Playlist for 2/27

George Michael - Faith (reissue)

Drive By Truckers - Big To Do

Superchunk -Majesty Shredding

North Mississippi All Stars -Keys To The Kingdom

Standard Fare - Noyelle Beat

Smith Westerns - Dye It Blonde

Stream Winner

In the end, I went with Napster which cost $50 a month for unlimited streaming.  Cheaper than Rhapsody, although most people I know and read use latter.  But for now, Napster fills me up quite nicely.

Gotta Have Faith

The re-release of George Michael's Faith early this month had me thinking about what has been going on with the relaunch of music critic Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide column, now a twice-weekly at Expert Witness.

Christgau was one of many critics who helped shape my musical knowledge back when I first started listening and learning about Records past and present. But he had his weaknesses. I didn't think he was that good on 70's R&B. For that I went to Dave Marsh, whose love of Philly Soul and others from that Golden Era fit more comfortably with what I was hearing.

I also didn't think Christgau was that good on old time Country. For that there was a marvelous book by John Morthland called Country Music. And Greil Marcus' Mystery Train, and Peter Guralnick's Lost Highway and Feel Like Going Home.

And Christgau didn't seem to jibe with my love for Abba, Queen or Phil Collins. But what I love about his Consumer Guide is you never know what will come up. He was one of the few critics who praised KC & The Sunshine Band or Garth Brooks.

But for albums like Faith, Christgau's grade of B+ never did it for me. I heard a classic, he heard product. It was the same with Lionel Richie's Can't Slow Down and Huey Lewis' Sports. A book by critic Chuck Eddy had a core collection that included those 2 as personal faves.

In other words, trust your own ears. Use critics as guides, but not the final say.

Playlist for 2/20

Now 37

George Benson - White Rabbitt

Paul Desmond- Pure Desmond

Ron Carter -All Blues

Jim Hall - Concierto

Milt Jackson - Sunflower

Deodato - Prelude

Streaming

My one year free subscription to Napster is about up, which means I have to decide whether to go with them or Rhapsody. Probably will stick with Napster, because they are cheaper, and I've found most of what I've looked for.

Must say this free year of streaming was worth it. Able to skip many albums I might have bought, by streaming them first.

NOW

Okay, I'm up to 37.  That's NOW compilations.  37.
I'll update this to 38 in about 3 to 4 months.

Chicago Pt. 2

BTW- If the Hollies, Dave Clark Five and the Lovin' Spoonful are Rock Hall of Famers, then Chicago should be too.

Grammy's 2011

It happens every year after the Grammy's.  A whole bunch of posts (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs) from older Music critics whining about what the kids are listening to these days.  Facebook was full of these.  Look the Grammy's aren't just supposed to spotlight Bob Dylan and Mick Jagger.  They spread the wealth.
You won't get that grouchy old man whining from me (I'm not old anyway).  I thought the show was pretty good.  It didn't start well.  The Aretha tribute was a dud.  But other performers came through:  Mumford & Sons, Avett Brothers, Miranda Lambert, Lady GaGa, Cee-Lo, Arcade Fire, Muse, Urban/Mayer/Norah, even the Biebs and Usher and best of all Mick Jagger, turning back the clock to the days when the Stones used Soul covers to pad out their albums.

Anti-Valentine Day Song

Great Anti-Valentine's Day song:

You're Breaking My Heart - Harry Nilsson

Immortal verse:
"You're breakin' my heart
You're tearing it apart but f*** you"

Chicago and The Ro ck Hall

A clue, perhaps, as to why Chicago is not in the Rock Hall.
In the February 2011 issue of Britain's Record Collector, original drummer Danny Seraphine has this reply as to why Chicago is not in:

" I think there was an ongoing feud with Rolling Stone magazine.  It seemed everyone was getting the cover and we were huge and hey never put us on the cover.  Jimmy Guercio, our producer got into a feud with Jann Wenner, which I think kept us out of the RRHOF.
I don't think we've ever been on the ballot (note: they haven't).  Chicago sold 130 million records, and maybe it's not all about sales, but our early records are beautifully crafted and great music.   For me, it's a slap in the face to the fans and to the  band too."

Playlist for 2/13

Wanda Jackson -Party Ain't Over

Abigail Washburn - City of Refuge

Eli Reed - Come and Get It

Badly Drawn Boy -It's What I'm Thinking

Grover Washington Jr. - Winelight

Novelty

Is Cee-Lo's "F**K You" a novelty record? Now that the song has been entrenched in our psyche, I'm starting to see it dismissed as mere novelty. This really got going when the song got Grammy nods. A "Streak" or "Convoy" if you will. It's been overplayed and parodied to death, but what it really is, is a great record. The first time I heard it online, I knew it would be huge, even though the profanity kept it from scaling the charts. But it was perfectly in place with the Itunes generation.

And let's not forget, some novelty songs have stood up over the years.

Playlist for 2/8

Neil Diamond - Tap Root Manuscript

Chromeo - Business Casual

Social Distortion -Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes

Iron & Wine -Kiss Each Other Clean

Steel Magnolia

Tammi Terrell - Essential

Option Magazine

From the mid-80's until 1998, Option magazine was the best Indie music magazine. Look at the dates of its existence: this is pre-Internet when magazines and zines and College radio were the only means of finding Indie acts.

Like a lot of other mags, once the internet got started these publications became obsolete. This was Pitchfork before Pitchfork was born.

Option relaunched last month as an Internet site, and if you remember the magazine, you'll like what you see. No its not the same as going to your mailbox and then devouring the latest issue. But it will bring back fond memories, even as it brings you into the present.

Option Magazine | Music + Culture

White Stripes

First off, I don't believe they will never reunite.  When bands break up, I always think they will get back together.  Maybe not in 5, but maybe 20 years.  There aren't many that haven't.   I'm thinking Talking Heads, the Clash (but had Strummer lived?), the Band, the Smiths and of course, the Beatles.
Hell, Lionel Richie keeps talking about doing something with the Commodores.
Here's the thing about Jack White.  He's damn buys.  He's got 2 other bands, a record label and he Produces other acts.  The only thing is, neither the Dead Weather or the Ranconteurs have put out anything as good as the mildest of the White Stripes stuff.
But White is still young enough that he's got plenty of peak years left.  As for Meg, well, it's been nice knowing you.

Dad

Thomas Roy "Rocky" Lane

March 26, 1933- February 5. 2008

I Love You,

I Miss You and I Thank You

AOR

Enjoyed reading the special issue from the U.K.'s Classic Rock Magazine on AOR. Lots of fresh articles on crit-hating bands like Night Ranger, Survivor, REO and of course the Kings of AOR, Journey.

Also, a Top 40 AOR vocalist countdown which has Steve Perry and Lou Gramm at 1 and 2. Easy choices. And a lot of Brit-names that I've never heard of. Still wish they had made room for .38 Special's Don Barnes. Otherwise, good issue (but pricey) if you love this type of stuff as much as I do.

Playlist for 2/1

KC & The Sunshine Band - Do It Good

KC & The Sunshine Band - Do You Wanna Go Party

Allan Sherman - My Son The Folk Singer

Electric Six - Zodiac

Gregg Allman - Low Country Blues

Decemberists - King Is Dead