Alice for All Hallows' Eve
Alright – here’s the deal. As you may or may not have noticed, posts have been few and far between these last few weeks. I’ll tell you the truth: I’ve kind of lost my excitement for blogging. I’ve been doing this for about three-and-a-half years. At first it was great fun and I was finding and sharing a lot of great music. Recently, though, I haven’t heard much that’s really excited me. When I feel half-arsed about the music, my lack of enthusiasm tends to come across in my posts, and as something I’m doing for fun, I don’t think I should have to fake anything.
I’ve paid for my host through June of next year, so I will continue to post until then, and continue to share new and old music that I enjoy. Once my host expires, I’ll make a decision as to whether I want to continue. Right now I’d have to say I probably won’t continue. But before you get all teary-eyed, remember that is still several months away.
With that said, Happy Halloween.
Ever since I’ve gotten too old for trick-or-treating I haven’t cared much for Halloween. Costume parties have never held an attraction for me – I usually get tired of the costume after a couple of hours and want to change. My last “costume” involved a mullet wig, which I might still have.
But since it is Halloween, I thought I could at least
post something appropriate. I dug through my CDs for one of my all-time favorite live albums,
The Alice Cooper Show.
Warner Records released
The Alice Cooper Show in December 1977, while Alice was in treatment for alcoholism. The album came from two shows recorded in August of that year at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. It was during that tour (the “King of the Silver Screen” tour) that Alice was reported to have hit his alcoholic peak, downing as much as two cases of Budweiser and a bottle of whiskey a day. You can tell on the album that he sometimes sounds a little frayed around the edges.
Under My Wheels.mp3 Is It My Body.mp3 I Never Cry.mp3 Labels: classic rock, Detroit, holiday, live albums
Can You Go a Little Deeper: Blue Öyster Cult
...and we’re back.
I thought I’d jump right in with a “deep track” post, something I haven’t done in a long time. While driving out of town this past weekend, I listened to a lot of classic rock on SiriusXM and happened to hear a couple of tracks from Blue Öyster Cult, which put me in a mind for this post.
I only have one Blue Öyster Cult disk, but I figured I could go deep with that as well as anything else.
Spectres was BOC’s 1977 follow up to their break through
Agents of Fortune album. Although
Spectres didn’t move platinum numbers like its predecessor, the album still did well, led by the success of “Godzilla.”
“Death Valley Nights” was the second single from
Spectres, following “Godzilla.” The song never charted (ironically, neither did “Godzilla”), but I think it’s a great, forgotten BOC song and I’ve always gotten a kick out of the line, “What I need is a kiss from you, babe / Before it's hangover time.”
Death Valley Nights.mp3 ~~~~~
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Can You Go a Little Deeper is an irregularly recurring feature here wherein I resurrect old favorites, lost songs, and other things you maybe haven’t heard in a while)
Labels: classic rock, deep tracks
Be Back In A Few
I'm going to be out of town for a few days, so my already sporadic posting will seem even more so. In the meantime, have a look around...
Labels: no music, travel
Rolling Stones - Memphis '78
I noticed it’s been a long time since I posted any live stuff. I imagine that sort of falls in line with my overall lackadaisical approach around here lately. But I thought it might not hurt to look through my things and see if I could find something interesting to share. What I came up with is this recording from the Rolling Stones’ 1978 tour.
For the U.S. leg of their ’78 tour, the Stones played 25 shows over the course of about two months: the first was June 10 in Lakeland, Fla.; the tour wrapped up on July 26 in Oakland. A lot of Stones “experts” consider this one of their best tours because of the back-to-basics approach the band took. They played a lot of older stuff, interspersing songs from the newly released
Some Girls album, most of which fit nicely alongside the classics.
This recording comes from the June 28 show at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tenn. I believe part of this show was broadcast for the old King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show. One notable thing about this recording is the debut of “Hound Dog,” which the Stones would only play at this show and the following night in Lexington, Ky.
When I first got this recording, the songs were in no type of order. I’ve arranged them in what I believe to be the proper set list, first by listening, to see what seems to logically follow, and by using a couple of sources, including
RocksOff.org, a great Rolling Stones fan site.
Let It Rock.mp3 All Down the Line.mp3 Honky Tonk Women.mp3 Star Star.mp3 When the Whip Comes Down.mp3 Miss You.mp3 Lies.mp3 Beast of Burden.mp3 Shattered.mp3 Just My Imagination.mp3 Respectable.mp3 Far Away Eyes.mp3 Love In Vain.mp3 Tumbling Dice.mp3 Happy.mp3 Hound Dog.mp3 Sweet Little Sixteen.mp3 Brown Sugar.mp3 Jumpin’ Jack Flash.mp3 or, if you prefer, you can
UnZip it.
** NOTE **update - I believe all links are back in working order now
thanks!
Labels: classic rock, live music, Rolling Stones
Trippin' with Toni Basil
You know how sometimes, in old movies, the credits roll as the film opens? Well, I was watching Easy Rider (1969, my friends – it’s officially an old movie now) the other day and as the opening credits went across the screen, I saw a familiar name: Toni Basil.
I can’t honestly say if I knew she was in the movie and had forgotten, or if it came as a bit of a surprise. While I know she is a choreographer of some renown, to me, Toni Basil is, was, and always will be the “Oh, Mickey, you’re so fine” girl.
In case you didn’t know – or like me, you maybe forgot – Toni plays “Mary” in Easy Rider. Near the end of the film, when Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda finally arrive in New Orleans, they visit a brothel where they meet Mary and another girl, Karen (played by Karen Black). The four of them go to the Mardi Gras parade, and then visit a cemetery, where they drop acid. In your
Mr. Skin moment, there is a little bit of Toni Basil nudity here. There is also an interestingly filmed representation of the group’s trip.
Easy Rider was probably Toni’s biggest role; prior to that she had a few parts where she was credited – if she was credited at all – in roles such as “Dancer” or “Pajama Girl.” She also had a few small roles following Easy Rider, mainly in classics such as Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood; and Angel III: The Final Chapter. I think it’s safe to say Toni found much more success as a choreographer.
But let’s not forget Toni’s musical career. Her 1982 album
Word of Mouth and the smash hit “Mickey” firmly established her as one of the greatest one-hit wonders ever. Something else I didn’t know about Toni Basil until I started researching around: Most of the members of Devo played on the
Word of Mouth disk. If you can believe what you read, Toni and Devo bass player Jerry Casale were dating at the time and Toni had been a long-time Devo fan.
One of the songs Toni chose for her album was “Be Stiff,” which was a Devo rarity. The song was initially released on their 1978 EP,
Be Stiff. Devo wouldn’t officially release the song again until their 1990 compilation disk
Greatest Misses. Toni’s is a fun version, with her pop vocals over Devo’s edgy new wave instrumentation.
Be Stiff.mp3 Labels: covers, movies, new wave, pop muzik
Music from My Mailbox
My first post of October – five days in – and my first mailbox purge. The inbox filled up insanely quick over the last couple of weeks. I was already trying to decide whether I should dump everything at once or split it into a couple of posts. But after I culled through everything, deleting the invites to things I can’t attend and the music you don’t want to hear, I was left with this single, decent-sized post.
A lot of this music veers toward the “indie” side of things. I’ve mentioned before that, as a general rule, I don’t care much for that genre. Using that admittedly flexible guideline, I’ve done my best to not subject you to a lot of things I wouldn’t listen to myself.
A couple of recommendations – for those who don’t want to sample a little of each: I like Red Cortez. “Fell on the Floor” has a sorta-U2 feel, for part of the song, then other parts go in another direction altogether. The Electric Tickle Machine, in addition to having a cool name, is a decent sounding psychedelic-cum-garage band from New York’s East Village. I also dig “Bare Hands, Bare Feet” from The Bright Hour Social Hour. It’s an up tempo rocker with a groovy riff.
But really, you may as well check out all the music; it won’t cost you anything extra and you’re likely to find something else you like even more.
As always, follow the links for more information.
City LightIndie / Alternative / Rock
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band
MyspaceApologies.mp3 
The Bright Light Social HourRock
From: Austin, Texas
Band
MyspaceBare Hands, Bare Feet.mp3 Chris KirbyBlues / Pop / Soul
From: St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Band
MyspaceDon’t Forget About Me.mp3
My Tiger My TimingPop / Idol / Visual
From: London, U.K.
Band
MyspaceI am the Sound (Hook And The Twin Remix).mp3
Real OnesIndie / Folk / Rock
From: Bergen, Norway
Band
MyspaceEvery Dog Has His Day.mp3 
Electric Tickle MachinePsychedelic / Garage / Pop
From: e. vill, N.Y.
Band
MyspaceGimme Money.mp3 Loch LomondFolk / Experimental / Pop
From: Portland, Ore.
Band
MyspaceWax and Wire.mp3 MauElectro / Alternative / New Wave
From: Lisbon, Portugal
Band
MyspaceToboggan.mp3 LackthereofEmotronic / Folk / Healing & Easy Listening
From: Portland, Ore.
Band
MyspaceSafely in Jail.mp3 
Red CortezOther
From: California
Band
MyspaceFell on the Floor.mp3 Flood of RedRock
From: Glasgow, Scotland U.K.
Band
MyspacePaper Lungs.mp3 ~~~~~
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pictures, top-to-bottom: The Bright Light Social Hour, Electric Tickle Machine, Red CortezLabels: "alternative", electronic, garage rock, indie, pop muzik, rock
Alright – here’s the deal. As you may or may not have noticed, posts have been few and far between these last few weeks. I’ll tell you the truth: I’ve kind of lost my excitement for blogging. I’ve been doing this for about three-and-a-half years. At first it was great fun and I was finding and sharing a lot of great music. Recently, though, I haven’t heard much that’s really excited me. When I feel half-arsed about the music, my lack of enthusiasm tends to come across in my posts, and as something I’m doing for fun, I don’t think I should have to fake anything. 
Ever since I’ve gotten too old for trick-or-treating I haven’t cared much for Halloween. Costume parties have never held an attraction for me – I usually get tired of the costume after a couple of hours and want to change. My last “costume” involved a mullet wig, which I might still have. 
