Basement Party 2

Basement Party 2

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Post-Apocalypse Post

So the world didn't end the other day, and I'm rather happy about that. Earlier this week though I was almost happy with the idea, due to everything that went down in Connecticut last week. I was about ready for the Lord to smite the Earth with a flaming sword. Sometimes man's inhumanity against man get me a little down.

But anyway, this is not the forum for such downer topics. We're here to talk about cool stuff. First on the docket:

Random Rambling!
Maybe it's just me, but doesn't the latest Kid Rock tune sound like Aerosmith?

Random Rambling!
This past week was the 14th anniversary of the passing of Chris Farley. I remember hearing about it when it happened and not feeling too surprised. He made no secret of his appreciation for the late comedian John Belushi, and he ended up following in his footsteps, doing rails of coke and acting like a loud wild man. I miss his work though, that guy could get me laughing like no other. This is one of his funniest moments...


Random Rambling!
Today is the 10 year anniversary of the passing of Joe Strummer, guitarist and singer for The Clash. They put out some amazing music in their short career. This song is one of my favorites:

Random Rambling!
My new favorite song (this week) is "Hot Love" by Aldo Nova. It is a prime example of your typical hard rock/AOR single from the early '80s. Aldo's one big song was "Fantasy," which I love, but this also has the tendency to get stuck in my head. Whenever I hear it I'm reminded of when I lived in Kalamazoo, as it used to be played on my all time favorite radio station out there, 92.5 WZUU.

The ZUU was the only hard rock/classic rock station I've heard that played such early '80s obscurities, deep cuts, and forgotten relics of denim jackets passed. I listened to it recently when I was driving through the area and it seems to have gone to the more traditional classic rock format, spinning the typical overplayed Bob Seger and AC/DC tunes that every other classic rock station plays. Kind of sad. But I digress...here's the tune:


Random Rambling!
On the eve of the apocalypse I ran to the drug store down the block and on the way back I heard the Prince song "1999." I really dig that song, and it seemed to be an appropriate choice for that radio station to play, as some people may have been partying hard due to the imminent end of the world. It also reminded me of what I was doing at the stroke of midnight, 1999.

I was a Freshman at Western Michigan that year, and was back home for holiday break. I had gone to a couple parties with my buddy Joe that night, the first one was at the house of one of my sister's friends while the second one was with some old buddies Joe and I graduated with. I got pretty loaded at the first one and  on the way to the second one I puked in Joe's car with my head hanging half out the window while we went down the road at 45 mph.

We got to the second party with me feeling a whole lot better but unfortunately there was some drama going down. One of our buddies got black-out drunk and started throwing punches so the rest of the dudes locked him in a room. One guy we knew sat on the couch blubbering about it, saying "I can't believe he did that!" Lame. Joe and I decided to split after 20 minutes of having to listen to this guy cry and hearing the occasional thud of a drunken fist hitting a door. By this point it was 11:40PM-ish, and my parent's house was about 20 minutes away

As we pulled in the driveway a robotic sounding voice came on the radio that said "It is now 12:00AM, Eastern Standard Time." And what song did they play? "1999." It's a moment in history I won't ever forget. So what did I end up doing the rest of the night? Well, we went to a third party where I saw a friend named Mandy who I ended up bringing back to my parents hot tub. It was a fun night, and one of those magical evenings where the stars align to provide a time that can only happen when we're young and have our whole lives ahead of us.


Random Rambling!
I got out of work early this past Friday and went on an impromptu thrift store spree. I found something that I have been wanting for a long time: one of those nylon/snap button jackets, with the stretchy cuffs. It kind of looks like this:

 
How much did I spend? $3.50. Now I can walk around and pretend it's 1981 and do my best impression of Carmine Ragusa from "Laverne and Shirley." You all remember him right? If not, here's a pic of him with the Fonz and the "Happy Days" gang on one of the many crossover episodes they had with their spin-off:
Actually, this is me and my buddies back in high school. Those were happy days.




Oh yeah, have you seen Eddie Mekka (the actor who played Carmine) lately? Yikes!


Back to my thrift store purchases...I also picked up 3 old VHS tapes, and they were all good flicks: "Taxi Driver," "The Shining," and "The Good Son" (featuring Macaulay Culkin as a pre-teen psychopath). In addition, I also picked up 8 cassette tapes (I just bought a car that only has a cassette player so I'm trying to stock up on cheap tunes). Here's the list:

-Bryan Adams: Reckless - "Run to You" is a good jam.


-Asia: Asia. I own this on vinyl but it never hurts to have a back-up. This band is despised by most of the rock intelligentsia but I dig them a lot. It's just progressive rock merged with arena rock. And I like it!



-REM: Life's Rich Pageant - I dig on '80s college rock and I knew the Canadian Belle would dig it too.

 -Rush: Moving Pictures. Essential for any classic rock collection. "Tom Sawyer" may be overplayed, but the musicianship never ceases to amaze me each time I hear it. My favorite track on it though is "Limelight."




-Stevie Wonder: Songs In the Key of Life - Probably his masterpiece, I love the song "Sir Duke."



Van Halen: For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge - Yes, I know, this is an album by "Van Hagar," but seeing as how I'm a fan of Asia you've probably realized I go against the grain when it comes to music (as in, I like a lot of stuff that most people don't). I grew up with this version of the band, so I can't help but dig it. Plus I like Sammy as a solo artist...he seems like a guy who just wants to have fun. I will admit the title is kinda lame though (the abbreviation for it is a CUSS WORD OOOOH!). Fave track is this one:



Winger: Winger - Like I said, I like a lot of stuff that most people don't (Beavis and Butthead in particular liked to slag this band a lot back in the day). Their guitarist is a monster though, and they wrote some fun party music. My favorite track from this album may be the all time best power ballad of the '80s...I had a buddy from Kalamazoo tell me recently that whenever he hears this song he is reminded of parties I used to throw in my garage, where '80s hard rock was always the soundtrack to good times. I consider that high praise:



And last but not least,

Al Corley: Riot In Color - You're probably thinking, who? Go ahead, google his name...yes, he was an actor who played John Forsythe's son on the '80s primetime soap opera "Dynasty." I haven't listened to it yet, but the main reason I got it is because it is the type of obscure pop culture collectible I just can't pass up...especially for 25 cents.



Before I go, I would like to give a shout out to my music soul brother Ben, who recently started a blog of his own called Washed Up Sounds. His knowledge of music, particularly old '60s and '70s obscurities, psychedelia, and garage rock, rivals mine. Whenever we get together we have the best convos about our favorite bands. Check it out, I'm sure you will find something you will enjoy.

I also recently came across a Tumblr blog that features pictures of gorgeous, all natural women from the 1940s to the 1980s. Check it out, and be prepared for some NSFW work pics of beautiful ladies. Here's the addy: bigbennklingon.tumblr.com.

We had fun this week, didn't we boys and girls? I will see you on the flip side.





6 comments:

  1. dude I,ll be honest the Kid song sounded like Aerosmith like 1976 Rocks Aerosmith or something from Toys in the attic maybe , I,ve pretty much written off Kid and Aerosmith for a while but ok I admit it the song was ok . but don't make the mistake I made and listen to the new Areosmith on the premise of maybe it's retro cool nope it sucked bad

    ReplyDelete
  2. I haven't heard anything off the new Aerosmith, thanks for the warning.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had one of those jackets when I was in middle school, I should have kept it!!

    You can't pay me enough to listen to anything new by Kid Rock, sorry. ;)

    It almost saddens me that you have a new friend to discuss all things vintage with! I'll check out his blog, sounds good.

    I as well grew up with Van Hagar and don't mind many of those tracks. However, its the Diamond Dave era I always listen to when I'm in the Halen mood. Remember that "Human's Being" song from Twister? Crap!!

    If you like that Stevie Wonder album, you seriously need to get "Talking Book" next. That's the one with Superstition, my personal fav.

    Good blog man! Keep 'em coming!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dude, I kind of liked that "Humans Being" song.

    The Diamond Dave era is superior of course as far as VH goes, but I find a lot of it to be spotty. The first 2 albums and "1984" were the best, with the ones in the middle only having a few good songs on each.

    My dad used to have Stevie Wonder's "Secret Life of Plants" on vinyl. I wish I had gotten a hold of that!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh yeah Matt, you know the guy who runs this blog I mentioned. *HINT* He grew up near Pine Knob *HINT*

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hell's bell's, I should have known!! What up Ben. :)

    ReplyDelete