Hey, thanks for stopping by to hang out. You're in the right spot for discussions about my favorite pop culture topics. Subjects may include vinyl, '70s sitcoms, cosmic super hero adventures, arena rock, conspiracy theories, thrift stores, '80s horror flicks, VHS culture, all things retro, lovely ladies, and the latest happenings in my world.
So come on down the steps (watch your head), pass through the rec room, and pull up a bean bag...you're hanging in my "bedroom in the basement!" EST. 1979
I apologize for the scarcity of posts lately, I've found that as the days grow longer the list of things that compete for my spare time increases. I recently bought a new TV and blu-ray player (with wireless internet capabilities), and have had fun playing with those new toys. Don't worry fellow old-schoolers, I still have love for VHS, and my basement man-cave will always exclusively feature video tapes viewed on an old tube tv/vcr combo (over the weekend I watched "The Legend of Boggy Creek," "Dazed and Confused," and a bootleg copy of the Beatles "Let It Be"). I do have to admit though, this new technology is pretty fun (it's cool being able to watch Youtube clips of my favorite old bands on a 47" screen)!
Speaking of old bands, the Beach Boys first new album of original material in 20 years was released today, and is called That's Why God Made the Radio. I went to the record store to pick up a copy but discovered only the cd version is available and the vinyl version (which I wanted) should be out within the next week or two. The trip wasn't a total loss though, as I picked up a copy of The Beach Boys Today! on vinyl in very decent shape for only $5. Released in 1965, the production and lyrics (particularly on side 2) hinted at what Brian and the Boys would be doing the following year on their landmark Pet Sounds album.
Here's a pic of the album and a clip of my favorite tune from it...it's funny, this song has been stuck in my head for the past day or so, and then I came across a copy of the record it appeared on!
And tonight begins...Lovely Ladies of the '70s
Lastly, while watching reruns of "Dallas" lately, I have developed yet another celebrity crush. The crushee is actress Victoria Principal, who portrayed Pamela Ewing on that show. I think she is simply GORGEOUS. Tonight's post will debut a new semi-regular feature for famous pretty ladies of the '70s that will be slightly different than my "Is This Your Mom" feature. Whereas the pics I post under that heading feature nude, anonymous models, this new feature will showcase celebs (A-list and under) from back then. I decided to start off with a series of pics I found of Victoria, and I will feature a different one each night this week. Enjoy!
Now this is what dreams are made of. Where's my time machine?
It's been a while since I wrote a post about what I was currently listening to, so I thought it was high time I did. I have listened to a decent amount of records (by Steely Dan and the Allman Brothers, just to name a few) since the last column, so I thought I would showcase tonight's selections.
RUSH
Now that cover is cosmic
I was lucky enough to find their first album in excellent condition for only $4 at my favorite local store. Now this album ROCKS! It does have some mellow moments, but most of it is ass-kicking blues-based rock similar to Zeppelin or Blue Cheer (both bands that they used to cover in their early days). The lyrics are quite different on this album as well as their main lyricist, drummer Neil Peart, did not join until their second album.
This clip features the lead-off track "Finding My Way." Right from the get-go, these guys brought the jams!
This next clip features their more well-known track from this LP, "Working Man." This song was another staple on my favorite hard rock station as a kid. I love the Zeppelin-esque breakdown in the middle. This was a song that my old band Fretbusters used to jam. It was a fun one to play!
Jeff Beck Blow By Blow
I first heard about this album on a radio request show that airs every Saturday night on Lansing's classic rock station 94.9 WMMQ, which purports to be the first classic rock station in the nation. "Larry Allen's All Reqest Saturday Night" airs from 7PM to midnight and is know for playing eclectic rock and deep cuts. During one show I heard an instrumental tune by Jeff Beck called "Freeway Jam" and loved it.
Jeff really creates the atmosphere and feel of leisurely driving down the freeway on that song. Blow by Blow is the seventh album by Jeff but the first one to consist of all instrumentals. He had some help from some fellow legends on this one, including Stevie Wonder (who wrote and played on two tracks) and the legendary Beatles producer George Martin, who turned the knobs in the control room. For $1, I got more than my money's worth. I heard Jeff Beck backed-up Mick Jagger on the recent season finale of SNL. I was unable to see it as I recently got rid of cable (plus I'm usually busy being social Saturday nights). I will have to see if it's on Hulu or NBC's web site.
Jefferson Starship Red Octopus
Released in 1975, this was the second official release by Jefferson Starship (the first being 1974's Dragon Fly). You may remember a while back I reviewed the proto-Jefferson Starship album Blows Against the Empire, which was more of a solo album by Paul Kantner than a true new band.
Two bands formed out of the ashes of Jefferson Airplane, who ceased existence in 1974. One featured members Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady, and was called Hot Tuna. Jefferson Starship was the other, and featured previous Airplane members Paul Kantner (guitar), co-singers Grace Slick and Marty Balin, and a host of new faces. One of the new members, an African-American fiddle player named Papa John Creach, had jammed with the last Airplane line-up. The band also featured guitar wunderkind Craig Chaquiso, bassist David Freiberg (ex-Quicksilver Messenger Service), drummer John Barbata (formerly of the Turtles), and keyboardist Pete Sears. Here's a group photo from the back cover:
This album is solid if not spectacular, and features one very well-known track, "Miracles." Here's a clip. This song can best be described as dreamy and MELLOW. Marty and Grace's vocals are soft yet powerful...it's a tune to make love to for sure.
I hope you enjoyed this sampler of tunes I've been digging on as of late. As always, drop that needle and keep rockin'.
I just finished listening to another record from the massive St. Paddy's day pile I purchased (try saying that 5x fast), Ace Frehley's second solo release, Frehley's Comet.
When I was in my early 20s I had heard of this record but never heard anything from it until about 5 years ago. I was listening to my all time favorite station for AOR/Hard Rock/Metal, 92.5 WZUU, when they played this next song:
"Into the Night"
Good tune, and very in keeping with the times. It was written by Russ Ballard (ex-Argent, ex-Rainbow), who has written many hits for others, including Three Dog Night, Santana, and America. He also wrote Ace's first solo hit, "New York Groove."
Here's some trivia: Ace's backing band featured Anton Fig, the drummer for the house band on Late Night and Late Show with David Letterman. This album was also released on Johnny Zazula's Megaforce Records, notable for releasing the early Metallica albums. Here's another good song:
"Rock Soldiers"
I love Ace's guitar playing, which is really on display in this last track, an instrumental called "Fractured Too"
If you dig '80s hard rock with a spritz of hair spray, then this is an album worth checking out. Speaking of hair spray, check out the band pic on the back of the record!
The weekend of St. Patty's day I picked up around 24 records at store called Replay. I found some awesome stuff, and for good prices too. So far out of that pile I have sampled the Go Gos "Vacation," Michael Jackson "Off the Wall," and Journey "Frontiers." Tonight I threw on the platter a triple album benefit concert from September, 1979 titled "No Nukes."
"No Nukes" (from the MUSE Concerts for a Non-Nuclear Future) was culled from a series of shows at Madison Square Garden over the course of five nights which highlighted the dangers of nuclear energy in the wake of the Three Mile Island event. In the same vein as the legendary original benefit show, the Concert for Bangladesh, those involved wanted to draw attention to an important topic of the day. The performers featured were an eclectic bunch, and consisted of a combination of singer-songwriter types (Jackson Brown, James Taylor), soul singers (Gil Scott-Heron, Raydio, Chaka Kahn), and classic rockers (Crosby Stills & Nash, the Doobie Brother, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers).
The songs and artists who comprise this concert album tended to be more on the light rock side. Overall, the album is uneven, with some parts being good and some being not very memorable. Side 6 featured three Crosby Stills & Nash songs, and they were sounding excellent (they had been together roughly 10 years at this point). I managed to find some footage from the show, here in the form of the Doobie Brothers performing their classic call for involvement, "Takin' It to the Streets," featuring the soulful white guy voice of Michael McDonald (joined by James Taylor).
This show was pretty amazing, but I much prefer the Concert for Bangladesh in terms of awesome benefit shows. Out of the 27 tracks featured on this, I would have to say only 12 or so were memorable. Still, the shows drew attention to a popular cause (although I guess they weren't that successful, since we still have nuclear power. And wasn't there some shit that went down in Japan because of that stuff last year? Maybe it's time for another No Nukes show).
A while back I picked up a copy of the RATT album "Invasion of Your Privacy" for a buck. It was money well-spent.
This meets all the requirements for an '80s album cover. Hot model? Check. Sense of foreboding? Check. Stylized logo? Check.
I first became familiar with this band about 9 years past their prime thanks to those grungy '90s cartoon cut-ups, Beavis and Butthead. Known for knocking all things '80s when it was fashionable to do so, I watched these 'toon goons rip on the RATT video for their song "I Want a Woman," which came out on their fourth album "Reach for the Sky." And for good reason...it was a pretty bad song. Recorded in the twilight days of hair metal, the video pretty much personified every cliche about the genre. It wasn't all bad though, as it showcased a lot of lovely '80s ladies (when each one appeared on the screen Butt-Head would say "...slut.")
For a long time liking hair metal would have been anathema to everything I believed in regarding heavy music, but as I aged I mellowed in this stance, and found myself listening to quite a bit of it about 5 years back. Thanks to my all-time favorite radio station WZUU I discovered RATT had more hits than the ubiquitous "Round and Round" and the aforementioned "I Want a Woman." The first one I remember really digging was from this album, a tune called "Lay It Down." Love that guitar intro! (Warning: a clown appears at the beginning, if you're scared of those dudes beware!)
Here's another good tune from this album:
What can I say? It's good party music! RATT weren't may favorite hair metal band (that would be Dokken), but they put out some fun jams.
Tonight I listened to one of the many records I pulled out of the dollar bin nearly 2 months ago. The main reason I purchased it was for the awesome album cover art. I also had just seen the "Behind the Music" special on the artist a week prior, and growing up in the far outer-rung of the Detroit Metro Area he is man known to all. The man we're talking about is Ted Nugent. The album? "Weekend Warriors."
Dude, his guitar is a gun! It's like he combined his two favorite things.
The active rock station I listened to during my formative years as a music fan, 101 WRIF out of Detroit, revered this man like he was a god. I heard many a dj refer to Ted by one of his many nicknames..."The Nuge," "Uncle Ted," "Uncle Tedley," "Motor City Madman," etc. His annual "Whiplash bash" concert was a big event, and every Friday at 5PM on the WRIF legendary dj Arthur P. would yell "IT'S THE WEEKEND!" and play the title track of the "Weekend Warriors" album. It was a track that personified the "working hard, playing hard" ethos of the blue-collar worker in the Detroit area. Hmm. I just remembered that the Nuge had a track on his "Cat Scratch Fever" album called "Workin' Hard, Playing Hard." Obviously this guy knows his stuff.
Anywho, I was only familiar with the title track of this album, and looked forward to discovering more of his catalog. This was Ted's first solo record without Derek St. Holmes on vocals, but Charles Huhn fills in and does a capable job. The lead off track, "Need You Bad," came thundering out of my speakers with a propulsive beat, sweet vocals, and blistering Nuge-style guitar. It just goes to show, some artists just aren't accurately represented by your average "best of" or "greatest hits" compilations. The deep cuts can be where the real gems are. His politics be damned, I really enjoy him as a musician, and think he is an amazing guitar player with a distinctive sound.
Tonight's blog will be a double-look at two recent records I picked up. First on deck is Paul Kantner & Jefferson Starship "Blows Against the Empire."
I had heard about this one over the years and finally got a chance to listen to it this past Saturday after picking it up on Friday. It was released in 1970 during a time when Jefferson Airplane was starting to splinter as a band. Two of their members had formed a side project called Hot Tuna, and rhythm guitarist Paul Kantner decided to record a solo album with his old lady Grace Slick.
The album was based on a sci-fi idea he had conceived about the counterculture leaving the Earth in the not-too-distant future in a starship to start civilization anew, away from a rapidly deteriorating planet. Paul received help recording not only from his girlfriend Grace but also an ad-hoc conglomeration of musicians dubbed the Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra (consisting of members of the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Crosby Stills & Nash).
Paul and Grace with collaborator Jerry Garcia and legendary Bay Area impresario Bill Graham.
The album is far out in terms of concept and music, but is very interesting and better than I expected. At times it was folky, and at times it was cosmic. It was also nominated for a Hugo Award, an honor typically reserved for sci-fi novels. As for the name Jefferson Starship? It would be dusted off four years later after the Airplane finally crashed, with a line-up consisting of members of that old band plus some new folks. Consider this the early beginning of what would become phase 2 of the Airplane's ultimate metamorphosis into the "Starship." You know, the ones who built this city.
Dig it, man.
C
Next up on the platter we have the self-titled debut of psychedelic heavy rock/metal pioneers, Vanilla Fudge.
Released smack in the middle of the summer of love, 1967 (a year which saw the first releases of SO many influential bands...Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, the Velvet Underground, the Doors, etc.), the Fudge's main trip was covering other artist's songs in a slowed down, sludgy, heavy form. And they were good at what they did. Their most well-known song was from this album, a cover of the Supremes "You Keep Me Hanging On." The track is dirge-style with heavy guitars and organ, and I'm getting a contact high just THINKING of it.
As cool as this band sounded on this record, they definitely were NOT cool looking.
The faces of early metal...yikes!
Drummer Carmine Appice also happens to be the older brother of Black Sabbath/Dio drummer Vinny.
NEXT
A new feature covering comics I'm currently reading called "Off the (Spinner) Rack"
The Canadian Belle is away (at work till 9:00PM), so the records will play!
Tonight's Slab: Paul (and Linda) McCartney - Ram (1971)
RAM was the second solo offering by the cutest of the Beatles, although it's not truly a solo effort as his wife and new musical collaborator Linda appears on most of the tracks providing both lead and back-up vocals. The rumor is that she is credited as part of a duo with Paul due to disputes with the other Beatles that entitled them to a cut of Paul's income related to their partnership in Apple. Linda was not a signatory to any Apple shenanigans, so she was entitled to her full share of the income from the record, which also meant (by amazing coincidence of course) Paul was too, as they were married, her money was his, etc...
But all cynicism aside, I love this record. This is currently the second copy I have purchased as the first one had a huge skip that occurred during the last track of side 2. Thanks CD Warehouse in Kzoo! I spent $3.99 for that?
I like to call this album "McCartney 1.5" as it is very close in spirit to Paul's first record, "McCartney" (Paul has an album called "McCartney II" that came out in 1980 after his venture with Wings imploded. It features Paul experimenting with synthesizers and, with the exception of one song, is pretty forgettable). It is more professionally recorded than that first one, which Paul recorded at home on his own equipment.
This album can definitely be described as "pastoral," as the cover no doubt indicates. Paul and Linda had been spending a lot of time at their Scottish farm getting away from all the hustle and bustle of London and the gloom attached to it from the very recent split of the Beatles. The songs range from mellow romps through the country to epic ballads with soaring choruses filled with orchestration and vocals. Linda's voice is in fine form, and while she was not an overwhelmingly good singer she puts in a competent performance, and sounds better than she did on "McCartney." The production is fuller too, and not as spartan as that of the first record.
Paul (looking pretty grizzly) and Linda, out and about in '71
Allmusic has this to say: "...in retrospect it looks like nothing so much as the first indie pop album,
a record that celebrates small pleasures with big melodies, a record
that's guileless and unembarrassed to be cutesy."
I'd say that is pretty accurate. Some of the songs ("Too Many People," "Dear Boy," and "Three Legs") were seen as digs at the other ex-Beatles at the time, Lennon in particular. John answered back later that year on his Imagine album with the track, "How Do You Sleep?" This song was considerably more blatant in pointing out who it was about, whereas the Paul tracks were at least a little bit vague. John even included a postcard insert of himself holding a pig by the ears. Now that's symbolism, folks.
Here's a video showcasing my favorite track. It reminds me of my own long-haired lady.
This video features Paul performing the track "Ram On" (with a mandolin!) in 2010.
Well, the Canadian Belle (my "Zooey-esque" girlfriend) is at the bar with co-workers, so I'm holed up in the office of Castle JEP looking at cool stuff online and digging some tunes. I purchased a BOATLOAD of records over the past month and am slowly listening to the mountain of sides that recently came into my possession. To record some of my purchases for posterity, I thought I would start a new semi-regular blog feature I'll call "Tonight's Slab."
Have fun babe. It's cute when you come to bed with Pabst on your breath!
Spinning on the table tonight is the debut album by The Go Gos, "Beauty and the Beat." I dropped the needle on this one, cranked the sound way up, and could feel the pulsing beat of the kick-drum as their song "Our Lips Are Sealed" bounced exuberantly out of my speakers. I have dug the Go Gos since high school, when I became acquainted with their hits via VH1 shows like "I Love the '80s." Their music has a punk attitude melded with catchy pop hooks. Unlike some of the *shudder* "mall punk" bands of 10 years back or so, the Go Gos had real punk credibility.
I picked up this record, along with their third studio album "Talk Show," for $2 each at East Lansing's legendary Flat, Black & Circular. Near mint vinyl for $2 a pop...you can't beat it! This store been around since 1976 and has a great selection with reasonable prices. When I went in there Super Bowl weekend the place was busy as heck! Word of warning, the record store clerks I have encountered are of the surly, music snob variety.
The Go Gos broke up in 1985 but have had numerous reunions. I think it would be a fun show to go see if they end up on tour again sometime soon. There's one other thing I should mention when discussing my fondness for the Go Gos: my humongous crush on rhythm guitarist and co-vocalist Jane Wiedlin. I just love her spunkiness and cutesy voice. And I have a thing for brunettes.
Pay no mind to what they say, Jane. It doesn't matter anyway. Shall we go to the pub for a Pabst?
