Well, Again it Didn't Work

I wanna listen to this, and it won't play my way. So I'll do it the hard way.

The Unforgiven I - Can't forgive them
The Unforgiven II - Can't forgive you
The Unforgiven III - Can't forgive myself

Ridin' the Gravy Train

The Songs Of Summer

The solstice has come and gone, and the days are only going to get shorter, so we might as well make the most of it while we can.

Tonight's Feature was a Bust

Play what ya want. I don't give a shit any more.

The Madcap Laughs

Syd Barrett was a founding member of Pink Floyd.  He composed most of the songs from their first album, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, as well as those wonderful singles such as See Emily Play.  Alas, while Sid was gifted with a musical genius he was also cursed with madness, and his hold on reality began to slip after that first album was released.  While touring in North America, there were nights when he would refuse to bring his guitar on stage, and other nights when he would be oblivious to tuning or play the same chord over and over again.  And so the rest of the band decided to bring in David Gilmour as the fifth member, while allowing Sid to continue writing songs and recording with the band.

At least that was the plan.

It didn't quite work out that way and the band finally split with Syd in 1968.  Not that his former bandmates walked away from him.  They did what they could.  When he began working on a solo album, David Gilmour and Roger Waters stepped in to help him finish it.  The album, titled The Madcap Laughs, was released in January, 1970, and received some good reviews.  Syd even tried to play a few gigs following its release, although it seems that his performances were erratic at best... when he bothered to show up.

Following a brief stay in a psychiatric hospital, Barrett started work on a second album, this time with help from Gilmour, Richard Wright and Humble Pie's Jerry Shirley.  The second album, titled Barrett, was released in November of 1970 and pretty much ignored until 1974, when both The Madcap Laughs and Barrett were released as a double album in the USA.

I discovered these gems in 1975.  In a bargain bin.

Enjoy.

I Feel A Rant Comin' On

Yesterday, I was getting ready to do the morning chores when I heard the opening notes from Starman by David Bowie.

I looked up to see what we owed this musical interlude to.  The old man was watching the World Cup, and I thought maybe the song was being used to hype a soccer player.  Alas, it was worse.  Instead of a feature on Messi or Ronaldo, it was a perfume ad for men that featured attractive young honkies diving into a rooftop swimming pool.

"Oh crap," I muttered.  "Way to go.  Ruin another good song."

Did I mention that I really dislike this commercial culture?  Besides, who puts on perfume before diving into a chlorinated swimming pool?  Stupid honkies.

It's been a few years, but I still haven't gotten over the ad that used Iggy Pop's Lust For Life to sell Carnival Cruise, or maybe it was Royal Caribbean.  For those who aren't familiar with the song, Lust For Life is about heroin addiction.  It includes references to Johnny Yen, a character from a William Burroughs novel who was described as "the boy-girl other half striptease God of sexual frustration and hypnotizing chickens".  The cruise commercial even changed a line in the song from, "Here comes Johnny Yen again with liquor and drugs" to "Here comes Johnny Yen again looking so fine."

Head bang on wall.  Talk about ruining a damn good song.

Sometimes they'll even ruin a bad song, like the ad that featured Sid Vicious' version of My Way to sell a luxury automobile.  Pretty sure Sid wasn't thinking about fancy cars when he butchered that old Sinatra standard.

So what's next?  Using Devo's Freedom Of Choice to sell tampons?

Not-So-Sour Mash

Mashups are tunes created using two or more songs combined to make a single tune, sometimes honoring one artist or the other, and sometimes both.

I found a few, and some "semi-mashups" for tonight. If you think of any, please post them.

As usual, post anything you want, and I'll find a way to butcher them later.

We're Only In It For The Money

Welcome to our new feature... Album of the Week.  This will be the Wednesday feature until Hansjurg returns... if he returns... or until I get tired of doing it.  

This week's feature was released fifty years ago last March.  An album that satirized American culture and the counterculture, cops and hippies, pop music and The Beatles, it was my introduction to Frank Zappa and his band of pranksters, The Mothers of Invention.  Let's just say those Mothers blew my little school girl mind.  

So crank up the volume and have a good laugh.  If you feel like posting a song... any song... go for it.  Doesn't have to be a song by Zappa.  Doesn't even have to be Rock 'N Roll.

                                                              Are you hung up?

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One For The Women Folk

On this day in 1966, Janis Joplin made her singing debut with Big Brother and The Holding Company.  Seems like a good enough reason to dedicate a thread to all those musical women.

Gotta Clean my Desk

Seems I've got links meant to be posted (that for some reason or another never made it into the record) spread across 4 screens here, so it's time to move 'em or lose 'em.

Consider this a "no topic" thread.

Mrs. 17 turned me on to this one about an hour ago, and I'm considering it my personal anthem:

Ticklin' The Ivories

In the mood for some keyboards today.  Doesn't matter if it's piano, organ or synthesizers as long as it moves the hips and the soul.  

Happiness is a Warm Gun

On this day in 1973, Paul McCartney & Wings released the single "Live & Let Die".

On this day in 1967, The Beatles released "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band".

And, reportedly, today is when John & Yoko released "Give Peace a Chance".

I can't verify that, and really don't care to research it.

I'll take as much Beatles as you can find tonight. I know, that's a tough one. Of course "covers" are permitted.

Oh, almost forgot to add...Please, no posts of the shoe salesman. I have all the Sketchers I need.