It's rather pointless just to see this blog, since the pictures disappeared. This is the end result and what remains. Fucking shame that all the pictures are gone.
UPDATE: 2016 Look Familiar Union Missouri? 12/28/15
Friday, May 31, 2013
Celebrating the Five year flood...with another flood Updated.
Updated Observation: The pictures have disappeared. Fucking imagine that. I would love to know where the Goddamned pictures go to. It's a fucking bitch trying to replace everything only to have them disappeared once again.
It's rather pointless just to see this blog, since the pictures disappeared. This is the end result and what remains. Fucking shame that all the pictures are gone.
UPDATE: 2016 Look Familiar Union Missouri? 12/28/15
It's rather pointless just to see this blog, since the pictures disappeared. This is the end result and what remains. Fucking shame that all the pictures are gone.
UPDATE: 2016 Look Familiar Union Missouri? 12/28/15
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Top Ten Of The Week: Sick Of Rain Period 2013
17 inches of rain since March 1st on Sunday, and I'm sure I'll be updating this when everything is said and done. Just like 2008, we cannot escape a day without a inch or two or three of the wet shit and I'm about ready to go find the fucker that had that c**ks**king Pray For Rain message up outside the four way off highway 13 and cold cock him upside the head. Last year, we had two days of rain all month, this month the roles have reversed. Memorial Day weekend was a washout, poor Bob and Blue Band had to move indoors at F B and Company in Waubeek and maybe come Labor Day they'll get to play outdoors again.
The guy at KCRG doesn't think we'll have a big flood event like we did in 2013 but needless to say Otis Road is under water. Another day, another stalled front and another bunch of train rains coming through. Arizona can't come soon enough and maybe I fucking stay down there and avoid the GD wetness that is Iowa.
This weather Armageddon of the past month from last weeks Spring Storm Enema and can't get rid of Spring Storm Fuckoff and i wish it would fuck off and move on elsewhere has tried many a patience of anybody that has lived in this miserable state. From Correctionville to Des Moines, to Davenport to Marengo to Parkersburg and every point in between we had storm upon storm upon storm to the point that you would sell your soul to get back to 2012 again. At least 2008 and 1993 had breaks, this fucking shit has been nonstop since the fucking rodent predicted an early spring. 2013 being a very unlucky year for crappy weather, unless you're a duck and even the ducks are grumbling.
Ragged Records lost some of their inventory due to 6 inches of overnight rains the past three nights. 2/3 of their inventory, probably stored on the floor got lost. Next motherfucker that wants rains gets punched in the face. We certainly do not want nor need anymore rain and to the farmers who cried about a dry field last year, be careful what you wished for for you might get bogged down from all that mud from the fucking rains of the past month. This rainy season like 2008 sucks and really wished for some dry days, two in row dry days would be a good start don't ya think? What the fuck happened to all the GD Fucking pictures I put up?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Ed Shaughnessy, one of the best drummers ever passed away from a heart attack at age 84, at least he doesn't have to deal with floods and rain anymore, well he never lived in Iowa so he was one of the smart ones. Ed was the house drummer when Johnny Carson was alive and doing the Tonight Show. Best known for those mutton chops and excellent drum solos that rivaled only Buddy Rich and even sometimes beat Buddy at his own game. Anyway, drum battle beginning in the great beyond.
The Status Quo have a new drummer. Leon Cave is his name. Wish him luck. In other news Stone Temple Pilots have sued Scott Wieland for many things, being alive for that matter.
And now the top ten of the week.
1. Outside World-Midnight Oil 1983 Our first introduction to Midnight Oil came in 1983 with The Power And The Passion and MTV played their videos more often than the radio itself. But Midnight Oil was around for at least 4 years before CBS signed them up and even after the runaway success of Diesel And Dust that they eventually released the back catalog prior to 1983. Peter Garrett's vocals and politics had let him to be an acquired taste but they were an awesome live act to see back then. Garrett eventually would leave the band to go into politics down under, he's Australia's minister for school education, early childhood and youth.
2. Crazy World-Peck's Bad Boys 1966 From the folks at Teenage Shutdown, this little known Scepter single leads off perhaps my favorite comp of that series Move It and it has a bit of soul to it's garage rock and roll. Look hard enough on the internet and you too can read the rise and fall of Peck's Bad Boys. http://www.60sgaragebands.com/bandbios/pecksbadboys.html
3. Dear Black Dream-Robert Forster 1990 A couple weeks I played Grant McLennan's 1991 Watershed album and decided to revisit his Go Betweens band mate Robert Forrester's Danger In The Past and it remains a quality album if you like your pop rock a bit on the dark side. But then again you probably never heard of either Robert Forrester or Graham McLennan so I basically wasting my time.
4. The Unknown Solider-The Doors 1969 Anti war song that Jim and the guys did years ago. It still rings true today while we continue to have the piece of shit Dumbfukastan War that is unwinnable. Political message over, moving on.
(Photo: vinyl factory)
5. Be Bop Tango (of the old jazzman's church) Frank Zappa 1974 Perhaps one of the most hardest to play pieces of music ever committed even the Zappa tribute bands had shied away from attempting this 16 minute masterpiece from the Roxy And Elsewhere album. About as challenging to listen as it is to play. Only Frank Zappa could do this.
6. Think About It-The Yardbirds 1968 The Jimmy Page era Yardbirds were the least of the this era and problem may have been Micky Most's oddball choice of covers, however this failed single did point the way to a new direction for Jimmy Page and what would be The New Yardbirds.
7. The Ballad Of Ira Hayes-Johnny Cash 1962 I spent part of Sunday night watching Ring Of Fire, The Lifetime movie of June Carter Cash's story from the pen of John Carter Cash and Jewel did a good job of this movie considering being a made for TV movie. Ten years ago June moved into the great beyond to which Johnny would follow four months later. I still believe that the Carter Family had a genuine love for Johnny as with vice versa and even though June and Johnny went through some trying times, in the end their love kept them alive.
8. Every Dog Has Its Day-Let's Active 1988 Mitch Easter, wonder kind producer and made some of the best albums from REM and Velvet Crush had his own band and thank IRS for that but I found his albums to be spotty. He sounded like Robyn Hitchcock when he could hit the notes. This is probably Let's Active best known and highest charting single. Forgot all about this when I found it in the dollar section at Half Priced Books and I think this sounds better now than it did back then.
9. Hush Hush-Pistol Annies 2013 Monday I wasted an afternoon watching our so called 1st place baseball team play like a last place team and got swept in both games of a double header. Even for trying to find solace in a GD rain soaked month our baseball team couldn't get their head out of their asses to at least give it a game, finally I got fed up and left after the third inning of the second game. It's bad enough to watch bad baseball but most of the time the PA is playing overplayed classic rock (We Will Rock You, Hey Ho Let's Go) moronic rap music, or that Everybody clap your hands from Jive Time and Masterbeaters but the worst part of it all was suffering through the good old boy pseudo country corn porn of Jason Aldean, Florida Georgia Line and whatever has a banjo to go with that Eddie Van Halen whammy bar guitar. Swear to God that everytime I listen to new country song I lose more brain cells and Scott Borcetta isn't helping either. Only decent country stuff is from the ladies, while Blake Shelton heats the charts with Boys Like Us and dumbs us down even more, his wife continues to make at least music you can think by as well. I don't think their new album Annie Up has done as well as the first album Hell on Heels but it's still beats anything Mr BS and pseudo fake cowboys like Jason Aldean or Luke Bryan throws out or whatever the Peach Pickers puke up for lyrics. Maybe George Jones had it right when he left us. Truck yeah Dude, stick that in your wagon wheel.
10. Who'll Stop The Rain-Credence Clearwater Revival 1970 Perhaps the song of the month which really describes the feeling of every person living in the great Midwest of Rainy Season 2013. If we could stick a big 50 foot fan and aim it at Spring Storm Fuckoff's residence in Missouri and maybe move it elsewhere it would really bring our attitudes up and about. As anybody who has read this blog knows that I am not a fan of rain, and even on days when needing it I say no, cuz if you wish for something, you might get too much of it. Just ask the asshole who put up that Pray For Rain sign last year. And so we're now watching rivers rise up and out of their banks, seeing roads leading to towns under water and the prediction is for more fucking rain day and day till the weekend. I was thinking of doing a 2008 flood 5 years later blog but since history is rewriting itself once again, I'm sure I'll be bitching about the fucking floods of 2013 and end up getting a stroke in the process. But still praying for a dry basement and praying even harder for a something out of Canada to finally rid us of this GD motherfucking stalled fronts that make life here unbearable. You want rain, move here and let's trade places. Pretty soon you'll be asking to move back to where it doesn't rain. I guarantee that.
Listen And Be Heard:
Lightning Bolt-Jake Bugg 2013
Jezebel-The Woggles 2013
The Power And The Passion-Midnight Oil 1983
Under The Big Black Sun-X 1982
A Good Man-June Carter Cash 1971
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Observations: Disasters, Jim Zabel, The Last Bargain Hunt
It's been a peaceful couple days here, looking at a full moon and crisp cool May evening. The Oklahoma Tornado disaster of Sunday and Monday still on my mind and other sad things that have happened. The senseless killing of Lee Rigby by some pieces of shit Islamic zealots sickened me to beyond belief. Close to home Katelyn Shepard gets kidnapped and probably died at the hands of another piece of shit pedophile Micheal Klumder who should have stayed behind bars but somehow the piece of shit pedophile got released and the fucker went out and continue to do horrible things till the piece of shit took his own life. I cannot forgive pedophiles who do this. Hope he's burning in a special Hell for his actions. Another innocent child that got blindsides by bullshit from some pedophile. And then tonight a bridge collapsed on the I-5 outside of Mount Vernon Washington state. Thankfully nobody died.
Jim Zabel was the voice of the Hawkeyes to which he would be calling football and basketball games on The Hawkeye Network namely WHO out of Des Moines. Hawkeye Sports had some great broadcasters in my growing up years, Ron Gonder at WMT, the eternal Bob Brooks (KCRG) come to mind. Zabel passed away at age 91. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7M85CGjegs&feature=youtu.be
The beginning of summer begins withe the annual FB and company Waubeek bash this Sunday with The Blue Band jamming around at around 3, rain or shine. Have no idea what the Wapsipinicon looks like but the Cedar River is out of its banks at the Highway 30 bridge before highway 13 due to the heavy storms that flooded Waverly and surrounding areas a couple days ago. Which also means no can do on Otis Road. I basically told Bob Dorr not to expect the Crabb to be there when they play, spring cleaning and donating a bunch of music to charities but carry on anyway Mr. Dorr. Have no fear, they'll return to FB company in September http://www.theblueband.com/cal.htm
Growing old is part of life as long you are living and even I have begun to look at this life in a different light than I have in past years. I ended up getting perhaps one of the shortest haircut that I have ever had since 4th grade I think and the long hippie look that I always endured over the years is simply becoming more and more bald spots in certain areas. I also have come to terms that being a music bargain hunter is coming to a close, that I may have just about reviewed and had almost everything of note in a music world that it's impossible to hear it and get it all. We never know when the end is near and as I continue to scour diminishing aisles of CDs at the local used store it's becoming oblivious, I'm not finding much in terms of new music used and basically what's in the dollar bins is crap nobody wants. I did managed to get a decent copy of Actung Baby but passed on the five copies of How To Dismantle An Atom Bomb for 2 dollars.
So as I plan for another Arizona getaway, it does feel that this will be the final CD bargain hunt of a long and luxurious habit of hitting the desert for the harder to find CDs but anywhere you go, keep an open mind and you might find something you haven't heard before. I know I have been saying this since 2009 but this time out it does have a twinge of our last go around. It's old habit, going to Zia's and then branch out to Hastings and FYE for their dollar specials and finding plenty to haul back home but I been toying with the idea that when I go home, I'll take inventory and then commit to finally thinning a collection of 25 years worth of CDs in a new venture called Rod's Records Store. You can't take it with you when you go and if and when the day comes I have to go to assisted living, the majority of stuff will be thrown by the wayside. Or being sold at a loss to a forthcoming record store or collector I don't know.
My life has revolved around a 45 since birth it seems and then LPs and CDs. Places that I belong to starting with the Woolworth's in Lincoln Illinois and never really left although that place is a memory. So many places, Arlan's, Goodwill, Marion TV n Records, Town's Square Bookstore, Wherehouse Music, CD Warehouse, Relics, FYE, Hastings, Rock n Bach and ten thousand other stores and many a pawnshops. I never was good at sports, or auto repair wiz like my brother, nor good in relationships but I could find that hard to find Best Of Nancy And Lee CD on Rhino. And then for the last ten years blogging about music on various websites and getting a few fans but never really broke out into the spotlight, just like being in a band and never making it big, just settling for the closet cult fans and toiling behind obscurity. Maybe I didn't choose very well in my decisions in life but I think the only time I really was happy was at some hole in the wall music store and checking out dollar bargains and maybe finding a classic in there.
My fate was sealed in high school when i chose the wrong girl to be a steady, she lived 500 miles away and ended up getting knocked up at age 15 by some trailer trash dude half crocked on bath salts and meth and the one that I should have picked ended up becoming lesbian, just like my kindergarden GF did. Janice spent most of high school chasing me around and problem was we were never on the same page, everytime we did make a feable attempt for a date words came out wrong and in the end, my best friend's sister Penny became High School Sweetheart since we did go out. But she also had another guy she went out with Karl. Anyway, both went on to other people and after all this time apart, they have gotten back together and now are engaged to be together, over 30 years after graduation. Seems like everything has turned full circle for them and perhaps the third time will the charm. I do wish them all the best.
As for myself, I made my bed years ago and continue to lie in it with stacks upon stacks of clutter CDs all over the place and plotting yet another trip for more obscurities and it's my life.
And so shall it be till the end.
http://billmoyers.com/2013/05/20/rise-up-or-die/
Jim Zabel was the voice of the Hawkeyes to which he would be calling football and basketball games on The Hawkeye Network namely WHO out of Des Moines. Hawkeye Sports had some great broadcasters in my growing up years, Ron Gonder at WMT, the eternal Bob Brooks (KCRG) come to mind. Zabel passed away at age 91. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7M85CGjegs&feature=youtu.be
The beginning of summer begins withe the annual FB and company Waubeek bash this Sunday with The Blue Band jamming around at around 3, rain or shine. Have no idea what the Wapsipinicon looks like but the Cedar River is out of its banks at the Highway 30 bridge before highway 13 due to the heavy storms that flooded Waverly and surrounding areas a couple days ago. Which also means no can do on Otis Road. I basically told Bob Dorr not to expect the Crabb to be there when they play, spring cleaning and donating a bunch of music to charities but carry on anyway Mr. Dorr. Have no fear, they'll return to FB company in September http://www.theblueband.com/cal.htm
Growing old is part of life as long you are living and even I have begun to look at this life in a different light than I have in past years. I ended up getting perhaps one of the shortest haircut that I have ever had since 4th grade I think and the long hippie look that I always endured over the years is simply becoming more and more bald spots in certain areas. I also have come to terms that being a music bargain hunter is coming to a close, that I may have just about reviewed and had almost everything of note in a music world that it's impossible to hear it and get it all. We never know when the end is near and as I continue to scour diminishing aisles of CDs at the local used store it's becoming oblivious, I'm not finding much in terms of new music used and basically what's in the dollar bins is crap nobody wants. I did managed to get a decent copy of Actung Baby but passed on the five copies of How To Dismantle An Atom Bomb for 2 dollars.
So as I plan for another Arizona getaway, it does feel that this will be the final CD bargain hunt of a long and luxurious habit of hitting the desert for the harder to find CDs but anywhere you go, keep an open mind and you might find something you haven't heard before. I know I have been saying this since 2009 but this time out it does have a twinge of our last go around. It's old habit, going to Zia's and then branch out to Hastings and FYE for their dollar specials and finding plenty to haul back home but I been toying with the idea that when I go home, I'll take inventory and then commit to finally thinning a collection of 25 years worth of CDs in a new venture called Rod's Records Store. You can't take it with you when you go and if and when the day comes I have to go to assisted living, the majority of stuff will be thrown by the wayside. Or being sold at a loss to a forthcoming record store or collector I don't know.
My life has revolved around a 45 since birth it seems and then LPs and CDs. Places that I belong to starting with the Woolworth's in Lincoln Illinois and never really left although that place is a memory. So many places, Arlan's, Goodwill, Marion TV n Records, Town's Square Bookstore, Wherehouse Music, CD Warehouse, Relics, FYE, Hastings, Rock n Bach and ten thousand other stores and many a pawnshops. I never was good at sports, or auto repair wiz like my brother, nor good in relationships but I could find that hard to find Best Of Nancy And Lee CD on Rhino. And then for the last ten years blogging about music on various websites and getting a few fans but never really broke out into the spotlight, just like being in a band and never making it big, just settling for the closet cult fans and toiling behind obscurity. Maybe I didn't choose very well in my decisions in life but I think the only time I really was happy was at some hole in the wall music store and checking out dollar bargains and maybe finding a classic in there.
My fate was sealed in high school when i chose the wrong girl to be a steady, she lived 500 miles away and ended up getting knocked up at age 15 by some trailer trash dude half crocked on bath salts and meth and the one that I should have picked ended up becoming lesbian, just like my kindergarden GF did. Janice spent most of high school chasing me around and problem was we were never on the same page, everytime we did make a feable attempt for a date words came out wrong and in the end, my best friend's sister Penny became High School Sweetheart since we did go out. But she also had another guy she went out with Karl. Anyway, both went on to other people and after all this time apart, they have gotten back together and now are engaged to be together, over 30 years after graduation. Seems like everything has turned full circle for them and perhaps the third time will the charm. I do wish them all the best.
As for myself, I made my bed years ago and continue to lie in it with stacks upon stacks of clutter CDs all over the place and plotting yet another trip for more obscurities and it's my life.
And so shall it be till the end.
http://billmoyers.com/2013/05/20/rise-up-or-die/
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Top Ten Of The Week: Tunes From The Tornado
Limping along in this month it has been a bit of extremes here at Crabb Music Center. The peak was May 15, the 45 anniversary of the Charles City/Oelwein tornadoes and 183 viewers to this blog in the form of X BOX and no deposit casino fans crowding to see an old 3 year old blog that had nothing to do with neither. So what do I do? I savataged (sic) the ratings and changed it over to foreboding This Is A Music Blog and nothing to do with no deposit casino Sites and tanked the ratings there. Why do I do it you ask? I didn't want people to get the impression that I was promoting this kind of nonsense. But crying for years for ratings from music sites and maybe that happen some day but till then we gotta deal with nonsense from the likes of vietfun, vk, vampire, and no deposit casino sites that refer people to here but still don't had anything to the equation. Despite my efforts we might have a pretty good month viewership here.
Nicki No Talent Minaj is leaving American Idol. Like we really care.
The first weekend to welcome summer will be upon us, Memorial Day Weekend and already Big Oil has savataged that as well, with gas prices going up an fucking unbelievable and over the top price of 3.94 (subject to change) from 3.39 beginning to this fucked up month. Big Oil knew what they were doing when they shut down 2 major refineries from "maintence" and "mixing up summer blend fuel" right in time for the weekend so speculators could jack it up into a panic on Wall Street, in a attempt for Big Oil to get record profits again. Endless greed. By the way, somebody in Florida won that big 550 million dollar lottery, whereas you and I didn't. And I know you didn't cuz you wouldn't be wasting your time reading this blog too.
I also haven't been too happy with the continuation of bullshit drug emails from black market drug companies that I continue to get in my hotmail account. No wonder why millions of people have been leaving hotmail. When you get continuous shit from nonexistent email places like ;asfd;h@asdf;lkj.com you just want to punch kittens. I'm a man too but GOD i'm so tired of the Get Viagra now or Enlarge It emails that continue to flood my junk box. That shit will make you go blind and have your dick fall off. The more you block them, the more they send. The earwigs of hotmail or outlook as its called now. Kill one and ten more replace it. Save us Ivy Doomkitty. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/may/21/oklahoma-tornado-newcastle-resident-video
Spring Storm Enema has been a tornado making bitch of late. I spent most of Sunday Afternoon watching the internet and chasing two F4 Tornadoes in Oklahoma, one formed in Edmond and then wrecked havoc along route 66, and then another one forming in Norman and becoming a monster storm tearing up Shawnee and a motor home court. Up here a tornado was sighted in Des Moines and Huxley. More storms formed Monday night but thankfully they petered out before they reached here. If you have a scanner you might find these handy: http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?inputs=1&ctid=841#cats
Country Music today has really took a hit from the traditionalists out there and you can see why from the likes of craptastic country artists like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and the no talent at any level without autotuner Florida/Georgia Line 15 big reasons why country music sucks today here: http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-musics-worst-country-songs-of-all-time
While Oklahoma was being destroyed by F4 tornadoes and ravaging floods from Spring Storm Enema, Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist of The Doors and later producer to X passed away from bile duct cancer at age 74. He had a distinctive sound all his own as kind of a soul/jazz organist while using the bass petals as bass since The Doors didn't have a bass player most of the time. After Jim Morrison passed away, Ray continued The Doors name with 2 more albums (the uneven Other voices and Full Circle which had a minor hit with Get Up And Dance) and then reformed The Doors later on although John Densmore didn't rejoin and sued them for using the Doors name (they eventually renamed it Doors Of The 21st Century with Ian Astbury of the Cult replacing Morrison) Manzarek, would help shape the sound of X as he produced some of their classic albums of the 1980s (Los Angeles, Under The Big Black Sun to name a couple) but in later years would write a book on his association with Jim Morrison with Light My Fire. With Ray's passing this will probably shut close The Doors for good now.
Top Ten Of The Week:
1. New Vibration-Collective Soul 2008 Something found in the 50 cent CD pile from Madison a couple weeks ago, hard to believe it's been that long and I'm already wishing for another get away trip and the only Collective Soul album that I didn't buy new. Never a hip mag band fave (Rolling Stone, Pitchfork come to mind) Ed Roland has been doing his thing for just about 20 years now and outside of the lackluster Blender and hard to figure Youth, the rest of their albums have been quality listening although Afterwords, their 2008 album didn't sell very well despite a bit marketing ploy with Target only having dubs on this album. When that failed they went back on a major, doing one album for Roadrunner. And far as I know their only one for that label.
2. Easy Evil-John Kay 1973 Alan O'Day passed away over the weekend. He wrote this song which was a minor hit for John Kay and later Three Dog Night took a whack at it on their ill fated American Pastime album for ABC. O'Day was a workmanlike songwriter that managed to get a top ten hit with Undercover Angel in 1977. Never paid much attention to his solo work, his 1977 album reminded me of an Andrew Gold with a dirtier mind, but I have heard parts of his 2008 comeback CD I Hear Voices and would have been a worthy followup to Appetizers had he released it then and not 30 years later. John Kay, took a break from Steppenwolf to do a solo career and this got played on the AM dial for a while in summer of 73. Later reformed Steppenwolf to which he still performs to this day.
3. Georgia Rain-The Questionnaires 1991 Another rock band out of Nashville that was out of place in the music world in the 90s, these guys like Jason & The Scorchers got signed to EMI American and like that band, their label had no clue on how to promote them. I remember that longbox editions of Window To The World spent a sad and lonely life at Best Buy and nobody bought it and forgot all about them till the infamous Pawn Shop years to which I found both their albums in the cheap bins at Mister Money, (one in Davenport the other up in Madison) Window To The World, the first was mismatched by Pat Moran's outdated 80s sound and even today while good can't figure out why they went to Rockfield across the pond to do it in the first place. Anything Can Happen, the 2nd and best, they stayed close to home at Southern Track under the watchful eye of 38 Special and Skynyrd producer Rodney Mills..The record was released and forgotten soon afterwards but these guys deserved a better fate. Elements of Rolling Stones, The Romantics and 80s rock are heard and even got some songwriting help from Jim Peterik and Jay Joyce who produced The Wallflowers last album. Didn't help and by the end of 91, the band broke up and went back to being Nashville sessionmen.
4. Love Me Hard-Dust 1970 Their two albums on CD have had collectors overpaying through the nose to get them so Sony/Legacy finally issued both of them on one cd. Purveyors of the power trio hard rock they owed a lot to Blue Cheer and later on Budgie but could also be blamed for the forthcomings of such notables like Truth And Janey and Triumph. Better than Blue Cheer (and Triumph for that matter) but not as good as Budgie, Dush toiled for two albums on Karma Sutra and even had this out on 45. Marc Bell smashing cymbals left and right just like the Blue Cheer drummer on Summertime Blues. Richie Wise, lead singer would later go into production and producing two albums for KISS. Kenny Aaronson would become a in demand bass player (Foghat, Billy Squier, Sammy Hagar) and Marc Bell would be instrumental in punk music, starting out with Richard Hell And The Voioids and later The Ramones (Marky Ramone). A far cry from the acid hippie dippy rock of Dust.
5. I'll Still Be Loving You-Restless Heart 1985 A bland country vocal band I was trying to remember what song that top forty radio played back in the mid 80s and end up buying the brief but to the point The Best Of Restless Heart (you heard it on the radio) and it is the last song on this cd. They sounded like Exile, another country vocal band that had hits as well but they didn't cross over to pop like Restless Heart did. Got played at many a prom and social gatherings. And the less said the better although this song would really not be considered country today. It has no rap nor autotuner in it whatsoever.
6. Jones On The Jukebox-Becky Hobbs 1988 I admit if this was to be a radio podcast, the extreme song suggestions would probably kill off everybody but one's with warped open minds. but it is what it is, a place where I let people know what I'm listening to when I'm at work or at home. Who else would add Collective Soul, Dust and Restless Heart to their top ten? Basically, it took me about three days to compile the last top ten and it has turned out to be one of the least read top tens in history and I added pictures to it as well. So we keep plugging away and maybe somebody who reads this will seek out the artist via You Tube or other ways and means. Becky Hobbs came from Oklahoma, the land of tornadoes and had a deal with MTM Music (which somehow is connected with Mary Tyler Moore) and made a decent but period sounding album called All Keyed Up to which RCA later picked up when MTM shut their doors added a couple new songs and deleted a couple off the original album. Hobbs wrote her own songs and could play the piano with the best of them. Nevertheless, a tribute to George Jones via the barroom. Imagine that.
7. A Salty Dog-Procol Harum 1969 Some people consider this to be their best overall song, more so than A White Shade Of Pale and since there's no underground FM stations anymore you don't hear this either. Considered one hit wonders by Cumulus of course, P.H. were around a good 10 years and made about as many albums as well but for me they were always a acquired taste at best, even A Salty Dog album is hard to get through if you're not a fan. But they always had a great vocalist in Gary Brooker, Robin Trower played guitar and the underrated and late great Barrie Wilson was so good he was considered to be a part of Led Zeppelin. But as we all go into the Senior Citizen circuit, the 60s are five lightyears behind us now, one can't deny the diversity of music styles of that bygone era. All this generation has nowadays is autotuner, rap and processed beats. Maybe the good old days were better than the days of now.
8. Frayed-Junk Monkeys 1991 They were good but they borrowed way too much from Soul Asylum and The Replacements combined. They were from Detroit, got signed to Metal Blade an their attempt to find an alternative band for them to marketed but Metal Blade either couldn't or David Bierman didn't want to leave his home to go on tours, reasons unknown. They did make three albums for Metal Blade and then disappeared from the public eye. From the album Bliss which could pass as a Soul Asylum tribute or Replacements tribute album. And that's good praise.
9. Wild Eyed And Wound Up-True Believers 1988 but released in 1994 After leaving Rank And File, Alejandro Escovedo and brother Javier form this harder edged cowpunk band and made two albums that Rykodisc released as Hard Road. The S/T True Believers was very loose and ragged and Rounder issued it but when EMI signed them up, they bungled the second album right off the bat and it never got released proper. Problem with the second album was Jeff Glixman's ill advised decision to replace the rhythm section and getting a drummer that didn't have a clue and played 4/4 straight through on all the songs. EMI America was one of the worst labels ever but a step above Curb or BNA, EMI had Jason And The Scorchers and The Questionnaires and didn't promote them either. However Alejandro and Javier have gotten back together with John Dee Graham for a series of one off's down in Austin the past couple years. Wouldn't mind seeing a new album from these guys too.
10. The Three Of Us-Streetlight Manifesto 2013 Think Chicago as punk ska and you'll get the picture of this NJ band. They been around for 10 years which I didn't know about but I knew their latest album came out with a bit of controversy, there was a acoustic version LP of The Hands That Thieve but their record label killed that off and basically made this band a life of hell so they decided that this would be their last for Victory and move on to other things. Actually pretty good this CD is, these guys also throw elements of prog rock into their punk ska. Another person said they reminded him of The Gaslight Anthem but with horns which is good praise if you ask me. But then again I'm not much of a fan of Gaslight Anthem although their last album I still have on my shelf and play from time to time.
Concluding this:
Drifting Back (all 27 minutes of it)-Neil Young & Crazy Horse 2012
Chick A Boom-Dewdrop 1971
Hands Like Rain-James McMurtry 1992
Albatross/Colonel Stopping It-Monty Python 1976
I'll Follow The Sun-The Beatles 1964
Bonus Track from Pat Travers's Wife (Becha it's a PT song)
I'd Rather See You Dead-Pat Travers 1982
Craptastic Weather remains the best viewed blog of the month but a lot of this month's blog haven't gotten out of the 20 views mark. A distant second is the Pearson 25 tribute. So far this top ten of the week is under 10 views, despite promoting it via the usual media sites. Maybe I should get the folks at No Deposit Casino to come back and tout this. The best top ten ever, Mexican Jumping Beans is now in 3rd place.
Music journalism is going down the toilet from what I have seen. Paris Hilton now signed to Cash Money, Lil' Wayne's hope of Limp Bizkit as well. That's all you need to know. Kim K, complaining about her balloon lips while carrying Kayne West's child. Make another reality show of that on E sweetheart. And Bob Lefsetz continues to rail against albums and record labels. Meanwhile the world is going to hell in a handbasket, F5 Oklahoma Tornadoes and some Islamic asshole chopped the head off some British soldier and saying something like it's Allah's will. Meanwhile, Ann Coulter, snorting bath salts mused on Twitter this little thought provoking tidbit: "Liberals still hoping London machete attack was committed by a white guy."
I know, I gave this attention seeking whore man what she wanted. In other words, another overpaid moron C word with a penis. Smoke some more bath salts freak.
While this is going on Trevor Bolder passes away at age 62 from Cancer. A part of Bowie's Spiders From Mars but most recently holding the bass for Uriah Heep, we lose yet another rock and roller And in the meantime the crazies are taking over the world.
Reviews:
Airbourne-Black Dog Barking (Road Runner)
So tell me folks what does rock and roll music mean to you now? Do you, like myself continue to seek out the new bands that continue to redo the same three chords power rock that AC/DC made famous years ago, or do you basically have given up and hung on to Back In Black and refuse to listen to anything else? It's a tough world today as hip music magazines continue to praise autotuner crap bands or fall over themselves praising the new Daft Punk CD while Airbourne continues to rock and roll all night and party every day with the sex, drugs and booze that adds up to their 3rd platter Black Dog Barking. I'm surprised that All Music Guide gave this an extra star whereas they poo pooed No Guts No Glory, an album that is a bit more fun than Black Dog Barking. It's what they call junk rock, you don't think much about it but you can rock and roll and get drunk to it. Joel O'keefe draws a lot from Bon and Brian but also Jimmy Barnes and Sam Kinison on various songs and the band doesn't stray far from Ac/Dc riffs and backing shout a longs. The second side gets along better with the title track and Woman Like That but Airbourne isn't out to save the world, they take rock and roll more seriously about getting drunk and laid more rather than whatever Bono is doing with U2, and they're a throwback to 70s rock and roll moreso than the crap modern rock bands that hinder KRNA although I'm sure they'll play the new track Ready To Rock before pawning the CD off on somebody when they call in to win the new Airbourne CD to once again wear out another copy of Back In Black (I can never get that fucking title right, I always type Black In Back every fucking time). Hopefully there'll be newbies out there that will call Airbourne their own Ac/Dc and draw upon them as inspiration and start their own band of three chords turned up to 11. And stay the fuck away from The Voice and American Idol.
Grade B
Pick Hits: Woman Like That, Ready To Rock
"People say all my playing still sounds like The Doors, but did I sound like The Doors or did The Doors sound like me?"
RIP Ray Manzarek
Nicki No Talent Minaj is leaving American Idol. Like we really care.
The first weekend to welcome summer will be upon us, Memorial Day Weekend and already Big Oil has savataged that as well, with gas prices going up an fucking unbelievable and over the top price of 3.94 (subject to change) from 3.39 beginning to this fucked up month. Big Oil knew what they were doing when they shut down 2 major refineries from "maintence" and "mixing up summer blend fuel" right in time for the weekend so speculators could jack it up into a panic on Wall Street, in a attempt for Big Oil to get record profits again. Endless greed. By the way, somebody in Florida won that big 550 million dollar lottery, whereas you and I didn't. And I know you didn't cuz you wouldn't be wasting your time reading this blog too.
I also haven't been too happy with the continuation of bullshit drug emails from black market drug companies that I continue to get in my hotmail account. No wonder why millions of people have been leaving hotmail. When you get continuous shit from nonexistent email places like ;asfd;h@asdf;lkj.com you just want to punch kittens. I'm a man too but GOD i'm so tired of the Get Viagra now or Enlarge It emails that continue to flood my junk box. That shit will make you go blind and have your dick fall off. The more you block them, the more they send. The earwigs of hotmail or outlook as its called now. Kill one and ten more replace it. Save us Ivy Doomkitty. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/may/21/oklahoma-tornado-newcastle-resident-video
Spring Storm Enema has been a tornado making bitch of late. I spent most of Sunday Afternoon watching the internet and chasing two F4 Tornadoes in Oklahoma, one formed in Edmond and then wrecked havoc along route 66, and then another one forming in Norman and becoming a monster storm tearing up Shawnee and a motor home court. Up here a tornado was sighted in Des Moines and Huxley. More storms formed Monday night but thankfully they petered out before they reached here. If you have a scanner you might find these handy: http://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?inputs=1&ctid=841#cats
Country Music today has really took a hit from the traditionalists out there and you can see why from the likes of craptastic country artists like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and the no talent at any level without autotuner Florida/Georgia Line 15 big reasons why country music sucks today here: http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/saving-country-musics-worst-country-songs-of-all-time
While Oklahoma was being destroyed by F4 tornadoes and ravaging floods from Spring Storm Enema, Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist of The Doors and later producer to X passed away from bile duct cancer at age 74. He had a distinctive sound all his own as kind of a soul/jazz organist while using the bass petals as bass since The Doors didn't have a bass player most of the time. After Jim Morrison passed away, Ray continued The Doors name with 2 more albums (the uneven Other voices and Full Circle which had a minor hit with Get Up And Dance) and then reformed The Doors later on although John Densmore didn't rejoin and sued them for using the Doors name (they eventually renamed it Doors Of The 21st Century with Ian Astbury of the Cult replacing Morrison) Manzarek, would help shape the sound of X as he produced some of their classic albums of the 1980s (Los Angeles, Under The Big Black Sun to name a couple) but in later years would write a book on his association with Jim Morrison with Light My Fire. With Ray's passing this will probably shut close The Doors for good now.
Top Ten Of The Week:
1. New Vibration-Collective Soul 2008 Something found in the 50 cent CD pile from Madison a couple weeks ago, hard to believe it's been that long and I'm already wishing for another get away trip and the only Collective Soul album that I didn't buy new. Never a hip mag band fave (Rolling Stone, Pitchfork come to mind) Ed Roland has been doing his thing for just about 20 years now and outside of the lackluster Blender and hard to figure Youth, the rest of their albums have been quality listening although Afterwords, their 2008 album didn't sell very well despite a bit marketing ploy with Target only having dubs on this album. When that failed they went back on a major, doing one album for Roadrunner. And far as I know their only one for that label.
2. Easy Evil-John Kay 1973 Alan O'Day passed away over the weekend. He wrote this song which was a minor hit for John Kay and later Three Dog Night took a whack at it on their ill fated American Pastime album for ABC. O'Day was a workmanlike songwriter that managed to get a top ten hit with Undercover Angel in 1977. Never paid much attention to his solo work, his 1977 album reminded me of an Andrew Gold with a dirtier mind, but I have heard parts of his 2008 comeback CD I Hear Voices and would have been a worthy followup to Appetizers had he released it then and not 30 years later. John Kay, took a break from Steppenwolf to do a solo career and this got played on the AM dial for a while in summer of 73. Later reformed Steppenwolf to which he still performs to this day.
3. Georgia Rain-The Questionnaires 1991 Another rock band out of Nashville that was out of place in the music world in the 90s, these guys like Jason & The Scorchers got signed to EMI American and like that band, their label had no clue on how to promote them. I remember that longbox editions of Window To The World spent a sad and lonely life at Best Buy and nobody bought it and forgot all about them till the infamous Pawn Shop years to which I found both their albums in the cheap bins at Mister Money, (one in Davenport the other up in Madison) Window To The World, the first was mismatched by Pat Moran's outdated 80s sound and even today while good can't figure out why they went to Rockfield across the pond to do it in the first place. Anything Can Happen, the 2nd and best, they stayed close to home at Southern Track under the watchful eye of 38 Special and Skynyrd producer Rodney Mills..The record was released and forgotten soon afterwards but these guys deserved a better fate. Elements of Rolling Stones, The Romantics and 80s rock are heard and even got some songwriting help from Jim Peterik and Jay Joyce who produced The Wallflowers last album. Didn't help and by the end of 91, the band broke up and went back to being Nashville sessionmen.
4. Love Me Hard-Dust 1970 Their two albums on CD have had collectors overpaying through the nose to get them so Sony/Legacy finally issued both of them on one cd. Purveyors of the power trio hard rock they owed a lot to Blue Cheer and later on Budgie but could also be blamed for the forthcomings of such notables like Truth And Janey and Triumph. Better than Blue Cheer (and Triumph for that matter) but not as good as Budgie, Dush toiled for two albums on Karma Sutra and even had this out on 45. Marc Bell smashing cymbals left and right just like the Blue Cheer drummer on Summertime Blues. Richie Wise, lead singer would later go into production and producing two albums for KISS. Kenny Aaronson would become a in demand bass player (Foghat, Billy Squier, Sammy Hagar) and Marc Bell would be instrumental in punk music, starting out with Richard Hell And The Voioids and later The Ramones (Marky Ramone). A far cry from the acid hippie dippy rock of Dust.
5. I'll Still Be Loving You-Restless Heart 1985 A bland country vocal band I was trying to remember what song that top forty radio played back in the mid 80s and end up buying the brief but to the point The Best Of Restless Heart (you heard it on the radio) and it is the last song on this cd. They sounded like Exile, another country vocal band that had hits as well but they didn't cross over to pop like Restless Heart did. Got played at many a prom and social gatherings. And the less said the better although this song would really not be considered country today. It has no rap nor autotuner in it whatsoever.
6. Jones On The Jukebox-Becky Hobbs 1988 I admit if this was to be a radio podcast, the extreme song suggestions would probably kill off everybody but one's with warped open minds. but it is what it is, a place where I let people know what I'm listening to when I'm at work or at home. Who else would add Collective Soul, Dust and Restless Heart to their top ten? Basically, it took me about three days to compile the last top ten and it has turned out to be one of the least read top tens in history and I added pictures to it as well. So we keep plugging away and maybe somebody who reads this will seek out the artist via You Tube or other ways and means. Becky Hobbs came from Oklahoma, the land of tornadoes and had a deal with MTM Music (which somehow is connected with Mary Tyler Moore) and made a decent but period sounding album called All Keyed Up to which RCA later picked up when MTM shut their doors added a couple new songs and deleted a couple off the original album. Hobbs wrote her own songs and could play the piano with the best of them. Nevertheless, a tribute to George Jones via the barroom. Imagine that.
7. A Salty Dog-Procol Harum 1969 Some people consider this to be their best overall song, more so than A White Shade Of Pale and since there's no underground FM stations anymore you don't hear this either. Considered one hit wonders by Cumulus of course, P.H. were around a good 10 years and made about as many albums as well but for me they were always a acquired taste at best, even A Salty Dog album is hard to get through if you're not a fan. But they always had a great vocalist in Gary Brooker, Robin Trower played guitar and the underrated and late great Barrie Wilson was so good he was considered to be a part of Led Zeppelin. But as we all go into the Senior Citizen circuit, the 60s are five lightyears behind us now, one can't deny the diversity of music styles of that bygone era. All this generation has nowadays is autotuner, rap and processed beats. Maybe the good old days were better than the days of now.
8. Frayed-Junk Monkeys 1991 They were good but they borrowed way too much from Soul Asylum and The Replacements combined. They were from Detroit, got signed to Metal Blade an their attempt to find an alternative band for them to marketed but Metal Blade either couldn't or David Bierman didn't want to leave his home to go on tours, reasons unknown. They did make three albums for Metal Blade and then disappeared from the public eye. From the album Bliss which could pass as a Soul Asylum tribute or Replacements tribute album. And that's good praise.
9. Wild Eyed And Wound Up-True Believers 1988 but released in 1994 After leaving Rank And File, Alejandro Escovedo and brother Javier form this harder edged cowpunk band and made two albums that Rykodisc released as Hard Road. The S/T True Believers was very loose and ragged and Rounder issued it but when EMI signed them up, they bungled the second album right off the bat and it never got released proper. Problem with the second album was Jeff Glixman's ill advised decision to replace the rhythm section and getting a drummer that didn't have a clue and played 4/4 straight through on all the songs. EMI America was one of the worst labels ever but a step above Curb or BNA, EMI had Jason And The Scorchers and The Questionnaires and didn't promote them either. However Alejandro and Javier have gotten back together with John Dee Graham for a series of one off's down in Austin the past couple years. Wouldn't mind seeing a new album from these guys too.
10. The Three Of Us-Streetlight Manifesto 2013 Think Chicago as punk ska and you'll get the picture of this NJ band. They been around for 10 years which I didn't know about but I knew their latest album came out with a bit of controversy, there was a acoustic version LP of The Hands That Thieve but their record label killed that off and basically made this band a life of hell so they decided that this would be their last for Victory and move on to other things. Actually pretty good this CD is, these guys also throw elements of prog rock into their punk ska. Another person said they reminded him of The Gaslight Anthem but with horns which is good praise if you ask me. But then again I'm not much of a fan of Gaslight Anthem although their last album I still have on my shelf and play from time to time.
Concluding this:
Drifting Back (all 27 minutes of it)-Neil Young & Crazy Horse 2012
Chick A Boom-Dewdrop 1971
Hands Like Rain-James McMurtry 1992
Albatross/Colonel Stopping It-Monty Python 1976
I'll Follow The Sun-The Beatles 1964
Bonus Track from Pat Travers's Wife (Becha it's a PT song)
I'd Rather See You Dead-Pat Travers 1982
Craptastic Weather remains the best viewed blog of the month but a lot of this month's blog haven't gotten out of the 20 views mark. A distant second is the Pearson 25 tribute. So far this top ten of the week is under 10 views, despite promoting it via the usual media sites. Maybe I should get the folks at No Deposit Casino to come back and tout this. The best top ten ever, Mexican Jumping Beans is now in 3rd place.
Music journalism is going down the toilet from what I have seen. Paris Hilton now signed to Cash Money, Lil' Wayne's hope of Limp Bizkit as well. That's all you need to know. Kim K, complaining about her balloon lips while carrying Kayne West's child. Make another reality show of that on E sweetheart. And Bob Lefsetz continues to rail against albums and record labels. Meanwhile the world is going to hell in a handbasket, F5 Oklahoma Tornadoes and some Islamic asshole chopped the head off some British soldier and saying something like it's Allah's will. Meanwhile, Ann Coulter, snorting bath salts mused on Twitter this little thought provoking tidbit: "Liberals still hoping London machete attack was committed by a white guy."
I know, I gave this attention seeking whore man what she wanted. In other words, another overpaid moron C word with a penis. Smoke some more bath salts freak.
While this is going on Trevor Bolder passes away at age 62 from Cancer. A part of Bowie's Spiders From Mars but most recently holding the bass for Uriah Heep, we lose yet another rock and roller And in the meantime the crazies are taking over the world.
Reviews:
Airbourne-Black Dog Barking (Road Runner)
So tell me folks what does rock and roll music mean to you now? Do you, like myself continue to seek out the new bands that continue to redo the same three chords power rock that AC/DC made famous years ago, or do you basically have given up and hung on to Back In Black and refuse to listen to anything else? It's a tough world today as hip music magazines continue to praise autotuner crap bands or fall over themselves praising the new Daft Punk CD while Airbourne continues to rock and roll all night and party every day with the sex, drugs and booze that adds up to their 3rd platter Black Dog Barking. I'm surprised that All Music Guide gave this an extra star whereas they poo pooed No Guts No Glory, an album that is a bit more fun than Black Dog Barking. It's what they call junk rock, you don't think much about it but you can rock and roll and get drunk to it. Joel O'keefe draws a lot from Bon and Brian but also Jimmy Barnes and Sam Kinison on various songs and the band doesn't stray far from Ac/Dc riffs and backing shout a longs. The second side gets along better with the title track and Woman Like That but Airbourne isn't out to save the world, they take rock and roll more seriously about getting drunk and laid more rather than whatever Bono is doing with U2, and they're a throwback to 70s rock and roll moreso than the crap modern rock bands that hinder KRNA although I'm sure they'll play the new track Ready To Rock before pawning the CD off on somebody when they call in to win the new Airbourne CD to once again wear out another copy of Back In Black (I can never get that fucking title right, I always type Black In Back every fucking time). Hopefully there'll be newbies out there that will call Airbourne their own Ac/Dc and draw upon them as inspiration and start their own band of three chords turned up to 11. And stay the fuck away from The Voice and American Idol.
Grade B
Pick Hits: Woman Like That, Ready To Rock
"People say all my playing still sounds like The Doors, but did I sound like The Doors or did The Doors sound like me?"
RIP Ray Manzarek
Monday, May 20, 2013
Tornado Terror: Oklahoma May 19-20 2013
I don't believe what I have seen the past couple days.
I don't live in Oklahoma, got an Aunt that lives in Choctaw and every time this time of year we worry about her well being. She lives in ground zero of Tornado Alley. Oklahoma City. Moore is a suburb of OK City, and they have been hit once again with another F5 tornado on Monday, leveling buildings, schools and whatever in its path. It started Monday at 3:05 when a twister came forming across Newcastle and turn big and violent in our very eyes. At least a mile wide for 22 miles and tore each and every thing in that area.
I've seen tornadoes from various reports and films and newscasts. I have witness some that came too close to me, Belmont Tornado, the 1968 Charles City/Oelwein F5 terrors, The 2008 Parkersburg/New Hampton monster that scarred 68 miles of Iowa soil, and smaller tornadoes outside of Anamosa that made a mess out of the lowlands before the Wapsi on 151 but thinned out before it got to the Wally World. I seen reports of the Joplin 2011 monster, seen The St Louis tornado smack into the airport and documented most of them through various blogs. The 1998 Washington Iowa Tornado that channel 9 followed as well. You don't forget them as they form in front of you.
I wasn't around when the worst tornado of all time The Tri State Tornado of 1925, to which a series of twisters ripped through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, was too far from the 1974 outbreak that made a mess out of Xenia Ohio. I rather not see a tornado up close and personal, certainly not staring outside the house and watching it rumble toward me and seeing nothing but darkness and destruction bearing down. I can't picture what the folk at Moore Oklahoma were thinking when this monster took shape
Moore has seen 3 major monsters in 14 years, 1999, 2003 and ten years later the 2013 monster that may be the end all of storms. But the Sunday before, two twisters formed in that area but spared Moore, one formed in Edmond and then tore up places and towns along route 66 and caused considerable damage. The other started around Norman and then got bigger and meaner as it hit behind the forest trees along highway 9 to Shawnee and destroyed a mobile home park.
A picture is a thousand words. This is the end of the world coming at you at 200 MPH.http://i.minus.com/iluhrlDRbUSAQ.gif
On the ground for 40 minutes and grown a mile an half big, that's a EF5. Comparing this to the one that started in Norman and plowing through Swanee had perhaps the strangest and bizarre hook echo that borderlined upon being a hurricane, a small eye as winds going counterclockwise in a display of intense and extremism of wind sheer.
Really, you never want to see this up close. In essence, the folks in Moore will overcome this and rebuild again like they did back in 1999 and 2003. Sad to say it's a sad fact of life that extreme weather has a way to change things and take away what one once had. Every tornado that does damage is bad and the Moore Tornado is no exception but this 2013 monster will never be forgotten and might rival the 1925 Tri State Tornado as one of the worst ever.
The Shawnee Tornado approaching:
I 40 damage from Shawnee Tornado
I don't live in Oklahoma, got an Aunt that lives in Choctaw and every time this time of year we worry about her well being. She lives in ground zero of Tornado Alley. Oklahoma City. Moore is a suburb of OK City, and they have been hit once again with another F5 tornado on Monday, leveling buildings, schools and whatever in its path. It started Monday at 3:05 when a twister came forming across Newcastle and turn big and violent in our very eyes. At least a mile wide for 22 miles and tore each and every thing in that area.
I've seen tornadoes from various reports and films and newscasts. I have witness some that came too close to me, Belmont Tornado, the 1968 Charles City/Oelwein F5 terrors, The 2008 Parkersburg/New Hampton monster that scarred 68 miles of Iowa soil, and smaller tornadoes outside of Anamosa that made a mess out of the lowlands before the Wapsi on 151 but thinned out before it got to the Wally World. I seen reports of the Joplin 2011 monster, seen The St Louis tornado smack into the airport and documented most of them through various blogs. The 1998 Washington Iowa Tornado that channel 9 followed as well. You don't forget them as they form in front of you.
I wasn't around when the worst tornado of all time The Tri State Tornado of 1925, to which a series of twisters ripped through Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, was too far from the 1974 outbreak that made a mess out of Xenia Ohio. I rather not see a tornado up close and personal, certainly not staring outside the house and watching it rumble toward me and seeing nothing but darkness and destruction bearing down. I can't picture what the folk at Moore Oklahoma were thinking when this monster took shape
Moore has seen 3 major monsters in 14 years, 1999, 2003 and ten years later the 2013 monster that may be the end all of storms. But the Sunday before, two twisters formed in that area but spared Moore, one formed in Edmond and then tore up places and towns along route 66 and caused considerable damage. The other started around Norman and then got bigger and meaner as it hit behind the forest trees along highway 9 to Shawnee and destroyed a mobile home park.
A picture is a thousand words. This is the end of the world coming at you at 200 MPH.http://i.minus.com/iluhrlDRbUSAQ.gif
On the ground for 40 minutes and grown a mile an half big, that's a EF5. Comparing this to the one that started in Norman and plowing through Swanee had perhaps the strangest and bizarre hook echo that borderlined upon being a hurricane, a small eye as winds going counterclockwise in a display of intense and extremism of wind sheer.
Really, you never want to see this up close. In essence, the folks in Moore will overcome this and rebuild again like they did back in 1999 and 2003. Sad to say it's a sad fact of life that extreme weather has a way to change things and take away what one once had. Every tornado that does damage is bad and the Moore Tornado is no exception but this 2013 monster will never be forgotten and might rival the 1925 Tri State Tornado as one of the worst ever.
The Shawnee Tornado approaching:
I 40 damage from Shawnee Tornado
Friday, May 17, 2013
End Of The World Musings
So finally, springtime has finally showed up after weeks and weeks of cold, gray rainy flooding days but needless to say we are in the rough and tumble part of tornado season even though we have not had one here in 357 days in the state, unheard of and still waiting for them to show up. May 15th was the Tornado 45 anniversary of Charles City and Oelwein F5 monsters and the 1998 Washington town F3 that KCRG followed that day with Bobby Ratliff taking amazing shots of this twisters, I stayed home from work to watch that. On the 25th will be the 5th year of the Parkersburg/New Hampton monster that tore up that part of the area but they have made a miraculous comeback. We all hope for no more tornados but when you live up here you just take it one day at a time. I'm sure the twisters will be back at some point.
For the most part I tend to keep quiet about the distractors of the autotuner cluserfuck known as music today and you'll be sadden to learn that Nicki No Talent Minaj is leaving American Idol after one season. Doesn't break my heart, I don't watch that crap and never did. Nicki No Talent is a piece of work herself, I think she remixed her last album about 10 times and none of them sold worth a shit. But don't cry for Miss No Talent, I'm sure the manufactured world of sheep media will continue to follow her around and hang for every nonsense word she says but as for myself I have better things to do with my time and don't have much of it anymore. I know I get good ratings and good laughs when I bring her up and such nonsense like Donald (roadkill wig) Trump, Ann the Man Coulter, Pillhead Rushbo Lumbaugh, and whatever passes for news being CNN or FOX. And cable itself, never have we paid so much to get so little in return. I mean you can't watch anything without 10 minutes of commercials and 2 minutes of movie. Even GAC, doesn't keep up to date with new country, their time capsule series is basically the same videos they started out when they arrived in Nashville (hardly anything before 1998). Even I haven't paid much attention to the Cubs this season, not that WGN shows them all that much, they really don't but we have had other life changing events that has cut into the time of wasting it watching crappy baseball and dealing with drug commercials and their GD E.D. commercials. In a era to which the fucking Right Wing Nut Jobs talk about repealing abortions and at the same time tout Viagra as the cure all for the problems of the world, you know something smells ripe and you need to take the garbage out. Too bad you can't do that with the assholes we have in Congress.
You get skeptical when you hear bullshit like the Keystone XL pipeline needs to be built so we can have cheap oil but nobody here is making new refineries, the black tar oil leaks and pollutes every GD thing that it touches and gas prices have gone up a whopping 60 cents this past month From 3.19 to 3.79 and you can't do nothing about it but bitch. Big Oil got ya by the balls once again. I get skeptical when these GOP idiots are fearing a black president elected by the masses and sit on their ass and pout or bitch about gay people and gay rights. You get Koch suckers like Eric Cantor who wants to eliminate overtime pay for corporations now, yeah that will create jobs in the slavery market. We been hearing shit like that from Cantor or the drunk speaker of the house or the NRA bought off Bitch McConnell talk about jobs and then all they do is introduce bills that create jobs overseas but not over here. You get tired of hearing that, and I used to bitch about that all the time at My Space and this is one of the few times that I will bring it up over here. I hold out some kind of hope that Obama could work with these assholes but I think we would have better results if a F5 Tornado tore through the Capitol, and take out each and every one of these do nothing fucks. Let's see if Paul Ryan can live off that voucher as a F5 takes him out to sea. Further the better.
Which brings us to new music of the lack of it. Problem is with most record stores out of walking distance we're pretty much having to scour things from the comfort of our own home. If I was in Madison or Phoenix, there would be a Zia's or Mad City Music X or Strictly Discs to keep us up to date but here you have to rely on Wally World or Best Buy for their selective crap although I was surprised Best Buy had the Sugarman Soundtrack. But nobody has the new Del Lords which came out this week, I got the new Graham Parker a half year after it was released and the ICON series from Universal is shit, it's doesn't improve on the 20th Century Masters all that much, just change the name and the picture and a track and two and more corporate rehash. In other words, it's Universal's way of plundering the vaults of EMI to put out shoddy best ofs. Beware brother beware.
Today's bands have a problem and that's competing against all the music that has been recorded and is on line or in the net and even though I do not buy Bob Lefsetz's self serving warning to the newbies to go into banking cuz I'm not going to play or listen to your music rhetoric, today's aspiring musicians must create music that catches the ear. Sometimes the old bands overstay their welcome, The Rolling Stones doing a 50th tour and Ronnie Woo Woo Wood defending those high ticket prices, Fleetwood Mac making a 4 song EP that nobody knew or cared about too much, and even at home and being played on net radio the new Townedgers CD No Exit got no sales, nor much talk about outside of this blog. Maybe the writing is on the wall, at some point even I have a cutoff date of bargain hunting. Even I cannot try to make sense of it all the music of the past 7 decades of rock and roll and the ones before that. Even with a big collection, I overlook even some of the CDs that I have on site. I don't think there's much left for me to even review anymore. But still going to Arizona or Madison I still find something that I overlook and I'm sure when I return to the 100 degree heat of the desert I'll be bringing a bag home of tunes, cuz that's been the way I been doing things for years upon end.
With the Arizona trip a month away, I have an idea of what I will be doing, and of course that will be stops at Half Priced Books, Zia's, Hastings and FYE and some of my favorite gut busting diabetes enhancing food and drinks but don't look for me to stop at Amy's Baking Company anytime soon in Scottsdale. Even before Kitchen Nightmares, that place always had a bad reputation. The backlash has been furious and the owners have fought back with every retort to the negative reviews that they continue to get. But for some reason I wouldn't be surprised if some lowlife cable network offers these folks their own reality show. I'm sure Food Netwook or TLC and even E entertainment would be knocking at their door. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/16/unable-to-take-criticism-amys-baking-company-has-epic-meltdown-on-facebook/ and http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/05/14/lessons-from-amys-baking-company-six-things-you-should-never-do-on-social-media/
Finally, I renamed that Observations from the fore front blog about Ari Up and others to something else since its a runaway hit with the No Deposit Casino from Jux. com. I think it's a sham myself but thanks for putting it into the top 10 all time read guys. But I still don't recommend you.
And for the first time ever, gas prices have hit four dollar a gallon here, prompting a lotta hatred toward big oil and them shutting down two Chicago based refineries for maintenance, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Goddam Greed is going to be the end of it all.
I hate them all.
For the most part I tend to keep quiet about the distractors of the autotuner cluserfuck known as music today and you'll be sadden to learn that Nicki No Talent Minaj is leaving American Idol after one season. Doesn't break my heart, I don't watch that crap and never did. Nicki No Talent is a piece of work herself, I think she remixed her last album about 10 times and none of them sold worth a shit. But don't cry for Miss No Talent, I'm sure the manufactured world of sheep media will continue to follow her around and hang for every nonsense word she says but as for myself I have better things to do with my time and don't have much of it anymore. I know I get good ratings and good laughs when I bring her up and such nonsense like Donald (roadkill wig) Trump, Ann the Man Coulter, Pillhead Rushbo Lumbaugh, and whatever passes for news being CNN or FOX. And cable itself, never have we paid so much to get so little in return. I mean you can't watch anything without 10 minutes of commercials and 2 minutes of movie. Even GAC, doesn't keep up to date with new country, their time capsule series is basically the same videos they started out when they arrived in Nashville (hardly anything before 1998). Even I haven't paid much attention to the Cubs this season, not that WGN shows them all that much, they really don't but we have had other life changing events that has cut into the time of wasting it watching crappy baseball and dealing with drug commercials and their GD E.D. commercials. In a era to which the fucking Right Wing Nut Jobs talk about repealing abortions and at the same time tout Viagra as the cure all for the problems of the world, you know something smells ripe and you need to take the garbage out. Too bad you can't do that with the assholes we have in Congress.
You get skeptical when you hear bullshit like the Keystone XL pipeline needs to be built so we can have cheap oil but nobody here is making new refineries, the black tar oil leaks and pollutes every GD thing that it touches and gas prices have gone up a whopping 60 cents this past month From 3.19 to 3.79 and you can't do nothing about it but bitch. Big Oil got ya by the balls once again. I get skeptical when these GOP idiots are fearing a black president elected by the masses and sit on their ass and pout or bitch about gay people and gay rights. You get Koch suckers like Eric Cantor who wants to eliminate overtime pay for corporations now, yeah that will create jobs in the slavery market. We been hearing shit like that from Cantor or the drunk speaker of the house or the NRA bought off Bitch McConnell talk about jobs and then all they do is introduce bills that create jobs overseas but not over here. You get tired of hearing that, and I used to bitch about that all the time at My Space and this is one of the few times that I will bring it up over here. I hold out some kind of hope that Obama could work with these assholes but I think we would have better results if a F5 Tornado tore through the Capitol, and take out each and every one of these do nothing fucks. Let's see if Paul Ryan can live off that voucher as a F5 takes him out to sea. Further the better.
Which brings us to new music of the lack of it. Problem is with most record stores out of walking distance we're pretty much having to scour things from the comfort of our own home. If I was in Madison or Phoenix, there would be a Zia's or Mad City Music X or Strictly Discs to keep us up to date but here you have to rely on Wally World or Best Buy for their selective crap although I was surprised Best Buy had the Sugarman Soundtrack. But nobody has the new Del Lords which came out this week, I got the new Graham Parker a half year after it was released and the ICON series from Universal is shit, it's doesn't improve on the 20th Century Masters all that much, just change the name and the picture and a track and two and more corporate rehash. In other words, it's Universal's way of plundering the vaults of EMI to put out shoddy best ofs. Beware brother beware.
Today's bands have a problem and that's competing against all the music that has been recorded and is on line or in the net and even though I do not buy Bob Lefsetz's self serving warning to the newbies to go into banking cuz I'm not going to play or listen to your music rhetoric, today's aspiring musicians must create music that catches the ear. Sometimes the old bands overstay their welcome, The Rolling Stones doing a 50th tour and Ronnie Woo Woo Wood defending those high ticket prices, Fleetwood Mac making a 4 song EP that nobody knew or cared about too much, and even at home and being played on net radio the new Townedgers CD No Exit got no sales, nor much talk about outside of this blog. Maybe the writing is on the wall, at some point even I have a cutoff date of bargain hunting. Even I cannot try to make sense of it all the music of the past 7 decades of rock and roll and the ones before that. Even with a big collection, I overlook even some of the CDs that I have on site. I don't think there's much left for me to even review anymore. But still going to Arizona or Madison I still find something that I overlook and I'm sure when I return to the 100 degree heat of the desert I'll be bringing a bag home of tunes, cuz that's been the way I been doing things for years upon end.
With the Arizona trip a month away, I have an idea of what I will be doing, and of course that will be stops at Half Priced Books, Zia's, Hastings and FYE and some of my favorite gut busting diabetes enhancing food and drinks but don't look for me to stop at Amy's Baking Company anytime soon in Scottsdale. Even before Kitchen Nightmares, that place always had a bad reputation. The backlash has been furious and the owners have fought back with every retort to the negative reviews that they continue to get. But for some reason I wouldn't be surprised if some lowlife cable network offers these folks their own reality show. I'm sure Food Netwook or TLC and even E entertainment would be knocking at their door. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/16/unable-to-take-criticism-amys-baking-company-has-epic-meltdown-on-facebook/ and http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/05/14/lessons-from-amys-baking-company-six-things-you-should-never-do-on-social-media/
Finally, I renamed that Observations from the fore front blog about Ari Up and others to something else since its a runaway hit with the No Deposit Casino from Jux. com. I think it's a sham myself but thanks for putting it into the top 10 all time read guys. But I still don't recommend you.
And for the first time ever, gas prices have hit four dollar a gallon here, prompting a lotta hatred toward big oil and them shutting down two Chicago based refineries for maintenance, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. Goddam Greed is going to be the end of it all.
I hate them all.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
25 Years At Pearson NCS
In 1985, two days after having a lump the size of a marble removed
from my foot I ended up getting a temporary job via Kelly Services at
some off road place called National Computer Service, a up and coming
place that processed Pell Grants from needy students and of that matter
other things. Of course I started out in the dead of night, a horrible
11 to 7 night shift that gave me endless days of sleeping away and
insomnia. Finally they moved me to second shift to which I would work
for another year and a half before I finally convinced them to finally
hire me full time. And on May 15, 1988 the lovely Beverly Madden did
just that.
Working in Pell was an interesting job to say the very least to I made some good friends along the way. Mike Davenport and I talked tunes all the time and then a most interesting hippie dude came along and became one of my closest friends, the immoral and legendary Dennis Pusateri, with him around we drove all the seniors batty. A one of a kind dude is still missed two years after departing this planet and probably riding on that endless highway on his motorbike.
And then from 1989 to 1993 I was part of Data Input, to where Greg Nutter was boss and we managed to get a band going to which started the classic period of the Townedgers. Data Input was where we keyed up info after the scanning machines and printing machines would tear up the test scores that kids used to do. Iowa Basic Skills Test? Yep we processed them there in Iowa City
Beginning in 1993, I got hired up into the printing side of things, Denny Ballard and Sherri Chalupa hired me and I later would go to days for a couple years under the watchful eye of Danny Bowman (RIP). Printing moved from I.C to C.R and 1998 and later Kirk Hoeppner and John Allen became excellent managers as well. With printing going bye bye to Owatonna Minnesota, I return back to Iowa City for a year. But this week I celebrate 25 years of being at Pearson, a feat that even I couldn't believe would happen this far down the road. The glory years with Pearson was the most fun, the last couple years have been trying, for the usual reasons. It's tough to lose your family after all this time together but with scanning coming around the corner, it begins a new road to wherever it leads. To all my co workers, you're the best and thanks for putting up with my rantings and screamings when things don't go as planned. Y'all rock.
If I could be one person at Pearson I would choose Steve Rasmussen. I know I tend to get on his nerves when I have my major meltdowns due to crappy machines but he's always had the magic touch of getting them going. The quiet leader. Bill Hawks, figures a lot as well into the equation, he helps me when things fall apart and Mr. Steven not around and was kind enough to give me his IPOD to which I have yet to figure out. Hard for me to give up my outdated storage product like Cds and records.
Our printing family is just that. We been though the Iowa City era, then moving up here in 1998 for the next fifteen years till the powers to be decided that Owatonna is the place to go, but it's not for me. I'm sure Kenneth Stevenson will continue to provide excellent and valuable help when he moves up there. Good and hard working dude that is Kenneth.
Tom Woodruff, hell his record collection could have rivaled mine and he gave me two big crates of his records a few years ago. I kept the best ones, nevertheless Thomas has been a part of the NCS/Pearson family even before I learned how to drive.
The day shift Seniors the legendary Steven Murphy and Lyle Harp have been there for me when I was on days. Murph could be even more cranky than yours truly but like Steven, had the magic touch to "make it go". Harp, is a non stop talking chatterbox who always found humor in some of my cranky ways, he still cracks up over a 1996 episode that I took a very late lunch and told him "I gotta hour for lunch fucker" and 17 years later he still cracks up over that. He's a bro.
Marvin Anderson and I go way way back to the days of Pell of 1985 and Data Input a few years later and I followed him to Printing a couple years afterward. I guess you can say we're basically the last of the survivors of an old era.
The ladies of Printing have always been close to my heart, you worry about them as they do you. Kathy and Linda from the other side is part of this too. Even at times when Margaret Parsons drives me crazy with some of the things that she say, we still look after her like a protective brother when packaging complains about her. We almost lost Margaret last year but she's still here and still being herself and yes sometimes I do find her at Half Priced Books or Goodwill, in the (naturally) book section. Who'll look after her once I leave for scanning I don't know. But she's been a part of the NCS/Pearson Printing era.
And then there's Jenna Bruck. Seems like she's always late, and always taking over the computer where I'm at when she comes around. But like everybody in our department she's a sweetheart, that helps out whenever she can and always has a smile and greeting when she comes in.
And finally, out of all the people that I have worked with on a regular basis, the one that seem to understand me the most in time of crisis and being the shoulder to cry on, or to have to somebody to go rant and raving to, Sonya Madden has always been there. I believe she knows me better than I know myself at times. I've been to her wedding, and to her parties whenever I can but she's a people person, and most anybody that works at our place usually seek her out for talking about things. How she manages to stay strong is beyond me, lesser folks would have cracked under pressure. And she's helped me through some of my most trying times. As a great friend, I just love her to death.
I have seen a lotta good people come and go and I know I forgot many of them but the ones that stand out for me remain in Printing, but I also gave thanks to the memories of Sue Halverson, Thomas Lee, Danny Bowman, Jim Rogers, Glarice Kula, Boone Novy and Mark Lasack, gone but never forgotten in my book. And of course, my partner in crime during the pell years Dennis Pusateri.
I can't remember everybody but a shout out to Tony Woods, Terry Carson, Maureen Schultz, Kay Starr, Teri Cortiso, Mike Davenport, Terry Ware, Tammy Smith, Jeff Harper, Mike Davisson, Ed, John Kubicek, Sherri Severing, Ken Smith, the countless folks that I worked in Pell, Data Input and Editing, Doreen Schenick, Beverly Madden (of course), Terri Fish and the countless temps that I helped trained in all departments and had secret crushes on some of them (I was younger back then, I thought I was something), Shannon Rogers, Debbie Smith, Ali and Chris in Warehouse, Bob Scneider, James Ditmar, Dan Moyer and the rest of the packaging crew. I'm sure y'all won't be rid of me when scanning slows down and Ellen Cary Grimm, my old Pell senior and new second shift boss. Seems like we're turning full circle again.
To sum it all up, I'm surprised that I have made it 25 years after being hired full time on May 16, 1988 (thought it was May 15 but close enough). No I didn't think I'd be here this long, I thought I'd be either a famous musician or out in the street but I kept hanging around and hanging around and here we are. I guess it's a miracle upon itself eh. As for the next 25 years....let's just take it one day at a time. ;-)
I still think the NCS years were the best part of my time but I remain glad that I have remain a part of the Pearson crowd, even though I've given up being employee of the month or even packie of the week. But I still love y'all fellow coworkers.
Now go buy me pizza!
Working in Pell was an interesting job to say the very least to I made some good friends along the way. Mike Davenport and I talked tunes all the time and then a most interesting hippie dude came along and became one of my closest friends, the immoral and legendary Dennis Pusateri, with him around we drove all the seniors batty. A one of a kind dude is still missed two years after departing this planet and probably riding on that endless highway on his motorbike.
And then from 1989 to 1993 I was part of Data Input, to where Greg Nutter was boss and we managed to get a band going to which started the classic period of the Townedgers. Data Input was where we keyed up info after the scanning machines and printing machines would tear up the test scores that kids used to do. Iowa Basic Skills Test? Yep we processed them there in Iowa City
Beginning in 1993, I got hired up into the printing side of things, Denny Ballard and Sherri Chalupa hired me and I later would go to days for a couple years under the watchful eye of Danny Bowman (RIP). Printing moved from I.C to C.R and 1998 and later Kirk Hoeppner and John Allen became excellent managers as well. With printing going bye bye to Owatonna Minnesota, I return back to Iowa City for a year. But this week I celebrate 25 years of being at Pearson, a feat that even I couldn't believe would happen this far down the road. The glory years with Pearson was the most fun, the last couple years have been trying, for the usual reasons. It's tough to lose your family after all this time together but with scanning coming around the corner, it begins a new road to wherever it leads. To all my co workers, you're the best and thanks for putting up with my rantings and screamings when things don't go as planned. Y'all rock.
If I could be one person at Pearson I would choose Steve Rasmussen. I know I tend to get on his nerves when I have my major meltdowns due to crappy machines but he's always had the magic touch of getting them going. The quiet leader. Bill Hawks, figures a lot as well into the equation, he helps me when things fall apart and Mr. Steven not around and was kind enough to give me his IPOD to which I have yet to figure out. Hard for me to give up my outdated storage product like Cds and records.
Our printing family is just that. We been though the Iowa City era, then moving up here in 1998 for the next fifteen years till the powers to be decided that Owatonna is the place to go, but it's not for me. I'm sure Kenneth Stevenson will continue to provide excellent and valuable help when he moves up there. Good and hard working dude that is Kenneth.
Tom Woodruff, hell his record collection could have rivaled mine and he gave me two big crates of his records a few years ago. I kept the best ones, nevertheless Thomas has been a part of the NCS/Pearson family even before I learned how to drive.
The day shift Seniors the legendary Steven Murphy and Lyle Harp have been there for me when I was on days. Murph could be even more cranky than yours truly but like Steven, had the magic touch to "make it go". Harp, is a non stop talking chatterbox who always found humor in some of my cranky ways, he still cracks up over a 1996 episode that I took a very late lunch and told him "I gotta hour for lunch fucker" and 17 years later he still cracks up over that. He's a bro.
Marvin Anderson and I go way way back to the days of Pell of 1985 and Data Input a few years later and I followed him to Printing a couple years afterward. I guess you can say we're basically the last of the survivors of an old era.
The ladies of Printing have always been close to my heart, you worry about them as they do you. Kathy and Linda from the other side is part of this too. Even at times when Margaret Parsons drives me crazy with some of the things that she say, we still look after her like a protective brother when packaging complains about her. We almost lost Margaret last year but she's still here and still being herself and yes sometimes I do find her at Half Priced Books or Goodwill, in the (naturally) book section. Who'll look after her once I leave for scanning I don't know. But she's been a part of the NCS/Pearson Printing era.
And then there's Jenna Bruck. Seems like she's always late, and always taking over the computer where I'm at when she comes around. But like everybody in our department she's a sweetheart, that helps out whenever she can and always has a smile and greeting when she comes in.
And finally, out of all the people that I have worked with on a regular basis, the one that seem to understand me the most in time of crisis and being the shoulder to cry on, or to have to somebody to go rant and raving to, Sonya Madden has always been there. I believe she knows me better than I know myself at times. I've been to her wedding, and to her parties whenever I can but she's a people person, and most anybody that works at our place usually seek her out for talking about things. How she manages to stay strong is beyond me, lesser folks would have cracked under pressure. And she's helped me through some of my most trying times. As a great friend, I just love her to death.
I have seen a lotta good people come and go and I know I forgot many of them but the ones that stand out for me remain in Printing, but I also gave thanks to the memories of Sue Halverson, Thomas Lee, Danny Bowman, Jim Rogers, Glarice Kula, Boone Novy and Mark Lasack, gone but never forgotten in my book. And of course, my partner in crime during the pell years Dennis Pusateri.
I can't remember everybody but a shout out to Tony Woods, Terry Carson, Maureen Schultz, Kay Starr, Teri Cortiso, Mike Davenport, Terry Ware, Tammy Smith, Jeff Harper, Mike Davisson, Ed, John Kubicek, Sherri Severing, Ken Smith, the countless folks that I worked in Pell, Data Input and Editing, Doreen Schenick, Beverly Madden (of course), Terri Fish and the countless temps that I helped trained in all departments and had secret crushes on some of them (I was younger back then, I thought I was something), Shannon Rogers, Debbie Smith, Ali and Chris in Warehouse, Bob Scneider, James Ditmar, Dan Moyer and the rest of the packaging crew. I'm sure y'all won't be rid of me when scanning slows down and Ellen Cary Grimm, my old Pell senior and new second shift boss. Seems like we're turning full circle again.
To sum it all up, I'm surprised that I have made it 25 years after being hired full time on May 16, 1988 (thought it was May 15 but close enough). No I didn't think I'd be here this long, I thought I'd be either a famous musician or out in the street but I kept hanging around and hanging around and here we are. I guess it's a miracle upon itself eh. As for the next 25 years....let's just take it one day at a time. ;-)
I still think the NCS years were the best part of my time but I remain glad that I have remain a part of the Pearson crowd, even though I've given up being employee of the month or even packie of the week. But I still love y'all fellow coworkers.
Now go buy me pizza!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Top Ten Of The Week-Sting Ray Bikes Are Go!
I noticed Bob Lefsetz has another wild hair up his crosshairs about music again. Ya sure you're not getting Alzheimer's Bob bro?
Where were you on May 15, 1968? If you were in Charles City, this is what greeted you at around 4:50 in the afternoon. At that time, we were living up in Waterloo, and I remembered it being a very humid day and had a very bad belly ache. We had a tornado warning and Dad marched us into the basement, mom was out doing errands. To the north and west a F5 monster slammed into downtown Charles City and later onward to Elma. 13 people lost their lives in this monster tornado. An hour later, another F5 tornado tore through Oelwein and killed 4 people there including a Mrs Grace Damon who went back to retreieve her purse to her apartment. Somehow Waterloo in between got spared during that day of the F5 tornadoes. Caused by, you guessed it, another stalled out front and the Gulf of Mexico throwing moisture laded unstabled air into the region. I think I hated stalled fronts back then too. .http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=may15161968outbreak
Death never takes a holiday off. Chuck Muncie, one of the best running backs that the Chargers had in the Air Coryell, Dan Fouts era has passed away from a heart attack He was 60
Al Fitz, was the inventor of the Sting Ray. If you grew up in the 60s and early 70s most everybody you knew had Sting Rays as bicycles. Mine was an old piss yellow Sting Ray that my dad bought for five dollars and revived it so I could go tooling around Marion. I remember Jeff Kewley, had a beautiful blue five speed Sting Ray that he bent the frame trying to jump that infamous hill in the church parking lot next to Longfellow School in Marion. My best friend Russ had a orange Sting Ray. Fitz passed from a stroke at age 88. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/business/al-fritz-inventor-of-the-sting-ray-bike-dies-at-88.html?src=recg
1. Climb Up On My Music-Rodriguez 1971 You gotta love the internet for certain people to rediscover musicians that didn't sell anything here but became rock star legends in off the wall places. The guy's name is Sixto Rodriguez and he made two highly regarded but poor selling albums for Sussex (later issued via Light In The Attic) that sounded like Jose Feliciano with a Bob Dylan fixtation although the sticker says it's more like if Dylan was hispanic and listened to MC5 this would be the result. There's a movie that came out on DVD that showcased two big fans who discovered Sixto's albums and made it a point to seek him out and it's called Searching For Sugarman and Legacy cherry picked songs for a soundtrack that serves a pretty good introduction. And then I found his second album Coming From Reality up in Madison and played it twice in a row. Produced by Steve Rowland of The Family Dogg fame and includes Chris Spedding on guitar. The rediscovery of Sixto has paid off for he is once again touring on a limited basis and even though he might get a nice healthy pay from all of this, his down to earth demeanor has basically had him giving off to friends and family and whatever nonprofit groups that he believes in. While Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones bitching about not having enough money and wanting 600 dollar concert tickets, Sixto shares his wealth around and lives life to the fullest. Too bad it took the world 42 years and a couple of big fans to get us to hear the songs of Rodriguez. To which when Bob Lefsetz cries about how albums, Cds and music are irrelevant in this day and age, makes you want to tell Mr. Lefsetz to keep his opinions to himself.
2. Milk It-Nirvana 1993 Poor Rolling Stone Mag, they put together a list of the worst band of the 90s and although they have no problem with most of them, until Nirvana was put at number 5 and then Rolling Stone popped a tampon and calling the fans wrong on that. Look, every band has their fans and their critics and some love them, some don't. RS didn't have a problem when Creed was voted Number1 crap band of the 90s and Nickleback a close 2nd (My opinion remains Limp Bizkit worst band ever at number 1, Creed 2). When you dream up a top ten of all time anything, you bound to leave off other dubious bands of note be it best band or worst and it's all opinion. Ever seen the recent Rolling Stone Record review book to which Mr. I Hate The 70s Prog Rock Funny Guy Rob Sheffield bashed everything from Journey or Kansas? It's out of your league boy, leave that to people who like Kansas or Journey. Back to Nirvana, they broke big with Nevermind and then followed it up with the glop that is In Utero which foretold me of a future meeting with Kurt Cobain and a shotgun when I first heard it in September of 93. I had this cd once but since Pawn America had it for 50 cents, I decided to revisit it again and Steve Albini's really outdid himself on the mix (too bad he fucked up the Page/Plant Walking To Clarksdale reunion CD five years later). In Utero remains a A minus album for myself, for screaming and feedback galore you can't beat it but that reason alone might get them placed in the top ten worst bands of the 90s. Do I think Nirvana is one of the worst bands of the 90s, no I like them fine but people's opinions vary. After all it is a reader's poll. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-ten-worst-bands-of-the-nineties-20130509
3. Comedown-Bush 1994 And now the Number 7 worst band of the 90s from Rolling Stone who didn't have a problem with them making a list. I guess they didn't like the Nirvana like sound of 16 Stone. That's what you get from a Reader's Poll. Gavin Rossdale can be an acquired taste for even the casual Bush fan and as I spent most of this year revisiting the albums of Bush from the dollar bins in town and their albums remains very chaotic and uneven, even 16 stone suffers from that although the years have treated it better than the Steve Albini mess that was Razorblade Suitcase. 16 Stone remains one of those few 90s albums that KRNA will play from time to time and you can guess which songs they do play off that. I already gave you a clue on one of the songs.http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/creed-named-worst-band-of-the-90s/
4. I Want To Go Somewhere-Keith Stegall 1985 Another dollar album classic, Stegall made a S/T debut for Epic/CBS in the mid 80s and he had shown a sound that was like Eddy Raven or Gary Morris and Keith had a couple singles that dented the country 100 but the record bombed but Stegall hung around Nashville and eventually one of the more in demand producers of Country Music today. But had his record label promoted him better, he could have gone places as well. He made a followup for Mercury in the 1990s that had same results, good reviews no sales, so he didn't give up his day job as producer. Alan Jackson's best stuff is produced by Keith.
5. Good Lovin-It's A Beautiful Day 1970 Hippie Dippy freaks that they were, IABD was another band that was managed and mangled by the infamous Matthew Katz to which had he not had his hooks in this band and Moby Grape, that their best albums would still be in print. Found their 2 on 1 cd in the used bins during an Arizona bargain hunt and even though IABD may have been the least of the San Francisco jam band scene (Jefferson Airplane The Grateful Dead and Quicksliver Messenger Service had better musicians) I find that they had their share of good songs as well, kinda of a strange vocal mix but it does sound good when you're toking up a fatty.
6. Good Morning, Good Morning-The Beatles 1967 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for 50 cents? Don't mind if I do. And if Pawn America had Dark Side Of The Moon that cheap as well I would have ponied up too. But sad to say, Pawn America's big CD section has gone from from 4 aisles down to a one an a half and a lot of the stuff that was there may have been taken to a local landfill. Who do they think they are Wal Mart? Last time I was there, they didn't have much to offer and what I did buy, I donated back soon afterwards but this is why I stop in there when I'm in the neighborhood, they had plenty of Johnny Cash and a few other oddities. They also had the Yellow Submarine Soundtrack but I passed on that, it had a few more scratches than I would like but the Sgt Pepper CD was in like new shape. I don't think it's the best album of all time but it's still very good.
7. The Part I Know By Heart-Foster & Lloyd 1987 The A side was Crazy Over You which ushered in the Boot Scoot Era to which Brooks and Dunn would lay claim five years later but Foster And Lloyd did Crazy Over You better. That was country but the B side The Part I Know By Heart is power pop, certainly not country to these ears. Guess which side I enjoy most.
8. You Can't Have Everything-Grant McLennan 1991 The late great G.W. was part of the notorious Go Betweens which made a few albums in the late 80s and featured the pop rock sensibilities of McLennan who was Lou Reed to the John Cale avart garde of Robert Forrester whose album Danger In The Past I found before getting McLennan's Watershed album and basically I figured right on Grant being more alternative rock Basically on the Money Is No Answer comp that RCA put out to showcase the Beggar's Banquet bands which enabled me to seek out the good (McLennan, The Dylans, The Charlatans UK) and alas the not so good (Carnival Art, Buffalo Tom). Later in the new century, The Go Betweens reunited and made an couple albums before McLennan passed away.
9. Last Bookstore In Town-Graham Parker & The Rumour 2012 I think I reported about Graham reuniting with his old pub rocking band last year and they made the first GP/Rumour album together since Squeezing Out Sparks back in 1979, called Three Chords Good and of course took me forever to get a copy of the new album. Score one for the Senior Citizen Rock and the AARP who continue to send me cards about signing up to be a member of AARP to which I won't be doing that till I get a GD senior citizen discount at Perkins. Maybe then we'll talk about it then. Not now. Anyway, Three Chords Good is now flat out rock and pub like the Mercury/Arista years and the record goes on too long but welcome back any ya old geezers.
10. Feel So Good-Jefferson Airplane 1971 The Airplane was crashing by this time, Paul Kantner was going further and further into space, Grace Slick was singing songs in German and the album Bark was a mess of an album but the best songs came from Jorma Kauknoen this and Third Week In The Chelsea. Jorma spends most of his time with Hot Tuna which is on tour but the old crank is very particular about not recording his shows or taking pictures. http://jormakaukonen.com/tour.html
Just when you think you had enough...
Diamond Smiles-The Boomtown Rats 1979
Orange Blossom Special-Johnny Cash 1965
It'll Only Hurt For A Little While-Dave Clark Five 1966
Fool's Gold-Fitz And The Tantrums 2013
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses-U2 1991
Reviews:
The Browns-Complete Pop And Country Hits (Real Gone)
Give Gordon Anderson credit, he has done a helluva job keeping the memory alive of some bands when he formed the missed Collector's Choice label and now Real Gone, to which he has reissued and kept some of the C.C. back catalog in print by taking them over to RGM after leaving Collector's Choice, which is still a very good place to order music that you don't see at any local music store here. Originally The Complete Hits, Anderson adds three more songs to that album (Teen Ex, which somehow didn't make the CC album tsk tsk, Blue Christmas, Ground Hog are the add ons). The Browns was Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie had a sweet and perfect harmony to their music and even the mundane songs of that time sounded good at that time. Early country hits like Looking Back To See and I Hear The Bluebirds Sing gave way to the beginnings of The Nashville Sound although in my lifetime Dick Flood's Three Bells got more airplay on the pop charts whereas the Browns version made the country top ten. With Real Gone reissuing The Browns Complete Hits, this does blow away the Eric version which overdoes it on the sappy ballads and even though their country hits begin to wind down in the mid 60s they still managed to score a keeper here (Oh No) and a failed attempt for the hippie generation (Coming Back To You). Jim Ed Brown would go on to a successful country career (Pop A Pop, Bottle Bottle)
Grade B+
Pick hits: Looking Back To See, Oh No
Mark Lindsay-The Complete Columbia Singles (Real Gone)
When he was with Paul Revere And The Raiders, he rocked out with a little bit of soul but as solo artist, he headed down the middle of the road to be Gary Puckett and working with Jerry Fuller (The Union Gap) Lindsay patented the hushed verses and bombastic chorus which gave him a hit with Arizona and later Silver Bird. Lindsay makes little attempt to rock out and given as a whole TCCS tends to put you to sleep with all this MOR pop and dated production but nevertheless Lindsay had some great session guys playing (Hal Blaine and even the doomed Jim Gordon plays drums) along. There's some attempts to hurry the beat up, I wouldn't say it's rocking out, it's kinda like what The Raiders were doing but I don't think Paul would approved of the odious Alan O Day comp Are You Old Enough and The Grassroots did a better version of Mamacita but Lindsay does a fine version of Neil Diamond's And The Grass Pays No Mind and the beautiful closer Photograph.
Grade B-
Pick Hits: Arizona, Silver Bird
Rodriguez-Looking For Sugarman (Light In The Attic/Legacy)
Getting late to the game Sixto Rodriguez (how many times I typed that name in and put a fucking q in it instead of g) made two albums for Sussex in the 70s that got no airplay and no sales in the US but in South America he became their version of a Dylan/Elvis and his albums went for big bucks on the net before Light In The Attic reissued them in 2009. But this is the reason why we continue to listen to albums since Bob Lefsetz thinks the album should be canned and everybody should be streaming music through the big juke box in the sky. Fuck that and fuck him. Anyway two fans of Sixto R went out on a venture and seeking out the man himself and made a movie out of it that is now on DVD and a must see. Turns out the Sixto didn't disappear, he simply stayed in Detroit and learned a trade and worked on through life and the usual shit that happens. Looking For Sugarman cherry picks selections from Sixto's 2 albums and while universal praise is on the first one Cold Fact, Coming From Reality in my opinion is better, it benefits from Steve Rowland's production as Sixto commands the listener to climb on my music and my songs will set you free. But that one is not on the overview, Adam Bock going with the more controversial stuff A Most Disgusting Song (which Sixto proclaims he's played at every faggot bar, hooker bars, motorcycle funerals, etc and introduces seedy characters later in song) and Cause, (the immoral line I talked To Jesus at the sewer and the pope said it was none of his GD business, pretty heady stuff even in 1971). Cold Fact is as raw and rough as the Detroit streets that Sixto lives and still does today, and even employed some of Motown's finest on that record, after all Dennis Coffey produced and Bob Babbit played bass (it sounds like him).
But even though Sixto's music may have been rough and raw, all his songs convey of hope even during the poorest of times and even though he toiled in obscurity for the 42 years after Coming After Reality, the stars aligned just right for him to get the well deserved kudos even though Clarance Advant fucked him over royalties, Sixto never rant and raved about it (unlike Ronnie Wood pissed off about people not paying 600 dollars to see 70 year old rockers screaming about getting no satisfaction, should have not bought all that booze and smokes then woody). Like the late Howard Tate, Rodruguez never went away, he was always here but this time out with the success of the movie Searching For Sugarman and the rediscovery of his two albums and this overview, he sounds like Jose Feliciano after listening to Dylan after a night of Motown. The MC5 reference on the cover of Coming From Reality I don't get but Sixto did share the 5's recording engineer on the final three sides he recorded with Coffey/Theodore before getting a real job to pay the bills. At least on the SFS soundtrack, Sixto is finally getting some royalty money for spreading the good word. 42 years later, his music still blows most of the new bands and artists out of the water.
Grade A-
Pick Hits: Cause, Street Boy, Can't Get Away
The Sixto Rodriguez albums of note:
Cold Fact (Light In The Attic/Sussex 1970) A-
Coming From Reality (Light In The Attic/Sussex 1971) A
Counterpoint from Mark Prindle:
I just watched the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man." It was incredibly inspiring and Rodriguez seems like a standup guy, so it's great to hear that he is now finding the fame that so eluded him in the early '70s.
Having said that, his music is terrible. I can't figure out what the heck all those South Africans hear in it. Just sounds like James Taylor crap to me.
Where were you on May 15, 1968? If you were in Charles City, this is what greeted you at around 4:50 in the afternoon. At that time, we were living up in Waterloo, and I remembered it being a very humid day and had a very bad belly ache. We had a tornado warning and Dad marched us into the basement, mom was out doing errands. To the north and west a F5 monster slammed into downtown Charles City and later onward to Elma. 13 people lost their lives in this monster tornado. An hour later, another F5 tornado tore through Oelwein and killed 4 people there including a Mrs Grace Damon who went back to retreieve her purse to her apartment. Somehow Waterloo in between got spared during that day of the F5 tornadoes. Caused by, you guessed it, another stalled out front and the Gulf of Mexico throwing moisture laded unstabled air into the region. I think I hated stalled fronts back then too. .http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=may15161968outbreak
Death never takes a holiday off. Chuck Muncie, one of the best running backs that the Chargers had in the Air Coryell, Dan Fouts era has passed away from a heart attack He was 60
Al Fitz, was the inventor of the Sting Ray. If you grew up in the 60s and early 70s most everybody you knew had Sting Rays as bicycles. Mine was an old piss yellow Sting Ray that my dad bought for five dollars and revived it so I could go tooling around Marion. I remember Jeff Kewley, had a beautiful blue five speed Sting Ray that he bent the frame trying to jump that infamous hill in the church parking lot next to Longfellow School in Marion. My best friend Russ had a orange Sting Ray. Fitz passed from a stroke at age 88. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/business/al-fritz-inventor-of-the-sting-ray-bike-dies-at-88.html?src=recg
1. Climb Up On My Music-Rodriguez 1971 You gotta love the internet for certain people to rediscover musicians that didn't sell anything here but became rock star legends in off the wall places. The guy's name is Sixto Rodriguez and he made two highly regarded but poor selling albums for Sussex (later issued via Light In The Attic) that sounded like Jose Feliciano with a Bob Dylan fixtation although the sticker says it's more like if Dylan was hispanic and listened to MC5 this would be the result. There's a movie that came out on DVD that showcased two big fans who discovered Sixto's albums and made it a point to seek him out and it's called Searching For Sugarman and Legacy cherry picked songs for a soundtrack that serves a pretty good introduction. And then I found his second album Coming From Reality up in Madison and played it twice in a row. Produced by Steve Rowland of The Family Dogg fame and includes Chris Spedding on guitar. The rediscovery of Sixto has paid off for he is once again touring on a limited basis and even though he might get a nice healthy pay from all of this, his down to earth demeanor has basically had him giving off to friends and family and whatever nonprofit groups that he believes in. While Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones bitching about not having enough money and wanting 600 dollar concert tickets, Sixto shares his wealth around and lives life to the fullest. Too bad it took the world 42 years and a couple of big fans to get us to hear the songs of Rodriguez. To which when Bob Lefsetz cries about how albums, Cds and music are irrelevant in this day and age, makes you want to tell Mr. Lefsetz to keep his opinions to himself.
2. Milk It-Nirvana 1993 Poor Rolling Stone Mag, they put together a list of the worst band of the 90s and although they have no problem with most of them, until Nirvana was put at number 5 and then Rolling Stone popped a tampon and calling the fans wrong on that. Look, every band has their fans and their critics and some love them, some don't. RS didn't have a problem when Creed was voted Number1 crap band of the 90s and Nickleback a close 2nd (My opinion remains Limp Bizkit worst band ever at number 1, Creed 2). When you dream up a top ten of all time anything, you bound to leave off other dubious bands of note be it best band or worst and it's all opinion. Ever seen the recent Rolling Stone Record review book to which Mr. I Hate The 70s Prog Rock Funny Guy Rob Sheffield bashed everything from Journey or Kansas? It's out of your league boy, leave that to people who like Kansas or Journey. Back to Nirvana, they broke big with Nevermind and then followed it up with the glop that is In Utero which foretold me of a future meeting with Kurt Cobain and a shotgun when I first heard it in September of 93. I had this cd once but since Pawn America had it for 50 cents, I decided to revisit it again and Steve Albini's really outdid himself on the mix (too bad he fucked up the Page/Plant Walking To Clarksdale reunion CD five years later). In Utero remains a A minus album for myself, for screaming and feedback galore you can't beat it but that reason alone might get them placed in the top ten worst bands of the 90s. Do I think Nirvana is one of the worst bands of the 90s, no I like them fine but people's opinions vary. After all it is a reader's poll. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-ten-worst-bands-of-the-nineties-20130509
3. Comedown-Bush 1994 And now the Number 7 worst band of the 90s from Rolling Stone who didn't have a problem with them making a list. I guess they didn't like the Nirvana like sound of 16 Stone. That's what you get from a Reader's Poll. Gavin Rossdale can be an acquired taste for even the casual Bush fan and as I spent most of this year revisiting the albums of Bush from the dollar bins in town and their albums remains very chaotic and uneven, even 16 stone suffers from that although the years have treated it better than the Steve Albini mess that was Razorblade Suitcase. 16 Stone remains one of those few 90s albums that KRNA will play from time to time and you can guess which songs they do play off that. I already gave you a clue on one of the songs.http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/creed-named-worst-band-of-the-90s/
4. I Want To Go Somewhere-Keith Stegall 1985 Another dollar album classic, Stegall made a S/T debut for Epic/CBS in the mid 80s and he had shown a sound that was like Eddy Raven or Gary Morris and Keith had a couple singles that dented the country 100 but the record bombed but Stegall hung around Nashville and eventually one of the more in demand producers of Country Music today. But had his record label promoted him better, he could have gone places as well. He made a followup for Mercury in the 1990s that had same results, good reviews no sales, so he didn't give up his day job as producer. Alan Jackson's best stuff is produced by Keith.
5. Good Lovin-It's A Beautiful Day 1970 Hippie Dippy freaks that they were, IABD was another band that was managed and mangled by the infamous Matthew Katz to which had he not had his hooks in this band and Moby Grape, that their best albums would still be in print. Found their 2 on 1 cd in the used bins during an Arizona bargain hunt and even though IABD may have been the least of the San Francisco jam band scene (Jefferson Airplane The Grateful Dead and Quicksliver Messenger Service had better musicians) I find that they had their share of good songs as well, kinda of a strange vocal mix but it does sound good when you're toking up a fatty.
6. Good Morning, Good Morning-The Beatles 1967 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for 50 cents? Don't mind if I do. And if Pawn America had Dark Side Of The Moon that cheap as well I would have ponied up too. But sad to say, Pawn America's big CD section has gone from from 4 aisles down to a one an a half and a lot of the stuff that was there may have been taken to a local landfill. Who do they think they are Wal Mart? Last time I was there, they didn't have much to offer and what I did buy, I donated back soon afterwards but this is why I stop in there when I'm in the neighborhood, they had plenty of Johnny Cash and a few other oddities. They also had the Yellow Submarine Soundtrack but I passed on that, it had a few more scratches than I would like but the Sgt Pepper CD was in like new shape. I don't think it's the best album of all time but it's still very good.
7. The Part I Know By Heart-Foster & Lloyd 1987 The A side was Crazy Over You which ushered in the Boot Scoot Era to which Brooks and Dunn would lay claim five years later but Foster And Lloyd did Crazy Over You better. That was country but the B side The Part I Know By Heart is power pop, certainly not country to these ears. Guess which side I enjoy most.
8. You Can't Have Everything-Grant McLennan 1991 The late great G.W. was part of the notorious Go Betweens which made a few albums in the late 80s and featured the pop rock sensibilities of McLennan who was Lou Reed to the John Cale avart garde of Robert Forrester whose album Danger In The Past I found before getting McLennan's Watershed album and basically I figured right on Grant being more alternative rock Basically on the Money Is No Answer comp that RCA put out to showcase the Beggar's Banquet bands which enabled me to seek out the good (McLennan, The Dylans, The Charlatans UK) and alas the not so good (Carnival Art, Buffalo Tom). Later in the new century, The Go Betweens reunited and made an couple albums before McLennan passed away.
9. Last Bookstore In Town-Graham Parker & The Rumour 2012 I think I reported about Graham reuniting with his old pub rocking band last year and they made the first GP/Rumour album together since Squeezing Out Sparks back in 1979, called Three Chords Good and of course took me forever to get a copy of the new album. Score one for the Senior Citizen Rock and the AARP who continue to send me cards about signing up to be a member of AARP to which I won't be doing that till I get a GD senior citizen discount at Perkins. Maybe then we'll talk about it then. Not now. Anyway, Three Chords Good is now flat out rock and pub like the Mercury/Arista years and the record goes on too long but welcome back any ya old geezers.
10. Feel So Good-Jefferson Airplane 1971 The Airplane was crashing by this time, Paul Kantner was going further and further into space, Grace Slick was singing songs in German and the album Bark was a mess of an album but the best songs came from Jorma Kauknoen this and Third Week In The Chelsea. Jorma spends most of his time with Hot Tuna which is on tour but the old crank is very particular about not recording his shows or taking pictures. http://jormakaukonen.com/tour.html
Just when you think you had enough...
Diamond Smiles-The Boomtown Rats 1979
Orange Blossom Special-Johnny Cash 1965
It'll Only Hurt For A Little While-Dave Clark Five 1966
Fool's Gold-Fitz And The Tantrums 2013
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses-U2 1991
Reviews:
The Browns-Complete Pop And Country Hits (Real Gone)
Give Gordon Anderson credit, he has done a helluva job keeping the memory alive of some bands when he formed the missed Collector's Choice label and now Real Gone, to which he has reissued and kept some of the C.C. back catalog in print by taking them over to RGM after leaving Collector's Choice, which is still a very good place to order music that you don't see at any local music store here. Originally The Complete Hits, Anderson adds three more songs to that album (Teen Ex, which somehow didn't make the CC album tsk tsk, Blue Christmas, Ground Hog are the add ons). The Browns was Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie had a sweet and perfect harmony to their music and even the mundane songs of that time sounded good at that time. Early country hits like Looking Back To See and I Hear The Bluebirds Sing gave way to the beginnings of The Nashville Sound although in my lifetime Dick Flood's Three Bells got more airplay on the pop charts whereas the Browns version made the country top ten. With Real Gone reissuing The Browns Complete Hits, this does blow away the Eric version which overdoes it on the sappy ballads and even though their country hits begin to wind down in the mid 60s they still managed to score a keeper here (Oh No) and a failed attempt for the hippie generation (Coming Back To You). Jim Ed Brown would go on to a successful country career (Pop A Pop, Bottle Bottle)
Grade B+
Pick hits: Looking Back To See, Oh No
Mark Lindsay-The Complete Columbia Singles (Real Gone)
When he was with Paul Revere And The Raiders, he rocked out with a little bit of soul but as solo artist, he headed down the middle of the road to be Gary Puckett and working with Jerry Fuller (The Union Gap) Lindsay patented the hushed verses and bombastic chorus which gave him a hit with Arizona and later Silver Bird. Lindsay makes little attempt to rock out and given as a whole TCCS tends to put you to sleep with all this MOR pop and dated production but nevertheless Lindsay had some great session guys playing (Hal Blaine and even the doomed Jim Gordon plays drums) along. There's some attempts to hurry the beat up, I wouldn't say it's rocking out, it's kinda like what The Raiders were doing but I don't think Paul would approved of the odious Alan O Day comp Are You Old Enough and The Grassroots did a better version of Mamacita but Lindsay does a fine version of Neil Diamond's And The Grass Pays No Mind and the beautiful closer Photograph.
Grade B-
Pick Hits: Arizona, Silver Bird
Rodriguez-Looking For Sugarman (Light In The Attic/Legacy)
Getting late to the game Sixto Rodriguez (how many times I typed that name in and put a fucking q in it instead of g) made two albums for Sussex in the 70s that got no airplay and no sales in the US but in South America he became their version of a Dylan/Elvis and his albums went for big bucks on the net before Light In The Attic reissued them in 2009. But this is the reason why we continue to listen to albums since Bob Lefsetz thinks the album should be canned and everybody should be streaming music through the big juke box in the sky. Fuck that and fuck him. Anyway two fans of Sixto R went out on a venture and seeking out the man himself and made a movie out of it that is now on DVD and a must see. Turns out the Sixto didn't disappear, he simply stayed in Detroit and learned a trade and worked on through life and the usual shit that happens. Looking For Sugarman cherry picks selections from Sixto's 2 albums and while universal praise is on the first one Cold Fact, Coming From Reality in my opinion is better, it benefits from Steve Rowland's production as Sixto commands the listener to climb on my music and my songs will set you free. But that one is not on the overview, Adam Bock going with the more controversial stuff A Most Disgusting Song (which Sixto proclaims he's played at every faggot bar, hooker bars, motorcycle funerals, etc and introduces seedy characters later in song) and Cause, (the immoral line I talked To Jesus at the sewer and the pope said it was none of his GD business, pretty heady stuff even in 1971). Cold Fact is as raw and rough as the Detroit streets that Sixto lives and still does today, and even employed some of Motown's finest on that record, after all Dennis Coffey produced and Bob Babbit played bass (it sounds like him).
But even though Sixto's music may have been rough and raw, all his songs convey of hope even during the poorest of times and even though he toiled in obscurity for the 42 years after Coming After Reality, the stars aligned just right for him to get the well deserved kudos even though Clarance Advant fucked him over royalties, Sixto never rant and raved about it (unlike Ronnie Wood pissed off about people not paying 600 dollars to see 70 year old rockers screaming about getting no satisfaction, should have not bought all that booze and smokes then woody). Like the late Howard Tate, Rodruguez never went away, he was always here but this time out with the success of the movie Searching For Sugarman and the rediscovery of his two albums and this overview, he sounds like Jose Feliciano after listening to Dylan after a night of Motown. The MC5 reference on the cover of Coming From Reality I don't get but Sixto did share the 5's recording engineer on the final three sides he recorded with Coffey/Theodore before getting a real job to pay the bills. At least on the SFS soundtrack, Sixto is finally getting some royalty money for spreading the good word. 42 years later, his music still blows most of the new bands and artists out of the water.
Grade A-
Pick Hits: Cause, Street Boy, Can't Get Away
The Sixto Rodriguez albums of note:
Cold Fact (Light In The Attic/Sussex 1970) A-
Coming From Reality (Light In The Attic/Sussex 1971) A
Counterpoint from Mark Prindle:
I just watched the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man." It was incredibly inspiring and Rodriguez seems like a standup guy, so it's great to hear that he is now finding the fame that so eluded him in the early '70s.
Having said that, his music is terrible. I can't figure out what the heck all those South Africans hear in it. Just sounds like James Taylor crap to me.
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Madison Oh Madison (May 2013)
After being delayed 3 weeks, I finally made it up to Madison upon cloudy skies and chilly temps. Saturday's weather was strange, with off and on spotty showers although there was a downpour and then ice pellets coming through after I made my way up town. For the most part no big happenings although I went past the Majestic Theater and hearing the drummer for Camper Von Beethoven/Cracker warming up during a soundcheck. Hollywood Undead was down the road at the Opheran on State Street.
There was a better find of bargains although Pawn America continues to shrink their CD inventory with 10 CDs for 5 dollars sale. Surprised that I found that many, including a couple Johnny Cash CDs, The Pixies-Surfer Rosa, The Staple Singers Uncloudy Day and The Beatles-Sargent Pepper album, really don't need it but hey it was 50 cents. I did find Grant McLennan's Watershed CD but the big find was Rodriquez' 2nd album Coming From Reality, an album that just knocked me out to the point that I played it twice in a row. Rodriquez better known as Sixto Rodriguez, who made two albums for Sussex, that didn't sell at all in the US but in Australia and South America he was as big as Elvis was. A movie called Looking For Sugarman was based on two big fans seeking out Sixto which set the wheels in motion and now Sixto is now once again touring with sold out shows whereever he goes. A 40 year over night success in the US?
The Exclusive Company, now gone is replaced by a Poster shop and a Yougart shop. Downtown Madison on State Street is going through some big changes, a bunch of buildings got knocked down in new ones are replacing them. More construction going on by Lake Mendota, they have the bike trail closed down in that area. The northwest winds blowing off Lake Mendota moved the lake to the point of seeing some big white caps splashing onto shore. Lake Monona wasn't that bad, the skyscrapers and Monona Terrace kept the whitecaps further down that lake but overall, I noticed a lot of dressed up girls, either it was the prom going on, or many a wedding to which I seen a few blushing brides standing in front of the Capital to which I actually up to the observation tower and looked down upon State Street but couldn't stay too long, the parking meter's time was running out. But hell, I go to the Madison Capital than I do Des Moines, Madison is more closer and the restrooms are open too.
I went to most of the record stores, and perhaps I scared the guy off at Strictly Discs when I ignored him when he was asking if I needed help or anything. But most of the money went to Mad City Music Exchange to which what Strictly Disc had, Mad City X had them cheaper. Nevertheless, it seemed like Barnes & Noble had a bigger selection of budget cds than Best Buy, had to believe that what I paid for Nico for 7 dollars I could have gotten new for 5 there. Plus they had the Patti Smith Horses CD as well. Over at Savers, I dropped a CD and had to buy that, Sergio Mendes' Look Around. It played.
Didn't find much for 45s, St Vincent De Paul had a few odds and ends, Mad City Music X, I got a couple albums, a Dave Clark Five album that wasn't scratched up (a rarity upon itself) Satisfied With You it's called. And a Keith Stegall LP, Stegall is better known as a Nashville producer to the stars (Alan Jackson, George Jones) but he has made a few albums to his name, and besides it was only a dollar. Figured it was worth a listen.
Outside of that, besides the usual red lights and morons that pull out in front regardless of stop signs or traffic lights it was uneventful. Got to spend a good three hours doing the State Street walk and taking a break at Otis Redding Tribute site on Monona Terrace. First time I've ever seen it. Amazing how Otis Redding never missed a show and even though the advisers told him to cancel due to bad weather in December of 1967, he didn't want to let the Madison fans down and the rest is history. I'm sure I'll be back before the leaves turn color. I guess that's why I go up there, to see what's going on, to pay tribute to Otis and take a break and reflect on things in life before packing up and return back home.
Sometimes it's nice to get away from home once in a while.
http://www.wortfm.org/
The only other worthwhile Madison radio station: http://www.1055triplem.com/
Review:
Queensryche-Frequency Unknown (Deadline)
http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/music_and_videos/queensryche-geoff-tate-watches/
Give Geoff Tate this he got to be a good sport when it comes to the backlash that is his new album Frequency Unknown or FU as it's called. To dare fans to submit their videos to tell him how shitty this record is and the best review gets 250 dollars in FU stuff to donate or burn or wipe your ass with. Nevertheless while the rest of his former band props up their next album, Tate rushed released this out to the world and the sound shows it. With a crappy mix that buries Tate's vocals to the point of oblivion, FU is the Cut The Crap although fans probably would have treated this better had Tate put it out in his own name. F.U. sounds no different than Dedicated To Chaos, the last Queensryche album with the original band but with more emphasis on the uptempo stuff, with a lot of ode to hair metal judging by the whammy bar excesses of the guitar players at hand. But F.U. is not the piece of shit sundae in rock/metal as one hostile reviewer said, does it disappoint yes and the slapped on production doesn't help either. A few of the songs sound like demos as Tate tries to sing against guitar riffs that get in the way. In the end, F.U. is forgettable as a Queensryche project and for that matter Geoff Tate himself. Next time write better songs.
Grade C-
If you care, pick hits: Dare, Fallen
Mark Vos, KRNA radio programmer of the late 80s and early 90s passed away. He was part of those guys in the morning for many years with Glen Gardner and was part of the infamous KRNA's Jif And The Choosy Mothers classic rock band. Vos passed away from a heart attack at age 58. Robbie Norton gives tribute to Jiff And The Choosy Mothers Band:
Site of the day: They haven't posted much of late but this is a very good site about 90s music. http://thesecondsingle.blogspot.com/
There was a better find of bargains although Pawn America continues to shrink their CD inventory with 10 CDs for 5 dollars sale. Surprised that I found that many, including a couple Johnny Cash CDs, The Pixies-Surfer Rosa, The Staple Singers Uncloudy Day and The Beatles-Sargent Pepper album, really don't need it but hey it was 50 cents. I did find Grant McLennan's Watershed CD but the big find was Rodriquez' 2nd album Coming From Reality, an album that just knocked me out to the point that I played it twice in a row. Rodriquez better known as Sixto Rodriguez, who made two albums for Sussex, that didn't sell at all in the US but in Australia and South America he was as big as Elvis was. A movie called Looking For Sugarman was based on two big fans seeking out Sixto which set the wheels in motion and now Sixto is now once again touring with sold out shows whereever he goes. A 40 year over night success in the US?
The Exclusive Company, now gone is replaced by a Poster shop and a Yougart shop. Downtown Madison on State Street is going through some big changes, a bunch of buildings got knocked down in new ones are replacing them. More construction going on by Lake Mendota, they have the bike trail closed down in that area. The northwest winds blowing off Lake Mendota moved the lake to the point of seeing some big white caps splashing onto shore. Lake Monona wasn't that bad, the skyscrapers and Monona Terrace kept the whitecaps further down that lake but overall, I noticed a lot of dressed up girls, either it was the prom going on, or many a wedding to which I seen a few blushing brides standing in front of the Capital to which I actually up to the observation tower and looked down upon State Street but couldn't stay too long, the parking meter's time was running out. But hell, I go to the Madison Capital than I do Des Moines, Madison is more closer and the restrooms are open too.
I went to most of the record stores, and perhaps I scared the guy off at Strictly Discs when I ignored him when he was asking if I needed help or anything. But most of the money went to Mad City Music Exchange to which what Strictly Disc had, Mad City X had them cheaper. Nevertheless, it seemed like Barnes & Noble had a bigger selection of budget cds than Best Buy, had to believe that what I paid for Nico for 7 dollars I could have gotten new for 5 there. Plus they had the Patti Smith Horses CD as well. Over at Savers, I dropped a CD and had to buy that, Sergio Mendes' Look Around. It played.
Didn't find much for 45s, St Vincent De Paul had a few odds and ends, Mad City Music X, I got a couple albums, a Dave Clark Five album that wasn't scratched up (a rarity upon itself) Satisfied With You it's called. And a Keith Stegall LP, Stegall is better known as a Nashville producer to the stars (Alan Jackson, George Jones) but he has made a few albums to his name, and besides it was only a dollar. Figured it was worth a listen.
Outside of that, besides the usual red lights and morons that pull out in front regardless of stop signs or traffic lights it was uneventful. Got to spend a good three hours doing the State Street walk and taking a break at Otis Redding Tribute site on Monona Terrace. First time I've ever seen it. Amazing how Otis Redding never missed a show and even though the advisers told him to cancel due to bad weather in December of 1967, he didn't want to let the Madison fans down and the rest is history. I'm sure I'll be back before the leaves turn color. I guess that's why I go up there, to see what's going on, to pay tribute to Otis and take a break and reflect on things in life before packing up and return back home.
Sometimes it's nice to get away from home once in a while.
http://www.wortfm.org/
The only other worthwhile Madison radio station: http://www.1055triplem.com/
Review:
Queensryche-Frequency Unknown (Deadline)
http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/music_and_videos/queensryche-geoff-tate-watches/
Give Geoff Tate this he got to be a good sport when it comes to the backlash that is his new album Frequency Unknown or FU as it's called. To dare fans to submit their videos to tell him how shitty this record is and the best review gets 250 dollars in FU stuff to donate or burn or wipe your ass with. Nevertheless while the rest of his former band props up their next album, Tate rushed released this out to the world and the sound shows it. With a crappy mix that buries Tate's vocals to the point of oblivion, FU is the Cut The Crap although fans probably would have treated this better had Tate put it out in his own name. F.U. sounds no different than Dedicated To Chaos, the last Queensryche album with the original band but with more emphasis on the uptempo stuff, with a lot of ode to hair metal judging by the whammy bar excesses of the guitar players at hand. But F.U. is not the piece of shit sundae in rock/metal as one hostile reviewer said, does it disappoint yes and the slapped on production doesn't help either. A few of the songs sound like demos as Tate tries to sing against guitar riffs that get in the way. In the end, F.U. is forgettable as a Queensryche project and for that matter Geoff Tate himself. Next time write better songs.
Grade C-
If you care, pick hits: Dare, Fallen
Mark Vos, KRNA radio programmer of the late 80s and early 90s passed away. He was part of those guys in the morning for many years with Glen Gardner and was part of the infamous KRNA's Jif And The Choosy Mothers classic rock band. Vos passed away from a heart attack at age 58. Robbie Norton gives tribute to Jiff And The Choosy Mothers Band:
Site of the day: They haven't posted much of late but this is a very good site about 90s music. http://thesecondsingle.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Top Ten Of The Week:Craptastic Weather
The Piece Of Shit award goes to Mark Sanford, the skirt chasing two timing, stalker of his ex wife and the idiots of South Carolina voting this winner back into congress and back to an open seat in the US House. In other words, business as usual in that redneck state. Funny how people want change and then when they get that chance they go right back to the craptastic Conservative freak who took time off to go walking the Appalation (sic) Trail to Argentina to get some nookie on the side and lied about that as well. But then again Sanford won in a district that was Red all the way and of course the usual gang of idiots backing him along the way (Lindsay Graham, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley anybody?) and put together the best campaign team of advisers money can buy too. Hell, I like to have that team working for me if I was two timing my significant other too. But then again he wanted it more than Elizabeth Colbert Busch too. Congrats Sanford, now you can go chase more tail and do nothing just like the rest of the do nothings in congress.
Four more months till our time in Printing ends. On Monday marks one year since Boone Novy passed away, so to honor him I did the interstate clean up last weekend. Lotta crap on the interstate side, broken car parts from crashes, porta port jonnys, about a dollars worth of pop and beer cans, somebody lost a cellphone shoes and jewelery and of course some dead roadkill. They ran out of bags but at least it's that part looks nice till the litterbugs throw shit their shit out.
By now, the metal world is moaning the loss of Jeff Hennenman of Slayer who died at age 49 from liver failure brought on by a spider bite a couple years ago. I never been a Slayer fan but if you like your speed metal, Reign In Blood is a headbanger's classic.
And now let's hear it for Cumulus Corporate Radio. KDAT y'all.
Plenty Of Top Ten Action here. Let's get to it.
1. White Bird-It's A Beautiful Day 1970 Hello, I'm Quaalude, eat me! Hippie Dippy never got any better than this track which was a Beaker Street staple from it's inception onward till the end and two years and three months later it's becoming a distant memory. Even the facebook site has been very quiet of late about it coming back. Maybe Clyde Clifford decided he liked Sunday Nights off after all, can't blame him. King Prick Matthew Katz pretty much ruin this band like he ruined Moby Grape, both band's albums that made it to cd were deleted as he put them out in inferior sound on his own label but I did find a 2 on 1 cd of the first two IABD albums on a import and forgot all about it till I wanted to take it to work and then tore up the house trying to locate it. Finally found it when I wasn't looking for it, just like the Sweet Dreams Soundtrack. Perhaps I should at least put my music in order eh?
2. Little Man-Sonny & Cher 1966 A great arranger in the style of Phil Spector, Sonny Bono was the weakest link in vocals, he sounded goofy back then, still is today God rest his soul and Cher just basically trying to find her way as well. Probably the only time we ever heard an oboe being the lead instrument but this is my fave Sonny N Cher song. Came out on a chopped version of 22 Groovy Hits that predated K Tel. Bought the Best of CD years ago but never sat down and listened to the whole thing till I took it to work the other night. Of course most of who played on this was part of Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew which means it's not a throwaway by far.
3. Out Of Hand-Deep Purple 2013 Here at Senior Citizen Rock we still try to do our best to follow our favorites from the classic rock era, the 70s and it's fading away four decades into this abyss we call rock music. But you gotta admire Deep Purple to continue to rock on while acknowledging that radio won't play this. Off the new ironic titled Now What?! album and it does have its moments but you all know what songs will get played on Cumulus Corporate Radio don't ya. (Do I have to say it?!)
4. You Run-The Call 1988 I read somewhere that the late Michael Been' son has reformed that band (his son is also part of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club too) and maybe doing double duty but when Mike was alive The Call was a hard to figure band, where they alt rock, christian rock, bombast rock in the key of U2 or Peter Gaberial and they had a couple sizable hits in Let The Day Begin and The Walls Came Down. Universal cherry picked the best known to put out their patented 20th Century Masters Collection and it's the one that I have. You Run, the second single from Let The Day Begin didn't fare that well on the charts and I think the only radio station played it back then was KFMH if anybody ever did.
5. The Lizard King-17 Candle 2009 Hey they were from Iowa and managed to scrap up enough money to put out a CD that nobody knew about till I found it for two bits in the Clarance bins which is why I do this type of stuff. Once in a while you might find an album that captures your fancy from a band nobody knows about. Other past winners are the fabled Randy Cliffs and their neighbors The Pulltops. 17 Candle is lead by Ben LeFleur's vocals who kinda remind me of the guy from The Hangdogs or Roger Clyne of the AZ Peacemakers (Refreshments). Outside of that, this band is more mysterious than The Townedgers. Their album had to be pretty good, it was produced by Iowa legendary Bob Dor.....not him but Tom Tatman the guy that runs Catamount Studios in Cedar Falls (that's in Iowa y'all). For all the kudos and praise that they got, this is the first time I ever heard of them and they're no longer together. As for Ben LeFleur, he started up a country band called Crawford County. Google their name and you'll come across a few things but in the meantime... http://tradeusforabus.webs.com/17candle.htm
6. The Happy Organ-Dave "Baby" Cortez 1959 Growing up in my youth, I always had a soft spot for instrumentals, in fact most of my 45s consisted of no speak music, from Johnny And The Hurricanes to Duane Eddy but this is was one of the songs on the jukebox that forever screwed me up from ever making anything of myself in the working world and focused my attention of records for fifty years of this life. Back in the late 50s, this was considered House Rocking music which meant down in the bad side of town they turned this up to full blast. Strange mix even on the stereo version to which they miked Cortez' organ up front and everything in the back as the guitarist and sax player fight it out to be heard. Found this as a scratchy 45 at our junior high's Liberian's garage sale with a few others. Record Collector had this on LP.
7. Shazam!-Jim Nabors 1965 Gomer Pyle sings! I know, what the hell Crabb?! Let me explain, this is the only time Jim Nabors did his Gomer Pyle act on any recording and don't laugh but it's quite listenable. It's done in the style of Roger Miller who wrote a few songs on this album as well from the likes of John D Loudermilk and Buddy Edd Wheeler, three of the best country songwriters out there and three songs were written especially for Jim by one Dave Gates, to which he would form one of the best pop bands of the late 60s and early 70s with Bread. Saw this record for a dollar at the Crowded Closet and had to hear it for myself. Too bad Jim Nabors never followed this up but he did go on to do muzak pop type of music for Columbia, which he could do it all, but I never bother nor cared to go seek them out. I'll settle for Gomer Pyle anyday.
8. Wilma's Rainbow-Helmet 1994 Imagine that, after Jim Nabors, we go Nu Metal from Helmet. Cumulus Radio would never hire me. Helmet remains the first and only great Nu Metal band of the 1990s but once they lost Peter Mengede they lost that intense edge that made their first two albums perfect to put a fist through somebody's face. This is off Betty, the 1994 album that got luke warm reviews and basically the last good Helmet album. I love Page Hamilton but anything after Betty bored me. Diggy Kat played this as a request from yours truly at Radio Buzz'd. He loves me too.
9. Down, Down Down-Tom Waits 1983 A gifted songwriter but always borderlined on freaky singing styles, when Asylum dropped Waits, he took his music and style to a whole new level when Chris Blackwell signed him up to Island and for all intent purposes Sword Fish Trombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years are alternative music galore. Waits rocks out with intensity on this 2 minute track. I know the last three songs on this top ten are really really different. And you wouldn't want that any other way.
10. The Outlaw Torn-Metallica 1996 Load really turned off a lot of the metal heads out there and still is looked upon as the worst album that Metallica ever made but I disagee a lot on that. I think they started becoming more hard rock than metal on the black album and Load took them further into a Southern rock catagory that didn't mix well with the fans. Even the half wit at All Music Guide gave Re Load a better grade to which I don't even think the dude even listened to it, perhaps it was the short hair and cigars that the band was smoking in the album cover. Yes it's a mess of a record but they never came up with anything that was hooky as Hero Of The Day or creepy as Poor Twisted Me or bitching as King Nothing all great songs in my opinion. The band crammed so much music into Load that they had to do an edit of nine and half minutes since the limit of a CD is 80 minutes (thus they had the promo sticker of 78:59). A full ten and half minute song came out on The Memory Remains single CD. (not 45 I don't think, there's never been a 10 minute song on 45 without doing the usual part 1/part 2 edit).
A final note: The longest CD that I have was EMI Best Of The 70s to which the CD is a mind blogging 82:14 running time. There's CDs that I do have that flirt with the 80 minute cutoff mark and The Best Of Luna and The Who's Kids Are Alright CD (the complete Version) both go over 79:30 mark and tend to skip at the end of their songs which makes it frustrating to say the very least. Back in the early days of CDs, the cutoff point was 74 minutes which explains why some 2 record sets got some omissions on the CD version.
Bonus Track: Townedger's Lament-Vufcup 2008 Amazing how Diggy Kat managed to turn the majority of Townedger titles into a nifty little song, he may have to do an update since there's a few more new titles to add. Love ya bro! http://vufcup2.bandcamp.com/track/townedgers-lament
What else are we listening to (just pick five)
Solid Ground-Tom Keifer 2013
Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams-Nico 1967
Corbrastyle-Teddybears featuring Mad Cobra 2006
Grand Wazoo-Frank Zappa 1972
Take It Back-Face To Face 1996
CD Review: Pistol Annies Annie Up (Sony Music Nashville/RCA)
For a side project that was Miranda Lambert's the Annies have become more of a group effort, not that Hell On Heels wasn't, but it seemed to me that the best songs that Miranda wrote came from that record than on Four The Record, which might be her least but still it's a four star album. However, the rising star that is Ashley Monroe is becoming more Oblivious, her Like A Rose album was a bit more country sounding than Four The Record and she even had Blake Shelton put to good use as well. Shelton could learn a few more things from his wife and the Pistols themselves if he wants to be good country and not focus on the corn.
There seems to be more of a solidarity to Annie Up, the new album than Hell On Heels, but all three Annies, Lambert, Monroe and Angalenna Presley contributed to all 12 songs, which continues to deal with the seedy side of life and the trailer court and being Unhappily Married to which a couple does their best to make it work in a faltering marriage, they're in it for the long haul. Until Damn Thing comes along to which they hope there's enough beer to get through the night before the POed woman is ready to kill his significant other. Lambert to continues to let lose her bad side that she didn't show much on her record, Dear Sobriety to which is a strong armed prayer to end the evils of drinking, one of more depressing numbers on this.
I have heard comparisons of the Annies to The Dixie Chicks and although they have the vocals to match, the one advantage is that they don't oversing like Natalie Maines does at times (BTW speaking of her, she does have a new album out this week as well) and their backing band is more country rock and roll than the bluegrass slant that the Dixie Chicks do as well. And the Annies write much better as well, not a slam on the Chicks at all, but it's a bit more straight forwarded. And then the usual songs that make the Annies what they are. songs about sex, sinning and being pretty ain't pretty (as one song suggests) and a song Hush Hush to keep things in check, even though that they're not. And Trading One Heartbreak For Another is an old time country like number about a baby crying for a dad that left and never came back. This is not Florida Georgia Line talking about the good times, this is stone cold reality. And probably something you won't hear on KHAK anyway.
Their loss. Annie Up is all things we know and love about Ashley, Ang and Miranda but they saved the best for last. An eternal love song I Hope Your The End To My Story, to which the bottom line is that we all wish we all can grow old together. Even after the pratfalls of the songs that is Annie Up.
Grade A-
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