End Of The Month Wrap Up

I haven't been around all that much, doesn't seem like I'm posting anything but this is our 12th blog for this month and basically a time to sit and reflect and plot the next course of action.

More passings: Hugh McCracken session guitar wizard died according to Elliot Randall on Friday.  You can hear his playing on The Ram album from Paul McCartney and that oddball guitar lick at the beginning of Hey Nineteen by Steely Dan, that's Hugh.  Could have been a member of Wings but he wouldn't move from New York.

Robert Zildjian, once part of the great Zildjian Cymbals family, got into a big tiff with his brother and moved over to form Sabian Cymbals in 1981 passed away from cancer at age 89.  Sabian was actually the old K Zildjian cymbals that were made in Canada but it didn't take long for Sabian to take away a good share of Zildjian and to some extent the Paiste folks as well. Phil Collins, Mike Portnoy, Terry Bozzio and Neil Peart was Sabian users.

Graham Stoker, the leader behind The Jordaniares, the best Nashville backing vocals groups ever formed passed away at age 88.  Elvis Presley loved them so much that he wanted them on his recordings but you can also hear them backing the likes of Patsy Cline, Ricky Nelson and The Blasters.  Lotta great musicians leaving for the Great Beyond, which leaves you and me.  For now.

Thanks everybody for making March the second best ever in terms of viewership although I don't get many replies to stories anymore.  The 1999 blog got the second most views and still can't figure that one out.  As always the runaway winner of the month as it has been ever since the beginning of tracking views is the Brains blog way out in front by 11,000 plus views over the second most, way back in the pack the Brian Howe Bad Company look at.  The First And Last Crabb Fashion Show in forth place behind the Mavericks review to which I don't think I'd played that CD since reviewing it.  The Top Tens of the month not all that outstanding, Waterlogged with 26 views the best and Shock And Awe Jive at 18 views the least but it seems to satisfy the hardcore, all the 15 of them.  Really no difference if I add pictures or not.  949 views for The Brains Blog this month is still great although Universal has yet to even reissue their albums.  A wasted effort don't ya think?

The big news of the month was the Printing Operations moving to Minnesota with or without us, which is the latter. Which means we'll be joining the ranks of the packaging folk unless they don't think we're cut out for that to which I'll sit on my ass for a year and let them pay me for it.  Heath wise I continue to get allergic reactions to hand sanitizers or Anti Bacterial soaps which gives me a bad case of jock itch and rashes.  And still paying for it a week later.  Weather wise it's been chilly, it's been cold and Friday was the first time we made it over 50 degrees which keeps us out of the years of 1915 and 1965 for the coldest March on record.  And 7 snowstorms this month.  Which explains why there hasn't been any bargain hunts.  Never trust a fucking groundhog from Bumfuk Pennsylvania to predict an early spring.  Better let that rodent sleep through the winter and not wake him up.

This year I only  bought 9 new releases and Eric Burdon's Till Your River Runs Dry and Bad Religion True North gets my vote for best of the year.  David Bowie's The Next Day the worst of the year and anything else is in the middle. I didn't buy the new Strokes (digipack) and nobody still has Richard Thompson's latest anywhere.  Next month promises a bargain hunt in Mad City and later in the month St. Louis before the bugs and storms hit.  Nothing set in stone yet.  I continue to focus my other energies on the new Townedgers projects, which means I'll be working the blogs over there trying to restore some sense of order. Next month has the Pistol Annie's latest and even though Blake Shelton has a new CD out, he continues to work with hack songwriters for his hits (The Peach Pickers, bleh) instead of trying of something new with Miranda Lambert his wife.  His duet with her on For The Record remains the best thing he's ever done.  Plus he got into it with Farce The Music the other day.  Pistol Annie Ashley Monroe has a new cd out and maybe I'll take a listen to that, provided if Best Buy has it, and most of the time Best Buy don't have shit. Somehow all the Frank Zappa albums that they had out are now gone. Update: Farce The Music still going after Blake it seems, somehow I don't feel that this is over yet.  http://www.farcethemusic.com/2013/03/blake-shelton-twitter-war-memes.html?spref=fb

And for the most part, CiCi's Pizza has closed their doors on the SW side of CR which meant problems with the franchise owner but there's promise of them coming back.  Just like Sonic right?  For the most part, all food places here changed their menus, jacked up the prices and give out smaller portions.   The key is to when going out, just asking for water and tell them to hold the high fructose corn poisons we call Pepsi.

Willie Nelson will be up here in Iowa in April and will be here a day before he turns 80, he plays the Paramount the day before his birthday.  Carnival Of Thieves return to CSPS in April as well.  They put on a great free show last year.

It must be spring the Red Wing Flying Shitbags are back.  When the Killdear return it will be summer. W00T!

Link of the day: http://www.vinylcollective.com/

For all things vinyl.  So to speak.

Since nobody cares about new music anymore, most are talking about anniversaries of past classic albums and this month Dark Side Of The Moon came out and changed stoner rock for all time.  While Dylan Tracy sings high praises of this, I have never really gotten into this record and Dark Side shares with Frampton Comes Alive as the 2 albums of the 70s that everybody had that I never bought myself.  It's a headphones classic I'm sure and Alan Parsons did great strives into making it a headphones classic but I have never gotten into Dark Side although I did get Money as a 45 years ago.  Still cannot stand Clare Torry's screaming on The Great Gig In The Sky how original it may be for the rest of the world but for the most part that and a few other choice cuts made it to Echoes, the 2 CD overview of Pink Floyd and basically if I want to hear Dark Side, I go with that.  I actually passed on dollar copies of Dark Side the CD.  It's just something I can live without but there's some out there that think it's the best record ever made.  To which you can read one of those at this link:  http://ourvinyl.com/the-40th-anniversary-of-dark-side-of-the-moon-a-look-back/

Final Ratings Talk: we should clear 2800 views but if we get over 3,000 I'll buy pizza.

RIP Phil Ramone, producer to Billy Joel's best known albums and Chicago's 1978 classic Hot Streets and cult favorite Chicago 13.  The most least punk of all Ramones, he'll be missed.