Top Ten Of The Week-Mother Music For Yo Momma

Happy birthday Mom

Halfway through the month and we're losing daylight.  But still have enough of that to enjoy the day unless it rains.  To which it actually did most of Sunday.

With the Zappa reissues coming out, I have been listening to what has been out there although Best Buy has yet to get Uncle Meat or We're Only In It For The Money in stock.  I may attempt to do something on Zappa for the Consortium if and when I feel up to it.

Killing Joke fans are not too pleased about the stint of Jaz Coleman disappearing and dissing The Cult and The Mission on a tour that KJ decided not to go on when Coleman left without a word.  For me its not a life or death if I ever seen Killing Joke play live.  But regardless of the fact you have to wonder if this going to blow up in their faces in the near future.  Over there of course, back in America they haven't even issued the latest album domestic. http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/killing-joke-fans-fury-at-jaz-coleman-awol-stunt/

More chest beating from your friends at KI$$  http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/kiss-without-paul-stanley-would-be-victory/  Hell, I'm surprised that they lasted this long myself.  I still think their last album was the best in years.  I'll give Monster a listen....if it comes out.  Sometimes that's not a given, just ask Aerosmith.

"We were a moment in time and now it's over".  Says Fred Durst of the most hated band in history Limp Bizkit.  Seems like the band doesn't want to tour the US since most of the people think that they suck and if you ignore them they will go away.  But then again if you listen to radio nowadays, the crap you hear on nu rock and top forty makes Limp Bizkit sound like The Beatles today.  But Limp Bizkit was one of two things that killed music and radio back in the late 90s, the other the POS Telecommunications Act of 1996 to which Clear Channel and Cumulus started buying everything up and making it sound like robot radio.  http://www.theprp.com/2012/08/13/news/limp-bizkits-fred-durst-on-lack-of-u-s-touring-we-were-a-moment-in-time-and-its-over/

Meanwhile after taking most of the month off, Tad returns with some of his faves and raves and nays on his site http://tadsbackupplan.blogspot.com/  Lotta talk about Moody Blues and Kansas on these two.  Support music bloggers.

And what you came here for: The Top Ten Of The Week.

1.  At The Hop-Danny And The Juniors 1958  If your on any part of Route 66 chances are that you going to hear this rocking little romper at the local Snow Cap in Seligman Arizona and maybe Angel might have it on his newly restored jukebox in the process.  Anyway I do miss going down there to chat with him and the woman that works there the last three times I been there.  As the days go slipping by and no attempt of even looking at plane fares going to Arizona I pretty much taking my memories and putting them to good use.  Seligman Arizona is a small town, no bigger than Springville and their gas prices are the most expensive in town but it's close by to my favorite zen place, Crookton Pass Bridge to which we can bake in the sun and count trains passing by and some of most breathtaking views outside of the Grand Canyon.  Been two years since I been down there and probably be three but I did managed to see the living legend of Arizona 66 riding his bike and almost running into him by accident.  This song also goes way back for me too, it was one of many of Mom's records that I got exposed to in the early childhood years.

2.  Directly From My Heart To You-The Mothers Of Invention 1970  For somebody who hated rock and roll Frank Zappa could play it when he felt like it and straight up too although on this song you can tell Frank is adding different chords  toward the end as Sugarcane Harris sings this Little Richard cover.  Quite heavy metal too considering the fact that Harris playing insane violin to Frank's metal chords.  One of the few times that Don Preston was held in check.



3. Walk Tall-Faron Young  1965  I think Faron came more into his own when he went with Mercury in the early 60s than he did when he was with Capitol beforehand, he was best with honky tonk and prison songs. Collector's Choice years ago compiled the best of the Capitol years (which is now a Collector's item mind you) but Universal can't seem to piece together a decent overview of the Mercury years.  Sequel UK tried years ago but even that was haphazard.  I suppose the best possible solution would compile the better of The Hits and The 20th Century Masters into one compact disc that still would be under 45 minutes. Both comps features key cuts and omissions to which this isn't on The Hits (Walk Tall that is).  But somebody decided to add the puke inducing This Little Girl Of Mine on both comps.

4.  Feelin' Alright-Samantha Fish 2011  Somebody out there must like Sam Fish enough to the point that the cross references that I see on the ratings that her name is now number 3 on the most searched keywords , passing RS Crabb in the process and ready to overtake the now demised Dumor Ru spam site that almost destroyed any credibility of this site. And RS Crabb Blogspot site too.  Even I'm losing out to Samantha in my own site it seems.  Too bad this doesn't translate to more sales of her Runaway album that's out on Ruf Records.  This song is kinda of a torch ballad with a crazy spin at the end of the song.   Anything I can do to promote one of the best up and coming blues players will try to do.  Sometimes it doesn't translate into record sales, just ask Mike Eldred on that one.

5.  Nowhere Road-The Troggs 1992   Back in the 90s, The Troggs got together with members of REM to do a new album of sorts, which came out on Rhino but went to the cutouts in record time.  And no, I didn't pay much attention to it either but I found a 2 dollar copy at Stuff Etc and figured I hear it out.  Reg Presley has a original style of vocals but as he got older he sounded more like Wreckless Eric to which is an acquired taste for those who rather have Wild Thing or Love Is All Around.  I'm guessing REM sans Mike Stripe helped out and played on some of the songs such as this one.  It's a good song but it won't make you forget Wild Thing, or With A Girl Like You.

6.  Toast And Marmalade For Tea-Tin Tin 1970  Starman Dan talked very fondly of this forgotten AM hit of the early 70s and basically when I first heard it, reminded me of the Bee Gees and with good reason.  Maurice Gibb produced this little gem of lies and deception done in by one of the distinct guitar intros to grace a song.  Got played a lot on KCRG way back in 1970 as did followup Is That The Way.  Found a nice copy of the 45 at Ragged Records over the weekend but it can be found on Eric Records Hard To Find 45's On CD Volume 12 if anybody really gives a shit.  Some do.

7.  The Mountain Man And Me-Dennis Robbins 1986  Hard luck country star started out playing guitar in the Rockets (not the Danny Whitten band but the Detroit band featuring Jim McCartney and Johnny Bee) and making some fine albums for RSO and Elektra before Robbins decided to venture out on a country career that didn't pan out although he recorded three albums for MCA and Giant and one with the band Billy Hill for Reprise.  This song from the album The First Of Me is actually pretty good country with a bit of southern rock thrown in but it's the earliest album I know that features Warren Haynes who plays a harder edge slide guitar to Robbin's more clean and country sounding.  Produced by Eddie Kilroy (Eddie Rabbit) along with Dennis.  Didn't know anything about this album's existence till I saw it at the Source Book Store last week.

 


8.  Save My Soul-Jack Scott  1958   I don't think Jack Scott gets enough credit for being a damn good rockabilly star like say, a Gene Vincent or a Eddie Cochran or Hell even Elvis. Scott is better known as a balladeer, with Burning Bridges or My True Love or Goodbye Baby but he can rock just as hard if not harder, with Leroy, The Way I Walk or Geraldine.  This is a burning gospel number that would kick Elvis' can all over heaven with his own shoes and it only lasts at under two minutes.

9.  Not Fade Away-The Crickets  1957 BTW, if you really want to know how garage rock really started, may I direct you to this barebones version which was the B Side to Oh Boy!  Everything sounds better on a scratchy forty five.

10.  Give It Up Or Turn It Loose (Jazzy Jay Edit Mix 2005) James Brown 1970   I'm not a fan of rap or samples although back in the early days, rappers and mixers had ample access to the whole collection of music before lawyers and labels and angry bands put an end to that.  Nobody out there was sampled as much as Soul Brother Numbero Uno, the Late Great James Brown who could do it to death or for hours and not miss a beat.  Originally on In  A Jungle Groove, this features super drummer Clyde Stubblefield keeping the beat while James raps, screams and uh's it for over 6 minutes.  This version comes off the cheapo comp Hip Hop Roots which appeared on Tommy Boy Records. Even with the remix, Soul Brother One commands it all.  You might be hard pressed to find a heavier groove than this one. And given the vast collection of tunes left behind by Brown, that's a grand statement of purpose.  Scream on, rap on.  Ain't it funky now indeed.

More Mother Five From The Mothers Of Invention/Frank Zappa

King Kong 1968  (From Uncle Meat)
Oh No 1970 (From Weasels Ripped My Flesh)
Willie The Pimp 1969  (From Hot Rats)

Plastic People 1967 (From Absolutely Free)
Help I'm A Rock/It Can't Happen Here 1966 (From Freak Out)

Crabb Bits: Ragged Records Sale, Can Of Records

Another trip to Davenport since Bob sent me a email about 30 percent off music at Ragged Records, so I took the long way, stopped at Iowa City and picked up a couple of CDs.

Lester Flatt-RCA Legends
The Great Otis Redding Sings Soul Ballads
Floyd Lloyd-Tear It Up The Ska Album

Usually Stuff Etc doesn't have much in CDs but I found three of note

Faron Young-20th Century Masters
Johnny Horton-Country Legend
The Troggs-Athens and Andover

Muscatine simply has no music stores to speak of, so I took highway 22 that runs along the Mississippi River up to Davenport.  Ragged Records had a four sale and got there at around 6 and they had a acoustic dude playing and he was awful as I made my way into the 45's room and stayed there throughout that and the Puddle Jumpers, a local band who was doing their first show since releasing an EP and I would say that they were entertaining and LOUD.  But I guess I lost track of the time for by the time I got done, I ended up getting about 25 dollars worth of forgotten forty fives but found a better copy of Tallahassee Lassie by Freddy Cannon and The Cricket's Not Fade Away fairly cheap, the latter replaces a warped reference copy and the former replaced a forty five that I wore the grooves off.  And was the long version.

Had time to stopped at Best Buy and picked up Frank Zappa Hot Rats and Freak Out.  Donno why I bought Freak Out since I had the original Rykodisc version but a slight variation on the booklet differs a bit.  The Rykodisc had a bad picture of Frank being blacked out, The UM/Zappa version has a clearer picture and chops Help I'm A Rock to the beginning of It Can't Happen Here.  The Son Of Monster Magnet, which takes up side 4 on the album is a throwaway I think but Freak Out is still worth getting, one way or another.

Finally, I did go up to pay final respect to Evelyn Schminkey,  Duwayne's mom who adopted us as one of her own when we were in a band over there, and using their house as a practicing place and got to trade stories with Duwayne and Tom LeHew who used to listen to our attempt at music.  A slight band reunion as Doug Bonesteel, our former guitar player came all the way from Des Moines and we chatted for a bit.  I can still recall Momma Schminkey being so proud of us when we played at the old Pink Elephant years ago, telling and poking everybody "that's my boys!"   I'm sure going to miss her like everybody else will.

And that's the weekend that was.

Looking at the week's ratings, there's seems to be a spike of interest coming up on Samantha Fish, whose latest album came out last year but the folk at HP Books didn't think it would sell so they put it in the dollar bin. While Runaway (Ruf) may have her as eye candy, this girl with guitar can play the hell out of it.  In a different era and age, Sam Fish would be just as well known as Susan Tedeschi-Trucks but since we live in a era of overplayed classic crock and autotuned top forty Corporate Radio shit by either/or Clear Channel/Cumulus, you'll never know how great she is unless you rely on a blogger who hoards things and has a love of finding and playing the unknown.   I'd call up Bob Dorr and bug the hell out of him to play Sam Fish Runaway on Blues Avenue but he not taken any of my calls or requests.  For now, you can probably catch Samantha at around the Kansas City area or select blues fest around town.  I think she's still on for a show in Evanston Illinois and Davenport in October.  Also it was three years ago I started seeing Nicole and three months ago we called it a day.  Time flies.

The Londoner was a bar/diner in Cedar Rapids which enjoyed a good clientele and a FB friend of mine that worked there, closed up without any explanation from the owner which caused a bit of outcry from the now unemployed FB friend of mine.  This does sound fishy, without the fish and chips http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Popular-British-Pub-The-Londoner-Closed-in-Cedar-Rapids-165989206.html


Finally, going through a set of tins, I came across a bunch of records that even I didn't know that I had or maybe my mom picked up at a garage sale but I was in the process of donating the tins when it felt and i looked in and ....More records!  Mostly the shape of them were dusty or too damn scratchy but thought I post the findings and the noted.

Paul Petersen-My Dad  (Colpix CP 663) not suitable for play, too many scratches.

Billy Duke-Ain't She Pretty (20th Fox 301)  Ugh, jive finger popping crap that I played about a minute and couldn't take anymore.

Piney Brown-Bring It On Home (Sound Stage 7-SS7-2644)  Tough soul music with plenty of UH! and All Right to go with it.  Might be worth a keeper if the needle holds up.

Mitch Miller-Trapeze (Columbia 4-40715)

Slim Whitman-Rainbows Are Back In Style (Imperial 66283)  Whoever had this must have been into pop music or was combating a Martian invasion.

Dave Clark Five-Over And Over (Epic 5-9863)  Larry Bartels must have loved this song, Grooves are wore off.

Earl Jean-I'm Into Something Good (Colpix CP-729)  Record looks okay but I have a better copy somewhere around here.

The Diamonds-My Judge And My Jury (Mercury 70983) Lots of dust making it unplayable.

Stonewall Jackson-Don't Be Angry (Columbia 4-43076)  Great song but record is poor condition.

J. Frank Wilson-Six Boys (Josie 45-929)  This guy sucks.  Had a big hit with Last Kiss and follows it up with another crappy tragedy song.  Surprised I didn't use this as a frisbee.

Abba-Dancing Queen (Atlantic 3372)  Seems like everybody had this in their collection except for me.

Kelly Gordon-Let Me Tell You Jack (Mercury 72215)  Nothing more annoying than having some three year old write all over the record that so you can't play it.

Major Wiley-Rockin Chair (Verve Forecast KF 5110)  Uninteresting soul music

In the end, I came up with the best three out of the can:

Dave Kirby-Her And The Car And The Mobile Home (Monument 1168)  Honky tonk from the trailer court which  might have been a very minor country hit.

Mary Wells-Use Your Head/Everloving Boy (20th Century Fox 555)  She had major hits for Motown but somehow fell out of favor and moved over to 20th Century for a series of Motown soundalikes and maybe some of the Motown funk brothers does play on this.  Good Motown sound although not as inspired.

 Mary Wells- Ain't It The Truth (20th Century 544) Probably the best pre Motown song Wells ever did although 20th Century Fox Records didn't know how to promote Wells at all.  If Berry Gordy had produced this one, you'd be hearing this all over oldies radio like My Guy or You Beat Me To The Punch.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAprYEk6frE

Dunn & Mc Cashen-Hitchcock Railway  (Capitol 2563)  They sound a bit like Brewer & Shipley with a bit of CSN thrown in for good measure but I don't think I ever heard this on the radio back in the late 60s when this came out.  However Joe Cocker did and he covered it.

 Probably the best of the bunch, although I noticed that There Ray Charles, Rolling Stones and Muddy Waters in the can but those were mine and wore the grooves off them.

Crabb Bits: Updates, , Zappa

Summer is winding down.  The rainy season never came and in the process killed off the morning glories and most of the corn crop around here.  Two months of blistering 90 degree temps and even a day or two of 100 didn't help.  Only rain we got were the monsoons that toppled trees and down power lines.  I tend to be one of the skeptics of global warming but thinking more of Mother Nature holding things off.  After all, four years ago it never stopped raining and everything was under water.  Now you can just about walk across the Red Cedar River but I wouldn't try it.  There's some deep holes in that peaceful water.  Some fisherman tried to do that on the Des Moines River and fell into a 20 foot deep river hole.

Wonder how the settlers managed to survive trying to cross these rivers on the way out west.

Weekend is Springville Days to which people come in, drink too much, eat too much and listen to Black Diamond cover country music.  As for myself, I'll be doing one more bargain hunt in Iowa City before the freaks come back to school.  Sorry Des Moines, I don't forsee the RS Crabb Bargain Hunting Network coming to your town, unless there's a new record store that you're dying to tell me that exists out there.  Not even sure FYE is worth going to your place since it's not in Moline.  That's all the updates for now, we take you back to the original blog already in progess.


From a Steve Gibbons song:
What Does It Take To Turn You On
It Takes All Kinds.


Must be a slow day in musicland when I talk about stuff like that.

The first round of Frank Zappa's remasters have made their way to the store via Universal but it's still on the Zappa label and not Verve as originally thought.  I really didn't see the need to replace the Rykodisc of Freak Out but I did buy Absolutely Free which seems to tie in from the Little Miss Toot segment.  Best Buy had a few other Zappa stuff but I only picked up the 1970 Weasels Ripped My Flesh after A.F.  Frank Zappa was way ahead of the times and perhaps his satire ranked close to The Fugs in terms of satire and filth, although Zappa's commentary on the L.A. hippie style would figure more into We're Only In It For The Money.  In some ways Absolutely Free owes more to the second record of Freak Out than Money (remember Freak Out was a two record set?) but even back then Zappa challanged the Mothers Of Invention to keep up with his music by adding different time changes on his songs as well as skits and more commentary, a good album but falls in comparison to the first album.

Weasels Ripped My Flesh was Zappa's final goodbye to the original Mothers and although the previous album Burnt Weeny Sandwich was more jazz doo wop than the avant-garde  fusion jazz of most of Weasels although highlights include Sugarcane Harris' singing the Little Richard Directly From My Heart To You which sounds very heavy metal to Zappa's My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama which did appear as a single.  Perhaps the best was Ray Collins' Oh No, which may have been the best two minute argument against Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band or All You Need Is Love.  And then the title track is Zappa's answer to The Stooges LA Blues which ended a concert in Birmingham UK and you had to be there.

To which afterwards, Zappa got rid of all the original Mothers (except Ian Underwood) and added Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman from the Turtles to form a new Mothers which Zappa took his smutty overviews to further extreme but before that gave the world Hot Rats, which some say was Frank's best loved album. And the most jazziest although I have yet to hear it.  If you have the Rykodisc stuff of these albums, you probably don't need the new remasters and Crusin With Ruben And The Jets has that cold crappy remix of new bass and drums from the 1985 sessions.  Next month promises more Zappa stuff of the 70s and Overnite Sensation but that's down the road and whenever Best Buy decides to stock the damn CD.

And Best Buy didn't have the new Redd Kross CD either.  Hard to really give a shit about new albums when there's hardly any record stores left in town and Best Buy is more miss than hit.  I seriously doubt if they will have the Complete Columbia Recordings of Johnny Cash, which has a whopping 63 CDs at a retail price of 395 dollars at Amazon.com.  Of course, some out there will pay for it since they want it.  I'll stick with what I had.

Rush continues to mark their Cds down.  Their Atlantic albums can now be had at 5 dollars at Best Buy or Wally World if they have them in stock.  A big IF mind you.

And if we make it far down the line, ZZ Top and Bob Dylan's new albums will be in stores on 9/11/12.  The Vaccines on October 2.

Top Ten Of The Week-So Long Momma Schminkey

Presenting our 100th post for this year.

Of behalf of myself, and The Townedgers,  we give a final salute and farewell to Evelyn Schminkey.  Once upon a time when I was playing in the Open Highway Band, later Paraphernalia, Duwayne's mom and dad would let us practice over at their house for most of 1982 and got to see us play at the old Pink Elephant in Cedar Rapids.  She always called the band "my boys" and was a wonderful lady.  She passed away today at age 78.  On behalf of myself, Martin Daniels, Jack Orbit, Geoff Redding and Mark Glarington we say thank you Momma Schminkey and will miss you from the bottom of our hearts.

https://www.murdochfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Evelyn-Schminkey-Meyer-32474/#!/Obituary

School starts in another week so perhaps if another bargain hunt planned for Iowa City, we should consider hitting there before the students get back?  Working the weekend has zapped a lot of energy out of me and basically haven't felt that inclined to go there.  Steve Earle might be a reason to go there since he's in town.

In the meantime this top ten showcases more obscure stuff and vinyl bought at Davenport/Moline.  I was bidding on a Searchers 45 but got outbid by the owner of said disc.  If that's the case, fuck him, don't need it since I have it on CD.

1.  Eighties-Killing Joke 1985  The band has been quiet since Jaz Coleman's conniption and meltdown of how The Mission and The Cult suck and haven't made anything worth a shit and then Coleman disappeared. No word of where he went but maybe Iceland has something to do with it?  A shame really since their latest album is quite good and continues the winning streak that KJ has been on since reforming in the 1990s.  This is their best known song of the 80s to which Kurt Cobain used the baseline for Come As You Are.  Dave Ghorl repayed the debt by playing on the S/T 2003 album.

2.  Hey Babe, Have You Been Cheatin'-Eric Andersen 1977  From Best Songs, a album that I found at Moline Salvation Army in pretty good shape considering that most albums that they do have there are scratched, thrown across the room and stepped on a few times.  Nobody gives records respect anymore.  Best known for Blue River, this best of actually takes 2 tracks off that album as well as a couple cuts from his Arista period and some live remakes of his Vanguard stuff.  Andersen tends to be too laid back for my liking at times but this lively country number shows he can step it up a notch.

3.  Burning Heart-Vandenberg  1983  Excellent guitar player but most of his albums were hair metal with a nod toward Judas Priest vocalwise.  But in the early 80s Adrian Vandenberg hit top 30 with this rock ballad which is one of the better hair metal ballads that never made any of those Razor & Tie Monster Ballads collections.  Of course the 45 cuts out half the guitar solo so had to go find the album which was a chore upon itself.   Still gets airplay on the real rock station.

4.  I'm With The Wrong One-George Jones & Jeanette Hicks 1957  The B Side to Yearning and recorded for Starday but later showed up on a cheap Mercury/Wing loss leader Country Boys & Country Girls. This is pure hillbilly music that you will not hear on country radio.  Time Life later put together a 40 Years Of Duets of George Jones and special guests, most featured Tammy Wynette and Melba Montgomery and worth your time if you should come across it in the cut out bins at your fast disappearing record store. Yearnin' can be heard, The Wrong One not much so.  One of those rare what is he talking about selections that I'm good for.

5.  Heat In The Street-Axe 1983  Best known for Rock N Roll Party In The Streets, this was the followup single and failed to capture the ears and hearts of America.  Started out making a album or two for the crap Curb label, then got rid of Mike Curb and started to rock out hard on their two Atco albums. While Offering was the better seller, Nemesis was better put together and had help from the guitarist from Blackfoot on a couple selections.  But this album made a bee line to the cutouts within 6 months.  Mike Osborne was killed in a car accident a year later.  Barth later made the uninteresting Two Hearts One Beat in 1986 and reformed Axe for a brief spell in the 90s.

6.  Solitary Man-T.G.Sheppard  1976  Never cared for his Warner Brothers albums since he sang mostly about cheating and loving cheaters but once upon a time he was one of the newbies that formed Melodyland/Hitsville, Barry Gordy's move into the country field, which basically had stars past their prime (Dorsey Burnette, Pat Boone) or oddball Ray Stevens type of corn porm (Jud Struck's Biggest Parakeets In Town).  Sheppard was the biggest seller for the Motown country  scoring hits with Lovin On (1977), Motels And Memories (1975) and this cover of Neil Diamond's song.  You really cannot fuck this song up, I heard great versions from The Sidewinders and the man himself.   The B side Pigskin Charade is just plain dumb as it uses cheating as football jargon.   Sheppard would top the charts with the I Loved Them All for the WB.  In other words, more cheating songs.....

7.  The Party Starts Now-Manitoba's Wild Kingdom 1990  Handsome Dick Manitoba used to hang out with The Dictators who made a few albums for Epic and Asylum but then this made this bargain bin classic for a MCA offshoot label called Popular Metaphysics (started by Sandy Pearlman of BOC production fame), home to another forgotten band called World  Entertainment War or something to that effect, they sounded somewhat like a Guerrilla Information Society.  I think I used a couple of their skits on the 1995 project called Underground Radio, which was hour long cassettes peppered with commercials and odd bits.   Nevertheless, Daniel Rey played guitar, left and then was replaced by Ross The Boss to which they actually became the Dictators again.  Andy Sheroff produced this and it fits in well with the Dictators sound.  American Beat reissued the CD in around 2008.

8.  Reruns-Chicago 1979  Been a while since I posted a Chicago song.  Taken off the forgotten 13 album.  Some fans and critics don't like that album but I always have although Phil Ramone's production never fit the Chicago sound quite well as James Guercio.   Less said about David Foster the better.

9.  Footsi Footsi-Wir(e)  1991  Robert Gotobed sat that album out so the guys in Wire renamed themselves Wir and made The First Letter for Mute/Elektra in 1991 which didn't sell and left many a fan scratching their head but actually I found this to be more listenable than Manscape or the unbearable Drill CD, The First letter isn't a total waste. KRUI played this a few times on the alternative Saturday Night show they used to have back in the early 90s.  Since the record didn't sell Wir was retired for another 10 years before Gotobed returned and Wire made a comeback album of sorts with Send. And still around although Bruce Gilbert left in 2004 and was replaced by Margaret Field.  Their last album sounded a bit like Roxy Music although I never did buy it.

10.  The Entertainer-Marvin Hamlisch  1974  And we end the top ten with another tribute to a legend who has left us.  Marvin Hamlisch is one of the all time best composer of movies and music has passed away at age 68.  Always seems that when we do a top ten at least one song is shared about the memory of a musician who passed on to the next world.  One of my favorite forty fives of the 1970s, everybody knows it was used in The Sting, which was adapted from Scott Joplin, one of the earliest musicians of the 1900s.  With the success of The Sting, there was a call for Joplin music or ragtime. Hamlisch also wrote The Way We Were which was a big hit for Barbara Streisand in 1974 as well.  Hamlisch continued to work on plays and movies up till his passing.  He was slated to work on something about Liberace.  The plus side The Entertainer, Marvin introduced us to Scott Joplin's works, on the down side, the song is used for ice cream trucks that drive through town.  Guess ya gotta take the good with the bad.

The next five.

Tall Cool One-The Wailers 1963
TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia)-MFSB featuring The Three Degrees 1974
Why-Robert Plant 1988
What's The Matter With You-Split Enz 1980
Rainy Night In Vancouver-Christopher Cross 1998

RIP  Stuart Swanlund.

Post Script:

I didn't make it to the Steve Earle book signing and recital of his new book or his concert afterwards, since I took last Monday off, I decided to hold off going to Iowa City till this weekend which will be just in time for the students coming back to University Of Iowa to start fall classes.

Tommy Roe plays in Dubuque later in the month so I may go see him play at the Mississippi Moon Bar.  

Arizona  this fall?  Looking more no than yes.  Stay tuned for the unexpected on this and other things that come into play.

Singles Going Steady-The Fifth Installment

I sure like finding and documenting those scratchy 45's of yesterday.  Even to the point of including two of them in the last top ten.  If you think about it a lot of the choice cuts used for the top ten have come from singles.  It really boggles the mind to see how many have come out on labels that even I don't know about.  And some of those will pay big bucks to get them in.  I didn't get The Tempests Look Away since I hit my limit of 35 dollars but could have went up to fifty bucks.  But I was in Madison and found plenty enough to keep my attention span going over there.

So here's ten more found at various places or came from my collection.  Most come from the glory years and even one makes it that came out in 1994.  They're still making them as we speak.

1.   Tear It Up-Johnny Burnette & The Rock And Roll Trio   1956  Coral 9-61651  For music collectors you have sort through a lot of scratched up 45s and a lot of pop and country stuff to even try to get to the rock and roll 45s that collectors play top dollar to get in their collection regardless of shape.  The hardcore will for go any of the pop stuff to get to the rocking stuff but if you're open minded like me you might take a chance on a Billy Williams Sit Right Down And Write Myself a letter.  Or Ken Noble, Or Teresa Brewer. But it is the rock and rollers that get the big bucks.  I sometimes come across a Buddy Holly It Don't Matter Anymore or Peggy Sue but rarely if ever do I find a Johnny Burnette anywhere.  The only one I did find I picked up at Goodwill in Marion of all places.  The condition is a step up from the road grated Jack The Ripper from Link Wray (Swan 4137) but still it's a original version. However most of Johnny Burnette's Coral 45s have been reissued via Amazon and has the same orange label although slight variations.  Plus they're not as scratchy as the original either.

2.  Inside Looking Out-The Animals 1966  MGM K-13468  If you have been following the history of record collecting from myself, you may have noticed that I always have had a fondness of the songs that I grew up listening to in my kid years.  And don't we all wish for the days to go back to the four for a dollar or 29 cent records Wells or Arlans used to have.  Now the kids of today and their downloads don't know of all the good fun of discovering the library or the junkshop for music.  This record dates back to our first time living in Waterloo on Huntington Rd to where the orgins of this record came from, may have been Wells Department Store.  Back then I was trying to find a replacement copy of Gonna Send You Back To Walker (MGM K-13242) that got broke years ago and although the label looked the same, the song wasn't.  One of the most wildest songs that Eric Burdon and company came up with and although it would take another 40 years to get the first Animals record, Ragged Records had a nice replacement copy for Inside Looking Out, to which I played so many times back then, there were no grooves left to play.

4.  Alley Cat-Bent Fabric And His Piano 1962  Atco 45-6226   Part of the fun of going to Ragged is to see the look on Bob's face as I show him what was found up there. Trying to find a connection between Bent Fabric, Duane Eddy, The Wailers and Link Wray may have concluded that either I was trying to get back to when radio and records were fun to listen to, or just some crazy scarey old guy hoarding things.  Could be worse, I could have about 100 cats running around the house as well.  Atco in the early 60s was basically used for pop recordings from abroad (Acker Bilk and Bent Fabric) done as instrumentals.  And then they started using Atco for soul and rock.  At this time Fabric climbed the top of the charts with this infectious tune that climbed all the way up to number 7 on the Top 100.  Originally called  Omkring et Flygel in Denmark (translated Around A Piano) and came out on his Metronone label.  Follow up Chicken Feed made it to number 63 and each single sold less but Fabric remained on Atco throughout the 60s releasing such interesting stuff like Never Tease Tigers, The Drunken Monkey and The Happy Puppy.  Taragon released a Best Of The Atco Years for those who wasn to seek more than just Alley Cat.  Won GrammyTM as Best Rock Album in 1962.  Fun fact: Jorgen Ingmann, fellow Metronone recording artist and discovery also recorded for Atco in the 60s.   http://www.spaceagepop.com/fabric.htm

5.  Mirrors Of Your Mind-The Definitive Rock Chorale  1967  Phillips 40486  This record was tucked away at the CR Goodwill store for a while so on a return trip there, it was still there so I picked it up.  To most, a DJ Promo copy doesn't say much, but if you dig a bit deeper into the net or You Tube, chances are good that somebody else knows more about it than you do.  This outfit recorded a couple of 45s for Phillips and the vocalist on this record just might be Ron Dante, later of The Archies and a solo career.  One of the female vocals in the background is Ellie Greenwich who was one of the finest backing singers rock has ever known.  Toni Wine might figured in this too since she worked a lot with Ellie and Ron Dante.  This song sounds like a cross of On Broadway if the Mamas and Papas covered it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xrxZwgSG-Y

6.  Motherless Child-Eric Clapton  1994  Reprise/Duck  7-18044   I thought they quit making 45s in the 1990s but I found a copy of this song that got plenty of airplay in the 1990s but somehow classic rock radio doesn't play it anymore.  Guess it don't fit CCC rules.  From...from the cradle album to which Clapton decided to revisit the blues that he loved so much.

7.  Noah-Bob Seger System  1969   Capitol 2576  The Best Of Bob Seger has a very noticeable gap between Ramblin Gamblin Man and Beautiful Loser, as if those years never existed.  I know Seger loves those Over The Top ballads and rockers that made Night Moves and Stranger In Town and Live Bullet must haves in your collection of 70s music.  I also think Seger shortchanges himself as well, after all his late 60s and early 70s rockers were just as good if not better than his Detroit brothers Grand Funk, The Stooges or MC5.  In fact Ramblin Gamblin Man, the album shows why Detroit had some of the toughest stuff coming out at that time.  With Noah, the album, something happened and Seger disowned most of that album and perhaps he had a point but I think at that time Noah was the answer to Marti Gras, the CCR album to which everybody chips in on writing and singing.  Good idea in theory but didn't translate well on the record results.  B side Lennie Johnson shows why Seger may have wanted to forget the whole thing, it stinks.  But Noah, the title track and A side of the 45 is a pretty good rocker in it's own way.   The link to you tube doesn't work anymore.  Third party involvement.

8.  Muskrat Love-America  1973  Warner Bros WB 7725  The Captain and Tennile may have ruin this song forevermore with Mr. Dragon's bizarre sound effects to the point that Willis Alan Ramsey may have disown writing the thing in the first place but his version and America's was more folk and easier to take.  While this made it on America's Greatest Hits or History, I have no recall of hearing it on the radio and thought it was a album cut till I found a Promo 45 of it at St Vincent De Paul Junkshop in Mad City.

9.  You Really Got Me-Van Halen 1978   Warner Bros WBS-8515  Where the world first heard Van Halen, on a 45 that the folks at Marion TV and Records had up there when it first came out but I never did buy it till Ragged Records had the promo.  If I would have known back then, I probably would have bought the record and wore the grooves out, but waited till a trip to Nashville and we bought the Van Halen 8 track.  The 45 mix and sound is still awesome.

10.  Peter Gunn-Duane Eddy  1965  Jamie  1168 If I seen this song on the jukebox, I be playing this about 10 times in a row.  I grew up listening to Duane Eddy and although the RCA and Reprise albums tended to be too pop than rock, I don't think he ever topped this version.  Mixed loud to be played loud, Peter Gunn was played to me by a baby sitter when we lived in Waterloo years ago and I did find a 45 of it at a Goodwill a few years later and played the heck out of it.  Here's your turn to enjoy it too. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=296wS9ome4M

Bargain Hunting Ethics

Bargain hunting for the music collector is getting a bit more trying in this age of digital downloads and the continuation of record stores closing up due to no business or hardly any although the folks at Ragged Records had a decent turnout when I was there on Monday.  The specialty junkshops and thrift stores are basically hit and miss.

Goodwill used to be the place to really seek out the stuff.  But I noticed that they have redone their stores to resemble a Bed, Bath And Beyond.  The creates and record holders have been replaced by some cheapassed wire shelves and the Salvation Army, the stacks of records were thoughtlessly thrown in and scattered all about.  I guess there's no love for the Frank Fontaine or the forgotten Gospel artist of the 60s or 70s anymore and the gospel chick Honeytree looks creepy 30 years beyond her glory years.

I don't see the music collector at these stores too often, but I know they come around and pretty much pick apart anything in the rock and roll section and bypass the scratched up Ktel comps of years ago.  Funny how things we used to grow up and got us through the times are now forgotten, ridiculed and  used for frisbees.  Grandma and Grandpa are no longer around so their family has no use for Mitch Miller anymore.  Or that 50 Timeless Classics that used to be shown in the afternoon before Time Life and their half hour infocommercials took over.  But nobody hardly bothers with the Reader's Digest box set of 5 long playing albums of complete works or Mozart or Slim Whitman.

We live in a world that the next new thing is replaced the next week and old fart bloggers tout about.  Myself I think I stopped caring after the CD came into play and have yet to invest in a IPOD or Smartphone.  Don't even have a cellphone although I should if the purple piece of shit stalls on the highway or hits shrapnel and blows a tire or two.  But having a car that gets me to the thrift store or HP Books to find more bargains still is vital.  But this summer, even our HP Books store hasn't had much in terms of music to listen to.  I managed to snag a couple of the Teenage Shutdown CDs before the collectors elsewhere bought them up.  With no real no CDs out there to get, we turn our attention to vinyl or to records to see what got donated or no longer needed.

45s are a bit harder to acquire than albums since most of the 45s I come across have been played or overplayed or left out in the elements too long.  Or if you return to the Salvation Army two months later and still see some of them still around but more wore down due to kids, or uncaring collectors,  which explains the Randy Meisner Never Been In Love 45 of years ago, still in good shape but would have better had I picked it up two months earlier.  Or Jack The Ripper by Link Wray, probably in a condition that would rival my dad's copy of One Beer.  But still cool to find.  On the long players, mostly country artists, TG Shepard's Motels And Memories and a couple of Dave Dudley albums that today's kids and parents know nothing about.  The only album not country was Eric Andersen's Best Song (Arista 1977) which included two songs off his Columbia 1972 release of Blue River.

Since I like the old country and western of the honky tonk era I still keep an eye out for vinyl that is in great shape although I noticed the majority of those album were mono copies and not stereo.  Mono being a dollar cheaper back in the 60s I'm guessing.  Wynn Stewart's classic Bakersfield country songs were on Gene Autry's Challenge label, his Capitol stuff shows him growing more slower tempo as heard on Love's Gonna Happen To Me (Capitol 1965) but perhaps the find of the day was a Mercury/Wing cheapo comp of Country Boys and Country Girls (Wing 1964) which has George Jones dueting with a couple unknown women (Jeanette Hicks and Virginia Spurlock).  The rest of the album have even more unknown women (Connie Hall, Betty Amos, Margie Bowes) and for the guys Jimmie Skinner and the unheard James O'Gwynn doing Mule Skinner Blues fine.  I'm also guessing that some of these artists actually recorded for Starday to which Mercury had access too.  For a cheapo cheapo comp, the record looks actually brand new despite it's almost 50 years of existence. But surprise it was the only country album that had that processed fake stereo, making the mono recordings sound like they were recorded from Mars.

Also from the Davenport Salvation Army came Harry Belenfonte's Midnight Special which skipped all over the place as well as Hanson Cargill's Skip A Rope album. Guess I didn't inspect it well enough.  But a mercy buy had to be Henry Lee Summer 1988 S/T album for CBS which was a promo copy but even had a picture of Summer's mullet back when mullets were cool.  I guess there's no love for Mr Summer, but for Bon Jovi Lite, you could do worse with I Wish I Had A Girl.

Davenport really didn't have much in terms of CDs either although I did get Vandenberg's 1983 Atco album via Wounded Bird (now out of print) as well as the out of print Axe Nemesis at Co Op Moline.  I did leave a couple potential buys back with the intent of picking them up next time I get back to town.  Wounded Bird Records have done a excellent job of putting things back in print but at times due to copyright limitations some of their stuff go right out of print.  Gary Myrick comes to mind, his 1980 S/T album came out on CD which surprised me not only because it included the album but a live album of the songs as well making it one of the must buys of last year's Arizona bargain hunts.  But now that CD has gone out of print, having some Yayhoo outfit in Georgia selling it for a Thousand Dollars!  I don't understand the logic behind that, no CD is worth a thousand dollars.  Wounded Bird also reissued The Blasters album but now have put their 1985 classic album Hard Line out of print as well.  Which goes to show, if something comes out as reissue, you better pick it up.  You might say it's for a limited time only deal.  But then again I don't think I picked that Gary Myrick CD up in Arizona, I think I got it from Import CDs last year after coming home from AZ.  Most of the stuff I found down there was used and not new.

For this month, the bargain hunter takes a break from the constant running around the tri state area.  Maybe next week, I might go to Iowa City to look on the day that Steve Earle comes to town to promote his new book and play live later on.  Problem is The Bargain Hunter would like to take a break, but then the old traveling bone starts going and we're off and running again.  Cause you never know what might be discovered in that stack of scratchy 45s and tossed off albums.

August

I've been pretty much dragging of late and still trying to recover from the heat exhaustion of the Monday Davenport Bargain Hunt.  To which I got a email from the folks at Ragged Records of a storewide sale next Friday night from 4 to 8.  If I had known that, I would have postponed going there on Monday.  Doubt if I will be going.

Steve Earle does a meet and great at Prairie Lights Books in Iowa City prior to his concert at the Englert Theater next Tuesday the 7th.  A slight problem has arrived, we have gotten mighty busy at work with all projects coming in just before school starts and a good bet that I'll be working the weekend, probably to pay off the big electric bill for running the AC all month of July.  We didn't get much rain at all and therefore the corn crops are toast.  Which means higher prices at the store.

Among other things, the folks' German Shepard, Miss Maggie May at age 12 is on his last legs it seems.  Time and age have really crept up on her and even though she still loves having her frisbee thrown to her, she gets a bit confused as if she doesn't know where she's at.  I noticed the last couple times I was over at my folks house, I managed to sneak into the house and watch her sleep in front of the fan and it would take her a while to figure out I was there.  I'm sure Mom would love to keep Maggie living as long as she possibly can and who knows she might live another year or two but she really has slowed down a lot this year.  But then again, there hasn't been too many German Shepards that lived 12 years.  Duke, our long departed GS doggie only made it 9 years after the fact.

Upon discussions with Martin Daniels about any Arizona trip, if I do finally sign off on going to the desert one more time this year, the last window chance for that to happen would have to be late September if ever this year.  Or try to make it to Crookton Pass so I can jump off the bridge to go out in style.  But we all know I wouldn't go and do  that, then who would take over for me for the forgotten forty fives out there?   And besides, the new Vaccines will be out next month, as well as the new Bob Dylan.

My well being has also been taken into question by my co workers, since I have zero tolerance of the stupid things that Marvelous Marvin Anderson does or Stink Boy Frank not bothering to clean the cutters after using it or emptying the damn tray, since the poor boy can't lift over 10 pounds.  Or so he says.  But then again he's been known to do as little as possible.  Marvin on the other hand continues to fuck up and have a worse attitude then me when it comes down to being farmed out to the dammed packaging department.  I don't know, I love Marvin like a brother but sometimes brothers do get on each other nerves and he does a fine job of that.  But then again, we been working nonstraight for two weeks now and maybe it is time for a  vacation of some sorts. 

I think there's times I just rather be in the confines of a record store, going through a bunch of old boxes to see what is in there, or just be here at home, looking at what I did buy and forgot all about.  Or coming to term to my morality by finding old 45s that I used to have and buying again since the original 45s that I do have have been played so many times the grooves have wore off.  I don't think y'all, the readers out there really could care about a Nick Noble or the famous Goofers with their Goofy Dry Bones 45 that is on my wish list, but for every oddball single that I grew up and reacquiring (Chuck Murphy-One Beer), there's the other rock and roll singles that affirm the old days of my mom and her sister's massive 45 collection although I don't think neither one of them would have Jack The Ripper by Link Wray in their procession.

And there's so much music in this life that I have come across.  How the hell did I start listening to 10 decades of stuff that go all the way back to the 1920's?  When for the most of this life, it was rock and roll and good old soul music of the 60s into the 70s and living through all phases.  The disco wasn't the death all, not like it was in 1998 when Limp Bizkit came into play and Universal bought out Polygram to start the music downfall.  To which all of a sudden, I'm starting to see and play more Dave Dudley or Harry Belafonte after finding their albums at the Salvation Army.  Or the endless playlist of what is found at the cheap bins all across the Tri State here?

I don't know it makes no sense but I continue to do it and document it with the Singles Going Steady series.  A collection of 45s of songs that actually are on 45s and not a figment of imagination. Or trying to draw a line between Black Uhuru, The Soft Machine, Gaslight Anthem or Arthur Conley.  Or Chuck Murphy, Or Nick Noble whoever he is.  Bob Dorr may not like it, but perhaps even he couldn't compete with my oddball assortment of tunes of every known styles (except rap and opera) and my odd ability to find the forgotten single or champion of a long lost band whose dollar cd found at Half Priced Book started a blog about that lost band from Wisconsin.  Maybe I'm too overqualified to make it to any half thought of rock and roll hall of fame in Iowa.  It's not overconfidence, just a long lasting love of music for the past 50 years that's been the saving grace and kept me from a early grave.

I was asked at one time by some drunk woman at a bar after playing there years ago as a musician what type of music fits me the best, she said well since Bob Dorr is in the Blue Band, he must be considered a blues artist eh?

If you can call it that, I said.

I'm not a bluesman by any means.  Not country either.  My forte is rock and roll.  I'm a rock and roller first and foremost.  It came from the garage, not from some pseudo blues bar that's not blues but rather an imitation for entertainment value.  Can't speak for him but my influences come from The Who, Garage Rock and Buddy Holly, there might be a John Lee Hooker or Bo Diddley type of sound but mine was three chords and the truth.  Perhaps I could have made a better career of it or a cover band but my heart and soul was in the record store first and foremost.  It made killed my music career but it did made me what I am today.  A audiophile record collector that would love to spread the gospel of good music.  But in the end, have to settle for a blog that a few read and a couple comment from time to time.  Maybe some day when I retire from this or pass on maybe it will make sense of what the Top Ten was all about.  In the end, I resign to the fact that I'll never rich or famous or even semi known.  Just a blogger with a closet cult following.

It's really not that bad.