Posts Tagged ‘The Beatles’

The Belldog

Friday, July 24th, 2009

Well it’s been a lazy, good for nothing Friday. No, not really. Been busy. Did some laundry, went to the library, smoked a cigar on the stoop. That’s basically it. So that means, since I have nothing to write about, it’s time for the iTunes shuffle.

The Belldog- Brian Eno & Cluster from the album After the Heat. A good song by one of my favorite people teaming up with 2 German guys named Moebius & Roedelius. The UK Music press labeled the genre, Krautrock. A nice meditative and mechanical song. Hard to find. I had a cheap vinyl copy and sometime ago I found a download which I promptly downloaded.

Sad But True- Orbital My favorite Orbital track. Probably a great club track but how would I know? I dislike clubbing. I got this disc (Snivelisation) from Rand & Lisa and played a few tracks for Bill last night. He loved it but couldn’t find it on iTunes. Since I had the disc available, he uploaded that and saved some dough.

My Mummy’s Dead- John Lennon from Lennon Legend. No editing the list here. This is the last track from John Lennon- Plastic Ono Band. Of course the title betrays what a downer it is. Only 1:16 long which is more than enough time to move onto the next track.

Oddly enough, following the Walrus comes,

Egg Man- The Beastie Boys, from Paul’s Boutique. Paul’s Boutique is the Beastie Boys 2nd album and a step forward from Licensed to Ill, produced by the Dust Brothers. Great use of Bernard Hermann’s Psycho strings at the end. The actual boutique, once located on the Lower East Side has been gone for years and the cover is now unrecognizable. Hope Adam Yauch recovers soon enough.

The Part You Throw Away- Tom Waits, from Blood Money. Got this and the companion CD, Alice, from the Arcata contingent a few years ago. It’s a great pair of records, but not something I play too often. Very downbeat, Germanic cabaret feel.

I Got You (I Feel Good)- James Brown, from Live at the Apollo Volume 2. 29 seconds long, a very fast version used as a bridge between songs. I would have loved to have seen this show in 1967, but I doubt if my parents would have been so keen on going to Harlem to satisfy the whims of a 5 year old. It’s definitely a phenomenal record.

Dreaming- Blondie, from Blondie’s Greatest Hits. Another great song. Clem Burke is a fantastic drummer on this, but then again he’s always a fantastic drummer. He used to pop up at McSwells from time to time, just to have a drink. He’s an acquaintance of Chaz’ I believe. One of my favorite Blondie songs.

Come Together/Dear Prudence/Cry Baby Cry [Transition]- The Beatles, from the Love album. A good mash up courtesy of Giles Martin, George Martin’s son. Seems like it’s been more than a week since I saw Paul McCartney last Friday with Bill, Anne & Earl, Julio & Stine, but it’s true. And this is another disc that Anne got me a few years ago.

Simmer Down- The Wailers from the Bob Marley- Songs of Freedom boxed set. I love the early songs of the Wailers. So young and fresh with the ska. Easy to see where the 2 Tone bands got some inspiration. Fun to sing along and dance to, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Pretzel Logic- Steely Dan, from the album of the same name. Another great song and one of my favorite Steely Dan songs. Where did you get those shoes? Now Becker & Fagen are on tour, playing all their hits. No money in record sales these days, so they’re on the road, one night devoted to the Royal Scam, another night for Aja etc. I’m not going, too much money.

Hey Hey- Neil Young, from his Greatest Hits. Neil’s response to Punk Rock which was basically over by the time this came out. And Johnny Rotten didn’t die. It was Sid. This is the heavy version, not the acoustic. It did get airplay on the late lamented WPIX-FM back in the day.

That’s about it. I know how much you all like the shuffle reports.

Don’t know if I’ll post tomorrow, I may be in Otisville, if Pedro ever calls back.

Beautiful Boy

Monday, May 4th, 2009

OK, so it’s Monday and it’s a soggy Monday. Nothing but rain. Much like yesterday. It’s supposed to rain every day except for Wednesday, at least that’s what the meteorologist says.

It’s funny, I’ll watch the news to get the weather, then when the weather comes on, I totally blank. I think it’s because of their voices. I hear the voice and I am a million miles away.

Since we have digital cable, I usually wind up rewinding a minute or two to get that five day forecast. That happened last night but I didn’t care since I would catch the weather on the Today show.

And the forecast was rain.

Last night I didn’t watch TV, just played music. I played music instead. Started out playing Bob Dylan’s latest, Together Through Life. I really like it. It’s a fast 45 minutes and quite good.

Then I listened to Jenny Lewis ‘Acid Tongue’ and that is quite good as well, perhaps even better than Bob Dylan. The last song on Acid Tongue is ‘Sing a Song for Them’ and it ended with a familiar string section that reminded me of Old Dirt Road by John Lennon off of Walls and Bridges so I played that.

That set me on a John Lennon kick, through most of his catalog, a few things from Plastic Ono Band, Imagine, the Acoustic album and the Lennon Anthology. I played Beautiful Boy, the studio version and the acoustic version.

Bill was home by that time and he really only knows Beautiful Boy through Mr. Holland’s Opus, one of Bill’s favorite movies. A few more Lennon songs, finishing up with ‘Sean’s Little Help’ where 5 year old Sean Lennon is singing ‘With a Little Help from My Friends’ which provided a perfect closer with the Beatles version.

Then it was time for the news and for me to blank out on the weather. Bill had his sleep apnea mask on and I soon fell asleep next to him and his buzzing apparatus. I woke up a little before 8:00 this morning, surprised to see Bill still in bed.

I nudged him and asked if he was going to work and he said he was taking a day off. That through me off a bit but I recovered and found myself in the shower getting ready for work. Donned a suit and headed out into the rain.

Caught the bus and buried my face in the New York, reading about Rwanda. Made it to the office, a few people out today making it very quiet.

Quiet enough that I was able to catch a crosstown bus and walked over to Studio 54 to see if I can join the Roundabout Theater’s Usher Program for the latest production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot.

The guy in charge of that is a guy who sits in a chair all day with binders. I asked to sign up for the play but he told me it was all filled up for the season. So I signed up for the waiting list.

It’s probably not going to happen and if it does happen it will probably be on a date that is inconvenient for me. Oh well.

I came home from work, and got a letter from my bank.

Out of 4 illicit charges on my card, 2 were disputed in my favor. The other 2 which were the items that were actually shipped to me, according to the bank, seemed authorized.

So I was on the phone for an hour dealing with 2 different customer services.

One issue has been resolved after getting on ‘Mary Jo’s’ nerves, the other I will have to deal with tomorrow during daylight hours, as per ‘Vern’s’ suggestion.

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flip-wilson

Beefcake!

Beefcake!

Boom Boom

Friday, March 27th, 2009

Well it’s Friday again. I just got back from a quick dinner with my sister in law Elaine and my niece Corinne. I was going to take a train home but they insisted on dinner before that and since I had pizza 2 times last night, pizza in Garfield was out of the question.

We wound up going to a restaurant named Charlie Blood’s where Corinne was able to schmooze with a few board of education people since she’s trying to get a job in education when she graduates from college this year.

I didn’t mind, I got some food and all I had to do was leave the tip. Elaine picked up the tab since I paid last time on St. Patrick’s Day. I was out in Garfield to play guitar with my brother Frank. The original plan was for me to go out there around noon and be back in Hoboken around 4:00.

Of course when dealing with Frank time is never of the essence. He thought he’d drive me home around 7:00. I first said no and stuck to my guns but as the morning passed I found that I didn’t want to hustle for a noon train. Plus I was still doing laundry.

I got it together eventually, burned a handful of CD’s for him, getting some old Mojo and Uncut magazines for my brother, brought some songbooks of Bowie, The Beatles, Macca and a download of Graham Parker & the Rumour’s Squeezing Out Sparks. Loaded them all into a now quite heavy bag.

It was good to see Frank, and I think he got a lot out of my visit. The train ride was uneventful. I wasn’t
the only person with a guitar. That was unexpected.

Across the aisle from me was a young man with a military type jacket with brass buttons, bed head and a Jay-Z patch as well as a Pink Floyd patch with hammers from the Wall movie. You’d think we’d communicate since I had a guitar and so did he, but no, it didn’t happen.

This wasn’t the early days of rock and roll where you would see someone else with a guitar and strike up a conversation and perhaps start a band.

I got off the train at 3:00 in Garfield and Frank showed up a few minutes later. He was the only one at home, now that he’s retired. Frank likes to warm up playing along to the blues channel on cable. He was surprised to learn that I don’t know anything about the blues.

Surprised since so much of the music I like is based in the blues. I’m not an Elvis Presley fan but a few bands that I like loved Elvis. Maybe it’s because I had seen too many bad blues bands, and I tend to avoid the blues at any cost. Maybe a John Lee Hooker song every now and then but really, no thanks.

I think I did a good job of following his lead but I tend to spend too much time trying to figure out the chord formations as he played. When it was my turn I started playing She’s A Woman by the Beatles. Easy enough, 5 maybe 6 chords total. Frank was playing lead to my rhythm since I can’t play lead to save my life.

It was going well until Frank turned the TV back on and threw in a DVD of Ken Kesey and Neil Cassidy at the World’s Fair in 1964. I learned years ago from Ann Boyles that a TV really takes away from a party or scene that might be happening.

I think next time I will have to insist that no TV will be turned on after he gets warmed up. Despite the stroke I think Frank is still a good guitar player, still way ahead of me on that.

You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Tuesday today. Let’s see, Bill woke me up again this morning at 6:50 which was fine. I was out of bed and doing my thing. Bill is off to his sleep apnea test tonight which leaves me solo. Not such a bad thing, though the bed will be emptier than it should.

Looking forward to President Obama’s press conference tonight. Still a refreshing thing to see and hear a world leader speak so intelligently and with authority. For some reason the right wing nuts have been going off on the fact that Obama reads from a teleprompter. What the fuck is that about?

I know the previous President, you know, the door knob, had difficulty pronouncing nuclear correctly, but all they could do is complain that Obama reads from a teleprompter? What? Did they think Bush was talking off the top of his soft skull?

They also have been complaining that Obama is busy multi-tasking. I know, that’s not right, especially since the door knob before him had difficulty watching TV and eating pretzels.

Yesterday was a busy Facebook day. Last night I was posting with a few other people, specifically Pat Longo. Nice guy, friends with my brother Frank and other WFMU types. Pat doesn’t like the Beatles. Says they’re overrated.

I can see how he might say that though I obviously don’t agree. For me, my love for the Beatles, isn’t just the music. It’s the whole cultural phenomenon that started 45 years ago and continues to this day.

They still sell plenty of records and books, and soon they’ll be on Guitar Hero or perhaps Rock Band. I don’t know, I’m not a gamer. For the seven years that they were active, they were in my eyes, four of the coolest people on the planet. Clothes, hair, & attitude still resonates. I know, I’m biased.

I love playing their songs on guitar and singing along. I’ve read their books, from badly written biographies to trainspotters writing about every recording session to the smallest detail. Moms and dads and kids liked them and still do.

I was devastated when John was murdered, and was very upset when George was attacked by an intruder and I cried when he passed away a year or so later. I shed a tear or two seeing Paul live at Madison Square Garden in 2005, and smiled sweetly when I saw Ringo do a morning set at Bryant Park for Good Morning America.

I think they were and still are amazing. There were moments that I resented them for casting such a large shadow on everything that came afterwards. The resentment was momentary and faded away and still I loved them. They probably resented the shadow that they had created and were forced to live in. Still, they weren’t going hungry.

I think one of the first musical memories I had was of my brother Frank playing Strawberry Fields Forever and when it faded out and in at the end he turned out the light in his bedroom and scared me. Strawberry Fields Forever makes for a better musical memory than Winchester Cathedral which could actually be the first song I actually recognized.

I owe my Beatles fixation to my brother Frank who gave me my first Beatles LP as a consolation for not taking me to see the bicentennial fireworks like he had promised. It was Abbey Road, their last album. Which in a way makes sense for me since I tend to do things backwards.

I started collecting their records, looking for the original Capitol Records rainbow edged albums, or releases on the Apple label, buying import singles with songs I never heard before, like The Ballad of John & Yoko.

Side note: one of the reasons that I took the job at McMann and Tate aka Wolff Olins was because they helped design the Apple Records label back in 1968. And that didn’t go so well for me 38 years later.

I just figured out a few weeks ago that John, Paul, George & Ringo, which I’m sure you know is sometimes how they’re mentioned, is the order that the band was formed. Maybe it was obvious, maybe I’m a dunce.

From July 5 1976 until December 9 1980 I felt I might have a chance of seeing the four of them perform again, or at least release a record. We know how that turned out.

But I still play them, I’m still enthralled, and I’m still a Beatles fan, and you know you should be glad. Yeah yeah yeah!

Family Snapshot

Wednesday, January 7th, 2009

What a cold and wet day this has been today. Just really crappy out. Last night was quiet again. O & Rm which is wearing thin, then the Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Didn’t watch Scrubs yet. Still have to watch that Stax Soul Revue from the other night.

Slept really well last night though. Woke up to the sound of rain which made getting out of bed that much more unappealing. Still I rallied.

I’ve been reading online some post about Yoko Ono. It was from The Curvature, A Feminist Perspective on Politics and Culture. I really enjoyed it. I always felt Yoko was unfairly blamed for the break up of the Beatles.

cut and paste

http://thecurvature.com/2008/12/15/yoko-ono-a-feminist-analysis-introduction-oh-yoko/

I remember seeing a midnight showing of Let It Be a long time ago (Lennon was still alive) and whenever Yoko was on the screen people in the audience would hiss and yell things. I liked John enough and felt that if he thought she was cool, then she was cool with me.

John, Paul, George and Ringo were pretty much tired of each other. Brian Epstein had passed away and he was basically the barrier between them and the music business. That was the beginning of the end.

They weren’t really the cuddly mop tops that people imagine them to be. They could be assholes too, or in John’s words, the biggest bastards in the world. And Yoko could be an asshole too.

They couldn’t get it together to buy their publishing, John was flirting with heroin, Paul was sleeping with anything in a skirt, George was unhappy being a Beatle and Ringo felt his role was being diminished.

George and Ringo were also fed up with Paul telling them how to play and what to play, and if they couldn’t do it, Paul would do it himself. The showdown between Paul and George can be seen in Let It Be.

There was also a betrayal of John by Paul. They had a deal to own equal shares in Northern Songs, their publishing company. But unknown to John, Paul was buying up his own shares which John eventually found out.

It’s not a pretty story and it ended badly for all concerned. But basically the break up wasn’t Yoko’s fault. They were heading for a break up anyhow. Do you think the Beatles could have lasted into the 1970′s against Led Zeppelin? I think they ended on an up note and became legends.

Another report that I’ve been reading is related to something I posted last year on July 28, 2008 under the title, God. I wrote about Sean Kennedy who was attacked, punched so hard in the face that facial bones were broken, causing Sean Kennedy to fall and when he hit the pavement, his brain stem became separated ensuring his death.

The murderer, Stephen Moller received a sentence of 18 months. In South Carolina it seems a gay mans life is worth less than a straight mans life. To rub some salt in the wound, Moller the murderer is being considered for parole since 18 months for murder can be such a difficult thing.

I was motivated to write a letter to the parole board asking them to deny his parole at the upcoming hearing. I’ve never written a parole board, not even requesting that John Lennon’s assassin remain behind bars. But this motivated me enough to do so.

Whether or not a letter from some homo in Hoboken has any weight to a South Carolina parole board, I couldn’t say. But I felt I had to do something.

Here is what I sent to the South Carolina Parole Board:

Department of Probation Pardon and Parole Services
2221 Devine Street, Suite 600, PO Box 50666
Columbia SC 29250

RE: Stephen Andrew Moller – SCDC ID # 00328891

To Whom It May Concern:

I have just read online and in the print media of the fact that Stephen Moller (SCDC ID # 00328891) is being considered for a parole hearing. Stephen Moller is a murderer plain and simple, despite the fact that he was charged with the involuntary manslaughter (after screaming anti-gay epithets) of Sean Kennedy.

This is reprehensible. Moller took Kennedy’s life, and destroyed the lives of Kennedy’s family and friends. To allow something like Moller a chance for parole, a chance to kill again would be a travesty of justice, much worse than the year and a half sentence that Moller has received. Someone like him should be behind bars for life.

A mistake has been made with Moller’s sentencing. Please do not make that mistake even worse by granting an early release, especially since the year and a half sentence was a joke.

Deadbeat Club

Tuesday, October 28th, 2008

Well it’s back to the grind. Last night Bill and I watched the Jack Benny dvd. A collection of 4 of his shows from 1954. I watched it on Sunday and I knew Bill would enjoy it so I saved it and watched it again. Bill took the day off as he was quite tired which made me fearful that he might be coming down with what I had but no he was just tired after the weekend and the change in weather.

It’s been getting quite cold. After Jack Benny we watched O & RM which Bill has been getting into more than me. I suppose I’ll keep watching it until things wind down after the election. I wrote that with difficulty. It’s not easy to type with your fingers crossed. I almost switched off RM and put Heroes on but since I was recording it, RM it was.

Heroes was good I thought. They’re getting rid of some superfluous characters which is fine by me. Bye Maya. Take your black tears of death with you. Hiro might be getting interesting again. Parkman, the cuddly clairvoyant bear cop is back, in love with Daphne the speedster who may or may not be double crossing the cuddly clairvoyant.

Oh and Peter lost most of his powers, but he still has that handsome power, and that Sylar. He’s fast becoming the most interesting character once again.

Couldn’t fall asleep until midnight, tried watching Letterman’s Top Ten but he just wouldn’t stop talking about Bill O’Fuckface which is almost as bad as seeing him so I finally fell asleep. Bill up before the sun and out the door.

I woke up to the Beatles singing Can’t Buy Me Love which was a nice way to start the day. I thought I would be running late again, but I wound up leaving early out of boredom.

Doesn’t seem like I’ll be seeing Casey non the bus anymore. We emailed each other and he’s working downtown now which is where I originally thought he was working but it turned out he was a couple of blocks away. Still trying to get his script to Martha G., just haven’t heard from her.

Work was good. Tom Chin learned his lesson. Greg Stevens came in, still a bit ill. He definitely seems to have what I had and doesn’t blame me for it. The day went by at a nice pace. I was relatively busy which helped.

This afternoon was a bit of a shock. Greg’s wife, Lorraine rents some office space from us, running a charitable organization out of her office. Around 3:30, one of her assistants called for me to call 911. It turns out that Lorraine was feeling faint and they were worried that she might have been having a heart attack.

She has scoliosis which sometimes affects her left arm, hence the cardiac fear. The paramedics came and checked her out and she agreed to go the hospital for some more tests. Greg had left the office and was at his acupuncturist and he was unavailable so I tried leaving a calm measured message regarding his wife’s health. That was all I could do, it was time for me to go home.

Now it’s 9:00, I just got off the phone with my dear friend Billie in DC. I hadn’t heard from him in a while so I was worried. He’s fine, once again letting me know that’s there was nothing to be worried about. I told him that Bill and I will try giving him a call on Saturday from the B-52′s show.