SOLEDAD VOLUME ONE, JANUARY 2019 (available from Jeremy R. Richey, 220 Tupelo Trail 1607, Frankfort KY, 40601)

What is this thing supposed to be anyway? From a quick glance inside you'd think SOLEDAD was one of those frilly and fruffy art periodicals with the same upper-crust deep message you used to see way back inna sixties (EROS comes to mind) complete with the same kinda artzy photographic essays and Glade air freshener prose that woulda gotten ya laffed outta whatever Junior College you happened to drop out of. The old ads for classic z-grade drive in fodder and the tribute to Bernardo Whatzizname who made LAST TANGO IN PARIS (not to mention an article on that slice of intellectual tee-vee goo TWIN PEAKS) gives SOLEDAD a bit of a FILM CULTURE under-the-underground flair and savvy that seems dated yet perfect for this kind of project. Let's just say I haven't come across a publication like this since I used to storm the magazine racks at the Youngstown libary on the search for Lester Bangs' latest paen to music improper in THE VILLAGE (retch!) VOICE! (And speaking of that guy, he's here with portions of his review of  Lou Reed's THE BELLS splattered across what seems to be an old ad for that particular platter. You could say that the taste in music that the editors hold would echo those of the seventies/eighties cusp underground fold charting into unknown waters that only saw the destruction of what they had so loved the past fifteen years being moshed into MTV fodder.)

But there's one thing that makes SOLEDAD superior to past publication endeavors and in fact perhaps one of the premier artyfacts to hit this final year on the 'teens (and yeah I know that 2020 is the real end of the decade---I'm just adapting this 'un for the more reality as opposed to mathematically-minded ones in the audience!) and that is the appearance of two interviews, each with a top notch surviving member of the Cleveland First Wave who just happen to be lucky enough to be around this late inna game to give their particular spin on what did happen and what just might! 'n true, gabs with such folk as Craig Bell a.k.a. Darwin Layne and John "Regular" Morton might be about as outta place in SOLEDAD as a foreskin in an Israeli nudist camp but they sure are welcome in my own frame of what really constitutes fun and jamz even this far down into the descent. And was we approach 2020 I'll take my high energy in any way shape or increment I can!

Not that there's much we didn't already know about the two presented, and the same pix being reprinted over and over doesn't extend any real class to the proceedings, but reading about the Cle First Wave groups is something that will always thrill me to my suburban slob bones 'n like, if I can still be all agog over the comics and music I heard when I was but a mere preschooler why not about the sounds that helped mold me while I was lurching into my twenties? Even though the story has been told and re-told to stellar effect it's always like the FIRST TIME when I read about how Bell got kicked outta Mirrors or the people Morton knocked some sense into with his fists (not that he really does that this time or has ever for that matter....it just reads like the tough no-shit Morton of legend). That's one fact of life that I cannot truly deny and if you grew up searching out for any shard of rock life or info via your own limited resources at hand, you'd probably know too.

These are just a few of the records, tapes and even Cee-Dee's I had hanging around that I thought were too "common" an item to have reviewed within my usual blogposts so I just set 'em aside for a year-end (or in this care year-opening) one if only for a li'l change o' pace. These records might mean more to me than they do you, but since this is my blog why should I care what you think?

Edgar Broughton Band-MASTERS OF ROCK (EMI Harvest Records, Italy)

Here's yet another in a series of European budget releases that always cost the same as the reg'lar imports o'er here even if they went for a mere bag o' shells o'er there. 

You may remember a few of these cut-rate series that were up and about in the seventies such as Decca's THE WORLD OF... collection and Phonogram's ATTENTION, not forgetting the MASTERS OF ROCK and HARVEST HERITAGE series courtesy of EMI Europe featuring the bigger names on the roster once again collected and re-packaged in a fashion that was easily identifiable due to a familiar and standardized yet hip enough cover pattern. With the MASTERS OF ROCK platters the particular scheme consisted of, at least in the continental portion of Europe, the musical act in question's name rendered in some sort of relief form that looked so professional that I would guess the mere artwork and photography up front alone took up a whole lotta the album's budget! Well, that wouldn't've been much because they were just dredging up old music for new skins anyway with maybe a rare b-side to entice the not-so-weak fans.

The Pink Floyd collection is probably the best known MASTERS (and for a long time the only place to get those rare single sides) but there were others from the Electric Light Orchestra to Wizzard and East of Eden to Jeff Beck, the Band, Geordie and even the Beach Boys. And surprisingly enough there was one which dealt with radical rabble-rousers the Edgar Broughton Band who you would have thought to have been far out of the budget greatest hits crankout loop, but obviously weren't as this very record's existence attests to.

I don't even recall seeing this 'un flopping about in the import bins back then (maybe I had in some of the California ones I've encountered during my vacations there), that's how rare this item musta been! But when I look at that cover boy does that RECURRING DREAM that I have pop into my mind where I'm in some old backroom record shop or even department store record section and imports such as this (as well as bootlegs and other desirable platters of varying styles) seem to be popping right outta the bins just beggin' me to buy 'em!

Well, now that I have this little mofo in my mitts I don't have to dream no' mo' because this MASTERS OF ROCK collection is the spiffiest. Well, maybe not as spiffy as that HARVEST HERITAGE Broughton collection that came out in England a few years later but still good 'nuff, what with a concentration on the hard-rocking revolutionary side of the group with less of the softer and "introspective" as I like to say numbers cluttering about. Faves like "Call Me a Liar" and "Death of an Electric Citizen" (with Broughton's best Captain Beefheart growl front 'n center) pop up, and for a budget crank-out all I gotta say is that whoever it was at EMI that was responsible for this they sure did a pretty good job! However, why in hell did they go and leave Broughton's biggest hit "Out Demons Out" offa this? Unforgivable to say the least!

***

Captain Beefheart-THE SPOTLIGHT KID/CLEAR SPOT CD (Reprise Records)

Way familiar with the latter...had a copy (make that two) for ages and think it's the bee's knees as far as early-seventies destructo-sound attempting to go commercial go. However, I never did give THE SPOTLIGHT KID a listen perhaps because I remember seeing the cover at a record shop age twelve thinking it was just another country and western disc! And back in those days country and western was, at least for me, OLD FOLK'S MUSIC if you can believe that!

But how could I not like a platter like this which starts off with Beefheart growling like Iggy in heat before plodding on beautifully. I like it because it is depressing in its approach and sometimes it is good knowing that something else other'n you is gloomed out en toto! THE SPOTLIGHT KID just plows its way through, kinda like a train that is derailed yet still moves with sparks flying and cars wiggling about. Kinda like my life come to think of it. Hard blues yet in its own realm, punk rock (or tadpole music) if you're still using early-seventies CREEM magazine applications of the term. Life-reaffirming if your heart is still stuck in the mid-seventies record shop bargain bins.

Can't complain about these Beefheart platters one bit! Kinda takes me back to the record department at Mason's Department Store at the plaza (now long gone) when I was looking at those big Warner Brothers/Reprise hanging-from-the-ceiling-on-thin-wires posters with snaps of the likes of Zappa, Black Sabbath, James Taylor, Neil Young and of course the Beef himself swirling about which was my earthly introduction to this guy a good year before I actually found any of his records in a bin! All these years later I still kinda feel like that kiddo inna record department, only now my life is a whole lot fuller in some respects, ifyaknowaddamean...

***

OS MUTANTES CD-r burn

I avoided these guys back during the big OS MUTANTES HIP TOTEM MOVEMENT of the early 2000's if only because said moo'ment reminded me of the even bigger MUSIC OF BULGARIA hype of the mid-sixties...y'know, that total adoration by the hipper amongst up regarding that music that just hadda be heard or else you weren't "with it" like the kids who used to taunt me for hating the Osmonds. Or something like that, but the constant barrage of praise certainly had my Geiger Counter clicking away like castanets!

Well now that everything has died down and it's safe to listen all I gotta say is...this is good pop in that late-sixties slick yet still spry way which echoes a whole load of hotcha AM psych pop moves (with even more twenties/thirties nostalgia cops to get my mother mad!)  to the point where these guys (and gal) coulda appeared on side four of NUGGETS and nobody would have complained. Good enough that I sure woulda loved to have read what Meltzer woulda said about 'em in THE AESTHETICS OF ROCK had they only made their way above the equator!

***

WOODY'S TRUCK STOP CD (Kismet)

Would you believe that the very first group that was ever described to me as being a "garage rock" act (and this was in the high school locker room which is probably why the scent of sweat 'n body goo is suddenly overcoming me) was Woody's Truck Stop? Well maybe these guys weren't exactly the best group to come to mind when thinking about that or any particular era in rock 'n roll music, but I gotta admit that they do put up a good late-sixties wail on this, their sole album. Nothing extra-special true, but for a third-string act that had little chance of breaking out nationally (even if Todd Rundgren was in the band for a short while) Woody's was about as good as those other outta-nowhere acts that we all thought shoulda succeeded but (as usual) failed miserably.

Nice white soul and jazzy pop touches permeate, with the psychedelic rouser "Color Scheme" being the perfect bitta whipped cream and cherry on this hot fudge sundae of a platter. It actually holds up more than some of the not-quite-made-it competition of the day which had promise but just couldn't get it together enough to make it past the break through line.

***

Deep Purple-IN LIVE CONCERT AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL cassette (Harvest Records, England)

One of those curiosities that got to me, and after hearing this 'un I'd gotta say that my curiosity must have killed at least a dozen cats. Sure the merging of pop and classical is nothing new, but somehow I get the idea that the only reason this is done is to "legitimize" pop to the classical snobs and unless they're one of those "open minded" New York types I doubt that these people could care less! And although it worked with jazz as a listening to SKIES OF AMERICA will attest to, it sure soured with rock music unless you're one of the goochies who still dribbles to DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED in its entirety. I mean, I can enjoy "Knights in White Satin" on scant occasion, but just try to get me to sit through the entire thing without slinging threats at me, cyster!

And IN LIVE CONCERT ain't even as """""good""""" as that prior monstrosity, what with a load of typically schooled orchestral lines eventually leading way to rock passages that just ain't as get out as they were on Deep Purple platters past and even future. Not so sorry to say, but this is perhaps the nadir of early sonic sound implosion gone sophisticado falling flat on its face. I mean, could you see Blue Cheer mixing it up with a symphony orchestra trying to insert various classical ideals into their overall bludgeon? Thank goodniz some things that coulda didn't!

***

Television Personalities-...AND DON'T THE KIDS JUST LOVE IT CD (Fire Records, England)

I loved 'em, then I hated 'em, then I was totally indifferent. Still feel the same way even if I continue to discern the occasional flash of brilliance found in their retro-camp. Still can't dig my way through their reason for existence the way I can their obvious influences but I will say that I can understand what those who hear whatever it is they hear in the Television Personalities hear in them. Actually nice in low doses. Twee rock before twee became so cool that even a twee-bred person like myself couldn't stand it anymore.

***

Throbbing Gristle-THE SECOND ANNUAL REPORT CD (Mute Records)

A real classic for real people like myself who want a li'l whatcha'dcall rambunctiousness in their music. The electronic splurge goes all over and thankfully is not transposed with the usual free verse hippie jiz that usually accompanied these early free sound endeavors. Good enough that (like THE MARBLE INDEX) I could rank this as top notch twentieth-century avant garde music as well as something firmly rooted in the rock 'n roll idiom and like, I get the feeling this will be getting spun around here a whole lot more than INTERSYSTEMS and other synthobubblings in my collection ever will.

***

Judee Sill-HEART FOOD CD (Asylum, Japan)

The only reason I bought this one was because Sandy Robertson recommended it, comparing HEART FOOD to not only PET SOUNDS but David Bowie's LOW of all things! Frankly after listening to this all I could think of were the rest of the laid back early-seventies turquoise and fringe brigades brainwashing the mindless battalions to the eternal genius of Glenn Frey. And really, wasn't one James Taylor more than enough, as if we needed even more sensitive junkies to clutter up the record collections of sensitivity USA?  No wonder it was on Asylum!

***

Tim Rose-TIM ROSE/THROUGH ROSE COLORED GLASSES CD (BGO England)

Before I clock outta here I'm giving it the ol' college try discovering various sonic exploration that I've neglected lo these many years, and surprisingly some of these musical acts are of the more howshallIsay "singer/songwriter" mode. 

No I don't mean the usual fringe 'n turquoise types so prevalent in the seventies (see review directly above), but the more gnarly amongst 'em like Tim Hardin or this particular chap. Rose may have come outta the folk music camp but thankfully he ain't no cry-me-to-sleep slouch with his first two platters gathered up on this neat disque. The debut may suffer from over-production and strings galore but it still shines with his rendition of "Hey Joe" done the slow way as well as such cover version faves as "Come Away Melinda" and "Morning Dew". The second one is tougher and driving with a few downright CLASSICS including "Maman" (an anti-war song that thankfully doesn't reflect that whole peacenik mentality that was constantly being drilled into our kiddie brains at the time) and the smart and cutting "You Ain't My Girl No More" which sure sounds wonderful especially in our matriarchal society.

If only more folkies knew  of the proper interconnections between drug use and the creative process!

***

THIRD WORLD WAR 2 CD (Repertoire Records, England

Last year I reviewed these guys' debut and mulled over buying their second effort. Feeling rather oatsy, I decided to splurge. Well, chalk up another win for me because not only did my order from Russia arrive safe and sound but this platter is a bonafeed hard rock effort that holds up really well! The slicker production and additional piano and horn section doesn't ruin it like you'd think it would, while the team of Stamp and Avery rock as heavy as the MC5 and all of our other 60s/70s cusp faves did! Only those groups were able to "get it out" to "the people" and Third World War didn't, or couldn't, or something like that. A really neat effort from a team that didn't look anything like your standard radical rockers then or now...in fact the two looked more like Chuck McCann if you can believe it!

***

BLACK PEARL CD (Wounded Bird Records)

Never can seem to find this 'un in my leaning tower of albums so I (or course) did the cowardly thing and BOUGHT MYSELF A CEE-DEE VERSION OF IT! Best cowardly thing I did in a long time too for BLACK PEARL remains one of those classic platters that, like the Stooges' debut, says goodbye to the wild raunch of the sixties and howdy to the decadent sleaze of the seventies. And man is this one the kinetic classic of all times not only with that three-guitar lead set up but Bernie "B.B." Fieldings' white man singing like a black man trying to sing like a white man vocals! Crazed through and through, and good enough for any true six-oh garage band fanatic to latch onto even if only half of the Barbarians appear on it! For three-fourths of 'em try getting the live album on Bell-Prophesy, a great slice of hard blues rock that has gotten its knocks over the years even if I would rate it one of the genre's best!

***

Eric Clapton/Jeff Beck/Jimmy Page-GUITAR BOOGIE LP (RCA Victor Records)

Why'd'ja think I bought this thing inna first place---for da music? Naw, I bought it for R. Meltzer's liner notes, and although Meltzer worship in this day and age seems just as out of place as Lester Bangs worship or Metal Mike Saunders worship or Nick Kent worship (an' I can go on) it sure goes down a whole lot smoother'n Parke Puterbaugh worship! 

Yeah, this is the same "British Archives"-culled collection that was issued with a freaky psychedelic cover in order to coax the heads 'n speds (that's a grade school-era neo-portmanteau. for "Special Education") into buying the thing, but so what! And believe-it-or-not but the playing is good enough that even yer pop'll swing to the boogie woogie track, second cut on side two! Well, he will at least until he sees what these guys look like! But Meltzer really brings it all together just like Bangs did with his MUSSORGSKY'S HEAD notes and like, what's wrong with listening to either the Yardbirds guitar greats or Mussorgsky with punk mode in mind?

***

Kim Fowley-BORN TO BE WILD CD (Elemental Music, Spain)

The one Fowley album I have never been able to FIND all these years is once again available, which makes me wanna mutter deep unto my soul WHY COULDN'T A USED COPY HAVE POPPED UP IN SOME FLEA MARKET OR GARAGE SALE BIN LO THESE MANY YEARS??? This is not the Kim we all know and love/hate, but the mad genius variant who could get away with producing Helen Reddy or recording an instrumental (mostly) covers rock album with himself playing the lead organ on each and every track. Of course it ain't earth-shattering, but if yer still of the seventies mind and think that this guy musta been great because his name was all over the place well...

***

Alan Snake-AXE PRESSURE LP (Bizart Records)

Brian Sands' passing had me pulling out this li'l remnant of what good was happening in early-eighties Cleveland, a time when the all of the real talent in the area was skeedaddling for New York City while the remnants were left to mull over what their place in the New Order was gonna be. Snake was the lead guitarist for Sands in a number of aggros, and here he gets to shine on a whole slew of top notch Cle power pop rockers that (no foolin') echo the heyday of the Raspberries-honed pop scene that spewed quite a few hotcha acts that never did make it far past the city limits. Former bandmates from Circus, the Andy Gerome Band and Milk help out as do ex-Raspberries Wally Bryson and Dan Klawon from the Choir, and it sounds just like what you wished more Cleveland power pop from the day did 'stead of what we got from those lame bar bands that got all the media attention. And if you don't believe me and wanna hear for yourself, just click here and find out what a fool you've been all these years ignorin' this.

***

Brinsley Schwarz-BRINSLEY SCHWARZ; DESPITE IT ALL CD-r burn (originally on Capitol Records)

First rec has heavy influx of CSNY harmonies and definite West Coast paens to down home wholesomeness. Second one borrows ("swipes" might be a better word) from the Band's rehashing of ancient Amerigana as interpreted by Canadians. In between are shards of interesting rock 'n roll ideas that really don't sound bad at all in this company but man, if you wanna sit through all the other stuff that's your problem, not mine!

***

Bobby Boris Pickett and the Crypt Kickers Five-THE ORIGINAL MONSTER MASH CD-r burn (originally on Garpax Records)

It's always a blast to give "Monster Mash" a spin once in awhile even if it ain't Halloween, and this particular time of the year is just as fine as if it were October 31st and yer toilet papering that old guy down the street's house. The rest of this consists of horror humor knockoffs that plagiarize not only from the hits of the day but "Monster Mash" itself. They're worth maybe a once in a lifetime listen. Good parodies of Fabian and Stan Freberg's "John and Marsha" (or was it "John and Yoko"?) can be found within the cauldron.

***

Kim Fowley-SUNSET BOULEVARD LP (Illegal Records)

I don't care if it ain't the hip thing to do here in 2018 (or at least 1985), but I really enjoy giving my Kim Fowley platters a spin, this one being no exception. Here Fowley channels everyone from Bowie, Marley and Dylan through that cheap Hollywood scenario that must have seemed totally decadent to everyone associated with the guy, but dang if it sounds rather positive and life-reaffirming to me. Highlarious in spots and poignant at others, this one does capture a good portion of the music listening pleasure of the time that had guys like me emptying our piggy banks trying to gab even a slivver of that Great Rock Universe that still seems mystical even a good forty-plus years later. If you're a Fowley hater (as I assume most of you are), how about giving this one a (second, third, fourth) chance!

***

Gene Pitney-IT HURTS TO BE IN LOVE LP (Musicor Records)

Actually this holds together well enough to the point where obvious toss outs like "Hawaii" still have that listenability to 'em that doesn't make ya wonder why ya spent a good quarter for this at the flea market. While many albums of the same strata seem to lurch on and on this 'un does make for some rather entertaining sounds that still weave their way into whatever gland of yours they dare to. I woulda expected some older cyster type to listen to while she was either cleaning her room or chatting with the galpals who came to visit. Grab her copy when she ain't around and listen to it...I mean, who wants their li'l brother crashing in on a hot gossiping session anyway?

***

The Who-ODDS AND SODS LP (Track Records)

Closing out this year's own "odds and sods" is this Who collection from the mid-seventies which went from full price directly into the cheapo bins much to the delight of depression-era wages kids like myself. Seems that I had my share of fun spinning this way back during my younger years and although it sounds way more polished and professional now than it did then these Who tracks bring back memories of what noted dolt (and Youngstown "hip" FM dee-jay icon) Thomas John (Meister) said when asked about what he though of punk rock...he hated it because it sounded like, or at least reminded him of the early Who! Now can you think of a better statement in favor of the punk brigades than that pearl of wisdom, outside of anything Anastasia Pantsios wrote about the subject that is!

MOOM PITCHER REVIEW! HEROES DIE YOUNG (Allied Artists, 1960)

With a tagline like "Eight men...one girl...and a bomb!!!" yer really askin' for trouble, but I kinda like this pre-soft 'n sensitive man kinda World War II flick a whole lot more'n those tearjerkin' kinda mooms that got made years later. And if your type of war entertainment veers closer to COMBAT than it does say...M*A*S*H then I get the feeling that you'll get a kick outta this 'un too.

A buncha Amerigan soldiers are on a mission to bomb a Romanian oil refinery during the big 'un where they travel the countryside with a pack of donkeys as well as some local gal who seems to be suffering from a case of terminal ragitis the way she sneers at the soldiers an' all. While making their way on foot to the refinery they not only lose a donkey but their C Rations (from what I understand is no big loss) as well as one of the soldiers, the "sensitive" one who likes to carve figurines so it ain't no big thing either.

An' ooh man is this 'un lower 'n low budget what with the heavy use of alla that war footage you see on various cable channels being used to pad this thing out, and of course padding is the name o' the game with HEROES DIE YOUNG because it sure needs a li'l nudge here and there. Like the part where the cowboy soldier cons the hipster city guy into thinking that donkeys can sniff out gold if you give 'em a li'l chocolate to stimulate their nasal passages. Nothing especially noteworthy about it, but it did make for mild diversion.

As usual it's sure great seeing this kinda mooms where outdated ideals like heroism and masculinity are placed up front 'n center for human consumption. None of that standard white guy as prime pud guff to be seen here bub, and like if you want a war flick that ain't brainy and filled with whole sorta deep psychowhooziz scenes attacking a whole slew of everyday primadonna bugaboos well like you know the answer already, bub!

COMIC BOOK REVIEW BY BILL SHUTE! THE RINGO KID #24 (Marvel Comics, November 1975)

I tend to associate comic reprints with Charlton (where you had to watch for the ALL-NEW tag at the top of the cover to avoid a reprint) or with bottom-feeding outfits such as Israel Waldman’s Super Comics/I.W. Publications empire. However, one of Marvel’s major Western lines in the 1970’s, THE RINGO KID, was totally made up of reprints, and at the time (before every detail about everything was documented on the internet) I didn’t even know that I was reading 20 year old comics....although with westerns, that is no problem and could even be a virtue.

Charlton, with their reprints, tended to have a copyright date of the original publication on the indica small-print at the bottom of the first page of reprint issues--so you knew you were getting 1957 war comics or 1963 horror comics in your 1981 comic book. Marvel, with this Ringo Kid book, does state it’s a reprint, but gives a 1970 copyright. The material in this book actually dates back to two issues from 1956. We’ve included for your viewing pleasure both the cover of the 70’s reprint under review (the one where the Kid is facing you, and which has a 25 cent cost) and one of the two 1956 issues (the one where the Kid has his back to you, and which has a 10 cent cost). Marvel put out 30 issues of THE RINGO KID in the 1970’s, and according to online sources, most of the material in those is reprinted from the 1950’s RINGO KID WESTERN series—and the stories that aren’t are either unpublished material in the Marvel can from that era or from other 1950’s Western lines that Marvel owned, such as TWO-GUN WESTERN. And speaking of re-use of material, one later issue from the 70’s reprint run uses the exact cover (with some re-coloring) of an earlier issue in that run....just a few years back. Clearly, the 1970’s run of THE RINGO KID was not one of Marvel’s prestige publications. It was cheap product. THE RINGO KID, 1970’s incarnation, was an inexpensive way for Marvel to pump out a “new” Western comic series with little expense in terms of material--only the covers were (usually) new, and even a bottom-rung outfit such as Super/I.W. Comics often had newly done covers.

The Ringo Kid name goes back to the character played by John Wayne in the 1939 classic STAGECOACH, though this character has no relation to that one....or to that film. It’s an evocative name that would sound exciting to a twelve-year-old looking for “action”--and it still sounds great to adult twelve-year-olds like me.

In the 70’s, when I acquired a lot of these, the majority of them were coverless, gotten for a nickel or whatever in dusty boxes under the book racks in the back of a used bookstore on West Colfax in Denver (not far from the hokey “Casa Bonita” faux-Mexican restaurant that featured acrobats flying around above you as you ate your frozen dinner-level enchiladas) that specialized in romance paperbacks. The lady who ran that place (a store that was always reeking of cat urine and cabbage soup, and whenever I approached the counter to pay for something, the raunchy smell of ass) must have given some drug store or newsstand employee a dollar a box for these things. The late Stan Lee would not have been happy. The particular issue under review here does have a cover, so it’s not one I got at that place.

Coverless comics are the true orphans of the publishing world. Unlike cut-out records or remaindered books, the sale of these was technically illegal, and most comics readers wouldn’t have taken them for free. Somehow unwanted coverless comics gotten from a dirty box in the back of a romance-novel bookstore that smelled like cabbage soup and ass is the perfect symbol for life in the mid-70’s....or today, for that matter (I won’t even mention that the proprietress would sometimes break wind in the store when I was the only customer, and when I heard that wet and muffled rip, I’d think to myself, “hell, I have to walk PAST THAT to get out of here”).

This particular issue struck me as being satisfying back in the day, and I still find it a solid piece of work….in the sense that one of those independent westerns of the late 50’s distributed by United Artists or Allied Artists starring someone like Jim Davis or George Montgomery delivers the basic goods with no big surprises, but it hits all the right notes and is made by professionals who can deliver a competently made piece of product. At the end of a long day or long work week, that’s what I want and that’s what I’m paying for. Sure, this comic book is essentially one cliché after another (and if I were a pretentious critic, I’d call them “archetypes” or “tropes” rather than being honest and admitting that they are clichés), but hey, isn’t that true of 60s garage-band rock and roll or 50’s small label rockabilly? Or pulp magazine detective or Foreign Legion stories or whatever? Or Michael Shayne detective novels? Or 1920’s silent comedy shorts from second-string (or third-string) comedians? The clichés actually give power to the product when they are delivered with gusto and style. When I watch a 1920’s comedy short from the portly trio A TON OF FUN, I KNOW the guys are going to fall on their rears repeatedly….I KNOW that they are going to get stuck going through doors….I KNOW that they will sit on things and those things will break….I KNOW that they will wear clothes that are too small. I don’t watch it for surprises….I watch it because routines I know and love will be delivered in a manner that entertains me. If I wanted the harrowing existential drama of Eugene O’Neill’s THE ICEMAN COMETH, I would re-read it…or watch the excellent filmed versions with Jason Robards (early 60’s) or Lee Marvin (early 70’s). Some days, I don’t want to be reminded of the painful absurdity of the human condition—hey, THAT’s already clear to me every waking hour! Some days, I want to get away from that--I want solid genre entertainment. THE RINGO KID delivers that.

The Kid is essentially a knock-off of another Kid…..BILLY THE KID, and Marvel surely saw how Billy The Kid continued to sell year after year, decade after decade, for Charlton. The “outlaw” with the heart of gold, the man who lives outside the law who is more moral than those who live inside the law—that’s the vein being mined here. The Ringo Kid does have an interesting backstory (he’s half white, half Indian, for instance), but frankly, that’s little exploited here and he’s kind of a generic Billy The Kid knock-off, but dark-haired, and not blond like Charlton’s Billy (or Billy as played by Peter Lee Lawrence in the 1967 Eurowestern THE MAN WHO KILLED BILLY THE KID). According to the Ringo Kid’s Wikipedia entry (you know you’re someone when you’ve got your own Wikipedia entry!), “He was treated as an outcast because of his mixed heritage, and on the run after being falsely accused of a crime. He traveled with his sidekick Dull Knife. Dull Knife was of the same heritage as his mother's people.” There’s no hint of that racial element in this particular issue, and even though Dull Knife makes an appearance in one story, he’s not treated as anyone special and we see no chemistry as you’d find between, say, The Lone Ranger and Tonto….or even the police partners on ADAM-12. Also, in three of the four stories, they don’t travel together and he does not even appear, and in the one story Dull Knife appears in, he just appears out of the blue. About the only particularizing element I found in the four stories in this mag is the Kid’s refusal to kill a female deer for food, instead going a lot farther afield for his game—the reason being, as he puts it, “I never kill the female of any species! You’re killing tomorrow’s game if you do!” We could have used more of that kind of telling detail here—something Charlton’s BILLY THE KID and WYATT EARP comics always had. I’m gradually re-reading the copies of RINGO that I own, and not in order, so I’ll eventually get through a dozen or so issues, and I may eventually check back in with you all with some further comments on the series.

You can still find a good quality copy of the 1970’s RINGO KID for under two dollars (and a lot less if you don’t mind it being coverless), and those so inclined will find it a satisfying read. I tend to prefer the Charlton Westerns to Marvel’s, but if I put up with B.O. and flatulence to score copies of THE RINGO KID for a nickel or a dime as a teenager, then I am fairly committed to The Kid.

Not much inna record (excuse me, Cee-Dee-Are) vein this week. Y'see, I've been too busy making money going from house to house shoveling drives and sidewalks after the big storm we had, kicking a whole lotta young kids outta the way inna meantime in order to GET THERE FIRST! Didn't mean to hurt anybody  but sheesh, ya brats better watch out for all that slick ice 'n all while I'm shoving ya aside! Got some moolah that I'm sure to put to good use in the music department in the meanwhile, so watch this blog for further developments!

But I do hope you enjoy what I have in for store. The winter weather did give me a good excuse to "hunker down" and enjoy more sounds and good reading, and even though all that snow shoveling has pretty much broken my back at least I can recline in my worn out comfy chair, kick my feet up onto my bed and ooze my soul into some good blare while staring at Betty and Veronica's Bob Montana-delineated torsos without any negative consequences. Unlike in real life when you can GET INTO REAL TROUBLE, and sheesh, you'd think starin' at a gal's bod would be considered a compliment! I dunno, what do you members of the more dangerous sex really want anyhow?!?!?!

***

A CORRECTION (VIA OTTO VON RUGGINS) REGARDING MY REVIEWS OF THE CYBERCRAZEDAND OTHER COMPACT DISC OFFERINGS SENT ME BY OTTO VON RUGGINS A FEW WEEKS BACK, and you better pay attention for once!

“The Cybercrazed disque from 1973” does not exist. It’s Fugue of Death that is from 1973 while Cybercrazed is around 1993! Fugue of Death has all of the original Kongress plus Sal Maida on bass guitar and it sounds just as wild as those snippets of yore that have been flying around for quite some time. A female vocalist chants and coos through the VIRTUAL REALITY disc and the strains of synth can be heard, so if you are bound to think this in fact must BE Kongress and not some earlier aggregation of the von Ruggins variety you are forgiven.

All of that above is true and worthy of clarification in a future issue, if it pleases you. Perhaps you can include both images for your readers and explain that the Fugue of Death cover is a poem by a Romanian poet Paul Celan, who survived the holocaust, only to commit suicide by drowning in the Spring of 1970 due to a rise in anti-semitism in Europe. Read those lyrics (they were put to that particular longest track, but did not get sung on that improv in a rehearsal studio, which was recorded on a small stereo cassette player). The entire album is one session actually and not a patchquilt, as the tracks appear in the order they are created. Both albums are available on iTunes, Spotify and other outlets like CD Baby, but Cybercrazed can be heard @ www.reverbnation.com/virtualreality4D and the American Film Institute 1993 award-winning video created on an Amiga computer (when PCs had no video & Quicktime was the size of a postage stamp) can be seen there as well. Thanks for listening, enjoying & spreading the word..."

And while we're still on the subject...

It would be nice to indicate that the female vocalist is Marilyn, who sang with Kongress after Madgician Geoffrey Crozier left to return to Oz. Sorry I didn’t specify that...

Thanks for clearing that up for us! Will try to find and dig up both of the covers for reader analysis, and keep on making that beautiful space music while yer at it!

***

While I'm at it (whatever "it" is)...howzbout lendin' some ear to my opinions regarding that hoo-hah last weekend where some Black Israelite group in Washington DC taunted those Kentucky school kids while some Indian activist banged a drum at 'em for who knows what reason (with one kid starin' the ol' Medicine Man down with a smirk like you wouldn't believe) and boy did it create some sorta stink if only because that kid 'n the others were wearing Make America Great Again hats! Not that I have any sturdy opinion on what happened nor do I particularly care because like, I wasn't there and have no dogs in the fight. But sheesh, I remember a year ago when that one student shot up that high school in Florida and suddenly those two attention grabbing whores students David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez started getting a whole load of 15 minute fame with the gun control right on drama class project. And naturally, people (including myself) were called onna carpet for criticizing these young and precocious children who held (socio/media acceptable) views that just needed to be expressed even though you never see people with contrasting views get the same kind of analingous treatment. Y'see, being under age and all supposedly exempts one from any criticism and in the long run it was people like me who were being mean to these inchoate yet sparkling souls with something pertinent to say, as if any other opinion on the face of the earth wasn't.What I wanna know is...howcum the under age students from that high school in Kentucky can get threatened with all kindsa torture and death and for some reason its socially acceptable to do so, or I'm sure it is from the same kinda twats who were condemning me for puttin' my two cents in regarding the whole gun control debate a good year back? Of course we all know the answer. I guess some kids are more equal than others, or in other words what else is new???

***

What I have been listening to in the meanwhile....The Revolutionary Ensemble's THE PSYCHE---great AACM-ish trio featuring Leroy Jenkins' nerve-y violin playing, Sirone's arco/basso drones and Jerome Cooper on percussion and piano. The only release on their own RE label and while not as professional as the A&M/Horizon THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC effort it still soars with even the less-than-top notch sound giving the effort a rather urgent punch! THE GOOD RATS (Kapp)---even with the strings and horns its a heavy duty contender for the very late-sixties sound obliteration crown up there with Iggy, Black Pearl etc. Too bad the iron haired girls were paying too much attention to Bobby Sherman to notice or else this might have been a hit! Red Noise-SARCELLES-LOCHERES---the long-lost booty---more French under-the-underground weirdness that works; with side two sounding like a mad fusion of the early Velvets and avant garde jazz. Thierry Muller-RARE AND UNRELEASED 1974-1984 (Fractal)---not bad at all re-wirings of various electro-rock ideas that don't sound that technical (well, most of the time!). Capt. Beefheart etc.-TROUT MASK REPLICA---wonder why it took me so long to get myself into its reason for existence? Maybe it took THAT long for me to get that disjointed. I am ashamed. CURRENT LULL ME TO SLEEP BEDDY-BYE FAVE...Throbbing Gristle-THE SECOND ANNUAL REPORT (a quite mesmerizing effort).

***

All set? You bet! Now GET!!!

X-THE X ANTHOLOGY 2-CD-r set (originally on Elektra Records)

Sure they weren't Ex-Blank-X, but who was. Still a grand summation of the group from their early under-the-underground Dangerhouse days to the bitter end when they had become way too tamed by da industry to really emote out like they usedta. But still even those later-on numbers sound a whole lot better'n what has been passing for that once-glorious but long decayed form called rock 'n roll I'll tell ya. They kinda remind me of what that new rock sounds like these days, only without the sweet sensitivity straight outta James Taylor that make ya wanna go woe is me. A good collection that's so boff you woulda thought some bootlegger'd put it out!

***

The Tandooris-WALKING BLIND CD-r burn (originally on No Fun Records)

The name of this group sure makes me hungry I'll tell ya! But anyway these Tandooris do sound like they might have originated over there in the southern mid-portion of Asia and while they do suffer a tad from that garageus revivus sameness that has ruined more than a few groups they sure do have a good spark when they so desire. Just dip your nan in their version of the VU classic "Head Held High" and see. They even crank out a cover of the Devo hit "Whip It" making it sound like some late-sixties rave up in the basement! Pretty spunky for a group continuing on a genre that seemed to has lost steam a good thirty years back. Who knows, the next time you head on over to your favorite Indian eatery you might find a Tandoori or two busing tables!

***

Various Artists-DEBRIS #4 CD-r burn

Gotta say that a lotta these sixties-era punk rock compilations that have been hitting the bins as of late just don't grab me they way those old PEBBLES and BOULDERS efforts used to, but this one has some punch to it. True a lot of this ain't up to the usual punk rock standards what with the slow ballads and Ernie Douglas-level youth paens to unrequited jagoffisms, but there are some sprightly nice numbers in the batch from cover stars Teddy and his Patches doing one of those twenties-styled camp numbers to the Changing Tydes Revue covering the Rascals to fairly good effect. Coulda used more of that kinda stuff on it but hey, mebbee all the hotcha material has been mined already and whaddaya expectin' anyway---the lost lost ? and the Mysterians/Stooges jam sessions????

***

The Poetic Voice of Franklin McCormack-THE TORCH IS BURNING CD-r burn (originally on Liberty Records)

If your etchings don't work maybe this will! While string slush worthy of Jackie Gleason oozes from the speakers McCormack recites the words to the melodies at hand in a soft, hypnotically relaxing voice. Your gal might get inna mood, but then again she just might fall asleep. McCormack might have had a future in the radio announcing game, but as far as these spoken word  platters go he ain't got nuthin' on Telly Savalas.

***

William Gargan as BARRIE CRAIG, CONFIDENTIAL INVESTIGATOR CD-r burn

1951 radio dramas that still pack a huge punch with this paunch. The expected calm and collected investigator Craig (handed well enough by Gargan, who might be better known to you as yet another private investigator, namely Martin Kane) handles his cases with that tossoff restrained yet overdrive way that'd make you think that he could stare down a bullet, and the stories while typical of the genre, still hold your attention a whole lot more than anything those castratis who write for the tee-vee medium these days would dare come up with. Fave of the two episodes present here....12/5/51's "Paper Bullets" which deals with the missing manuscript of an adventure novel that just won a fifty-thou dollar contest and a dead body in there, as usual.

***

Various Artists-ORIGINAL MOPP-TOPP SALLY CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Heavy garage band themed platter here what with the Mopp-Topps doing a good neo-Liverpool weeper and the Original Sins (Not the late-eighties band of much renown) going late-sixties hard. It's a pleasant enough romp through the various stages of Amerigan teen-dom proving that even the most cube of L-7 kinda kids coulda been somethin' with the proper cheap Japanese guitar and fresh Beatle wig.

Rockabilly rears its collectible head with Lindol Rand's rendition of "Long Tall Sally" done up late-fifties white-like ifyaknowaddamean while Scotty Scott and his Swinging Strings had trouble getting the vocals and music together on "Chattanooga, Nashville, Battlecreek Trek"! Even and outfit wit the whacked out moniker of the Oddballs do a good early-sixties kinda post-rockabilly garage thumper on their double sider that rocks around at a nice pace but I'm sure back then it woulda been like the worst in devil's music had your great-great-grandmother heard the thing.

What really strikes me about this effort is that Bill stuck all these old ads for the 1942 edition of Lifebuoy soap in between the music! Y'know, the ones that had that foghorn like "B.O." sound it it? Sheesh Bill, are you trying to tell me something even my best friends, if I had any, wouldn't?

***

Here's my usual plug regarding those issues of BLACK TO COMM that just happen to still be available. Reviled by some, loathed by others, one look into these issues and you'll know why BLACK TO COMM has been deemed the anti-ROLLING STONE one more than a few occasions. De-Wennerize yourself with an issue TODAY!

BOOK REVIEW! THE COMPLETE DICK TRACY VOLUME 25 BY CHESTER GOULD (IDW, 2019)

I'm sure there are a whole lotta readers out there who never knew that DICK TRACY even made it outta the sixties alive, but these strips (which probably didn't even run in yer local paper because they were contributing to the upswing in violent crime, or something like that) show that the same Chester Gould feel and ideals were still in charge, and in charge pretty good at that! The grotesque style in art and text that we've known since at least the late-thirties is still present, and even the advent of the New Morality and all that civilization chainball wrecking that we hadda endue couldn't stop Gould from putting out a strip that, while firmly embedded in the ways and mores of a better comic era, was pretty much up-to-date and about as to-the-point as DIRTY HARRY only without the swearing and tits, naturally.

The words used to describe these particular comics, at least by a few commentators up and about, is "soap opera-y". Or something like that an' I can see where these expert types are comin' from. While TRACY hadn't actually become MARY WORTH and melodrama has always been heavily hangin' about the strip since the early days there seems to more of that ol' "emote" around what with the passage where Tracy himself goes blind after his house burns down (the second time!) and B.O. Plenty's nephew Vera Alldid falls in love with a now-fully grown Sparkle who's his cousin (though I did breathe a heavy sigh o' relief when in the May 21, 1969 edition it was discovered that the two are not blood relatives---fer a minute I thought Gould was gonna be headin' into hillbilly incest territory!). But don't worry, because in between all the tear-sheddin' yer gonna do while reading these there's also a fairly good amount of ACTION that'll keep you true to your own Suburban Slob Ranch House Kiddie credo! With the likes of dognapper Mr. Litter. the astrologically-minded and face-tattoo'd Scorpio and flashy hip gangster Diamonds (who with his diamond tooth and nostril/ear piercings looks pretty uppa date if ya ask me!) to contend with how could ya say these comics were lacking the true TRACY spirit?

The whole "War on Crime" aspect of these TRACYs that's been talked about, often and usually in conjunction with the strip's "demise", really ain't as overbearing as various wags out there would have led ya to believe. Other'n a daily strip where a still-blind Tracy attends a meeting inaugurating the "Law and Order First" campaign which consisted of posters bearing Tracy's likeness being splattered across various comic panels in the weeks to come, there ain't nothing here that'd scare any of you lefty readers off unless yer really sensitive about your sense of misplaced compassion. Of course the criminals who get caught always crack me up when Tracy shoots at 'em and they complain about their civil rights and such, but after years of mollycoddling and using kid gloves on truly violent types in this world I for one sure get a kick outta their caterwauling!

Thankfully Gould also doesn't let his opinions regarding the so-called "Beautiful People" be damper'd. Hippies get the razz, and in a world where the shaggoids used to get praised to the hilt as some sorta new breed of Christ (!) it sure is refreshing seeing 'em put down like they always shoulda been! And ya know I ain't talkin' 'bout the high energy, hard rockin' type of longhair nohow but the flitzy heartbleed Joan Baez/James Taylor types who have irritated me to no end! But there is an exception to the usual TRACY rule---in these pages a fellow by the moniker of "Groovy" Grove, a hipster ex-con who was convicted on circumstantial evidence, pardoned and wants to become a policeman himself makes his rather surprising debut. His appearance ain't as hippoid as one would have expected, in fact he looks more like some seventies porn star complete with a "flavor saver" mustache than a rabble rousing student type, but at least to Gould he represents one of the younger generation types who made good and I can see nothing especially wrong with that. In these early appearances Grove actually seems like he would have been a fairly good addition to the TRACY cast what with his savvy and brash cool-ness---too bad the post-Gould-era creators had him offed after he was married (on his death bed!) to detective Lizz some time in the eighties. Awww, maybe he was a one-shot type after all but he was a rather major character in these sagas and fits into the then-recent emotive tone rather snazz-like!

I kinda dread in at least a few ways the upcoming volumes. After all, even Gould decided to do some updating on the TRACY legacy portraying him with flashy colored shirts, a blue suit, a mustache and even long hair probably aliening all of the old time readers he still had left! But although the few strips I do remember from this era were so-so (I was only catching the Sundays by this time, and on scant occasion) I get the feeling that the ol' TRACY style will live on without any real amputations, at least until Gould's 1977 retirement. And I for one play on sticking around until this very end---will you???

Waiting for the long-anticipated snow storm to hit. Hope it's a proverbial biggun just so's I can have an excuse to stay inside and enjoy my books and music more, not forgetting some ol' ROY ROGERS that might pop up on FETV or Dee-Vee-Dee that's been lyin' around just beggin' to be played. Had a good week of it anyway finding that Red Noise Cee-Dee (or at least the early Cee-Dee-Are of it I had burned for me before getting the actual deal) that I've been looking for and getting the latest DICK TRACY collection, both of which occupied a good portion of my evening hours these past few days! Expect a review of the TRACY book more sooner than later. Just hope that I will be snowed in for a good week so I can catch up on some of that FUN that I have been denied lo these many years due to school and work and other sundry things that always detracted from THE IMPORTANT STUFF!

***

THINGS FOUND WHILE LOOKING FOR THINGS I CAN'T FIND DEPARTMENT!: I've been looking through about forty-five or so many years of books, records, magazines and other important facets of a healthy suburban slob lifestyle while on the search for a few rather important things guaranteed to keep my well and happy. Unfortunately, I have yet to find those old French fanzines which collected (en Francais) some pertinent articles on the likes of Mahogany Brain, Red Noise and Dagon, but surprises of surprise I did come across an old New Music Distribution Service catalog that I originally managed to latch onto during my high stool days! And yes, you can bet the memories of me discovering even more new sounds to expand my parameters (a process that is continuing TO THIS VERY DAY as if you didn't know) has popped up giving me some GOOD reminiscences of days that could have been tragic at times but were glorious at others. And these memories are made even BETTER because these were the types of sounds that I was seeking out which made up the better part of my musical existence and no nightmarish reminiscences of irksome classmates or strung out teachers can take THAT away from me.

What makes this catalog even more hotcha in my own humble opine is that I actually checked off the various records that I was interested in purchasing at the time. Nothing that strange about highlighting the items that appealed to me at the time, but in the fortysome years since latching onto this 'un how did I do with regards to delivering on my musical wants of the day. Well, as Baby Judy once said, "come and see".

On the New Music side of the catalog the first item circled is Philip Glass' MUSIC IN FIFTHS/SIMILAR MOTION on Chatham Square 1003. Got that one probably with the very first order to NMDS, though I traded off my copy in the 80s considering just how much of a douse Glass had become what with his New Age inclinations and taking photos with the Dalai Lama and other stoopid things like that. Bought another copy in the '00s after I remembered that by the eighties EVERYONE was making lousy records but that doesn't mean we have to ignore their earlier efforts which had a whole lotta different effect on us during those whole lotta different times. Not only that but around that time I read that Glass was influenced by the Velvet Underground and like, if I gotta hear a Velvet drone in my music it best be made before their entire schtick was taken up by geeky gals with tattoos and pierced nostrils with shiny balls that look like atomic whiteheads. Good choice for a kid 'n in fact I was listening to the Cee-Dee reissue of this just this past night!

Turning to the next column we find Finnedar 9017, an album which has percussionist Donal Knaack performing John Cage's "27'19.553" not to mention Marcel Duchamp's "The Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even Erratum"...bought this one too but I don't think it was with my first NMDS order. Still have it in the ol' vinola collection and might drag it out for a re-play once I get the chance in between searching for those early-seventies punk relix o' mine that somehow got lost in the shuffle.

Next recording to be circled...Folkways FTS3704 John Cage and David Tudor' INTERMINACY: 90 STORIES AND CONCERTO. Didn't get this one until the mid-eighties or so and when I heard it (even though I was prepared for what would lie within them grooves) I wasn't too shattered. Maybe a jadedness against the new era of art was settling in, even if I still thought that art in general did begin with Duchamp. Another one deserving a second/third/nth chance.

Flipping the sheet over and what do we find but the jazz records. First item circled (with a question mark beside it) is The 360 Degree Music Experience's SANITY on Black Saint Records. I think I was wary of this due to it being a double-platter set and thus more expensive, but I could be wrong. Might be time for me to snatch this 'un up given this collective was led by ace drummer Beaver Harris, along with pianist Dave Burrell who's hokay at least some of the time (even if some of his efforts don't have the same pounce as the late Cecil Taylor's did---not his fault rilly). Also circled...Henry Cow's CONCERTS on Compendium also gets noted which doesn't surprise me even if to this day I've never heard a Henry Cow album proper (unless you count DESPERATE STRAIGHTS) as well as the IOWA EAR MUSIC set of improvisations on Cornpride which seemed interesting enough after I read about it in DOWN BEAT though I passed it up every time I saw it in the dollar bin in Cle throughout the eighties. Ebay now has it for $100 which makes me think that maybe I did pass on a bargain...stoopid me!

And that's it for items that I sure as shootin' wanted to grace my record collection a good era or two back, and for some strange reason those old coals inside me have been stoked and like, maybe I wouldn't mind giving the chosen for consideration platters a spin here in my advanced state of mental hoo-hahness. Well, it's memories of things like this that really perk up my inner suburban slob and like, if you can't revert to your teenage crazed obsessions once in awhile why do you even bother existing in the first place???

***

OK, I know you can't wait. Here they is...

The Jooklo Trio-LIVE @ STROMRAUN, STUTTGART 12/6/2018 CD-r burn

Pretty powerful sax/electric bass/drums aggregation here that might seem to some like a vast update on the old collective improv/jazz acts of the seventies. The performance is rather ferocious as is a whole lot of this post-New European freedom music, and although it might not exactly be unique to the form it really does serve its purpose exorcising the daemons from your frayed nerves. Oddly enough I thought I heard some rather Sharrock-esque guitar sprawl during the opening number but maybe that was just my ears playing a trick on me once again.

***

Stan Kenton-CITY OF GLASS CD (Capitol Records)

A whole lotta this Third Stream Jazz stuff never really went down my gullet like it might have yours. P'haps it just seemed too high falutin' for a genre that could also produce the likes of Sonny Sharrock or Roscoe Mitchell. And come to thing of it, the mere existence of Gunther Schuller didn't help any. Thankfully some class does permeate CITY OF GLASS what with the soaring sound sculpture tones that actually do dredge up those well-lit downtown images that you see on the cover. Kinda reminiscent of Ornette's SKIES OF AMERICA and certain George Russell arrangements ("A Bird in Igor's Yard" comes to mind), not to mention various similar excursions into that realm which treated jazz as a serious art that upper crust snobs could get into. You just might be able to ooze yourself into this 'un's "universe" the way it managed to make its way into mine.

***

BILL DAWG AND THE DIRT ROAD ROCKERS CD (Electro Records)

Interesting what you'll find when you look under tables, beds and the like. Shoulda reviewed this Bill Dag 'un when I writing about the other Alan "Snake" Globekar-related  releases a month or so back, but thankfully I got this better later than never, or something like that. Mostly straight ahead country-tinged rock or rock-tinged country music for that matter which I gotta admit really doesn't light my soul the way various other musical forms do, but there is some slight pop influx that makes a few tracks such as "Hot Desert Nights" rather pleasing even in a non-condescending way. Try it, these guys might just be able to wiggle into some previously-uninhabited portion of your brain!

***

Mrs. Peacock-MY BRAIN AND ITS HEADLIGHTS CD-r burn

NadanilNOTHING I could find out about Mrs. Peacock even via the miracle of internet. Judging from the cover I thought this was going to be another late-sixties outta nowhere (in this case Gloucester MA) post-garage surprise but I guess they're one of those mid-eighties vintage amerindie acts with more of a Doors bent. As opposed to Velvets  bent albeit with the same post-rock direction that marked many of the groups of that particular strata. Not quite my brand of gruel but if you were one of those types who clinged onto the new wave as opposed to punk credo as that decade creaked on I'll bet you already HAVE this one in your collection!

***

Peter Laughner and Friction-PIRATE'S COVER CD-r burn

This McGarry burn's good enough to warm me up for the Peter Laughner box set that's finally due to make its way out sometime this year. It's the November 1976 Pirate's Cove gig that's been flying around for some time, only it sounds a whole lot clearer'n the previous 'un's so now you can hear Laughner's vocals as well as his Bob Dylan/Jimmy Carter putdown as they were meant to be heard. Of course the performance is exemplary what with Sue Schmidt's electric violin careening to heights that add such a passionate turn to the music while Laughner himself has never been as forthright as this in a group setting. Almost brings a tear to my eye and reminds me of the (should be) famous Mick Farren comment re. the Rolling Thunder Revue sounding like a rural Velvet Underground running on folk mythology 'stead of urban grime. (Not anywhere near the exact quote but good enough for this setting.) With the arrival of the box set maybe Laughner will get all of that true fan adulation that's eluded him during his lifetime and a whole lot more.

***

The Fabulous Jokers-GUITARS EXTRAORDINARY CD-r burn (originally on Monument Records)

As the old television commercial once said, your dog might be getting enough cheese but are you? The Fabulous Jokers remedy that situation with this album chock fulla some of the cheesier instrumental takes on tunes familiar to all of us done in a way you only thought the Scandinavians could. Twangy guitar churnouts that bring back loads of memories of just what the standards for everyday mainstream commercial sound living was like in those distant pre-relevance times. You could just imagine any one of these songs backing up your favorite local furniture store commercial on the local mom and pop AM. Part of a world that went out with side-window vents on cars and roll-y UHF dials on tee-vee sets, and for some not-so-strange reason I am sad.

***

Paul Messis-SONGS OF OUR TIMES CD-r burn (originally on 13 O'Clock Records)

Typical emotive singer/songwriter neo-garage band rock that didn't do a thing foe me other'n during a brief neo-Indian instrumental segment. You might go for this brand of music and if so  go to it, but as for me it only made me want to yearn more for the sweet strains of some Throbbing Gristle moiling away in the collection.

***

Various Artists-CHILLY DARTELL SLURPEE GAMBLE CD-r burn (Bill Shute)

Kinda uneven but still has its charm. Things that stuck out like the nightgowns in the Army ward back when the nurses wore miniskirts include two JFK-related novelty disques, one a thirties-styled Big Band number that urges John John to take up where his now-dead dad left off and the other with JFK getting into the new "Klak Stik" craze that I sure as heck don't remember! Sheesh, I thought it was Jackie who was the fad minded one in the family! Along with the C/W and blooze rarities there's also a promo record pushing 7-Eleven Slurpees (the kidz used to laugh about slurpees because it rhymes with HERPES!!!!), a nice cornballus version of "Turkey in the Straw" which must date back to the 1890's judging from the sound quality, and some hillbilly singer named Lucille Bassett who...really...I thought was a high-pitched guy singer!!!!! I guess gender confusion ain't such a new thing after all...

***

How about if I put it this way...if you don't buy any of these BLACK TO COMM back issues I'm gonna hold YOUR breath! With two hands firmly placed around your neck! Need any more nudges, Gertrude?