BLOG TO COMM

This post might come off like a rush job, and it is one! That's because for once I had a busier than usual week here in real life land and just wasn't able to deliver on alla the BLOG TO COMM goodies that I usually tend to dish out the way San Francisco dishes out little boys with sore behinds. But eh, why should I think up them ol' excuses when it seems like EVERY post I've produced comes off like a slap-dash quickie toss-out that probably would take yer average blogschpieler a good ten minutes to crank out but takes me much longer because...well...I guess I'm just not as with-it and on-the-ball as you sure wish I could be plus I do like to linger on the words I do peck out in order to absorb all their natural goodness.

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But in case you'd like to know, I still am feeling rather grrrrrrr about many facets of my existence, perhaps egged on by the failure of anyone to do anything proper about my not receiving that George Russell CD which the Post Oriface gave to a total stranger as anyone who's read last week's post would know. Sheesh, not even a hearty sorry can be eked outta 'em as if I'd confess to a RRFU such as the one they pulled on me! But anyway, right now I'm playing Russell's OTHELLO BALLET SUITE trying to ease the overall pain of such a grave loss. And although I am enjoying it I naturally am feeling just as miserable as if I hadn't.

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As for the header being either too large or two small in typical ALICE IN WONDERLAND fashion well, I'm sure am feeling curiouser and curiouser about the whys and howcums regarding this mishap while trying to think of how to correct this situation even without the astute help of you reg'lar readers. (As you already know I am computerically ignerent, having given up on any technological upgrading in the brain dept. since at least '78.) Your comments as to help alleviate this situation have been useless as usual, 'cept for Mark Pino's who gave me a hint of what might have happened even though I have no idea as to how I can update the blog's coding language considering just how my technoknowledge has been pretty much stunted these last fortysome years. Anybody out there have some CONSTRUCTIVE advice as to where to go from here? I doubt it since I know you ALL hate me, and come to think of it the feeling is rather mutual.

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Thanks again to Bill and Bob, but not Paul since I didn't get into any of his burns this week. Nice of you to send me those old tapes of yours too Bob --- keep thinking of how much that Beefheart one woulda cost me had I bought a dub from somebody advertising tapes inna pages of TROUSER PRESS back 1980 way 'r somethin'. Don't worry tho, I will get to it probably more later than sooner but get to it I will given my lack of musical stimulation these days.

The Mystery Meat-PROFILES CD-r burn (originally on Shadocks Music)

Here's one that was making somewhat of a hubbub in the smugger than thou obscuro reissue world about twenty years back. I passed on it because I thought with tag like the Mystery Meat they were gonna be some really precocious and pretentious Mothers of Invention wannabes who were tryin' to worm their way into a contract with Bizarre Records bein' all so shocking and current and relevant and all. Turns out that this '68 recording features none of that sorta tomfoolery but some downer-groove garage band rock (the kind Bill Shute likes) which sounds way more teenbo 1966 than up against the wall 1968. Even breaks through to the realms of beauteous uncool with a cover of the Monkees' "She". Great cheese organ mixed with unrequited love vocals and klutzy drumming recorded right smack dab inna middle of Hal's Skate-A-Rama.

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The Fundamentalists-EN SEA cassette (Walls Flowing Records)

Haw, somebody thought it woulda been cute to put Terry Riley's mug onna cover of this 'un as if anything inside would remotely sound like the famed composer's work. Oh well, if you like those distorted guitar rumbling things like the kinda racket that popped up on the second Kraftwerk album you might want to hear this. It's got a whole tape fulla 'em!

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Rick James-STREET SONGS CD-r burn (originally on Gordy Records)

I still can't get the image of that smirkin' James and his wife in court knowin' that he was gonna beat that rape rap outta my mind. Maybe I shouldn't let my personal prejudices color my opinion of the guy's bigtime hit platter so yeah, I will do my best.

You would think that a respected individual such as myself who could find perhaps a shard of funkpunk brashness in "Super Freak" just might cozy up to this and maybe I somehow do. However, altho I don't find any of this early-eighties neo-soul particularly offensive and perhaps entertaining in ways music hasn't been for ages, it just ain't the kinda grog I live my violent fantasies by like I do "Sister Ray" and a variety of keen variations thereof. Might be your cuppa tea but, just like I felt when I was a mere six, this was more or less older kids music that just didn't light me up the way something like, say, "Dirty Water" could.

I will admit that "Super Freak" sounds fairly good in the light of what has since transpired but alla them MTV connotations revile even forty years down the line. And considering how the eighties weren't exactly my favorite time in existence (until the nineties, oughts, teens and twenties that is), the memories are kinda cringe-y.

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THE HOWARD STERN SHOW-GERMAN BROADCASTERS CD-r burn

Yeah I gotta admit that I've loathed Howard Stern for obvious reasons for a much longer time than anyone could imagine, but him cracking them jokes along with his lackeys as a buncha kraut radio broadcasters come a'visitin' midt faces about as stern as Howard's last name had me doin' quite a few har-hars as the usual bad taste nazi jokes went a'flyin'. The Martin Luther King impression really got me rollin on the dashboard as I was drivin' down the highway at 100 mph. I guess I liked this 'un because, for once, I wasn't being the target of ridicule as is wont just about every top snob liberal/lefty b-cast outlet these sad 'n sorry times. Tho what prompted Bob Forward to zoom this 'un my way I'll never know.

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Hession/Wilkinson/Fell-ST. JOHN'S CD-r burn (originally on Ecstatic Peace Records)

It's still heartwarming to know that the spirit of explosive avgarde freeplay manages to remain a driving force in one's life despite the usual conspiracy of silence which surrounds jazz of a non-bowtie nature. Live in Canada (and maybe elsewhere) in 1994, this trio has recorded an effort that I'd place up there with a whole slew of newer-than-new jazz efforts that I've either seen via cybercasts or purchased only to get lost in years of recorded booty. Sax/bass/drums set up with reedman Wilkinson also getting in his fair share of vocalized mumbles and bee-bee-bee-bee's adding to the wonderful creepiness of it all.

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CAMPBELL PLAYHOUSE - THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD BY AGATHA CHRISTIE (November 12, 1939)

A little Orson Welles goes a long way in my life so it wasn't like I was exactly cherishing the thought of listening to this radio play featuring him and a fairly good portion of the Mercury Theater reg'lars don' the same thing only for Campbell's Soup. Nothing that will keep your attention especially if you're the kind of guy who does ten things at once, but I'm sure that if you settle down in front of your player and give this your fullest attention you'll be just as bored as you would be watching this on MASTERPIECE THEATER.  Features noted huffypuff actress Edna May Oliver, future Alfred Alan Napier as the victim, longtime Welles actor and Tragg Ray Collins not to mention Everett Sloane who I liked much better voicing Dick Tracy.

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Various Artists-SHAKE CHOO-CHOO JUICE CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Startin' this burn off with a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial (I refuse to use the post-eighties abbreviated KFC form in the same manner I will not refer to programs as SNL or horny politicians as JFK) wasn't exactly a smart move for this diet-conscious fanabla, but this sure is a pretty hot collection of rarities from here and there. A buncha good extremely rare and not-so tracks permeate this plastic with a few actual winners scattered amid the mediocre yet lovable. High-pitched moments include the promotional record for the 1954 Minnesota State Fair, the Misfits' "Hollywood Babylon" single, the Blues Magoos "One By One" and I finally found that Troggs ad for Miller's High Life which only goes to show you that if you got the time Bill's got the Cee-Dee for you to really soak yerself into!

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OK, so maybe you can live without 'em, and I sire wish I could! Yes, I am hoping that some of you readers out there would be more'n anxious to scarf up these BLACK TO COMM back issues not only because you really do need the excellent pseudo-gonz writing that permeates these pages and eyeball the rare photographs and wonderful clip art that adorn most pages, but (mainly) because I sure would like to turn these mags into precious lucre that I need to survive with! And who knows, you might even receive a SURPRISE with your order an' I certainly don't mean an empty parcel Bub! (Mebbe a Von Lmo postcard or some other jetsam cloggin' up the room, or perhaps even a BTC Cee-Dee if yer lucky enough. Yeah, thrills galore.)