#726: Book 2

I'm 18,000 words/somewhere around 40 pages into a new book, another memoir -- this time about the 20 years I wasted in the newspaper-reporting business -- to be called THE CONFESSOR. Don't know if anybody will care, my last book ain't exactly makin' me RICH, but what the hell -- I've got to get this stuff down while I can still remember it.
The problem this time will not be GETTING to 60,000 words/200 pages -- the problem will be keeping the book from getting too long for anyone to bother reading. I've got a lot of great/outrageous stories to cram in there -- only a couple of which you've seen here.
Just as in my last book, there will be a ton of embarrassing personal details to show what a putz I was back in the day -- and still am. You all know I have no shame.
I'll keep you posted on how this goes. So far I'm up through about 1988, most of the way through my second Air Force assignment and first REAL AF base-newspaper experience. Should be a scream when I'm finally finished.
So far the writing hasn't been tough -- couple days in a row I've cranked-out around 6,000 words. Again, the problem's going to be eventually deciding which details to DROP OUT so readers will be able to actually get through the book while they're still young.
This book-writing stuff's become as compulsive for me as blogging, and way easier than I expected -- and it's too late to turn back now....
Meanwhile, my record-store memoir GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC! has sold a massive four copies, and the playlist that goes with it, RECORD STORE DAZE, was snapped up by 50 folks when it was available free a couple weeks back.
Both are still available at Amazon.com's Kindle Store for $2.99. In the spirit of the season, those of you Out There who are as broke as I am will want to know that more sale deals are Coming Soon. I'll keep you posted....

Also recently had pop into my head another song that should have been in the playlist and isn't, 999's "Inside Out," which I haven't heard in almost 35 years. As I remember, the choruses were pretty great -- driving New Wave/Punk Rock -- but I can't remember anything about the verses. The album it's from, THE BIGGEST PRIZE IN SPORT, IS included in the playlist, so I didn't completely blow this one....

A new post about Split Enz's great overlooked 1981 album WAIATA will be posted soon at Guaranteed Great Music!, along with reviews of some "one-sided wonders" like Spider, The Records, Tarney/Spencer Band, New England, Holly and the Italians, and etc., and that will all be coming along soon.
But right now I've got to take a break and warm up. It's 35 degrees and foggy outside, the house has no central heat, and my fingers are about to turn blue and break off. More eventually....

#725: WTF?

Just went on Washington state's health-care-finder website and learned that with my current income I can be medically covered with a massive deductible for "only" $161 A MONTH. And that's AFTER my $300 income-tax credit. Hails of hysterical laughter: Hahahahaha....
WTF? I don't have the money. They can bloody well fine me. If I was BLEEDING FROM MY EYES I couldn't afford $161 a month for medical care. God, do they think we're all MADE of money?
What the hell is wrong with this country? How does this plan benefit anybody? I'm broke, but there are millions of people WAY worse off than me -- how are they gonna manage? Or is my problem that I'm just not broke ENOUGH?!
Where's that free health care I thought some of us were supposed to qualify for? Do I have to be living in my car and eating dirt before I can "afford" to see a doctor? Did I miss something?
Good thing I'm currently in pretty good health. I'm overdue for a SERIOUS trip to the dentist, but otherwise I don't feel TOO bad. So if I start having health problems, my plans remain the same -- to throw myself upon the mercy of the Veterans' Administration, who assured me a few years ago that even though I only served 10 years in the military, chances are I DO qualify for VA benefits.
I'm holding on to that right now, because clearly Obamacare is a farce. This is not what he wanted. This is not what ANY of us wanted.
I remember writing about this stuff a few years back, when I went to see a doctor for a 50-year physical/check-up ... and it ended up costing me something like $270. But at least I got to talk to someone.
This is not about being able to keep my current doctor, because I don't have one. This is about being able to afford to see ANY doctor. EVER.
And meanwhile, Obamacare in its current perverted form is sending MILLIONS of new customers to the insurance companies -- open season, lambs to the slaughter -- under penalty of fines or losing their future income-tax refunds.
Well, the federal government can kiss my big fat disease-free behind. If I pay $161 a month for health care, how am I supposed to pay for anything else? Oh, I know -- just give up my car, give up my room, live under a bridge, stop eating?
I'm just getting by as it is, and I know there are millions more who are way worse off.
What a friggin joke. And meanwhile the insurance companies pile up the money. I see LOTS of people on the road these days who can't even afford to renew the license-plates and registration on their cars. How the hell are they gonna afford THIS?
We all went into the wrong business. We should've gone into insurance. Or banking. Or government.
Anybody out there wanna DEBATE this?

#724: A few new additions....

Hey there. Been doing most of my on-line writing lately over at Guaranteed Great Music!, where there are 4 posts up so far with more coming soon.
Posts so far include a little bit about my book, some of the stuff I forgot to get into the book, a dozen items I somehow left out of the playlist/discography that goes with the book, and one album review (of The Shoes' great PRESENT TENSE). Coming soon will be reviews of albums by Split Enz, Spider, The Records, The Headboys, Tarney/Spencer Band, New England, Grace Slick, Group 87, Sky, and many more overlooked albums from back in the day.
As of 17 November, 39 folks have picked up free copies of RECORD STORE DAZE, my 20-page detailed record-store-era playlist, and that's flattering. But only three folks have bought copies of my 190-page record-store memoir GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC!, which I think is the more important part. If you think the playlist is intriguing, please check out the real book, available now at Amazon.com's Kindle Store for a measly $2.99 -- where you'll get the stories BEHIND the playlist....

I'm already started on my next book, which I hope will be a longer memoir about the 20 years I wasted in the newspaper-reporting business. I'm already 4,000 words into it, and I'm aiming to call it THE CONFESSOR. I'll keep you posted....

Meanwhile, on my last "weekend," I hit my favorite local second-hand store, Jen's Attic in Bremerton, and scooped up a few things. On vinyl I grabbed Cream's HEAVY CREAM best-of (so I can hear "Deserted Cities of the Heart" and "Those Were the Days" again -- and "Badge," of course), Dave Edmunds' TWANGIN', Teena Marie's STARCHILD (is this her album with all the heavy guitars on it? Hope so), and Van Morrison's SAINT DOMINIC'S PREVIEW.
Looked at Lou Reed's NEW YORK so I could get some idea what all the fuss about him was, but it was warped BAD. So he'll have to wait 'til later.
Haven't had a chance to test-out any of these yet.
On CD I was able to score some stuff I've wanted to get in the house for years, like the Eagles' "Outlaw Man" and Paula Abdul's "Blowing Kisses in the Wind." Hadn't heard "Outlaw Man" since about 1974, and it still sounds great, not a letdown at all. And I don't even like the Eagles much....
Also grabbed Split Enz's HISTORY NEVER REPEATS best-of, for the title song and "Hard Act to Follow," "Six Months in a Leaky Boat," "Message to My Girl," "I Hope I Never," and the cosmically silly classic "Poor Boy."
Also bagged Don Henley's ACTUAL MILES best-of, mainly for "The Heart of the Matter," which strikes me as the most human thing he's ever done. Though it's a little long, I love The Message. Always was a sucker for his "Boys of Summer." And when I'm in a really grumpy mood I almost like "Dirty Laundry," the theme song for reporters and former-reporters all over the world. Other than those, I never liked Henley that much....
Also: Bruce Springsteen's best-of, for "Brilliant Disguise" and "Born to Run" of course, and "Born in the USA" and "Dancing in the Dark." Just one question: Why isn't the marvelous "Rosalita" on here?
Oh, also grabbed ... SOME old Garth Brooks CD, just so I can hear the great "Ireland" again.
I've been inflicting all of these on customers at work ever since. Junior Walker and Booker T and the Temptations and Stevie Wonder and old Motown hits are still working too, and getting good responses from customers. Plus they keep me moving on nights when I'm draggin', which is most nights....

Hey, my thanks to Crabby, who put up a link to my e-book at his blog, RS Crabb's Music Review and Top Ten Site. Crabby has been one of my most-regularist readers and commenters since back in the day, and you should be reading him if you aren't already. Thanx, Crabbster!

Have a new post for THE GAS NAZI! about half-written in my head, so that should be coming along in the next day or so....
...So, if I'm not around here I'll be busy posting overlooked 1979-1981 music greats over at Guaranteed Great Music!, or working on my next book. I've discovered that this book-izing stuff is as obsessive as blogging -- even if it's not as fast or as immediately gratifying. Too bad I wasted so many years before I figured this out....
I'm not done here. I'll be around. So until next time, be good to yourself and grab a copy of GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC!, would 'ya? Help a feeble old man gather some funds for his fast-approaching Retirement....

#723: Nothing is easy....

OK, it's official -- my record-store memoir GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC! is now available at Amazon.com's Kindle Store for $2.99 -- which is as cheap as Amazon would let me go. I definitely think the 190-page e-book is worth it. Just punch in the title or my name -- Tracy Deaton -- and it'll be right there, along with a pretty detailed description (written by me) about what you're in for.
If you've liked any of the late-'70s/early-'80s working-in-a-record-store nostalgia pieces that I've posted here, you'll like GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC!, because there's a ton more behind-the-scenes record-store stories included....
OK, enough sales-pitching for a minute. This adventure in e-publishing hasn't been COMPLETELY smooth: Due to technical difficulties caused by me, the 18-page detailed playlist I wanted tacked onto the end of the book will now have to be published separately. It's already in the works, I'll keep you posted on that, and when it becomes available I plan to offer it for FREE as often as Amazon will permit. If you're a member of AmazonPrime or the Kindle sales-deal programs, you can already get this stuff for free....
Now then, here's why I'm excited: You know I'm a sucker for nostalgia. Yeah, this book is a memoir/autobiography and I'm all through it -- but I think it's a vivid and funny look back at the late-'70s and early '80s, a time when Disco ruled the radio and New Wave was still on the way up and we couldn't GIVE AWAY the first U2 album. There's a lot of music details here, a lot of behind-the-scenes music-industry stories (Want to know why the first Knack album sold a million copies? Want some new theories about why Fleetwood Mac's RUMOURS sold 20 million?), a detailed close-up look at a subculture that has almost died -- your friendly local hometown non-nationwide-chain record store.
Plus you'll get to meet the wild characters I worked with back in those days, you can criticize their (and my) odd musical tastes, and you can meet the friends I hung around with back then -- and the wonderful women who somehow allowed the geeky, nerdy younger me to get close to them.
If you've read the record-store posts I've written here -- or the segments of the book I posted as I wrote it -- you've got a pretty good idea of what you're in for. All I can say is there's a TON MORE of the same kind of thing, including some stories you probably won't believe, and some incidents I hadn't thought of in 35 years. Less than 10 percent of the book has appeared previously in shorter, different form on this blog.
The book's even in Real English.
If I wasn't excited, if I didn't think the book was worth your time, then I wouldn't have written it, and I wouldn't be promoting it shamelessly like I am right now. I'm pretty sure you'll have a good time. Sex and drugs and rock and roll -- it's all in here somewhere.
One more thing -- Memoirs often seem to be about setting things straight, or settling old scores. I just wanted to see how clearly I could remember those Good Old Days, and as I went on with the book, more and more details came back to me as clearly as if they happened last week.
I can understand if some of my old friends might not want to be depicted in precisely this way... But I've got to tell you: I tell WAY more stories that reflect badly on ME than I do about my old friends. I believe in Full Disclosure, and if you read the book, you'll see clearly that back in those days I wasn't always a very nice guy.
But luckily, the statute of limitations has passed for all that stuff. So consider this your warning. And your welcome.
I'd like this to be a "real" book, too -- but I've learned that self-publishing can be expensive, and everybody knows I'm a low-budget guy. So my plan right now is to (hopefully) use the e-book format to eventually fund a "real" book that you can hold in your hands. I prefer those kind. Hey, it took me awhile to get used to the idea of being "published on the Internet," too....
(By the way, if you're ever planning on writing a book, I recommend the Kindle folks -- they have been an absolute breeze to work with -- the only real problems have been the ones I've made for myself.)
My life has been leading up to this. I'm excited about it. Score yourself a copy of GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC! for Kindle and help me secure some retirement funds for my fast-approaching Old Age.
By the way, I've already got my NEXT book planned....

#722: Big News!

Big news, faithful readers -- as of this afternoon, The Record Store Book has been sent to Amazon/Kindle, and now I'm waiting to see what they think.
I'm a little shaky -- I haven't had to worry about whether some work of mine was going to get rejected in about 13 years....
I know they got it, because they immediately flagged for me what they thought were spelling errors in the text and in the playlist/discography. And I told them those "errors" were exactly what I wanted. So....
Kindle claims they can get books published in 2 days -- pretty amazing. Do they reject stuff that fast, too? All I can do now is wait and see what happens....
Can't believe I made it, can't believe I might be done. I promise to keep you posted....

This is about the only really GOOD thing that's happened to me in the last week. I'm still tired and achey and dragging, and the sun has apparently disappeared. I hate the winters in western Washington, and here comes another one.
But this bright spot might be enough to get me through.
More soon....