Top Ten Of The Week-Madison Rocks

I've been under the weather and a sore throat and a running fever but it did not stop me from jumping in the car and do one more trip to Madison for some bargain hunting and getaway for the day.  Sick of packaging, only been down there running the plastic wrap and already they're harping rate already.  Well, if somebody would have ordered the GD form first and if the GD wrapper would wrap the books and not leave so many holes we could have done that.  Sad to say we're stuck down there the rest of the year going from wrapping to sealing the books with sticky shit that will make me not type so well.  Plus I've been sick the past couple days thanks to a combination of things, basically Jenna's hacking and coughing, or the dog sneezing in my face or going outside with wet hair or not having socks on my feet which gets so cold they can keep your drink cold.

Madison was cloudy most of the day, but I did managed to complete the Brian Howe Bad Company years (envy me) plus getting the Ray Charles complete ABC singles Box set so I'll be taking a listen to that for a whole week.  I thought going there before Black Friday made more sense.  Besides, I'm not impressed of what is out there for Black Friday specials and really do not plan to make any more road trips this year.

Gas prices were so so, 3.21 in some Mad City spots.  The Recall Scott Walker force was out in droves, although I did noticed that when the bearded dude asked if I wanted to sign and told him I couldn't, love to but I'm out of state, he kinda made a beeline away, like I was a Walker supporter.  I'd love to write my name down and rent a loft in town just so I can do that.  But somehow, I get the impression that these folks seem to look out for their own best interests instead of talking to me.  Dammed if you do, or don't.  Anyway I did stop at Ian's Pizza for a slice of pizza then off to The Exclusive Company for the Ray Charles box set.

Most of the bargains found was at Pawn America.  They had a bit of a turnover from last time and I picked up about 9 of them for a dollar.  Pre Played still had that Dragnet 1968 Season DVD collection there so I picked that up.

But it does seem that Walker's time that a lot of places have closed up shop.  The Point Supper Club on 151 had a for sale sign on it.  Fucking Home Depot, when they opened their new location over by the Beltway on the west end of town, they threw out most of the tenants at the strip mall that used to be there (Half Priced Books used to have a bookstore at that end before moving over to Whitney Way).  Along with Cub Foods these two worthless stores uprooted everybody there.  Now both of them are now gone and what remains is empty buildings to which will remain empty for some time, (Home Depot has reopened since then)

Even though it was dark, the Capitol was open and I managed to go in there and took a little walk around to find the bathroom.  Last time I was there, security was tight with the protesters taking up space and singing We Shall Overcome.  This time, they had a couple policemen there and things looked back to normal although I noticed that the homeless were around with their bags and carts and bikes.

To the dumb black skateboarder  doing stunts in the middle of the highway, get off the fucking road unless you want to go flying 40 feet in the air when you fall off your skateboard in front of a bus.  Idiot.

Dammit, I was a week too early to catch Social Distortion at the Orpheum Theatre.

And finally a sad farewell to Andrea True, the porn star turned disco singer who had a top 4 hit with More More More.  She died Tuesday at age 68 in Nashville.  Cause is unknown.

Basically I've given up Football for both college and pro.  Chargers got beat again, this time by The Chicago Bears and Arizona State Sun Devils are doing their usual late season fade, losing yet again to Arizona.  What started to be a promising year has now gotten them a 6-5 record with Cal coming up this friday night.  On a plus side The Iowa Hawkeyes won a road game at Purdue. 31-21.

So far, I'm surprised I haven't gotten anything from my last blog on how much we love KRNA and if you like my little conversation with the dumb robot DJ at that station, I bow to your honor.  But basically we're all sick and tired of same sounding stations around here and where your at.    Blame the fucking Telecom Act of 1996 which should have been repealed so that Cumulus and Clear Channel would not have a fucking monopoly and us getting stuck with the same ole same ole.  Up yours Telecom Act 1996 which was one of the days of the week that the music died.

What else is new?  The Top Ten Of The Week.

1.  When The Whip Comes Down-The Rolling Stones 1978  New expanded edition of Some Girls?  No thank you but if somebody gets the bonus cuts only CD, I'll buy then.  My Virgin Reissue copy sounds quite good still.  Some Girls is considered to be the final classic album that Mick and the boys put out.  I'll let you be the judge on that, however my friend up at Mad City Music Exchange was actually playing the old Atlantic vinyl copy while some customer was buying the CD expanded set.  Look, I fell  into that trap overplaying for the Layla 40th Reissue expanded edition.  So I am refraining from buying anymore reissues or overpriced expanded editions of anything.  They're basically not cost effective.  On a different note I thought about getting the Eric Burdon/Animals Winds Of Change and Love Is that One Way put out years ago, but since both albums were not that great, I passed.  Mad City Music Exchange has did a bit of remodeling and now more vinyl areas than CDs.  I did sort through the dollar bins, and only came up with Night Of The Living Dregs by The Dixie Dregs.  There was Four On The Floor, a disco album done by Jeff Skunk Baxter and Al Kooper for Casablanca in 1979 and what I heard, I considered it a piece of shit.  Another was Cobra First Strike for Epic in 1983 but it was hair metal that was gawd awful.  So I bought some 45s instead.  Mad City Music Exchange we salute you.

2.  Alice's Restaurant  (The Massacree  Revisited)-Arlo Guthrie 1996   To be honest, I really never heard the original version but I only got the Rerecorded album when I saw it in the dollar bins.  I actually saw the movie Alice's Restaurant on TCM late night so I actually followed the song quite well, since I knew the story line.  Reprise still has the original version of this, but I like the Revisited version much more, especially when Arlo Guthrie talks about Richard Nixon's 18 minute gap on the White House Tapes and there was a copy of Alice Restaurant found there (or so he says).  And Arlo has this feeling that perhaps ole Tricky Dick recorded the side long side on one of them.  This song goes well with Thanksgiving but I doubt if our friendly Cumulus owned radio station will allow 23 minutes on this song.  After all, it seems they have station breaks at around 20 minutes after the hour on most stations here.

3.  Black Dog-Led Zeppelin 1971   Well I was going to save this one for the singles going steady blog that has yet to be prepared but this is a nod to 40 years ago, The Zoso album (or Led Zeppelin 4) was released to the world.  Cumulus has not done anybody any favors for overplaying this death but when I get a moment to miss the good ole day when Zep was the exception to the radio and not the rule it was fun to play.  Still is since I have the 45 somewhere.  Now I gotta pick another replacement for the Singles Going Steady Blog.

4.  Baby Blue Airplane-Gus 1999  From the dollar CD find of the week Word Of Mouth Parade.  Guy has a vocal somewhat like Robin Wilson of Gin Blossoms fame and this song rocks as most of the album although when he starts sing falsetto he annoys.  Somebody actually mention one of his songs as a lost classic so I kept my eyes and ears open.  Gus recorded two albums for the ill fated ALMO Sounds, the label Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss started up after Universal bought their A & M label and perhaps Gus would have better luck on that label until Sheryl Crow won the lottery and gave the world her puke inducing earworm songs. 

5.  Riddles Are Abound Tonight-Sausage 1994  One of many many side projects of Les Claypool to which I was exposed to this via Beavis And Butthead.  In reality this is the original Primus under the Sausage banner for one album for Prawn Song/Interscope  and like any other Primus album, Les' bass dominates.  Jay Lane is now back playing for Primus and uses some of the oddest cymbals every collected called Hammerax Cymbals, an up and coming cymbal company http://www.hammerax.com/

6.  How Long-Information Society 1990  My ex GF loves this band, to which they had a hit with What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy) and then made somewhat of a concept album called Hack which sounds to me more dance along the lines of Thompson Twins but with more keyboards and samplers.  Parts of this album does give Ministry or Nine Inch Nails a run for the industrial noise but this song actually takes them more back into Thompson Twins territory.  Though I betcha both bands would deny that.  The MP3 download to this from Amazon is 11:49 which is too fucking much for a digital download.  Better to pay a dollar for the CD instead.  I also kind of wished that they had this in 5.1 surround sound.  Bet that would be a trip to listen to.

7.  Wishin Well-Kentucky Headhunters 1991  Are we stuck in the 90s or what?  Seems that way since this is the fifth song taken from that glorious decade. The Headhunters have a new album out if you can find it and I betcha you can't.  To me these guys were southern rock and roll all the way through, don't let Dumas Walker fool you, even that had a rock overtone that fooled the country folk and today wouldn't get airplay thanks to the Brantley Gilbert Country Cowporn Cliche Crap that is country today, or Jason (what should I endorse today) Aldean.  From Electric Barnyard, this is more toward KRNA than KHAK.  Ricky Phelps, who was the voice of the first two albums would leave with his brother to form the more country sounding Brother Phelps who made two decent albums for Asylum in the 90s and is now a preacher.  Brother Doug returned to the Headhunters back in 1996.

8.  Hammering Heart-Del Amitri 1985   Started out on Chrysalis Records and made one that is more in line with the Housemartins with a bit of Elvis Costello too but at that time Justin Currie sang higher and with more of a Glasgow accent which would disappear by the time the band made it with Kiss This Thing Goodbye in 1989.  I always loved this band and still do but they have broken up and moved on and Justin Currie made one album as a solo artist for Rykodisc but I never got around hearing it.  The first Dels album has been reissued three times, the last having a few more B sides thrown in for good measure.  It may not be for everybody but I like the first fine myself.

9.  Cop Party-John Hiatt 1980  Another artist that it took a while for me to warm up to had to be Mr. Hiatt, who was always a great songwriter but every label that he's been with, they tried to make him something that he wasn't.  Epic tried to make him the second coming of Randy Newman (Overcoats) and when that failed he went to MCA and they tried to make him the angry new waver for two albums and then Geffen let him wonder about for three more before he found his mark at A & M as a Americana singer.  From the interesting Two Bit Monsters, this is Hiatt being the next Graham Parker or Elvis Costello and although the liner notes are vague, it does sound a bit like The Rumour backing him up (which is not the case but he did have Howie Epstein playing bass on this album).  Some even say that this is his hardest rocking album ever.

10.  Stop The Clocks-Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds 2011  Life after Oasis hasn't been easy for both the Gallagher brothers. Liam and most of Oasis went to become Beady Eye and Noel continue to write songs and arranged them the way he did with Oasis.  I wouldn't say this track is one of the better songs off the new High Flying Birds album and if you combine the best of Beady Eye and this album you might come up with a decent Oasis album and I did like the last two CDs.  I just figured it would be the perfect song to end this top ten.

Link of the day: Best Rock Songs (or most overplayed) of 2011 from your friends at Banana 101.5 http://banana1015.com/10-best-rock-songs-of-2011/

From my experiences of KRNA, I'm sure I hear them all (The Foos song been played three times one night in packaging hell) but to those who miss the good ole days of good old rock and roll, this is the alternative and what you missed.  Which may not be much.  I'm sure if Jason Aldean caught hold of Seether's Country Song, I'm sure he could arrange it with lots of fiddles and steel guitar and it will be number on the charts.

Next week: The Singles Going Steady Return.