#554: Allabored....

Going 2 B changing-out almost all the old tapes I've bn taking 2 work 4 motivation & uplift. Most of them just Rn't Doing It NEmore. At least they weren't on Thurs nite. Rush's "Force Ten" & "Time Stand Still" still worked, but mosta the rest of the stuff I've bn carrying around in my old brown fake-leather overnite bag just ain't workin NEmore.
I didn't think it was POSSIBLE 2 hear Van Morrison sing "Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)" 2 MANY TIMES, but I could B wrong. Olde favorites by Rush, Nektar, The Nice, even Hawkwind R losing some of their OOMPH, at least 4 motivational purposes.
So it's time 2 drag 2 work a new batch. We'll C how my customers react 2 David Sancious & Tone's noisy "Transformation (The Speed of Love)," or Mike Oldfield's sensual "Ommadawn," or the woodsy Olde English sounds of Gryphon, or the silliness of the best of Caravan. A whole new round of Xperiments lies ahead, folks.
Only 1 tape kept me moving on Thurs nite, & that was my homemade Beatles' "Top 40" -- not really their top 40 songs, just 37 or so of the best Beatles songs I could find that I didn't already have on-tape at that time. This little item features:
Taxman, For No One, Got to Get You into My Life, It's Only Love, 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, I'm a Loser, She's a Woman, The Night Before, I Need You, In My Life, Wait, You've Got to Hide Your Love Away, Norwegian Wood, Hello Goodbye, Across the Universe, Old Brown Shoe, Oh! Darling, Rock and Roll Music, Ticket to Ride, Help!, Please Please Me, She Loves You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, A Hard Day's Night, Can't Buy Me Love, I Should Have Known Better, I Don't Want to Spoil the Party, Slow Down, Rock and Roll Music, Tomorrow Never Knows, You Know My Name (Look Up the Number).
 ...As you can see, a bit of a mish-mash, but it does keep me moving. Which a lotta other previously-useful stuff ain't doin right now 4 some reason, so it's time 2 shake things up a little. Ghod knows what's up next, but I'll keep you posted....
(But B4 I continue, what a collection of Great Moments, eh? The slashing guitar in "Taxman"; the driving horns in "Got to Get You"; Ringo's great cymbal-smashes in "No Reply"; the trebly showbizzy sound in "Tell Me Why"; the sly lyrics of "Night Before"; George's hilarious confidence in "Tryin' to be My Baby"; everything about "There's a Place" & "For No One" & "It's Only Love"; the great muted gtr in "I Need You"; Lennon's depressed vocal in "Spoil the Party"; the amazing backgrounds in "Tomorrow Never Knows".... These guys were pretty good. Do you think they'll ever catch on...?)

Should also have some more new reviews posted here inna few days, possibly including Miles Davis & Bill Laswell's PANTHALASSA, more of Soft Machine's THIRD, Egg's THE CIVIL SURFACE, Wigwam's HIGHLIGHTS best-of, Illusion's (2nd) & ENCHANTED CARESS, & who knows what-all else. Hope you'll check back....

BTW, if you've bn following heavy-guitarist Ted Nugent's recent escapades in the Gnus, you might wanna take a look at my buddy Crabby's detailed in-depth recap of The Nuge's entire recorded output over at The RS Crabb Music Consortium. Crabby notes both Ted's good stuff & the silly stuff -- I'm a sucker 4 the comedy. But I'll never admit it in public. If yer a Ted fan, check him out. It'll B well worth yer time....
Crabby's bn doing these catalog-recap things 4 awhile now over at the Consortium -- awhile back he did a write-up on ELP, & more recently he did a piece on forgotten '70s art-rock band Pavlov's Dog -- who had a vocalist named David Surkamp who sounded like Rush's Geddy Lee on helium. Drop by the Consortium, leave Crabby a comment or 2, & maybe he'll crank out a few more catalog-recaps in addition 2 his usual Top 10 at his other site....

Also: Been reading some non-fiction as research 4 a post I wanna do about what it was like working 4 3 years at The Biggest Missile Base In The World (Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, 1986-1989). I can report that there's some pretty good nuke-missile history books out there, tho I wish there were more. Currently reading Tad Bartimus & Scott McCartney's TRINITY'S CHILDREN (1991) which is VERY good on the history & development of nuclear weapons all the way back 2 the Manhattan Project. The chapter on life as a missileer at F.E. Warren seems a little thin....
David E. Hoffman's THE DEAD HAND (2009) is VERY good on Cold War history, & really changed my mind about Ronald Reagan's dealings with the Russians. The parts of the book about Russia's germ-warfare program R almost as chilling as Richard Preston's THE DEMON IN THE FREEZER. There wasn't quite enuf on nukes, & I don't think the book quite lived up 2 its own hype, but it's still a good solid read if you're in2 recent history....
Neil Sheehan's A FIERY PEACE IN A COLD WAR is solid on the history of nuke missiles & who got them started & placed on bases across the West back in the '50s & '60s ... but it's a little dry....
...& if you're in2 Vietnam history, awhile back I re-read Michael Herr's DISPATCHES (1977) 4 about the 3rd time, & it's as brilliant & vivid & hallucinatory as ever....