Ode to Vinyl
In honor of Vinyl Record Day on Sunday (the 130th anniversary of Thomas Edison‘s invention of the phonograph), JB over at The Hits Just Keep on Comin’ has organized a “blog swarm” of posts dedicated to the once dominant medium of vinyl records. I’m proud to be part of this swarm, so after you check out this post, be sure to click around to JB’s site for the main post, as well as the other great blogs involved (links down below).
Vinyl. LP’s. Records. Time marches on, and the music listening public at large distances themselves from the LP era, which covered the majority of the 20th century. For those of us older than, oh – let’s say 35? – a special little pocket of our music lovin’ hearts will always be reserved for vinyl records. Here are some random ramblings regarding my reverence toward the record.
ZZ Top’s El Loco First LP: As a bona fide music nerd, I can remember the very first album I ever bought. It was ZZ Top’s El Loco, which was released in November 1981. So it must have been about Christmas time when I walked into a Mankato, Minnesota mall and plopped down my
hard earnedallowance money for the record. The song that captured my fascination at the time, and inspired me to buy the record, was “Tube Snake Boogie.” I was 11 years old at the time, and while I didn’t know firsthand of what they were singing about, I had a pretty good idea. Having two older brothers didn’t hurt either. “I got a girl who lives on the hill, she won’t do it but her sister will.” Straight to the point.Albums that soon followed were REO Speedwagon’s Hi Infidelity, Foreigner 4, and the Scorpions’ Blackout.
Prince’s “Paisley Park” 12″ single Prince LP Mania: My vinyl collection grew significantly after September 1984, when I morphed into a Prince-loving animal. Many bus rides were taken to downtown Racine’s Mainstream Records to snatch up the latest Prince or Prince-related albums, 12″ singles, and 45’s. They’re still with me today. All of ’em. In protective plastic wrap. I’m just waiting for the day that my daughters get old enough to start thumbing through my Prince records, and they’ll see the Lovesexy album, and turn to me with a quizzical and confused look on their faces (Lovesexy, by the way, is probably the last LP I ever bought new).
Proud Papa: I gotta say though, my daughters will be well versed in all formats of music. My three year old already knows what LP’s, cassettes and CD’s are. And she can fire up a song in iTunes like nobody’s business. I can also play her any Beatles, Springsteen, or Prince song, and 90% of the time she nails it. Strummer or the Clash? She has about a 48% success rate. But we’re working on it. My poor daughters… They have no choice, do they? But I guess there are worse childhoods than spending it immersed in your dad’s music! As long as they’re not singing “Let’s Pretend We’re Married” or “Revolution no. 9” on their first day of kindergarten.
Hardware: My Yamaha turntable, which had served me since 1989, quit on me about a year ago. So by making good use of the Amazon Wish List feature, one of my birthday gifts last weekend was a new USB turntable. I’m back, baby! What’s more, my work buddy Jim up and quit his job and moved back to the east coast. But not before he handed over a couple of crates of vinyl to me.
So here are a handful of tunes ripped straight from vinyl, both from Jim’s collection, and mine. Though I’ve moved on to the digital age, and most of my music is in the form of mp3’s and CD’s (less and less), I’ll always be an album guy.
Vinylove:
- The feel.
- The artwork.
- The inserts.
- Placing the record on the turntable.
- Working for and appreciating your music.
- Flipping to side two.
- The art of putting the record back into the sleeve.
- Carefully handling the vinyl.
- Thumb on the edge, index and middle finger on the label.
- Appreciating your collection.
- Showing off your collection.
- Something to have and to hold…
A smattering of vinyl rips:
Sun City Artists United Against Apartheid – Sun City (mp3) – Little Steven’s 1985 anti-apartheid project.
Dead or Alive – Brand New Lover (mp3) – The Dust Monkey’s Love Bubble Mix – thanks Jim for the crate of albums!
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band – Tender Years (mp3) – From the Eddie & The Cruisers – Soundtrack. One of he quality tracks from Boss sound-alike Cafferty.
John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band – On the Dark Side (mp3) – oh hell, I have to include this too…
Now on to the SWARM!
The contributors:
AM, Then FM
Bloggerhythms
The “B” Side
Davewillieradio
Echoes in the Wind
Flea Market Funk
Fufu Stew
Funky16Corners
Good Rockin’ Tonight
Got the Fever
In Dangerous Rhythm
It’s Great Shakes
Jefitoblog
Lost in the 80’s
Py Korry
Retro Remixes
The Snack Bar
The Stepfather of Soul
Three-Sixty-Five 45sM.I.A.
The Sri Lankan beauty’s new video for “Jimmy” has Ickmusic central breaking out in a hot Bollywood sweat! Zeowie!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9_Dk_F98cU]
M.I.A.’s Official Site (if you’re prone to seizures, do not visit)
Ickmusic Giveaway: Elvis!
August 16th will mark the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. I am an Elvis fan.
Examples of my dedication to the King:
- If an Elvis movie is located while flipping the channels, normal day to day life is put on hold until the last of the credits roll. It doesn’t matter if it’s Clambake, King Creole, or Roustabout.
- The summer of 1989 included a pilgrimage to Graceland with my buddy Mark.
- I sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love” to my new bride at our 2003 wedding with my brother on guitar.
- I also sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love” with a full band as best man for my buddy Derek. It was an impromptu performance. I had hit the open bar juuust a bit too hard prior to my toast, and before I knew it, there I was, frozen in front of 500 people with not a coherent phrase in my head. Lucky for me, there was a band behind me. I turned around, asked the guys if they knew any Elvis, and they launched into “Can’t Help..” I went from the tipsy, embarrassed best man to matinée idol in a matter of minutes. My shining moment!
Elvis’s music has always connected with me. His last years were a tragedy for sure, but behind the troubled “Vegas Elvis”, underneath the uppers and the downers, was the same Elvis – a warm and compassionate spirit.
So on to the giveaway. On July 31st, Sony BMG released Elvis: Viva Las Vegas, which is a CD collection that “features music from and is inspired by the ABC television special ELVIS: VIVA LAS VEGAS – the visual chronicle of Elvis’s life during the Vegas years with particular focus on his music, his ground-breaking style and his legacy.” The ABC special will air on September 18th at 9pm EST.
Leave a comment below if you’d like a chance to win the CD. I’ll pick one in a few days.
Here are a couple of tracks that Sony is streaming…
Elvis Presley – See See Rider (Quicktime) | Viva Las Vegas (Quicktime)
For a special treat, listen to this performance of “Are You Lonesome Tonight” (not included on the CD). It’s the infamous “laughing version.” It starts off innocent enough, but as soon as Elvis sings “Do you stare at your bald head, and wish you had hair?”, well, all bets are off, and he basically loses his shit. It’s great!
Elvis’s Official Site.
August 11-18 is Elvis Week in Memphis.
LONG LIVE THE KING!!
Elvis: Viva Las Vegas Track Listing
1) Viva Las Vegas
2) See See Rider
3) The Wonder Of You
4) Polk Salad Annie
5) Release Me
6) Let It Be Me
7) I Just Can’t Help Believin’
8) Walk A Mile In My Shoes
9) Bridge Over Troubled Water
10) Patch It Up
11) You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me
12) You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling
13) An American Trilogy
14) Never Been To Spain
15) You Gave Me A Mountain
16) The Impossible DreamIckmusic Live: Talking Heads 1979
I haven’t spent too much time with the music of Talking Heads in my life, but I’ve always liked what I’ve heard, and I enjoy David Byrne’s stuff too. My favorite tune? Probably “Road to Nowhere”.
Let’s travel back to a nice little show snippet from their peak of creativity: 1979.
I skipped posting the DJ intro. If you feel like you need it, let me know. TH fans, what is the essential TH album?
Talking Heads
Sydney State Theater
Sidney, Australia
1979The Book I Read
Paper
Mind
Found a Job
Memories Can’t Wait
Psycho Killer
Take Me To the RiverRockberry Jam
You’re just gonna have to indulge me a bit here, as I rifle through my hundreds of albums and cassettes, and get nostalgic about the music of yesteryear. I’m not sure if the words “Where the hell is my Georgio album?” have ever been uttered before, but they were last night! Don’t worry, I’ll track it down.
But another 80’s gem I uncovered last night was the L.A. Dream Team‘s 1986 album (okay, tape), Kings of the West Coast. Rudy Pardee and Chris Wilson were an L.A. area duo who were one of the first to marry up electronic music with rapping. Others around that era were the Egyptian Lover and World Class Wreckin’ Cru (Dr. Dre was a member).
One of my favorites from the album is this side two standout track featuring the smooth and sultry “Miss Rockberry”.
L.A. Dream Team –
Rockberry Jam(mp3)Buy Kings of the West Coast (OOP, but available used)
Go Go Music: Chuck Brown (DC’s Best Kept Secret)
Pete and I must have had a cross country mind meld, as I swear the post you are about to read was started on my laptop late Friday night.
My first exposure to Chuck Brown came earlier this year in the way of an interview with Mike Scott (Prince, Justin Timberlake) in Guitar Player magazine. While the good Rev. Scott gave utmost props to his former band leader he also spoke in great detail about “The Godfather of Go-Go” and how he shaped his sound growing up in D.C. I ran out and picked up “The Best of Chuck Brown” and immediately understood how. Take equal parts funk and Latin music, mix in a dash of soul and new jack swing (way before it’s time) and you’ve got the recipe for yet more break-filled music to move your rump.
Check out a handful of tracks, and if you don’t tap your foot, nod your head and wiggle in your chair upon listening, check your pulse!
Chuck Brown & The Soul Searchers – It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) (mp3)
Chuck Brown – The Love Theme From “The Godfather” (mp3)
Bonus Video!!
Here’s Chuck’s performance (With his band The Soul Searchers) of “We Need Some Money” from the 1986 movie Good To Go.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBpO2_gRYSE 336 278]
Buy: We’re About the Business | The Best of Chuck Brown
Links: Official Site | MySpace
Go-Go Music: Redds & the Boys
The in-laws came through on my birthday a couple days ago: an Ion USB turntable! The vinyl resurrection can now continue. One of the first to get the treatment yesterday was “Movin’ and Groovin'” by Redds and the Boys.
Go-go music has its roots in the Washington D.C. area, going back to the 70’s, when Chuck Brown was credited with creating the genre. It’s basically rhythm-percussion heavy funk. In the 80’s, Chris Blackwell, the Island Records head, heard Chuck Brown, and brought him and a lot of other D.C. area go-go bands in through Island subsidiary 4th & Broadway and T.T.E.D. records. Blackwell signed Brown, E.U., Trouble Funk, and Redds & the Boys.
E.U. probably had the biggest U.S. hit of the bunch: “Da Butt”, which was written by Marcus Miller for Spike Lee’s movie School Daze.
But “Movin’ & Groovin'” did very well in the U.K., reaching #1 on the singles charts.
Redds & the Boys – Movin’ & Groovin’
Wikipedia entry on Go-Go.
Here’s a clip of Redds & the Boys performing the song in the 1986 movie Good to Go . The movie was envisioned by Blackwell to be a go-go version of The Harder They Come, but didn’t quite turn out that way. Co-director Don Letts was let go about half-way through. Letts directed the Clash documentary Westway to the World, and was a founding member of Big Audio Dynamite with Mick Jones.
Mmmemphis – Cry Cry Cry
I missed Cry Cry Cry, a folk supergroup of sorts, the first time around. The group was made up of Dar Williams, Lucy Kaplanski, and Richard Sindell. They released only one album, in 1999.
I sure am glad I heard this song a few weeks ago on Sirius Disorder. It’s really one of the most beautiful and bittersweet songs I’ve come across in a while.
“I saw my choices, and I chose Memphis, now all I can see is you.”
Cry Cry Cry – Memphis
Buy Cry Cry Cry.
Gong!
Gong: a psychedelic – progressive – space rock band formed in the late 60’s, the brainchild of Australian Daevid Allen.
And if you’re brand new to them (as I am), it’s just a bit difficult to wrap your head around their whole “scene.” They even have a glossary, which includes mind-bending confusion-isms like:
WIZARD OF THE KEYS – one of the eight immortals of the planet gong. he has the key to the gong cosmognie & correspondance [sic] charts, the key to your heart, and above all the key to the secret vaults wherein is stashed the highly hush hush or ha! ha!ha!sshhh! cakes from the moon which he distributes daily to each of the 1024 (1K) PHP’s which means that a day on the planet gong is 1024 (1K) pipes long, and is measured by lunggong pipeclocks all over the planet.
So I won’t go too far into their background now, because – well – I need about six months of exhaustive research to give you something substantial. But I will play you a song of theirs. A song that captured my attention on my afternoon drive home from work. It’s always fun to hear something new and interesting that happens to be over 35 years old (egads – so am I, in fact, tomorrow is the 3-7! Urk!).
GONG – Dynamite / I Am Your Animal
Buy Camembert Electrique.
Visit Planet Gong | Daevid Allen’s Web Site | University of Errors (David’s current San Francisco-based band) | Gong’s All Music Profile
And while on the subject of Gong, here’s Paul Reubens on the Gong Show, circa 1976.
31 Positions On 21 Night Stands…
21 Nights of Prince and the question stands… will he play the same set every night? Will we get 21 identical sets? Add 21 after shows with 21 versions of “Footprints”, “Stratus” and “Crazy”?
What do you guys and gals want (or not want) to hear?
It looks like the whole UK shebang was kicked off with “Purple Rain” and after hearing the 7/7/07 show I have to say that it’s beginning to really sound like he wants to ‘get it out of the way’ as opposed to the celebration that it was as recent as the Musicology tour and the spectacular (albeit abbreviated) Super Bowl performance.
Booking a 21 night stand is a pretty risky proposal for just about any artist. But Prince has the catalog, hits and all, to back it up – provided he does not do the unimaginable and leave his song book at home. It’s time to show and prove Prince, don’t you wanna come…
Link: Official Site
