Well, spring has sprung like a pile of dung, and dung-like is perhaps the best description of just how I feel right now! All kidding aside, I have been enjoying the past week or so about as much as I can under the conditions that I exist in and all that, and gosh it all but the sunny spring weather we've been having is enough to flash me back to them days of yore! And by that I don't mean days like the first time I fell in love (never happened, at least reciprocal-wise) or made my first millyun (never happ'd either!) but similarly-weathered days where I would go record shopping and purchase some of those platters that MADE ME THE MAN THAT I AM TODAY which are the just some of the BEST memories that cling into my ever-decaying brain! Well, the joy of snatching up some hard-to-get Velvet Underground album or Flamin' Groovies recording of any configuration sure beats (at least by my standards, and you must remember you are treading upon MY world!) falling in love or making a millyun, unless your sweetie is willing to share her record collection with you and come to think of it you sure can buy a lotta music with that much money! Now if only there would be some recently-unearthed Velvets platter or Groovies collection for me to sink my gums into, not to mention a record store that I could go 'n buy 'em at...
Bob Dylan-FIDDLER'S GREEN AMPHITHEATRE, DENVER COLORADO June 15, 1988 CD-r burn
It sure ain't no ROYAL ALBERT HALL. Heck, it ain't even HARD RAIN or the Rolling D-Cup Review for that matter. I never heard LIVE AT BUDOKAN so I can't judge it by that famous misfire. But what it is (at least to this decidedly non-Dylanophile who always pegged the guy as "older kid music" even if I do kinda like the fanabla) its sure sounds like one of those rake the moolah letting the rubes see a living legend before he dies concerts he's been doing for ages .Unlike Frank Sinatra's rake ins, Dylan ain't missing the notes and goofing up all over the place but man, he should have removed those tampons from his nose before going on-stage! For hardcore devotees and neophytes who can't find the real thing.
Various Artists-ASSEMBLEE GENERALE 5 CD-r burn (originally on Ptose Production Presente cassettes, France)
Like a good portion of these old time cassette culture samplers there's a lotta music you have to wade through, and at times it's kinda like wading through one of those New Jersey beaches where syringes and other hospital waste would wash up with the tide. Some straightforward-ish if too electronic-wavey numbers here might have some BLOG TO COMM-ish value to ya, but a whole load of this comes off more like the usual bedroom collage-y art projects of the day gathered together for some reason or another which I can't quite fathom at this time. Like Smegma, this makes for some interesting and braincell-engaging sounds. Unlike Smegma there's little humor or rock 'n roll flash to give that space between your ears a joy jolt!
The Richmond Sluts-60 CYCLES OF LOVE CD-r burn (originally on Rock Box)
It's surprising for me to hear a rock 'n roll album by a currently up-and-running group that actually sounds as good as something I might have enjoyed back 1979 way! The Sluts got some hard rock moves and song writing abilities that put most competitors to shame, and frankly these guys are so good that had they been around during the early-seventies days of heavy metal thunder Jymn Parrett would have been giving 'em ample DENIM DELINQUENT space in between the Stooges and Mott the Hoople coverage! However, as expected the energy doesn't quite drive its way throughout the entire album and after awhile my mind began to wander a tad which is something that NEVER happens when I am engaged in a total rock 'n roll soundscapading experience. Maybe the other ones are a li'l better? Wouldn't mind finding out but somehow I get the feeling that they ain't.
The Ripe-INTO YOUR EARS CD-r burn (originally on Get Hip)
With a name like the Ripe I kept thinking of spotted bananas all bruised and yukky-like. Well don't let a band's moniker always get in the way of your listening enjoyment because this particular group is pretty snat if I do say so myself. The opening track reminds me of the Droogs on their fantastic KINGDOM DAY album while other moments recall everything from the Stories back when Mike Brown was in the band to the even the Raspberries at their less ballad-y and more rocking moments. Only thing I didn't care for were the horns which conjured up the kinda music they used to pipe into Holiday Inn restaurants back when the fambly would go on vacation. Overall a much better example of what rock in the teens can do, as long as it apes fortysome-year-old accomplishments.
Deniz Tek and Scott Morgan-3 ASSASSINS CD-r burn (originally on Career Records)
I haven't been paying attention to either one of 'em in fifteen or even more years so it was like meeting some old friends for the second time, or something like that. The duo of Tek and Morgan romp through a number of old Stooges and Sonics Rendezvous Band tracks and for all I know numbers created especially for this album, and it's all done up in that great if oft-ignored Detroit high energy style that nobody seems to want to talk about anymore. Given the comparatively dead reaction this must have been recorded live in front of an audience that was probably there under the mistaken pretense that Royal Behind, a Prince tribute band, was supposed to be playing that night.
Johnny Winter-WINTER ESSENTIALS 2-CD-r burn set (originally on Fuel 2000)
Dunno how much of this has been previously released on alla those platters that came out cashing in on Winter's late-sixties success (y'know, the ones that Lester Bangs said contained nothing but terrible music that someone out there was banking a lotta bucks on, an opinion I hope he 180'd on like he did with the MC5 and Amon Duul), but given the overall good quality and jamz to be found I wouldn't be surprised if all of this had come out on a variety of fly-by-night labels. Good selection/sampling/what-have-ya featuring Winter in the years prior to his long locked fame when the the guy tackled a variety of music styles from rhythm and blues, instrumental pounce, Dylan, psychedelic pop to even some early-sixties-styled teen heart-throb schmoozers as if the gals these songs were meant for would ever have wanted to cuddle up to a bleached one such as he. Pretty good even to a guy who hates a lotta late-sixties heavy blues rock such as I, and you can just feel that it really wasn't that far as step from this to Johnny Winter And...
Deniz Tek-MEAN OLD TWISTER CD-r burn (originally on Citadel, Australia)
Gee, I gotta admit that Tek sure sounds old now, but then again since I WRITE old should I be talking? More of that post-Detroit high energy rock that Australia was known for at least until the nineties brought about a huge miasma across the continent. Continues on that fine Birdman style which is good, and even though I can't get the fact that this guy is AGED outta my brain I gotta admit that it's sure nice knowin' that SOMEONE is continuing on the fine tradition of over-the-top hard rock. Standout track..."Free At Last" which is an out and out swipe of "Cold Turkey" with a few minor twitches but if Alex Chilton could get away with "Holocaust" a.k.a. "Mrs Lennon" I think Tek can as well.
ELLIOT QUEEN'S MINUTE MYSTERIES CD-r burn
Once again I got to hear more of those great radio time fillers from the sixties (which were being run on stations as late as the mid-eighties!) and not only that but once again I get to match wits with the famous Ellery Queen, a man whom Bill Shute wrote quite a bit about a few weeks back. Short sweet and snappy, listen to Ellery solve some pretty tricky crimes with almost no real effort though frankly I sure wouldn't wanna be on the other end of the man's abilities that's for sure. Some of the people here actually got convicted on the flimsiest of evidence and who knows...maybe the fact that I turned out my lights five minutes later than usual or forgot that the personal vibrator was invented in 1895 instead of 1890 is enough to get me huffing gas more sooner 'n later!
Various Artists-SUPERSONIC PINBALL MELODRAMA CD-r (Bill Shute)
Dug deeper'n Vanessa Del Rio's cavity to find this old burn, and it's a pretty snat 'un if I do say so myself. Bill kinda/sorta cheated as in this one's mostly made up of an old album by Billy Mure's Super Sonic Guitars (nice e-z listening for those tension-packed days) where the guy romps through a whole number of old faves done up hula bula style, but even if you don't particularly care for that 'un you might like Lonnie Irving's hardcore country single on Starday which straddles the boundaries between old time C&W and rockabilly. I sure dug that but I didn't care one whit for the two FRONT PAGE DRAMAS radio programs which feature stories that will appear later in the pages of THE AMERICAN WEEKLY MAGAZINE...they're just too dull and boring for being a good radio drama and kinda sound like something that an old maid kinda aunt you knew as a kid who was ancient by that time woulda loved listening to way back when. Good for her true, but I'm sure you woulda been too suburban slob to even go near a radio show such as this!
***R.I.P. GAME SHOW GREAT CHUCK BARRIS, a bloke who I used to get confused with Chuck Berry when I was much younger and even more autistic than I tend to be even this late down the line. And really, don't you find it peculiar that two guys with very similar names who I used to jumble together have died within such close proximity? Talk about my strange mental capabilities (as I said last week, I had been thinking about Chuck Berry and wondering what he was up to for a few days before I heard the news about his passing!). Sheesh, it kinda reminds me of that one episode of OUTER LIMITS where Donald Pleasance had that brain implant which would cause uncontrollable disasters upon those he would get angry at 'r somethin' like that! Gee, if I could only master my sublime mental capacities think of all the things I could do, and maybe even get away with for all I know and who knows...a few nights back I actually had a dream where I was fighting with, and winning it mind you, with a certain BLOG TO COMM adversary who was working as a short order cook for some reason which ended when I woke up after rolling right outta my bed 'n onto the floor like I used to do when I was five years old! I wonder if this so-and-so got stabbed with a blunt scissors as well, though I haven't read about it in the papers so I guess not.
***Not much else to gab about ot here other'n by saying a hefty and hearty THANK YOU to Paul and Bill for the burns for me to listen to and enjoy on my own suburban slob level. You guys are keeping this blog goin' a whole lot more'n you realize, and frankly if it weren't for you two well...how many times can one talk about CHAMPAGNE AND NOVOCAINE anyway??? So, as Ethel Merman once said...ON WITH DA SHOW!
***But before we start in earnest...in case you wonder why the pics look so turdlike this week it's because I got a new picture scanner and sheesh, I am having a hard time working out the bugs, bunny! Bear with me while I attempt to work 'em out willya, Yogi (yes, the blogschpieler must always insert his little bad gags)???
It sure ain't no ROYAL ALBERT HALL. Heck, it ain't even HARD RAIN or the Rolling D-Cup Review for that matter. I never heard LIVE AT BUDOKAN so I can't judge it by that famous misfire. But what it is (at least to this decidedly non-Dylanophile who always pegged the guy as "older kid music" even if I do kinda like the fanabla) its sure sounds like one of those rake the moolah letting the rubes see a living legend before he dies concerts he's been doing for ages .Unlike Frank Sinatra's rake ins, Dylan ain't missing the notes and goofing up all over the place but man, he should have removed those tampons from his nose before going on-stage! For hardcore devotees and neophytes who can't find the real thing.
***
Like a good portion of these old time cassette culture samplers there's a lotta music you have to wade through, and at times it's kinda like wading through one of those New Jersey beaches where syringes and other hospital waste would wash up with the tide. Some straightforward-ish if too electronic-wavey numbers here might have some BLOG TO COMM-ish value to ya, but a whole load of this comes off more like the usual bedroom collage-y art projects of the day gathered together for some reason or another which I can't quite fathom at this time. Like Smegma, this makes for some interesting and braincell-engaging sounds. Unlike Smegma there's little humor or rock 'n roll flash to give that space between your ears a joy jolt!
***
It's surprising for me to hear a rock 'n roll album by a currently up-and-running group that actually sounds as good as something I might have enjoyed back 1979 way! The Sluts got some hard rock moves and song writing abilities that put most competitors to shame, and frankly these guys are so good that had they been around during the early-seventies days of heavy metal thunder Jymn Parrett would have been giving 'em ample DENIM DELINQUENT space in between the Stooges and Mott the Hoople coverage! However, as expected the energy doesn't quite drive its way throughout the entire album and after awhile my mind began to wander a tad which is something that NEVER happens when I am engaged in a total rock 'n roll soundscapading experience. Maybe the other ones are a li'l better? Wouldn't mind finding out but somehow I get the feeling that they ain't.
***
With a name like the Ripe I kept thinking of spotted bananas all bruised and yukky-like. Well don't let a band's moniker always get in the way of your listening enjoyment because this particular group is pretty snat if I do say so myself. The opening track reminds me of the Droogs on their fantastic KINGDOM DAY album while other moments recall everything from the Stories back when Mike Brown was in the band to the even the Raspberries at their less ballad-y and more rocking moments. Only thing I didn't care for were the horns which conjured up the kinda music they used to pipe into Holiday Inn restaurants back when the fambly would go on vacation. Overall a much better example of what rock in the teens can do, as long as it apes fortysome-year-old accomplishments.
***
I haven't been paying attention to either one of 'em in fifteen or even more years so it was like meeting some old friends for the second time, or something like that. The duo of Tek and Morgan romp through a number of old Stooges and Sonics Rendezvous Band tracks and for all I know numbers created especially for this album, and it's all done up in that great if oft-ignored Detroit high energy style that nobody seems to want to talk about anymore. Given the comparatively dead reaction this must have been recorded live in front of an audience that was probably there under the mistaken pretense that Royal Behind, a Prince tribute band, was supposed to be playing that night.
***
Dunno how much of this has been previously released on alla those platters that came out cashing in on Winter's late-sixties success (y'know, the ones that Lester Bangs said contained nothing but terrible music that someone out there was banking a lotta bucks on, an opinion I hope he 180'd on like he did with the MC5 and Amon Duul), but given the overall good quality and jamz to be found I wouldn't be surprised if all of this had come out on a variety of fly-by-night labels. Good selection/sampling/what-have-ya featuring Winter in the years prior to his long locked fame when the the guy tackled a variety of music styles from rhythm and blues, instrumental pounce, Dylan, psychedelic pop to even some early-sixties-styled teen heart-throb schmoozers as if the gals these songs were meant for would ever have wanted to cuddle up to a bleached one such as he. Pretty good even to a guy who hates a lotta late-sixties heavy blues rock such as I, and you can just feel that it really wasn't that far as step from this to Johnny Winter And...
***
Gee, I gotta admit that Tek sure sounds old now, but then again since I WRITE old should I be talking? More of that post-Detroit high energy rock that Australia was known for at least until the nineties brought about a huge miasma across the continent. Continues on that fine Birdman style which is good, and even though I can't get the fact that this guy is AGED outta my brain I gotta admit that it's sure nice knowin' that SOMEONE is continuing on the fine tradition of over-the-top hard rock. Standout track..."Free At Last" which is an out and out swipe of "Cold Turkey" with a few minor twitches but if Alex Chilton could get away with "Holocaust" a.k.a. "Mrs Lennon" I think Tek can as well.
***
Once again I got to hear more of those great radio time fillers from the sixties (which were being run on stations as late as the mid-eighties!) and not only that but once again I get to match wits with the famous Ellery Queen, a man whom Bill Shute wrote quite a bit about a few weeks back. Short sweet and snappy, listen to Ellery solve some pretty tricky crimes with almost no real effort though frankly I sure wouldn't wanna be on the other end of the man's abilities that's for sure. Some of the people here actually got convicted on the flimsiest of evidence and who knows...maybe the fact that I turned out my lights five minutes later than usual or forgot that the personal vibrator was invented in 1895 instead of 1890 is enough to get me huffing gas more sooner 'n later!
***
Dug deeper'n Vanessa Del Rio's cavity to find this old burn, and it's a pretty snat 'un if I do say so myself. Bill kinda/sorta cheated as in this one's mostly made up of an old album by Billy Mure's Super Sonic Guitars (nice e-z listening for those tension-packed days) where the guy romps through a whole number of old faves done up hula bula style, but even if you don't particularly care for that 'un you might like Lonnie Irving's hardcore country single on Starday which straddles the boundaries between old time C&W and rockabilly. I sure dug that but I didn't care one whit for the two FRONT PAGE DRAMAS radio programs which feature stories that will appear later in the pages of THE AMERICAN WEEKLY MAGAZINE...they're just too dull and boring for being a good radio drama and kinda sound like something that an old maid kinda aunt you knew as a kid who was ancient by that time woulda loved listening to way back when. Good for her true, but I'm sure you woulda been too suburban slob to even go near a radio show such as this!
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