Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Top Ten Of The Week-For Your Entertainment

Madison anyone?

1.  Just One More Time-The Derailers 1996  One of the best honky tonk bands that was thirty years too late, these guys would have been on top of the country charts in the era of Johnny Cash and Buck.  Made two decent releases for Sire after Seymour Stein bought out Watermelon Records, then signed up with Sony and lost their music and vision.  Tony Villanueva retired to become a preacher but the Derailers have continued with Brian Hofeldt leading them fine with a couple of independent releases that shows their love of Buck and the honky tonks.

2.  Guess Who's Coming To Dinner-Black Uhuru 1982 They been around forever but their glory period was when Michael Rose was lead singer and the late great Puma Jones added sweet harmonies.  Their love of dub music has been the type of music to smoke herb by.

3.   Plenty Of Sunshine-Mellow The Band 2007 Fellow My Spacers made this album last year and then latched on to Renassiance Records this year but didn't make much of a dent in the music charts.  This song recalls lots of Pet Sounds era Beach Boys.  Renassiance Records have been selling this through EBAY for about four bucks and haven't heard much from these guys of late but then again I doubt if they check out the Crabb Top Ten anyway.

4.  Dinner Music Of The Gods-Al DiMeola 1980  After the end of the world will anybody even read the archives of Crabby in the afterlife?  My first album reviewed of Al Di was his 1991's Kiss My Axe but I have managed to score most of his classic Columbia albums real cheap via the five dollar sale at Amazon.com and in the budget bins at HP Books.  And no Russ, Al DiMeola isn't beatnik music but fusion progressive rock with spanish overtunes.  You'd probaly would like Al Dimeola if you give it a chance.  That's how I did it while turning you on to Frank Marino back in the old days.

5.  Take Five-Dave Brubeck 1967  Live version from the Buried Treasures CD of a unrelased performance at Mexico City, it's a rare version with no drum solo to speak of but we do get to hear Paul Desmond solo away.  Probaly one of his best performance of this song on CD.

6.  I Want You-Beau Brummels 1965  Grew up listening to the edited 45 version of this song to which you can find on the Magic Hollow 4 CD boxset which is okay to have but I think I perfer the 4 minite complete version with an extra verse and chorus.  But then again most record companies did chop songs down to the fit the three minite mark back in the AM years.  And so it goes.

7.  Around You Now-Matthew Sweet 2008  The guy has been around for 20 years now and still people think his Girlfriend album remains his best overall.  I donno, I find parts of that album a bit bloated for my liking and perfer the 1999 failure In Reverse.  He's still making that hippy dippy Sgt Pepper influnced rock and roll to this day and his new album Sunshine Lies is his best since In Reverse. But usually that don't translate into record sales.  Sometimes I think the Crabb Top Ten is more of a curse than blessing seeing most of not all my selections go unnoticed.  May as well do a top ten of fart sounds.  Found used at HP Books.

8.  Always A Friend-Alejandro Escovedo 2008  Loved him in Rank and File and True Believers but his solo career for me has been off and on.  Didn't care much for the Boxing Mirror to which was a cleansing of the soul for AE and he still is on the new Real Animal album but it may pop in on the ten best albums of this year.  Since he remembered both True Believers and Rank And File on songs on his new album, I'll give him points and perhaps a place in the top ten overall.

9.  Farm On The Freeway-Jethro Tull 1987  Requested by Russ for perhaps doing a cover version of this song for The Townedgers, this is just me making a mental note to listen to that song.  Still gets airplay on Beeker Street and certain classic album rock stations around the area.  Hell, even The FOX have been known to sneak it in as a Lost classic.

10.  Boys Don't Lie-Shoes 1978  And finally a power pop classic from the band from Zion Illinois who made this song at home on a four track.  I do have their PVC vinyl debut  Black Vinyl Shoes to which I paid 1.99 when I got it from the old BJ Records store in downtown Iowa City; back when Iowa City had five decent music stores downtown.  All that remains is Record Collector to which I still make an effort to go and say hi to the fellows down there and Real! Records which I don't visit too often.  Seems like the ladies down there don't know how to count change very well and don't say thank you for your business.  And in this day and age of the new depression, courtesy gets you a return engagement.  Unfriendly folk and especially those who can't count change usually get a big raspberry and a search to someplace more friendler.  Or we just wait till we go back up to Madison and buy out those stores. 

Choice is everything.