OK, so tonight, Early Al Stewart. & later, Later (post-Classic-period) Al Stewart. But 4 right now:
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, 1966-1970: The Elf, Turn into Earth, Bedsitter Images, Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres, The Carmichaels, Scandinavian Girl, Pretty Golden Hair, Denise at 16, Samuel Oh How You've Changed!, Cleave to Me, A Long Way Down from Stephanie, Ivich, Beleeka Doodle Day, Lover Man, Clifton in the Rain, In Brooklyn, Old Compton Street Blues, Ballad of Mary Foster, Life and Life Only, You Should Have Listened to Al, Love Chronicles, My Enemies Have Sweet Voices, A Small Fruit Song, Gethsemane Again, Burbling, Electric Los Angeles Sunset, Manuscript, Black Hill, Anna, Room of Roots, Zero She Flies.
I was pretty-much addicted 2 Scottish folk-rocker Al Stewart in the late '70s & in2 the early '80s, from the time I heard "Year of the Cat" on the radio & then went out & bought the enjoyable but sometimes rather cold & distant album it came from.
Then while I waited 4 more new releases, I worked my way backward: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE had a brilliant 2nd side but I still don't think I've ever heard the 1st side all the way thru. I still think the underrated MODERN TIMES is Al's best album ever -- amazingly consistent songs & a solid-gold 2nd side.
Then came the 2-slick-4-its-own-good TIME PASSAGES, which nevertheless included a few hidden gems like the rockin'(!) "Valentina Way," the thotful "Almost Lucy" & the moody "Life in Dark Water." But some of it was just TOO COMMERCIAL!
24 CARROTS had great high points (the cloak&dagger theme "Running Man," the gorgeous folky "Rocks in the Ocean"), but a lot of it was mood music, pleasant enuf but not very deep. By the time of LIVE/INDIAN SUMMER, the romance was wearing thin.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN repackages Al's 1st 3 albums (BEDSITTER IMAGES, LOVE CHRONICLES, ZERO SHE FLIES) + an early single. I'd heard summa this stuff on Al's 1977 2-record THE EARLY YEARS, where I thot it was mostly flat & dull & a little overwrought. & it sure as hell didn't rock much.
But 35 years later I mighta bn wrong, & I got a copy of TO WHOM cheap, so I figured whathehell. The songs I'd heard B4 at least SOUND better here.
Al reportedly disowned all this stuff years ago. Not hard 2 see why. The 31 songs here mostly break down in2 3 diffrent types -- grim & depressing drawn-out folky ballads, Donovan/Incredible String Band soundalikes, or folky acoustic-guitar instrumentals. 1 of the big selling points of EARLY YEARS was that folks like Jimmy Page, Rick Wakeman & members of Fairport Convention helped out with the trax -- it usually didn't help much.
& you think Nick Drake is depressing? You ain't heard nothin' yet. & I LIKED Al, when he was at his best.
We gotta lotta ground 2 cover here, so this is gonna B quick. Hang tight on the curves, Al fans....
The opener "The Elf" is bouncy, folky, lite & optimistic, & shoulda bn included on his earlier best-of's. Even tho it sounds most like Donovan. "Turn into Earth" is sorta pop-jazz.
BEDSITTER IMAGES: By the time of the orchestrated pop of "Bedsitter Images," Al's voice had already softened. Al's manager reportedly was able 2 convince EMI 2 use an orchestra on the album, but it doesn't help much -- the songs mostly get blown away by the over-production. You start wondering whether the orchestra or the singer is sposta B the star here. "Swiss Cottage Manoeuvres" has strings + horns.
"Swiss Cottage," "The Carmichaels" & "Scandinavian Girl" R all kinda charming songs about love affairs, OK tho not earthshaking, long as the production doesn't get 2 heavy. But the orchestra often swamps them.
"Pretty Golden Hair" is a deceptively lite-hearted song about a victim of male prostitution. The lyrics R pretty brutal. But it's done so straightforwardly & almost heavy-handedly that it can't really B taken ironically. Which makes it kinda uncomfortable -- the 1st of sevral trax 2 have that effect.
"Denise at 16" is a vaguely pretty acoustic-gtr instrumental, the 1st of sevral. "Samuel, Oh How You've Changed!" is kinda haunting -- sounds like it might B narrated by a little girl's toy, unless I'm missing something. Again, closer 2 Donovan or the Incredible String Band.
"Cleave to Me" mostly features the orchestra showing off. A minute in, Al starts singing. "Ivich" is another, more forceful acoustic-gtr instr. The tune sounds a bit like it mighta bn recycled 4 the later "Nostradamus" or "Roads to Moscow."
"Beleeka Doodle Day" -- despite its silly title -- has some of the same ominous, doomy atmosphere that can B found in some of Al's better later work. The production is thin -- just gtr, organ & drums. & tho it goes on 4 almost 7 minutes, it ain't boring.
"Lover Man," however, IS silly, & it sounds JUST LIKE Donovan, probly on purpose. This is another of those comedy songs Al did periodically thru his career, like the later "Mondo Sinistro" & "Red Toupee."
LOVE CHRONICLES: No more orchestra! "In Brooklyn" sounds a little more like later Al -- much more folk-rocky, with definite signs of life. But then there's "Old Compton Street Blues," another painful life story, despite what sounds like some rather nice Richard Thompson gtr. "Ballad of Mary Foster" is the story of another sad, empty life, & it drags on 4 almost 8 mins -- but it's actually pretty hypnotic. "Life and Life Only" is even more grim folk-rock, but also pretty hypnotic, & with more pretty-good gtr.
Coming after this grimness, "You Should Have Listened to Al" is a nice break. Tho it's about a breakup, it's lite-hearted & brief & maybe coulda gotten some radio play. "Love Chronicles" was Al's magnum opus back in '69 -- an 18-minute recap of his romantic conquests. Sounds kinda boring, but it's not -- it's involving, even funny. There's some occasional OK gtr (possibly from Jimmy Page?), + Al snuck the F-bomb in2 the lyrics & got away with it....
ZERO SHE FLIES: "My Enemies Have Sweet Voices" is kinda stark & bluesy, with lotsa harmonica. "Electric Los Angeles Sunset" almost rocks & has some nice electric gtr -- it's almost good. "Manuscript" is notable as Al's 1st journey in2 historical topics. "Zero She Flies" is a pretty good closer, with a memorable construction & some good gtr -- it might B the best thing here. It's also the closest 2 "pop."
ZERO's songs R more forceful, less depressing -- Al's getting better. But the problem is, there's only 5 real songs here. The rest R all brief song fragments or acoustic-gtr instrumentals. "Burbling," "Black Hill," "Anna" & "Room of Roots" all have some striking gtr work -- but it's like Al didn't have enuf material 2 fill an entire album.
Overall, a decent minor talent, based on the evidence on display here.
COMING SOON: What Al's bn doing since the early 1980s....
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
#528: The smallest Air Force base in the world
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....
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....
Friday, February 10, 2012
#527: Messin' 3
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....
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....
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
#526: Global warming...?
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.
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.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
#525: The Stupor Bowl!
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....
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....
Friday, February 3, 2012
#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....
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....
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
#523: Laundry-doin' music!
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!
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!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
#522: The Walkman at tech school
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...?
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...?
Friday, January 27, 2012
#521: "That's Entertainment"
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?
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?
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
#520: "He knew the Marquis de Sade and Jean-Paul Sartre VERY well...."
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....
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....
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