Hard to believe how July went by this year. It really felt longer than I thought it did after all it seemed like last month I was ending June in 120 degree heat and watching a dust storm develop outside of my Mesa motel room and dreaded of coming home. Returning home and finally catching a dry month except for coming home in a monsoon last Thursday and a two hour monsoon earlier in the month. We were baking for a while too but the weekend came and September weather was here. And getting just about getting heater weather as well.
I have gotten overboard on the blog reporting this month. Seemed like everyday I was back blogging about something but in August things will be a bit slower. We have one more month of printing and then it's back to Iowa City and scanning before they move things up to the old printing area. Things have changed a lot at the old NCS Iowa City location; more eateries, more gas stations, more stop lights along the way and Pearson and Iowa City are having a war over some disputed area where the forest area is at. I used to go into that wooded area during lunch breaks when I worked down there. Across the small creek lies an old dairy farm that used to be there in the 80's but no more and the developer wants to build an access road through part of Pearson property (Pearson being the former NCS when Pearson bought them out in 1999). As development continues to spiral out of the city limits, the landover Steve Moss, looking at dollar signs and a road leading to empty buildings for businesses, I can't help but feel sorry to see that all the open spaces that made driving there on highway 1 so interesting to be replaced by more urban renewal for the rats and cockroaches to live in when no businesses want to come to this God forsaken place. I think in the long run, Pearson loses out the city uses eminent domain and takes over the disputed land. http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20130727/NEWS01/307270017/NCS-Pearson-city-lock-horns-over-road-plan?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
No accounting for taste or is country music so bankrupt they gotta keep a POS tune on top of the charts for 22 straight weeks: Sad to say folks, Cruise is now part of country music if you like it or not: http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/florida-georgia-lines-cruise-now-longest-1-in-country-history
The top ten of the week:
1. Devil In Disguise-J J Cale 1982 So now you have heard that the music world has lost Cale and he's somebody you cannot replace even though his laid back type of groove is easily copied. And of course he did managed to live a decent life living off the royalty payout of After Midnight or Cocaine. I think he was more content of doing things the laid back way or helping Eric Clapton later in life. Bought this as a DJ promo single at Rock n Bach when we had record stores and when Jim Hanson got some unwanted DJ copies, I usually would scope out for name association. A nice little two minute song that didn't go nowhere on the charts.
2. This Is The Modern World-The Jam 1978 As much as I would like you to think I got heavily into punk rock of the 1970s growing up in high school, basically I wasn't all gung ho on just about everything. While critics called these guys the second coming of The Who, they were probably too British sounding for me to really pay that much attention. After all we had the Ramones and the sloppy Sex Pistols and The Clash was still a secret. Compare this opening riff to Drivin n Cryin' Turn It Up Or Turn It Off if you get too bored. Paul Weller would develop to be a better songwriter as The Jam progressed on but they never did break in the US. Weller would go on a uneven solo career and a misstep known as The Style Council.
3. Can Do-Pat Travers Band 2013 It's been a record breaking month for views so why not share it and give a little Crabb loving praise to the hardest working man in rock and roll today and of course, the most searched name in our little domain as well. Kinda of lost track of PT after he left Polydor but he's been on a while variety of labels over the years and his new album is the first for Frontiers, a CMC International label of Italy (home of Asia, Whitesnake and Yes to name a few). Pat has always treated his fans with respect over the years and continues to do so by hanging around Facebook and once in a while a song that tickles his fancy. Give that man his own show on the radio. And now a word from PT himself:
4. Bertha Butt Boogie (Part 1)-Jimmy Castor Bunch 1974 Castor is one of those hard to figure artists. He'll make one of the funkiest songs ever made and then turn around a do a muzak version of a hit. Case in point: Butt Of Course, his first offering for Atlantic and got a big city wide hit with this easy to remember bass hook, although I don't recall our radio stations playing this song but WLS did. An answer record to Troglodyte (Cave Man) his top ten hit a couple years beforehand, and tells the continuing story of Bertha Butt, one of the Butt sisters. Silly yes, but funky silly. The rest of album has the much sampled E Man Grooving and Potential, one example of early rap. Just when you think it's going to get better Castor puts you to sleep with You Make Me Feel Brand New and a cover of Daniel. Two examples of songs to play if you can't fall asleep at night. The LP was released as a limited edition CD-R by Tarture, an offshoot of the now defunct Collector's Choice Music.
5. All You Zombies-The Hooters 1985 While digging through the vast stacks of country albums, this 45 was sandwiched in between a couple of them and it's one of those mercy buys I do, because if I don't it will get broke and judging by the way it sounded it may not never been played. The Hooters were a big deal back in the early 80s, they somewhat helped Cindi Lauper on her She's So Unusual album and then MTV wrote them up big time and they made a product of its times in Nervous Night, and this was the first single, all 5:54 minutes of it. Hardly anybody mentions them anymore and Nervous Night's followups sold less and less. It's sloppy reggae playfulness makes it an interesting relic but I'm still trying to figure out what the hell they're talking about. Is it a rock song or religious number? Still a fun song but not as fun as their followup And We Danced which still sounds nice on classic rock radio. Or whatever KOKZ is calling themselves.
6. Can't Get Back-The Poorboys 1992 Being on the internet most of my waking hours I lose track of the time that what I was digging in the 1990s is now 20 plus years old. And of course, like the music of the previous era, Cumulus/Clear Channel overlooks the majority of them and overplay the rest and better known. And for the 10 years of blogging and top tens, I try my best to preserve what I recall and what was played when I was part part part time at Relics. Always had a soft spot in my heart of this forgotten Black Crowes soundalike and they made a good album despite being on the Walt Disney Hollywood label and having the clueless Andy Wallace produce and mixing it (see Ned's Atomic Dustbin for more Wallace mismatch). KRNA did play a couple of their songs from this album (Guilty, Brand New America) but this would have made a wonderful single as well.
7. Bloody Well Right-Supertramp 1975 Right? QUITE RIGHT!
8. Gold Plated Crazy-Carnival Art 1992 Back in the 1990s major labels before the internet send out many many copies of promo CDs to record stores and it made going to Rockaway Records all the more fun, you could preview before you buy and Rockaway was my go to store in Arizona when I lived there and during the summer bargain hunts but the Big 3 Labels don't do that anymore and Rockaway is online only. And it pains me to see that strip mall in Mesa and seeing the old Rockaway sign in a dead strip mall that nobody went to anymore. Fast forward 21 years later and the junk bins at Co Op Moline and they got a side of forgotten Promos that nobody cares about anymore unless you're looking for the obscure 90s band that only you know about. Carnival Art was this crazy hard to figure band that made a couple albums for Beggar's Banquet, the iconic label that was home to The Charlatans UK, The Dylans, Grant McLennan and Robert Forster (the last two part of The Go Betweens but solo artists at the BB). Carnival Art to me sounds a bit like Pearl Jam listening to The Tubes and was the least selling of the BB artists at that time but it's interesting listening to this song. Alternative title: Kiss Off.
9. Good Things Happen To Bad People-Richard Thompson 2013 Well hell, it finally took me a good five months to finally find Richard's latest album and I like to think it was worth the wait. But these songs sounded a lot better live in concert in Iowa City back in June. Richard has never made a bad album, most of what he has out have moment and some are better than others. Electric, the new album seems to be better than Dream Attic but about the same as Sweet Warrior. Which means a top ten candidate for best of the year?
10. C'mon And Swim (Part 1) -Bobby Freeman 1964 I need to take a break away from the computer, y'all don't know how many times I have to retype or use the damn spell checker Freeman better known for Do You Wanna Dance and Sinbad (B side to Ebb Tide) made a final top 20 hit with this dance novelty number which somewhat sounds like Fingertips (Part 2) from Stevie Wonder although that's just the way the song is set up. From the seminal Autumn Records label, home of The Beau Brummels and started up by Bob Mitchell and the legendary DJ Tom Donohue who really looked at the label as a hobby rather than a money making venture. And we never forgave the fat man for trading the Beau's to Warner Brothers who forced them to do cover versions and called it Beau Brummels 66. Bobby's version brings great memories of KXIC AM doing the oldies rock of the the late 80s and actually playing obscure stuff such as C'mon And Swim Part 1.
Add ons
Killin' Time-Clint Black 1989
Big Man On Mulberry Street-Billy Joel 1986
Time Will Show The Wiser-The Merry Go Round 1967
People Games Play-Faine Jade 1967
You Can't Hurry Love-Phil Collins 1982
Going to Dubuque on Monday to get out of the house and the old hippie at Moondog Music had some oddities that I picked up, A Collector's Choice comp of San Francisco Roots, A Wounded Bird issue of Just Fly from Pure Prairie League and Richard Thompson's latest although I was kind of temped to see if the new Trouble record was actually new music instead of a reissue of previous stuff. Then spending some time on the river walk and doing a bit of gambling at the Diamond Jo since they're kind enough to provide the free pop when I going out on a walk but managed to win 30 bucks and got to play with the site's money till I quit a dollar ahead. The Mississippi is looking mighty thin of late, not dangerously low but a far cry from the last time I was there. Gawd the big muddy is perfectly named, water is always looking murky and black and it stinks! Thought about going to Madison but I got up too late and didn't see the need to go there since I was there a couple months back. Plus I heard they're cracking down on radicals singing in the rotunda of the Capital. Highlight of the day was hanging a late dinner breakfast at Perkins and watching the trailer trash brat run up and down the aisle while Bubba and Bubbette sat on their big fat merry go round and not curb their brat. We need a restrauant that has adults only hours. However they were closing early for cleaning so I was the last patron there. Which disappointed the four cars coming into there when I was leaving.
Is Bob Lefsetz dead? He hasn't been heard in two weeks since that Thom Yorke/Spotify blowup. Or maybe he's taking a break from it all. But got this via Twitter from Simon Napier-Bell: Really! A ballad? Or a rocker? Or maybe some EDM. (Electric Dance Music)
I'm not sure what to make of this if it's true and this comes from the left leaning Addicting Info that Cumulus Media is not renewing the contracts of the right wing jerkoffs Rush (Oxycondin Viagra addict) Limbaugh and Sean (Cornhole) Hannity on the Cumulus Corporate Radio owned channels which means they'll be going bye bye from WMT AM and KXIC. Problem is that Clear Channel which owns the distribution rights priced themselves out of the deals at hand. Really doesn't affect me since I don't listen to neither AM station (unless the Hawkeyes or Cubs are on) but it reminds me of the day that my old dentist used to listen to the big fat blowhard on my teeth cleaning sessions and damn near threw his radio out in the back yard. I'm sure the radio stations will find some more hot air to replace the toxic hot air that is Rush and Sean. Thank your lucky stars that this area is Cumulus owned and not Clear Channel. They'd be doing week long marathons from these douchebags. www.bustle.com
This month turned out to be the most viewed month in Crabb Top Ten history although the last couple blogs didn't go past 10 views. We will fall short of 4,000 for sure but over 3700 views means that perhaps we can continue this another month and see where it leads.
Tell us how you really feel Department: Ivan T Sanderson on Puddle Of Mudd Come Clean (2001)
holy ...! I love this album.seriously, this cd really works for me! every time I set my drink on the coffee table, I never leave a ring! a simply fantastic coaster!! ummm.. would i listen to it? NONONON NO. but Puddle of mudd, my fine furniture thanks you.
Finally, I say goodbye to my co workers Linda Neff and Dan Dubishar who has been a part of the NCS Pearson Printing family for the past 10 plus years. Both has chosen to retire and take the generous severance offer and will be moving on to other things in life. I'm sure when I go past Mount Vernon maybe I'll look up Linda from time to time, Dan always a hoot when he came on working on third shift. I'll miss both of them.
