s music-biz here that's worth checking out. & most of it's pretty freakin' funny.
There's also a pretty amazing 9-pg "selected" discography at the end that recounts mosta what Kooper's bn doing musically 4 the past 50 years. You might B suprised by summa the music he's been in on....

COMING NEXT: One-Day Music Fest!

A month in the life....

2011-10-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Glam fan? Well.... The dressing-up & makeup & high-heeled shoes never did much 4 me, but: Bowie, Roxy, Mott, T. Rex? Yeah, there's some good stuff there....
Ian Hunter's DIARY OF A ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR (1974) follows his band Mott the Hoople thru a 5-week tour of the US in the Winter of '72, just after "All the Young Dudes" barely grazes the Top 40.
Tho accepted as a "classic rock" oldie now, "All the Young Dudes" (which Bowie wrote & produced 4 Mott) wasn't that big a hit at the time -- I didn't hear it 'til YEARS later. Now it sounds Just Like 1972.
Luckily, SOMEbody out there heard it, Mott decided 2 stay 2gether (they'd bn considering breaking up B4 Bowie urged them 2 hang in), & as a result of making the charts they play some pretty big cities during this tour -- NYC, LA, Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis, Cleveland, Memphis, etc.
Which doesn't necessarily mean they have a Good Time. Tho the concerts go down well -- there's scarcely a bad show in the entire tour -- the weather is mostly awful, they constantly have planes delayed or lose members of the band & crew in transit.
& the picture of America in the early '70s isn't 2 flattering. Lots of people stare at Mott's long hair (in '72? Well, probly....). They seem 2 visit lotsa towns where it looks like the bombs have already dropped -- especially parts of St. Louis, but also Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland....
& tho it's a FAST read, less than 160 pgs, overall the book's kinda ... drab. Hunter's diary could B the day-2-day musings of any businessman stuck on a long, gray, grimy road trip far from home. A pretty clear, detailed recounting of what tedious drudgery touring can B.
The only diffrence is they usually fly 1st-class. & yer avg businessman probly wouldn't spend so much spare time in pawnshops hunting 4 cheap guitars.
There is a little bit of drinking that goes on, but not 2 much partying & suprisingly little womanizing -- every1's basically 2 tired. There is a little bit of self-medicating -- mostly downers 2 help the band sleep after a gig -- & also 2 help calm guitarist Mick Ralphs, who CAN'T STAND 2 fly. & he gets 2 live thru some fairly horrifying plane flights....
The descriptions of concerts R fairly brief -- Xcept 4 the couple of bad 1s the band survives, & a couple of really great 1's that Hunter is suprised by. Mosta the really dodgy concert situations the band ends up backing out of.
& there's more: Hanging out with Bowie & his entourage; looning around LA with Keith Moon -- including a late-nite visit 2 Frank Zappa's house; encoring with Joe Walsh; actually getting a few steps in2 Elvis's home, Graceland, late at nite; brief scenes with Mick Fleetwood & others.
There's actually VERY little about songwriting, which is suprising since Hunter wrote mosta Mott's stuff. There's some discussion of it in the context of the recording process -- about how Hunter tended 2 introduce new stuff at soundchecks & then would start pushing if he thot something was really good. But this is only discussed as part of the recording process -- in which Hunter sez he's happy if only 1/2 of what he intended comes across in the finished recording.
At the end of the book, on his way back 2 London, Hunter mentions that he needs 2 get some new songs 2gether -- these become the album MOTT, which reflects summa the Xperiences of this American tour, & 1/2 of which turns out pretty great ("Honaloochie Boogie," "All the Way from Memphis," "Violence," "Ballad of Mott," "I Wish I Was Your Mother"). But Mick Ralphs would leave the band after that album 2 form Bad Company, & Mott would begin a slow slide down in2 legend.
But as Hunter notes in the book, by the time he starts keeping this diary the band had already bn on the road since 1969....
They shoulda had more success. At least 2 trax on MOTT coulda bn hits. But as Hunter sez in the book, maybe they just didn't have the killer instinct & the drive that Bowie had. Tho there R occasional grumbles & complaints & everybody's dead-tired by the end of the book, the band comes across as just yer avg buncha guys stuck 2gether on a long bizness trip. ...Who just occasionally happen 2 take the stage & wow a coupla 1,000 screaming fans.
Worth tracking down if you're 1 of those fans....

Coming Soon: Al Kooper's BACKSTAGE PASSES AND BACKSTABBING BASTARDS.... Should B lots of good musical history in there....

One last bash....

2011-10-12T00:48:00.000-07:00

OK, here's 1 last pile of intresting chart info, great forgotten singles & other cool stuff from Joel Whitburn & BILLBOARD's TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002, after which we will B moving on 2 something new....

* Cheech & Chong's "Santa Claus and His Old Lady" peaked at #3 on the Christmas chart, Dec. 1971.
* Roy Orbison's "Ooby Dooby" peaked at #59, Summer 1956.
* Neil Young: "Rust Never Sleeps (Hey Hey My My/Into the Black)," #79, Fall '79; "Cinnamon Girl," #55, Summer '70.
* Jeff Lynne: "Lift Me Up" & "Every Little Thing" both failed to reach BILLBOARD's Hot 100 Singles chart, 1990.
* Beach Boys: "409," #76, Fall '62; "Add Some Music to Your Day," #64, Spring '70; "Long Promised Road," #89, Fall '71; "California Saga," #84, Summer '73.
* Sevral classic Beach Boys songs were released as the B-sides of singles: "She Knows Me Too Well" reached #101 as the B-side of "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)." The gorgeous "Kiss Me Baby" was the B-side to "Help Me, Rhonda." "Let Him Run Wild" was the B-side to "California Girls." Their great remake of Phil Spector & The Ronettes' "There's No Other (Like My Baby)" was the B-side to "The Little Girl I Once Knew." "Girl Don't Tell Me" was the B-side to "Barbara Ann." "Here Today" was the B-side to "Darlin'." "Please Let Me Wonder" hit #52 as the B-side to "Do You Wanna Dance?"....
* Bare Naked Ladies: "Brian Wilson," #68, Winter '97.
* Abba: "Money Money Money," #56, Winter '77; "Voulez-Vous," #80, Fall '79; "Super Trouper," #45, Spring '81; "On and On and On," #90, Summer '81.
* AC/DC: "Highway to Hell," #47, Fall '79.
* Joe Cocker: "With a Little Help From My Friends," #68, Winter '68.
* Floyd Cramer's classic piano instrumental "Sweetie Baby" was the B-side to his 1960 #2 hit "Last Date"....
* Beatles: "I Should Have Known Better," #53, Summer '64; "If I Fell," #53, Summer '64; "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You," #95, Summer '64; "I Am the Walrus," #56, Winter '67.
* Big Country: "Fields of Fire," #52, Spring '84.
* Meredith Brooks: "What Would Happen?," #46, Spring '98.
* Jackson Browne: "Rock Me on the Water," #48, Summer '72; "The Pretender," #58, Summer '77.
* The Captain and Tennille: "Come in From the Rain," #61, Summer '77; "Lady Bug," the most amazing thing they ever did, failed to reach the Hot 100.
* Deep Purple: "Woman from Tokyo," #60, Fall '73; "Highway Star" failed to reach the Hot 100.
* Fleetwood Mac: "Fireflies," #60, Spring '81; "Sisters of the Moon," #86, Summer '80; "The Farmer's Daughter" failed to reach the Hot 100.
* Def Leppard: "Bringin' on the Heartbreak," #61, Summer '84.
* Carpenters: "Bless the Beasts and Children," #67, Winter '71.
* Mary-Chapin Carpenter, "Shut Up and Kiss Me," #90, Fall '94.
* Wynonna Judd: "Tell Me Why," #77, Summer '93; "No One Else On Earth," #83, Fall '92.
* Neil Diamond: "Solitary Man," #55, Summer '66; "Brooklyn Roads," #58, Summer '68; "Done Too Soon," #65, Summer '71.
* Dire Straits: "Lady Writer," #45, Summer '79; "Skateaway," #58, Winter '80; "Solid Rock," #56 on the Rock Tracks chart, Winter '80; "Industrial Disease," #75, Winter '83; "Romeo and Juliet" failed to reach the Hot 100....
* Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show: "Life Ain't Easy" b/w "The Wonderful Soup Stone," #68, Fall '73.
* Doobie Brothers: "Eyes of Silver," #52, Summer '74; "I Cheat the Hangman," #60, Winter '75.
* Doors: "Roadhouse Blues," #50, Spring '70.
* ELO: "Roll Over Beethoven," #42, Spring '73; "Showdown," #53, Winter '73/#59, Summer '76; "It's Over," #75, Fall '78;
* ELP: "Lucky Man," #48, Spring '71; "Nutrocker," #70, Spring '72.
* Greg Lake: "I Believe in Father Christmas," #95, Winter '75; "C'est La Vie," #91, Fall '77.
* Led Zep: "Rock and Roll," #47, Spring '72.
* Rod Stewart: "Twisting the Night Away," #59, Summer '73; "Oh! No, Not My Baby," #59, Fall '73.
* Roxy Music: "More Than This," #102, 1983.
* Travis Tritt: "T-R-O-U-B-L-E," #72, Summer '93.
* Joe Walsh: "Meadows," #89, Spring '74.
* Tammy Wynette: "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," #63, Summer '68; "Singing My Song," #75, Spring '69; "My Elusive Dreams" (with David Houston), #89, Summer '67.
* Dwight Yoakam: "Ain't That Lonely Yet," #58, Summer '93 -- b/w "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere," #2 on the Country & Western chart, Summer '93; "Fast as You," #70, Winter '93.
* Frank Zappa: "Dancin' Fool," #45, Spring '79.
* Zebra: "Who's Behind the Door?" #61, Summer '83.
* Saga: "The Flyer," #79, Winter '83; "Wind Him Up," #64, Spring '83.
* Sad Cafe: "Run Home Girl," #71, Winter '79.
* Guess Who: "Follow Your Daughter Home," #61, Spring '73.
* Arlo Guthrie: "Coming into Los Angeles," B-side to "Alice's Restaurant," Winter '69.
* Hagood Hardy: "The Homecoming," #41, Winter '75.
* Sophie B. Hawkins: "Right Beside You," #56, Fall '94.
* Outfield: "Everytime You Cry," #66, Fall '86.
* INXS: "Bitter Tears," #46, Spring '91; "Don't Change," #80, Summer '83; "This Time," #81, Winter '85.
* Roger Hodgson: "Had a Dream (Sleeping With the Enemy)," #48, Fall '84.
* Scandal: "Goodbye to You," #65, Winter '82; "Love's Got a Line on You," #59, Spring '83.
* Toad the Wet Sprocket: "Come Down," #51 on Album Tracks chart, Summer '97.
* Dave Edmunds: "Information" failed to reach the Hot 100, Summer '83.
* The Graces: "Lay Down Your Arms," #56, Summer '89.
* Glass Moon: "On a Carousel," #50, Spring '82.
* Sky: "Toccata," #83, Winter '81.
* Cheap Trick: "Surrender," #62, Summer '78.

What I'm on about....

2011-10-11T00:36:00.000-07:00

Good Lord, where did you all go? Readership is WAY DOWN here at the Back-Up Plan, as of the past week or so. Did you all get swept away by the torrential downpours that have hit Western Washington over the past couple nites? Did you all get turned-off by those 100+ "classic rock" songs that I was hatin' on a coupla posts ago? Maybe you're tired of or just not that intrested in those Great Lost Singles I've been posting stats about 4 the past week?
Oh, wait: Maybe you all have Real Lives 2 tend 2? Maybe that's it....

As 4 the Great Lost Singles -- well, I wouldn't have posted those chart numbers if I didn't think the songs themselves were worth tracking down. At least SOME of them are. A few I just tossed in 4 the silliness of it. But it's not like I spent a whole lotta time Dscribing 2 many of them 4 you, so you may not know Xactly what you'd B getting in2, or what all I was on about.
Thing is, I've written about quite a few of those Great Lost Singles B4, even tho it may have bn a year or more back. I just figure if you've bn reading here 4 awhile you know what my obsessions R -- or you can use those post-label-tags over at the right 2 track down more.
& I do hate 2 repeat myself most of the time. But if you wanna know what I'm on about, here's a few Xamples:
* Kracker: "Because of You (The Sun Don't Set)," Winter 1973. Played 1/2adozen times on Seattle's KJR-AM, this rocker has a driving lead guitar, great group vocals, a catchy repeating keyboard riff, & a closing circular vocal chorus that descends in2 anarchy & the return of that driving gtr. This single never made BILLBOARD's Hot 100, & tho Kracker apparently cut 1 album 4 Rolling Stones Records in '73, the resta their career has bn a mystery. After lotsa looking, I now have a copy of their album with the single on the way 2 me, & we'll C if it passes the Great Lost Singles' Acid Test: Does the song sound as good in Reality as it did in my Memory?
* Billy Lee Riley: "I've Got a Thing About You, Baby," #93, early Winter 1972. A classic rocker from the '50s, 1nce signed 2 the legendary Sun label, Riley was previously knocked for sounding "too Black for Whites, and too White for Blacks." Whatever that means. This single, released on CBS's Entrance label, sounds like your nice rockabilly next-door neighbor sits down on your front porch & picks out a friendly little tune about The Love Of His Life on his acoustic guitar, smiling all the way thru. It's got a lotta soul & a nice little bounce, tho it mighta bn a little simple 4 '72....
* Brenda and the Tabulations: "One Girl Too Late." Classic "Girl Group"-style pop, could just as easily have bn recorded in 1965 as the early '70s. My memory sez I 1st heard this in Spring '72 -- on-line searches indicate it was released on Epic in Spring '73. Can still quote a verse or 2 & the chorus & would love 2 hear it again -- but I'm not quite ready 2 spend $30 on a 45-rpm single, no matter how rare it is....
* Junior Walker and the All-Stars: "Take Me Girl, I'm Ready." #51, Summer '71. Junior Walker played that squealing sax solo on Foreigner's "Urgent," the only part of that song worth hearing. Junior & the All-Stars also hadda string of mostly-instrumental hits on Motown's subsidiary Soul label; the biggest was "Shotgun," which hit #4 in 1965. This is 1 of the few on which Junior sings -- & it's classic up-tempo early-'70s R&B with killer singalong choruses. I don't remember any sax playing in it, but my memory could B failing me here -- haven't heard this since '71....
* Johnathan King: "A Tall Order for a Short Guy," Summer '72. King discovered Genesis & 10 c.c., was a columnist 4 British pop weeklies, recorded silly pop songs under a number of noms-du-disc, & even had a flower-power hit of his own with "Everyone's Gone to the Moon," #17, Fall '65. This song is more of a joke: A short guy talks about how his Intended is gonna B a big challenge 2 get close 2. Hilarious, silly lyrics, very upbeat, spectacularly innocent, & you can tell King is smiling & laffing all thru it. Again, probly a little 2 squeaky-clean 4 the sophisticated early '70s. Charming, tho....
* Tim Moore: "Second Avenue," #58, Fall '74. Very nice poetic broken-hearted lovesong, Art Garfunkel had a bigger hit with it later. I liked the singing & production, which still sounds better in my memory than it does in Reality. I found a copy of this a few years back & it was pleasant enuf, but not as melodramatic as I'd remembered, & it failed the Acid Test.
* Andy Pratt: "Pistol Packin' Melody," Fall '74. Can't find this 1, it's like it never Xisted. Pratt was a Piano Man (like a minor-league Elton John or Billy Joel) & most critics hated him, but this catchy, repetitive number with the great singalong choruses got a lotta airplay on Boise, Idaho's KFXD-AM in the Fall of '74. The lyrics R about how hard it is 2 write a catchy, memorable, unforgettable song -- Pratt did it, & it sank without a trace.
* The Road Home: "Keep it in the Family," Summer '71. I think they were on ABC/Dunhill. Great group vocals, & lyrics about love & family ties. I can still recite most of it, but the single never broke thru & there was never a follow-up.
* Heaven Bound: "Five Hundred Miles," #79, Winter '71. Gorgeous female group vocals on an old folk standard, produced (I think) by Wes Farrell, who hadda thing about group-vocal blends. Played 1/2adozen times on Tacoma, Wash.'s old KTAC-AM B4 it disappeared. Far as I know, there was never an album 2 follow it.

...These R just a few Xamples. My point is: If you can track it down, this stuff could Change Your Life. It certainly left its mark on me....

PS: The Launderettes' "Red River" -- which I've mentioned briefly here B4 -- is the 1st 45-rpm single I've bought in YEARS. It sounds great, tho mayB a little 2 retro 4 most current radio play. & I love the choruses. The group vocals are GREAT.
So, see there, I really DO buy stuff that's current. Even tho it sounds like it coulda come outta the '60s or '70s....

Mostly oddities and leftovers....

2011-10-08T03:19:00.000-07:00

Thanx 4 putting-up with my ranting in the last post. Fri nite's music-during-work was WAY better. At 1 point, I had Five Man Electrical Band's "Signs" cranked-up LOUD & during an instrumental break I put-on my DJ voice & "announced" 2 1 of R nighttime Regulars:
"Takin' you back to the summer of 1971...."
& he nailed me with:
"I don't think you ever LEFT the summer of '71!"
So there you go. That'll probly B written on my tombstone....

...I think I've gotten about all the new & worthwhile info I can get outta Joel Whitburn & BILLBOARD's TOP POP SINGLES bible -- which means there'll probly B a couple more lists of trivia here & that'll B about it. 4 me, the book is well worth the $$$. I've learned a lot. There R still a few Great Lost Singles out there I can't track down, but Joel's helped me quite a bit with that, or at least confirmed 4 me that they actually Xist.
Here's another batch of I-thot-intresting chart info:

The Beatles' "There's a Place" peaked at #74 in Spring 1964. "All My Loving" peaked at #45 in Spring '64.
Bachman-Turner Overdrive's "Blue Collar" peaked at #68, Winter '73.
Albert Hammond: "Names, Tags, Numbers and Labels" failed 2 reach the Hot 100, Spring '74.
Junior Walker and the All-Stars: "Take Me Girl, I'm Ready," #50, Summer '71. (Great early-'70s R&B....)
The Who: "Love, Reign O'er Me," #76, Winter '73; "The Real Me," #92, Spring '74; "Long Live Rock," #54, Summer '79; "Eminence Front," #68, Winter '82.
Tim Moore: "Charmer," #91, Spring '75.
Rod Stewart: "Handbags and Gladrags," #42, Spring '72.
Blue Mink: "By the Devil I Was Tempted," failed 2 reach the Hot 100, Spring '73.
Boomtown Rats: "I Don't Like Mondays," #73, Spring '80.
David Bowie: "Changes," #66, Summer '72/#41, Winter '74. "TVC 15," #64, Summer '76. "Suffragette City" was released only as the B-side to "Starman," #65, Summer '72. (What were they THINKING?)
John Denver: "I'd Rather Be a Cowboy," #62, Summer '73; "Farewell Andromeda (Welcome to My Morning)," #89, Fall '73.
Cars: "It's All I Can Do," #41, Fall '79; "Since You're Gone," #41, Spring '82.
Al Stewart: "On the Border," #42, Spring '77.
Tower of Power: "Down to the Nightclub," #66, Fall '72.
Detroit Emeralds: "Feel the Need in Me," #110, Winter '72; #90, Summer '77. (Xcellent early-'70s soul....)
Ventures: "The 2,000-Pound Bee," #91, Winter '62.
Tracey Ullman: "Break-A-Way," #70, Summer '84. (Xcellent fake-"Girl-Group" pop....)
Ashton, Gardner & Dyke: "Resurrection Shuffle," #40, Summer '71.
Tom Jones: "Resurrection Shuffle," #38, Summer '71.
Bob Dylan: "On a Night Like This," #44, Spring '74.
The Band: "The Weight," #63, Fall '68.
Evie Sands: "You Brought the Woman Out of Me," #50, Spring '75.
Smokie: "If You Think You Know How to Love Me," #96, Summer '75.
Jefferson Airplane: "Crown of Creation," #64, Winter '68. "Volunteers," #65, Winter '69.
Tears for Fears: "Change," #73, Summer '83.
Kenny Loggins: "Conviction of the Heart," #65, Fall '91.
Firefall: "Livin' Ain't Livin'," #42, Summer '76.
Joan Armatrading: "Drop the Pilot," #78, Summer '83 (her only Hot 100 entry....)
Bananarama: "Robert DeNiro's Waiting," #95, Summer '84.
Black Sabbath: "Paranoid," #61, Winter '70; "Iron Man," #52, Spring '72.
Deodato: "Rhapsody in Blue," #41, Fall '73.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band: "You Angel You," #58, Summer '79. (Their version of Bruce Springsteen's "For You" failed 2 reach the Hot 100....)
Pete Townshend: "A Little is Enough" (edited), #72, Fall '80; "Rough Boys," #89, Winter '80.
U2: "I Will Follow" (live), #81, Winter '84; "New Year's Day," #53, Spring '83.
Spirit: "1984," #69, Spring '70; "Animal Zoo," #97, Fall '70; "Mr. Skin," #92, Fall '73.
Jimmy Barnes: "Working Class Man" (from the movie GUNG HO), #74, Spring '86.
Police: "Secret Journey," #46, Spring '82.
Wendy and Lisa: "The Closing of the Year (Main Theme from TOYS)," #53 on the Airplay chart, Winter '92. (Gorgeous choral vocals....)
Banana Splits: "The Tra La La Song," #96 (charted for 1 week), Winter '69.
Donna Summer: "State of Independence," #41, Fall '82.
Nik Kershaw: "Wouldn't it be Good?," #46, Spring '84.
Mary-Chapin Carpenter: "Passionate Kisses," #57, Spring '93.
Wall of Voodoo: "Mexican Radio," #58, Spring '83.
Indigo Girls: "Closer to Fine," #52, Summer '89.
Bare Naked Ladies: "It's All Been Done," #44, Winter '98.

Playlist from Hell!

2011-10-07T03:05:00.000-07:00

I'll get back 2 Joel Whitburn's TOP POP SINGLES shortly -- I'm still making lists. But 1st....
Weds nite at work was THE WORST music nite of ALL TIME. From 7 pm onward, the 1/2-dozen local FM stations I bounce around Btween played Xactly 2 songs that could B called unXpected or suprising -- The Beatles' "Hey Bulldog," & Booker T & the MG's "Time is Tight," which I hadn't heard 4 quite awhile.
Along the way there were a couple things worth turning it up 4 -- Chicago's "Feeling Stronger Every Day" & Badfinger's "Day After Day." But the rest was absolute MUSH. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing suprising.
How can people B happy with this? How many times can you hear "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" B4 yer brain turns 2 Swiss cheese -- like mine already has?!
FINALLY, at 10:15 pm some smart DJ at KZOK put on Elton John's "Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding," & I finally felt like mayB I might wake up. They followed it with the Beatles' "Got to Get You Into My Life" & Chicago's "Questions 67 & 68," then CSNY's "Woodstock" -- which another station played within 30 seconds after the 1st 1 finished! I swear they all listen 2 each other & copy each other's playlists -- even the station that claims it "plays what we want" (JACK-FM).
Which got me thinking. 2nite was slightly better, but not much. I think we otta call a moratorium or a boycott on all overplayed rock&roll "classics" -- songs that we KNOW have passed their sell-by date. There R SO MANY of them. 4 most of those that follow in the list below, hearing them is an immediate tune-out 4 me, & I'm sure 4 1,000's of others.
That doesn't mean I hate these songs -- I still like some of them, the 1's where the passion & intensity still come thru ("Layla," "Stairway to Heaven"'s last 1/2, "More Than a Feeling," "Crazy on You," etc....). But 4 so many of them, their time is over. It's just the same old rut.
Here's the best list of overplayed-to-death's I could come up with off the toppa my head. How many of these have you heard more than 1nce a day recently? I've heard MORE THAN 1/2 OF THEM in the past 2 nites. Usually just B4 changing 2 another station.
In the intrests of fairness & as a special torture for neophytes, none of the artists behind these "spoiled classics" will B named. You already know who they are anyway. Let the bad times roll....

(starting with the stuff I don't quite want 2 let go of yet....)
More Than a Feeling
Crazy on You
Layla
Stairway to Heaven
Go Your Own Way
Rhiannon

...and
Sweet Home Alabama
Smoke on the Water
Slow Ride
Don't Go Breakin' My Heart
Philadelphia Freedom
Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word
Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me
Bennie and the Jets
Crocodile Rock
Honky Cat
Refugee
Hey Jude
Let it Be
Lady Madonna
Get Back
Kokomo
Who Are You?
Won't Get Fooled Again
Squeeze Box
Whole Lotta Love
D'yer Mak'er
All My Love
White Room
Sunshine of Your Love
Here Comes the Sun
My Sweet Lord
I Shot the Sheriff
Cocaine
You've Got a Friend
Don't Stop
Dreams
The Long Run
Heartache Tonight
Life in the Fast Lane
One of These Nights
Hotel California
Best of My Love
New Kid in Town
In the Air Tonight
Bohemian Rhapsody
Roxanne
Don't Stand So Close to Me
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Wrapped Around Your Finger
Every Breath You Take
Tonight's the Night (NOT Neil Young....)
You're in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?
Don't Look Back
Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'
Faithfully
Who's Crying Now?
Open Arms
Lucky Star
Holiday
Into the Groove
Magic Man
Barracuda
Dust in the Wind
Rock and Roll Music (as sung by a world-famous California quintet that has another song elsewhere in this list....)
Jack and Diane
Hurts So Good
Babe
The Best of Times
What I Like About You
Talking in Your Sleep
Cold as Ice
Feels Like the First Time
Hot Blooded
Dirty White Boy
Lyin' Eyes
Beast of Burden
Miss You
Angie
Brown Sugar
Money for Nothing
So Far Away (NOT Carole King)
Just You and Me
Free Fallin'
Start Me Up
Brown Eyed Girl
Band on the Run
Silly Love Songs
My Love
Let 'Em In
Evil Woman (a British band with lotsa hits in the '70s)
Come and Get It
Lay Lady Lay
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Fame (no, not Irene Cara....)
Young Americans
Golden Years
Let's Dance

My Ghod, that's 90+ songs I'd B pretty happy 2 never hear again. Shoulda gone 4 100.
...OK, so what did I forget? No, wait, don't remind me....

PS -- 8 Oct 2011, 1:36 am, B4 looking at Comments:
I forgot....
All Right Now
Another One Bites the Dust
...& probly a lot more....

9 Oct 11, 1:21 am --
Also:
Jet Airliner
Fly Like an Eagle
Rock 'N' Me
My Life
Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)
It's Still Rock and Roll to Me
Just the Way You Are
Rich Girl
Come Sail Away
Hold Me....

13 Oct 11, 12:42 pm:
And....
What a Fool Believes
Smooth
Low Rider
(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher and Higher (hint: she useta B married 2 Kris Kristofferson....)
Take the Money and Run....

14 Oct 11, 1:26 am:
And....
Money (from 1 of the most popular albums ever....)
Baby Hold On
Two Tickets to Paradise
In the Summertime (one-hit wonders....)
Smooth Operator....

15 Oct 11, 1:23 am:
And....
Night Moves
Against the Wind
Still the Same
Live and Let Die
Down Under
One Way or Another
Born to Be Wild
Magic Carpet Ride
Shake it Up....
-- This is getting 2 B kinda fun. I wonder how many overplayed "spoiled classics" I can come up with...?

16 Oct 11, 1:55 am --
And:
All I Wanna Do
Picture
If it Makes You Happy
A Change Would Do You Good....

18 Oct 11, 1:43 am --
Also:
Another Brick in the Wall Part 2
Escape (The Pina Colada Song)
Can't Get Enough....

20 Oct 11, 3:15 pm --
And:
White Wedding
Rebel Yell
Leather and Lace
The Logical Song
Take the Long Way Home....

21 Oct 11, 1:37 am --
Also:
Sister Christian
Minute by Minute
Sex and Candy
Bette Davis Eyes
Margaritaville
Feel Like Makin' Love
Monday Monday
Ode to Billy Joe
The Gambler (this is NOT rock&roll, but it does get played too much....)
Take it to the Limit
Saturday in the Park....

24 Oct 11, 1:46 am --
And:
Borderline
Like a Virgin
Black Velvet
You're So Vain
Take it on the Run
New Year's Day
Sunday Bloody Sunday
(these last 2 have bn getting played A LOT lately....)

More not-quite-so-lost singles

2011-10-06T03:53:00.000-07:00

Still mining info outta Joel Whitburn's & BILLBOARD's TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002 -- worth it if you're a chart fiend like me or just wonder what happened 2 some of those songs you heard on the radio back when you were 12 years old & haven't heard since....
Also intresting how many rock songs we've come 2 accept as "classics" that didn't really do that great sales-wise, officially. We all know they're classics, so that's what they became. I guess. 2 bad it doesn't work that way 4 all Good Stuff....
Anyway, here's another list, with some pretty-well-known stuff included, along with summa my Olde Faves & the usual oddities...

Freda Payne: "You Brought the Joy," #52, Fall 1971.
Peter, Paul & Mary: "A'Soalin'," #15 on the Christmas chart, Dec '63; "Settle Down," #56, Winter '63.
Plimsouls: "A Million Miles Away," #82, Summer '83; #11 on the Album Rock chart, Summer '82.
Poppy Family: "Where Evil Grows," #45, Summer '71.
Edgar Winter's White Trash: "Keep Playing That Rock 'N' Roll," #70, Winter '71.
Billy Preston: "That's the Way God Planned It," #65, Summer '72; #62, Summer '69.
Queen: "It's Late," #74, Summer '78; "Need Your Loving Tonight," #44, Winter '80; "The Show Must Go On," #40 on the Rock Tracks chart, Spring '92.
Pink Floyd: "Run Like Hell," #53, Summer '80; an edited version of "Comfortably Numb" failed to reach the Hot 100.
Ramones: "Sheena is a Punk Rocker," #81, Summer '77; "Rockaway Beach," #66, Winter '77; "Do You Wanna Dance?," #86, Spring '78.
Leon Redbone: "Seduced," #72, Spring '81.
Helen Reddy: "Crazy Love," #51, Summer '71.
Miss Abrams & the Strawberry Point School Third Grade Class: "Mill Valley," #90, Summer '70.
America: "Muskrat Love," #67, Summer '73 (The Captain & Tennille's inferior version made #4 in Fall '76); "Only in Your Heart," #62, Spring '73; "Woman Tonight," #44, Winter '75.
Buffalo Springfield: "Bluebird" b/w "Mr. Soul," #58, Summer '67; "Rock and Roll Woman," #44, Fall '67; "Expecting to Fly," #98, Winter '68; "On the Way Home," #82, Fall '68. "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing" failed to make the Hot 100, possibly because the lyric included the word "damn" (!).
Bulldog: "No," #44, Fall '72.
Kate Bush: "The Man With the Child in His Eyes," #85, Spring '79.
Byrds: "5D (Fifth Dimension)," #44, Summer '66; "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better," #103, Summer '65; "Ballad of Easy Rider," #97, Winter '70. "Chestnut Mare" failed to make the Hot 100.
Cream: "I Feel Free," #116, 1967; "Badge," #60, Spring '69.
Adam Ant: "Desperate But Not Serious," #66, Spring '83.
Billy Squier: "My Kinda Lover," #45, Winter '81.
Rush: "Closer to the Heart," #76, Winter '77.
James Gang: "Walk Away," #51, Summer '71.
Elton John: "Tiny Dancer," #41, Spring '72.
Journey: "Wheel in the Sky," #57, Spring '78; "Anytime," #83, Summer '78; "Lights," #68, Summer '78; "Just the Same Way," #58, Spring '79.
Kinks: "Victoria," #62, Winter '70; "Dead-End Street," #73, Winter '67.
REO Speedwagon: "Roll With the Changes," #58, Summer '78; "Time for Me to Fly," #56, Summer '78.
Triumph: "Magic Power," #51, Fall '81.
Bob Seger: "Rock and Roll Never Forgets," #41, Summer '77; "Katmandu," #43, Summer '75.
Rolling Stones: "Street Fighting Man," #48, Fall '68; "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (edited), #42, Spring '73.
Linda Ronstadt: "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me," #42, Winter '76.
Grateful Dead: "Uncle John's Band," #69, Summer '70.
Flying Lizards: "Money (That's What I Want)," #50, Winter '79.
Bob Dylan: "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat," #81, Summer '67. (& of course we know Dylan's brilliant "One of Us Must Know," also from BLONDE ON BLONDE, failed to make any known chart, one of the great injustices of the mid-'60s....)
Eric Clapton: "Let it Rain," #48, Fall '72; "Bell Bottom Blues," #91, Spring '71/#78, Spring '73; "Another Ticket," #78, Summer '81. "Let it Grow" failed to make the Hot 100 despite lots of airplay as the follow-up to "I Shot the Sheriff"....

...That's all 4 2nite. More of this likely coming soon....

Found: More Great Lost Singles

2011-10-05T03:23:00.000-07:00

Joel Whitburn & BILLBOARD's TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002 -- which I reviewed here a few days back -- is a treasure trove of proof that I didn't hallucinate 1/2 of what I heard on the radio 40 years ago while I was busy growing up. It just SEEMS that way sometimes.
As I look thru this huge book, songs I haven't thot about 4 YEARS just suddenly jump out at me -- like Simon Stokes' trippy "Captain Howdy," which I added 2 the end of that last list of overlooked greats this book has helped me rediscover. I hadn't heard THAT song in 37 years, & yet there it was suddenly staring me in the face. I can still sing the choruses 4 you, if you like....
Mainly what I like about this book is that it reaffirms 4 me that at least some of the off-the-wall songs I remember from my youth were getting played on the radio in OTHER parts of the country, 2. Maybe not for LONG, but some1 other than me heard them.
Now all we gotta do is figure out why the Great Listening Public didn't appropriately reward these musical geniuses....
Here's another list of off-the-wall stuff I've mined from Whitburn's work. I'll add merely that a lotta these would B worth yer trouble 2 track down....

Genesis: "You Own Special Way," #62, Spring 1977; "You Might Recall," Rock Tracks #40, Summer '82.
Lindsey Buckingham: "Holiday Road," #82, Summer '83.
Jethro Tull: "The Whistler," #59, Spring '77.
Kansas: "Reason to Be," #52, Fall '79.
Fleetwood Mac: "Oh Well (Part 1)," #55, Fall '70.
Allman Brothers Band: "Jessica," #65, Winter '74.
Aerosmith: "Dream On," #59, Fall '73.
Move: "Do Ya?," #93, Fall '72.
Eagles: "Outlaw Man," #59, Fall '73; "James Dean," #77, Fall '74.
Doobie Brothers: "Nobody," #58, Winter '74.
John Fogerty: "Almost Saturday Night," #78, Winter '75.
Four Preps: "The Big Draft (Military Medley)," #61, Spring '62.
Four Tops: "Simple Game," #90, Spring '72.
King Crimson: "In the Court of the Crimson King (Part 1)," #80, Winter '70.
Norman Greenbaum: "California Earthquake," #93, Summer '71.
Roxy Music: "Dance Away," #44, Spring '79; "Over You," #80, Fall '80.
Dave Edmunds: "Girls Talk," #65, Fall '79.
Tim Moore: "Second Avenue," #58, Fall '74.
Van Morrison: "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)," #61, Fall '72.
Bill Withers: "Grandma's Hands," #42, Fall '71.
Raiders: "Powder Blue Mercedes Queen," #54, Summer '72.
Danyel Gerard: "Butterfly," #78, Summer '72.
Turtles: "Grim Reaper of Love," #81, Summer '66; "Sound Asleep," #57, Spring '68; "Lady-O," #78, Winter '69.
Lindisfarne: "Lady Eleanor," #82, Fall '72.
Shoes: "Too Late," #75, Winter '79.
Slade: "Mama Weer All Crazee Now," #76, Winter '72.
Patti Smith Group: "Frederick," #90, Summer '79.
Boz Scaggs: "Dinah Flo," #86, Fall '72.
Joni Mitchell: "Raised on Robbery," #65, Winter '73.
Records: "Starry Eyes," #56, Fall '79.
Sweet: "Co-Co," #99, Fall '71.
Tarney/Spencer Band: "No Time to Lose," #84, Spring '79; #74, Fall '81.
Ray Stevens: "Bridget the Midget," #50, Winter '70.
Sugar Bears: "You Are the One," #57, Spring '72.
Michael Bolton (!): "Fools Game," #82, Spring '83. (It's actually good....)
Nigel Olsson: "Only One Woman," #91, Spring '75.
Royal Guardsmen: "Snoopy's Christmas," #1 on the Christmas chart, Dec '67.
Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids: "Dancin' on a Saturday Night," #93, Summer '74.
NRBQ: "Get That Gasoline Blues," #70, Spring '74. (Still timely ... & hilarious!)
Steve Winwood: "Still in the Game," #47, Summer '82; "Valerie," #70, Winter '82.
Hues Corporation: "Freedom for the Stallion," #63, Summer '73.
Robert John: "Lonely Eyes," #41, Winter '79.
Casey Kelly: "Poor Boy," #52, Fall '72.
It's a Beautiful Day: "White Bird," #118, 1969.
Gordon Lightfoot: "Summer Side of Life," #98, Fall '71; "Beautiful," #58, Spring '72.
Vicki Lawrence: "He Did With Me," #75, Summer '73. (Her underplayed follow-up 2 the hideous "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia," which seemingly will NEVER die....)
John Lennon: "Happy Xmas (War is Over)," #3 on the Christmas chart, Dec '71.

Not reaching the Hot 100 or "bubbling under" the top 100 singles were: Fleetwood Mac's "The Green Manalishi," "Hypnotized," "Why?" & "Dissatisfied;" Kiki Dee's "Amoureuse;" Gordon Lightfoot's "Don Quixote;" Guess Who's "Road Food;" Loggins & Messina's "Angry Eyes" (the best thing they ever did, used as the B-side 2 a coupla minor L&M hits)....

...There will likely B at least 1 more of these lists coming.... In the meantime, go track some of these songs down. They're good 4 what ails ya. Some of them are, at least....

....& I'd love 2 hear from anyone who remembers any of these songs, or any of the other off-the-wall songs or acts I sometimes write about. It's been awhile since anyone Out There has commented, & I could use the feedback.
I know you're reading a lot here, you folks from Thailand & Russia & England & Germany & Denmark & Canada & Colombia. & who's that person from Ireland who's been reading so much stuff? You guys can come out of the woodwork at any time. I don't bite ... too much ....

The Last Exit

2011-10-03T03:19:00.000-07:00

It's April 1979 & I'm sitting in a cold & drafty coffeehouse called The Last Exit in Seattle's University District, not far from the University of Washington's huge red-cobblestoned courtyard.
It's cold, rainy & foggy outside, & drafty inside, where moisture is condensing on the inside of the windows, barely reflected in the pale interior light. I realize I haven't been this cold & wet in a LONG time.
I'm no dummy -- I know it rains a lot in Washington, I went 2 junior-highschool here, & I remembered the way the rain usedta POUR down 4 DAYS. But that was when I was younger & that stuff didn't bother me -- sometimes I'd even go out & wander around in it....
The espresso I'm trying 2 force down is pretty bitter 2 -- not at all what I expected. How can I drink coffee with NO SUGAR?
Up at the front of the room, some Bob Dylan wanna-be is singing as he strums his guitar. I'm not a big Dylan fan but somehow I know that Bob is Safe.
I'm in Seattle with my highschool sweetheart Allison, 2 visit our old college friend Melissa, who has an apartment within walking distance of the UW. Somehow, Al & I have survived me driving a huge old (mid-'60s) boat-sized Chevy stationwagon 600+ miles from Boise, Idaho all across Oregon & then north 2 Seattle. Amazingly, the car didn't break down. & Al & I R still talking 2 each other. In fact, we're closer than we've been in 2 years.
The only mistake we made was relying on the radio 2 help fight the boredom. The Chevy didn't have a tape-player. There Rn't 2 many radio stations in the wilds of Eastern Oregon. & when we came up over a hill just east of Baker, suddenly the radio Al had been trying 2 coax 2 life erupted in what sounded like The Voice Of Ghod: "AND NOW THE ADVENTURES OF GOD'S OWN AGRICULTURALIST, GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER...." Somehow we survived that 2....
Melissa's apt is a tiny dorm-style room -- she spends mosta her time at her boyfriend Jim's apt, which is on the 14th floor of a building that towers over the U District. Turns out Jim's a pretty big progressive-rock fan. As we talk, he pulls out old albums by The Nice (ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS, THE THOUGHTS OF EMERLIST DAVJACK, WINTER TO SPRING, THE IMMEDIATE STORY), Manfred Mann's Earth Band (MESSIN', GET YOUR ROCKS OFF, SOLAR FIRE, THE GOOD EARTH, NIGHTINGALES AND BOMBERS), & Roxy Music (COUNTRY LIFE, STRANDED). Some of this he even puts on the stereo, & it sounds pretty good. Most of it I'll never hear again....
His musical intrests go with mine, & we get along OK. After all, I'm the guy who stuffed 30+ albums in2 a box & packed them in the car cos I didn't think I could get thru a week without them. I packed music B4 I packed CLOTHES. I don't think I played more than a couple albums during the entire week we were in Seattle. But somehow I couldn't have managed without Camel's BREATHLESS & Providence's EVER SENSE THE DAWN & Gryphon's RED QUEEN TO GRYPHON THREE & Caravan's FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT.
Turns out the U District is a good neighborhood 4 prog fans -- there's 1/2adozen used record stores in 1 block along University Blvd. -- I walk in2 the 1st 1 & I feel like I've Come Home: There's a huge cut-out stand-up of Soft Machine from their 1st album along the top of 1 record cabinet. There's stuff hanging from the ceiling & weird album covers all around. I think I'm already pretty well-informed musically, & I've got NO IDEA what mosta this stuff is....
1 shop is looking 4 help, so I apply. It's a million-2-1 shot that I'll actually get the job & B able 2 stay in Seattle, but I love the atmosphere of the U District -- not just the used record stores, but the used bookstores & 1 great little cozy Chinese restaurant -- SO MUCH more Xciting & intresting than Boise, where I've lived most of my life up 2 this point....
The record store gives me a Rock trivia test over the phone -- I botch about 1/2 of it. I don't get the job. But tho I'm bummed, at least I've got all this great atmosphere 2 drink up.... I never do get thru that bitter espresso, tho.
Al loves the atmosphere 2, & vows 2 come back -- & she does, less than a year later. I'm supposed 2 follow her there, but instead I get hired by my favorite record store in Boise, & decide 2 stay. The record store job lasts 3 years & 4 awhile I have a place of my own (low-rent as it was). But eventually the job ends badly & I end up unemployed 4 a year & finally join the Air Force.
It takes me 16 years 2 get back 2 Washington & I never go back 2 The Last Exit -- but I know the U District is still there, & I'm told there R still tons of used book & record stores 2 wander thru. I've got 2 get back over there someday....

TAD's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

2011-10-02T03:08:00.000-07:00

There's been a few comments on the blogs the past few days about the latest batch of nominees 4 the Rock&Roll Hall of Fame -- whether some of the nominated artists were successful enuf or influential enuf 2 B included, who's bn overlooked, who should B added immediately, etc.
All of these comments R informative & make good points -- Seano's views at "Circle of Fits" (http://seanoandjefe.blogspot.com/) R especially direct & funny. He gets INTO it. & I agree with a lot of what he sez.
But I still think the whole idea of a Rock&Roll Hall of Fame is ... pretty silly. It's not like a Football HOF or a Baseball HOF where you've at least got career statistics 2 fall back on when making selections or rooting 4 yer favorites. With the R&R HOF there's always gonna B disagreements about who was or wasn't successful enuf or influential enuf 2 honor. There R still plenty of disagreements about who or what is or isn't rock&roll.
Besides, you can't quantify art like you can sports. Might as well have a Writer's Hall of Fame or a Painter's Hall of Fame. It's silly. Sure, Shakespeare & Dickens & Tolstoy & Twain get in2 the Writer's HOF -- but what about Mickey Spillane? Robert Heinlein? Isaac Asimov? & who's 2 say they shouldn't B there 2?
Would some1 tell Beethoven he couldn't qualify 4 the Classical HOF Bcos he only wrote 4 "#1" symphonies? Would some1 tell Andy Warhol he can't get in2 the Artist's HOF cos re-painting a Campbell's soup can "ain't art"?
Who sez?
Bsides, popular music is all about what a song, album, band, musician or singer means TO YOU -- the impact they made on your life. We're all gonna have diffrent opinions about something so personal.
Better 2 build your own Hall of Fame on your blog or in your head -- that's where the biggest impact is made NEway. Better 2 make sure some of this stuff is still talked about, rather than enshrined in some building in ... Cleveland?

As 4 me, if I had my own Rock&Roll Hall of Fame that I could build in the back yard -- & my backyard is pretty small, so there isn't gonna B much room -- what follows is a list of who I'd enshrine there, broken-down by previous intense listening-periods in my life.
(This list was made in spare moments during the worst nite at work I've had in months, so I may have 4gotten some folks. I reserve the right 2 add or delete names from this list 4 NE reason. Onward.)

EARLY LISTENING SECTION (starting at age 11):
Partridge Family
Three Dog Night
Beatles
Beach Boys
Moody Blues
Who
Yes
Lobo
Rare Earth
Jackson Five
Raspberries
Tommy James & the Shondells
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Byrds
Carpenters
Hollies
Neil Diamond (thru about 1974....)
Spinners
Stylistics
Thom Bell (producer/songwriter for the previous 2)
Simon & Garfunkel
Turtles
Sly and the Family Stone
Mamas & the Papas
Lovin Spoonful
Doobie Bros. (thru 1976)
Cat Stevens
Elton John
Paul McCartney/Wings
Bread

THE POST-HIGHSCHOOL PROG-ROCK ERA:
Jethro Tull
Gryphon (unique & forgotten....)
Providence (1 great album....)
Camel
Genesis (1976-1982)
Caravan
King Crimson
Happy the Man
Buffalo Springfield
CSNY
Badfinger
ELP
Todd Rundgren (as performer, songwriter, producer, bandleader)
Al Stewart
Boston
Journey
Queen
Abba
Gentle Giant
Renaissance/Illusion
Kansas

RECORD STORE DAZE AND AFTER:
Pretenders
Go-Go's
Bangles
U2
Police
Cars
Fairport Convention
Nick Drake (A friggin genius....)
Monkees (They still hold up....)
Fleetwood Mac
Kate Bush (3 great albums, & adventurous stuff after....)
Dire Straits (2 great albums, not including BROTHERS IN ARMS)
Pete Townshend solo
Blondie
Dan Fogelberg
Pat Metheny (Jazz, not rock? Oh well....)

LATER CONVERSIONS:
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Stones
Bowie
Dylan (lotsa great songs -- & he's FUNNY!)
Def Leppard (great vocals!)
BOC (maybe....)
Rush (I prefer the stuff from PERMANENT WAVES on....)
Phil Spector (all his early-'60s stuff)
Stevie Wonder
Smokey Robinson (with The Miracles & as songwriter)
Marvin Gaye
Supremes
Madonna

MORE RECENT STUFF:
Bare Naked Ladies
Nirvana (still not sure....)
INXS

SOLOISTS:
Keith Moon
Bill Bruford
Neil Peart
Clapton
Page
Hendrix
Townshend
Keith Emerson
Rick Wakeman
Dave Sinclair (Caravan)
Bob Fripp

...I'm sure I've forgotten some. Best I can do off the toppa my head.
You might've noticed there R few '50s & early '60s rockers listed above: Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, etc., have never done all that much 4 me, tho I know none of the resta this stuff would Xist without them.
Also few mid-'60s rockers -- I admire Jefferson Airplane, Hendrix, Doors, etc., but I don't love them. MayB I just haven't heard enuf.
Would love 2 hear yer own list of R&RHOF nominees. & of course outraged comments can also B made below....

Joel Whitburn answers MOST of my questions....

2011-10-01T03:29:00.000-07:00

After that attack of chartmania I had a month ago, I took the plunge & grabbed a cheap copy of Joel Whitburn & BILLBOARD's TOP POP SINGLES 1955-2002 -- mostly cos I wanted 2 track down more info on songs I heard while I was growing up & haven't heard since. I wanted 2 know if I hallucinated them, or if they really did briefly Xsist.
Whitburn & his team of record researchers answered most of the questions my 13-year-old self had, tho there R still a few mysteries I'll probly never know the answer 2.... I already knew Whitburn & his folks were reliable with their chart data -- an old marked-up copy of their mid-'80s TOP 40 HITS book is propping up this laptop right now.
As 4 TOP POP SINGLES -- well, it's massive. 1,000 pgs. It weighs 3 pounds. It hurts 2 hold up. But there's a lotta good stuff in it if you're an old charts/nostalgia fiend like me.
I was mainly intrested in stuff that DIDN'T make the Top 40 -- some of those old shoulda-been-hits that I wrote-up as "Great Lost Singles" awhile back. & I found most of them. But not all. & I've found lots more intresting stuff in the few days I've had 2 look over this massive book that I could easily get lost in 4 weeks.
Here's a few dozen Xamples -- I can vouch 4 the fact that most of the list below is Worth Tracking Down. Some of them I even did my part 4 the economy by BUYING back in the day....

* The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Some Of Shelley's Blues" peaked at #64 in Fall 1971. Their great stomping version of Kenny Loggins's "House at Pooh Corner" reached #53 in Spring '71.
* Billy Lee Riley's "I Got a Thing About You Baby" peaked at #93 in Winter '72.
* 10 c.c.'s "Rubber Bullets" hit #73 in Fall '73.
* The Hollies' "Magic Woman Touch," #60, Spring '73; "Sandy (4th of July, Asbury Park)," #85, Spring '75.
* Billy Joel's "Travelin' Prayer," #77, Fall '74.
* Paul Revere & the Raiders' "Do Unto Others" "bubbled under" at #102 in Winter of '67; "Song Seller," #96, Fall '72; "Country Wine," #51, Winter '72.
* El Chicano's "Brown-Eyed Girl," #45, Summer '72.
* Chris Hodge's "We're On Our Way," #44, Summer '72.
* John Kongos's "He's Gonna Step On You Again," #70, Summer '71.
* Steely Dan's "My Old School," #63, Winter '73; "Pretzel Logic," #57, Fall '74.
* Manfred Mann's Earth Band: "Living Without You," #69, Spring '72.
* Todd Rundgren: "Couldn't I Just Tell You?" #93, Summer '72; "Real Man," #83, Spring '75; "A Dream Goes On Forever," #69, Spring '74; Rundgren & Utopia's "The Very Last Time," #76, Summer '80.
* Carolyne Mas: "Stillsane," #71, Fall '79. Her equally great "Sadie Says" didn't make the Hot 100.
* The Left Banke: "Desiree," #98, Fall '67.
* Ike & Tina Turner: "River Deep, Mountain High," #88, Summer '66.
* Lighthouse: "Pretty Lady," #53, Winter '73.
* Kinks: "Apeman," #45, Winter '71.
* Nazareth's hilarious "Holiday," #87, Spring '80.
* Zep's "Over the Hills and Far Away," #51, Summer '73.
* Albert Hammond's "Free Electric Band," #48, Spring '73.
* Spirit's "Nature's Way," #111, Fall '73.
* Love's "Alone Again Or," #99, Fall '70.
* The Headboys' "The Shape of Things to Come," #67, Winter '79.
* Uriah Heep's "Stealin'," #91, Fall '73.
* Raspberries' "Tonight," #69, Fall '73. "Ecstacy" didn't make the Top 100.
* Sutherland Brothers & Quiver's "You Got Me Anyway," #48, Fall '73; "Arms of Mary," #81, Spring '76.
* The Rip Chords' great acapella "Here I Stand," #51, Spring '63; "Gone," #88, Summer '63.
* Heaven Bound's gorgeous "Five Hundred Miles," #79, Winter '71.
* Gladstone's "A Piece of Paper," #45, Summer '72.
* Cozy Powell's "Dance With the Devil," #49, Spring '74.
* Modern English's "I Melt With You," #78, Spring '83.
* Giorgio Moroder's cute & catchy "Son of My Father," #46, Spring '72.
* The Pop Tops' "Mammy Blue," #57, Fall '71.
* Los Bravos' "Bring a Little Lovin'," #51, Summer '68.
* Simon Stokes: "Captain Howdy," #90, Summer '74.

* Not reaching the Hot 100 & not mentioned as "bubbling under" are: Johnathan King's "A Tall Order for a Short Guy;" 10 c.c.'s "Wall Street Shuffle;" Poco's "Here We Go Again" & "A Good Feeling to Know;" Andy Pratt's "Pistol Packin' Melody;" Kracker's "Because of You (The Sun Don't Set);" ELP's "Still ... You Turn Me On;" Stories' "Love is in Motion;" Nicolette Larson's "Radioland;" Rickie Lee Jones' "We Belong Together;" Rare Bird's "Birdman, Part 2;" The Road Home's "Keep it in the Family;" Austin Roberts' "One Word;" Mal's singalong "Mighty Mighty and Roly Poly;" Matthew Fisher's "Interlude;" The Wackers' "I Hardly Know Her Name;" Brenda & the Tabulations' "One Girl Too Late"....

...I could go on. Actually, I did, but this list is 2 long already & I'm probly 4getting a few dozen things. A couple Xtra items:

* Nektar's "Astral Man" actually reached #91 on BILLBOARD's Hot 100 Singles chart in Summer '75. I woulda chose "Fidgety Queen" as a single myself, but still....
*...& just 2 show how outta touch I am: Mariah Carey has more than 15 #1 hits ... & I can recognize Xactly 1 of them: "I'll Be There" -- mainly Bcos it sounds almost Xactly like the Jackson 5's original.... The rest of her career is a mystery 2 me....

...Now then. About most of the above list: Look at all that musical genius that went unrewarded. What were people THINKING...?

Charming but thin

2011-09-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

You're probly sick of Beatles-era memoirs by now. But Derek Taylor's AS TIME GOES BY (1973) is worth tracking down 4 a slightly diffrent take on what it was like 2 work at the Beatles' late-'60s Apple Records. Taylor's Apple memories take up almost 1/2 of the 175-pg book.
Taylor was the Beatles' press officer during their early days, left after "a huge row" with Beatles mgr. Brian Epstein (after Taylor ghost-wrote Epstein's bio A CELLAR FULL OF NOISE), spent 3 years in the States doing PR 4 a number of famous acts & helping organize the Monterey Pop Festival, then returned 2 England in '68 2 B Press Officer 4 the then-new Apple.
The picture of Taylor painted in Richard DiLello's classic Apple memoir THE LONGEST COCKTAIL PARTY (1972) shows Derek as witty & sophisticated, worldly-wise & always ABSOLUTELY ON TOP OF whatever problem came up, never 2 busy 2 offer a drink or a joke or an encouraging word despite whatever crisis was unfolding. & he was always glib. Great 4 a fast punchy quote.
Some of that comes across in AS TIME GOES BY. You might not learn much new about the Fab 4, but you'll learn something of what it was like 2 work 4 them, & how a person "on the inside" saw things a little diffrently from the rest of the world.
Taylor sez Apple never went broke, even with all the stealing that went on, that it was never even CLOSE -- but every day was a crisis, there was never any time 2 plan ahead, & the staffers panicked from early on. Taylor describes longtime Beatle assistant Neil Aspinall coming in2 Taylor's office, collapsing on2 a sofa, & just staring in2 space 4 hours ... from fear & Xhaustion.
Taylor's also 1 of the few people at Apple who didn't end up hating Allen Klein -- Taylor calls him a friend, even tho Taylor & Klein ended up GOING TO LUNCH while Klein's house-cleaning firings were carried-out by others back at the Apple office....
Taylor recaps sevral of Apple's worst days in the course of the book. & he captures the general atmosphere of the place, especially when it was headed downhill. 4 Taylor it ended when George Harrison "fired" him & told him 2 go home & write this book -- which Taylor's original publisher sez in the intro "reads like a book written by a man who doesn't want to write a book."
What you get is whatever popped in2 Taylor's head 2 write on a given day. & when he got enuf pgs piled-up 4 a book-length manuscript, he stopped. Along the way you get a little about Monterey, & little bits & pieces about what it was like 2 handle press-relations 4 The Beach Boys ("Christ, they were a lot of work...."), The Byrds, The Mamas & The Papas, Paul Revere & The Raiders, & briefly The Doors, Captain Beefheart -- & Mae West. She gets a chapter all 2 herself, & she's just as odd as any of these other personalities....
It's vivid & funny & charming, but there's not enuf of it. 1 of Taylor's tangents asks how people become critics -- Taylor was 1 4 awhile during his newspaper career in northern England -- & how he wishes people could B warned up-front about lazy, uninformed, bitter critics. He found-out 1st-hand as a PR guy that there R a lot of them out there....
Worth a look -- you'll get sucked-in fast. But at the end you'll wish there was 2wice as much....

COMING SOON:
Rock Snobs Radio!
Joel Whitburn answers MOST of my questions
The Last Exit
& more....

Listomania!

2011-09-25T03:19:00.000-07:00

Got Dave Marsh's original BOOK OF ROCK LISTS (1981) 4 an Xmas or birthday present back around 1983 & enjoyed it even if I wasn't Xactly bowled over -- I marked it up & desecrated it & marked all the Good Parts & earmarked especially good pages, like I do with almost all the books I keep (I've gotten a LITTLE better about this as I've grown older)....
But even as I was enjoying it I realized it wasn't as good as it should've been. There wasn't enuf comedy. There was 2 much "Best songs of the year"-type stuff -- stuff rabid rock&roll fans would already know anyway. There was a list of Elvis's greatest hits. Marsh & other critics' lists of essential albums & 45's thru the years. There were a lot of silly space-filling lists about "best bassists," "best guitarists," stuff like that.
You could see the book WANTED 2 B a lot of fun. The effort was there. But the execution.... It was just a little thin, somehow. Not fun enuf.
Marsh & James Bernard's 1994 update THE NEW BOOK OF ROCK LISTS is more like it. It's massive -- nearly 600 pages. All those old best-of-the-year lists R gone. MOST of the kinda-pointless how-much-do-you-know-about-the-Beatles-or-Elvis? lists are gone. There's a lot of then-new stuff on Rap & Hip-Hop artists (doesn't do much 4 me, but summa the stories R pretty funny). There's a lot less effort wasted in trying to make the book a critical piece -- a lot more time spent on just funny, off-the-wall or intresting stuff. There's probly a little 2 much space spent on Tipper Gore & the Parents' Music Resource Center.
But if all else fails, the book's big enuf 2 use as a doorstop. Or a bookend.
There is at least 1 new critical theory in this book: that Eric Clapton's laid-back, lazy & useless "Wonderful Tonight" -- a fairly big hit in '78 & a fairly common item on Classic Rock radio -- is actually a frustrated peek inside the final days of Clapton's marriage 2 Patti Boyd, about how frustrated he was that she took so long 2 get ready for EVERYTHING, including dinners; that his frustration with her was bursting out of him, & finally took shape in what is perceived as a sweet laid-back lovesong -- no suprise they got divorced soon after.
Ghod forbid. I might actually havta listen 2 the WORDS of that wretched song 2 find out if Marsh & Bernard & Co. R right. Who woulda thot such a piece of hackwork had such hidden depths...?
There's lotsa other Good Stuff too: Chrissie Hynde's advice to women rockers; 21 rock stars who'd lose an intelligence test against Beavis & Butt-head; Really Dumb Record Deals; Overrated Music Biz Managers & Moguls; a ton of hilarious Dubious Achievement Awards; The Most Pathetic Grammy Award Winners (the list could sure B LONGER); Artists that critics think can do no wrong; the best & worst books about rock&roll; best pop-music fiction; 150 essential post-punk albums; Worst Career Moves; the best & worst "live" albums; tons of stuff on or about Parliafunkadelicment; rock&roll's "Enemies List"; 25 amazing censorship cases; best & worst album covers; clues in the entire "Paul is Dead" story; the 40 worst #1 hits; the 40 worst #1 albums; albums & songs where you can allegedly hear Satan lurking (anybody ever played Pat Boone records backwards?); & lots more....
I haven't marked this up yet, tho I HAVE started dog-earing pages 4 later reading....
Frank Zappa's list of his 10 Favorite Rock Critics is sorta balanced-out by Tipper Gore's 10 Favorite Rock Albums. But if you're a fan, this book's a keeper.

A look back at SMiLE

2011-09-22T03:25:00.000-07:00

So, is there anything left 2 B said? Is there anything new that CAN B said at this late date about this wonderous psychedelic classic, this masterwork in which the Beach Boys & their resident genius Brian Wilson caught the imagination of the public & ushered-in the Love-Filled Spring of '67?
Perhaps it's enuf 2 just recap how this amazing album changed the face of pop music all those years ago....
Brian & his Xtended family delivered SMiLE on-schedule as a sort of Christmas present in mid-Dec 1966, just a few months after their psychedelic hymn "Good Vibrations" had topped the charts. Tho it's safe 2 say that at 1st radio programmers & listeners alike were blown away by this new music, within days radio stations across the country were playing the album from start 2 finish, sometimes around the clock.
The 1st single, "Heroes and Villains," was released at the same time as the album, & reached the #1 spot after only a coupla wks. Tho more complex than "Good Vibrations" -- & featuring a strange, arty & fun "Part 2" on the B-side, the single went on 2 sell a million & SMiLE's success was assured.
But the Boys & Capitol Records didn't stop there -- after "Heroes" had its run, Capitol released the gorgeous, maze-like Western folktune "Cabinessence" as a follow-up, & the song's unique cinematic production & marvelous vocals made 4 another chart-topper.
The SMiLE hat-trick was completed when the gorgeous & dramatic "Surf's Up" hit #1 a coupla months later.
By then SMiLE had already sold a coupla million copies & new fans were flocking 2 C the Boys on their latest tour -- which climaxed with them performing B4 the "peace, love & flowers crowd" at the Monterey Pop Festival, where they performed the entire SMiLE album flawlessly, then encored with all their old hits. They brot down the house, & witnesses claimed that then-new acts such as Jimi Hendrix, The Who & Otis Redding were in awe of Brian & the Boys' ability 2 perform their complex new music in a live environment.
Meanwhile, fans were discovering that beyond the hits, the album was a nearly bottomless treasure trove of gems -- like the airy & bubbly "Wind Chimes," the hilarious singalong "Vegetables," the mournful "Old Master Painter/You Were My Sunshine," the comical bopping chickens in "Barnyard," the gorgeous 1-of-a-kind vocals in "Child is Father of the Man," "Our Prayer" & "Gee," the eerie "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow," the bouncy & breezy "On a Holiday," & the spooky "In Blue Hawaii." & of course there was "Good Vibrations" 2 top it all off....
The album went on 2 win a ton of Grammy Awards: for Best Album, Best Pop Vocal Performance, Best Producer, Best Instrumental ("Mrs. O'Leary's Cow"), & Best Engineering. At last count SMiLE had sold more than 8 million copies.
But that was just the beginning. You could say SMiLE changed the face of pop music, ushering in the psychedelic era, pointing the way 2 a lighter, airier approach 2 popular music & composition. SMiLE also created a more optimistic, sunny outlook in the counterculture -- a development that was 2 have long-lasting effects....
The 1st big impact from SMiLE was when the Beatles announced they were retiring. The formerly-Fab 4 were in England working on their intended masterpiece, SGT. PEPPER, when they received an advance copy of Brian & the Boys' work. Beatle John Lennon said later that hearing SMiLE destroyed their sessions. They had bn unable 2 complete an intended epic-masterwork called "A Day in the Life," a psychedelic collage called "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," & a nightmare called "I Am the Walrus." All 3 trax eventually were bootlegged in unfinished, fragmentary form.
Beatle Paul McCartney said later that when the quartet realized they couldn't finish these adventurous productions or reach the heights of Brian & the Boys, the Fabs knew there was nothing left but 2 give up. The writing was on the wall. Lennon said it took him years 2 recover.
It could B said that SMiLE changed the world, as well. The optimistic outlook of the counterculture -- & of many Americans who heard the album -- led the U.S. 2 withdraw from the Vietnam War B4 the end of 1967. Sen. Bobby Kennedy latched on2 this optimism & rode the wave 2 B elected President in 1968. The States went on 2 remain the world's top superpower -- but with a kinder, gentler, more optimistic, more HUMAN outlook when dealing with our neighbors around the world.
The results of this "gentle revolution" can B seen in the peaceful, friendly, bustling, technology- & success-drenched world we all see around us 2day -- a world where everybody has a place & where every1 has a chance 2 succeed....
No suprise that Brian was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 4 his efforts in bringing peace & enlightenment 2 the world....
Brian retired after SMiLE, choosing 2 stay at home in Bel Air & write occasional ditties at the piano in his sandbox. He said he'd written his "Teenage Symphony to God" -- he claimed there were no more masterworks in him.
But the Boys kept touring, & Brian occasionally wrote or co-wrote hits 4 them, when it amused him 2 do so. These pleasant hits -- perhaps less adventurous but still very enjoyable -- continued thru the late-'70s: "Darlin'," "Do it Again," "I Can Hear Music," "This Whole World," "Add Some Music to Your Day," "It's About Time," "Long Promised Road," "Feel Flows," "'Til I Die," "Marcella," "Sail On, Sailor," "California Saga," "The Trader," "Good Time," "Johnny Carson," "Good Timin'" -- I'm sure you know the list....
The long-term impact of SMiLE is all around us, each day. The roots of the peaceful, tranquil, high-tech world we live in can B traced straight back 2 the philosophy Xpressed in that modest little album with the "Smile store" cartoon on the front cover, released in December of 1966.
Just try 2 imagine what the world would B like if Brian & the Boys somehow never finished it...?

More music, less motto

2011-09-21T03:27:00.000-07:00

...Yeah, well, I'd liketa blog more often, but.
I've bn sick 4 the last week, fighting some kinda cold/flu/upper-respiratory THING that won't go away. I'm coughing-up a lung right now -- Xcuse me while I wipe off the screen....
Just when I think it's gone, ... it comes back.
This cold/whatever is apparently connected 2 the wild swings in temperature & weather around here lately: low-90s & sunny 10 days ago, 50's & raining a day later -- & continuing that way 4 the next week....
Haven't played NE music in weeks, other than at work. Most days have bn 2 tired 2 get 2 it B4 work -- & 4 the past week my roommate has been home 24/7 fighting-off his OWN cold/flu/upper-respiratory whatever, in his case made worse by his downing a dozen beers per nite & smoking 2 packs of cigs per day. He sez whatever he's got it's not catching -- he's bn 2 a doctor. So my problems R my own damn fault. NEway, no point trying 2 play music while he's home, cos I'd never hear it over his TV.
Am I whining? Fine, I'm whining.
Other than that, everything's about the same.
I'll try 2 get back 2 the music soon, actually have a few new things up my sleeve.... SUPERNATURAL FAIRY TALES, WONDEROUS STORIES, The Fifth Dimension's SECRET GARDEN, & the SMILE SESSIONS highlights coming in Nov....

Continuing my love-hate relationship with local radio, which I listen 2 every nite while I'm at work. They think a lot of themselves -- it shows in their on-air mottoes:
* "The best mix of everything." Uh, well no.
* "It's DIFFERENT here." Well, it's not diffrent ENOUGH.
* "Seattle's ONLY Classic Rock station." Yeah, & with your playlist it's EZ 2 C why that is....
* "We play ONLY the hits of the '60s & '70s!" ...& a few lame '80s hits slip in when we get forgetful or lazy....
* "We play what we want." 2 bad it's mostly what everybody ELSE wants 2 play, 2....
This past Sun nite all the overplayed "greats" were on the air: "Smoke on the Water," "Stairway to Heaven," "Sweet Home Alabama," "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart," "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "Layla," "Hotel California," "Band on the Run," "Slow Ride," "Heartache Tonight," "Life in the Fast Lane," "One of These Nights".... It was stunning.
At least 1nce they threw in something slightly unXpected, Deep Purple's "Hush" -- but I don't remember NEthing else that suprised me.
Even Little Steven was playing a lotta familiar stuff on the "Underground Garage." But at least he threw-in The Launderettes' "Red River" & The Smithereens' "Sorry" -- & there was a nice birthday tribute 2 Joan Jett. I've only recently realized that her "I Hate Myself for Loving You" is a pretty great piece of no-frills rock&roll. & I liked a few of the back-up trax on her I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL album, especially "Nag" & "Be Straight" & mayB a coupla others I can't remember now....

Hope y'all R healthier than I am. More soon....

(Insert your title here....)

2011-09-18T02:50:00.000-07:00

Reviews of: Maxim Jakubowski and Malcolm Edwards: THE SF BOOK OF LISTS (1983)/Joel Whitburn: THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF SONGS AND ARTISTS (2009)/Joanna Russ: THE COUNTRY YOU HAVE NEVER SEEN (2007), TO WRITE LIKE A WOMAN (1995), & HOW TO SUPPRESS WOMEN'S WRITING (1983)/Dominic Priore: SMILE: THE STORY OF BRIAN WILSON'S LOST MASTERPIECE (2005)/Chuck Eddy: ROCK AND ROLL ALWAYS FORGETS (2011) & STAIRWAY TO HELL: THE 500 BEST HEAVY METAL ALBUMS IN THE UNIVERSE (updated edition, 1998).

THE SF BOOK OF LISTS was the most-fun 3+ hrs of reading I've had in quite awhile. It's in no particular order, there's no index or table of contents, it's completely disorganized -- & makes 4 great bathroom or waking-up reading. & if you're a science-fiction fan, the funny stuff is REALLY funny: I coulda used more lists like the 10 "Unreadable and Overrated SF Novels" -- & that list coulda bn a LOT LONGER....
But there's also "10 Characters Who Have Promoted The Consumption of Coffee In Improbable Quarters Of Space And Time"; the late John T. Sladek Xplaining some of the Real World's biggest unXplained mysteries; Spider Robinson's List Of Silly Weapons; Brian Aldiss's 10 Favorite Cities; Famous science-fiction & fantasy writers who've committed suicide; SF & fantasy writers who've also played rock&roll, & LOTS more....
There's also a LONG list of award-winning novels & stories -- info which is available in lotsa other places & which I coulda done without, but without which the book woulda only bn 1/2 as long.... There's also a long list of best stories of the year based on SF's annual best-of collections -- I'll havta go back & see how many of 'em I've read: a pretty large percentage, I'll bet....
Overall, good mindless fun with which 2 blow a few hrs if you're a fan....

Whitburn's ULTIMATE BOOK OF SONGS AND ARTISTS is a sorta stripped-down, edited BILLBOARD TOP POP HITS book 4 folks with iPod's -- I don't have 1, but I thot an up-2-date list of hits might help me track down some more-recent stuff.... & Bsides, this book was WAY cheaper than Whitburn & BILLBOARD's massive TOP POP HITS bible. Chart positions Rn't even mentioned, & Whitburn lists "classic album trax" as well as Top 40 stuff. There R a few suprises: Ike & Tina's "River Deep, Mountain High" is in here (marked as a "classic") -- but I wish there were more entries 4 Love (3) & Spirit (2). Led Zep has 36 songs listed; the Beatles have 98. Elvis gets almost a full page.
Way more up-2-date than I am -- we'll C how often I use it....

Russ's COUNTRY collects all of her angry, sarcastic & brilliant '60s & '70s book-review columns from THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION (I was bummed 2 learn there was only 1 of them I hadn't read B4), + some essays & an acclaimed scholarly piece called "The Wearing Out of Genre Materials." Worth tracking down if you've never read her reviews, which were scathing -- & hilarious. WRITE LIKE A WOMAN has more essays, & 1 hilarious piece on '70s Gothic Romances: "Someone's Trying to Kill Me, And I Think It's My Husband." I've barely gotten in2 HOW TO SUPPRESS -- lots more anger, & I've already thot of sevral women SF writers who escaped from Russ's trap-theory....

SMILE is a little disappointing. Priore doesn't add much 2 the story that wasn't already in his brilliant '90s scrapbook LOOK! LISTEN! VIBRATE! SMILE! There's 2 much scene-setting back-story here -- nearly 50 pgs of it in a 200-pg book. NE1 who's intrested in this book knows who the Beach Boys were & what SMILE was supposed 2 B. There R ways of including this info without making it a big infodump 2 lead off yr book. The book could also have bn proofread 1 more time....
Priore doesn't get much new stuff outta the SMILE-era-recording stories either. But he IS solid on Brian's 2005 reconstruction of SMILE -- which was done with some friends of Priore's!
There R some wild accusations made here 2 -- 1 is that the Beatles heard a batch of SMILE trax during a visit 2 LA, against Brian's wishes -- adding more fuel 2 his Dcision 2 abandon the project in mid-'67.
This book should make a Dcent companion 2 the SMILE SESSIONS BOX due 4 release Nov. 1. But if you're a BB's or SMILE fan, I'd still track down Priore's earlier book -- Dspite the scrapbook 4mat, there's a lotta fascinating stuff in it....

ROCK AND ROLL ALWAYS FORGETS is also a touch disappointing. Most of it is reviews of '90s stuff I don't care much about. & tho Eddy includes his Xcellent review of Rhino's HAVE A NICE DAY series (from ROLLING STONE), he doesn't even include the review that allegedly led producer Rick Rubin 2 team Run-DMC up with Aerosmith....
I'll havta C how much of this is of use 2 me. The INTRO is intresting tho: I didn't know Eddy served in the Army -- & not as some base-newspaper guy, either: He was an artillery officer in Germany! No WONDER he likes stuff LOUD....
Speaking of which, when I 1st read STAIRWAY TO HELL back in '92 I thot the 1st 50 pgs were a screaming laff riot ... but then I hadta set the rest aside 2 finish as a duty later. The '98 version includes more pgs & reviews of the 100 greatest metal albums of the '90s.... Not really my area, but I'm hoping 4 a little education.... Keeping in mind that Eddy thinks anything really loud with guitars qualifies as metal. His top pick 4 all time is LED ZEP 4, of course. But the book also includes punk, disco & lots more. The Ramones R in here, as R the Sex Pistols. & AC/DC don't rank so high....
If this turns out 2 include major yucks I will report more later....

Stump the band

2011-09-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

UPDATE: Seattle-area radio stations still get a C-minus grade overall 4 their music selections. NEthing they play during the day is still just a warm-up 4 their nighttime programming. But the locals DID suprise me with a few good & unXpected songs on Sun nite as I tried 2 finish working thru the hottest & busiest week of the year.
I started paying attn when my buddies at my fave oldies station KMCQ-FM 104.5 tossed-in Ike & Tina Turner's 1966 classic "River Deep, Mountain High" -- a heavy-melodrama Phil Spector masterwork that's right up there w/ "Be My Baby" & "Baby I Love You" & "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" -- & which peaked at #99 in America. I'd NEVER heard it played on radio B4.
So I cranked it up as loud as it would go -- the tiny little store-stereo speakers were rumbling & distorting w/ the sound of Spector's Wall Of Sound Orchestra trying 2 escape -- & I yelled 2 a customer: "Is this the end of the world?"
"Sure SOUNDS like it," he said -- which gave me a chance 2 go in2 my rap about what the song was & what a suprise it was 2 hear it on radio....
The folks at KMCQ followed-up a few mins later with another great shoulda-bn-hit, Todd Rundgren's "Couldn't I Just Tell You?" -- a power-pop gem from 1972, from Todd's album SOMETHING/ANYTHING?, which has lots more great tunes on it. Never heard "Couldn't I Just Tell You?" on the radio B4, either.
Some1 at KMCQ knows what they're doing -- even if they DO play 2 much Tom Jones & Frank Sinatra & Bobby Sherman & Perry Como & Shaun Cassidy. Still....
A few mins later a coupla high-school-or-slightly-later-aged guys walked in, 1 w/ spiked purple hair pointing 2 feet straight-up outta his head, + a Nazi-swastika T-shirt -- & the other wearing a Ramones T-shirt. & I said: "Hey, it's like being back in 1977 again! How ya doin...?!"
But I had 2 interrupt this tirade 2 turn up The Stylistics' 1972 classic "You Are Everything." Still a sucker 4 that "Sweet Soul."
The locals continued w/ occasional pleasant (tho not shocking) suprises thruout the evening. 4 every "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" & "Philadelphia Freedom" & "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" (sorry 2 pick on Elton) -- or 1/2adozen lame Eagles songs, the local stations followed up w/ Badfinger's "No Matter What" & "Baby Blue," "Closing Time" & "Rockabye," & The Spinners' "I'll Be Around." It coulda bn worse.
Other high points:
Loreena McKennett: "The Mummers' Dance."
Dave Edmunds: "I Hear You Knockin'."
Modern English: "I Melt With You."

Little Steven's Underground Garage followed later with a slew of overlooked greats & suprises -- as part of a show in tribute to the victims of 9/11 & 2 the people of New York City. The high points I caught included:
John Lennon: "New York City."
Bob Dylan: "Talking New York."
The Masterplan: "Fourteenth Street."
Freddy Cannon: "Palisades Park" -- which I thot was the best song in the world when I was 6 years old; it's still pretty great.
Jimi Hendrix: "Crosstown Traffic."
Launderettes: "Red River."
Velvet Underground: "I'm Waiting for the Man." Kinda a shock 2 hear this on the radio -- tho of course they coulda played "Heroin" & REALLY shocked me.... You sure can't mistake Lou Reed's voice 4 NE1 else's....
Blondie: "Sunday Girl."
Dictators: "Avenue A." Kinda cute considering their reputation....
Smithereens: "Sorry." Nice rumbly guitar & good choruses.
Dion: "If I Fall Behind." Coulda bn straight outta the '50s but apparently was recorded just a few years back....
Nancy Sinatra: "How Come the City Never Sleeps?" The B-side 2 "These Boots Were Made for Walkin'" -- intresting, if not Xactly a classic....
Jim Carroll -- "Different Touch."
+ a coupla Ramones trax I was unfamiliar with, including 1 that's apparently not-officially-released yet...? 2 bad these weren't on when the punk-rock guys walked in2 the store....
+ a couple by Bruce: "The Rising" (good, solid, high-quality stuff from The Boss) -- & "Meeting Across the River," which has a gorgeous mood, great piano by Roy Bittan & superb mournful trumpet from Randy Brecker. ...Of course, I have the BORN TO RUN album in the house, but had never played this track. Proving again that I'm impatient & 2-easily bored & that I can overlook stuff 4 YEARS....
...Would love 2 hear Spanking Charlene's brilliant, hard-hitting & hilarious "Dismissed With A Kiss" again, but Steven hasn't played it the last coupla wks.... Just found out during a Google search last nite that the song was released back in 2007 -- proving again that I'm at LEAST 4 years Bhind the times. No suprise there. But I'm still learnin....
More soon....

9/11 +10

2011-09-11T03:06:00.000-07:00

Lotta sirens going off out there 2nite, even 4 a Sat nite, even 4 a Full Moon. Hope it's just people being stupid, drunk drivers winding up in the ditch & so on.
Just B4 I left work, 1/2adozen police cars, an ambulance & a coupla fire engines screamed off 2 the east, out toward where the ferry dock 2 Seattle is. & a few mins later 1 of the ambulances w/ a 2-car police escort raced back the other way toward Bremerton.
I hope it was just an ugly car wreck, not something worse. There's nothing on the Net, the newspapers don't come out 4 hours (& might not have it), & the radio stations I listen 2 at work R useless 4 news. But you never know....

I don't remember that much about 9/11. I remember being awakened by my old girlfriend's son, calling & crying that the World Trade Center had bn hit & we were all gonna die. I remember switching-on the TV & seeing that chilling footage of the 2 towers collapsing in2 a cloud of dust. I remember going in2 shock, 3,000 miles away from where it all was happening. Here's what I wrote in the journal I kept at the time:

"...Bn a wild week in Reality: On Tues morn, Islamic terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center & part of the Pentagon, & the stunning saturation-news coverage of the event & the rescue operations after have continued ever since. Just stunning, terrifying -- thousands dead, & the pictures & stories continue 2 suck us in2 the TV nite after nite. Some amazing reporting being done, & TV again unites the country after a horrible disaster like no other media can. (The old girlfriend) has had a lotta trouble sleeping since Tues, she's hadda coupla bad nitemares -- I'm pretty sure she's worried about her son who's on Okinawa & getting ready 2 deploy with the Marines."

...Her son would go on 2 pull 2 tours in Iraq, 1 as a troop-driver in the initial invasion force.

...What I mainly remember is how QUIET it was during the days after. All air travel was grounded 4 a coupla days after the attack, & it was so QUIET where I was (Raymond, Wash). & the weather was beautiful. I was working in the Pacific County Superior Court Clerk's office as a part-time archivist then, & from their 2nd-floor windows you could see all the way west down the Willapa River in2 the bay & seemingly the ocean beyond -- & all of it framed in silence.
Everyone who came in2 the clerk's office talked quietly, even if they were upset -- which folks often were when going 2 criminal court or juvenile proceedings. But no1 raised their voice, no1 wanted 2 cause more upset. Everyone spoke in hushed tones.
& everybody kept looking out the windows, as if we all Xpected another attack any minute.
I think we were all waiting 4 the other shoe 2 drop -- wondering if the attacks were over, wondering if it could get any worse.
& nobody talked about the attacks, other than 2 say how terrible it all was. Most people hardly talked at all.
Everybody was quiet, thotful, distracted, a little tense, wondering what could happen next.
This went on for days.
& the radio kept playing Brotherhood of Man's "United We Stand." Great song, I'd always liked it. But now I can't hear it without thinking of 9/11....

...The old girlfriend & I broke-up & got back 2gether, & I was holding her hand when the 1st "shock and awe" footage of the Iraq War played over CNN a few months later. I knew she was thinking her son was soon gonna B in the middle of that mess....
He came out of it OK, but he's had nightmares & other problems 2....

...Those R my 9/11 memories, & they aren't much.
Hope you all are well. Be careful out there today. & every day....

Letters from home

2011-09-08T04:20:00.000-07:00

Indian Summer here, temps in the mid-80s, 90s predicted by Sunday. For us, that's HOT. Summer finally got here, just in time 4 back-2-school....

Currently re-reading Kathe Koja's THE CIPHER (1991): really creepy, & as abrupt & painful & involving as NE of her work -- & Tom Wolfe's THE RIGHT STUFF (1979): hilarious, especially in his overuse of the phrase "burned beyond recognition," among other things. The chapter "The Lab Rat" is a classic. Great how Wolfe can joke about this stuff (the gathering & life-histories of the 7 Mercury astronauts) & still get across all the basic info 2. Never really liked Wolfe that much, but this & THE ELECTRIC KOOL-AID ACID TEST are both pretty great....

This is probly gonna sound a little sentimental, but so what....
I wish there were more good music bloggers out there. Because I'd like 2 read them.
Ghod knows I've tried. I've found a dozen or so bloggers whose writing I can enjoy, relate-to, or at least have fun disagreeing with -- & I check-in with them almost every day.
I urge You Out There 2 read Rastro (at www.lahistoriadelamusicarock.blogspot.com/ and at www.lahistoriadelamusicarock.tumblr.com/), Crabby (at www.rscrabb.blogspot.com/), & Gardenhead (at www.onavery.blogspot.com/). Not only R they all more musically obsessed than I am, they know their stuff. & they're funny.
This new guy Groove Sandwich is pretty funny too (www.groovesandwich.com/) -- he's also a musician & knows his music theory.
There's also some good folks out there who've started posting a little less-often recently 4 various reasons: Drew (at www.drewsoddsandsods.blogspot.com/) has posted some real good stuff in the past, + some Xcellent reviews of albums I'd overlooked. But recently he's developed a Real Life separate from blogging, & who can blame him if that's where his attn goes? You go, Drew! (& I'm not just saying this cos Drew's sent me more readers in the past year than I can even believe....)
Layla (at www.laylasclassicrock.blogspot.com/) recently went back 2 work after being unemployed 4 awhile, so you can see where her attn might B going. B4 that she posted a TON of Classic Rock news at 1 of the longest-running & most popular blogs of its kind. She also sometimes writes more personal stuff at her other blog, "Writing from the Inside Out."
Perplexio (at www.perplexio76.blogspot.com/) has posted some great stuff in the past, tho he seemsta have slowed down recently. 1 of his best reviews led me 2 grab Nick Hornby's rock&roll novel JULIET NAKED awhile back, & you should too....
Tonal Memories (www.tonalmemories.blogspot.com/) has posted some intresting stuff in the past, but family matters seemta B eating up his time these days.
The grandaddy of all web-reviewers, Mark Prindle (www.markprindle.com/) is still as hilarious as ever, despite some recent upheavals in his life. His recent reviews of the Complete Works of a band called Anal Cunt made me laff until my head hurt. (Jeez, 1st the Butthole Surfers & now this?)
Eoin Butler (www.eoinbutler.com/) only occasionally posts about music, but as a working journalist over in Ireland he's posted some amazing -- and often hilarious -- stories at his blog "Tripping Along the Ledge."
Adam at "There Will Be Blog" seems 2 have retired....
...& at 92, longtime science-fiction writer & editor Frederik Pohl is still showing the rest of us how to do it at www.thewaythefutureblogs.com/.
...I think what grabs me about a lotta these people is that they don't just blog about music or books or current events or whatever -- they talk about their jobs, their lives, the thots that go thru their heads during an avg day, how they get thru each day, what their lives are like. I feel like I know some of these people & that's pretty neat.
It ain't always pretty. But it's always REAL. & reading someone who speaks from the heart -- even if they're angry -- is as involving 2 me as any music review.
There used to be more. Now I can't even FIND the wildman in Orlando who's every progressive-rock review ended with the music descending like a "caterwauling cacophany into the very bowels of Hell." Sure he could barely write in English, but he was 1 of a kind! & his spooky review of Van der Graaf Generator's PAWN HEARTS finally convinced me 2 grab that scary album awhile back -- suprised I had enuf nerve 2 finally put it on the CD player! Xpected 2 get scared out of my wits....
I've tried a bunch of other bloggers & there R a few I haven't quite made up my cluttered mind about, but I wouldn't mind finding more good 1's. In fact, I'd love it.
Problem: Try punching in "good rock music blogs" at Google & see what happens. I got 249 MILLION results. Life's 2 short 4 that -- tho I did look at a couple dozen.
I've also tried "music blog aggregators" like Digital Meltd0wn, & that didn't narrow stuff down much either.
So here's the deal: If you're a music blogger doing something diffrent or adventurous or personal or funny, drop me a line, I'll check you out, review you here, & point my dozen-fans-worldwide your direction.
Or if there's some1 you're reading who's absolutely freaking brilliant & hilarious, lemme know. I'll appreciate it, & I'll let other folks know 2.
I don't even havta "agree" with you, musically. But if you hate all the stuff I love, you're gonna at least havta B entertaining about it....

Charts!

2011-09-03T15:08:00.000-07:00

I guess they still publish music-popularity charts -- USA TODAY prints a way-detailed weekly list based on sales & download numbers from Soundscan. But these charts R no longer about singles sales -- R there "singles" NEmore? Now it's all about downloads.
Bsides, the charts R way broken-down & categorized. There is no more "Top 40," hasn't bn 4 years. Now it's all Adult Contemporary & Modern Rock & Alternative & Hot Country & Urban & Whatever. Not like Back In My Day when Every1 KNEW what was Number 1.
But, as the folks at the PENGUIN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF POPULAR MUSIC say, when looked back on from a few years later, charts develop their own certain charm.
I Bcame aware of charts fairly early in my singles-buying period. By early 1971 I knew there were musical-popularity charts issued weekly, & every time I grabbed 2 or 3 of the latest 45's (at 77 cents each!) I made sure 2 score a copy of the latest chart.
In Tacoma, Wash., where I was at the time, these charts were issued on legal-lengthed lite-green-shaded sheets of paper. 1 side listed the current Top 100 hits, complete with title, artist's name, record label & serial number, current chart position, position the week earlier, & position 2 weeks ago. A lot of data.
The B-side had an alphabetical list of current hit albums -- 100+ of them, many by people I'd never heard of then, tho mosta the names quickly Bcame more familiar.
I can guarantee you that at least 1/2 the songs on that "Top 100" singles list I NEVER heard on the 2 best local AM stations, Tacoma's KTAC & Seattle's KJR. Some of the songs that made the Top 40 I never heard on the radio. When The Moody Blues' "The Story in Your Eyes" peaked at something like #39 locally, I'd heard it played on the radio 1nce. When The Buoys' silly-horror "Timothy" hit #1 locally, I'd never heard it played on local radio.
This sorta thing seemed 2 happen a lot. I often thot the charts failed 2 follow my musical reality. It got weirder when I discovered Casey Kasem's AMERICAN TOP 40 countdown, based on BILLBOARD magazine's official nationwide sales & airplay chart, & aired every Sun nite on KJR. I often didn't like BILLBOARD's official numbers -- Melanie's "Brand New Key" made #1?! By bumping off Don McLean's "American Pie"?! Sacrilege!
AT40 also played a lotta stuff I'd never heard B4 & couldn't really relate 2 at the time -- & a lot of it I never heard again. But the Good Stuff seemedta never climb HIGH enuf: Crabby Appleton's "Go Back" peaked at #31?! Dwight Twilley's "I'm On Fire" peaked at #17?! Who was compiling this data?
It got weirder when I moved back 2 Idaho & started looking at hometown-fave Top 40 station KFXD's charts. In late '73 their charts listed the top 40 hits, but also a bunch more stuff, broken down in2 sections labeled "Hot" (4 current big hits), "Moving" (Not-quite-so-hot hits), "Warm" (4 stuff that had cooled off), & "Night" (4 songs they only played at nite -- album trax & such). This made 4 a giant 3-part fold-out chart with tons of data on it.
It was only slowly that I realized no1 seemed 2 B proofreading this stuff or keeping track of the chart data. Songs would miraculously debut at #2, then vanish from the chart a week or 2 after dropping outta the top spot. Songs that got massive airplay at the time (Steely Dan's "My Old School," ELP's "Still You Turn Me On," Poco's "Here We Go Again," 10 C.C.'s "Rubber Bullets," Aerosmith's "Dream On," Ian Thomas's "Painted Ladies") would get only middling numbers on the charts, which were supposedly based on sales, requests & airplay. Uh huh....
This oddness continued at the end of '74 when Olivia Newton-John's "I Honestly Love You" (which never got played on XD when it was popular -- possibly cos it wasn't rock&roll?) swooped outta nowhere 2 Bcome XD's #1 song of '74 in their end-of-the-year countdown. What...?
A few years later XD put out a massive chart 2 celebrate the station's 20th Anniversary or something, & listed all the biggest hits of the previous 20 years. I'd previously heard the station play Paul Revere & the Raiders' "Do Unto Others" & announce it as "a Number 1 hit from the Summer of '67" (it was actually a B-side, but the Raiders were a hometown band). So I checked XD's anniversary list 2 C if it was there. & of course it wasn't, cos "Do Unto Others" never made #1 on NE chart in this universe. Instead, XD printed the titles of all the usual BILLBOARD-approved top hits you'd Xpect....
I was starting 2 wonder in what fantasy world these charts were compiled....
When I worked at the record store & started ordering 45's 4 the 4-store "chain," I found out how easily a single could make it on2 the local charts -- R selling 20 copies a week of "Another One Bites the Dust" was enuf 2 guarantee it the #1 spot. & 4 us 2 sell 20 copies a week of NE single was like an earthquake....
I kept grabbing copies of XD's weekly music survey (now a great deal simpler & more compact) thru at least the end of '79, but the music was boring & I was 2 close 2 the chart mechanics 2 get much fun out of it. I had a pretty good stack of those charts piled up, but I tossed them all around '80 or so -- I figured there was nothing left that they could teach me, & the new stuff was 2 dull 2 get much of NEthing from.
...The weird part is I'd pay (small) $$$ 2 get some of them back now -- especially the Washington charts & the early XD's. Now I feel like there's a lot I could learn from them, that a quick study might in some ways re-cast my musical memories from age 11 to 20. I probly didn't realize what I had -- that's usually the way it works 4 me.
Awhile back I found a website that posts some of this old chart info, they even had a few charts from KFXD, KTAC & KJR. But not enuf, or not from the right period. So if NEbody out there can hook me up in the intrests of more solid & realistic musical history....

The "F" List

2011-09-02T02:56:00.000-07:00

4 awhile it looked like it was gonna B THE WORST nite of radio-listening since I started listening again fairly religiously a coupla months ago. Nothing But The Beast -- wretched excess & shit, overplayed crap I'd heard 1,000x B4 -- this stuff wasn't helping my work-nite go EZer, wasn't helping my job-related stress disappear. This was Not Working. At All.
The Seattle-area radio stations FINALLY got better, but it took them until after dark, as if everything earlier was just warming-up. 4 everything B4 9 pm they get an F. After that I'll give 'em a C.
Thot I might B in trouble when the 1st time I turned on the radio at work on Thurs evening it was in the middle of "Sweet Home Alabama." Could hear that NE nite of the week. But I couldn't find NEthing better, so I switched the radio off & got some other things done, handled a madhouse rush-hour of customers -- many of whom were heading out 2 Njoy their Fri nite -- we hava lotta fed gov't Mployees here who work 4-day work-weeks, so Thurs nites work as a sorta preview of Fri.
It didn't get better. The overplayed instant-tuneouts continued. When I checked back, hadta avoid "Cold as Ice," "Tequila Sunrise" & "My Eyes Adored You." Then "Walk of Life" -- 2wice within 10 mins. "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2." "Wouldn't it Be Nice" -- yeah, greatest pop album ever, sure, but the most overplayed song on it cos it's closest 2 the Beach Boys "sound." "God Only Knows" woulda bn nice....
The crap continued with:

Phil Collins: In the Air Tonight.
Ricky Nelson: Travelin' Man.
Stones: Beast of Burden, Start Me Up.
Cliff Richard: Devil Woman.
Beach Boys: Kokomo. They've bn playing this WAY 2 much lately....
Free: All Right Now.
Abba: Dancing Queen. Hey, Abba's great, but there are LIMITS....
Cream: White Room, Sunshine of Your Love. Ugh. But "Badge" is still amazing....
Dylan: Knockin' on Heaven's Door.
Blood, Sweat & Tears: Spinning Wheel. I tune-out immediately almost anything by BS&T Xcept "And When I Die" ... & "You've Made Me So Very Happy." If I'm in a really good mood. Which I wasn't.
Queen: Another One Bites the Dust.
Journey: Open Arms.
The Band: Up on Cripple Creek. Is "The Weight" the only good thing they ever did?
Rita Coolidge: Higher and Higher. Just say no.
Bowie: Young Americans.
Steve Miller: Jet Airliner.
Eagles: Take it Easy, The Long Run.
Tull: Aqualung.
Heart: Magic Man.

...About here this ongoing rain of shit got me thinking about summa the other stuff Seattle radio has played recently that I have mercifully not mentioned un2 You Out There. But karma being what it is, those days R OVER. I also got 2 thinking about some other immediate tune-outs & wondering why radio still 4ces such crap upon us. Who actually LIKES these songs? There must B SOMEONE -- but have you ever met them?
Olivia Newton-John: Physical, Heart Attack.
Whitney Houston: I Will Always Love You, The Greatest Love of All. I tune-out everything by Whitney Xcept "I Want to Dance With Somebody."
Doors: Hello I Love You.
Elton: Don't Go Breakin' My Heart, Honky Cat, Bennie and the Jets.
America: Tin Man.
Foreigner: Hot Blooded, Dirty White Boy, etc.
Carpenters: Top of the World.
Deep Purple: Smoke on the Water.
Leon Russell: Tightrope. SO much better when he DOESN'T sing....
Janis Joplin: Xcept for "Me and Bobbie McGee," which I can almost stand....
Later Chicago: Mostly everything after "Hard to Say I'm Sorry"....
Fleetwood Mac: "Dreams" & "Don't Stop." Both lame.
ANY of Clapton's "laid back" stuff, like "Lay Down Sally," "Wonderful Tonight," etc. Not "Promises," tho, which has rather nice choruses & backing vocals....
Pat Benatar: Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Hell is for Children.
Doobie Bros: What a Fool Believes.
Blondie: The Tide is High.
...I know there's WAY more... I'll get back 2 this again the next time I'm feeling real cranky....

Mercifully, things got better. The stations finally seemed 2 realize it was NIGHT TIME & the Labor Day WEEKEND is coming, & they lightened up. Summa the following is way overplayed 2, but....
It may not seem like much, but I thot things were improving when I caught the Carpenters' guitar outro 2 "Goodbye to Love" -- THAT I cranked up. I've always loved it.
The radio folks followed-up with:
Steely Dan: Rikki Don't Lose That Number. Never liked this much back in the day, but am loving it more as the years go by, especially that sly piano & the later gtr solo.
Cat Stevens: Moonshadow.
ZZ Top: La Grange. Best thing they ever did? Have always loved the sorta muttered vocals at the beginning.
Blondie: Call Me.
Steve Miller: Jungle Love.
Bowie: Changes.
Heart: Crazy on You.
Kinks: Shangri-La. Also cranked this up loud....
Pat Benatar: We Belong.
Cee-Lo Green: Forget You. Love the way he whines like a baby in the middle -- & the funny lyrics.
Doobies: Taking it to the Streets, Long Train Runnin'.
CSNY: Carry On.
Who: Behind Blue Eyes.
Yardbirds: For Your Love.
Rod Stewart: Maggie May, twice, within 15 seconds of each other....
Stones: You Can't Always Get What You Want.
Rush: The Spirit of Radio.
We Five: You Were On My Mind. I don't get 1/2 the words & I don't care, it still sounds great loud, & those group vocals....
Tommy James & the Shondells: I Think We're Alone Now.
Van Morrison: Caravan.
Chicago: Wishing You Were Here.
Fleetwood Mac: You Make Loving Fun.
Stevie Nicks: Stand Back.
Beatles: Back in the USSR.
Paul Revere & the Raiders: Hungry.
Coldplay: Clocks.
Des'ree: You Gotta Be.
Def Leppard: Photograph.
Elton: Your Song.
Clash: Train in Vain (Stand By Me).
Creedence: Bad Moon Rising, Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
Blind Faith: Can't Find My Way Home.
THAT's a good way 2 end the evening....