The former home of Really Bad Prog

Hey, recent news got you down? Worried about the fate of the world? Thinking about emigrating to Canada? Need some laughs? Check out The Progressive Rock Hall of Infamy, here. If you're a big Prog fan, these guys are freaking hilarious. And even if you're not.
At their blog, you'll find hilarious (and REALLY long-winded) reviews of some of the worst Prog albums ever, their readers' choices for The Five Worst Prog Bands Ever (and the bloggers' 20 nominees for this ultimate dishonor), long reviews of obscure Prog albums no one's ever heard of, lots of hilarious cheap shots, and even reports of death threats the writers received for their reviews. Really great fun, and they're even from Seattle.
Only one problem -- they stopped writing in 2010. But don't let that stop you. Their blog shows clearly that being devoted to Prog is A Mission. And it's amazing how much crap they listened to in order to carry out a public service.
Plus they're funny as hell, besides.
Yes, they love King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator. Yes, they hate Yes. And ELP. And Styx. And Camel. Don't let this stop you. If you're a Prog fan, you need to check 'em out. And you can thank me after you finish laughing. That may take awhile....

TAD's Top 11, once and for all

After a bad experience at a "Make your own Top 10 list" website (which shall go nameless here), I've decided to post my All-Time Top 11 Albums here and invite y'all to join in by posting your faves and criticizing mine, because criticizing each other's musical taste is one of the great un-taxed joys of life.
If you survive this list, feel free to submit a list of your favorites in the "Comments" section below. I don't care about format, toss in all the commentary you want. The more, the merrier. Because this is all supposed to be about discussion, community, sharing, communication. You can all join in. Don't be shy. Don't be lurking, now. Here we go.
TAD'S TOP 11 (this week):
1. Beach Boys: PET SOUNDS. Best pop album ever. Even if half the first side drags. The second side's almost pure gold. Timeless magic.
2. Beach Boys: SMILE SESSIONS. Gorgeous, amazing song fragments, sketches, even completed songs! Brian Wilson was a friggin musical genius. He shoulda been composing movie soundtracks. Too bad about some of those deadheads he hung out with....
3. Gryphon: RED QUEEN TO GRYPHON THREE. Best instrumental rock album ever. "Lament" itself will change your life ... if you can sit still long enough to hear all of it.
4. Go-Go's: TALK SHOW. More great pure pop for then people. Their best, punchiest, rockiest album. Much more than cheery good times, some stress and heartbreak too. And amazing tunes that will stay with you forever.
5. Bangles: DIFFERENT LIGHT. Still more pure pop. I admit I'm a sucker for women singing catchy songs. The second side's just about perfect.
6. Moody Blues: THE PRESENT. Their best, most consistent album ever. Mellow, nostalgic, reflective, gorgeous. They should have retired after this.
7. Pretenders: (First album.) Got me through 1980 alive! Great lyrics, amazing guitar, and the Attitude! "Lovers of Today" and "Mystery Achievement" will change your life.
8. Nick Drake: BRYTER LAYTER. Gorgeous folk-rock mood-music. Almost every song works its amazing magic. And it's not dark and it's not depressing.
9. Beatles: ABBEY ROAD. Well, what can I say?
10. Yes: YESSONGS. Best live album ever. So great you can throw almost half of it away and not miss a thing.
11. Providence: EVER SENSE THE DAWN. A kinder, gentler Moody Blues album full of great, unforgettable songs. Put it on and fool your Moodies-fan friends.
RUNNERS-UP:
* Fleetwood Mac -- TUSK. Perfect to do housework by.
* Caravan -- FOR GIRLS WHO GROW PLUMP IN THE NIGHT. Swingin', rockin' big-band arrangements, sweeping melodies, great vocals, hilarious lyrics.
* Happy the Man -- CRAFTY HANDS. Gorgeous progressive rock.
* Group 87 -- (First album.) The second-greatest instrumental rock album ever. Soundtracks for your dreams.
* Gryphon: TREASON. A kinder, gentler Jethro Tull album for the punk-rock era.
* Renaissance -- LIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL. Stuck-up, snobby classical-rock with beautiful tunes.
* Illusion -- OUT OF THE MIST. Modest, quiet classical-rock with beautiful tunes.
* Sky -- SKY2. Two discs of virtuoso progressive rock that could have used a sense of humor. But check out the hilarious liner notes....
* The Who -- WHO'S NEXT. "Lifehouse" could maybe have been better than this, but the charge and punch and melodies and playing are all unbelievably great. If you're not sick to death of hearing it all over and over on Classic Rock radio....
* King Crimson -- THE YOUNG PERSON'S GUIDE TO KING CRIMSON. Two-record set of most of their best from the '60s and '70s. Screeching, rocking, powerful, out-of-control guitar and twisted intellectual lyrics. This stuff will Change Your Life. And some of their very best work ISN'T HERE....
* King Crimson -- THE GREAT DECEIVER (LIVE 1973-74). Second-best live album ever, with some amazing playing. They weren't always inspired, but they were always powerful. And whatta sense of humor....
OK, there's a 22-item "Top 11" list for you to think over. Now it's your turn. I know this will require a little thinking, but no more than a minute or two. After all, why do we do this stuff if it isn't to strain our brains and show off a little?
I'll be looking forward to your lists....
(This means more than just you, Crabby. But you're invited too, of course....)

#730: Christmas presents

Good Ghod -- my newspaper-career memoir, THE CONFESSOR, is almost done at 63,000 words/about 200 pages, just a little longer than my last book. I've written 25,000 words in the last week. I don't know why all this stuff is coming out so fast but I'm not going to question it.
All I have to do now is proofread the thing, which I started doing tonight. I think the first section -- about my experiences at journalism school -- is vivid and funny. I'm hoping I can keep it up.
Might take a few days to proofread, add a little, drop a little, dot the T's and cross the I's, etc. But at this rate, the book might be out for y'all to look over at Amazon.com's Kindle Store by Christmas. I'm hoping so.

Also: From Dec. 21 through Christmas Day, my first e-book, GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC!, will be available FREE at Amazon's Kindle Store. You can already download the first 20 pages for FREE there right now and see what you think.
Right now, I'd be happy if a few more people read the book and let me know what they thought.
Speaking of which, my hat's off to Tim Breshears, who posted his review of GGM at Amazon.com. Four stars! I'm grateful -- I owe you a dinner, Tim.
Help your friendly local aging hack writer plan for his imminent Retirement -- buy a copy of GUARANTEED GREAT MUSIC! for Kindle for Christmas. And if THE CONFESSOR just happens to be there too by then, what the hey...?
I'm going to continue to give this stuff away for $2.99. Except for the freebies, of course.

Hey, BTW -- Rastro is BACK, doing his thoughtful music-reviewing thing at La Historia de la Musica Rock. He's posted a couple reviews in the past week, some of his picks for best albums of the year, and he says there's more coming. Check him out, rejoice and enjoy. We've missed you, buddy....

We all know the most overplayed Christmas songs -- we hear them to death every year at this time. But the folks at the syndicated music-news-and-reviews radio show SOUND OPINIONS played some great obscure Christmas songs during last Sunday night's show, hope you caught them.
Practically everything they played was great -- especially Cheap Trick's "Come On, Christmas," Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody," and The Ramones' "Christmas Night (I Don't Want to Fight)."
But their expert's pick for greatest Christmas song ever was The Kinks' 1977 classic "Father Christmas" -- which really is freakin' awesome -- you'll be singing along with the choruses by the end, and there's some great guitar from Dave Davies. It sounded just slightly familiar, like I may have heard it once years ago....
SOUND OPINIONS has been doing some great stuff the past few months. See if you can track them down in your area. Here, they air every Sunday night at 10 p.m. on KUOW, 90.7 FM, the University of Washington's radio station. Or you can check them out at soundopinions.org/.
Happy holidays....

#713: Meanwhile....

...The Book is over 46,500 words, 85 single-space-typed pages, about three-quarters of the way toward what used to be a "normal-sized" novel. If I can write 15,000 more words, then I can start thinking about what to take OUT.
It's been an interesting experience -- things about my old record store days are still coming back to me, stuff I haven't thought about in 30 years, happenings I've never written about anywhere. Every few days I think I really have exhausted the material ... and then something else starts bubbling up.
Am still writing 500 to 2,000 words per day, even on work days. It's a great way to wake up. I have a couple more little things to toss in, then am about due to read back through everything and see where I want to go next.
Only thing that bugs me so far is I can see there's a lot of telling and not enough showing -- a lot of describing and not enough dialogue. But I'll be working on that....
Also, my journals from back then tell me little bits and pieces of some things that allegedly happened, but I've COMPLETELY forgotten about the rest of some incidents. Guess that's where the "fiction" will come in. Luckily, this hasn't happened too often. What I CAN remember from those days has kept coming back to me like it was last week -- and at least once these memories have forced me out of bed at 2 a.m., over to the laptop before I forget everything.
Needless to say, I'm now making notes constantly....
May post some more short, funny sections here if more occur to me -- if it's something that can stand on its own and doesn't need much explaining....

I remain musically bored. The last two CDs I ordered either got lost in the mail or were stolen out of my mailbox. That bag of CD's I take with me to work hasn't seemed worth the trouble to put on the player, most nights lately. But work itself hasn't been much of a problem, recently. Maybe it's because things are starting to cool down into Fall, and the nights are becoming less busy. Maybe it's also because I have other things to think about, these days....
Anyway, I do occasionally play some music at work, mostly the Same Old Stuff, but also including:
JoDee Messina -- Heads Carolina Tails California.
Kansas -- Miracles Out of Nowhere, Questions of My Childhood.
Doobie Brothers -- Neal's Fandango.
Jethro Tull -- Skating Away on the Thin Ice of the New Day, Teacher.
Led Zeppelin -- Good Times Bad Times, When the Levee Breaks, Over the Hills and Far Away.
Fleetwood Mac -- Oh Well, Why?, Green Manalishi.
Florence + the Machine -- Shake it Out.
Modern English -- I Melt With You.
Church -- Reptile.
Sly and the Family Stone -- Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin.
Marvin Gaye -- What's Goin' On?, Inner City Blues, Trouble Man, Ain't That Peculiar?, You're All I Need to Get By (with Tammi Terrell).
Rascals -- See, People Got to be Free, A Beautiful Morning, Carry Me Back, Good Lovin'.
Stevie Wonder -- I Was Made to Love Her, My Cherie Amour, For Once in My Life, Signed Sealed Delivered, If You Really Love Me.
Four Tops -- Reach Out I'll Be There.
Gladys Knight and the Pips -- I Heard it Through the Grapevine.
David Ruffin -- My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me).
Temptations -- I Can't Get Next to You, Ball of Confusion.
Jackson 5 -- I Want You Back.
Supremes -- Up the Ladder to the Roof.
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles -- Tears of a Clown.
Undisputed Truth -- Smiling Faces Sometimes.
Blondie -- Dreaming, Call Me, Hanging on the Telephone, Union City Blue.
Boston -- Used to Bad News.
Chicago -- Questions 67 and 68.
Spinners -- I'll Be Around, I'm Coming Home.
BTO -- Blue Collar, Roll On Down the Highway.
Pam Tillis -- Homeward Looking Angel.
I don't think JoDee Messina is the most natural vocalist in the world -- she sounds kind of awkward and hesitant at the start of "Heads Carolina." But once she gets rolling and those choruses kick in, all my reservations go right out the window. Great stuff, and it makes me smile every time.
One Store Regular was thrilled to hear "Miracles Out of Nowhere," though at first he couldn't place who it was. He said hearing it made his night. That's always nice to hear.

Was bummed when longtime science-fiction writer and editor Frederik Pohl died over Labor Day weekend. He was 93, and over the past few years had been writing a popular online memoir at The Way the Future Blogs.
Pohl was a heckuva novelist in the '70s and '80s -- books like GATEWAY, BEYOND THE BLUE EVENT HORIZON, HEECHEE RENDEZVOUS and MAN PLUS had a big impact on me. I was only able to get halfway through his CHERNOBYL, a "docudrama" about that Russian nuclear disaster -- it was a little TOO Real, if you know what I mean. I still have Fred's THE YEARS OF THE CITY on my bookshelf waiting to be read. For awhile in the '70s and '80s, Fred Delivered The Goods every time, whether it was a new novel or a short story in one of the SF magazines.
He also had an amazing career as an editor. In the '60s he edited GALAXY and IF magazines through their best years, boosting the careers of writers like Robert Silverberg, Roger Zelazny, Harlan Ellison, Larry Niven, James Tiptree Jr., Keith Laumer and dozens more.
In the mid-'70s he was editor of Bantam Books' SF line and brought out difficult novels like Joanna Russ's THE FEMALE MAN and Samuel R. Delany's DHALGREN and TRITON. Brave, uncommercial choices. But they usually paid off....

Have also read (and heard) that Linda Ronstadt has lost her gorgeous singing voice, due to Parkinson's Disease. I was at times a big Ronstadt fan -- didn't think everything she did was great, or sometimes even worth listening to -- but moments like "Long Long Time" and "Someone to Lay Down Beside Me" are in my collection, plus the entire MAD LOVE album, especially the great "I Can't Let Go" and an amazing dramatic vocal on Elvis Costello's "Party Girl"....

If you haven't already, you should check out 2000 Man over at Dropped for Negligible Interest. Though I hesitate to compare bloggers, 2000 reminds me a bit of Rastro before he went quiet. I like 2000's mix of old and new stuff, and especially his nostalgia trips to Back In The Day (as in his recent posts about albums by Bruce Springsteen, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, Fleetwood Mac, etc.) -- anybody who reads here shouldn't be surprised by my addiction to that. Be sure and give 2000 a look. And my thanx to Crabby for turning me on to another great blogger....

Haven't read much for fun lately -- have been too busy writing with most of my free time.
Will be Back Soon with at least a short list of "do-overs" -- oldies I wish someone would re-record BETTER....

#637: Biggest impacts

Over at Circle of Fits, Seano & his friends have posted & started taking responses 2 a list of the 100 Most Influential Albums Ever -- a tough list 2 argue with, even if I haven't heard summa the newer (last 30 years) or British entries. Most of the albums on the list will come as no surprise, if you're a big music fan. They're all titles you probably know well.
But it got me thinking....
I don't much care about which albums have had the biggest influence on The World, but I can tell you off the top of my head which albums have had the biggest impact on ME. & basically it's the same old list, you'll find no big surprises here. But if you haven't tried some of these, you should. You might be very pleasantly surprised....
For almost all of them, I can remember where I was & what I was doing when I 1st heard them. They mark the years for me. In more-or-less descending order....

Moody Blues -- The Present, To Our Children's Children's Children, A Question of Balance, Long Distance Voyager, Days of Future Passed, Seventh Sojourn.
Beatles -- Abbey Road, White Album, 1962-1966, 1967-1970.
Beach Boys -- Pet Sounds, SMiLE.
Who -- Who's Next, Thirty Years of Maximum R&B best-of, Quadrophenia.
Yes -- Yessongs, Going for the One.
King Crimson -- Young Person's Guide best-of, The Great Deceiver/Live 1973-74.
Gryphon -- Red Queen to Gryphon Three, Treason.
Nick Drake -- Bryter Layter.
Pretenders -- 1st.
Providence -- Ever Sense the Dawn.
Boston -- 1st, Third Stage, Don't Look Back.
Genesis -- A Trick of the Tale, ...And Then There Were Three....
Renaissance -- Live at Carnegie Hall.
Illusion -- Out of the Mist.
Happy the Man -- Crafty Hands.
Al Stewart -- Modern Times, Year of the Cat.
Go-Go's -- Talk Show, Beauty and the Beat.
Bangles -- Different Light, All Over the Place.
Group 87 -- 1st.
Caravan -- For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, Canterbury Tales best-of, Blind Dog at St. Dunstans'.
Camel -- Nude, The Snow Goose, Breathless, Rain Dances, The Single Factor (side 2).
Clannad -- Macalla, Pastpresent best-of.
Justin Hayward and John Lodge -- Blue Jays.
Fleetwood Mac -- Mirage, Tusk, Rumours, The Chain best-of.
Kansas -- Leftoverture.
Queen -- A Night at the Opera.
U.K. -- 1st.
Fairport Convention -- Fairport Chronicles best-of.
Phil Spector -- Wall of Sound/Greatest Hits.
Gentle Giant -- Pretensious best-of, Free Hand.
Split Enz -- Waiata, History Never Repeats best-of.
Shoes -- Present Tense.
Neil Diamond -- Greatest Hits/Classics: The Early Years/The Bang Years.
Rush -- Chronicles best-of, Moving Pictures.
Kate Bush -- The Kick Inside, Never for Ever, Lionheart.
Pink Floyd -- The Wall, Wish You Were Here, Echoes best-of, Dark Side of the Moon, Piper at the Gates of Dawn.
Strawbs -- Story in Music best-of (Italian import).
Amazing Blondel -- Fantasia Lindum.
Nektar -- Thru the Ears best-of.
Sky -- Sky2.
Suzanne Vega -- 1st.
Grace Slick -- Dreams.
Wings -- Venus and Mars.
Sally Oldfield -- Water Bearer.
Hawkwind -- Hall of the Mountain Grill.
Led Zeppelin -- IV, In Through the Out Door.
Elton John -- Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
Jethro Tull -- Songs From the Wood, Stormwatch, Minstrel in the Gallery (side 2).
Journey -- Infinity, Escape.
Cars -- Heartbeat City, 1st.
Jefferson Starship -- Freedom at Point Zero.
The Jam -- Setting Sons.
Jefferson Airplane -- The Worst of.
Bread -- Best of Volume 1.
Hollies -- Romany.
Wigwam -- Nuclear Nightclub.
Janis Ian -- Between the Lines.
Cyndi Lauper -- She's So Unusual.
Blue Oyster Cult -- Agents of Fortune.
Mike Oldfield -- Tubular Bells, Ommadawn, Incantations.
Rare Earth -- One World.
Lobo -- Introducing.
Partridge Family -- 1st, Sound Magazine.

...As I get older, it's getting harder to "impress" me, or even 4 me 2 find new music that I actually LIKE. The last 2 albums I remember being completely knocked-out by were Fleet Foxes' 1st & Jordin Sparks' 1st.... I was especially impressed last year with Love's FOREVER CHANGES -- the good parts R really great, but I wish I'd heard it years earlier....
...Is this list a bit wimpy when it comes 2 REAL LOUD rock&roll? Well then, it is. I'm a well-known wimp from WAY back....
...This list may B added-2 at any time due 2 my failing memory.
Your thoughts...?

#601: Last man standing...?

Is music blogging Over With? Is the blog as we know it dead? Are these even important questions? (And I was just getting rolling....)
Today I read that my buddy Crabby over at Crabby's Music Review and Top 10 Site is seriously considering retiring at the turn of the New Year. He won't be the 1st. But if he hangs it up, I'll miss his cranky ranting about local radio & his Xcellent Weekly Top 10 lists of the Overlooked.
But there've bn a LOT of music bloggers dropping out over the last year or so. Maybe the newness wore off. Maybe they didn't get enuf feedback. Maybe they have Real Lives 2 devote themselves 2 -- a much better choice than spending all your free time stuck in front of a computer.
Last time I checked, Groove Sandwich had become a working musician and college student. Layla hasn't posted in over a year at her formerly-very-popular Classic Rock blog. Drew has a family life, & tho he'll pop up every couple months with a nature/photo update, I guess you could say he's semi-retired. He's not even doing Green Bay Packers updates this year! (Go with the family thing Drew -- & Thank Ghod 4 the visitors you keep sending me....)
Perplexio hasn't posted 4 awhile at either of his websites. Seano at Circle of Fits has been taking a lot of breaks over the past year, most of them due to health issues. Lex Dexter at The PrisonShip is taking a LONG break over problems that I think he could maybe write his way out of -- it worked for me awhile back.
Even Mark Prindle -- the Godfather of us all, without whom I wouldn't be doing this -- hung it up awhile back.
A few R hanging in there -- Rastro is still posting stuff at his Tumblr site, & we R continuing 2 wreak comedy havoc on Hunter S. Thompson & Larry Niven at Fear and Loathing in Known Space 2x a week, but with the World Series & the prez election, R's bn a busy guy.
Gardenhead is continuing 2 post great stuff at Asleep on the Compost Heap -- he just recently posted a review of his favorite album of 2011! The NERVE! I don't see him ever stopping, either....
As 4 me, there R LOTS of things I still wanna talk about, time & energy permitting. I still have a box of weird CDs from Crabby I'm trying 2 get thru, & more stuff stacked-up that I hope 2 listen-2 someday. I still have Air Force stories & Newspaper stories I wanna write-up. I still have stories & novels I wanna read & talk about. & there's sure 2 B more fits of Nostalgia I'll B posting here without prior warning, & Ghod Knows what might set them off.
I'm still having fun here. But then, I've been a compulsive writer since age 10, & it always makes me Feel Better to have written something, no matter how meaningless & silly.
So I'm gonna keep going, as long as me & the World's Smallest Laptop hold out. Thanx 4 dropping by -- & for gosh sakes will all you good folks from the U.K. & Russia & the Ukraine & the Netherlands & France & Canada & Germany & wherever-else please leave me a comment so I can figure out what the heck you're all reading?
Take care, all You Out There. More soon!

#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....

#524: Open letters....

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....

Letters from home

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....

Rastro goes Tumblr -- great stuff!

Hey, B sure & check out Rastro's new LA HISTORIA DE LA MUSICA ROCK Tumblr site at www.lahistoriadelamusicarock.tumblr.com/ -- it's punchy & funny & quick, & summa the photos he's posted R freakin' GREAT -- some of them R even sorta scary, Hank Williams Sr., 4 1....
Anyway, it's all good 2 C cos 4 awhile I thot Rastro was gonna take the Summer off. So B sure & check out his wit & musical knowledge in a new, quick & easily digestible format. Really, he does more with a photo & a few well-chosen words than I can do in a 2,000-word essay.
...& I'm not just saying this because of the great women-guitarist photos he's been posting....