Sheesh, I should be typing this year-end summary while wearing my smoking jacket in front of a roaring fire, ruminating about all of the good 'n bad that has befallen us these past 366 being all holiday warmy and toasty about our place here in this universe we have been so ungraciously plunked down into. Too bad I'm actually pecking away (no, not that you thilly thing!) while wearing my sweat clothes in my room where all I have to warm me up is a portable heater! Certainly not as dignified as I would have liked our final meeting for the year to be though it could have been worse. I mean, I could have been typing this in the nude...

Bur trudge on I will whether dressed or bare, and hope that the next rotation around the sun makes for a better go of life what with alla the good things that I'm sure will appear to tingle my nerve nodes which really do deserve quite more of a tingle as the years progress.

Eh, why should I complain given how 2020 has come up with quite a few winners. The Feeding Tube label has been cranking out some mighty driving albums never letting up (even their folkier efforts have stirred my stirrups and that's sayin' somethin' I perhaps don't wanna get into right at this time) while the reissues and various Cee-Dee-Are burns that have turned up have also brightened whatever's left of those late-night spin-a-thons that continue to take place here at Ground Zero. And of course there are the typical on/off obsessions I do have with groups that have pleased me for quite some time, usually spurred on by a mention or two in some of the better scraps of writing that continue to pass mine eyes even years after the greats of the past first set their astute thought to newsprint.

Anyhoo...this is what 2020 was in my own soggy memory and who knows, my year might have even topped your minute ot something like that. Read on if you must, but as usual check your preconceived notions and political pose at the door because frankly, I'm getting tired of putting many of you readers in your deserved place!


ALBUM OF THE YEAR!-EDDIE FLOWERS AND THE WAX LIP SWAMP DUB (Feeding Tube Records)-Down home Deep South swamp music, if you happen to live in that town where those two mutated hillbillies from NAKED LUNCH live!

AVANT GARDE FOLK MUSIC ALBUM OF THE YEAR!-Wednesday Knudsen and Willie Lane's LONG TIME 'TIL TOMORROW (Feeding Tube)-Reminds me of CHURCH OF ANTHRAX, or at least I haven't felt this way since I first heard that classic effort oh so long ago.

TWO-RECORD SET WITH ARCHIVAL AND PREVIOUSLY-ISSUED MATERIAL SET OF THE YEAR!: Wurm's EXHUMED. Heavy metal's last real chance? Whadda you think!

IMPORT ALBUM YOU SURE WISHED WOULDA BEEN IN THE IMPORT BINS OF THE MID-SEVENTIES AWARD!-CALCIUM.

LIVE RELEASE OF THE YEAR!: The Stooges' LIVE AT GOOSE LAKE AUGUST 8TH, 1970.

CASSETTE WITH ALL NEW MATERIAL OF THE YEAR!: Fadensonnen's DEKADE 1 and 2 double tape collection

ALBUM REISSUE OF A CASSETTE OF THE YEAR!-Hopital de la Conception's ELECTRIC ROCKING CHAIR. The tantric beat lives on!

BOX SET OF THE YEAR!-the JAC BERROCAL one.

ARCHIVAL SINGLE OF THE YEAR!-the Cleveland Wrecking Company's "Say There's a Reason"/"Hat Full of Dreams". Thankfully San Francisco didn't fall into the ocean until after groups like this were passed over in favor of post-psychedelic schmalz.

RE-ISSUED SINGLE OF THE YEAR!-Attrix's "Lost Lenore"/"Hard Times" on Spain's Munster label. This is what a Velvet Underground "homage" should sound like as opposed to those "Sweet Jane" covers Brad Kohler used to see in bars on off nights.

BOOK OF THE YEAR (rock 'n roll division)-PETER AND THE WOLVES---a must on Elliot Murphy's rock history class of 2074's required reading list.

BOOK OF THE YEAR (secular division)!-the FUN WITH A MENACE gathering of the earliest funny book appearances of a comic character who obviously has been given too much Ritalin o'er the years.

ROCK READING OF THE YEAR!-the reams (no, not that Dave) of articles and such copied during my three month subscription to ROCKS BACKPAGES. Sheesh, why should I bother with the opines of some internet turd when I can pour through tons of Nick Kent, Charles Shaar Murray, Jonh Ingham, Giovanni Dadomo etc. pieces that speak to my soul a whole lot more'n Ann Powers could? Plus the rare Lester Bangs pieces sure add a little whip cream to the rockism sundae if you dare ask me! (Howcum no R. Meltzer tho?)

TEE-VEE SHOW OF THE YEAR!-the early half-hour GUNSMOKE reruns, tho they just ain't the same with the original openings and without the old MARSHAL DILLON ones seen not only on prime-time but in syndication for years on end.

MOOM PITCHER OF THE YEAR!-as if I went to a theater anytime in these past thirtysome years! The moom that affected me the most these past 366 was naturally an oldie, Laurel and Hardy's 1934 classic BABES IN TOYLAND, as if anything created since those sainted H-wood days would have anything relevant to do with my mere existence! 

FANZINE OF THE YEAR!-whatever the latest UGLY THINGS was, as if there was much if any competition but with a mag like that you know its gonna bury any competition that comes up against it.

BLOG OF THE YEAR!-BLAZING CAT FUR, the first place I go for my daily news!

SPOKESMAN OF THE YEAR!-Nick Fuentes.

HERO OF THE YEAR!-Kyle Rittenhouse, who did what a whole lotta us frothing at the mouth normal people fed up with those pampered pooch protesters wished we coulda done!

BUMMER OF THE YEAR!-too many to mention right now, though the dearth of hotcha archival digs just ain't what it used to, or should be.

DEATH OF THE YEAR!-  EDDIE HASKELL. In other words, OUR HERO WHO ART IN HEAVEN.

BOOK REVIEW! WHERE CAN I FLY? -- THE SLEEPERS, TUXEDOMOON & BEYOND BY MICHAEL BELFER WITH WILL YORK (Hozac Books, 2020)

Closing out the year's this particular entry into the depths of what we used to know as seventies rock 'n roll, complete with alla the decadence and dope that seemed to be part 'n parcel of those particularly creative times. There have been quite a few of these tomes for the times coming out as of late from the Richard Lloyd autobio of a few years back to Adele Bertei's reminiscences of the mid-seventies Cleveland underground scene, and frankly if you didn't get enough perversion 'n opiate throb thrills in any of those other books man, you can get your fill of it here and much more if you so desire!

Never was whatcha'd call a humongous fan and follower of the West Coast thingie the way I'm sure a whole slew of you guys were, though I have been considering (or shall I say, re-considering) checking into the whole Tuxedomoon mystique o'er the past year out of a long-lost curiosity if anything.  Although I have yet to plunk down any precious lucre towards any extant Tuxedomoon items I gotta say that this book has become a catalyst for where a good portion of my next paycheck might be going. But then again maybe not...y'see, the hard-boiled sub-guttural existences of not only the likes of author Belfer but the entire more arty 'n decadent 'n thou West Coast scene just might be a li'l too strong for the dainty digestive system that your humble writer owns and operates and besides, why should I be contributing to the drug habits of others with my purchases of their wares especially when I could be contributing to my own as the old joke I told you awhile back went...

Not that I imbibe in anything stronger than Dr. Pepper but all kidding aside...this is a good read detailing yet another portion of the California under-the-underground groupings who popped up during the era of THE GREAT REAWAKENING and the gritty underbelly of it all which might have been hinted about in the pages of those tabloid efforts like SLASH and SEARCH AND DESTROY but were never really delved into. And, as you would expect, it all ends up with author Belfer totally cleaned out 'n up 'n about here in the present which is nice 'n all, but somehow I kinda wish that he was still strung out 'n wallowing about inna gutter which woulda been a nice change of positive uplifting schmooze we always seem to end up with in books like these!

Welp, I got past the Christmas hurdle...now onto New Year's. Dunno about you, but I made it through intact if only because I spent most of my time huddled up in my room listening to music, reading old fanzines and whatnot and trying to avoid that strange hideous thing that's otherwise known as reality. Just like I do most of the time anymore since my life really has turned into the lyrics from "I Am A Rock", only without the snarkness that Paul Simon was belittling his fan base with. And you kin betcha that I don't have any books and poetry to protect me either, bub!

As usual these holidays keep bringing back the old memories, not of what used to be, but what I sure wish those days coulda been had things been way different. For one thing I sure wish I had a whole lot more of that long green back then, enough to the point where I coulda walked into one of those great outta the way record emporiums like White Wing in Niles Ohio and dumped a few hundred on various newies, imports, boots and the occasional juicy cutout that should keep me occupied for a few well-crammed hours on end. Sheesh, that's the kinda olde tymey memories I wish I could have, not the ones regarding my only having $1.99 in my Indian moccasin wallet wonderin' whether to spend it on a cheapo cassette cutout or towards a MAD SUPER-SPECIAL containing a sheetfulla Don Martin stickers with enough change left over to get myself some Dynamints to load up on! 'n with a life centered around what to do it a measly $1.99 no wonder I sure wish I had more bountiful buck memories that I really could appreciate!

Got some nice surprises for ya this time as well, including a couple outta-nowhere entries that were send to me gratis. I know that longtime fan Charles Hodgson was responsible for the Nectarine No9 entry but whoever sent me the Boris platters remains a mystery. Thanks to whoever that mystery Santa was, and also thanks to Bill Shute and Paul McGarry for being so generous with their time and effort.

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Before we get to the goodies I gotta say farewell to none other'n ex-Vagrants/Mountain/West Bruce and Laing guitarist Leslie West, dead at 75. Funny thing is, I thought the guy woulda died long ago given his extreme girth and diabetes problem which eventually led to the amputation of both legs. But soldier on he did, and if it is true that the original Rocket From The Tombs covered "Mississippi Queen" maybe his memory needs all the more cherishing if only for that not-so-miniscule fact!

The Nectarine No9-A POSTCARD RECORDING OF SCOTLAND CD (Shake the Record Label, 598 Victoria, C.P. 365687, St-lambert, Quebec, J4P-358, Canada)

Yeah, this is the Cee-Dee that reader in good standing (well, I never saw him sitting down!) Charles Hodgson requested be sent to me, and although I don't find it evil or distressing I also don't find it exciting or life-reaffirming. Like a lotta that early-eighties post-rock music that was supposed to be the next step up from alla that glorious anarchy that was the late-sixties/seventies sonic sprawl this is quiet, refined and downright nowheresville music that sounds as if the practitioners had spent their growing up years listening to early Eno and, like the man himself, entered the eighties a particularly subdued form of specimen sans the visceral energy that made things like TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN such a teenbo thrill. Not really my cuppa tea, but for those of you who were still ordering expensive imported records from Rough Trade and Systematic inna mid-eighties this just might be thee one for you!

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Screaming Urge-IMPULSE CONTROL CD-r burn (originally on Homework Records)

For being from Columbus Ohio these guys're pretty good. And considering that the best rock group to ever come outta Columbus were the Electric Eels that's really sayin' somethin'! Right mix of grit and doof which doesn't copy directly from any specific new-unto-gnu-wave influence making for a sound that is uniquely Ohio to the point where you woulda thought they woulda been invited to play an in-store show at the Drome. Complete recorded output (or so I'm led to believe) in one package on one shiny disque --- as the guy on the Car Shield ad says "who does that anymore?"

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Apache Dropout-MASTERS CD-r burn (originally on Bristol Archive Records)

Might appeal to the West Coast fans who happen to read this blog what with the country laid-backisms and general sensitive girl in the seventh grade appeal that these guys have. Neil Young if his testicles had descended. Nothing that I'd wanna go out and seek for my own even though I do find quite a bit of this palatable. But that's about all.

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Sid King and the Five Strings-GONNA SHAKE THIS SHACK TONIGHT CD-r burn (originally on Bear Family Records, Germany)

If you're a tru-blu rockabilly fan 'n not just a pinkie dabbler such as I, you probably know all about King and his band who had a pretty extensive discography throughout the early days of that thing we used to call rock 'n roll. Hefty Gene Vincent influence permeates "Good Rockin' Baby" while you can also hear echoes of alla your favorite fifties faves throughout this purported to be complete collection. It even has some early more Swing-y efforts that sound like they were custom made for some rural radio station circa. 1955.  Bound to dredge up a few good memories in some of you more ancient readers. 

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Boris-LφVE & EVφL 2-LP set (Third Man Records)

Two albums (wrapped together but packaged separately if that makes any sense to you) from yet another one of those legendary Japanese hard noise rock groups I used to go nuts about back during the turn of the century. Still massive in sonic screech and the closest thing I've heard to what pneumonia would sound like if it had a voice, LφVE & EVφL can be quite overbearing especially if you ain't used to these sonically-inspired acts but after awhile you might get used to the way your brain is vibrating like wobbly gelatin inside your very bean. And please do congratulate me for goin' through this entire review without succumbing to my temptation to mention Natasha. 

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David and Sylvain-TOKYO DOLLS LIVE CD-r burn (originally on Fan Club Records, France)

This is actually the New York Dolls Mk. II with Johansen and Sylvain joined by those latterday Dolls like Peter Jenner and Tony Machine, sounding pretty snat in the process unlike what some wags onna scene woulda led ya to believe. The audience eats it up just like they did on alla those other live in Japan albums and who could blame 'em since these guys did put on a pretty wild show that was on par with the kinda act they were doing in smaller clubs back in the states. Old songs and new all done up with that patented punch and yeah, Thunders etc. ain't here but you can still get way more of a good time out of this than you can while listening to those old Casey Kasem shows that always seem to be playing at the Dollar General.

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Various Artists-WANDERING SWIVEL BLUE SENSATIONS CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

A shortie but goodie ('n the shorter the better given my extremely limited attention span) consisting of some of the bigger duds that Bill could whip up for me. Some good duds here tho even if the Swivel Hips' take on "Walk Don't Run" totally messes up the lead guitar line and the sixties pop tends to be more schmoozier than thou ifyaknowaddamean... I mean, if the Cornel Trio's "Klingeling" wasn't the kind of music that Lieutenant Gruber listened to in order to "get in the mood" I don't know what was! Of course Bill snuck a double-sided country flop on here, and the who kit 'n kaboodle ends with an EP from some French rockers called Les Aigmons who do a pretty good early-sixties instrumental rock even though, at least judging from the song entitled "Expo '64", they were outta date by at least a year. Oh well, better this kinda outta-dateness 'n the kind you get with alla those fart-encrusted rioters you still see who think it's 1968 all over again!

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Do you make new year's resolutions? I've made one and that is to get rid of all unnecessary pieces of paper that are cluttering up the ol' igloo. And naturally most of those unnecessary pieces of paper just happen to be BLACK TO COMM back issues! If you haven't made yer resolution yet howzbout enriching your rockist reading matter with a whole hunkin' supply of these mags---sheesh, it's a whole lot easier'n tryin' t' lose weight as if yez ever followed up on that 'un lo these many years.

UGLY THINGS #55

Of course I ain't had the time to devour and digest ever tasty word of this much needed magazine, but I just hadda tell y'all about the fifty-fifth issue of UGLY THINGS before you heard about it onna streets 'n from the wrong type of people as well. 

Itza good 'un as usual, what with the standard scrutinizing of rock 'n roll (and other musics for uncompromising gormandizers) that continue to tingle our tastebuds this far down the line. Of course these delves into the past might make UGLY THINGS nothing but THE GOOD OLD DAYS for the twenties but hey, then again you don't have to put up with some 99-year-old's recollection of the Fourth of July 1928 festivities or fond memories of "My Funny Uncle Egbert And Those Strange Toys Of His" in these pages!

What you do hafta put up with is some rather decent rock 'n roll screeding (far from the professional puke often passing for criticism and downright appreciation seen for ages) and some of the better moments of musicdom being either revealed to you for the first time ever or just tossed back atcha because you were stupid enough to ignore it back when, as Lou Costello would say, "it was there for ya!"

Interesting bits of what I have read include the piece on the Brian Jones PIPES OF PAN AT JOUJOUKA album which is an album that has intrigued me in some strange ways. Always had the idea that this particular platter had some sorta occult powers to it that, in the wrong hands, could cause utter grief since when I got a bootleg CD of this 'un back '95 way (which was padded with some Brian Jones/Jimi Hendrix sitar/guitar throwaways I kinda like in their obvious chintziness) my Uncle had one of his big early Alzheimer's crises which kinda got outta hand and really marked the beginning of his downward spiral into mental collapse. At the time I actually got the feeling that the platter somehow triggered this unfortunate circumstance which really did cause a huge upheaval in the lives of all of those around him, kinda like the time when Brad Kohler was reading the Kenneth Anger biography and almost got his finger cut off blaming the book for this near-catastrophe. I think I'll hold off playing that PIPES disque until everybody I know around me is either dead, or if the ones who are still around deserve to go through little bitta agony themselves. I'm sure it's got the power.

The interview with Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick fame was grand not only because it cleared up a whole load of confusion regarding the guy's early career with such acts as Sick Man of Europe but for the pics taken back when Rick Nielsen was trying to look like Ted Bundy! Also keen was Phil X. Milstein's article on THE VELVET UNDERGROUND author Michael Leigh who had quite a history behind not only himself but the book he's famous for writing 'n for reasons he probably wouldn't want to be famous for! All I gotta say is, if that book was actually called SUBURBAN PANTY-HOSE CROTCH SNIFFING and Tony Conrad found a copy floating down some gutter would our favorite band been going around with that name? Sheesh, who knows what twisted turns music history woulda taken had that happened!

'n of course the reviews, which most of the time are far better'n actually experiencing the items they are talking about themselves! A pretty snat selection of items were up for perusal, and once again I found ONE ITEM that I actually dished out precious dinero for since the review really snizzled into my inner karmik whooziz or something even cornier'n that! Which platter you wonder? Well, keep tuned in and you'll read my opinion of it one of these days, and it's sure to be a lulu as well. But hey, there's so much in this section to go through and although I've already scoured the better writings from the likes of Bill Shute's and Jay Dobis's entries, well...there's loads more stuff I just haven't had the time to read as of yet (like the Cyril Jordan column) plus since I'm at an advanced stage myself I always turn to the death page first to see if my name's one it, but whatever my mortal state may be as long as I'm moving you can be sure that I'll be there to get the latest UGLY THINGS. 

And since who knows, I may not be as long for this world as I would like to be howzbout you guys covering some of those obscure faves of mine who deserve to get their stories told before they too enter into the sweet eternity? I can provide you all with a nice list starting with J.P. Kalfon/Crouille Marteau/Sugar Baby Bitch, Brian Sands, Brian James and Bastard, Mahogany Brain, the Czech underground of the seventies, the Velvet Frogs, Dagon and yes, YOU'RE WELCOME.

Merry Christmas you patriotic stocking stuffers you. Well, I will say that this really is one holiday season we should all lean back and enjoy for once especially considering alla the low-down-JIVE we've hadda endure this past year, a year which coulda been jivier but is jived up enough as it is for anyone above the awareness of Karen Quinlan to take notice. Naturally I'm gonna be too busy working and trying to survive the overload of cheap cookies to enjoy anything this year, but at least I can "osmose" some Olde Tymey Cheer by thinking back to them good ol' days of fambly get-togethers and parties where I didn't get whooped for misbehaving!

Anyway here's hoping that you can at least enjoy a day or two off this season (me, I'm working right through it!), and don't worry because if you tend to cringe throughout alla the festivities because well, it'll be all over in a few weeks and think about how much money you'll be saving buying up all that unsold Christmas candy come January!

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Here's a card I got from those fine folk at Plug 'n Socket, label of the Droogs amongst other delightful acts whose names escape me at this moment! Like, who woulda thought some fortysome years after the fact that not only the Droogs, but the music they were inspired by and have inspired others by, would still be meaningful and fuel our lives here while we're in whatcha'd call "an advanced state"??? Certainly not me---I mean, I thought that by the time 2020 rolled around we'd all be on those same machines that toted Christopher Pike (post-accident) around on STAR TREK!

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One thing that I will admit after all these years (and after listening to the modernized supermarket muzak being pumped out incessantly during the holiday season) is that maybe the Phil Spector Christmas album ain't so hot after all! In fact I have come to loathe the platter which I can tell you will never grace my turntable again!!! If I hear "it's Chris-mazz" one more time I just might turn pagan if only out of spite!

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But enough holiday jeer 'n onto the reviews. Nice buncha spins this time courtesy not only MYSELF but Bill Shute and Paul McGarry (two fellows who aren't AFRAID to have their names mentioned in the company of mine) to whom I say thank you ever so much! Its things like these (mostly) unsolicited gifts that make me not want to hide from the mailman like I usedta do back when I was a mere turdler given the bevy of surprises that are packed into those precious parcels that's for sure! So read on and bask in the glory of that music that sure meant a whole lot to you when you were sprouting pubes, and means just as much even though those same curls are now a dingy grey!

Black Pearl-BLACK PEARL/BLACK PEARL LIVE! CD (Lion Records, Germany)

Sheesh, if I knew this two-on-one disque was available I never woulda bought that reissue on Wounded Bird I reviewed a few months back!

Like the first two Alice Cooper albums or the first two Stooges, or first two MC5 or TROUT MASK REPLICA for that matter, BLACK PEARL and BLACK PEARL LIVE! are two perfect platters that heralded the end of the apocalyptic sixties and welcomed in the anarchistic sounds that would lay the bedrock for the ultimate cataclysm that gave us the creme de la seventies. After that things were comparatively pasteurized, but ya gotta admit that records like these had enough potency and power to 'em that, had they only gotten out a little more, might have put an end to all that snobbish AM/FM drivel that was cluttering up the airwaves and bedroom turntables of kids who didn't know there was anything better out there which is probably why Robin Trower sold as many records as he did.

Bernie "B.B." Fieldings screeches like the best kinda frontmen the late-sixties hadda offer, while the double/triple lead guitar sound adds the right amt. of pressure needed to keep the energy flowing to extremely pleasurable (in a sonically-speaking suburban slob sorta way) levels. It is a shame that none of this got the kinda airplay that you woulda thought that the free form stations of the day woulda allotted...I mean, if a track like "Forget It" wasn't meant to be played either on the FM hipster stations or some rural mom-n-pop AM late-afternoon shift by some high stooler working part time as deejay then I dunno WHAT would!

The live album is really hot...don't let any of them naysayers tell you it's a turdburger because the thing really is a full throttle live show effort that'll get you up doin' a dance like I usedta do when I was eleven listening to Elvis's "Hound Dog" over and over on my cousins' Zayre's stereo. Fieldings really knows how to whip it up whilst doin' his Whafrican-American act (you don't want me to use the other term now, do you?) tryin' to wow what sounds like an indifferent audience, but the electricity shines through making this one of the better live platters to come out of the 60s/70s cusp and with things like KICK OUT THE JAMS and RAW AND ALIVE onna market you know that this ain't no hollow feat!

Black Pearl have been ignored by way too many people who shoulda known better for way too long. Yeah I know it's gonna be too much to get those Big City Rockscribe types to sit up and take notice (are there any of those creatures left?), but what's keeping you, sweetie?

Perhaps one of the best pairings of two stellar efforts since the heydays of those budget "twofas" that cluttered up the seventies. The only thing keeping you from getting this is you, and if you pass onto them pearlies before giving this a listen you only have yourself to blame! Heck, if you never do hear it they probably won't let you in which means you'll have to go down there and listen to Anastasia Pantsios talk about her unrequited love for Eric Carmen for all eternity.

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Hawkwind-LIVE '74 CD (EMI Records)

Got this 'un if only because of the rave writeup that Mick Farren gave the show it was copped from in some ancient NME. As usual (at least when it comes to music) Farren was right. Sure this March '74 live in Chicago effort might sound a little more professional and less cataclysmic than the SPACE RITUAL double set that was hogging up plenty of turntable time during those days, but Hawkwind were still able to deal out the psychedelic brainscrunch, holding firm to the early Ladbrook Grove aesthetics while heading for the more ethereal planes of their mid-seventies releases. The violin was a nice touch, the Mellotron not so, and they were still able to end the proceedings with that heavy wall of screech that kinda/sorta echoed alla those Grateful Dead feedback codas but eh, at this time in history it sounds a whole loads better'n what was eventually to come.

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The Unholy Modal Rounders-WBAI RADIO 3/27/75. LIVE 1976 2-CD-r burn set

It's timely for Paul McGarry to send me this 'un since I was looking for my tapes of this oft-mentioned (by me via either this blog or that crudzine of mine) broadcast. Unfortunately the last forty or so minutes are missing, a shame since than is when all of the technological bugaboos that hindered a good portion of this broadcast were eventually ironed out, but for those of you who were in on the Amerigana of Peter Stampfel and company this sure will fill in the gaps between the various Rounders albums that probably are rotting away in your collection as we speak. For some reason the disque closes with some old Dylan wheezers but in many ways that does seem fitting.

The second 'un features a slightly different Unholy Modal Rounders lineup live around the time that HAVE MOICY! was beginning to hit the bins. Now with a drummer the group sounds even more primal as the guy bashes away like a ten-year-old who got a set on Christmas Day yet its still down-home psych-o-delic folkie mewls that sure sounded way better'n most of those other sixties "survivors" who were lingering on a good decade later. A music that never did die out thankfully, as the mere existence of such neo-Rounders-styled acts as the Muscular Christians have attested to for many a year after.

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Chet Baker-AT ONKEL PO'S CARNEGIE HALL 2-CD-r burn set

I don't wanna sound like one of those knownada eighties fanzine writers who would wax eloquent (or so they thought) over some mystical musical figure of the past, dumping enough artificial sweetener on his memory to the point where said writer was guaranteed a position as a Big City Newspaper music crit.

I've read enough of that Glade Air Freshener prose in my lifetime to fumigate the Aegean Stables and I don't wanna contribute to the scent by heaping any more on the world! Let's just put things nice and succinct-like...good groove jazz by legendary bad boy who actually contributes some driving lines and an intense aura, and that's even without going into outer-strata spheres like my favorite jazzbos have been doing for ages!

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Lou Donaldson-MR. SHING-A-LING CD-r burn (originally on Blue Note Records)

Donaldson's soul-jazz just ain't hittin' me now like it might have in some sorta way a few good months earlier. If you're in the mood for laid back takes on "Ode To Billy Joe" or "The Shadow of Your Smile" maybe MR. SHING-A-LING is for you, but frankly right now I'd rather hear Roscoe Mitchell wrench his guts on a bass saxophone while a few African rattles and stringed plunkers shoot sonic ricochets. That's just how my nerves work and if they don't on you sorry about your shot beyond belief nodes.

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The Only Ones-LIVE IN CHICAGO 1979 --- SUNDAY MORNING NIGHTMARE VOL. 1 CD-r burn (originally on Alona's Dream Records)

Peter Perrett might be a junkie but he sure ain't no James Taylor! Sure he seems to be doing a good Johnny Thunders-styled nod-out on most of this excellent live platter but he holds himself together rather nobly and can deliver on a great show which sure brings back a whole lotta memories regarding where rock 'n roll really stood back in them days. Reminds me of all the promise of a rock resurrection that got wooshed out with the descent of decadent Velvet-pangs and the advance of technodoodle glitz. Kinda comes off like the Heartbreakers had Tom Verlaine 'stead of Richard Hell joined 'em 'r sumpin', really this is a good document of one of those acts that you never woulda heard of had there not been a strong undercurrent of rock cultism sweeping the world. (It coulda been stronger but at this stage in the game I should be thankful for what we did get!) (Hey, I mighta reviewed this 'un onna blog earlier and if so, boy are you in luck getting two reviews of the same item!)

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Various Artists-SITAR NOBODY AIRDALE CRYSTAL CD -r burn (Bill Shute)

Bill gets kinda sitar-y on this mixdisque what with Phil Upchurch and a pretty boff team up of Larry Williams, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and Kaleidoscope doin' a twanged up r/b wonder. Dutch progressive rockers Timebox doin' Tim Hardin actually succeed despite the usual limitations of the musical style they're performing in, while the use of that Indian twanger actually does add the proper cheeziness to the various Chris Farlowe, Association and S.D. Narang tracks (well, I woulda expected it from the last 'un!). In all, a pretty twangy affair if I do say so myself (and why not, it's MY blog!)

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It's too late to get any of 'em for Christmas gift, but maybe you can send out some of these BLACK TO COMM back issues  to friends and family the next holiday season! That is, if there IS a next holiday season which if is the case buy a buncha these and give 'em out for the Ides of March for all I care!

COMIC BOOK REVIEW! MR. A. #21 (Published by Snyder and Ditko, 2017)

Dunno how I missed this by-now three-year-old effort, but even the more obvious of these kulturally significant items tend to slip under my radar because --- well, I am about as adept as Karen Quinlan on a day when the feeding tube gets clogged up a bit. And YOU, not-so-dear reader, should be ashamed! After all, it is your doody to keep Your Humble Master informed of such epoch-busting items such as new Mr. A. titles...sheesh, why can't more of my readers be like Top Cat James!!!!

It's a good 'un too, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Steve Ditko's legendary "moral avenger" Mr. A., and as you may have guessed I'm sure glad I have this 'un to toss upon the ever-growing comic book heap once I've done 'n digested with it.  

Guaranteed to shock and offend as well as inspire and influence, these stories are certainly not of the same style and vision that had thousands of shag-haired and bell-bottomed comic book readers of the early-seventies swooning over crucifixion allegories starring Green Lantern and Green Arrow. Hard-nailed and to-the-point, Mr. A. is guaranteed to send home more'n a few uncomfortable truisms about life, justice and mere existence even if Ditko hadda drag those more altruistic than thou comic book fans into the light of reality, even if he hadda grab 'em by their ladylocks to do so.

This special edition reprints the very first Mr. A. appearance from the pages of the infamous WITZEND, a fine effort that breaks more'n a few sainted liberal tropes and deeply-held beliefs --- no, make that SHATTERS them on the ground forcing the reader to love it or loathe it while all of the deeply-held comic book homilies of the day are pretty much shot to all hell. "Angel" is a juvenile delinquent cop killer who is coddled by a not-so-stereotypical bleeding heart social worker who, in typical Ditko fashion, is appropriately named Miss Kinder. Mr. A. has yet to develop fully as a character at this time but he's already a mean muffuga slapping around lowlife crooks and delivering on a philosophy that still seems to send creepy crawls up the spines of those attuned to a more pollyannaish form of human relationships. The climax comes when Mr. A. asks the by-now bleeding to death social worker whether he should save her or a dangling from a flagpole Angel with the ultimate conclusion being yet another shocker to those not accustomed to dealing with Ditko's more-on-target-than-yours ideas of justice.

More fanzine-era reprints pop up..."Captive Spark" deals with the dawn of man and utilizing the early ideas of trade and commerce to make a primitive life easier and how, even during those early times, others were begging for handouts while moaning and groaning in their caves while more industrious cavemen were hunting and bartering. "My Brother" in many ways is a throwback to those old good brother/bad brother crime dramas that cluttered up the late-night moom pitcher tee-vee tubes with, as you would have expected, a philosophically startling end that a few of you would have seen comin' a mile away. But man, when it comes it still hits ya rather strong-like. As for "Liberty or Death" I'm still trying to comprehend exactly what it was Ditko was attempting to relay (the basic premise would have made a great running title what with the Liberty Agents working behind an ever-rotating group of heroes who have the tendency to get offed rather suddenly), though I found the final panel looked suspiciously like the cover of Rush's 2112 and since they too followed the same socio-political path that Ditko did I just wonder if their copping of this panel was quite intentional...

The cream of the ish just hasta be the new Mr. A. saga entitled "Mr. A. and the Helpers", a tale which was originally scheduled to appear in the early-nineties Mr. A. comic title (which never did get off the ground much to the utter regurgitation of people like myself) but has been piecemealed along with the rest of the series. Interestingly enough this story deals with a corrupt police force (previous Ditko works have been staunchly pro-cop especially when they've pitted against those protesters that the guy had been making look foolish as early as his Spider-Man days) and Mr. A. trying to get to the root of the problem despite hindrance from not only the cops but the commissioner. Not surprisingly there have been a few changes made since the earlier Mr. A. comics...it looks as if Mr. A. now has the power to turn invisible in order to spy on his suspects while there's a new man in charge at THE DAILY CRUSADER, that typically snobbish Big City more woke than thou rag where Mr. A's hidden identity Red Grainge works not only as an investigative reporter but a television news commentator. If I'm not mistaken this new boss is actually the original owner of the paper who, although was supposed to be dead (with his politically pious brother running the paper if and only if he does not fire Grainge!), was merely sick all along and is now back...but for how long since it's made clear that his ticker just ain't in the best of shape and well, it looks like brother might be back soon once again rattling off typically right-on editorials about the false values of the capitalist scourge amongst other tasty tidbits I'm sure most of you readers will definitely lap up!

For longtime Ditkoites like myself this is a nice respite from the anarchistic comic books I've been lapping up, and a good one at that. Now that Ditko is gone I'm sure more of these titles not only reprinting his fanzine work but his more recent endeavors will pop up and as usual I can't wait considering that, well, how long do I have left on this planet at my advanced age. It would be fitting if the very last of these Mr. A.'s featured the long-promised origin of the man, a saga that I think would make my striving to stay alive long enough to read it quite a pleasure! That would have been pure Ditko...to leave the story that shoulda been first for the grand finale!

Wow, just what you've been waiting for! Yes, it's the weekend edition of BLOG TO COMM that's guaranteed to stir your musical being and shake up more'n just your life energy forces! I would say that I hope you had a nice previous seven days of existence but since I really couldn't give a hoot I won't. And frankly, I know you feel the exact same way about me!

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As I'm sure you would expect from a sentimental old fanabla such as me, this time of year does bring back various memories, toastywarm and not so, concerning the last days of the year and the happiness and misery those days usually entailed. Amongst the positive memories are buying the Hampton Grease Band album at a Pittsburgh-area flea market the Sunday before Christmas 1976 and buying the Monty Python live album after Christmas '76 for that matter. We won't get into the bad Christmas memories at this time, though Brad Kohler could rattle off a whole load of bad 'un's that I told him about!

Considering that I'm typing this on December 8th I also gotta say that I find it a li'l hard to believe that it's been forty years since John Lennon signed his last autograph. Not that I think Lennon was any sorta bigtime rock hero here at BLOG TO COMM headquarters (despite a few late-sixties/early-seventies trips into the outer reaches), but I also happened to get hold of the remaining back catalog of CLE that day as well as my own personal (and FREE!) copy of Brian Sands' FIXATION that very day (wait, that was that December 8, 1981, a pretty gloomy and snowy day that was brightened up by the arrival of Sands' last recorded masterpiece). 

It's more the passing of killer time than the actual 86-ing of Lennon that kinda gets to me, not to mention that them early eighties days were the last gasps of rock 'n roll having even a shard of cool as opposed to its Money Go Round stature throughout the eighties and beyond thanks to the likes of MTV, the sad state of de-balled rock pressitude epitomized by the Andy Secher-helmed HIT PARADER along with the watered down CREEM, not forgetting the usual sycophants passing as rock critics who were scattered about ruining the legacy that the likes of Lester Bangs and Richard Meltzer helped grow to fruition a good ten or so years earlier. 

December 8th also brings back memories of what I was doing that day in 1975 when, on a rainy yet very warm night I bought a batch of albums from White Wing Records in Niles Ohio, one of them being what would become an all-time classic namely Eno's TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN BY STRATEGY. (And even that early in its lifespan the rec was in the cutout racks---remember that those depression-era wages I was earning had kept me from buying all the records I woulda loved to have heard [and more!] right when they were being birthed but as usual I hadda wait and wait and WAIT.) I once wrote about how I was heading out for the Eastwood Mall to check out the bargain bins with my cyster at the driver's wheel and while we were parking the ol' heap the AM was just finishing blasting out "Over My Head" by Fleetwood Mac with the dee-jay remarking about how much he loved that laid back music! And even at that early age his words shook me to my very core!

Anyway, TAKING TIGER MOUNTAIN was such a big hit with me that I bought ANOTHER GREEN WORLD at full price soon after which naturally was a financial gamble. And while we're on the subject of the one called Eno, if I recall correctly I also bought BEFORE AND AFTER SCIENCE there as soon as it got an Amerigan release, and for all you biographers out there that was my next to last ever purchase at White Wing before that shop closed up for good. (My last ever White Wing purchase was the National Lampoon "greatest hits" collection on cassette but by this time the store was, shall we say, shot to shit sans the imports, bootlegs and even cutouts that made the place so fun to shop just a few years earlier when kids would crowd it on Friday nights thumbing through the various bins). 

I know none of you really do care that I even had a childhood or actually hadda scrimp and scrape to buy the same records you got by the barrelful thanks to your lenient parents, but for a kid like me who was living on pennies and dimes and hadda make 'em go as far as they did those days sure do leave a strange, not-so-nostalgic-as-they-were-halcyon, taste in my soul. And like I said December sure brings out the old feelings in me undoubtedly due to the non-school relief those days brought forth.

I don't believe that it was December 8th of 1976 that I went with my mom 'n uncle to the Eastwood Mall to get some new furniture for his living room, but it might have been. Forgot what I bought that day (maybe a cassette of LOVE IT TO DEATH which is still moiling in my cassette box)  but I'm sure it was a real lulu!

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WEIRD SCENES INSIDE THE DOLLAR GENERAL: while buying some  much-needed off-brand cough syrup recently I actually espied a (now get this!) holiday issue of MAD magazine at the checkout, proudly displayed between those Time/Life tributes to some recently-deceased nonentities or historical figures presented in colorized snaps. T'was surprised to see ol' Alfred E. Neuman's visage smiling from the racks of course since, for the life of me, I thought that the ol' EC line was in existence if only to plug the past seventy years of their past accomplishments since there were hardly any PPRESENT ones worth remembering. But lo and behold I guess that the old "humor in a jugular vein" is up and about at least in some cash-in on its past image form. Of course I didn't buy a copy.

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The recent death of former astronaut Chuck Yeager sure brought back quite a few olde tymey memories that were fermenting about in my mind. One being the riddle I used to tell my cousin's three-year-old son way back when..."What's the opposite of Yeager?----BOO-ger!" Anyway yet another name from those days when I thought life was something fun to look forward to is no longer up 'n about and that's really too bad in these days when heroes and good guys are pretty much indistinguishable form the bad boys of life. Another good thing about him is that I have learned that Yeager believed in a person's advancement in the space program due to MERIT (remember that word?) rather than due to special privilege which, in these color-obsessed times, is something that upsets the forward minded thinkers. In other words, he has to be good!

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Anyhoo here be the record and such reviews. Thanks to the guys from Razorlegs, Bill Shute, Paul McGarry,  Bob Forward and my own personal toil for the music. Hope you dig the crazy writing which should inspire you to get some of the crazy sounds written about, because in this day and age the thing we ALL need is a whole lot less jive and a whole lot more OFFENSIVE DESTRUCTIVE MALADJUSTED ATONAL BLARE cleanse whatever's left of our sagged out souls.

RAZORLEGS NO. 5 cassette (Razorlegs.bandcamp.com)

When you begin your cassette with a riff swiped right outta "Raw Power" you know yer gonna be in for a good time! Yet another Razorlegs release filled to the brim with atonal guitar and pounding drums doing a good job keeping time (and keeping up with the guitar) all done up with a maddening zeal that should appeal to fans of those early Chrome albums. Hopefully more of this raucous rock will be heading our way shortly because in these times of uncertainty and downright abject horror, we sure need more!!! (Uncertainty and downright abject horror, that is.)

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Hawkwind-THE WEIRD TAPES NO. 8 --- LIVE 1966-'73 CD (Hawkwind Records, England)

The Grateful Dead have DICKS PICKS and Hawkwind have THE WEIRD TAPES. And guess which odds 'n sods collection I'm goin' nuts over at this very moment! 

As far as rarities go this 'un's got a whole load of goodies from the alternate live "Space is Deep" from the SPACE RITUAL tour to a buncha mid-sixties pre-Hawkwind r/b things that sound particularly authentic to the point where you woulda thought Blind Lemon Willie or whatever his name was woulda written the liner notes had this only come out in 1966. 

My fave of the platter just happens to be a mid-seventies effort entitled "Down On Her Knees" which is rather unique not only in its lack of electronic whirr but the goldingit punkiness of it all, from the Lou Reed vocal affectation of Robert Calvert to the hard-edged Ladbrook Grove style repeato-riff and Larry Wallis-esque lead guitar line that's guaranteed to kill sissies at ten paces. 

Yet another one of those releases that I sure wish I had a good X-some years back because it's stuff like this which really gets the ol' soul a'stirrin' ifyaknowaddamean...

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The Feelies-TIME FOR A WITNESS CD-r burn (originally on A&M Records)

I hated these guys and what they doth wrought back in the eighties, but I gotta say that this early-nineties vintage record doesn't sound half bad. Kinda reminds me of mid-seventies Dylan for some reason and the amerindie dinge thankfully doesn't rear its ugly head...much, that is. Not to mention the fact that the fourth track on the thing kinda reminds me of Amon Duul II what with the bongos and psychedelic guitar leads. Even the usual Lou Reed vocal swipes sound better this time 'round. Still won't give 'em the time of day tho.

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Various Artists-JACK WHITE'S BLUES CD-r burn (originally on Uncut Records)

One-a-those packages based around a theme (in the tradition of alla those SONGS WE TAUGHT THE CRAMPS and RECORDS THAT LOU REED BOUGHT OR HE MIGHT HAVE BOUGHT HAD THEY ONLY BEEN AROUND BACK THEN AND HE HAD ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY THEM) that have been cluttering up the markets for years on end. Frankly I couldn't care one whit about songs that Jack White covered, but hearin' this pick 'n choose of various old blooze, folk and a few outta-nowhere surprises (Marlene Dietrich, Patti Page...) all mooshed together does make for a way better listening experience than whatcha get from most all these up 'n comers who just won't stop comin' all over the place. Listen to the originals and leave the cover versions in the turdbucket where they BELONG!!!!!

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Bill Black's Combo-MOVIN' CD-r burn (originally on Hi Records)

Somehow I JUST GOT INTO A LATE-FIFTIES/EARLY-SIXTIES INSTRUMENTAL ROCK MOOD, and boy does this platter help out! Black 'n Co. cover the hotcha best of the earliest of early rock 'n roll with the same sorta swerve and vigor that we'd expect outta any of the competition. Faves like "Bo Diddley", "Forty Miles of Bad Road" and many more pop into the mix givin' this platter the perfect party atmosphere maker any NORMAL person could ask for. If I had any friends (and thankfully I don't at this time---do you know how much Doritos and soda pop are goin' for these days?) I'd invite 'em all up to my place and play this 'un incessantly until they either pass out or leave, hopefully the latter rather'n the former.

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The Primitives-BLOW-UP CD-r burn (originally on Arc Records, Italy)

Limeys transplanted to Italy do good on this effort re-creating the sounds o' home for the Mediterranean set with a pretty raw approach that should appeal to quite a few readers, reg'lar or not. Mostly covers including some sung in the native tongue in order to appeal to the local dagos, 'n its all done with a raging British Invasion thump that really makes me wish I was front and center for one of their concerts. Along with the Rokes an English act that proved that there was a lot more happenin' in wopland than noodles 'n organized crime.

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The Fundamentalists-CHANICAL ITCH CD-r burn (Walls Flowing Records)

Bob Forward gets hold of some rhythm tracks off an old Mellotron, presents them as they normally would sound as well as mangles a few up, and as a result has even more of his readymade recordings available for those of us brave enough to give this a listen. I'm sure some of you more suspecting types out there would mutter so what, but frankly when Chris Burdon said art was whatever you can get away with he was absolutely right!

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Various Artists-CRIME EYE GODSON MORNING CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Gotta say that Lorne Greene's rendition of the BONANZA theme reminded me of the days when tee-vee ruled the roost and was a fambly gathering to look forward to, while the EYE MAGAZINE ad reminded me of  what used to pass for provocative and durty back when I was starting to notice that women were the ones with the lumpy sweaters. The rest of the hodgepodge works swell as well what with the funky take on Steppenwolf's "Sookie Sookie" to the palatable post-Replacements new wave drone of Alec's Band. The rest, from Bob Crosby's big band music to the (unlisted onna cover) ads 'n Will Rogers quip (not forgetting an interesting piece of "musique concrete" from "Baker-Ritch") is good but not exactly life-reaffirming. But then again nowadays what is?

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OK, you can't live without 'em but I sure can! I'm talkin' 'bout alla these BLOG TO COMM back issues that I'd sure like to turn into some hefty moolah so's that maybe I can enjoy some of the finer things in life like food and lottery ruboffs! You buy some, you enrich your mind...I sell some, I enrich my bank account! Simple as that.

 

BOOK REVIEW! FERD'NAND BY MIK (Rinehart & Company Inc., 1957)

's funny, but throughout years of searching through flea markets and garage sales for a book just like this, I finally get 'un long after the time when such a collection of comics woulda made a GIANT impact on my own personal sense of comictude. Who'm I kiddin'...even in the here and now FERD'NAND means a hegguva lot more to me than any of the modern-day strips I happen upon, once again jetting me back to my turdler times when things like comics and Soakie figurines had way more of an impact on my well being than anything the New York Elite types would consider beneficial to creating well-rounded and perfectly suited to the hipster cause of the week children they've been spawning for ages.

Like in NANCY or HENRY, the artwork of transplanted Dane Mik is beautiful...deceptively simple to the point of ridicule but then again who ever could copy that more suited to the everyworkaday type person's eyeballs style even if they tried hard enough (and you can bet many of them tried). The jokes are simple, ofttimes clever, and would have been considered GENIUS by various Big City snobs had Charlie Chaplin come up with 'em in one of those old moom pitchers only erudite types seem to have watched for the past seventysome years.

But eh. when I read these fifties-era FERD'NANDs all I gotta say is that I'm sure glad the comic strip had continued for years on end (I think it still is goin' on somewhere!) just so's us ranch house kiddies of the sixties and seventies coulda enjoyed 'em just the way our box house lower-class parents and grandparents did a good twenty years earlier. And even the more pink-tinged readers of this blog gotta admit that the suburban situations that Ferd'nand and family get into as they pantomime the panels away sure have more meaning to our very own existences than they do say, most all of those effete stiff upper lipped types I came across during my early fanzining days who seemed to be all superficial pose with little humanity underneath. And despite the protests of the various fans of femme comicdom out there who believe that they're eons evolved from us lowly types on the bottom of the gene pool ladder FERD'NAND is a stark mirror to reality! I mean, who among you couldn't relate to the comic where Ferd'nand gets a major shock from the cheap electric guitar he just bought?!?!

Dunno about you, but I never got a catch you off guard last-panel punchline surprise reading DOONESBURY (still quickie peak at it just to get the ire flowin' in me) of any of the more recent additions to the once-funny pages the way I do with a NANCY, a HENRY or a FERD'NAND. Sometimes I wonder if, for all intent purposes, laughing (especially at things you loathe) has been BANNED once and for all...well, it sure seems that way anymore especially when you do consider what there is out there to laugh at and none of it can match an old NATIONAL LAMPOON special edition. A book like this is a reminder of just how life-reaffirming and meaningful the laff parades were back when well, we were still allowed to laugh at things!

One of the best things I like about these late autumn days we're experiencin' is the way the sky looks when the sun's going down (no, not that you thilly thing), the deep blue darkness that lends a rather somber feeling to your existence and stirs up a passionate and mystical aura that makes listening to THE MARBLE INDEX an even more potent endeavor. Absorbing the emotional tugs while  watching the skies getting darker and darker can be an even more stirring experience, once again making me re-live old turdler-era deep-seated wonders that made existing such a pleasurable thing back when you really could say the world was a better place to exist on all counts. Anyhoo, enough of that over-emotional yet personalist goo and welcome to this week's edition of BLOG TO COMM, the blog that does for rock fandom what Josef Mengele did for grade school Science Fair experiments. Hope you like this 'un, but the again if you press me hard enough I gotta say I could hardly care a whit about what you think. 

(oh, already mentioned the deep and ennui-riddled late-autumn skies already)...its' a fairly good selection of music to be blabbed about this time, and Bill Shute, Paul McGarry, Bob Forward and nobody else should be congratulated for the vast array of wares they've sent...UNSOLICITED...which is great if only that I don't hafta sort through over 45 years of collected records and other recorded spizz to fill this post up. Oddly enough nothing personally purchased by me myself 'n I has made it to this week's roster, but some rather enticing turdbits are being awaited via Mr. Mailman so maybe next week...

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Coming up next week, a piece on the ten worst articles written about the ten worst movies of all time! (Note the Don Fellman influence on that 'un!) 

 

The Yardbirds-ROGER THE ENGINEER {EXPANDED EDITION} CD-r burn (originally on Demon Records, England)

Way back inna Not So Golden Age of Eighties Rock Fandom one Tim Warren of BACK FROM THE GRAVE notoriety brought up the interesting and perhaps not so off-the-wall mention that the Yardbirds' legendary ROGER THE ENGINEER album, originally recorded and released in that top notch rock 'n roll year of 1966, was indeed...now get this!...PROGRESSIVE ROCK!!!!! Now I think Mr. Warren is one rock 'n roll savvy sorta guy whose records are listened to by me even a good well-over thirty years after they were released but sheesh...progressive rock? The rock's "coming of age" moo-ment that gave us ponderous music and lyrics coupled with strange science fiction and fantasy imagery that related to Tolkien and H.G. Welles more than it did "Clouds" by the Spacemen? Well, all I gotta say is that if this is indeed "progressive rock" then give me a shag cut, a copy of CLOSE TO THE EDGE and set the controls for the heart of the import bin!

All kidding aside, ROGER THE ENGINEER is merely the Yardbirds continuing on their experimental explorations while remaining a top notch group that knew how to extrapolate on things while remaining close to the blues source. Extraterrestrial true, but with both feet firmly planted on terra ferma. 

Warren might have thought "Hot House of Omagarashid" was prog but to me it sounds more like an early sixties Joe Meek outer space epic without the soundboard switcherooing. "Turn Into Earth" remains a fave from this effort even tho I prefer the Derby-Hatville's version with the organ playing the main theme that popped up on some old Texas volume of HIGHS IN THE MID-SIXTIES long back. 'n alla the expected extras including single sides and alternate takes are just what you need to make this expanded ish a goodie for either the old turd or the young poop-out!

By the way, a complete rundown of the recent BACK FROM THE GRAVE series is being readied for publication, but the only thing that's keeping it from fruition is my inability to find the volumes 5 and 6 collection which for some reason seems to have vanished from the face of this orb. Anyone out there know what the heck happ'd to the thing anyway?

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The Fundamentalists-THE RENAISSANCE CD-r burn (Walls Flowing Records, via Ubgun12@yahoo.com)

More of that stuff they usedta call Musique Concrete made from found readymade material and quite creatively slopped onto a disque for your pleasure or ire depending on what kinda mood yer in today. I understand that Richard Meltzer usedta do loads of tape mangipulations like these back inna late-sixties which would be the aural equivalent to those boxing films of his that you could have rented via the Anthology Film Archives, but since this is Bob Forward doin' 'em 'n not Meltzer you probably won't care about this one iota. Oddly enough I don't either, but I'm sure glad I got to hear this anyway.

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The Depressions-THE PUNK COLLECTION CD-r burn (originally on Captain Oi Records, England)

I thought I was gonna be depressed hearing even more of that nth generation punk rock but these guys are pretty good. As usual it's nothing that seems to stick to any of my playing units the way certain decayed forms of late-sixties mania tend to these days, but as far as punk goes it ain't punque  'n as we all know that's a purty good thing onna ears (and spirit). 

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John Du Cann-THE WORLD'S NOT BIG ENOUGH CD-r burn (originally on Air Angel Records)

Ex-Atomic Rooster guitarist does swell with this long-withheld late-seventies effort which sounds like T. Rex, Sweet, Slade and Sparks mixed with a load of mid-seventies glitter punk a la Another Pretty Face or the Fast. Dunno why this one was held back for so long because frankly the contents of this is what used to be known as HIT MATERIAL that woulda had the boys swooning and the girls forming rock bands way back when. Music for foxy babes as well as guys who wanted to dress like foxy babes, and even normal people like presumably you and me could get a huge kick outta the big glam stomp of it aa well!

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CHRISTMAS WITH "BIG" TINY LITTLE CD-r burn (originally on Coral Records)

Haw, for once in my life I pull a Bill burn outta the pile that's, howshallwesay, copasetic with the whatever it is that passes for the holiday spirit these days. At least it recalls somewhat the sense of a holiday spirit like it used to be when I was a kid and the entire Christmas Season brouhohoho was something to look forward to.  Tiny and his rinkydink piano do the Christmas break (called so because all your toys got smashed to bits before you had the chance to get back to school) swell with the olde tymey arrangements and presentation, but I gotta say that it'll never replace our old scratchy album with the Four Aces singing "Silent Night" in four part early-fifties singing group harmony!

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GERALD MOHR IN THE ADVENTURES OF PHILIP MARLOWE CD-r burn

Two 1951 episodes. "Nether Nether Land" deals with a gal named Carolyn with a figure that could stop an orgy who, after being followed and sheltered by Marlowe, mysteriously goes missing. You'll go nuts along with Marlowe trying to find out just who abducted her and why and if the thing just ain't one weird diversion from the truth which of course finally comes out when the horns emit those tones of doom. "Heir For G-String" features the connection between heir and skid row denizen Buff Ryan and a stripper which, again, has a sorta fishy air about the whole thing, At least the horns end this 'un up on a more upbeat blast!

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Aaron Dilloway-FEAR SWEPTHTE POOLSIDES CD-r burn

You probably know way more'n me about the whys and wherefores of this 'un. Loads of pretty snat noise mangipulations caused by affecting various soundsources to the point of madness while even Jim Morrison's not spared from being treated (actually, he sounds a lot like R. Meltzer here!) in more of Dilloway's maddening experiments. You've heard it all before re. various "cassette culture" styled cut ups etc., and you might as well hear it again wherever you can find this thing!

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Various Artists-BIG NEWS ON THE GOLD COAST CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Not really a "Virtual Floor Sweeping" but a sampling of what Bill calls "Airwick-scented vintage lounge appetizers". 

The early-sixties ambience (with a few charges into late-sixties attempts at hipsterism) really does send this writer back to his early turdler times when there was that electrical thrill even to the more poppier platters that were gettin' spinned, and although things like Bill Justis's take on Ray Barretto's "El Watusi" certainly sound watered down next to the real deal they sure zap me into that world I just didn't get enough of back when I was living concurrently with POST WORLD WAR TWO CIVILIZATION AT ITS GREATEST. 

Still a whole lot of this does remind me of some rainy dark evening when my dad 'n me would be stashed away in the car on a rainy dark evening for whatever reason and music such as the kind here would be playing through the static 'n all I could wish for was to be home away from alla this nature that was goin' on! Funny, when I was but that mere pre-pubesprout I thought that music like this was grown up stuff, and here I am (more or less) a grown up and I'm listening to it just like I thought I would have way back when. Boy was I prophetic even then or what!

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I know that many of ya aren't exactly enthralled with entire fanzine concept as people like Fredric Wertham were and people like myself are, but if you do collect such things may I suggest a real good deal you just can't live without???