Dave at A Sound Day invited me to write a post in his series Turntable Talk. He wanted to know either our favorite Beatle or someone close to them. I picked the only choice I could.
Ever since I was 8 years old I was always drawn to the long-haired guy with those round glasses on the album cover. When I heard his songs and heard about his personality, I knew he was The Beatle I looked forward to in interviews and songs.
On the surface the reasons are many. The man’s voice was one of the best rock voices I’ve ever heard. I favored his voice over McCartney, Harrison, and Starr. He probably could write better rock songs than the other Beatles and he also had a great sense of melody that could keep up with Paul and at times surpass him on ballads. Yes, he could be witty, sharp, and downright hateful at times. A little about his childhood will say a lot.
His childhood was tragic in many ways, but he wasn’t poor. He was the most middle-class out of all of the Beatles. He was abandoned by his father and then his mother gave him to her sister and brother-in-law to raise. John drew close to his aunt and uncle, especially his Uncle George. They were building a strong bond but when John was 14 Uncle George died suddenly at age 52.
He then just had his Aunt Mimi, and she was very strict…and strict didn’t go well with Lennon at that time or anytime. Uncle George was friendly with John while the black or white Mimi didn’t stand for anything out of line. Lennon’s mother came back in his life when John was 16. He got to know her more and they visited each other. As soon as they were getting close in 1958, she was hit by a car by an off-duty policeman walking back home from Mimi’s house.
Later on, one of his best friends was Stuart Sutcliffe who played bass for the Beatles and was one of the best artists in Liverpool at the time. Stuart would stay close to John even when he quit The Beatles. Stuart would die at 21 years old when John was 21. He felt like when people got close to him they would die or be abandoned. This can help explain the rude and crude Lennon of the sixties. By the seventies, he seemed to be much calmer and more relaxed. By many fans’ accounts…he was the most fan-friendly out of all of them. There are multiple stories of him inviting fans into his home talking to them and showing them around.
The main reason though…I just think his songwriting was the most powerful out of them all. Yes, Paul was the most successful after The Beatles, but you are only as strong as your weakest album tracks. That is where John had Paul beat, to me anyway. It’s not all about hits. Songs like Working Class Hero, God, Gimme Some Truth, and I Know (I Know) were better than many of his and Paul’s hits. John was the leader, the muscle, and the architect of The Beatles.
I want to thank Aphoristic Album Reviews for featuring this band in his Nuggets series. I loved the song he posted so I found a few more that I like from this band. I am guilty of having too much trivia in my head, but I never heard of this band, not in reading about obscure bands or their music. I like their music and the sound of their lead singer. I would have liked them no matter what just because of that name.
Mouse and the Traps is an American garage rock band from Tyler, Texas, active mainly during the 1960s. They gained a cult following for their gritty sound that represented garage rock well. The band is best known for their 1966 hit single, A Public Execution, which is really Dylanesque plus some Byrds thrown in.
They began their career releasing “A Public Execution” under the name of Mouse. That was the nickname of their lead singer Ronnie “Mouse” Weiss. Their second single in 1966 was called Maid of Sugar-Maid of Spice and they added “And the Traps.” They have had different members through the years but a constant from their original lineup is Ronnie Weiss, Dave Stanley, and Ken (Nardo) Murray.
Much like Phil from Notes From The Cactus Patch did in the 1960s…Mouse and the Traps toured around Texas, especially Dallas. They toured around the state feverishly, playing clubs, colleges, parties, and even proms. There were occasional touring dates out of Texas, but, for the most part, they remained a very popular regional band.
They have released a bunch of singles and a few collection albums that were released in 1982, 1995, 1997, and 2009. They finally released an album in 2020 called Walking In Dylan’s Shoes. In 1972 they were added to Lenny Kayes Nuggetscompilation album of different garage bands.
Graham from Aphoristic Album Reviews wrote: Mouse and the Traps surely hold the record for the longest gap between a debut single and a debut album. ‘A Public Execution’ was released in 1966 (although it was credited solely to their frontman). Their debut album, Walking in Dylan’s Shoes, was released in December 2020.
I’ve listened to their 2020 Dylan cover album Walking In Dylan’s Shoes and I have to admit…it’s really good!
The song I picked, You’re Gonna Miss Me, is off of their Lost Sessions Album released in 2009. I’m not sure which era it’s from although because of the quality…I would guess the 80s or 90s. They were together off and on in the 1960s – 2020. I’m also posting the song that Graham did with Maid of Sugar-Maid of Spice (1966) along with You’re Gonna Miss Me (?).
I’m also going to post Mouse and the Traps Lost Sessions album…give a listen to a few of them…they are awesome! Hit The Bricks and Bottom Line got my attention right away.
When I grew up in a small Tennessee town, every afternoon at 5:30 pm…the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite would grace our living room. I didn’t understand half the news he was talking about but I liked him. He didn’t scowl, growl, throw a fit, cry, or visibly pull for one thing or another. He was a newscaster who was for the most part unbiased (yes they did exist).
Cronkite conveyed fairness and honesty with actual integrity. You felt like you could trust Uncle Walt with your news to have it fair and factual. He started off as a radio announcer and newspaper reporter in the Midwest. He joined United Press, where he became a war correspondent during World War II, covering battles in North Africa and Europe and witnessing historic moments such as the Normandy landings.
1962, Cronkite became the anchor of the CBS Evening News, which he led from a 15-minute to a 30-minute format in 1963. Cronkite took us through the Kennedy assassination, the Moon Landing, the Vietnam War, Watergate, Jimmy Carter, and finally ending as Ronald Reagan became our 40th president.
He did have a moment where he did open up about something in a commentary. After his trip to Vietnam in early 1968, anchorman Walter Cronkite broadcasted his coverage of the Tet Offensive. Cronkite concluded his report with a personal commentary, voicing his skepticism of official assertions of military progress.
“To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. . . . But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.”
Lyndon Baines Johnson (The then President): “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.”
This wasn’t something he did regularly at all. He was human and I have no doubt that at times he might tilt one way or another on issues…but when I go back and watch some of his old newscasts…they stuck pretty much to the cold hard facts. That seems so hard to do today.
This is part 4 of this series and I thought it was about time to do another installment. I found some more rare songs this time except for Mr. Berry.
Kinks – Cadillac
I think all of these I do must have Cadillac in at least one song. This one was on their debut album and it was written and recorded by Bo Diddley in 1960. The Kinks debut album Kinks was released in 1964.
Gene Vincent – Pink Thunderbird
This song was written by Tex Davis and Paul Peek. It was released by Gene Vincent in 1957. Gene Vincent’s voice and slap back echo go together perfectly. Every rock artist after Gene Vincent has gone after that sound including Springsteen.
Cliff Gallup played some great guitar on this recording. He recorded 35 tracks with Vincent including Be-Bop-A-Lula.
Chuck Berry – Maybellene
Chuck Berry was THE first guitar hero in Rock and Roll. He was also rock’s first poet. This song evolved out of “Ida Red,” a hillbilly song by Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys from the early ’50s. Berry heard that song on the Country radio station KMOX in St. Louis but didn’t know who recorded it.
Not only is the music great with the steady beat… but those lyrics. The motor cooled down the heat went down, And that’s when I heard that highway sound, the Cadillac a-sittin’ like a ton of lead, a hundred and ten half a mile ahead, the Cadillac lookin’ like it’s sittin’ still, and I caught Mabellene at the top of the hill
You can see what is happening in the song in your head with no problem… no MTV story video needed. He was one of the best descriptive lyricist rock and roll has ever had.
The Three Milkshakes – Jaguar
They were a rockabilly band from the 1980s led by singer Mark Kermode, who is now well-known as a British film critic. The group specialized in vintage rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly music, covering songs in a classic ’50s style. They were part of the vibrant rockabilly revival scene in the UK during that time.
Bob Dylan – From A Buick 6
This song is from Bob Dylan’s album Highway 61 Revisited released in 1965. This song was the B side to the single Positively 4th Street. It’s a cool bluesy song that has those Dylan lyrics going everywhere. It resembles Sleepy John Estes’ Milk Cow Blues.
Today’s installment of this series goes back to Max at Power Pop (that’s me!). We are stopping here but haven’t closed the door on revisiting more famous brother acts. Randy’s original post on mostlymusiccovers.com is here. Randy and I want to thank all of you who have followed along! At the bottom, I have the complete series labeled.
Angus and Malcolm Young were the co-founders of the legendary rock band AC/DC. They had a unique and dynamic relationship that was marked by both collaboration and rivalry. The band was formed in 1973 by Malcolm, with Angus joining a little later. They were called AC/DC. The band’s name is inspired by the abbreviation for “alternating current/direct current” (AC/DC), signifying power and energy. They were influenced most by Chuck Berry, and you can hear it in their music. Malcolm would play rhythm guitar with Angus taking up the lead guitar for decades to come. They also had a brother named George who would help his younger brothers immensely in music. His contributions cannot be overstated.
Malcolm was born on January 6, 1953, and Angus on March 31, 1955, in Glasgow Scotland. In 1963 the family moved to Sydney Australia. George Young was born in 1946 and started a band called The Easybeats in 1964 playing rhythm guitar and either writing or co-writing many of their songs. They had 7 top 10 hits in Australia, two number one hits, and altogether 15 top 40 hits there! They did have one international hit which was “Friday On My Mind” which peaked at #1 in Australia, #2 in New Zealand, #6 in the UK, #13 in Canada, and #16 on the Billboard 100. It’s still played on classic rock radio today.
He encouraged his younger brothers to form a band, recognizing their talent and potential. George, along with his Easybeats bandmate Harry Vanda, mentored Malcolm and Angus. His experience in the music industry provided insights into songwriting, recording, and navigating the business. George would end up co-producing (with Vanda) six AC/DC albums. He would also produce some songs for future albums. The band underwent several lineup changes before settling with Bon Scott as the lead vocalist. They release their debut album, “High Voltage” exclusively in Australia in 1974. Angus and Malcolm would collaborate closely with songwriting.
Malcolm was a perfectionist in the studio while Angus was more of a free spirit. That caused some clashes but none to the degree of other brothers in rock.
Angus’s schoolboy-uniformed antics on stage were a stark contrast to Malcolm’s more reserved presence. This was important to the band’s success. They went through tough times with Bon Scott dying and starting again with a new singer Brian Johnson, but they only got more popular. It was a sad ending for Malcolm though. In 2014 Malcolm could no longer remember lyrics to songs. He was diagnosed with alcohol-related dementia and passed away in 2017. These brothers used their rivalries as a positive thing and pushed each other to greatness.
Most of the time a comedy-horror doesn’t work but in this 1981 film, it works perfectly. I always come back to this movie. It’s not a parody…but a horror movie that happens to have funny moments. When the movie came out on VHS I bought it. It was also the first movie I bought on DVD. It has aged very well.
If you like horror movies you should like this. I would not recommend the sequel An American Werewolf in Paris…that one doesn’t stack up against the original. This one does have violence, blood, and gore and it’s very effective. The scene in the pub is worth watching the movie. I’ve never felt as uncomfortable for two people in a movie when David and Jack walked into that pub.
Two Americans (David and Jack) are traveling through Europe. They go to a pub (The Slaughtered Lamb) and it’s strongly hinted for them to stick to the main roads on their way out by the unfriendly locals…well guess what? They don’t and soon Jack is ripped to shreds and David is badly scratched by a werewolf. David wakes up in a hospital with Nurse Alex Price taking care of him. That is the nurse I would want.
David starts having horrific nightmares. In the hospital, Jack reappears to David as a decomposing corpse. He keeps telling David that he should kill himself because David will turn into a werewolf and kill others. David goes home with Alex and Jack keeps reappearing and eventually, David does turn into a werewolf.
John Landis had just finished The Blues Brothers and Animal House when he directed this. In two years he would hit again with Trading Places. Rick Baker did the special effects for this movie. The transformation is great and the wolf is perfect. It is the best transformation scene I’ve ever seen. The effects worked very well for me because it felt real.
The music is great. Bad Moon Rising, Blue Moon, and Moondance are featured. Supposedly Max Landis, John’s son is planning to remake this movie. Personally, I don’t think it needs it. It’s hard to remake a classic.
Plot IMDB
Two American college students are on a walking tour of Britain and are attacked by a werewolf. One is killed, the other is mauled. The werewolf is killed but reverts to its human form, and the local townspeople are unwilling to acknowledge its existence. The surviving student begins to have nightmares of hunting on four feet at first but then finds that his friend and other recent victims appear to him, demanding that he commit suicide to release them from their curse, being trapped between worlds because of their unnatural deaths.
Quotes
Dart Player: Go. Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors.
David: Yeah. Thank you.
Chess Player: Beware the moon, lads.
__________________________________________
Gerald Bringsley: [accusing David of his murder] Whereas I am a victim of your carnivorous lunar activities.
It’s getting near Halloween so I’m going to feature some more horror movies in the next two weeks…that’s my excuse anyway. I will start by saying that this is not the best Stephen King adaptation by any stretch but it’s entertaining. I think it’s thrilling and I like the director’s pacing in this one. Plus…the ability to make a Saint Bernard look convincingly menacing takes a lot of work. Also, check out a movie reviewer… my friend Bernie from Reelybernie. He is one of the best movie reviewers on WP and he is doing a Halloween series now.
As some of you know, I have had three Saint Bernards, so I like any movie with them, even if it’s evil. Cujo is not really evil; he has rabies and it’s a frightening thought. They are very strong dogs, they can pull thousands of pounds so if one was rabid you would be…to put it mildly in bad trouble. I have played wrestle each one and I couldn’t imagine if they were being serious. I watched this movie again with Martha, my current Saint, right beside me which was cool because she is the spitting image of Cujo with her marks.
Our first Saint was 175lbs with no fat on her. I did see her in action though one time. A German Shepard was coming at my wife from across the street, our dog knocked down our metal gate and ended up body-slamming the Shepard to the ground. It got up and never came back. She also wandered out on the road one day after getting out of the house. She was hit by a church bus…I thought she was dead but she got back up and barked at the bus. We did take her to a vet and she had some bruising but that was it. They are tough dogs but the most lovable lugs you would ever meet.
This 1983 movie starts with a big fun Saint Bernard chasing a rabbit…he sticks his big nose down a rabbit hole and is bitten by a bat. Cue the slow descent into a rabid madness. I’ve never read this book before but in the movie, nothing supernatural happens which is strange for a Stephen King adaptation. I’ve read where the book does have some supernatural events in it but not many. The movie just concentrates on the story.
At first, Cujo is just a regular, lovable dog who belongs to a mechanic named Joe Camber, his son, and his wife. But after the bat bite, Cujo starts acting strange and becomes more aggressive as the rabies takes over. You could tell that Joe Camber was not father or husband of the year material. His wife and son planned on a trip to her sister’s home. The movie didn’t say but I think they were leaving and never coming back.
Meanwhile, we meet the main characters, Donna Trenton (played by Dee Wallace), her husband Vic, and their young son Tad. Donna is having some personal troubles because she’s having an affair, and her marriage is falling apart. Vic, her husband, has to leave town for work, leaving Donna and Tad on their own. Dee Wallace was fantastic in this role. The critics were mixed but most gave her high marks for this movie.
One day, Donna and Tad drive out to Joe Camber’s farm to get their car fixed, but when they arrive, they discover that Cujo is no longer the friendly dog he once was. My favorite scene is where Camber’s son Brent calls for Cujo before he and his mom leave for her sister’s house…Cujo comes out of the fog growling and foaming but recognizes Brent (his owner) and slowly walks away. No one else gets that lucky.
They are now stuck at the farm and Cujo is now rabid and bloodthirsty and he quickly attacks them. Donna and Tad end up trapped in their broken-down car, with Cujo circling around them, ready to pounce. The heat inside the car is unbearable, and they can’t escape because the dog is waiting for them.
Dee Wallace was fantastic in this film. The movie got mixed reviews but Wallace was singled out by most as doing a great job. Lewis Teague directed this movie and I have to give him credit. He didn’t try to rush it, he slowly built the tension up and it paid off at the end.
Despite the film’s portrayal of Cujo as a terrifying dog, the Saint Bernard dogs used on set were friendly and often wagged their tails during scenes where they were supposed to be menacing. To overcome this, the filmmakers had to tie down the dogs’ tails until they finished with the scene.
When this came out in 1984 it was some exciting times. Michael Jackson and Prince had released two massive albums. I didn’t really relate to Thriller but I loved Purple Rain. When this album dropped I bought it without buying the lead single which I did for some reason at times. Unlike The River or Nebraska, this one was in your face. The record company knew what they had here…they had a blockbuster album.
After this album, Springsteen wasn’t just a cult-following guy anymore. Just like I mentioned about Bob Seger with Against the Wind…some Springsteen fans loved it and some refused to listen. It was a massive hit and that is one of the reasons given by Springsteen fans I knew at the time. He wasn’t just their secret anymore. The album served as a bridge for people who had heard of him but didn’t really know him. Now the serious ones were going through his catalog.
Bruce toyed with not releasing it. He recorded a lot of it in 1982…2 years before it was released. He knew it was going to be a hit…and because of that, he hesitated. It probably got larger than he ever imagined. From 1984 to 1986 I never stopped listening to this album and neither did radio listeners. I still do from time to time and it holds up well.
My immediate reaction was the sound! Let’s forget the songs for a second. Listen to the clarity of the album. It was the clearest production I’d ever heard and stands as probably the cleanest-sounding rock album I’ve heard to this day. Bob Clearmountain mixed it and that made a huge difference. It sounded so good over your 1980s car stereo at the time…you could hear everything so clearly. Grab some headphones and listen to the album today.
The first big hit off the album wasn’t my favorite. That song was Dancing In The Dark and I liked it but not like the others. When I got the album, the songs to really hook me were Darlington County, No Surrender, Bobby Jean, and the huge title track. This was never my favorite Springsteen album but it broke him into the mainstream with a huge blast.
I thought I would highlight the songs that got me into the album. Most of these were not worn out by radio except maybe the title track. Believe me…if you listened to the radio in the mid-80s…you know the rest! If not I have the album on Spotify at the bottom.
Darlington County – When I think of this album this is the song I think about. This is one of the very few on the album that wasn’t a hit…but it’s just as good as many of the others. Bruce originally wrote this for his 1978 album Darkness On The Edge Of Town, but it didn’t make the cut. The riff in the song reminds me of Cadillac Ranch which was on The River album.
The song resolves itself in the end with the narrator’s buddy in trouble. I have a friend named Paul who I thought of when he mentioned Wayne.
Driving out of Darlington County My eyes seen the glory of the coming of the Lord Driving out of Darlington County Seen Wayne handcuffed to the bumper of a state trooper’s Ford
Surrender – When you are 17 years old and waiting for your life to start… then hear the lyrics Well, we busted out of class, Had to get away from those fools, We learned more from a three-minute record, than we ever learned in school… it gets your attention.
I think every song on the album could have been released as a single. This one did not chart but remains a strong song. Steven Van Zandt convinced Springsteen to include this song on the album because Bruce was going to leave it off.
Born In The USA – It’s probably the most misunderstood Springsteen song out there. Springsteen wrote this about the problems Vietnam veterans encountered when they returned to America. Vietnam was the first war the US didn’t win, and while veterans of other wars received a hero’s welcome, those who fought in Vietnam were mostly ignored when they returned to their homeland.
What a demented-sounding vocal…I LOVE it! I haven’t heard anything like this since Twist and Shout by the Beatles. I remember back in the 80s Chrysler offered Springsteen $12 million to use this in an ad campaign with Bruce… Springsteen turned them down so they used “The Pride Is Back” by Kenny Rogers instead. Springsteen had never let his music be used to sell products. He also turned Ronald Reagan down who wanted to use it for his re-election against Walter Mondale. Walter Mondale then said “I share the same American Dream” as Bruce. Bruce disagreed and said so. I’m happy that he turned both of them down.
Goin’ Down -Bruce makes it abundantly clear that he is not going to town, nor around, or in any way… up…nope he is going down, down, down, etc… He repeats “down” over eighty times in this song…My word count is 90 in the song. I don’t care…its a good song and as Bruce always does he sings it with conviction. It’s a very likable rock/pop song.
The reason I like this song is the overall sound that Bruce got on the guitar and the echo in his voice… it’s just perfect. I can hear the Sun Records’ influence in this one.
Bobby Jean -This one I really think would have been a hit if they had released it as a single…but that can be said about a few other ones also. This song was really poignant when I heard it because I was about to graduate and I was starting to say goodbye to a lot of classmates that I knew I’d never see again.
This was written as a farewell message to guitarist Steven Van Zandt, who left the E Street Band during the recording of Born In The U.S.A. to pursue other projects. Van Zandt returned to the band years later.
Here is the complete tracklist and the Spotify if you want to indulge yourself today.
1. Born in the U.S.A.
2. Cover Me
3. Darlington County
4. Working on the Highway
5. Downbound Train
6. I’m On Fire
7. No Surrender
8. Bobby Jean
9. I’m Goin’ Down
10. Glory Days
11. Dancing in the Dark
12. My Hometown
Tattoo You was released in 1981 and they did a massive tour that didn’t come near Nashville. Back then no big band like The Who or Stones would come here. Vanderbilt was the only place big enough and they went through a period where they didn’t allow concerts. In 1972 they did come to Nashville to the Municipal Auditorium and Stevie Wonder opened up for them. I still tell my sister…you could have seen Stevie Wonder and The Stones but you picked the Osmonds and David Cassidy! It doesn’t phase her.
In 1982 they released this single off of their live album Still Life. It was a good album and entry to point to a lot of people…the problem was the live album I knew was Get Your Ya Ya’s Out…which ranks among the best live albums ever. I did like the album though and bought two singles from it before I got the album. I think it has the definitive version of Time Is On My Side and this song…Going To A Go-Go. It was a feel-good live album and the joke was going around on how incredibly old they were…hmmm if only we knew!
This was the last tour you could actually see JUST The Stones and not a stage full of other musicians. They always carried a keyboard player which is cool but after this, they carried backup singers and a huge entourage of players on stage. I never liked that…I would rather hear Keith’s thin backup vocals than professional singers.
I remember watching Friday Night Videos and seeing a clip of Keith Richards clubbing a guy over the head with his guitar. The guy deserved it…remember this was 1981, a year after their good friend John Lennon was murdered. Intruders on stage were not welcomed. Here is a small clip of it.
Going to a Go-Go peaked at #25 on the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, #24 in New Zealand, and #26 in the UK in 1982. Jagger and Richards didn’t write this one. It was written by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, Bobby Rogers, and Marvin Tarplin. Smokey Robinson and The Miracles released in the song in 1965 and it peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100.
The two singles from the album were Time Is On My Side and Going to a Go Go. Time Is On My Side hit the top 10.
Going To A Go Go
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go, c’mon now
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go, c’mon now
Well there’s a brand new place I found
People coming from miles around
They come from everywhere
If you drop in there
You see everyone in town
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go, c’mon now
Don’t you wanna go
And that’s alright tell me
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go
It doesn’t matter if you’re black
It doesn’t matter if you’re white
Take a dollar fifty
A six pack of beer
And we goin’ dance all night
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go, c’mon now
Don’t you wanna go
And that’s alright, tell me
I bought the Against the Wind album and then a cassette tape from the Great Escape from one of the two locations in Nashville in the 80s. A great second-hand record store which I hope is still open. That is how I could afford to keep my car well stocked.
This song was written by Seger and stuck with me like the rest of the album. Seger liked to split up recording in a studio (Criteria) and recording in Muscle Shoals with some help from them. This one was recorded in Criteria in Miami using some of the Silver Bullet Band and Bill Payne from Little Feat on keyboards.
I’ve been reading critics talking about the album when it was released. They seemed upset that Seger was releasing an album with simple songs. Not every song can be Night Moves. I’ve met some Seger fans who basically stopped liking his music when this album came out. I saw the same thing with some Springsteen fans when Born in the USA was a hit.
I don’t understand that because this is one of my go-to Seger albums although I do like his earlier ones as well. This album was not written with a teenage viewpoint in mind…it was written for 30-40-year-olds viewpoints. Seger was 34 when this one was released. I bought this album when I was around 16 in 1983 but still could relate…and still can... “wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.”
The album Against The Wind was huge. It is his only number 1 album to date. Fire Lake is the song that made me aware of the album and after that I was hooked. The album peaked at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts, #1 in Canada, and #26 in the UK in 1980. The reason I say “to date” is because of how the charts are now…it’s not out of the realm of possibility he could get another number 1 from Seger although highly unlikely.
The song peaked at #14 on the Billboard 100 and #8 in Canada in 1980.
You’ll Accomp’ny Me
A gypsy wind is blowing warm tonight The sky is starlit and the time is right And still you’re telling me you have to go Before you leave there’s something you should know Yeah something you should know babe
I’ve seen you smiling in the summer sun I’ve seen your long hair flying when you run I’ve made my mind up that it’s meant to be Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me Out where the rivers meet the sounding sea You’re high above me now You’re wild and free ah, but Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me
Some people say that love’s a losing game You start with fire But you lose the flame The ashes smolder But the warmth’s soon gone You end up cold and lonely on your own I’ll take my chances babe I’ll risk it all I’ll win your love Or I’ll take the fall I’ve made my mind up girl It’s meant to be Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me It’s written down somewhere It’s got to be You’re high above me Flying wild and free Oh but someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me Out where the rivers meet the sounding sea I feel it in my soul It’s meant to be Oh someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me Someday lady you’ll accomp’ny me You’ll accomp’ny me, uh, uh, uh You’ll accomp’ny me, I know you will accomp’ny me (You’ll accomp’ny me) someday lady, someday lady (You’ll accomp’ny me) you gonna accom’ny now You gonna walk with me and talk with me, and (you’ll accomp’ny me) (You’ll accomp’ny me) uh, uh, uh (You’ll accomp’ny me) you gonna accomp’ny me uh, uh, uh You gonna accomp’ny me (you gonna accomp’ny me) someday uh, uh, uh
I hope all of you are doing well. While on break getting things done I have written up a few posts because I like to stay ahead. For the first time, I probably wrote up more movies than music. I was emailing CB and he mentioned this album to me by T-Bone Burnett which I’ve known more as a producer. He produced artists like Elvis Costello, John Mellencamp, Gregg Allman, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, Elton John, Leon Russell, Los Lobos, Roy Orbison, The Counting Crows, and many more.
When I started to listen to the album it surprised me. I was expecting more of a straight blues feel but I got everything. Rock, country, blues, soul, rockabilly, and most of all…Americana. I’ve listened to the entire album around 5-6 times this week. CB doesn’t steer me wrong…an outstanding album. The song that really stood out at first was I’m Coming Home…that one hooked me. He wrote all the songs on the album and co-wrote two of them.
TruthDecay was his second album and it was released in 1980. He did release an album in 1972 under the name J. Henry Burnett called The B-52 Band & the FabulousSkylarks. He has released 15 albums in total and one this year called The Other Side. None of them were commercial blockbusters but his work received critical acclaim though…and it’s just flat-out great.
He was born in St Louis but was raised in Fort, Worth Texas. He began his career in the 1960s. His first big break came in the mid-1970s when he joined Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue, a traveling concert tour that introduced him to a wider audience and connected him with other rising musicians.
Recently, Burnett has been involved in developing a new form of high-fidelity analog music recording technology, which he calls“Ionic Originals.” He wants to develop an alternative to digital formats for preserving and sharing music.
Give this album a listen. I’ll pick out a couple of songs that I like but here is the entire album on YouTube. Spotify doesn’t have this one. In order from the top there Boomerang, Pretty Girls, and my favorite I’m Coming Home.
I’m Coming Home
I been lost and all alone
Like a statue made of stone
But now I’m coming home
I fell for a painted face
Thought I’d fallen out of grace
But now I’m coming home
I’m coming home
Hold me to your breast
Let me stay and rest
In your tenderness
I’m coming home
Back where I belong
Still you’re love is strong
Roll away the stone
I’m coming home
I said my prayers, made my plan
Set out for the promised land
And now I’m coming home
I saw how you pay the price
For some distant paradise
And now I’m coming home
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Jack Nicholson on Stanley Kubrick: Everyone pretty much acknowledges that he’s the man and I still feel that underates him.
This movie keeps you coming back. If you ask 15 people on what the movie meant…you would get 15 different answers. The movie is so much more than the quoted lines like REDRUM and Here’s Johnny! Every time I watch it I get something different out of it. This won’t be the last Kubrick movie I feature on here.
In 2016 or so…we saw this movie on the big screen on Halloween and it changed the movie completely for me. It made me appreciate it more than I did and that is saying a lot. The film drips with ambiguity. The Shining has to be one of the most dissected movies ever filmed. The cast was absolutely perfect. I also connect to the movie in different ways. It was released in 1980 and they filmed it in 1978 and 1979 and the hotel reminds me of that time so well.
Stanley Kubrick directed this movie and we see Jack Torrance slowly go insane and the drama builds throughout. There are no wasted scenes in The Shining…each scene has a purpose and it’s not wasted. The scenes are hard to explain. There is an open space of silence in many of them so you focus on what’s going on. The bathroom scene with Jack and Grady is careful and deliberate. Nothing else matters in the story except right now in each scene.
Stephen King wrote the book but did not like Kubrick’s interpretation of it. Usually 9/10 times I’m a book guy…on this movie/book, I’m not. I liked Stanley’s vision for the movie over the book. Kubrick didn’t explain everything to you and it’s stronger because of that. You also get isolation, madness, and the supernatural, leaving viewers with many questions about the true nature of the Overlook Hotel.
I have read complaints about Nicholson’s performance being too far over the top. I totally enjoyed his performance and I think Shelley Duvall is seriously underrated in this movie. I can’t imagine what she went through…she had to stay on edge and hysterical through half the movie. Danny Lloyd (5 years and turned 6 through filming) was great as Danny in the film. Kubrick kept Lloyd very reserved in the right spots and he doesn’t overact like some child actors do. The additional character actors fit their roles perfectly. Who would have thought Scatman Crothers would be cast in a movie like this? He was great at his role as was Philip Stone as Delbert Grady and Joe Turkel as Lloyd the Bartender.
Now the music…it makes it. Very few films I’ve seen where the music flows with the dialog. In one scene featuring Jack and Danny sitting on a bed…the orchestration goes up with a question and falls with an answer. The atmospheric synthesizer they used in this movie and A Clockwork Orange adds to the movie greatly. When you are watching the film you feel isolated like Jack, Wendy, and Danny and the music again adds to that.
The two scenes that still scare me when I see it in the movie? A simple scene really but when Wendy finds Jack’s novel she finds out what he’s been typing on a typewriter for a very long time. It sends chills up me when I see that. What a perfect way to show someone has gone insane without saying any dialogue.
The other one is when Danny is riding his Big Wheel or Trike down the hallways and you hear the wheels changing from carpet to hardwood floors…what will be around the next corner? Then the twins appear…that gives me the creeps…forever and ever and ever.
I’ve read a lot of Shining theories and all are all different. There are so many theories like… There were no ghosts at all, it was all in Jack’s head and what happened is what he wrote, it was all in Wendy’s head, the Hotel is really hell, it’s a reminder of the Holocaust, and even down to viewing the film forward and then backward. I think most (there are plenty more) of these are too far out there but that shows you what Kubrick built into this film…you WANT to watch it again and again. I watched it twice before writing this.
Plot IMDB
A psychological horror film centered around the Torrance family: Jack (Jack Nicholson), his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their son Danny (Danny Lloyd). The story follows them as they move into the isolated Overlook Hotel for the winter, where Jack takes a job as the hotel’s caretaker. The hotel’s eerie history, which includes murder and supernatural occurrences, begins to affect Jack, who is struggling with writer’s block and a history of alcoholism. Meanwhile, Danny, who has psychic abilities called “the shining,” starts experiencing terrifying visions of the hotel’s past, including the ghostly Grady twins and a river of blood flowing from an elevator.
As time passes, Jack descends into madness, influenced by the hotel’s malevolent forces. He becomes increasingly violent and erratic, eventually attempting to murder his family. The film culminates in a tense chase through the hotel’s hedge maze
Quotes:
Wendy Torrance: Well, I’m very confused, and I just need time to think things over!
Jack Torrance: You’ve had your whole fucking life to think things over, what good’s a few minutes more gonna do you now?
__________________________________________
Lloyd: Women: can’t live with them, can’t live without them.
Jack Torrance: Words of wisdom, Lloyd my man. Words of wisdom.
___________________________________________
Jack Torrance: Hi, Lloyd. Been away. Now, I’m back.
Lloyd: Good evening, Mr. Torrence. It’s good to see you.
Jack Torrance: It’s good to be back, Lloyd.
Lloyd: What’ll it be, sir?
Jack Torrance: Hair of the dog that bit me.
Lloyd: Bourbon on the rocks.
Jack Torrance: That’ll do ‘er!
I remember this trailer back in 1980…it’s one of the best trailers I’ve seen of any movie. Modern trailer makers should study this one.
This is a good song that got lost in the 1980s shuffle. I had known about Edmunds in 1983 because of three things…seeing Stardust and the single I Hear You Knocking that was given to me. I also remembered him with Rockpile in The Concert for Kampuchea film with Robert Plant.
Dave Edmunds released this song in 1983. I remember hearing it and something about it reminded me of ELO…there is a reason for that. Jeff Lynne produced and wrote the song. It peaked at #39 in the Billboard 100. MTV also played it in a heavy rotation.
Edmunds wanted to do something different and he tried working with Phil Collins but Collins was busy so he connected with Jeff Lynne. Lynne left his mark on the recording but it still has some of the rockabilly elements that Edmunds will bring.
It got a lot of airplay in my region at the time so I was surprised it only went to #39. Very different from his 1970 hit I Hear You Knocking I think this song showed he was able to adapt to the 80s and still retain his rock roots sound.
Dave Edmunds: “Then I thought of Jeff Lynne, because he was Mr. Techno back then and he used to make great-sounding records, although now I listen to them and they sound a bit dated. I’m a bit puzzled why I was so enamored with Jeff, but he is very creative in the studio. He can go in with nothing and right on the spot make a record. I was taken with that. This being 1983, synthesizers were coming into vogue, especially in Edmunds’ native UK. For Jeff Lynne, this was a natural progression, but for Edmunds, it was out of step with his sound – he specialized in rock guitar and simplified productions (he had recently produced the Stray Cats first album). So when “Slipping Away” emerged, featuring a prominent synth played by Lynne, many of Edmunds’ fans were nonplussed.
Edmunds did more work with Lynne on his next album, Riff Raff, but soon returned to his rock roots.
Slipping Away
I can feel you slipping away from me. A little bit further now every day. I’m holding on, but I can’t believe This is how you want it to be.
It feels like walking down a long, dark road. You never talk to me the way you did before. You ride through the city with your head held high. And all I can do is watch you go by.
I’m gonna give it all I’ve got to give. I’ve got to hold on, see what tomorrow brings. You’re slipping away, but give me one more try. One more chance to wipe these tears from my eyes. You’re slipping away. Oh, you’re slipping away
I thought I would have some fun today and list some of my crushes growing up. Women who I would watch every time they were on television, in movies, or look at when they were in magazines.
Growing up with Gilligans Island and that baffling question. Mary Ann or Ginger? I vote for Mary Ann every time. I met Dawn Wells in Nashville at a Jerry Lewis MD Telethon. I was 9 years old and I could hardly speak. She wasn’t too much taller than I was…and I never saw someone that tanned. My mom had to make me wash my hands after I shook hers.
One of the first then current celebrities I had a crush on was Kristy McNicol. Why I don’t know but when I was 10 years old she was the one I really zeroed in on. She is 5 years older than me and I noticed her on Battle of the Network Stars.
I moved up to mature women with this crush. Yeah, I liked Charlie’s Angels like every other 10-18-year-old at that time. Kate Jackson was the one for me for some reason…
I was smitten when I saw Debbie Harry in a video for Heart Of Glass at 12 years old. Probably my second blonde crush.
Suzanne Pleshette… that is one of the reasons I kept watching The Bob Newhart Show…and still do!
The ultimate girl next door… I saw her on the Midnight Special when I was 8 years old. So…Olivia Newton-John would be the first blonde crush.
I started watching sports in 1977…and she started to pop up on football telecasts. She made football much more interesting to this baseball fan.
Katherine Ross, I watched first in the Graduate. I liked everything she did.
When I was much older…in my twenties…Drew Barrymore was on my radar.
When I was in my teens I read a book on Clara Bow and I’ve been hooked to this day. Her looks, her drive, and the obstacles she had to overcome to be successful.
Here is my good friend Keith from https://nostalgicitalian.com/ giving a great post on Come Dancing. Keith and I have texted, emailed, and talked on the phone for a few years now. I like asking him questions about his radio DJ days and life…If you heard his voice you would understand why Keith was a DJ. He is a great guy. Go visit his site!
When my buddy Max from the PowerPop blog reached out to me and asked if I would like to take part in his “Kinks Week” feature, I naturally said yes. He told me that I should pick a specific Kinks song and write a bit about it. Easy enough, right? Well, sort of…
They band was formed in London in 1963 by Ray and Dave Davies. The were part of a sort of British R&B and Merseybeat thing that was happening there. Technically, they were part of the British Invasion here in the US, too. They certainly had plenty of hits that still get airplay today.
My introduction to the Kinks came from my dad and from listening to his oldies station. I heard All Day and All of the Night, You Really Got Me, Lola, and Tired of Waiting for You a lot growing up and when I worked in radio. But it was MTV and Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 that I heard them in a way I was unfamiliar with.
In 1983, the Kinks released their State of Confusion album. One of the tracks, Come Dancing, is undeniably an “80’s” song. It has that distinct sound of the early 80’s. When I heard that the song was the Kinks, I actually thought that maybe it was a different band. This song is so different and distant from what I’d call the “classic Kinks” sound. Not to mention that Ray’s accent is very obvious. I suppose that is why it stood out to me.
In one interview, Ray stated that this song was an attempt to return to the “warmer” style that the group had before they became the “arena rock act.” He said, “I wanted to regain some of the warmth I thought we’d lost, doing those stadium tours. Come Dancing was an attempt to get back to roots, about my sisters’ memories of dancing in the ’50’s.”
On the surface, the song sounds fun, but the inspiration for the song and the lyrical content came from a real life tragedy and nostalgia. Davies hints a both of those things in the quote above.
As I began to research the story behind the song the word “nostalgia” came up many times. I suppose it was reinforcing that the Nostalgic Italian had chosen the right song to write about. Rolling Stone magazine called the song “delightfully nostalgic.” Another article says that the song is basically “the 1980’s nostalgia for the 1950’s” and goes on to say how Davies tapped into that nostalgia as he was inspired by his sisters as young adults going to dance halls in the 1950’s.
The real life tragedy involved Ray’s sister Rene. As a child she had rheumatic fever, which led to some heart issues. She lived in Canada with her abusive husband and would come home to London to visit with her family annually. In 1957, Rene (then 37 years old) surprised Ray with a Spanish guitar on his 13th birthday. He had been trying to get his parents to buy it for them, but to no avail. He was thrilled to receive the gift from her. His joy would be replaced with sadness later that evening, however, as his sister would have a heart attack while dancing at the Lyceum ballroom.
Ray took inspiration from his memories of his sisters dancing at the local dance halls to the music of big bands and wrote Come Dancing. The song is written from the point of view of what he called an “East End barrow boy” watching his sister going out on dates. It speaks of the nostalgia of how they are building a parking lot on the spot where the supermarket used to be. Before that it was
where the bowling alley was. Still before that, it was the spot where the local “palais” (French for Palace) dance hall used to be.
Ray said that the song was an easy song to write, because the idea had been in his head for some time. He didn’t start writing it, though, until March of 1982 while on a flight home from Japan. He had just purchased a new Casio keyboard and used it to write the song.
In his book, You Really Got Me: The Story of the Kinks, author Nick Hasted claims that the song was written in an attempt “to reach out to the Kinks’ lost British audience.” This is probably why Ray sang with his British accent despite being asked to sing it with an American one. He has been quoted as saying that he “tried to retain the Englishness” of the song.
The “Englishness” almost prevented the song from being released. Well respected record man and founder of Arista records, Clive Davis really didn’t want to released the song in the US. He didn’t think that the American public would be able to relate to the English subject matter of dance halls. It didn’t help that the song had already been released in the UK in 1982 and did not chart.
In the end, the song was released in the US in April of 1983 and was a Top 10 hit (reaching #6). The video for the song played often on MTV which also helped the radio performance. Come Dancing would go on to be the highest charting US single of their career (tying with 1965’s Tired of Waiting for you). Naturally, because it did so well in the States, it was re-released in the UK and this time it reached #12 on the British charts.
The Kinks would have one more Top 40 single in the US and that was also on the State of Confusion album. That song was Don’t Forget to Dance, which peaked at #29. So I guess it is fair to say that Come Dancing was the last big hit for the band. Ray wasn’t done with the song, though.
In 1997, he wrote a musical play with the title Come Dancing. It was set in a 1950’s dance hall and included some Kinks songs and original songs. The play opened in September of 2008, and sadly only ran through the end of October 2008. Ray appeared as the narrator in the play. The show was brought back in 2010 but quickly canceled again.
As I listen to all of the nostalgia presented in the lyrics of Come Dancing, it makes it feel like a perfect swan song for the Kinks. First of all, it has a happy feel to it that passes from the music to its listener. It is much like Walking on Sunshine, in that I cannot hear it without smiling.
Then you have a picture of life progressing. The “out with the old, in with the new” kind of thing. You reach a point in your life or career where you look back on where you’ve been nostalgically. In a sense, that is what’s happening here. Despite where we are currently, we look back at many fond and happy memories. Isn’t that really what Ray and the Kinks are doing here? I suppose that’s the way I see it anyway.
Thanks to Max for asking me to participate and and contribute to his look at one of the greatest, and often overlooked bands in history. Thank you for reading. Now let’s give it a listen …..
Come Dancing
They put a parking lot on a piece of land Where the supermarket used to stand Before that they put up a bowling alley On the site that used to be the local palais That’s where the big bands used to come and play My sister went there on a Saturday
Come dancing All her boyfriends used to come and call Why not come dancing? It’s only natural
Another Saturday, another date She would be ready but she’s always make them wait In the hallway, in anticipation He didn’t know the night would end up in frustration He’d end up blowing all his wages for the week All for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek
Come dancing That’s how they did it when I was just a kid And when they said “come dancing” My sister always did
My sister should have come in at midnight And my mum would always sit up and wait It always ended up in a big row When my sister used to get home late
Out of my window, I could see them in the moonlight Two silhouettes saying goodnight by the garden gate
The day they knocked down the palais My sister stood and cried The day they knocked down the palais Part of my childhood died, just died
Now I’m grown up and playing in a band And there’s a car park where the palais used to stand My sister’s married and she lives on an estate Her daughters go out, now it’s her turn to wait She knows they get away with things she never could But if I asked her, I wonder if she would
Come dancing Come on, sister, have yourself a ball Don’t be afraid to come dancing It’s only natural
Come dancing Just like the palais on a Saturday And all her friends would come dancing While the big bands used to play
The ultimate girl next door… I saw her on the Midnight Special when I was 8 years old. So…Olivia Newton-John would be the first blonde crush.
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