A friend hereabouts queried his FB pals today as to the “First CDs” they’d purchased. So I naturally went on at length about my own very peculiar/particular “Journey to the CD”, as it were. Ahem, I acquired a year-old Technics CD player from a Missoula, Montana friend who was ALREADY upgrading (ca. Summer 1987!), shortly …
“Jagger and Johansen at the film premiere of ‘The Song Remains The Same’ in NYC, October 19th, 1976.” 47 years ago! And BOTH still actively performing. “Anthony Bourdain’s 20 Favourite Songs of the 1970s” (note: There are only 19!) ‘Pusher Man’: Curtis Mayfield‘Baby’s on Fire’: Brian Eno‘Bad Luck’: Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes‘Penetration’: Iggy …
Q: In your estimation, did The Jam or The Style Council or any Paul Weller enterprise produce a great album? A: Near-great, perhaps, if one is especially disposed toward the decidedly Brit-centric, Who/Kinks/Small Faces-derived pleasures of the Jam albums IN THE CITY (1977), ALL MOD CONS (1979), or SETTING SONS (1980), although the narrow, immediately-anachronistic …
I knew they’d been intermittently reunited as ROIR had released a cassette-only live album in 1985 entitled 96 TEARS FOREVER—THE DALLAS REUNION TAPES ’84. (Dave Marsh even penned liner notes, as did Rudy Martinez (aka ?) himself! That gig was apparently the first that the original lineup had played since 1966.) Still, I was stunned …
Having recently re-read two of my favorite books–FOUL! THE CONNIE HAWKINS STORY (David Wolf, 1972) and LOOSE BALLS: THE SHORT, WILD LIFE OF THE AMERICAN BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION (Terry Pluto, 1990)–I was especially struck today to encounter this photo of five of the ABA’s greatest stars (from the left: Connie Hawkins, Marvin Barnes, Julius “Dr. J” …
“My Dad and My Dandelions!” A Tribute to Hank Kipp A little over six years ago, on April 29th, 2012 to be precise, I quite spontaneously decided to weed a dense patch of dandelions in front of the townhouse complex where I’d been living for the previous two years. The front of said complex—along the …
Occasionally, as I think back on various experiences of trying to CREATE in Havre or Missoula, Montana during the 1980s (and subsequently, as well, in Northern Virginia or Seattle)–whether that involved establishing a “beach head” and persona for radio, learning to write/combine criticism and history (and humor), attempting to make music of widely varying sorts, …
[Gillian Gaar will read from her new book on 9/15 at Orca Books in Olympia at 3 pm and on 9/18 at Elliott Bay Books in Seattle at 7 pm.] My friend Gillian Gaar loved this story when I shared it with her many years ago, and asked me to write it up while she …
This question comes from an unnamed source via Daniel Housman – Just how many brilliant obscure singer-songwriters were there in the early Seventies? I’m still getting over rediscovering Emmitt Rhodes — and now here’s David Ackles. Nobody was listening to this stuff, yet “Gimme Dat Ding” went Top 40? Tom Kipp – Let us add …
“Clearly the best video of all-time.” – Kurt Bloch “Could Jon Lord be just a little more Mod, please!” – Tom Kipp
“Although Dido has sold over 28 million records worldwide, I have never received a single telephone call from any record company or artist because of my involvement on those albums. In contrast, Talk Talk’s ‘Spirit of Eden,’ which was seen as a failure at the time of its release, has steadily brought me work for …