I haven't commented much on the elections, but to recap Obama gets a second term. I voted for him, thought he was much believable than Milt and hopefully can get a congress that will work with him instead of obstructing like they have been the past two years. I was glad I could go up to Madison and throw in my support for Tammy Baldwin, the gay female democrat that beat blowhard and ex Governor Tommy Thompson for a seat but still Wisconsin has a GOP majority which means they have to suffer through blowhard Scott Fitzgerald and of course Paul Ryan back in his old chair. I was also glad to see Tammy Duckworth kick dead beat dad and ex GOP Fool Joe Walsh out of his seat in the Illinois Senate, and Clare McCaskill whopping dumbass Todd Akin in Missouri. Best of all, Elizabeth Warren defeating Scott Brown, a fine day and wins for all women tired of the GOP crapola about rape and restricting women's rights. On the negative side the world is stuck with Michelle Batshit Crazy Bachmann although Jim Graves gave his all and of course what we wouldn't do without another term from the 4th district jester Steve King. I try not to claim myself as a flaming liberal but I have yet to find a decent GOP person out there, maybe Tom Latham, he seems to be the less controversial than King, Latham defeated Leonard Boswell in the election. And I really don't mind Scott Walker, at least I can go walking through the Wisconsin Capitol Rotunda and not get patted down every other step of the way. Can't do that in Des Moines but then again it's much harder getting through the traffic there just to do that. Besides Madison is closer.
The Cds that I found in the dollar bins up in Mad City were pretty bad. Ethyl Meatplow Happy Days Sweetheart (Dali 1993) sounds like the B 52's mesh with 9 inch nails and it's half listenable half not. I couldn't find a single track to listen to Gomer Rock And Roll Always Forgets (2006 independent) to which they use one of those cheap keyboards with the buttons that play the chords. Total garbage. Joy Lynn White-The Lucky Few (Little Dog 1997) features a okay duet with Dwight Yoakam and help from Pete Anderson but she has a voice that grates on my nerves and I couldn't finish listening to the rest of that album. In the end the best finds were Nitty Gritty Dirt Band-Uncle Charlie And His Dog (EMI Canada 1970) or Lou Gramm-Long Hard Look (Atlantic 1989). Our final parting gift from the Exclusive Company was the forgettable Billy Burnette Coming Home (Capricorn 1994) which bombed. For vinyl I found the 2 LP Pardon My Blooper (K Tel 1974) which we had on 8 track years ago, basically Kermit Schafer's collection of radio and TV bloopers that are still funny in spots and Garland Jefferys Rock n Roll Adult (Epic 1981). Another oddball find was Tom Patchett and Jay Tarses' Instant Replay (Two Sides Of Football) (Decca 1971), an uneven comedy album about football although their Harold Hardsell (parody of Howard Cosell) segments are spot on. Unlike last year's fall finds which had some great finds, this year's was disappointing but I still enjoyed making the trip and the anticipation of finding certain things. Alas, I found more CDs at the Marion Half Priced Bookstore than both Madison locations.
The endless playlist that has been a ongoing 20 year thing here when I started looking for anything that was interesting has opened up more than the usual classic rock idealism that I was limiting myself blew up big time when I discovered the pawnshop and they were cheaper and a lot of the titles were obscure then the local Relics or Rock n Bach, back when we had plenty of stores and didn't have to travel so far. But it is coming to an end, I really think at this point there's really not much more out there that I haven't discovered or need t to discover. That most of this year was dedicated to the 45 and thanks to Ragged Records, Salvation Army and HP Books I managed to replace a lot of the scratched up stuff I played to death over the years. I'm sure this year will go down as the best year of finding 45s. But then again I think I said that about 20 times in previous blogs.
I tend to overbuy simply of the fact that its there and if I pass on something, I usually end up regretting that and then making another trip up to Madison or Quad Cities so it's better to get it in sight instead of fucking around and finding it gone if I do make another trip. I'm also asked of what convinces me to try something in the dollar bins, even though I don't have all that much time to sit down and actually listen to albums. I have reasons but it's hard to explain. It all goes from what I bring to work, going from Bobby Darin to Lou Gramm to Alan Parsons Project and to Ethyl Meatplow in one night is a bad case of extremism. Nobody in their right mind would do that, but then as Tad found out the hard way when he got my big box of CDs in the mail that it's usually a typical music setting for me. Even though Cave Rock might give ya nightmares in the process. It's not for everybody but it's a peak into the vast wasteland of tunes that I came across in the dollar section.
All my life has situated inside the local record section or music section. Having failed miserably in realtionships 101, working at a job that has financed all of the bargain hunts and wasting more time blogging to it to the world I pretty much resigned to this fate of isolationism of trying to tell the world of a amazing discovery of a CD long away that didn't get much fanfare that turned my life upside down like the Randy Cliffs did with their album. Sometimes that happens, sometimes you get Gomer Rock And Roll Always Forgets and you throw it out with the rest of the trash. That what happens when I frequent Pawn America. You either find a classic or you find crap. At least you can replace the jewelcase if need be.
I still hope that someday I could finally open up that music store and play the music that I would like people to check out but I think those days have come and gone. But at the rate I'm going, I'll end up throwing everything I own and open up a junkshop and live the rest of my years that way. I'm sure there's more rabid collectors out there looking for that last classic or finding that hard to find album they can sell on ebay and make big bucks. But I live for the fun of it. And have been for most of the 52 years of being on this earth.
It's what I do best I do believe.
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