What Record World is famous for outside of the now forgotten top ten listings and forgotten bands and album reviews is that we talk about tornadoes a lot here. It's that time of year, where stalled fronts cook us with sun and humidity by day and monsoon storms at night flooding every GD things in sight. By now, you have seen the twin tornadoes that gutted a tiny Nebraska town (Pilger) on Monday, which was the start of the night of the twisters here in this area. While the Elkhart Twins were from the same storm, the Pilger Twins were from separate storms. You can compare them from the photos. Yes this is the famed Paul Huffman photo of the Elkhart double monster.
Which brings back memories of 1965 and the infamous Elkhart Indiana Palm Sunday Twin Tornado. The number is two. As in two tornadoes that hit Clarksville in Iowa and then crossed into Wisconsin where two tornadoes wrecked Platteville, making a mess of UW Platteville and causing havoc along Business 151 aka Junk Food Row where the Shell Station got destroyed and half of Taco Bell got blown to bits. And a half hour later, an EF3 tornado hit Verona, wrecking a school and causing major damage along the northern side of town. Madison had a EF2 Tornado that hit the SW side of town. The Platteville twisters were EF1 and EF2. And then Tuesday night another midnight monsoon caused more wind damage around Sun Prairie which is north and west from Madison. And more storms to come from this stalled front that will continue to play havoc in this area for the rest of the week. Don't we all just love this weather in June? Fuck no.
The bigger headache remains the heavy rain after the storms hit and all across the region Flood watches and warnings are going on. Minnesota has seen 6 to 8 inches of the wet shit. Owatonna got 8 inches of it Monday Night and flooded the low lying areas. Once again the heavy rains are making farmers miserable. Once it starts you can't stop it and the fields are becoming swamps. Good old climate change, it fucks up everybody's plans.
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For new music I haven't noticed it till now but it seems that even I don't know most of the new bands that are up and coming anymore, or what the NME or Rolling Stone is touting. The NME keeps touting Kasasbian but from what I had heard from these guys I'm not impressed. The Bro Country phenomenon sucks and the EDM top 40 is even less. The wave of the future and basically here to stay. So you may as well stab yourself in the ears before going to the hardware store so you don't have to hear Florida Georgia Line or Luke Bryan. But since I mentioned their names, I just put money in their pockets. Suppose I should demand a cut for the promo? But the return to the rock and roll that I remember has gone via the way of Big Band music and Pre War Blues. A curio for the rest of the world but hardly mentioned anymore.
Reviews:
The Big Bang-Best Of MC5 (Rhino) As a mix CD, it cherry picks without much thought. You get side 1 of Kick Out The Jams, a good helping of Back In The USA, poorly recorded and produced by one Jon Landau and throws in the worst song they ever did, Miss X from High Time and the rarities have been on better comps out there (Babes In Arms although that CD was too, poorly recorded and sequenced). The MC5 stand out in my mind for pissing my dad off when he heard side two of Kick Out The Jams and called it the worst crap he's ever heard in life and I'm surprised that he didn't break the record after that. Why Rhino didn't add the single Borderline is beyond me, maybe they couldn't find that record or maybe Wayne Kramer didn't have it. Back In The USA, even in 1970, the bassless recording makes it almost unlistenable despite some great songs on it (High School, Shakin' Street, Tonight) and I still have the vinyl to that. High Time, was the MC5 doing it their way and the jams are wonderful, but Miss X sucks all the fun out of this, even moreso on the best of. They should replaced that POS with Future/Now which led off side 2. And it ends with a track from the Thunder Express album, which was live in the studio remakes of Kick Out The Jams and I managed to find that in the cutouts at the former Musicland in Dubuque. Since the MC5 really didn't have any hits, this serves as a sampler, and Brother Crawford speech at that beginning of Ramblin Rose also sucks the air out of the room before the band comes alive to show they were radicals and great to be seen live. You're better off with the live album and collective Atlantic albums rather than this overview.
Grade C+
The Joe Meek Story (Not Now) I consider Joe Meek in the same league with Jim Gordon, some of the finest people who played and recorded music, but then ended having meltdowns and killing people, Gordon with his mother but way before that Meek offing his landlady and then playing the shotgun crescendo on himself to bloody results. But Meek could make anything sound cutting edge, I can hear it on The Outlaws instrumentals and Johnny Remember Me and of course his maniacal infatuation on Buddy Holly to which 8 years after Buddy's plane went down, Meek ended his and the landlady's lives. The best Meek album out there remains Razor And Tie's now deleted It's Hard To Believe (the Dennis Diken liner notes are worth the price alone) and this overview leaves out the signature hits (Telstar by The Tornadoes, Have I The Right by The Honeycombs) but really provides a more in-dept look at the lesser knowns, the Buddy Holly soundalike Mike Berry, the English actor John Leyton-Meek's answer to Frankie Avalon, The Outlaws, Meek's answer to The Ventures which may or may not have featured Richie Blackmore on guitar, The Fabulous Flee Rekkers, Meek's answer to Johnny And The Hurricanes (which had Micky Waller on drums, one of most sloppy drummers ever, you can hear on Rod Stewart's first three albums). I think this 2 CD set goes a bit overboard on the teenage pop dreck that Meek favored, or the Buddy Holly soundalikes of Berry or Micheal Cox and not enough on the weird side of things. Screaming Lord Sutch's outrageous Till The Following Night which could be the first true goth song ever made and a even more wilder Good Golly Miss Molly which makes Little Richard sound like Liberace. Or Meek's side project The Blue Men which oddball sound effects brings to mind early Pink Floyd, Entry Of The Globbots does sound like Syd Barrett on Pow R Toc H (compare those songs). And then there's Cliff Bennett And The Rebel Rousers, some hard driving piano rock in the style of Jerry Lee Lewis, only wilder. Not enough Cliff and Screaming Lord Sutch. A tale of two different extremes, not enough wild rock and instrumentals and too much pop fluff weirdness that dates itself to 1959. Plus the liner notes aren't that great.
Grade B
Lana Del Ray-Ultraviolence (Polydor)
You know this record is in trouble when Kanye and Kim West say they love this. Since Dan Auerbach decided to produce this mess, I thought I'd check it out to hear the end result and the end result is worse than I thought. At least her debut Born To Die had some interesting songs, all of this album is very slow tempo and Lana doing her best Yoko Ono imitation. Or is it Kate Bush, I don't know. Anybody can hype a album but to hype a album of 50 plus minutes of mundane melodies and mopy lyrics reminds me of a female Morrissey and not in a good way. The only song I can stomach through was Old Money which sounds like a rewrite of A Time For Us (from Romeo And Juliet). She loves to say fuck a lot, she even titled a song called Fucked My Way To The Top. And also a few more F bombs on the lead off track Cruel World. This record may just be the most overblown overhyped record of the year. It's also the worst.
Grade D
Another worthless spam reference site continues to be found in my most view by department, Webchat.Freenode. net #dedicatedpool has been number one in the traffic sources department coming in here at 24 views just today. Whoever the fuck they are. We are not the only one this refer spam site has been visiting. Patrick Boone gives us the lowdown of yet another troublesome website that if you click on it, you'll get more spam and shit that you don't need. I need real viewers not spammers. http://from-the-sidelines.blogspot.com/2014/06/chatty-spam.html
The folks at Campbell Steele which has a retail art shop on 7th Avenue in Marion is ending their retail art sales in favor of a working art studio and music hall at the old Memorial Hall spot a half block down. As well as British type of pub on the first floor. In my younger years of walking in that town when I lived there I always thought that Memorial Hall would be a good place to have bands play at. Campbell Steele is also known for the much missed Liar's Theater, Iowa's version of Prairie Home Companion but with a more emphasis on jazz and pop vocal. To which you can still find Cds from Liar's Theater artist in the cutouts around town. Campbell Steele Art Gallery has hosted regional artists from time to time from Michael (Bluer Than Blue) Johnson to You know Who and the Blue Band to Funk Daddies. Correction: Jeanne and Paul Matthews are buying Memorial Hall and enlisting the Campbell Steele folk to help with the art gallery and have an English Pub in the back of the building and plan to live on the second floor. Good luck to them. The story from the Gazette reads as follows: A business decision by the owners of the Campbell Steele Gallery in Marion has created an opportunity for the owners of a historic building in the community. After 23 years of selling artwork, Craig Campbell and Priscilla Steele plan to transition away from a retail sales gallery to a working art studio and performance venue. Steele said the change will allow her to focus on her artwork. “I will be working up front with my print etching press as well as cultivating the performance end of the business,” Steele said. “Our timeline for this transition is fairly generous. I hope that the artists we have represented will consider transitioning to a gallery that Jeanne and Paul Matthews plan to open in Memorial Hall.” Campbell said the retail art sales will end no later than Dec. 31. Steele is planning four exhibits of her artwork in the gallery through the end of 2014, along with additional exhibits in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fairfield and Waterloo. As far as the entertainment side of the business, Campbell said 25 music performances are scheduled at Campbell Steele through Feb. 14, 2015. The venue has developed a reputation for the quality of its light and sound production studio, attracting performers such as Michael Johnson, Bob Dorr & the Blue Band, the George Jazz Group and Funk Daddies. With the encouragement and support of Campbell and Steele, Jeanne and Paul Matthews expect to have an art gallery open in about 90 days on the first floor of the renovated Memorial Hall, built in 1899 at 760 11th St. “The first floor will be divided into two suites,” Jeanne Matthews said. “The gallery will be located in the front of the building where there is premium storefront space and I think we’re turning the back into a British pub. “We plan to live on the second floor of the building.” Matthews has contacted many of the artists who have been represented by Campbell Steele and all but one have expressed interest in moving to the new Memorial Hall art gallery. “Some of the art is so valuable that it will be held by Campbell Steele until we’re able to literally transfer it across the alley to the new gallery,” Matthews said.
A
business decision by the owners of the Campbell Steele Gallery in
Marion has created an opportunity for the owners of a historic building
in the community.
After 23 years of selling artwork, Craig Campbell and Priscilla Steele plan to transition away from a retail sales gallery to a working art studio and performance venue. Steele said the change will allow her to focus on her artwork.
“I will be working up front with my print etching press as well as cultivating the performance end of the business,” Steele said. “Our timeline for this transition is fairly generous. I hope that the artists we have represented will consider transitioning to a gallery that Jeanne and Paul Matthews plan to open in Memorial Hall.”
Campbell said the retail art sales will end no later than Dec. 31. Steele is planning four exhibits of her artwork in the gallery through the end of 2014, along with additional exhibits in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fairfield and Waterloo.
As far as the entertainment side of the business, Campbell said 25 music performances are scheduled at Campbell Steele through Feb. 14, 2015. The venue has developed a reputation for the quality of its light and sound production studio, attracting performers such as Michael Johnson, Bob Dorr & the Blue Band, the George Jazz Group and Funk Daddies.
With the encouragement and support of Campbell and Steele, Jeanne and Paul Matthews expect to have an art gallery open in about 90 days on the first floor of the renovated Memorial Hall, built in 1899 at 760 11th St.
“The first floor will be divided into two suites,” Jeanne Matthews said. “The gallery will be located in the front of the building where there is premium storefront space and I think we’re turning the back into a British pub.
“We plan to live on the second floor of the building.”
Matthews has contacted many of the artists who have been represented by Campbell Steele and all but one have expressed interest in moving to the new Memorial Hall art gallery.
“Some of the art is so valuable that it will be held by Campbell Steele until we’re able to literally transfer it across the alley to the new gallery,” Matthews said.
- See more at: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/campbell-steele-ending-retail-art-sales-20140620#sthash.mfNq6RcQ.dpuf
After 23 years of selling artwork, Craig Campbell and Priscilla Steele plan to transition away from a retail sales gallery to a working art studio and performance venue. Steele said the change will allow her to focus on her artwork.
“I will be working up front with my print etching press as well as cultivating the performance end of the business,” Steele said. “Our timeline for this transition is fairly generous. I hope that the artists we have represented will consider transitioning to a gallery that Jeanne and Paul Matthews plan to open in Memorial Hall.”
Campbell said the retail art sales will end no later than Dec. 31. Steele is planning four exhibits of her artwork in the gallery through the end of 2014, along with additional exhibits in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fairfield and Waterloo.
As far as the entertainment side of the business, Campbell said 25 music performances are scheduled at Campbell Steele through Feb. 14, 2015. The venue has developed a reputation for the quality of its light and sound production studio, attracting performers such as Michael Johnson, Bob Dorr & the Blue Band, the George Jazz Group and Funk Daddies.
With the encouragement and support of Campbell and Steele, Jeanne and Paul Matthews expect to have an art gallery open in about 90 days on the first floor of the renovated Memorial Hall, built in 1899 at 760 11th St.
“The first floor will be divided into two suites,” Jeanne Matthews said. “The gallery will be located in the front of the building where there is premium storefront space and I think we’re turning the back into a British pub.
“We plan to live on the second floor of the building.”
Matthews has contacted many of the artists who have been represented by Campbell Steele and all but one have expressed interest in moving to the new Memorial Hall art gallery.
“Some of the art is so valuable that it will be held by Campbell Steele until we’re able to literally transfer it across the alley to the new gallery,” Matthews said.
- See more at: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/campbell-steele-ending-retail-art-sales-20140620#sthash.mfNq6RcQ.dpuf
A
business decision by the owners of the Campbell Steele Gallery in
Marion has created an opportunity for the owners of a historic building
in the community.
After 23 years of selling artwork, Craig Campbell and Priscilla Steele plan to transition away from a retail sales gallery to a working art studio and performance venue. Steele said the change will allow her to focus on her artwork.
“I will be working up front with my print etching press as well as cultivating the performance end of the business,” Steele said. “Our timeline for this transition is fairly generous. I hope that the artists we have represented will consider transitioning to a gallery that Jeanne and Paul Matthews plan to open in Memorial Hall.”
Campbell said the retail art sales will end no later than Dec. 31. Steele is planning four exhibits of her artwork in the gallery through the end of 2014, along with additional exhibits in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fairfield and Waterloo.
As far as the entertainment side of the business, Campbell said 25 music performances are scheduled at Campbell Steele through Feb. 14, 2015. The venue has developed a reputation for the quality of its light and sound production studio, attracting performers such as Michael Johnson, Bob Dorr & the Blue Band, the George Jazz Group and Funk Daddies.
With the encouragement and support of Campbell and Steele, Jeanne and Paul Matthews expect to have an art gallery open in about 90 days on the first floor of the renovated Memorial Hall, built in 1899 at 760 11th St.
“The first floor will be divided into two suites,” Jeanne Matthews said. “The gallery will be located in the front of the building where there is premium storefront space and I think we’re turning the back into a British pub.
“We plan to live on the second floor of the building.”
Matthews has contacted many of the artists who have been represented by Campbell Steele and all but one have expressed interest in moving to the new Memorial Hall art gallery.
“Some of the art is so valuable that it will be held by Campbell Steele until we’re able to literally transfer it across the alley to the new gallery,” Matthews said.
- See more at: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/campbell-steele-ending-retail-art-sales-20140620#sthash.mfNq6RcQ.dpuf
After 23 years of selling artwork, Craig Campbell and Priscilla Steele plan to transition away from a retail sales gallery to a working art studio and performance venue. Steele said the change will allow her to focus on her artwork.
“I will be working up front with my print etching press as well as cultivating the performance end of the business,” Steele said. “Our timeline for this transition is fairly generous. I hope that the artists we have represented will consider transitioning to a gallery that Jeanne and Paul Matthews plan to open in Memorial Hall.”
Campbell said the retail art sales will end no later than Dec. 31. Steele is planning four exhibits of her artwork in the gallery through the end of 2014, along with additional exhibits in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fairfield and Waterloo.
As far as the entertainment side of the business, Campbell said 25 music performances are scheduled at Campbell Steele through Feb. 14, 2015. The venue has developed a reputation for the quality of its light and sound production studio, attracting performers such as Michael Johnson, Bob Dorr & the Blue Band, the George Jazz Group and Funk Daddies.
With the encouragement and support of Campbell and Steele, Jeanne and Paul Matthews expect to have an art gallery open in about 90 days on the first floor of the renovated Memorial Hall, built in 1899 at 760 11th St.
“The first floor will be divided into two suites,” Jeanne Matthews said. “The gallery will be located in the front of the building where there is premium storefront space and I think we’re turning the back into a British pub.
“We plan to live on the second floor of the building.”
Matthews has contacted many of the artists who have been represented by Campbell Steele and all but one have expressed interest in moving to the new Memorial Hall art gallery.
“Some of the art is so valuable that it will be held by Campbell Steele until we’re able to literally transfer it across the alley to the new gallery,” Matthews said.
- See more at: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/campbell-steele-ending-retail-art-sales-20140620#sthash.mfNq6RcQ.dpuf
A
business decision by the owners of the Campbell Steele Gallery in
Marion has created an opportunity for the owners of a historic building
in the community.
After 23 years of selling artwork, Craig Campbell and Priscilla Steele plan to transition away from a retail sales gallery to a working art studio and performance venue. Steele said the change will allow her to focus on her artwork.
“I will be working up front with my print etching press as well as cultivating the performance end of the business,” Steele said. “Our timeline for this transition is fairly generous. I hope that the artists we have represented will consider transitioning to a gallery that Jeanne and Paul Matthews plan to open in Memorial Hall.”
Campbell said the retail art sales will end no later than Dec. 31. Steele is planning four exhibits of her artwork in the gallery through the end of 2014, along with additional exhibits in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fairfield and Waterloo.
As far as the entertainment side of the business, Campbell said 25 music performances are scheduled at Campbell Steele through Feb. 14, 2015. The venue has developed a reputation for the quality of its light and sound production studio, attracting performers such as Michael Johnson, Bob Dorr & the Blue Band, the George Jazz Group and Funk Daddies.
With the encouragement and support of Campbell and Steele, Jeanne and Paul Matthews expect to have an art gallery open in about 90 days on the first floor of the renovated Memorial Hall, built in 1899 at 760 11th St.
“The first floor will be divided into two suites,” Jeanne Matthews said. “The gallery will be located in the front of the building where there is premium storefront space and I think we’re turning the back into a British pub.
“We plan to live on the second floor of the building.”
Matthews has contacted many of the artists who have been represented by Campbell Steele and all but one have expressed interest in moving to the new Memorial Hall art gallery.
“Some of the art is so valuable that it will be held by Campbell Steele until we’re able to literally transfer it across the alley to the new gallery,” Matthews said.
- See more at: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/campbell-steele-ending-retail-art-sales-20140620#sthash.mfNq6RcQ.dpuf
After 23 years of selling artwork, Craig Campbell and Priscilla Steele plan to transition away from a retail sales gallery to a working art studio and performance venue. Steele said the change will allow her to focus on her artwork.
“I will be working up front with my print etching press as well as cultivating the performance end of the business,” Steele said. “Our timeline for this transition is fairly generous. I hope that the artists we have represented will consider transitioning to a gallery that Jeanne and Paul Matthews plan to open in Memorial Hall.”
Campbell said the retail art sales will end no later than Dec. 31. Steele is planning four exhibits of her artwork in the gallery through the end of 2014, along with additional exhibits in Cedar Falls, Des Moines, Fairfield and Waterloo.
As far as the entertainment side of the business, Campbell said 25 music performances are scheduled at Campbell Steele through Feb. 14, 2015. The venue has developed a reputation for the quality of its light and sound production studio, attracting performers such as Michael Johnson, Bob Dorr & the Blue Band, the George Jazz Group and Funk Daddies.
With the encouragement and support of Campbell and Steele, Jeanne and Paul Matthews expect to have an art gallery open in about 90 days on the first floor of the renovated Memorial Hall, built in 1899 at 760 11th St.
“The first floor will be divided into two suites,” Jeanne Matthews said. “The gallery will be located in the front of the building where there is premium storefront space and I think we’re turning the back into a British pub.
“We plan to live on the second floor of the building.”
Matthews has contacted many of the artists who have been represented by Campbell Steele and all but one have expressed interest in moving to the new Memorial Hall art gallery.
“Some of the art is so valuable that it will be held by Campbell Steele until we’re able to literally transfer it across the alley to the new gallery,” Matthews said.
- See more at: http://thegazette.com/subject/news/campbell-steele-ending-retail-art-sales-20140620#sthash.mfNq6RcQ.dpuf
4 comments:
Hey Crabby, really enjoying your reviews -- they seem more in-depth now that you're "retired." Keep up the great work!
Thanks Tad!
As you noticed I haven't really gone away from the retirement announcement but rather continue to keep up on the news around here. The weather's been ridiculous, tornadoes everywhere, even up in Hale Michigan.
Thanks for supporting the Crabb nobody hardly reads anymore and as they say, stay tuned! ;)
Hey Crabb, you've been busy for a retired guy! But thanks for being busy, you gave me plenty to read while I listened to records tonight. Did you get the Wilko Johnson/Roger Daltrey album? It finally came out on vinyl a few weeks ago. It was really expensive but it sounds great and I think it's pretty terrific.
Sure beats Bro Country, whatever that is. Is that what Big Shmo is? He looks like a fat guy with a TV show, gettin' it while he can.
howdy 2000 Man and welcome back.
I've heard a couple songs off the Wilko Johnson/Roger Daltrey album and they're not too bad. I think the only thing I retired was the top ten but I do have a few hardcore fans of the Crabb still out there. Even though I unloaded about 100 Cds over the weekend, I'm always on the lookout for music I missed the first time. The latest from the Black Lips and Against Me are worthy of best of 2014. Black Lips cost me about 17 dollars and Against Me was on sale for 11 dollars on vinyl.
Naw the dude in the picture wasn't bro country but Dick Cheney and somebody off the net made a funny photo of him that I had to share. Sad to say Bro Country is here to stay, just like Electronic Dance Music (the Disco of this era). But I chose not to listen to either one. Thanks for stopping in! ;)
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