A lovely Sunday. Slept in until 8:00 or so. Nice. Bill was off to church and I was solo. I went out and bought the papers and some bagels and then to the supermarket. Got a text message from Sweet Sarah who let me know she and Bob would be coming to the Hoboken Art and Music Fest. That was good to know. I had hoped they would come down. Dr. John was scheduled to play, as well as an old friend Karen Kuhl. I came home and made myself a nice breakfast and then sat down to read the papers.

Then Sweet Sarah called around 10:30, letting me know she was outside of Johnny Rockets. The fest didn’t even start until 11:00. She knew they were early, they wanted to beat the crowds. I was looking forward to them coming down via train around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. They drove down and knew that I’d be coming along soon enough. And soon enough I was. It was a gorgeous day as I met up with them. I went back on my vow and went into Tunes, the local record store to see if they ad any discs by Girl Talk.

Even though they pride themselves on their indie cred, they didn’t have it. I wound up buying it via the net and Amazon. They were the only ones who had it available. It’s all part of the Illegal Art thing. Copyrights and ownership is disputed. I just like the mash ups. They making everything new and fun again and keeps me on my toes, wondering where bits of certain songs are from. I took some pictures of Sweet Sarah and Bob as we saw a gospel group.

Then we walked around Hoboken, I gave them a thumbnail tour. Pier A, the esplanade, up to Stevens and then had some lunch at Margherita’s on Washington and Eighth for a sub par margherita pizza. It was toasty in the sun and chilly in the shade and we were in the shade. We saw Wild Carnation which is Brenda from the Feelies, and we saw Karen Kuhl and her band which had Alice Gennese on bass. That was a surprise. I hadn’t seen Alice in years and wasn’t sure she was still in town, much less still playing bass.

Sweet Sarah needed to relieve herself so we came back to this messy apartment. Then we went outside as they were leaving and Bill finally showed up. Sweet Sarah and Bob left Bill and myself on the front stop after making tentative plans to have dinner some night soon at the Lido in Hackensack which is a favorite restaurant of Sweet Sarah and Bob. I hadn’t been there in decades, it used to be a favorite restaurant of my parents.

Bill and I saw Dr. John, then walked back to the apartment where I got a phone call, surprisingly from Julio who was at the festival looking for me. He never goes to these things, but Stine had never been and wanted to check it out. Too late for me, I had been too long at the fair.

Here’s some pictures,

Sweet Sarah and Bob

Brenda Sauter in Wild Carnation

Karen Kuhl

Dr. John

Well I didn’t go for a bike ride today after all, wasn’t up to it. I did walk around Hoboken today, it was quite a lovely day though the sun was so strong, sun block might have been a good idea. Ran into Tallahassee and his friend Ft. Lauderdale and that was fun. Don’t have much else to write about so it’s shuffle time.

I’m Straight- The Modern Lovers
Great song by Jonathan Richman and the original Modern Lovers. All about Jonathan stating that he’d be a better boyfriend than Hippy Johnny. Heartfelt, Jonathan on the outside looking in. Saying straight in the midst of the 1970’s drug culture.

The Air Near My Fingers- The White Stripes
From Elephant, which I think is their best album. Probably their biggest seller too. Haven’t played it that often but it’s worth a listen to every now and then. Jack and Meg White freak people out, or they used to.

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite- The Beatles
Outtakes from The Beatles Anthology releases. Lennon sounds languid, the lads not playing together very well, at least at first. Very short actually, but segued neatly into

Concrete Jungle- Bob Marley and the Wailers
Love this song. Marley certainly wrote so many really good songs that weren’t hits, meaning not on the Legend album which is one of the biggest selling records of all time. This song inspired some graffiti done on my part in my nineties Rasta phase.

Swamp- Talking Heads
From Stop Making Sense, the live version. This has more of a punch than the studio version. I admit I loved it when it first came out, but in retrospect, after their peak with Remain In Light, this really doesn’t hold up too well. It’s good, but not great. Fun to watch in the movie though, a highlight. Jerry Harrison from Talking Heads was in the original Modern Lovers. Fun fact indeed! Also met Jerry at McSwells one night when working the door and had the balls to ask him for a job. He gave me his manager’s office number where I promptly got the run around!

Satta Massa Gana- The Abyssinians
Hard Core roots reggae from Jamaica. One of my favorite reggae songs ever. This version from the cd of the same name is a remake, doesn’t have the same bass heaviness as the original 45 that I once had in my possession. Patti Smith covered this live a few times.

We All Feel Better In The Dark- Pet Shop Boys
B-side from their Behaviour period, when I really liked them a lot. Even saw them at Radio City Music Hall this song features a lead vocal by the usually silent DJ? Programmer? Chris Lowe, going on in his way about how he wants it, he really really wants it. Ah, memories.

Let It Be- The Beatles
Surprising myself with a second selection by the Fabs. This is a song that was a monster hit but the Beatles as well as a few other. Oddly enough, not one of my favorite songs by them, at least not today. This version is the single version with George Harrison on lead guitar, album version is different. Pass the chicken.

Green Eyed Loco Man- The Fall
From the 50,000 Fall Fans can’t be Wrong Compilation. Mark E. Smith, poet of modern Britain. An acquired taste if you’ve seen the Mitsubishi commercial where there a bass heavy song and a vocal going, “I was walking down the street/I saw a poster…” you’ve heard the Fall.

It’s been an odd day, and not in a bad way. Was planning on a bike ride, and didn’t go, wasn’t planning on writing anything today, and I wrote. Nutty me.