I Checked All The Registered Historical Facts

"Kyiv Calling"

Some Girls: Jacqueline Susann, Amelia Earhart, Gennifer Flowers, Stevie Nix

Jacqueline Susann

Amelia Earhart

Gennifer Flowers

Stevie Nix

Bob Mould: 12 Songs (All Killer, No Filler)

"Make a 12-song sampler by the artist of your choice: all killer, no filler"

I saw that challenge on a music message board. The criteria was "either your personal favorite tracks across an artist's catalog or a sampler collection that you might share with someone not familiar with a particular artist". 

I opted for "personal favorite tracks".

Bob Mould

Wishing Well
Brasilia Crossed With Trenton
Black Sheets Of Rain
New #1
First Drag Of The Day
Stand Guard (Live Dog '98)
Star Machine
Tomorrow Morning
Losing Time
Pray For Rain
When You Left
Send Me A Postcard

Note: This sampler is only from albums released under Mould's own name. I did not consider anything from either Hüsker Dü or Sugar. Even after ignoring those two bands, this wasn't easy. And honestly, a second list of 12 completely different "favorite" songs is only slightly less awesome*. Also: The last track is a cover of a Shocking Blue song from 1970. It, along with a dash through the Buzzcocks' "I Don't Mind", makes me wish Mould would knock out an album of punk-pop covers just for the hell of it.

Wishing Well (Workbook, 1989)

Brasilia Crossed With Trenton (Workbook, 1989)

 

Black Sheets Of Rain (Black Sheets Of Rain, 1990)

 

New #1 (The Last Dog And Pony Show, 1998)

 

First Drag Of The Day (The Last Dog And Pony Show, 1998)

 

Stand Guard (Live Dog '98, 2002; originally on Black Sheets Of Rain, 1990)

 

Star Machine (Silver Age, 2012)

 

Tomorrow Morning (Beauty & Ruin, 2014)

 

Losing Time (Patch The Sky, 2016)

 

Pray For Rain (Patch The Sky, 2016)

 

When You Left (Blue Hearts, 2020)

 

Send Me A Postcard (Sunshine Rock, 2019)

*: Heartbreak A Stranger, Poison Years, Hear Me Calling, Disappointed, (Shine Your) Light Love Hope, Missing You, The Descent, I Don't Know You Anymore, Hold On, Thirty Dozen Roses, Lost Faith, Little Pieces.

RIP Charlie Watts (1941-2021)

Charlie Watts died today in London. He was 80 years old.

I loved playing with Keith and the band — I still do — but I wasn't interested in being a pop idol sitting there with girls screaming. It's not the world I come from. It's not what I wanted to be, and I still think it's silly.

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, stylish and unflappable, seemed forever bemused by the antics of singer Mick Jagger, perhaps best illustrated in the band's 1981 video for "Start Me Up". Jagger refuses to half-ass his lip-synching performance, mugging and dancing and gyrating, while also making fun of the entire process. Shots of guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood (playing along, acting a bit like street toughs, yowling some background vocals) and bassist Bill Wyman (wearing his usual placid expression) are interspersed. And there is Watts, half-smirking behind his kit at what these nearly 40-year-old men are doing in front of him. He remains dead-panned for most of the song, but finally cracks a smile (at 2:47, after we see Jagger particularly rubber-faced, and again at 3:00), as though he simply cannot believe this is how he's earning his living.

Leslie West (1945-2020)

Leslie West died last Wednesday, December 23, at the age of 75.

West formed the band Mountain with bassist Felix Pappalardi in 1969. Mountain lasted for only three years, releasing three studio albums — Climbing! (1970), Nantucket Sleighride (1971), and Flowers of Evil (1971), though they regrouped a couple of years later (Avalanche (1974, live)) and played on and off for decades. Pappalardi was also a producer, with Cream's Disraeli Gears on his resume.

Mountain was versatile. They were one of the forerunners of heavy metal (Rolling Stone magazine called them "a louder version of Cream") and a song written by West and Pappalardi, "Long Red", from West's pre-Mountain solo album, featured a drum break that has been sampled on more than 700 hip-hop songs. They also featured two accomplished vocalists. Where West was gruff and forceful, Pappalardi was softer and soulful.

West was a large man (the name Mountain referred to his size and he later named a solo album The Great Fatsby), with a gruff, forceful voice and a thick, monstrous guitar tone to match. On their impeccably-produced albums, it was a perfect combination. (Corky Laing's frenetic, propulsive drumming was also a standout element.)

West:

I didn't play fast — I only used the first and the third finger on the fingering hand. So I worked on my tone all the time. I wanted to have the greatest, biggest tone, and I wanted vibrato like somebody who plays violin in a hundred-piece orchestra.

Never In My Life

   

 Don't Look Around

   

You Can't Get Away

   

The Great Train Robbery

 

Flowers of Evil

Theme From An Imaginary Western

 

Mississippi Queen

West:

The song's got three chords. Any idiot can play it. I just happen to play it better than anybody. [It] has just everything you need to make it a winner. You've got the cowbell, the riff is pretty damn good, and it sounds incredible. It feels like it wants to jump out of your car radio. To me, it sounds like a big, thick milkshake. It's rich and chocolatey. Who doesn't love that?

"America Is Waiting For A Message Of Some Sort Or Another"

Forty years ago – on December 18, 1980 – Talking Heads played a concert in Rome that was filmed for broadcast on Italian TV. The band's fourth album, Remain In Light, had been out for two months. 

To bring their new songs to life on stage, Talking Heads – David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth, and Jerry Harrison – hired several additional musicians: Adrian Belew (guitarist), Bernie Worrell (keyboardist), Buster Jones (bass), Steve Scales (percussion), and Dolette MacDonald (vocals, percussion).

If I was allowed only one Talking Heads album, I'd grab Remain in Light. (Actually, I'd take the expanded CD reissue of The Name Of This Band Is Talking Heads, but that's cheating.) Side A of Remain in Light is the sole reason for my choice. "Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)", "Crosseyed and Painless", and "The Great Curve" comprise one of the most astonishing album sides in rock and roll history.

Frantz always described the band as playing "thinking man's dance music". For this album, with Brian Eno collaborating as a fifth member, Talking Heads added African polyrhythms, funk, tape loops, and electronics to their unique sound, and Byrne's lyrics evolved into something akin to William Burroughs's cut-up technique.

Lost my shape, trying to act casual
Can't stop, I might end up in the hospital
I'm changing my shape, I feel like an accident
They're back, to explain their experience . . .

There was a line, there was a formula
Sharp as a knife, facts cut a hole in us . . .

The island of doubt, it's like the taste of medicine
Working by hindsight, got the message from the oxygen
Making a list, find the cost of opportunity
Doing it right, facts are useless in emergencies

I would have loved to see this band, but my only Talking Heads concert was a few years later: October 1, 1983, on the Stop Making Sense tour.

December 18, 1980 – Set List

Psycho Killer
Stay Hungry
Cities
I Zimbra
Drugs
Take Me to the River
Crosseyed and Painless
Life During Wartime
Houses in Motion
Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
The Great Curve

Also:

 

November 4, 1980 – Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey

December 20, 1980 – Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany

Audio Only

August 23, 1980 – Heatwave Festival, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada

December 11, 1980 – Jaap Eden Hall, Amsterdam, Holland

December 16, 1980 – Palasport, Bologna, Italy

Bob Mould Turns 60 (And Remains A Punk At Heart)

Bob Mould, rock and roll songwriter extraordinaire, guitarist and singer for Hüsker Dü, Sugar, and various bands under his own name, celebrates his 60th birthday today*.

Mould released Blue Hearts, his 14th solo album, about three weeks ago. "American Crisis" occupies the coveted third slot on the track list, Mould's usual spot for an album's first single. It's a good old-fashioned protest song. After an opening scream, amid bashing drums and roaring guitars, a yell can be half-heard from deep inside the maelstrom: "I never thought I'd see this bullshit again!"

"American Crisis" was actually written during the sessions for Mould's last album, Sunshine Rock. At that time, though Mould was trying his hand at a more optimistic album, so he kept the tune in his back pocket.

I saw parallels between Trump and Reagan, these Hollywood celebrities brought to power by the religious right, and remembered how I felt in the 80s, a young gay man certain of my sexual preference, if not my sexual identity, with the "moral majority" telling me AIDS was God's punishment. I didn't understand then how to advance my community's cause. But things are so bad now that no reasonable artist can keep their mouth shut. And the words on this album are blunt. This is no time to be oblique or allegorical.

While Blue Hearts has several clear declarations of anger and disbelief and confusion at "a nation in flames", of being subjected to a daily "fountain of lies . . . in a fucked up USA", there are also the more personal ruminations of a middle-aged man ("the lines get deeper on my face each season") turning away from the chaos of the world and trying to make sense of his personal life. Even so, nearly every song includes a topical lyric (though good luck finding them without the lyric sheet):

"What if they bring back the national draft and all of our children are called?" ("Fireball")

"Would this be blasphemy: When you're a star, you can do what you want" ("Forecast of Rain")

"We keep shifting all the blame. So toxic, I could not breathe" ("When You Left")

"Across this land there are no nature scenes / Instead you drill and pillage everything of beauty" ("Siberian Butterfly")

"Left behind and frightened, their blood begins to boil / Stock up on provisions: God, guns, and oil" (Password To My Soul")

Throughout Blue Hearts, Mould is shaken by what he sees and hears each day. It's a constant worry. Ten songs after admitting "this American crisis keeps me wide awake at night", he confides "this constant state of crisis leaves me frail, afraid, and weakened". He searches for and finds comfort and refuge in companionship: 

"We all need something / No one can live on nothing . . . I want to be everything to you"

"Where do you wanna go? What do you wanna do? / Maybe we'll stay at home, does that sound good to you?"

And, of course, music offers hope: "We turn to music when our hearts are filled with doubt."

The songs on Blue Hearts get straight to the point, say their piece (perhaps offer a terse guitar solo), and move on. There is no fucking around. The first seven songs range from 1:40 to 2:33. The only song over three minutes is the closer, "The Ocean". Mould is joined once again by bassist Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster, his rhythm section for the last nine years and five albums.

Blue Hearts' noisefest actually begins with acoustic guitar ("Heart On My Sleeve"), as Mould gives us the state of the union:

The left coast is covered in ash and flames
Keep denying the winds of climate change
The deep south sinking into the sea
But you don't believe me
Across the plains are fields of rotting wheat
Appalachian trail of pain relief
And the cities are teeming
Roiling over with tension and greed
The rising tide of a broken government
Gold boats are floating on cement
And we're going to war
And we're going to die . . .

"Next Generation" follows, direct, earnest, a little self-deprecating:

Who knows what things will be like two generations from now
I won't be here but I'll predict you'll feel a certain urgency
It's not a panic, it's a reaction, a call to action . . .

When I'm hoarse and deaf and feeble, nobody's going to listen to me
Time to take one last stand, try to make you understand
Life isn't a joke, it's so much more, it's all we get, there's nothing else

Recently, Mould talked about "Forecast of Rain":

I recognize the importance of religion for those who believe: the worship, the rituals, the community; loving thy neighbor, following commandments, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. In short, be nice to people, help however you can, and don't steal stuff. But right now, I'm having a hard time understanding how certain religious sectarians can support the behavior of those who occupy the People's House. How can you endorse their disregard for truth? How can you tolerate the incessant vindictiveness? How can you stand by your man while people are teargassed to clear a path to the Lord's House?

He sings: "My truth is different than your distortions and disguised / Interpretations twisting the words of ancient times". (The album is not without a dash of humour. Speaking of hypocrisy, there's this line in "American Crisis": "Pro-life, pro-life, until you make it in someone else's wife".)

If you're watching the lyrics during the video, you'll miss the two buildings with the corporation names "Chump" and "Lump".

"Siberian Butterfly" hits on themes of change, growth, and freedom (and sexuality and self-worth).

These motifs are central to how we become our true selves. This is how we begin our journey toward our true identities. It's autobiographical as well. I put myself through some self-hating years as a young gay man — never feeling "good enough", not recognising the positive qualities I had to offer, while inhibiting the development of my gay identity. I hope for a world where all people can be what they want to be. Life seems shorter every day; maybe this simple song can be of use to people who are struggling to find their true selves.

About ten years ago, Mould worked with Michael Azerrad for several years on his autobiography; See A Little Light was published in 2011. All of that work (in addition to hours of interviews, Mould did a lot of actual writing) and the book's main theme of self-acceptance appears to have freed Mould creatively, because he produced three consecutive albums that stand among the best work he's ever done: Silver Age (2012), Beauty & Ruin (2014), and Patch The Sky (2016).

The later two albums were infused with the sadness and acceptance of the deaths of his parents. After that, Mould thought he'd try something new: an upbeat album. Of Mould's 11 songs on Sunshine Rock, four have the word "sun" in the title. But there is also "Irrational Poison", "The Final Years", and "Lost Faith". Perhaps a 100% cheery Bob Mould album is simply not possible!

At the moment, the high points of Blue Hearts for me are "When You Left", "Little Pieces", and the intoxicating, fuzzy foot-stomp of  "Baby Needs A Cookie", which has an added bonus: Mould has placed his vocals a little higher in the mix.

*: On the same day I celebrated my 57th!

Eddie Van Halen, Dead At 65

RIP: Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (January 26, 1955 - October 6, 2020) and the Brown Sound.

I don't know shit about scales or music theory. I don't want to be seen as the fastest guitar in town, ready and willing to gun down the competition. All I know is that rock & roll guitar, like blues guitar, should be melody, speed, and taste, but more important, it should have emotion. I just want my guitar playing to make people feel something: happy, sad, even horny.

For Van Morrison, Jehovah's Witnesses Apparently Weren't Loony Enough . . .

Van Morrison to release lockdown protest songs https://t.co/GXemIgpWa8

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) September 18, 2020

Van the Man will also be reworking his back catalog:

Astral Weeks (Hooked Up To A Ventilator)

Cleaning Windows (But Refusing To Use Hand Sanitizer)

These Fever Dreams Of You

Have I Told You Lately That I'm A Covidiot? 

Call Me Up In Trumpland

Bring It On Home To Me

And The Healing Has Not Begun

No Guru, No Method, No Mask

I Forgot That Germs Existed

Did Ye Get Healed (With Hydroxychloroquine)?

Jackie Wilson Said Drinking Bleach Cures Coronavirus 

. . .

But, hey, the new songs sure sound catchy!

BBC, September 18, 2020:

Sir Van Morrison has accused the government of "taking our freedom" in three new songs that protest against the coronavirus lockdown.

In the lyrics, he claims scientists are "making up crooked facts" to justify measures that "enslave" the population.

"The new normal, is not normal," he sings. "We were born to be free". ...

Recorded "recently" in Belfast and England, Sir Van's three new songs sit in a familiar vein of jazz and bluesy R&B. ...No More Lockdown is the most strident of the three tracks. "No more lockdown / No more government overreach," the musician sings in the chorus. "No more fascist bullies / Disturbing our peace. / No more taking of our freedom / And our God given rights / Pretending it's for our safety / When it's really to enslave."

Another song references a widely-shared Facebook post, of a screenshot from a UK government website saying, "Covid-19 is no longer considered to be a high consequence infectious disease (HCID) in the UK". ...

Sir Van said his new songs would be released at two-week intervals with the first, Born To Be Free, arriving on 25 September.

[Morrison:] "I'm not telling people what to do or think ... I call on my fellow singers, musicians, writers, producers, promoters and others in the industry to fight with me on this. Come forward, stand up, fight the pseudo-science and speak up."

"American Crisis": Bob Mould Is Pissed Off (Blue Hearts, His 14th Solo Album, Comes Out September 25)

I never thought I'd see this bullshit again
To come of age in the '80s was bad enough
We were marginalized and demonized
I watched a lot of my generation die

Welcome back to American Crisis
No telling what the price is ...
Here's the newest American Crisis
Thanks to the Evangelical ISIS

People suffer in the streets each day
While you take a little change from the offering tray ...
World turning darker every day
In a fucked up USA

Can you look in the mirror and tell me everything's alright? ...

You're one of us – or one of them
If you're one of them – don't come near me again ...

Silence was death
Never forget
Silence was death



Bob Mould calls the songs that comprise Blue Hearts (his 14th solo album) "the catchiest batch of protest songs I've ever written". Mould once again is backed by bassist Jason Narducy and drummer Jon Wurster.

"American Crisis" is a tale of two times. Past Time and Present Time. The parallels between 1984 and 2020 are a bit scary for me: telegenic, charismatic leaders, praised and propped up by extreme Evangelicals, either ignoring an epidemic (HIV/AIDS) or being outright deceitful about a pandemic (COVID-19). ... I've been through a lot of bad times in my life, and this is the worst political solution I've ever seen. ... These fuckers tried to kill me once. They didn't do it. They scared me. I didn't do enough*. Guess what? I'm back ... And I'm not going to sit quietly this time and worry about alienating anyone.

*: Mould did not talk publicly about his sexuality until 1994.

"American Crisis" opens with a harsh scream and clocks in at a brisk 2:28, and that includes a long fade-out.

Mould planned on including a "real angry" anti-Trump song on his last album, Sunshine Rock, but swapped it out with another song at the last minute.

I got a clutch of songs I wrote when things were pretty bad the first time around [with Reagan], and all of those words still apply. "In a Free Land" and "Divide and Conquer," they still mean the exact same thing they meant when I wrote them. It's just a new version. This is a new iteration of it. This is the problem with evangelicals. It never ends.

During a brief solo tour in January and February, before SARS-CoV-2 dominated American life, Mould was playing three or four new songs each night, including what turned out to be the first two songs on Blue Hearts: "Heart On My Sleeve" and "Next Generation".



In the latter song, Mould name-checks "Divide And Conquer", one of his songs from Hüsker Dü's Flip Your Wig (1985) and one of my favourite songs of all time.



Caveat: I love Bob Mould. He's a true rarity – a guy who has continued writing and playing consistently great music, even as he closes in on his 60th birthday. But . . . I am wary of these songs, even though I agree with Mould's sentiments wholeheartedly. Some of the lyrics (on both the new single and what I can discern from the live clip above) are a little too literal. Then again, I hate seeing lyrics the first few times I hear any new music. It's like watching a video, which imprints someone else's images in your mind and you can't erase them. Angry/Fed-Up Bob can be a hell of a lot of fun, but I'll be very sad if Blue Hearts was Mould's version of Neil Young's Living With War. I'll find out on in September.

1. Heart On My Sleeve
2. Next Generation
3. American Crisis
4. Fireball
5. Forecast Of Rain
6. When You Left
7. Siberian Butterfly
8. Everyth!ng To You
9. Racing To The End
10. Baby Needs A Cookie
11. Little Pieces
12. Leather Dreams
13. Password To My Soul
14. The Ocean

Classic Coronavirüs Jükebox

The Hüsker Dü/Bob Mould Pandemic/Isolation Edition











































ENCORE!

Holy Shit! X Released An Album, The First Music From The Original Quartet In 35 Years

X's new album Alphabetland is the first new music from the four original members of the Los Angeles-based band in 35 years. The 11 songs were recorded in two sessions: the fall of 2018 and January 2020.

Listen to the title song here. X wastes little time. the longest song is 3:04 and eight of the 11 songs are 2:39 or shorter. Several songs - "Strange Life", "I Gotta Fever", "Star Chambered" "Goodbye Year, Goodbye" - truly sound like long-lost outtakes.

Alphabetland was originally scheduled to come out this August, but the band and label began discussing a surprise release in mid-March. It appeared on Bandcamp on Wednesday, which was also the 40th anniversary of X's debut album, Los Angeles.

Bassist John Doe: "People ask, 'How can you be playing rock 'n' roll for so long?' Well, because that's what we do." ... Guitarist Billy Zoom: "The same way that they keep sending me a bill for the mortgage every month." (News stories tell me Zoom is 72 years old. I do not believe it.)

X's first four albums - Los Angeles, Wild Gift, Under the Big Black Sun, and More Fun in the New World, released from 1980-1984 - are all essential. I would rate them in reverse order of their release. More Fun should probably be one of my desert island discs.

Honest to goodness, the bars weren't open this morning
They must have been voting for a new president or something
Do you have a quarter? I said "Yes", because I did
Honest to goodness the tears have been falling all over this country's face
It was better before, before they voted for What's-His-Name
This was supposed to be the new world



Los Angeles treats everyone like a drunk in bed
Washing dirty bums with rain like dishes on the floor





You can't drive around and hear your favorite song
So you tape it live if you can get inside when it comes along
I can't stand people who bitch and whine
Let's drink a beer from a paper bag while we got time
Bang, bang, make the music go bang
Brilliant, shining and nasty





The bartender's eyes are full of pity
As he tells her "You're alone and it's 2:30.
All the chairs are on the table and it's time to close."
She said "A minute ago, they were starin' at me. Where the hell'd they go?"



The civil wars and the uncivilized wars
Conflagrations leap out of every poor furnace
The food cooks poorly and everyone goes hungry
From then on it's dog eat dog, dog eat body, and body eat dog
I can't go down there
I can't understand it
I'm a no-good coward, an American, too
A North American, that is
And I must not think bad thoughts ...
I'm guilty of murder of innocent men,
Innocent women, innocent children, thousands of them
My planes, my guns, my money, my soldiers
My blood on my hands
It's all my fault
I must not think bad thoughts





A steady place to study and drink
Dawn comes soon enough for the working class
It keeps getting sooner or later
This is the game that moves as you play ...
Day old days
Ancient Bloody Mary bastards in a hardcore blue collar bar
Here we sit, a shot and a beer



I have done a lot of internet reading and I cannot find another person who has noticed that the distinctive guitar phrase from The Have Nots (1982) is also put to good effect in REM's Texarkana (1991).





I could throw my lipstick and bracelets like gravel
And move to Alabama, I got some more scotch instead ...
Then I died a thousand times
Maybe you don't, But I do
I got a hole in my heart, the size of my heart



No one is united
All things are untied
Perhaps we're boiling over inside
They've been telling lies
Who's been telling lies?

There are no angels
There are devils in many ways ...

Some facts here which refuse to escape
I could say it stronger, but it's too much trouble ...
Hectic, isn't it?
Down we go, cradle and all ...

The world's a mess, it's in my kiss
The world is fine, goodbye, my darling

Breaking News: COVID-19 Has Tested Positive For Keith Richards

Breaking News:
COVID-19 has tested positive for Keith Richards. pic.twitter.com/f7AWLtDwKO

— Sir Hobby of Herts (@THE_SIR_HOBBY) April 12, 2020

Saw Keith Richards trending and assumed he had stopped COVID as it had just given up when it encountered him.

— Gareth is not going out (@GMLmusic) April 12, 2020

COVID-19 is afraid it might catch Keith Richards.

— So Socially Distant (@lyledal) April 17, 2020

I pity the coronavirus that enters Keith Richards’ bloodstream.

— Dave Ruske (@daveruske) April 12, 2020

This just in: Keith Richards has been exposed to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). The virus is now in quarantine for 14 days

— BirdGang (@GordonsWord) March 15, 2020

Keith Richards survived the Spanish Flu. He’ll survive Covid-19

— Gearis Herndon (@HerndonGearis) April 19, 2020

Keith Richards has already snorted Covid 19 said it tickled

— Sad Dave (@Sharkydave44) March 5, 2020

Keith Richards IS the vaccine to covid19 pic.twitter.com/w699Dvi2Iz

— Shannon H (@shannee_h) April 19, 2020

Charlie Watts said “fuck you I am not setting up my drum set for a 4 minute song. #TogetherAtHome

— Jayna (@jayna7278) April 19, 2020

Coronavirus Jukebox

A bitter wind blows through the country
A hard rain falls on the sea
If terror comes without a warning
There must be something we don't see
What fire begets this fire?
Like torches thrown into the straw
If no one asks, then no one answers
That's how every empire falls

We're On A Highway To Hell

Living easy, living free
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Asking nothing, leave me be
Taking everything in my stride

Don't need reason, don't need rhyme
Ain't nothing I would rather do
Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too

I'm on the highway to hell
On the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell

No stop signs, speed limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it
Nobody's gonna mess me around

Hey Satan, paid my dues
Playing in a rocking band
Hey mama, look at me
I'm on my way to the promised land

I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell
I'm on the highway to hell
Highway to hell

Don't stop me!

And I'm going down
All the way ...................

I'm on the highway to hell.

Trump says truck drivers should be fine if they're alone in their cab all day. He adds, "I know a lot about trucks."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) March 30, 2020

Trump is on Fox News right now. He says he thinks New York will be “fine” “based on the numbers” and won’t need all the ventilators they’ve asked for. “After this is over they’ll be selling them for a dollar a piece” he says.

— Jackson Proskow (@JProskowGlobal) March 30, 2020

Steve: How do we know that all those people actually died of Coronavirus...

Jason: I’d like to see statistics on how full our hospitals really are pic.twitter.com/CAqtixO1QV

— Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) March 30, 2020

“If we have between 100,000 and 200,000 we’ve all together done a very good job,” Trump says, about up to 200,000 Americans dying of #COVID19.pic.twitter.com/ricnlAbKKK

— Jason Sparks (@sparksjls) March 30, 2020

February 26: "Within a couple days, it [the number of cases] is going to be down close to zero."

March 30: "If we have ... 200,000 [deaths], we've all together done a very good job."

Prince's 1999: "Apocalyptic, Sexy, Funky, Funny, Innovative, Earthy, Electronic, Sly, Righteous, Euphoric — And Almost Entirely A One-Man Show"

In June 2017, Prince's estate and Warner Bros. released a Deluxe Expanded edition of Purple Rain, including a remaster of the original album, a disc of previously unreleased songs, a disc with single edits, maxi-single edits, and B-sides, and a DVD with a concert from March 30, 1985.

It may sound nice, but it was a disappointment. Prince was writing and recording a ton of music in the year or two before Purple Rain and one disc of outtakes was underwhelming, barely scratching the surface. No demos, no rehearsals, no evidence of how some of his most famous songs evolved.

A couple of Purple Rain's songs were presented in their original form, before Prince edited them down for the album. "Computer Blue" clocked in at 12:18 (the label used a descriptive term (the "Hallway Speech" version) that had been in use for years among die-hard fans who had the outtake in their collections). "Let's Go Crazy"'s original running time of 7:35 (as it appeared on early configurations of the album (November 7, 1983 and March 12, 1984), but not on the final version of June 25, 1984) was called the "Special Dance Mix".

An expanded version of 1999 (Prince's fifth album, the one before Purple Rain, released in late October 1982) has been released and it appears to be a much better representation of its creative time period.

Jon Pareles, the long-time chief pop music critic of the New York Times, writes that even after 37 years, the music on 1999 "still sounds contemporary and alive". (A song from 37 years before this album came out would have been from 1945.)

1999 was apocalyptic, sexy, funky, funny, innovative, earthy, electronic, sly, righteous, euphoric and almost entirely — give or take a few vocals and a guitar solo — a one-man show by Prince Rogers Nelson on every instrument and vocal. Every song exults in the architectural savvy of a musician who, from the drumbeat up, seemed to know exactly how he'd be jamming with himself as he built the song. ...

The "super deluxe" version of the 1999 reissue — five CDs or 10 LPs plus a grainy DVD video of a 1982 concert in Houston — reaches into Prince's vault of unreleased recordings, unveiling a dozen songs that haven't appeared officially in any form, although Prince performed some of them live. A handful — including the absolute standout, "Purple Music" — are gems; none is a dud. Other vault material includes alternate takes of previously released songs, usually quite different from what appeared during Prince's lifetime. ...

The newly released vault material doesn't challenge the choices Prince made about 1999 (though I'd have been tempted to swap in "Moonbeam Levels," a stately plea for humanity, for "Free" on 1999). The alternate takes of the album's songs were less adventurous than the versions Prince chose for the album. But Prince on his most ordinary day was better than countless musicians at their best, and now that he's gone, being able to hear more Prince equals more pleasure. ...

[T]he American pop universe of the early 1980s was de facto segregated. Rock radio had declared war on disco, while the revelations of black culture were broadcast largely to African-American radio listeners. Prince's fusion of funk, rock, disco, new wave, synth-pop, gospel, jazz, soul, lust, community and joy faced barriers that shouldn't have stopped it, and soon could not. With 1999 those barriers fell; the album sold in the millions. ...

But commercial triumph wasn't the sole measure of 1999. Prince was expanding his musical ambitions, writing odd-angled melodies (like "Let's Pretend We're Married") and toying with ambiguous harmonies, as in "Something in the Water (Does Not Compute)." ...

Prince was also finding new sounds: pushing his voice into multiple personalities, from sweet falsetto to punk snarl to preacherly exhortation, and deploying sounds from the latest synthesizers. He had one of the first drum machines, the Linn LM-1, which made it possible to program realistic sampled sounds quickly. (One reason 1999 sounds current is that many pop songs are still driven by brittle, metronomic drum-machine beats.) ...

The vault material reflects Prince's remarkable early 1980s multitasking, pouring out material not only for his own albums but also for groups he was producing: the Time and Vanity 6. He often wrote and recorded a song in a day. Crisp funk workouts like "Feel U Up" and "Rearrange," from the vault, could have easily ended up on a Time album, though Prince didn't treat them like demos. He finished the tracks with a flourish; "Rearrange" turns into a feedback-slinging lead guitar freakout. ...

Other songs put Prince's stamp on all sorts of idioms ... ["Turn It Up"] urges someone to "Work me like a radio" and "Come and play with my controls." (For Prince, every machine was a sex machine.) "Vagina" celebrates a character he meets who is "Half-boy, half-girl — the best of both worlds," while Prince makes two guitars and a bass — recorded one by one — sound like the Rolling Stones jamming in a dressing room. ...

Prince wrote himself a manifesto in a 1982 session. "Purple Music" ... is 10 minutes of motoric, minimalistic funk with a drum-machine beat, subtly scrubbing rhythm guitar, a bass part that goes from a few notes to busy little runs, and an ever-changing overlay of keyboards — chords, syncopated vamps, scurrying lines — that goes polytonal and nearly atonal.

Prince sings through the lyrics a few times; we'll never know, but perhaps at the time he thought he'd edit down the 10 minutes to the best takes. Apparently the song didn't strike him as right for 1999; it went into the vault. ...

Pareles's comment about Prince's 40-year-old drum machine patterns sounding more contemporary than last week's chart-topper is interesting. I distinctly remember being struck by the unique drum pattern that serves as "1999"'s foundation when I first heard the song in late 1982. There was absolutely nothing in pop music that sounded like that at the time. (Indeed, five years later, there was still nothing in pop music that sounded like what Prince was (or had been) doing. Prince took some inspiration from "Monday Monday", a 1966 hit for The Mamas & The Papas, for the main keyboard line, but it was his Linn LM-1, and that distinctive tumbling pattern, that made and instant impression. The often-complex drum pattern repeats through the entire song, verses, chorus, solos, breakdown, it never changes.

I love about two-thirds of 1999 — and it's the first two-thirds. Like Pareles, I'm not a big fan of "Free" and if I never heard the fourth side of the double album again, I wouldn't miss it. But side one — "1999", "Little Red Corvette", "Delirious" — is nothing short of fifteen minutes of pop perfection. The album opens with God speaking: "Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I only want you to have some fun." (The Almighty returns, about four minutes later, to offer some quick, subtle background vocals!) "1999" slides into "Corvette", and, again, the hypnotic drum pattern is effortless, with a stuttering, skitchy sound that I have always imagined was a sanding block.

There are outtakes with titles that have circulated for a while ("Yah, U Know", "Teacher, Teacher"), but these are earlier, different versions (though not radically different) of those songs.

Throughout this album, and throughout his most fertile period (for me, through 1988), Prince layered numerous vocal tracks, sometimes high, sometimes low, and the cameos of his sped-up voice in "Automatic" and "Irresistible Bitch" are the first evidence of what he would do much more extensively years later on Sign O The Times and the unreleased Camille album.

(Speaking of experimenting with voice manipulation, check out this short snippet of "Cosmic Day", an unreleased song recorded on November 15, 1986. The effort put into a song that apparently was not part of any album project or considered for another artist is remarkable. Just an idea and a day's work, apparently ... and on to the next thing. Prince recorded "Adore" and "Play In The Sunshine" before the week was out.)

Bob Mould, 2016

Whenever I consider a list of my absolute favorite musicians, I tend to forget about Bob Mould. That absent-mindedness makes no sense at all because I have loved nearly 100% of Mould's music since I first discovered Hüsker Dü way back in the (celebrated) summer of 1984.

I've been listening to Bob Mould for 35+ years (Hüsker Dü, Sugar, and albums under his own name) and I can throw on any album from his discography at any time and be thoroughly engaged. I cannot think of anyone else about whom I can say that.

I find some of his stuff, like 1993's Beaster, just as musically mind-blowing as it was when it first came out. (Once it was recorded, Mould said he found it "unnerving" to listen to his lyrics.) The Times (UK): "Rarely has a band rocked out with such bleak intensity and utter conviction. A vast cathedral of noise and despair, erected and demolished in half an hour flat, this is an album which has to be heard to be believed."

Bob Mould has never done anything other than exactly what he wanted to do. His early work influenced many bands, but that acknowledgement came years after the fact. He will turn 59 this fall (We share a birthday!) and he shows no sign of a creative letdown. It's amazing.

There are other musicians who have steadfastly done their own thing (Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Elvis Costello), but that usually means there's a lot of their stuff I don't care about or actively dislike. Case in point: The songs on Elvis Costello's four albums from 1977-79 are endlessly inventive, both musically and lyrically, but I haven't cared a whit about anything he's done in the last 33 years.

That is not the case with Mould. Hell, I even like most of Modulate, his 2002 electronica-influenced album which confused (and turned off) a lot of the fans of his deafening guitar sound. (Though I freely admit I have never listened all the way through the 219 seconds of "Megamanic"!)

Bob Mould

October 15, 2016, Bologna, Italy, with John Wurster (drums) and Jason Narducy (bass)

A Good Idea / Changes / The End Of Things


Hoover Dam / No Reservations / Tomorrow Morning


Something I Learned Today / Come Around / Losing Time


In A Free Land / Celebrated Summer

KEXP, Seattle, WA

April 16, 2016
Hoover Dam / See A Little Light / The Descent / I Don't Know You Anymore / You Say You / Voices In My Head / Hold On / If I Can't Change Your Mind / Makes No Sense At All



May 10, 2016
The End Of Things / Losing Time / You Say You / The Descent / Black Confetti

Hüsker Dü

Camden Palace, London, UK, May 14, 1985

New Day Rising / It's Not Funny Anymore / Everything Falls Apart / Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill / I Apologize / If I Told You / Folklore / Terms Of Psychic Warfare / Powerline / Books About UFOs / Chartered Trips / Diane / Celebrated Summer / Every Everything / Makes No Sense At All / Pink Turns To Blue / Ticket To Ride / Reoccurring Dreams/Dreams Reoccurring / Eight Miles High / Love Is All Around

Jason & The Scorchers: Live 1984-2016

Ladies and Gentlemen ... Jason & The Scorchers!

Both Sides Of The Line - The Palace, Los Angeles, CA, 1984


Great Balls Of Fire - The Palace, Los Angeles, CA, 1984


The Race Is On - Roskilde Festival, 1985


Can't Help Myself - Roskilde Festival, 1985


Absolutely Sweet Marie - Roskilde Festival, 1985


If Money Talks - Roskilde Festival, 1985


Tear It Up (with Link Wray) - Roskilde Festival, 1985


Harvest Moon - Cat's Records Outdoor Show, 1985


White Lies - The Conan O'Brien Show


Shotgun Blues / Ghost Town - "After Hours" (Nashville Channel 5's late night variety show), 1986


Golden Ball and Chain - "After Hours" (Nashville Channel 5's late night variety show), 1986


White Lies - Farm Aid, Austin, Texas, July 1986


Broken Whiskey Glass - Farm Aid, Austin, Texas, July 1986


Absolutely Sweet Marie - Fairview Park, Normal, Illinois, July 4, 1987


I Can't Help Myself - Fairview Park, Normal, Illinois, July 4, 1987
[Jason sings the song while helping fans cross a small creek to get closer to the stage!]


Sing Me Back Home - Fairview Park, Normal, Illinois, July 4, 1987


White Lies - Fairview Park, Normal, Illinois, July 4, 1987


Great Balls Of Fire - Fairview Park, Normal, Illinois, July 4, 1987


If You've Got The Love - Lafayette Club, Bloomington, Illinois, April 1993
[First show in 6 years!]


Shop It Around - Lafayette Club, Bloomington, Illinois, April 1993


Golden Ball And Chain - Lafayette Club, Bloomington, Illinois, April 1993


Drugstore Truck Drivin' Man - Rock Temple, Kerkrade, Netherlands, April 30, 2010


Broken Whiskey Glass - The Garage, London, England, August 5, 2010


White Lies - The Garage, London, England, August 5, 2010


Somewhere Within - The Berkeley Cafe, Raleigh, NC, January 2011


Take Me Home Country Roads - Helsinki, Finland, July 2012


When The Angels Cry - Manchester Academy, July 3, 2015


Self Sabotage - Music City Roots Live, The Factory, September 2015


Absolutely Sweet Marie - Bluegrass Underground, Cumberland Caverns, McMinnville, Tennessee, April 1, 2016


Shop It Around - Bluegrass Underground, Cumberland Caverns, McMinnville, Tennessee, April 1, 2016


Harvest Moon - Bluegrass Underground, Cumberland Caverns, McMinnville, Tennessee, April 1, 2016



FULL CONCERTS

Capitol Theater, Passaic, New Jersey, November 22, 1985

Lost Highway
Help, There's A Fire
Are You Ready For The Country
Last Time Around
Shop It Around
Broken Whiskey Glass
I Can't Help Myself
Harvest Moon
If Money Talks
Still Tied
Change The Tune
I Really Don't Want To Know
White Lies

Piedmont Park, September 4, 1995


MTV, The Cutting Edge, 1984