Tracking down Olde Favorites

Summa this stuff goes back a yr or more, but whattheheck -- thanx 2 a coupla really good 2nd-hand stores in the area, the folks at Amazon.com, & a few others, I've managed 2 track down at pretty cheap prices a few Olde Favorites of mine, + a couple fairly recent items other folks have raved about.
I've written here B4 about how I sometimes think my musical nostalgia should B left in the past -- about disappointing Xperiences I've had tripping-over stuff I hadn't heard in 30+ yrs (Lobo's "California Kid and Remo," Donovan's "Life Goes On," Tim Moore's "Second Avenue," Five-Man Electrical Band's "Julianna"), stuff I'd treasured when I was younger that I can hardly stand 2 hear now, that make me wonder what I heard in them 2 Bgin w/. Well, this go-round turned out a little better. A few Xamples:
* Doobie Brothers: "Neal's Fandango" (1975, from STAMPEDE) -- Yeezus, why wasn't this a HIT? GREAT rolling rocker, w/ Xcellent Pat Simmons guitar, great group vocals, good nostalgic lyrics that'R nevertheless outta the way FAST, high NRG, everything U'd ever want -- Xcept a good Nding. It slams in2 a brick wall after 3-1/4 mins! Why? It coulda gone on 4 another 3 or more & I wouldn'ta cared. They coulda at least faded it out.... Or attached Jeff Baxter's pretty solo-acoustic "Precis" 2 the Nd.... Elsewhere on STAMPEDE, "I Cheat the Hangman" goes the 6 mins that "Fandango" shoulda, & tries 2 achieve a sorta cinematic drama ... & doesn't reach it. 1st 1/2's pretty good, tho....
* Synergy: "Warriors" (1975, from ELECTRONIC REALIZATIONS FOR ROCK ORCHESTRA) -- A lotta synthesizer music doesn't work 4 me, sounds 2 cold. But no matter how cold he gets (& this is pretty distant), I've always liked mosta Larry Fast's mid-'70s synth adventures (SEQUENCER is 3/4's great, only CORDS Cms 2 artificial). This is gorgeous, mournful, distant, haunting -- & it drags on 4 a marvelous 13 mins!
* The Wackers: "I Hardly Know Her Name" (1972, from HOT WACKS) -- Had this on tape 4 yrs, taped by a friend of mine back in '77. Still sounds great -- catchy, great vocals, good gtr, but it's over in less than 2 mins -- WAY 2 soon. Resta the album isn't as immediately grabby, so far....
+ Chris Hodge: "We're On Our Way" (1972) -- This just makes me shake my head & laff in disBlief. This sounds JUST LIKE Marc Bolan/T. Rex! I don't know a thing about Chris Hodge; this single was a 1-shot on Apple Records that I heard mayB 1/2adozen times on Tacoma, Wash.'s KTAC AM in the summer of '72, then it vanished. Silly lyrics mixing sex & space travel, nice supersonic gtr, w/ some Indian/sitar accents that wouldn't suprise me if they indicate George Harrison was lurking in the background somewhere. Hodge's silly "Oooh! Ah!" vocalisms predate Lindsey Buckingham by 5 yrs. Produced by Tony Cox -- common name, but could it B the same Tony Cox that produced the 1st Yes album & some early Caravan stuff? Cool & silly, but it's gonna take me a couple more listenings....
+ Casey Kelly: "Poor Boy" (1971) -- I've never 4got10 the gtr riff that opens this (& mosta the words), Dspite not having heard this since '71. Still catchy & effective, thanx partly 2 Jackson Browne's pals Russ Kunkel, Craig Doerge & Leland Sklar as the backing band, but Kelly's gtr work's pretty great. Not sure about the resta the self-titled album this comes from -- some of it's kinda dated spacey-hippie-folky stuff. (& is his long-4got10 2nd single on here? I don't even remember the NAME of it....) The cover must notta helped sell 2 many records either -- on it, Kelly Cms 2 B sorta fading in2 the background as he strums his acoustic & a woman who looks sorta like an older Linda Ronstadt looks on from the side. But the back cover -- a close-up of Kelly's face -- is worse (nothing personal). The whole package screams '71 Hippie. No wonder the album didn't fly off the shelves...
& a coupla new 1's:
Animal Collective: MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILLION (2009) -- There's a new wave in book reviewing in which, if a book doesn't work 4 U, it's assumed the problem is U, not the book. Blame the victim? Here, I'm sure it's me. I've tried this sevral times, & I can't make it work 4 me. Kinda nice group vocals w/ electronic keybs in a loud sorta wash. But it just Cms kinda 4mless, w/ even less melodic progress & change than some of Coldplay's stuff. I'd had some hopes 4 this, since the idea of Beach Boys harmonies crossed w/ electronics sounded pretty good 2 me....
Television Personalities: MY DARK PLACES (2007) -- Guess I wasn't ready 4 the stark simplicity of this, the almost-nursery-rhyme level that Dan Treacy & friends work at. I haven't given up yet, but.... MayB if I'd bn thru some of the things Treacy has (jail time, homelessness, nervous breakdown) I'd wanna keep things simple 2. But I thot he'd address summa these things more directly.... I've read that this useta B a pop band. I'm still reminded of Syd Barrett....