End Of The World Musings

So finally, springtime has finally showed up after weeks and weeks of cold, gray rainy flooding days but needless to say we are in the rough and tumble part of tornado season even though we have not had one here in 357 days in the state, unheard of and still waiting for them to show up.  May 15th was the Tornado 45 anniversary of Charles City and Oelwein F5 monsters and the 1998 Washington town F3 that KCRG followed that day with Bobby Ratliff taking amazing shots of this twisters, I stayed home from work to watch that.  On the 25th will be the 5th year of the Parkersburg/New Hampton monster that tore up that part of the area but they have made a miraculous comeback.  We all hope for no more tornados but when you live up here you just take it one day at a time.  I'm sure the twisters will be back at some point.

For the most part I tend to keep quiet about the distractors of the autotuner cluserfuck known as music today and you'll be sadden to learn that Nicki No Talent Minaj is leaving American Idol after one season.  Doesn't break my heart, I don't watch that crap and never did.  Nicki No Talent is a piece of work herself, I think she remixed her last album about 10 times and none of them sold worth a shit.  But don't cry for Miss No Talent, I'm sure the manufactured world of sheep media will continue to follow her around and hang for every nonsense word she says but as for myself I have better things to do with my time and don't have much of it anymore.  I know I get good ratings and good laughs when I bring her up and such nonsense like Donald (roadkill wig) Trump, Ann the Man Coulter, Pillhead Rushbo Lumbaugh, and whatever passes for news being CNN or FOX.  And cable itself, never have we paid so much to get so little in return.  I mean you can't watch anything without 10 minutes of commercials and 2 minutes of movie.  Even GAC, doesn't keep up to date with new country, their time capsule series is basically the same videos they started out when they arrived in Nashville (hardly anything before 1998).  Even I haven't paid much attention to the Cubs this season, not that WGN shows them all that much, they really don't but we have had other life changing events that has cut into the time of wasting it watching crappy baseball and dealing with drug commercials and their GD E.D. commercials. In a era to which the fucking Right Wing Nut Jobs talk about repealing abortions and at the same time tout Viagra as the cure all for the problems of the world, you know something smells ripe and you need to take the garbage out.  Too bad you can't do that with the assholes we have in Congress.

You get skeptical when you hear bullshit like the Keystone XL pipeline needs to be built so we can have cheap oil but nobody here is making new refineries, the black tar oil leaks and pollutes every GD thing that it touches and gas prices have gone up a whopping 60 cents this past month From 3.19 to 3.79 and you can't do nothing about it but bitch. Big Oil got ya by the balls once again.  I get skeptical when these GOP idiots are fearing a black president elected by the masses and sit on their ass and pout or bitch about gay people and gay rights.  You get Koch suckers like Eric Cantor who wants to eliminate overtime pay for corporations now, yeah that will create jobs in the slavery market.  We been hearing shit like that from Cantor or the drunk speaker of the house or the NRA bought off Bitch McConnell talk about jobs and then all they do is introduce bills that create jobs overseas but not over here.  You get tired of hearing that, and I used to bitch about that all the time at My Space and this is one of the few times that I will bring it up over here. I hold out some kind of hope that Obama could work with these assholes but I think we would have better results if a F5 Tornado tore through the Capitol, and take out each and every one of these do nothing fucks. Let's see if Paul Ryan can live off that voucher as a F5 takes him out to sea.  Further the better.

Which brings us to new music of the lack of it.  Problem is with most record stores out of walking distance we're pretty much having to scour things from the comfort of our own home.  If I was in Madison or Phoenix, there would be a Zia's or Mad City Music X or Strictly Discs to keep us up to date but here you have to rely on Wally World or Best Buy for their selective crap although I was surprised Best Buy had the Sugarman Soundtrack.  But nobody has the new Del Lords which came out this week, I got the new Graham Parker a half year after it was released and the ICON series from Universal is shit, it's doesn't improve on the 20th Century Masters all that much, just change the name and the picture and a track and two and more corporate rehash.  In other words, it's Universal's way of plundering the vaults of EMI to put out shoddy best ofs.  Beware brother beware.

Today's bands have a problem and that's competing against all the music that has been recorded and is on line or in the net and even though I do not buy Bob Lefsetz's self serving warning to the newbies to go into banking cuz I'm not going to play or listen to your music rhetoric, today's aspiring musicians must create music that catches the ear.  Sometimes the old bands overstay their welcome, The Rolling Stones doing a 50th tour and Ronnie Woo Woo Wood defending those high ticket prices, Fleetwood Mac making a 4 song EP that nobody knew or cared about too much, and even at home and being played on net radio the new Townedgers CD No Exit got no sales, nor much talk about outside of this blog.  Maybe the writing is on the wall, at some point even I have a cutoff date of bargain hunting.  Even I cannot try to make sense of it all the music of the past 7 decades of rock and roll and the ones before that.  Even with a big collection, I overlook even some of the CDs that I have on site. I don't think there's much left for me to even review anymore. But still going to Arizona or Madison I still find something that I overlook and I'm sure when I return to the 100 degree heat of the desert I'll be bringing a bag home of tunes, cuz that's been the way I been doing things for years upon end.

With the Arizona trip a month away,  I have an idea of what I will be doing, and of course that will be stops at Half Priced Books, Zia's, Hastings and FYE and some of my favorite gut busting diabetes enhancing food and drinks but don't look for me to stop at Amy's Baking Company anytime soon in Scottsdale.  Even before Kitchen Nightmares, that place always had a bad reputation.  The backlash has been furious and the owners have fought back with every retort to the negative reviews that they continue to get. But for some reason I wouldn't be surprised if some lowlife cable network offers these folks their own reality show.  I'm sure Food Netwook or TLC and even E entertainment would be knocking at their door.  http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/05/16/unable-to-take-criticism-amys-baking-company-has-epic-meltdown-on-facebook/  and http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyclay/2013/05/14/lessons-from-amys-baking-company-six-things-you-should-never-do-on-social-media/

Finally, I renamed that Observations from the fore front blog about Ari Up and others to something else since its a runaway hit with the No Deposit Casino from Jux. com.  I think it's a sham myself but thanks for putting it into the top 10 all time read guys.  But I still don't recommend you.



And for the first time ever, gas prices have hit four dollar a gallon here, prompting a lotta hatred toward big oil and them shutting down two Chicago based refineries for maintenance, just in time for the Memorial Day weekend.  Goddam Greed is going to be the end of it all.

I hate them all.

 

25 Years At Pearson NCS

In 1985, two days after having a lump the size of a marble removed from my foot I ended up getting a temporary job via Kelly Services at some off road place called National Computer Service, a up and coming place that processed Pell Grants from needy students and of that matter other things.  Of course I started out in the dead of night, a horrible 11 to 7 night shift that gave me endless days of sleeping away and insomnia. Finally they moved me to second shift to which I would work for another year and a half before I finally convinced them to finally hire me full time.  And on May 15, 1988 the lovely Beverly Madden did just that.

Working in Pell was an interesting job to say the very least to I made some good friends along the way. Mike Davenport and I talked tunes all the time and then a most interesting hippie dude came along and became one of my closest friends, the immoral and legendary Dennis Pusateri, with him around we drove all the seniors batty. A one of a kind dude is still missed two years after departing this planet and probably riding on that endless highway on his motorbike.

And then from 1989 to 1993 I was part of Data Input, to where Greg Nutter was boss and we managed to get a band going to which started the classic period of the Townedgers.  Data Input was where we keyed up info after the scanning machines and printing machines would tear up the test scores that kids used to do. Iowa Basic Skills Test? Yep we processed them there in Iowa City

Beginning in 1993, I got hired up into the printing side of things, Denny Ballard and Sherri Chalupa hired me and I later would go to days for a couple years under the watchful eye of Danny Bowman (RIP). Printing moved from I.C to C.R and 1998 and later Kirk Hoeppner and John Allen became excellent managers as well.  With printing going bye bye to Owatonna Minnesota, I return back to Iowa City for a year.  But this week I celebrate 25 years of being at Pearson, a feat that even I couldn't believe would happen this far down the road.  The glory years with Pearson was the most fun, the last couple years have been trying, for the usual reasons.  It's tough to lose your family after all this time together but with scanning coming around the corner, it begins a new road to wherever it leads.  To all my co workers, you're the best and thanks for putting up with my rantings and screamings when things don't go as planned.   Y'all rock.

If I could be one person at Pearson I would choose Steve Rasmussen.  I know I tend to get on his nerves when I have my major meltdowns due to crappy machines but he's always had the magic touch of getting them going.  The quiet leader.  Bill Hawks, figures a lot as well into the equation, he helps me when things fall apart and Mr. Steven not around and was kind enough to give me his IPOD to which I have yet to figure out.  Hard for me to give up my outdated storage product like Cds and records.

Our printing family is just that.  We been though the Iowa City era, then moving up here in 1998 for the next fifteen years till the powers to be decided that Owatonna is the place to go, but it's not for me.  I'm sure Kenneth Stevenson will continue to provide excellent and valuable help when he moves up there.  Good and hard working dude that is Kenneth.

Tom Woodruff, hell his record collection could have rivaled mine and he gave me two big crates of his records a few years ago.  I kept the best ones, nevertheless Thomas has been a part of the NCS/Pearson family even before I learned how to drive.

The day shift Seniors the legendary Steven Murphy and Lyle Harp have been there for me when I was on days. Murph could be even more cranky than yours truly but like Steven, had the magic touch to "make it go".  Harp, is a non stop talking chatterbox who always found humor in some of my cranky ways, he still cracks up over a 1996 episode that I took a very late lunch and told him "I gotta hour for lunch fucker" and 17 years later he still cracks up over that.  He's a bro.

Marvin Anderson and I go way way back to the days of Pell of 1985 and Data Input a few years later and I followed him to Printing a couple years afterward. I guess you can say we're basically the last of the survivors of an old era.

The ladies of Printing have always been close to my heart, you worry about them as they do you.  Kathy and Linda from the other side is part of this too.  Even at times when Margaret Parsons drives me crazy with some of the things that she say, we still look after her like a protective brother when packaging complains about her.  We almost lost Margaret last year but she's still here and still being herself and yes sometimes I do find her at Half Priced Books or Goodwill, in the (naturally) book section. Who'll look after her once I leave for scanning I don't know.  But she's been a part of the NCS/Pearson Printing era.

And then there's Jenna Bruck.  Seems like she's always late, and always taking over the computer where I'm at when she comes around.  But like everybody in our department she's a sweetheart, that helps out whenever she can and always has a smile and greeting when she comes in.

And finally, out of all the people that I have worked with on a regular basis, the one that seem to understand me the most in time of crisis and being the shoulder to cry on, or to have to somebody to go rant and raving to, Sonya Madden has always been there.  I believe she knows me better than I know myself at times.  I've been to her wedding, and to her parties whenever I can but she's a people person, and most anybody that works at our place usually seek her out for talking about things.  How she manages to stay strong is beyond me, lesser folks would have cracked under pressure.  And she's helped me through some of my most trying times.  As a great friend, I just love her to death.

I have seen a lotta good people come and go and I know I forgot many of them but the ones that stand out for me remain in Printing, but I also gave thanks to the memories of  Sue Halverson, Thomas Lee, Danny Bowman, Jim Rogers, Glarice Kula, Boone Novy and Mark Lasack, gone but never forgotten in my book.  And of course, my partner in crime during the pell years Dennis Pusateri.  

I can't remember everybody but a shout out to Tony Woods,  Terry Carson, Maureen Schultz, Kay Starr, Teri Cortiso, Mike Davenport, Terry Ware, Tammy Smith, Jeff Harper, Mike Davisson, Ed, John Kubicek, Sherri Severing, Ken Smith, the countless folks that I worked in Pell, Data Input and Editing, Doreen Schenick, Beverly Madden (of course), Terri Fish and the countless temps that I helped trained in all departments and had secret crushes on some of them (I was younger back then, I thought I was something), Shannon Rogers, Debbie Smith, Ali and Chris in Warehouse, Bob Scneider, James Ditmar, Dan Moyer and the rest of the packaging crew.  I'm sure y'all won't be rid of me when scanning slows down and Ellen Cary Grimm, my old Pell senior and new second shift boss.  Seems like we're turning full circle again.

To sum it all up, I'm surprised that I have made it 25 years after being hired full time on May 16, 1988 (thought it was May 15 but close enough).  No I didn't think I'd be here this long, I thought I'd be either a famous musician or out in the street but  I kept hanging around and hanging around and here we are. I guess it's a miracle upon itself eh. As for the next 25 years....let's just take it one day at a time. ;-)

I still think the NCS years were the best part of my time but I remain glad that I have remain a part of the Pearson crowd, even though I've given up being employee of the month or even packie of the week.  But I still love y'all fellow coworkers.

Now go buy me pizza!

Top Ten Of The Week-Sting Ray Bikes Are Go!

I noticed Bob Lefsetz has another wild hair up his crosshairs about music again.  Ya sure you're not getting Alzheimer's Bob bro?


Where were you on May 15, 1968?  If you were in Charles City, this is what greeted you at around 4:50 in the afternoon.  At that time, we were living up in Waterloo, and I remembered it being a very humid day and had a very bad belly ache.  We had a tornado warning and Dad marched us into the basement, mom was out doing errands.  To the north and west a F5 monster slammed into downtown Charles City and later onward to Elma.  13 people lost their lives in this monster tornado.  An hour later, another F5 tornado tore through Oelwein and killed 4 people there including a Mrs Grace Damon who went back to retreieve her purse to her apartment.  Somehow Waterloo in between got spared during that day of the F5 tornadoes. Caused by, you guessed it, another stalled out front and the Gulf of Mexico throwing moisture laded unstabled air into the region. I think I hated stalled fronts back then too. .http://www.crh.noaa.gov/arx/?n=may15161968outbreak




Death never takes a holiday off.  Chuck Muncie, one of the best running backs that the Chargers had in the Air Coryell, Dan Fouts era has passed away from a heart attack  He was 60



Al Fitz, was the inventor of the Sting Ray.  If you grew up in the 60s and early 70s most everybody you knew had Sting Rays as bicycles.  Mine was an old piss yellow Sting Ray that my dad bought for five dollars and revived it so I could go tooling around Marion.  I remember Jeff Kewley, had a beautiful blue five speed Sting Ray that he bent the frame trying to jump that infamous hill in the church parking lot next to Longfellow School in Marion.  My best friend Russ had a orange Sting Ray. Fitz passed from a stroke at age 88. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/business/al-fritz-inventor-of-the-sting-ray-bike-dies-at-88.html?src=recg




1.  Climb Up On My Music-Rodriguez 1971  You gotta love the internet for certain people to rediscover musicians that didn't sell anything here but became rock star legends in off the wall places.  The guy's name is Sixto Rodriguez and he made two highly regarded but poor selling albums for Sussex (later issued via Light In The Attic) that sounded like Jose Feliciano with a Bob Dylan fixtation although the sticker says it's more like if Dylan was hispanic and listened to MC5 this would be the result.  There's a movie that came out on DVD that showcased two big fans who discovered Sixto's albums and made it a point to seek him out and it's called Searching For Sugarman and Legacy cherry picked songs for a soundtrack that serves a pretty good introduction.  And then I found his second album Coming From Reality up in Madison and played it twice in a row.   Produced by Steve Rowland of The Family Dogg fame and includes Chris Spedding on guitar.  The rediscovery of Sixto has paid off for he is once again touring on a limited basis and even though he might get a nice healthy pay from all of this, his down to earth demeanor has basically had him giving off to friends and family and whatever nonprofit groups that he believes in.   While Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones bitching about not having enough money and wanting 600 dollar concert tickets, Sixto shares his wealth around and lives life to the fullest.  Too bad it took the world 42 years and a couple of big fans to get us to hear the songs of Rodriguez.  To which when Bob Lefsetz cries about how albums, Cds and music are irrelevant in this day and age, makes you want to tell Mr. Lefsetz to keep his opinions to himself.



2.  Milk It-Nirvana 1993  Poor Rolling Stone Mag, they put together a list of the worst band of the 90s and although they have no problem with most of them, until Nirvana was put at number 5 and then Rolling Stone popped a tampon and calling the fans wrong on that.  Look, every band has their fans and their critics and some love them, some don't.  RS didn't have a problem when Creed was voted Number1 crap band of the 90s and Nickleback a close 2nd (My opinion remains Limp Bizkit worst band ever at number 1, Creed 2).  When you dream up a top ten of all time anything, you bound to leave off other dubious bands of note be it best band or worst and it's all opinion.  Ever seen the recent Rolling Stone Record review book to which Mr. I Hate The 70s Prog Rock Funny Guy Rob Sheffield bashed everything from Journey or Kansas?  It's out of your league boy, leave that to people who like Kansas or Journey.  Back to Nirvana, they broke big with Nevermind and then followed it up with the glop that is In Utero which foretold me of a future meeting with Kurt Cobain and a shotgun when I first heard it in September of 93.  I had this cd once but since Pawn America had it for 50 cents, I decided to revisit it again and Steve Albini's really outdid himself on the mix (too bad he fucked up the Page/Plant Walking To Clarksdale reunion CD five years later).  In Utero remains a A minus album for myself, for screaming and feedback galore you can't beat it but that reason alone might get them placed in the top ten worst bands of the 90s.  Do I think Nirvana is one of the worst bands of the 90s, no I like them fine but people's opinions vary.  After all it is a reader's poll. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-ten-worst-bands-of-the-nineties-20130509

3.  Comedown-Bush 1994  And now the Number 7 worst band of the 90s from Rolling Stone who didn't have a problem with them making a list.  I guess they didn't like the Nirvana like sound of 16 Stone. That's what you get from a Reader's Poll.  Gavin Rossdale can be an acquired taste for even the casual Bush fan and as I spent most of this year revisiting the albums of Bush from the dollar bins in town and their albums remains very chaotic and uneven, even 16 stone suffers from that although the years have treated it better than the Steve Albini mess that was Razorblade Suitcase.  16 Stone remains one of those few 90s albums that KRNA will play from time to time and you can guess which songs they do play off that.  I already gave you a clue on one of the songs.http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/news/creed-named-worst-band-of-the-90s/



4.  I Want To Go Somewhere-Keith Stegall 1985  Another dollar album classic, Stegall made a S/T debut for Epic/CBS in the mid 80s and he had shown a sound that was like Eddy Raven or Gary Morris and Keith had a couple singles that dented the country 100 but the record bombed but Stegall hung around Nashville and eventually one of the more in demand producers of Country Music today.  But had his record label promoted him better, he could have gone places as well.  He made a followup for Mercury in the 1990s that had same results, good reviews no sales, so he didn't give up his day job as producer.  Alan Jackson's best stuff is produced by Keith.



5.  Good Lovin-It's A Beautiful Day 1970  Hippie Dippy freaks that they were, IABD was another band that was managed and mangled by the infamous Matthew Katz to which had he not had his hooks in this band and Moby Grape, that their best albums would still be in print. Found their 2 on 1 cd in the used bins during an Arizona bargain hunt and even though IABD may have been the least of the San Francisco jam band scene (Jefferson Airplane The Grateful Dead and Quicksliver Messenger Service had better musicians) I find that they had their share of good songs as well, kinda of a strange vocal mix but it does sound good when you're toking up a fatty.

6.  Good Morning, Good Morning-The Beatles 1967  Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for 50 cents? Don't mind if I do.  And if Pawn America had Dark Side Of The Moon that cheap as well I would have ponied up too.  But sad to say, Pawn America's big CD section has gone from from 4 aisles down to a one an a half and a lot of the stuff that was there may have been taken to a local landfill.  Who do they think they are Wal Mart?  Last time I was there, they didn't have much to offer and what I did buy, I donated back soon afterwards but this is why I stop in there when I'm in the neighborhood, they had plenty of Johnny Cash and a few other oddities.  They also had the Yellow Submarine Soundtrack but I passed on that, it had a few more scratches than I would like but the Sgt Pepper CD was in like new shape.  I don't think it's the best album of all time but it's still very good.



7.  The Part I Know By Heart-Foster & Lloyd 1987  The A side was Crazy Over You which ushered in the Boot Scoot Era to which Brooks and Dunn would lay claim five years later but Foster And Lloyd did Crazy Over You better.  That was country but the B side The Part I Know By Heart is power pop, certainly not country to these ears.  Guess which side I enjoy most.



8.  You Can't Have Everything-Grant McLennan 1991  The late great G.W. was part of the notorious Go Betweens which made a few albums in the late 80s and featured the pop rock sensibilities of McLennan  who was Lou Reed to the John Cale avart garde of Robert Forrester whose album Danger In The Past I found before getting McLennan's Watershed album and basically I figured right on Grant being more alternative rock  Basically on the Money Is No Answer comp that RCA put out to showcase the Beggar's Banquet bands which enabled me to seek out the good (McLennan, The Dylans, The Charlatans UK) and alas the not so good (Carnival Art, Buffalo Tom). Later in the new century, The Go Betweens reunited and made an couple albums before McLennan passed away.


9.  Last Bookstore In Town-Graham Parker & The Rumour 2012  I think I reported about Graham reuniting with his old pub rocking band last year and they made the first GP/Rumour album together since Squeezing Out Sparks back in 1979, called Three Chords Good and of course took me forever to get a copy of the new album.  Score one for the Senior Citizen Rock and the AARP who continue to send me cards about signing up to be a member of AARP to which I won't be doing that till I get a GD senior citizen discount at Perkins.  Maybe then we'll talk about it then.  Not now.  Anyway, Three Chords Good is now flat out rock and pub like the Mercury/Arista years and the record goes on too long but welcome back any ya old geezers.

10.  Feel So Good-Jefferson Airplane 1971  The Airplane was crashing by this time, Paul Kantner was going further and further into space, Grace Slick was singing songs in German and the album Bark was a mess of an album but the best songs came from  Jorma Kauknoen this and Third Week In The Chelsea. Jorma spends most of his time with Hot Tuna which is on tour but the old crank is very particular about not recording his shows or taking pictures. http://jormakaukonen.com/tour.html

Just when you think you had enough...

Diamond Smiles-The Boomtown Rats 1979
Orange Blossom Special-Johnny Cash 1965
It'll Only Hurt For A Little While-Dave Clark Five 1966
Fool's Gold-Fitz And The Tantrums 2013
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses-U2 1991

Reviews:

The Browns-Complete Pop And Country Hits (Real Gone)

Give Gordon Anderson credit, he has done a helluva job keeping the memory alive of some bands when he formed the missed Collector's Choice label and now Real Gone, to which he has reissued and kept some of the C.C. back catalog in print by taking them over to RGM after leaving Collector's Choice, which is still a very good place to order music that you don't see at any local music store here.  Originally The Complete Hits, Anderson adds three more songs to that album (Teen Ex, which somehow didn't make the CC album tsk tsk, Blue Christmas, Ground Hog are the add ons).  The Browns was Jim Ed Brown and his sisters Maxine and Bonnie had a sweet and perfect harmony to their music and even the mundane songs of that time sounded good at that time. Early country hits like Looking Back To See and I Hear The Bluebirds Sing gave way to the beginnings of The Nashville Sound although in my lifetime Dick Flood's Three Bells got more airplay on the pop charts whereas the Browns version made the country top ten.  With Real Gone reissuing The Browns Complete Hits, this does blow away the Eric version which overdoes it on the sappy ballads and even though their country hits begin to wind down in the mid 60s they still managed to score a keeper here (Oh No) and a failed attempt for the hippie generation (Coming Back To You). Jim Ed Brown would go on to a successful country career (Pop A Pop, Bottle Bottle)

Grade B+

Pick hits: Looking Back To See, Oh No



Mark Lindsay-The Complete Columbia Singles (Real Gone)

When he was with Paul Revere And The Raiders, he rocked out with a little bit of soul but as solo artist, he headed down the middle of the road to be Gary Puckett and working with Jerry Fuller (The Union Gap) Lindsay patented the hushed verses and bombastic chorus which gave him a hit with Arizona and later Silver Bird.  Lindsay makes little attempt to rock out and given as a whole TCCS tends to put you to sleep with all this MOR pop and dated production but nevertheless Lindsay had some great session guys playing (Hal Blaine and even the doomed Jim Gordon plays drums) along. There's some attempts to hurry the beat up, I wouldn't say it's rocking out, it's kinda like what The Raiders were doing but I don't think Paul would approved of the odious Alan O Day comp Are You Old Enough and The Grassroots did a better version of Mamacita but Lindsay does a fine version of Neil Diamond's And The Grass Pays No Mind and the beautiful closer Photograph.

Grade B-
Pick Hits: Arizona, Silver Bird



Rodriguez-Looking For Sugarman (Light In The Attic/Legacy)

Getting late to the game Sixto Rodriguez (how many times I typed that name in and put a fucking q in it instead of g) made two albums for Sussex in the 70s that got no airplay and no sales in the US but in South America he became their version of a Dylan/Elvis and his albums went for big bucks on the net before Light In The Attic reissued them in 2009.  But this is the reason why we continue to listen to albums since Bob Lefsetz thinks the album should be canned and everybody should be streaming music through the big juke box in the sky.  Fuck that and fuck him.  Anyway two fans of Sixto R went out on a venture and seeking out the man himself and made a movie out of it that is now on DVD and a must see.  Turns out the Sixto didn't disappear, he simply stayed in Detroit and learned a trade and worked on through life and the usual shit that happens.  Looking For Sugarman cherry picks selections from Sixto's 2 albums and while universal praise is on the first one Cold Fact, Coming From Reality in my opinion is better, it benefits from Steve Rowland's production as Sixto commands the listener to climb on my music and my songs will set you free.  But that one is not on the overview, Adam Bock going with the more controversial stuff A Most Disgusting  Song (which Sixto proclaims he's played at every faggot bar, hooker bars, motorcycle funerals, etc and introduces seedy characters later in song) and Cause, (the immoral line I talked To Jesus at the sewer and the pope said it was none of his GD business, pretty heady stuff even in 1971).  Cold Fact is as raw and rough as the Detroit streets that Sixto lives and still does today, and even employed some of Motown's finest on that record, after all Dennis Coffey produced and Bob Babbit played bass (it sounds like him).

But even though Sixto's music may have been rough and raw, all his songs convey of hope even during the poorest of times and even though he toiled in obscurity for the 42 years after Coming After Reality, the stars aligned just right for him to get the well deserved kudos even though Clarance Advant fucked him over royalties, Sixto never rant and raved about it (unlike Ronnie Wood pissed off about people not paying 600 dollars to see 70 year old rockers screaming about getting no satisfaction, should have not bought all that booze and smokes then woody).  Like the late Howard Tate, Rodruguez never went away, he was always here but this time out with the success of the movie Searching For Sugarman and the rediscovery of his two albums and this overview, he sounds like Jose Feliciano after listening to Dylan after a night of Motown.  The MC5 reference on the cover of Coming From Reality I don't get but Sixto did share the 5's recording engineer on the final three sides he recorded with Coffey/Theodore before getting a real job to pay the bills.  At least on the SFS soundtrack, Sixto is finally getting some royalty money for spreading the good word.  42 years later, his music still blows most of the new bands and artists out of the water.

Grade A-
Pick Hits: Cause, Street Boy, Can't Get Away

The Sixto Rodriguez albums of note:

Cold Fact (Light In The Attic/Sussex 1970) A-
Coming From Reality (Light In The Attic/Sussex 1971) A

Counterpoint from Mark Prindle:

I just watched the documentary "Searching for Sugar Man." It was incredibly inspiring and Rodriguez seems like a standup guy, so it's great to hear that he is now finding the fame that so eluded him in the early '70s.

Having said that, his music is terrible. I can't figure out what the heck all those South Africans hear in it. Just sounds like James Taylor crap to me.

Madison Oh Madison (May 2013)

After being delayed 3 weeks, I finally made it up to Madison upon cloudy skies and chilly temps.  Saturday's weather was strange, with off and on spotty showers although there was a downpour and then ice pellets coming through after I made my way up town.  For the most part no big happenings although I went past the Majestic Theater and hearing the drummer for Camper Von Beethoven/Cracker warming up during a soundcheck.  Hollywood Undead was down the road at the Opheran  on State Street.

There was a better find of bargains although Pawn America continues to shrink their CD inventory with 10 CDs for 5 dollars sale.  Surprised that I found that many, including a couple Johnny Cash CDs, The Pixies-Surfer Rosa, The Staple Singers Uncloudy Day and The Beatles-Sargent Pepper album, really don't need it but hey it was 50 cents. I did find Grant McLennan's Watershed CD but the big find was Rodriquez' 2nd album Coming From Reality, an album that just knocked me out to the point that I played it twice in a row.  Rodriquez better known as Sixto Rodriguez, who made two albums for Sussex, that didn't sell at all in the US but in Australia and South America he was as big as Elvis was.  A movie called Looking For Sugarman was based on two big fans seeking out Sixto which set the wheels in motion and now Sixto is now once again touring with sold out shows whereever he goes.  A 40 year over night success in the US?

The Exclusive Company, now gone is replaced by a Poster shop and a Yougart  shop.  Downtown Madison on State Street is going through some big changes, a bunch of buildings got knocked down in new ones are replacing them. More construction going on by Lake Mendota, they have the bike trail closed down in that area. The northwest winds blowing off Lake Mendota moved the lake to the point of seeing some big white caps splashing onto shore.  Lake Monona wasn't that bad, the skyscrapers and Monona Terrace kept the whitecaps further down that lake but overall, I noticed a lot of dressed up girls, either it was the prom going on, or many a wedding to which I seen a few blushing brides standing in front of the Capital to which I actually up to the observation tower and looked down upon State Street but couldn't stay too long, the parking meter's time was running out.  But hell, I go to the Madison Capital than I do Des Moines, Madison is more closer and the restrooms are open too.

I went to most of the record stores, and perhaps I scared the guy off at Strictly Discs when I ignored him when he was asking if I needed help or anything.  But most of the money went to Mad City Music Exchange to which what Strictly Disc had, Mad City X had them cheaper.  Nevertheless, it seemed like Barnes & Noble had a bigger selection of budget cds than Best Buy, had to believe that what I paid for Nico for 7 dollars I could have gotten new for 5 there.  Plus they had the Patti Smith Horses CD as well.  Over at Savers, I dropped a CD and had to buy that, Sergio Mendes' Look Around.  It played.

Didn't find much for 45s, St Vincent De Paul had a few odds and ends, Mad City Music X, I got a couple albums, a Dave Clark Five album that wasn't scratched up (a rarity upon itself)  Satisfied With You it's called. And a Keith Stegall LP, Stegall is better known as a Nashville producer to the stars (Alan Jackson, George Jones) but he has made a few albums to his name, and besides it was only a dollar.  Figured it was worth a listen.

Outside of that, besides the usual red lights and morons that pull out in front regardless of stop signs or traffic lights it was uneventful.  Got to spend a good three hours doing the State Street walk and taking a break at Otis Redding Tribute site on Monona Terrace.  First time I've ever seen it. Amazing how Otis Redding never missed a show and even though the advisers told him to cancel due to bad weather in December of 1967, he didn't want to let the Madison fans down and the rest is history.  I'm sure I'll be back before the leaves turn color.  I guess that's why I go up there, to see what's going on, to pay tribute to Otis and take a break and reflect on things in life before packing up and return back home.

Sometimes it's nice to get away from home once in a while.

 http://www.wortfm.org/

The only other worthwhile Madison radio station: http://www.1055triplem.com/

Review:
Queensryche-Frequency Unknown (Deadline)

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/music_and_videos/queensryche-geoff-tate-watches/
Give Geoff Tate this he got to be a good sport when it comes to the backlash that is his new album Frequency Unknown or FU as it's called.  To dare fans to submit their videos to tell him how shitty this record is and the best review gets 250 dollars in FU stuff to donate or burn  or wipe your ass with.  Nevertheless while the rest of his former band props up their next album, Tate rushed released this out to the world and the sound shows it.  With a crappy mix that buries Tate's vocals to the point of oblivion, FU is the Cut The Crap although fans probably would have treated this better had Tate put it out in his own name.  F.U. sounds no different than Dedicated To Chaos, the last Queensryche album with the original band but with more emphasis on the uptempo stuff, with a lot of ode to hair metal judging by the whammy bar excesses of the guitar players at hand.  But F.U. is not the piece of shit sundae in rock/metal as one hostile reviewer said, does it disappoint yes and the slapped on production doesn't help either.  A few of the songs sound like demos as Tate tries to sing against guitar riffs that get in the way.  In the end, F.U. is forgettable as a   Queensryche project and for that matter Geoff Tate himself.  Next time write better songs.

Grade C-
If you care, pick hits: Dare, Fallen

Mark Vos, KRNA radio programmer of the late 80s and early 90s passed away.  He was part of those guys in the morning for many years with Glen Gardner and was part of the infamous KRNA's  Jif And The Choosy Mothers classic rock band. Vos passed away from a heart attack at age 58.  Robbie Norton gives tribute to Jiff And The Choosy Mothers Band: 


Site of the day: They haven't posted much of late but this is a very good site about 90s music. http://thesecondsingle.blogspot.com/

Top Ten Of The Week:Craptastic Weather

The Piece Of Shit award goes to Mark Sanford, the skirt chasing two timing, stalker of his ex wife and the idiots of South Carolina voting this winner back into congress and back to an open seat in the US House. In other words, business as usual in that redneck state.  Funny how people want change and then when they get that chance they go right back to the craptastic Conservative freak who took time off to go walking the Appalation (sic) Trail to Argentina  to get some nookie on the side and lied about that as well. But then again Sanford won in a district that was Red all the way and of course the usual gang of idiots backing him along the way (Lindsay Graham, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley anybody?) and put together the best campaign team of advisers money can buy too.  Hell, I like to have that team working for me if I was two timing my significant other too. But then again he wanted it more than Elizabeth Colbert Busch too.  Congrats Sanford, now you can go chase more tail and do nothing just like the rest of the do nothings in congress.

 


Four more months till our time in Printing ends.  On Monday marks one year since Boone Novy passed away, so to honor him I did the interstate clean up last weekend.  Lotta crap on the interstate side, broken car parts from crashes,  porta port jonnys, about a dollars worth of pop and beer cans, somebody lost a cellphone shoes and jewelery and of course some dead roadkill.  They ran out of bags but at least it's that part looks nice till the litterbugs throw shit their shit out.



By now, the metal world is moaning the loss of Jeff Hennenman of Slayer who died at age 49 from liver failure brought on by a spider bite a couple years ago.  I never been a Slayer fan but if you like your speed metal, Reign In Blood is a headbanger's classic.


And now let's hear it for Cumulus Corporate Radio.  KDAT y'all.

Plenty Of Top Ten Action here.  Let's get to it.


1.  White Bird-It's A Beautiful Day 1970  Hello, I'm Quaalude, eat me! Hippie Dippy never got any better than this track which was a Beaker Street staple from it's inception onward till the end and two years and three months later it's becoming a distant memory.  Even the facebook site has been very quiet of late about it coming back. Maybe Clyde Clifford decided he liked Sunday Nights off after all, can't blame him.  King Prick Matthew Katz pretty much ruin this band like he ruined Moby Grape, both band's albums that made it to cd were deleted as he put them out in inferior sound on his own label but I did find a 2 on 1 cd of the first two IABD albums on a import and forgot all about it till I wanted to take it to work and then tore up the house trying to locate it.  Finally found it when I wasn't looking for it, just like the Sweet Dreams Soundtrack.  Perhaps I should at least put my music in order eh?


2.  Little Man-Sonny & Cher 1966  A great arranger in the style of Phil Spector, Sonny Bono was the weakest link in vocals, he sounded goofy back then, still is today God rest his soul and Cher just basically trying to find her way as well.  Probably the only time we ever heard an oboe being the lead instrument but this is my fave Sonny N Cher song.  Came out on a chopped version of 22 Groovy Hits that predated K Tel. Bought the Best of CD years ago but never sat down and listened to the whole thing till I took it to work the other night.  Of course most of who played on this was part of Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew which means it's not a throwaway by far.


3.  Out Of Hand-Deep Purple 2013  Here at Senior Citizen Rock we still try to do our best to follow our favorites from the classic rock era, the 70s and it's fading away four decades into this abyss we call rock music. But you gotta admire Deep Purple to continue to rock on while acknowledging that radio won't play this.  Off the new ironic titled Now What?! album and it does have its moments but you all know what songs will get played on Cumulus Corporate Radio don't ya. (Do I have to say it?!)

4.  You Run-The Call 1988  I read somewhere that the late Michael Been' son has reformed that band (his son is also part of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club too) and maybe doing double duty but when Mike was alive The Call was a hard to figure band, where they alt rock, christian rock, bombast rock in the key of U2 or Peter Gaberial and they had a couple sizable hits in Let The Day Begin and The Walls Came Down.  Universal cherry picked the best known to put out their patented 20th Century Masters Collection and it's the one that I have.  You Run, the second single from Let The Day Begin didn't fare that well on the charts and I think the only radio station played it back then was KFMH if anybody ever did.

 

5.  The Lizard King-17 Candle 2009  Hey they were from Iowa and managed to scrap up enough money to put out a CD that nobody knew about till I found it for two bits in the Clarance bins which is why I do this type of stuff.  Once in a while you might find an album that captures your fancy from a band nobody knows about. Other past winners are the fabled Randy Cliffs and their neighbors The Pulltops.  17 Candle is lead by Ben LeFleur's vocals who kinda remind me of the guy from The Hangdogs or Roger Clyne of the AZ Peacemakers (Refreshments). Outside of that, this band is more mysterious than The Townedgers.  Their album had to be pretty good, it was produced by Iowa legendary Bob Dor.....not him but Tom Tatman the guy that runs Catamount Studios in Cedar Falls (that's in Iowa y'all).  For all the kudos and praise that they got, this is the first time I ever heard of them and they're no longer together.  As for Ben LeFleur, he started up a country band called Crawford County. Google their name and you'll come across a few things but in the meantime... http://tradeusforabus.webs.com/17candle.htm



6.  The Happy Organ-Dave "Baby" Cortez 1959  Growing up in my youth, I always had a soft spot for instrumentals, in fact most of my 45s consisted of no speak music, from Johnny And The Hurricanes to Duane Eddy but this is was one of the songs on the jukebox that forever screwed me up from ever making anything of myself in the working world and focused my attention of records for fifty years of this life.  Back in the late 50s, this was considered House Rocking music which meant down in the bad side of town they turned this up to full blast.  Strange mix even on the stereo version to which they miked Cortez' organ up front and everything in the back as the guitarist and sax player fight it out to be heard.  Found this as a scratchy 45 at our junior high's Liberian's garage sale with a few others.  Record Collector had this on LP.

 

7.  Shazam!-Jim Nabors 1965 Gomer Pyle sings!  I know, what the hell Crabb?!  Let me explain, this is the only time Jim Nabors did his Gomer Pyle act on any recording and don't laugh but it's quite listenable.  It's done in the style of Roger Miller who wrote a few songs on this album as well from the likes of John D Loudermilk and Buddy Edd Wheeler, three of the best country songwriters out there and three songs were written especially for Jim by one Dave Gates, to which he would form one of the best pop bands of the late 60s and early 70s with Bread.  Saw this record for a dollar at the Crowded Closet and had to hear it for myself.  Too bad Jim Nabors never followed this up but he did go on to do muzak pop type of music for Columbia, which he could do it all, but  I never bother nor cared to go seek them out.  I'll settle for Gomer Pyle anyday.


8.  Wilma's Rainbow-Helmet 1994  Imagine that, after Jim Nabors, we go Nu Metal from Helmet.  Cumulus Radio would never hire me.  Helmet remains the first and only great Nu Metal band of the 1990s but once they lost Peter Mengede they lost that intense edge that made their first two albums perfect to put a fist through somebody's face.  This is off Betty, the 1994 album that got luke warm reviews and basically the last good Helmet album. I love Page Hamilton but anything after Betty bored me.  Diggy Kat played this as a request from yours truly at Radio Buzz'd.   He loves me too.



9.  Down, Down Down-Tom Waits 1983  A gifted songwriter but always borderlined on freaky singing styles, when Asylum dropped Waits, he took his music and style to a whole new level when Chris Blackwell signed him up to Island and for all intent purposes Sword Fish Trombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years are alternative music galore. Waits rocks out with intensity on this 2 minute track.  I know the last three songs on this top ten are really really different.   And you wouldn't want that any other way.

10.  The Outlaw Torn-Metallica 1996  Load really turned off a lot of the metal heads out there and still is looked upon as the worst album that Metallica ever made but I disagee a lot on that.  I think they started becoming more hard rock than metal on the black album and Load took them further into a Southern rock catagory that didn't mix well with the fans.  Even the half wit at All Music Guide gave Re Load a better grade to which I don't even think the dude even listened to it, perhaps it was the short hair and cigars that the band was smoking in the album cover.  Yes it's a mess of a record but they never came up with anything that was hooky as Hero Of The Day or creepy as Poor Twisted Me or bitching as King Nothing all great songs in my opinion.  The band crammed so much music into Load that they had to do an edit of nine and half minutes since the limit of a CD is 80 minutes (thus they had the promo sticker of 78:59).  A full ten and half minute song came out on The Memory Remains single CD. (not 45 I don't think, there's never been a 10 minute song on 45 without doing the usual part 1/part 2 edit).

A final note:  The longest CD that I have was EMI Best Of The 70s to which the CD is a mind blogging 82:14 running time.  There's CDs that I do have that flirt with the 80 minute cutoff mark and The Best Of Luna and The Who's Kids Are Alright CD (the complete Version) both go over 79:30 mark and tend to skip at the end of their songs which makes it frustrating to say the very least.  Back in the early days of CDs, the cutoff point was 74 minutes which explains why some 2 record sets got some omissions on the CD version.

Bonus Track: Townedger's Lament-Vufcup 2008  Amazing how Diggy Kat managed to turn the majority of Townedger titles into a nifty little song, he may have to do an update since there's a few more new titles to add.  Love ya bro!  http://vufcup2.bandcamp.com/track/townedgers-lament

What else are we listening to (just pick five)

Solid Ground-Tom Keifer 2013
Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams-Nico 1967
Corbrastyle-Teddybears featuring Mad Cobra 2006
Grand Wazoo-Frank Zappa 1972
Take It Back-Face To Face 1996



CD Review:  Pistol Annies  Annie Up (Sony Music Nashville/RCA)

For a side project that was Miranda Lambert's the Annies have become more of a group effort, not that Hell On Heels wasn't, but it seemed to me that the best songs that Miranda wrote came from that record than on Four The Record, which might be her least but still it's a four star album.  However, the rising star that is Ashley Monroe is becoming more Oblivious, her Like A Rose album was a bit more country sounding than Four The Record and she even had Blake Shelton put to good use as well.  Shelton could learn a few more things from his wife and the Pistols themselves if he wants to be good country and not focus on the corn.

There seems to be more of a solidarity to Annie Up, the new album than Hell On Heels, but all three Annies, Lambert, Monroe and Angalenna Presley contributed to all 12 songs, which continues to deal with the seedy side of life and the trailer court and being Unhappily Married to which a couple does their best to make it work in a faltering marriage, they're in it for the long haul.  Until Damn Thing comes along to which they hope there's enough beer to get through the night before the POed woman is ready to kill his significant other.  Lambert to continues to let lose her bad side that she didn't show much on her record, Dear Sobriety to which is a strong armed prayer to end the evils of drinking, one of more depressing numbers on this.

I have heard comparisons of the Annies to The Dixie Chicks and although they have the vocals to match, the one advantage is that they don't oversing like Natalie Maines does at times (BTW speaking of her, she does have a new album out this week as well) and their backing band is more country rock and roll than the bluegrass slant that the Dixie Chicks do as well.  And the Annies write much better as well, not a slam on the Chicks at all, but it's a bit more straight forwarded.  And then the usual songs that make the Annies what they are. songs about sex, sinning and being pretty ain't pretty (as one song suggests) and a song Hush Hush to keep things in check, even though that they're not. And Trading One Heartbreak For Another is an old time country like number about a baby crying for a dad that left and never came back.  This is not Florida Georgia Line talking about the good times, this is stone cold reality.  And probably something you won't hear on KHAK anyway.

Their loss.  Annie Up is all things we know and love about Ashley, Ang and Miranda but they saved the best for last.  An eternal love song    I Hope Your The End To My Story, to which the bottom line is that we all wish we all can grow old together.  Even after the pratfalls of the songs that is Annie Up.

Grade A-

Crabb Bits: Boone Novy, Iowa City Bargain Hunt etc.

The weekend came and gone, the basement got dried up enough to go to Iowa City for a quick afternoon bargain hunt and Record Collector continues to have a good bunch of folks sorting through their vinyl section although Kurt hasn't had much in the CD department.  Always wanted to hear Nico's Chelsea Girls (Polydor) and it's an odd assortment of songs provided by Lou Reed and John Cale but with more of an orchestra behind her than rock band it kinda floats on by without remembering it much.  3 songs were composed by a young and upcoming songwriter by the name of Jackson Browne but outside the noisy Reed/Cale/Nico 8 minute It Was  A Pleasure Then, it's mostly sad, MOR songs.  But I think I more interested at the dude who dropped 56 dollars on such stuff from The Eagles and a Mike McDonald LP that was up there in the dollar bins for eons. I did find a Dave Baby Cortez Happy Organ on LP.

Housewerks had nothing I needed but did pick up a curio at Crowded Closet, Jim Nabor's alter ego Gomer Pyle Shazam (Columbia later issued as a 2 on 1 CD from Wounded Bird). The only time Jim did Gomer on record, it's in par with Roger Miller, since he wrote 4 songs on this and 3 came from Buddy Edd Wheeler and the arrangements were done by Dave Gates (later of Bread fame) who wrote three songs for this as well.  For country corn it does beat Florida Georgia Line.  Between monsoons Goodwill had a bunch of Kingston Trio LPs and I picked up Here We Go Again and The New Frontier (with Greenback Dollar to which The Townedgers covered twice on the upcoming Soul Biscuits  comp).  And the weather, it started out partly cloudy but down there in Iowa City they got a monsoon of one and half inches of rain in 15 minutes which swelled up the creeks, replenished the standing water in the fields and of course the damn hole in the driver's side of the car again.  From Spring Storm Cunt still in the area and throwing gulf of Mexico moisture big time in Iowa City, I decided I had enough of that and took the long way home.  Thankfully the rain was minimal here.

Cinco De Mayo was a big event and most Mexican places were filled to capacity on Sunday although in Iowa City on Saturday I ended up going to El Ranchero but a big full meal and usually they have the best food but the rice was dry and crunchy and that spells trouble for me.  Sunday, my best friend Russ and his wife Debbie joined me up Villa's Patio for their Mole and belated Christmas and birthday gifts.  After all it was three months after my birthday but better late than never to which they paid for my dinner.  Thanks guys. And for the second straight week at Half Priced Books got to shoot the shit with Tim to which we were chatting up a storm till an old next door neighbor's introduced herself as Lori Seeks all grown up with two teenaged boys chasing each other around the SUV.  She knew me right off the bat, myself I didn't know who she was till she said who she was.

So we are halfway through spring and it seems like we haven't gotten out of winter in some spots. While Spring Storm Cunt could have been just as bad as Spring Storm Bitch (16 inches of snow in Owatonna, the new happening place in Minnesota) I think we topped about 2 inches at most in a three rain soaked day bash.  Things should be okay for now but they're predicting more by the end of the weekend.  The cycle never ends when it starts.

Monday marks one year since Boone Novy passed away and we miss the big guy but it's also a good thing that he wasn't around when the Minnesota big shot made the printing announcement going up there and leaving us to fend for ourselves.  I haven't decided what to get for a anniversary gift for being there 25 years. I'm kinda leaning toward getting a tree planted there in my name, something to remember me by when my tenure is done there.  I look at it as a tribute but also a reminder that if and when the time comes, there'll be a reminder that I was there.  I'm sure I will have a 25 year blog coming up soon.

Ratings, we did pretty good, second best month ever although that 49 views on April 29th really took the wind out of the sails  2nd best blog was First And Last Fashion Show to which I thought would be good enough to put out a sequel but that blog has had a disappointing 14 views in the three weeks I have put that up. There won't be a third installment.  The strangest blog with the most views, The Paraphernalia Blog of 2009.  Mexican Jumping Beans Top Ten continues to bring in the viewers, The Willie Nelson 80 top ten a very disappointing 21 views, the George Jones tribute a lousy 9.  But the First/Last Crabb Fashion Trash Blog did better than both of them blogs.

Futurerama got canceled again by Comedy Central after three seasons and countless bungling by that network.  I caught some of the repeats at times but hell if and when it came on, I never knew half the time.  The Cleveland Show, a spin off of Family Guy got canceled as well although Bob's Burgers and Family Guy and American Dad were renewed.  The Cleveland Show was the less of the Seth McFarlane cartoons although I did watch it on FOX and Adult Swim which may or may not pick that up or Futurerama.  The Family Guy is a love/hate thing, sometimes it's great and sometimes you just scratch your head.

Growing up I was and remain a big fan of Dragnet, the long time crime show to which the black and white series has fallen beneath the cracks (some shows have shown up on cheapo DVD comps) but the 1966 to 1970 era remains the best due to Harry Morgan complimenting Jack Webb's Joe Friday's persona. Dragnet continues to jump around the cable channels beginning with Nick At Nite and then on to Antenna TV and now has resurfaced on Me TV as well as the even longer running Leave It To Beaver.  Married With Children replaces Beaver on Antenna TV.

In a perfect world, I would replace FOX news with Me TV and FOX Business Crap Channel with Antenna TV but our shitty cable company mixes up the CW with Antenna TV from time to time raising my brother's ire.  But then again the only thing I ever watched on the CW was a neutered repeat of The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds in it.  But then again I don't watch much TV anymore anyway.

It dumbs me down.

Music Of My Years: Punk of the 90s

To me the 1990s was the final era of music that I really gave two shits about. Oh I still enjoy the new music and whatever comes out that sounds good to these ears but in a era of three major labels and a zombie label (EMI) none of them develops a band anymore.  Either get a hit now or forever get booted.

The 1990s up to 1994 was grunge incorporated until Kurt Cobain, tired of his life and pain  blew his head off and that was the end of that.  The next four years would see a new punk band take over in the likes of Green Day but since I talked about them in the Consortium blog, I'll focus on the lesser known.

I guess the other big punk band that made it big in the 1990s had to be The Offspring and they may have been the most left field punk band, blowing up the charts with Smash and although I didn't like that album much I come to find that if you get past the overplayed Come Out And Play (Keep Them Separated) or Self Esteem it's somewhat enjoyable although the drummer can't keep the beat very well.  Sony Music threw big bucks at them and they moved over to record Xnay On the Hombre which kinda bombed despite me liking the majority of songs, Amazed should have been released as a single. Americana turned out to be a better selling with the jive Pretty Fly For A White Guy and Why Don't You Get A Job, After that, I did buy Conspiracy For One but that and later albums simply didn't hold my interest.  The Offspring Greatest Hits, like Green Day's International Superhits is a perfect introduction and only one that you really need from The Offspring.

For hardcore, Sick Of It All was by far the most hardcore punk out there and if you're an angry teen and a guy in his 30s trying to find himself then rock on, but I come to find out that this type of Hardcore punk I have outgrown.  Lou Kollar's screaming gets to me after a while but I did have Built To Last and their most recent album Based On A True Story.  However this is not the type of music to listen to at work and Sick Of It All is acquired taste if you're not into Kollar's gargling on Draino vocals screams.  He is a pretty good lyricist though.

For my taste I prefer the fast punk pop style of Face To Face with Trevor Keith's Bob Mould type vocals.  I'd say their first three albums are excellent including the 1992 debut Don't Turn Away with the original version of Disconnected, the 1995 Big Choice (produced in the red by Thom Wilson) and the A & M 1996 S/T album.  Keith decided to go hard rock on the failed effort Ignorance Is Bliss but after the failure of that generating new fans or getting on the radio Keith and FTF stuck with three chords and overdrive beats.

Even Christian rock got into the act with MXPX, a band that was signed to Tooth And Nail when they were still in high school and they made Life In General which was called Green Day light but their drummer Yuri played caffeinated punk beats that makes it hard to dance to.  A&M released Slowly Going By The Way Of The Buffalo in 98 but their best album remains 2001's Ever Passing Moment to which Dave Grhol helps out on a couple numbers and is produced by the late great Jerry Finn.  Before Everything And After, shows MXPX going for a Good Charlotte pop sound and falling on their faces.  They have returned to the fast and loud sound of their early years with later albums.

The late 90s showcased more bands incorporating ska into their punk and bands like No Doubt and Reel Big Fish had their moments in the sun as well. No Doubt Tragic Kingdom rivaled Green Day in sales but whereas Green Day was looking with an eye on rock and roll, No Doubt was going to the dance floor.  Their last effort was the pop originated Push And Shove.  Reel Big Fish, I had their Turn The Radio Off debut (hilarious cover shot) and there was a couple decent numbers on it (Sell Out) The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were a bit more better in terms of style.  Less Than Jake, another band that used horns were a bit more metal driven. Hello Rockview and Lucky Streak are worthwhile pieces of that punk period although I have a fondness for their Sire records debut Anthem (produced by Rob Caviallo (green day))

And then there's Smash Mouth, a punk band from So Cal that hit it big with Walking On The Sun which was more retro Question Mark than punk although their Fush Yu Mang is still punk rock.  With Astro Lounge (great title) Smash Mouth continued to mine the cheesy keyboard and lyrics and got a major hit with All Star.  The punk purists got off the bus and although Smash Mouth continued to make albums, none of them sold the 10th of the first two.

The mid 90s showed the labels signing anybody and everybody with a mohawk or tattoos. Suicide Machines from Detroit made a hard to believe four albums for Hollywood Records (including the F bomb laden Destruction By Definition, mixed by Jerry Finn, their best, the rest you can live without). Klover made Feel Lucky Punk for Mercury in 95, and Schleprock's America's Dirty Little Secret came out on Warner Brothers that same year. CIV made two albums for Atlantic, the best being Set Your Goals with their MTV hit I Can't Wait One Minute More and Shades Apart made four, best known was the 1999 Eyewitness album with Edge Of The Century for Universal.  And let us not forget Blink 182 who made their classic album Enema Of The State.  Or Sugar Ray, who started out being early Red Hot Chili Pepper wannabes before hitting the pop market with Fly and The Best Of Sugar Ray captures all of their hits and early rockers.

I could go on and on but these bands were the most that I knew about and listened to on the radio before the Telecom act of 1996 killed radio for good and ushered in the Corporate Greed era.  But it was a fun time.