Top Ten Of The Week-Gordon Anderson Returns, No Jerry No MDA

I'm sure this top ten won't get many hits so here we go.

Eight months after leaving Collector's Choice Music, Gordon Anderson has announced a new music company to reissue music, something called Real Gone Music to which hopefully he can succeed.  CC Music is basically a thing of the past although the mail order company continues to thrive in terms of reissues or imports. Certainly he'll have good luck from the likes of the Sony, Warner Music Group, but as always the fuckers at Universal Music will play hardball.  Which means we'll be fucked out of The Brains reissues.  If that ever happens.

By now you know that Jerry Lewis will not be hosting the MDA Labor Day Telethon, first time since 1966 we will not see Mr. Lewis.  Maybe time and age has render him useless but the memories are still there. When Frank reunited Dean Martin with Jerry in 1976, remembering WMT having all niters at Broadcast Park and the big fish bowl.   I can't picture Jerry without MDA Telethon so I guess I'll pass watching it this year.  Up to my GF if she wants to watch it.

Marshall Grant passed away.  The last of Johnny Cash's Tennessee Two, he was the bass player. RIP.

I've been spending more time over at my GFs and it shows.  GD spiders are taking over the Crabb Cave.

Papa's Pita.   New ownership has taken over this place.  The original owner was never opened, so everytime I was in that neck of the woods it was closed but the last couple weeks it has been the go to place for supper when I'm in that side of town.  I enjoy the roast beef with Terrikyi sauce (so i can't spell) and the grilled veggies.  The guy up there says they do deliver on the SW side of Cedar Rapids which includes my work place. Excellent pitas which is a good substitute for the burger or gas city we call Fazoli's. But now a thing of the past, they closed their doors in 2013.

The Top Ten Of The Week brought to you by Papa's Pita.

1.  He's Gonna Step On You Again-John Kongos 1971  The World Cafe on NPR radio played this tonight which shocked me into telling you that they played it on the radio.  I had his album  on cd (on Collector's Choice Music now deleted) and the only track that I liked was this failed hit single although I'm sure the AM station in Peoria played it around 1971.  Produced by Gus Dudgeron (Elton John) Rhino issued this single on Have  A Nice Day Volume 6, their answer to K-Tel.  Donno if K-tel ever did put this out on record but I have a bootleg 8 track of this song on it. Super Hits Volume 13 Dude.  Later covered by Happy Mondays.

2.  Rocky Mountain Music-Eddie Rabbitt 1976  If you can, pick up this album on American Beat Records while you can before that goes out of print (it's part of the Collector's Choice Music Ensemble Of Reissue Labels).  While some people tell you that 1973 was the apex of music, I still say 1976 was better.  Hell the country singles and rock singles sounded pretty damn good side by side although they don't do that nowadays. Hell even Q103 played this song a couple times and it was top forty back when top forty was different types of music and not Autotuned Rap Crap, or Autotuned Dance Crap, or Garbage Rock. Rabbitt was one of the country artists that I did by singles on a regular basis alongside ole Mel Tillis who turned 79 over the weekend.  Eddie was still up and coming and who later give us the roller skating hits I Love A Rainy Night or Driving My Life Away.  And Super Skate, the place where I did roller skate at, played them all the time.  All Skate indeed.

3.  The Calling-Yes 1994  In trying to sort out what Yes song to put up this week, I played the latest and didn't see anything worth noting so I call your attention to this minor hit single that got some airplay on the radio in the mid 90s.  Came from the half assed Talk, to which this song and Walls were the best and the rest just didn't do much for me.  Found it as a cut out when Best Buy had a cut out sale going on.  Came out on London in the UK, here in the US it was on Victory, which started out as a progressive rock label and then did a 360 and became one of the most successful punk labels out there.  By then YES moved on the ill fated Beyond label for the much maligned Open Your Eyes album and later The Ladder, their best since 90125.

4.  Blowin My Mind-The Bo Deans 2011 Yes they're still around, why you ask?  They been making up for lost time it seems, making three albums since reuniting and it was only a year ago that Savoy/429 put out their last album Mr. Sad Head, a album I haven't heard but they're back on their own label now.  The reviews are mixed at best and it goes on way too long with about three songs too many.

5.  Why Try-The Kaleidoscope 1967  Probably the most eccentric band that came out of the California music scene of the mid to late 60s, they were lead by multi instrumentalist David Lindley and made four uneven albums for Epic, the best probably being their first called Side Trips.  Problem was they were too eccentric for the public's own good and it's hard to rock out when your playing an oud.  The album version of this song wouldn't sound out of place on a Jefferson Airplane album or maybe Moby Grape so they recorded a single version which was somewhat closer to Love or The Byrds.  It didn't chart. Maybe the problem with neither Lindley or David Solomon Feldthouse could sing that well....let me put it in another way, their vocals are lot like Neil Young or Rod Stewart, you have to be in the mood to hear it I guess.  Epic/Sony has had their album reissued and in print at certain times (or licensed out to Collectables). Hell, Epic even had their second album A Beacon From Mars in print and I never knew anything about it till Record Collector had a reissue in their vinyl bin for 8 bucks.  But it's not for everybody.  Including you.

6.  The Bitch Is Back-Elton John 1974  In today's world, this would have never been released as an single but back in 1974 MCA did which means the world was better off back then.  The thing back then was that EJ was a super singles artist and when you hear the overplayed stuff on classic rock radio you'll know why. Only problem is we are all sick of Bennie And The Jets or Crock Rock.  The youth of today wonder how the hell we got through that decade without cellphones or the net.  Well, we had FM radio and DJ's that would play an album track or two and we had 45s and LPs and 8 Tracks!  It wasn't the dark ages for me.  Dusty Springfield is singing backing vocals. So sez the liner notes.

7.  Milky Way-Weather Report 1973  The only time they had me listening to them was the live 8:30 album to which contained the definitive version of Birdland and despite what people tell you, when they had Jaco Pactorius in that band and Peter Erkstine on drums Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul had the right combo.  This comes from their first album to which it's mostly avant garde jazz and not the best place to start if you want to hear Weather Report.  But I'll take this song to which Joe and Wayne do a tribute to the introduction to King Crimson's 21st Century Schizoid Man.

8.  Inside Out-Eve 6-1998  Looking back on things I bought, for at the time that I thought sounded good back then, doesn't now.  These guys always struck me as a more pop Green Day than punk, but they rock since the drummer was Don Was' son.  I remember buying this for 8 bucks at the old Blockbuster Music Store, which sold overpriced CDs but they were close by and I could spend many an afternoon listening to new stuff in the listening booth.  They were two doors down from Barnes & Noble but back before the internet became the slave to my master, we had about 10 music stores in town to choose from so there was no need to drive out of town an hour to get our musical fix.  Years later I still have Eve 6's three albums in the house (don't ask why), the first one while uneven still gets more play than the more rock driven Horrorscope which probably featured their biggest hit Here's To The Night.  Their third album was a turd.  They broke up but then have reformed and in the process of recording a new album from what I heard. Which reminds me http://inhabitat.com/wastelandscape-65000-discarded-cds-form-a-sea-of-metallic-dunes-in-paris/

9.  Commit A Crime-Howlin Wolf 1966  Later done for the London Session in 1971 featuring Eric Clapton and Charlie Watts and a few other notables.  But the 66 version is very gritty with Hubert Sumlin being his old bad self and adding mad guitar to Wolf's growling.  Later covered by Stevie Ray Vaughn who knew a good song when he heard one.  Reference: http://www.depanorama.net/wolf/wolf2.htm

10.  Heartbreak Hotel-John Cale 1973  Probably the most radical reworking of a song that Elvis Presley did, John's version reeks of doom and gloom right down to the shriek at the end of the song.  Rumors are abound that when Presley heard Cale's version he wasn't too pleased but that's just speculation and the fly on the wall who witness that has been dead longer than Elvis and Cale's career for that matter.  John Cale remains a legend but overrated at best although his Island period IS his best.  I tried listening to the Rhino 2 CD Seducing Down The Door Anthology, and found it to be bloated once the Island years are over.  His 80s stuff could clear the area in a moment's notice but Music For A New Society has it's moments (abet few and far between although Chinese Envoy is a dark beautiful tune).  Only album I could listen through was the Eno/Cale Wrong Way Up album which remains brilliant to my ears but swear I have not heard any of his Hannibal/Rykodisc stuff nor the EMI comeback from the last decade.  Being the old fart he is and trying to be up to date he has grown one of the most hideous soul patches I've seen.  But I guess if you have to be the avant garde rocker of today you have to at least grow one out, or shave your head.  Don't understand it myself.  Anyway, John Cale should have a new EP of sorts coming out on Domino before the year is out.

The Madison bargain hunt came and went and may have been the least amount of CDs that I have found up there in a few years. Fact I think I bought more vinyl this time out than CDs.  Not a lot to report, Williamson Street is all tore up so didn't go to the St Vincent De Paul Thrift Store.  State Street after dark is very shady, with the panhandlers and change changers out in full force.  Hell, even had a bunch of 15 year old trying to get somebody to buy cigarettes for them. WTF, where the fuck are their parents at?  For all the news you hear about the Recall Walker and the Republican Gestapo Gang of Scott Fitzgerald and the Koch Brothers buying votes to keep their GOP asskissers in there, you don't see much in terms of protest.  Only thing that stood out was people trying to buy tickets to see John Hiatt.

Perfect time to see the moonrise reflect off Lake Monona tonight.  Did ya know they had a tornado on the lake Monday?  It was a very small F0 but did enough to raise a bit of water from the lake.  Biggest goof I seen was on the way home and having two dudes playing You Lost That Loving Feeling and singing it full blast while one of them was trying to talk to somebody on the cellphone.  Yep, it happened at the Plattville Wal Mart.  You had to be there to truly witness such fine buffoonery but at least it wasn't rap.

Count our blessings.