https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/11/17/lil-peep-suicide-cocktail-xanax-cocaine-ecstacy/
Malcolm Young lost his battle with Dementia Friday. He was 64. He proceeds older brother George into the great beyond. Malcolm will forever be known for giving us those same three chords and turning into AC DC hits and inspiring people to take up the guitar and form AC DC tribute bands. At least he had a better life and fulfilled his dreams unlike Lil Peep.
Ben Riley-Drummer for Theolonois Monk in the 1960s and played on Sonny Rollins' The Bridge in 1962 passed away on Saturday from a long illness. He was 84. http://wbgo.org/post/ben-riley-jazz-drummer-who-made-accompaniment-his-art-has-died-84#stream/0
Mel Tillis- Country singer songwriter that wrote a big hit for Webb Pierce (I Ain't Never) and later had hits on his own for Columbia, Kapp, MGM, MCA and Elektra passed away Sunday from respiratory failure. He was 85 https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2017/11/19/country-music-legend-mel-tillis-has-died-85/878704001/
We'll never know what potential Lil Peep would have had in the music business, probably minimal at best, but when you hear the opening riffs of a hard rock song from AC DC, you know it's Malcolm guitar work, for jazz, Ben Riley may have been subtle, but he could find ways to entice you to the beat or just confront you with with a irregular drumming style and the opening lines of Ruby Don't Take Your Love To Town or I Ain't Never coming from the pen and vocals of Mel Tillis.
Iowa may as well be dead. They played their bowl game two weeks ago and have returned to ineptness in can't catch, can't punt, can't block, can't defend and can't score as Purdue won their first Big Ten away game in quite some time in a 24-15 ass kicking of Iowa, which the game wasn't even that close. Matt Vandenburg looked more like a green freshman off the farm and couldn't catch the ball on special teams and if he did, he would fumble the ball. Noah Funt did his usual drop as well as four drops from other receivers. Iowa's Ole Blockers couldn't stop Purdue at Nate Stanley got sacked six times and hurried about 60 times more. Good thing Josh Jackson plays defense, none of the DBs couldn't do that. So overall yet another team ineptness, from coaches all the way down to players sucked worse than Mount Trashmore in the hot and humid summer. Next up, is Nebraska and by all means the Corn huskers will be favored to win, even though they are 4-6 and Mike Riley good as gone. They would like to give him a good send off before they give him the pink slip. As for Iowa, we're stuck with Kirk Ferenez and his dumbass offense coordinator son Bryan with more shitty play calling. Wrestling and basketball is starting up, may as well go root for them.
Up in the fog and rain at Corvallis, Arizona State ran away and hid from the lackluster Oregon State Beavers 40-24, thus earning the Sun Devils a bowl bid, although they might draw the shitty Iowa Hawkeyes in a second tier bowl game. The 1-10 Beavers did managed to score outside ASU 24-10 in the second half, but by then ASU had a 30-0 lead and could play it safe. ASU will play Arizona for the Governor's Cup this week. Oregon State might be able to get Mike Riley back from Nebraska, but they will have their in state game with Oregon, who have underachieved this season.
In Texas, Iowa State beat Baylor 23-13. Baylor used to be good a couple seasons ago. This season, they too are 1-10 and a train wreck on the field.
I really had not much to say about the music of 2017. Never before had I review less albums than I did and at the rate things are going, 2018 will be even less. When you buy music as I do and scour the dollar bins and cut outs, chances are there will be albums that will be of interest to me enough to review them. I really do not need to buy anymore albums in this life time. I know in my collection I wouldn't have time to listen to all of them at least once. But the buyer in me will continue to look for whatever Half Priced Books has in the bargain bins, or whatever the music stores that I go to. Times have changed. 20 years ago, we had plenty of music stores to check out variety, nowadays it's thrift stores and the twice yearly trip to Madison for unknown pleasures. Which reminds me....it's that time again to pick my favorite places to shop for music, however the list is getting smaller and smaller each year and with the passing of Kirk of Record Collector things are up in the air. Hopefully they'll remain open.
Best Record Store (Eastern Iowa)
Moondog Music (Dubuque)
Co Op-Records (Moline Ill)
Analog Vault (Cedar Rapids)
Record Collector (Iowa City)
Ragged Records (Davenport)
CDs-4 Change (Dubuque)
Wax Extatic (Marshalltown)
Mohair Pear (Waterloo)
Best Record Store (Madison)
Mad City Music Exchange
Strictly Disc's
Sugar Shack Records
B Sides Music
Resale Records (RIP)
All of these record stores are worth going to, but in terms of affordability and surprises Moondog Music remains the best of the stores in the latest releases on CD, for those who still buys CDs. The debut of Analog Vault is that this is Cedar Rapids's only record store in town that sells records, CD's not so much unless they're from local bands. Ragged Records is the best of the bunch to get actual vinyl records, Bob Herrington does have his own label Cartouche that features local acts, The Dawn's new album was issued through Carthouche. Technically, Ragged Records still have a fairly decent selection of 45s but the fly in the ointment is that they are not a set price, some are what I call museum pieces, records that cost more than 4 or 5 dollars if you have to get that record at all costs and I have done that a couple times. Certainly the case is that they need to make a living as well. However, it does gnaw at me when they're searching EBAY to priced the record at the going rate, and that Leapy Lee 45 that I bought for 4 dollars one day only to find it down the road at the Salvation Army for a quarter. You pay a price for being dollar foolish. And they still have that Wounded Bird copy of Crazy Horse Loose for 34.99 On a plus side, you can find just about anything in the record bins.
The problem of record collecting remains the un-priced LP or 45, the museum piece that has no price and the owner of the store looking up the price on Ebay. I love 45s as much as I did 50 years ago when Ben Franklin had them for 9 cents a piece or when Goodwill had them for a nickel or a quarter. Not anymore. A juke box 45 of Sweet Chile O Mine should not be charged 8 dollars just because it's Guns And Roses or Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. Most of them records got their grooves wore off at some old dive bar out in the boonies where good ole boys are pounding on each other for the hell of it. At least Moondog Music in Dubuque, the records are 50 cents a piece if you buy in bulk, or Mad City Music Exchange where forgotten 45's can be had for a quarter. And Mad City Music Exchange has never disappointed me in finding 45s of late, especially at their new location on Atwood Drive, it's sad to see them leave the Williamson St. place but the new store is bigger and has more space to go crate digging be it 7 inch or 12. Strictly Discs still has the biggest selection of vinyl in the basement, that can be a all day event if there weren't parking meters around. Sugar Shack is more centralized on used albums although the owner will special order albums or make an effort to find them. B Sides, remains the only record store on State Street and managed to outlive the CD Warehouse or CD's Plus or Disc Go Round, but in the long run the better finds remain at Mad City Music X or Strictly Disc.
Here on my neck of the woods, the new dog in town is Analog Vault, located in New Bo and while they don't have the selection of a Mad City Music X or Moondog Music, it's a comfort fact that they are the only record store in town. With the future opening and return of The Chrome Horse back to New Bo, things should get better for them. Record Collector is the sole survivor of the Iowa City Record store years of the 80s and 90s and then they lost their owner Kirk Walther to illness but the new owners will continue to keep that store going. If anything Record Collector still has the best selection of hard to find jazz CDs in the used bins. For used CDs it depends on when to go but I had found that Moondog Music continues to find some hard to find cd's for 5.98, and I'm not telling you which ones that I did find fairly cheap. Usually the turnaround for used stuff Moondog seems to move the used stuff fairly well, they seem to have a new selection every other month I show up there. CDs 4 Change has tend to overprice some CDs as well, and like Ragged, they don't have them in jewel cases. Usually stored away and when they're taken out of their protective covers, they tend to get streak scratches on them. In this day and age of trying to find new music on CD you have to either drive or say the hell with it and go through Amazon. Best Buy don't have shit, Target has less and Wal Mart is Wal Mart. In this area Moondog is the best of the bunch. Unless you're in the Quad Cities, then it's Co-Op Moline. (The Co Op Davenport Store didn't last a year before closing for good earlier last year). I've never been to Mohair Pear in Cedar Falls and Wax Xstatic in Marshalltown I just found out, so it might be a trip down HWY 30 west for the first time in about 5 years.
Best Thrift Stores For Used CDs and Records
Half Priced Books (CR-Madison-Des Moines)
Stuff Etc. (CR,IC-Coralville-Davenport-Waterloo)
Sweet Living Antiques (Iowa City)
Housewerks (Iowa City)
St. Vincent De Paul (Williamson St-Madison)
Salvation Army Junk Store (Davenport)
Frugal Muse (Madison)
St. Vincent De Paul (Waterloo)
Goodwill Industries (Various Locations)
Salvation Army (CR, Marion, Moline)
Savers (Madison)
Pre Played (Madison)
As long as Half Priced Books stays in business, nobody is going to unseat them from the number 1 spot of finding CDs. There are some museum pieces (that Toni Basil best of I found for 25 cents at the pawnshop, they're trying to sell it for 20 dollars!) but for the most part HP Books continues to find imports and cut outs of albums from the past including the Wounded Bird cutouts of bands that only serious audiophiles and music collectors know about. If certain CDs dont sell, they get knocked into the two dollar bins but overall the past year the Madison dollar bins have become shorter and shorter but the Cedar Rapids store still has six rows of dollar finds ready to be discovered. And probably the cheapest way to listen to the Eagles Long Road Out Of Eden (they had four copies as of last week...and of course 5 copies of Licensed To Ill). After that, it's hit and miss if you go to Stuff Etc or Savers. I tend to have better luck at the Cedar Rapids and Coralville Stuff Etc stores, Davenport and Waterloo' selections suck most of the time. The Madison St Vincent De Paul on Williamson is famous for their 45's selection, most of it is pop and big bands but this year some record store donated a bunch of scratched up Elvis and Beatles 45s, to which I actually found a couple of Elvis 45s that weren't scratched up to holy hell. Of note, the St. Vincent on Park Ave in Madison is where you buy by the pound, which I found about 7 45s for a grand total of 25 cents! It's a very rare occasion when they do have any sort of 45's, I was simply at the right place, right time.
While I have very good luck in finding bargains in Madison and this area, the luck becomes more spotty and less when I go up to Waterloo. They don't have much for thrift stores and when they do they simply get picked apart by the other bargain hunters out there. For myself it makes better sense just to drive to Dubuque, for the most part I'll find a few things at Moondog or CD's 4 Change and even the Goodwill will have something of value. Goodwill remains a hit and miss, and the new trendy Goodwill isn't exactly bargain hunting city. It is a frustrating fact of life when you're trying to find the LPs and CD section, now they have them over in a corner along with dis-guarded tapes and VHS and DVDs as well and usually you had to fight with 2 or 3 other people blocking your way. It amazes me some of the hunters that tend to be turtle show and analyze each and every rap or country or One Direction CD. Myself, it takes about 10 minute tops to scour, acknowledge the gospel collection nobody wants, or copies of Cracked Rear View or Monster or Garth Brooks The Hits.
It has been noted that CD donations have gone down a lot the past 10 years and pawn shops don't take much of them in anymore. Which is why Siegel's Pawn Shop is not on this list. Since the passing of Bruce Stanley, CDs are not cost effective, especially if most of what Siegel's used to take in looked like they been ran over a 100 times during rush hour on 380. Even Housewerks has not had the selection that they once did but sometimes they'll have some classic albums, I managed to find Frank Zappa's Chunga's Revenge up there for four dollars. Sweet Living Antiques remains a crate digger''s paradise. I should stop in and visit before the snow flies. The CD stores of a long time ago, The CD Plus stores, The Disc Go Around, the CD Warehouse are gone, not needed anymore. So which in essence if the CD collector wants anything anymore, the thrift stores are the way to go. Unless you're lucky to have a Half Priced Bookstore in your area. Pre Played have really downsized their CD section, in favor of DVDs and Games. Savers' is Wisconsin's answer to Stuff Etc and I have yet to get lucky in trying to find anything up in their stores. As for pawnshops around the area, Pawn America when they first opened up, had the largest used CD section anywhere and I spent a couple hours looking through them, that was 7 years ago. Today, Pawn America does not have a CD section anymore. The Waterloo and Iowa City Pawn America do have CDs for 50 cents and it won't take a lot to look through their section but once in a while they'll have something of note. That's where I found a 50 cent copy of Pearl Jam 10 and of the aforementioned Best Of Toni Basil. In terms of theory, Pawnshops are basically a waste of time for CD buying anymore.
Of course Hastings would be behind Half Priced Books, but they closed their doors last year and are a distant memory. But I remember them for fun Saturday Nights in Kingman and Lake Havasau City for all the freaks come out and lively up the place. Plus they always have surprises in the close out bins.
Best Big Box Music Store
Barnes And Noble
Books A Million
Best Buy
Wal Mart
Target
K Mart (if you still have any around)
The most worthless category of the Crabbys. Barnes And Noble might by following Borders in terms of non existent Target and K Mart simply have stopped selling them except whatever comes out new but it is a waste of time. Wally World seems to do a better job of new releases than Best Buy but both stores simply just carry the essentials and classic albums and hardly anything more. Books A Million did overtake some of the stores left behind by the Borders closures but Barnes And Noble wins out by a hair. I did note that the East Side Madison BN did have some 3.99 Wounded Bird cut out specials. Wal Mart might be universally hated but at least they're a bit more trustworthy than Best Buy, who will convince you that streaming is the new way of life for discovering new music. That new Post Malone album is very good they say. For myself I don't care anyway.
This weekend, was a trip to Waterloo to see what was out there. Goodwill had everything for a dollar on sale and all places were packed. The St Vincent De Paul in Waterloo had the best dollar finds, a couple of Beatles Remastered 2009 albums Sgt. Pepper and Let It Be and both in like new shape despite the digipack packaging. If anything they might be something of value the next time I need to sell CDs to Half Price Books. The pawnshops had nothing, and Goodwill Waterloo was too busy. But I did find three Cds at Goodwill Independence for a dollar, including a John Anderson best of, A Sonny Rollins Remaster and the Rod Stewart Sings the best rock ballads CD which might be worth hearing for a laugh.
Best Music Stores For Instruments
Uncle Ike's Music (Asbury/Dubuque)
965 Guitars (New Bo-CR)
West Music (Marion-Coralville)
Guitar Center (CR-Davenport)
Griggs Music (Davenport)
Uncle Ike's still remains the best place to seek out used drums and cymbals, now that Music Go Round is no longer around the area. It's pointless to include pawn shops, they always seem to be hit and miss and more misses than hits although I did score a nice Fender Tele at the Maquoketa pawn shop. For new guitars, Darwin at 965 Music remains the go to guy, he's knows his guitars. In the old days we used to have Hiltbrunners, Keeney's Music, Carma Lou's House Of Music, 16th Avenue Music, Marion Drum Shop (in 1983 they were the only place that sold Paiste Cymbals), Star's Guitars and The Music Loft but they're now history, The Music Loft closed their doors for good early this year. For the most part, I give West Music a slight edge over Guitar Center but nowadays music instruments are not what they used to be. For pawn shops Money and More in Iowa City is worth going to, Siegal's of late have really overpriced some of their used stuff. Once in a while I'll take note of something but outside of grabbing the Fender Tele, a lotta pawned stuff on guitars are simply junk.
Best Music Place For Jams (Weekly Jams that is)
Checker's Tavern (Cedar Rapids)
Long Branch (Cedar Rapids)
Rumor's Bar (Cedar Rapids)
Parlor City (Cedar Rapids/New Bo)
Stone City General Store (Stone City)
Cooters (Cedar Rapids)
Ramsey's (Marion)
Just Jules (Cedar Rapids)
For myself, Checker's is the runaway favorite with their Wednesday Night Acoustic Showcase. The owners Pam and PJ have been very friendly and the jammers that do show up I enjoy sharing the stage with. The Long Branch on Friday Night also has a very relaxed atmosphere and the stage is quite roomy. Rumor's Sunday Jams also bring out the best in musicians and it can be chaotic at times but the hosts do managed to keep things going. If you play too loud at Parlor City Blues, you do get yelled at so be careful if the DB levels go past 100 DB. I have to admit I've never been to Stone City General Store for the Sunday Jams but I plan to once the snow and cold hits. Cooter's rivals both Rumors and Cooters for Sunday Afternoon jams but I have not been a fan of that place. I've been there four times and four times they had three fights and than a cancellation of a band that another fight broke out. Mike Williams swears they don't have that many fights, just the only ones I do show up at. Ramsey's Acoustic Night is Tuesday and Just Jules is Sunday after Rumors, but I have not been to either one. For a small town, Cedar Rapids does have plenty of places to do jams at. Artisan Sanctuary has a open mike every other Thursday Nights, F B and Company in Waubeek has one the first Saturday of the month and Whittier has one the second Saturday every month. It's gets pretty wild in Waubeek as I found out earlier this month. The Whittier is much more laid back.
Food:
Best Chinese foot
Crossroads Bistro (C.R)
China Buffet (Plattville)
Benjang Express (CR)
Great Dragon (CR)
Bamboo Garden (Anamosa)
China King (Marion)
Palace Garden (Marion)
Peking Buffet (Coralville)
Panda Express (CR/IC)
It's hard to find decent Chinese food, we used to have plenty of them 2 decades ago but most have fallen by the wayside or Panda Express is where to go. The Crossroads Bistro by far has the best Chinese menu. Benjing off Kirkwood Blvd, the owner has maintained a very quick and tasty meal if an when I go up there. The buffets have been hit and miss, the problem has always been if the food remained under the 100 watt lightbulb too long and would dry up. In this case it's a matter of convenience, The Palace Garden is across from Wal Mart in Marion off the 151/13 interchange. Grat Dynasty in Davenport has had a change of ownership and reviews have been lukewarm. The Crossroads Bistro has spoiled me with their excellent chinese menu, if I'm undecided on what to get, I take my chances on Panda Express.
Best Pizza Place:
Marco's Pizza (CR)
Leonardo's Pizza (CR)
Ruby's Pizza (CR)
Long Branch (CR)
Naso's Pizza (Marion)
Tomaso's (Marion)
Zoey's (Marion)
Cappy's (CR)
Pagalai's (Iowa City)
Happy Joe's (Anamosa, CR)
Checker's Tavern (CR)
Godfathers' (Anamosa)
Pizza Hut (Maquoketa, Independence)
Pizza Ranch (Various Locations)
Casey's (Various)
Little Caesar's (CR)
The Frog (RIP)
NOTE: The Frog won best pizza place but they have now closed their doors on Jan 20, 2018. With that in mind, the runner up pizza place would be Marcos.
There are other pizza places that I know about but haven't been there lately (Pizza Daddy, Need Pizza, Aces And Eights) but I do know some of the best pizzas come from regular bars. The Frog on 16th Avenue (used to be Al's Red Frog) remain the best kept secret in town. I still miss the old Marco's on 1st Avenue and their amazing buffet (the Marco's on Boyson Rd still good but is part of Family Video, where you can get half off movie rentals if you order a large pizza, or something to that effect). The biggest bitch is that Pizza Hut has closed most of the stores that offer an afternoon pizza buffet and you have to drive to Maquoketa or Independence or Madison for that comfort buffet. The surprise is the Long Branch Supper Club and their personal pan pizzas for 7.50 a cheap alternative if you don't want to pay 15 dollars for a Festus Special (sirloin and mushrooms) I love Ruby's Pizzeria but their hours always continues to play havoc with me. They're closed on Sundays and I never get around to their pizza bar in the afternoon. Naso's remains the best pizza in Marion, Zoey's tends to get all the businesses and praise but Naso's is still the more familiar place for me to go. Tony Nickels has told me of a new pizza place next to Ramsey's that has the best pizza but since they have opened up this late in the year I have to reserve judgement for the next installment of the Crabby's. For franchise pizza, I still like a Happy Joes pizza, a Godfather's personal pan pizza and out in the boonies, Casey's does the trick. Caesar's still gets some pizza loving, when I want it quick and not too expensive (under 7 dollars and not the 5 they advertise). If I'm desperate, I'll go with Kwik Star's 4.95 thin crust pizza, which is actually an oversized Tombstone pizza. As for Papa John's, he can go to hell.
Best Mexican Food
La Casa De Pancho (Maquoketa)
Villa's Patio (Marion)
Si Senor (Mount Vernon)
El Ranchero (Iowa City)
Rudy's Tacos (Davenport-Moline)
Sanchos (Davenport)
Azteca 1-4 (Davenport/Moline)
Los Compades (CR)
Cancun (CR)
Las Hacienda Glorias (CR)
El Dorado (Coralville)
El Ranchero (CR)
El Bajo (CR)
Frito Kaila (Solon)
Ganzo's (Davenport)
Las Palmas (Platteville)
Salsa's (Dubuque)
Los Aztecas (DBQ)
Fiesta Cancun (DBQ)
Pancheros (Various)
Hot Harry's (CR)
Moe's SW Grill (CR)
There are no shortages of Mexican places to eat at. The question remains which ones are great and which one's will give you Montezuma's Revenge. Anamosa lost yet another Mexican place downtown and the remaining one La Hacenida I have to order things with cheese sauce rather than their patented "manwhich" tasting sauce on their burrito. The places that wow me the best are the ones that offer Creme De Polo to where De Pancho place in Maquoketa has. I'm usually never in the neighborhood unless I'm getting the car's oil changed (and other things). Down the road is Obie's Bar but I have to yet to eat there. If I'm on the way to work and need to get in and out quickly, Si Senor in Mount Vernon gets me in and out in a half hour. Iowa City has plenty of good Mexican but their El Ranchero is usually my choice. In Davenport Ganzo's gets the slight nod. For Franchise burritos, it's Pancheros on Kirkwood Blvd, close to work, in and out in 20 minutes most of the time. Hot Harry's is the alt to Pancheros but they have strange closing hours that make me go to the other places. Moe's I not that high on, but perhaps I'll give them another chance. As for Taco Bell and Taco John's, you take your chance.
Best Radio Station
What's is playing in the discman
This year I discontinued the best radio stations, since all of the stations still play the same 200 classic rock songs, the new rock and country stations suck and I can't relate to whatever KUNI plays for new music. I'll listen to Sirius/XM radio when they offer it free during holidays and vacations but even they are stuck on the same songs played over and over. We used to be enlightened by the radio back in the AM and FM years till Corporations bought everybody out and bean counters replaced the lovers of new music. It's a shame we'll never return back to those wonder days of anticipating new releases from The Beatles or Led Zeppelin or Elton John. For the new artist and bands, you're basically on your own.
Thus concludes this year's Crabbys. We might return again next year.
Sharon Tate would be 74 years old.
Her child would be 48.
J. Sebring, 84
W. Frykowski, 81
A. Folger, 74
S. Parent, 66
Forget Charles Manson. The fucker died of natural causes Sunday, aged 83.
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