May 28, 2012 • 2 notes

Devo, “Uncontrollable Urge.”  I used this song for a dance break and was actually jumping up and down. 

I read that Devo and Blondie are touring.  I might go if they come to Chicago.  I saw Blondie last September but I’ve never seen Devo live.

May 27, 2012
“Birthday Roses.”

“Birthday Roses.”

May 27, 2012 • 2 notes

Speaking of Roger Daltrey, here we have The Who, “Substitute.”  My God, they look young.  I forgot they started in 1964.

May 26, 2012

From Salon.com: "David Bowie's 'Hunky Dory' is a perfect album."

May 26, 2012 • 2 notes

Ultravox, “Sleepwalk,” on Top of the Pops in 1980.  The song starts at around 1:10, but the introduction is worth watching.  We have Roger Daltrey looking a little unhappy because he was expecting The Clash and they aren’t there.  I don’t think he would be happy with ABBA and The Village People instead.

“Sleepwalk” is one of my favorite synthesizer songs because it has some drive to it.  And not a guitar in sight!  If it sounds 80’s, well, it came out in 1980, so there you go.

May 25, 2012 • 2 notes

The Jam, “David Watts,” originally by The Kinks.

Happy Birthday, Paul Weller!  He’s the guy on the left. 

I love the audience!  And I think that’s Peter Cook introducing them at the beginning.

Here’s some trivia.  I was born on the same month, day and year as Paul Weller.  (Yes, it’s also my birthday!)  So if you want to figure out how old I am, look up “Paul Weller” in Wikipedia and do the math.

May 24, 2012 • 2 notes

U2, “Bullet the Blue Sky.” 

I was thinking about U2 when I found the video for “When Love Comes to Town.”  I think this song is supposed to be about politics or oppression or poverty or something.  Maybe so.  I think it is really HOT. 

May 23, 2012
Tour guide at Sun Studio.  He had great sideburns. I still have my Sun Studio T shirt that I bought after the tour. Sun Studio in Memphis is not very big.  I saw a small reception area in front and then the studio itself.  That was it.  The tour consisted of standing in the recording studio, listening to the tour guide and to music played back on a reel-to-reel player.  It doesn’t seem like much, but it was the highlight of my visit to Memphis. In the photo you see a microphone.  This is a microphone Elvis sang into and you can touch it.  It sounds weird, but it wasn’t.  It was a little profound.  By touching it, I felt connected to something that started years before I was here and was still going on today.  The guide said one tourist licked the microphone.  Ewwww.  That’s not profound, that’s disgusting.  They also had Jerry Lee Lewis’ piano and one of Johnny Cash’s guitars.  One of the songs they played was “When Love Comes to Town,” which I posted a few days ago.  To be honest, I thought that song was OK.  I’d heard it a few too many times on the radio.  Hearing it again, in Sun Studio, playing on the reel-to-reel, was a completely different experience.  It was overwhelming.  It’s such a powerful song.  I think I teared up a little when I heard it in the studio. So that was my visit to Sun Studio.  If you ever go to Memphis, go there.  If you’re short on time, skip Graceland and go to Sun Studio.

Tour guide at Sun Studio.  He had great sideburns. I still have my Sun Studio T shirt that I bought after the tour.

Sun Studio in Memphis is not very big.  I saw a small reception area in front and then the studio itself.  That was it.  The tour consisted of standing in the recording studio, listening to the tour guide and to music played back on a reel-to-reel player.  It doesn’t seem like much, but it was the highlight of my visit to Memphis.

In the photo you see a microphone.  This is a microphone Elvis sang into and you can touch it.  It sounds weird, but it wasn’t.  It was a little profound.  By touching it, I felt connected to something that started years before I was here and was still going on today.  The guide said one tourist licked the microphone.  Ewwww.  That’s not profound, that’s disgusting.  They also had Jerry Lee Lewis’ piano and one of Johnny Cash’s guitars. 

One of the songs they played was “When Love Comes to Town,” which I posted a few days ago.  To be honest, I thought that song was OK.  I’d heard it a few too many times on the radio.  Hearing it again, in Sun Studio, playing on the reel-to-reel, was a completely different experience.  It was overwhelming.  It’s such a powerful song.  I think I teared up a little when I heard it in the studio.

So that was my visit to Sun Studio.  If you ever go to Memphis, go there.  If you’re short on time, skip Graceland and go to Sun Studio.

May 22, 2012 • 2 notes

I just saw that today is Morrissey’s birthday.  Happy Birthday, Morrissey!

May 22, 2012 • 1 note
I mentioned a couple of days ago I thought I would see some campy stuff in Graceland.  Well, I did.  Here are two pictures of The Jungle Room.  On top is a postcard, on the bottom is a photo I shot.  I don’t think we were supposed to take photos but I managed to sneak in a few anyway. Elvis lived in this house and he died here too.  I went to a coffee house in Memphis with a large Elvis shrine in the window.  It was run by hipsters, so they were comfortable with the kitschy side of Elvis.  I talked to one of them.  He claimed that he knew the mortician, or knew someone who knew the mortician, who found Elvis.  He assured me that Elvis had, indeed, left the building.  He described in detail where and how Elvis was found and how he died.  I have decided not to include that information here.  It’s pretty unpleasant.  It’s better to remember how Elvis lived, and how much he contributed to music and popular culture, than to dwell on how he died.

I mentioned a couple of days ago I thought I would see some campy stuff in Graceland.  Well, I did.  Here are two pictures of The Jungle Room.  On top is a postcard, on the bottom is a photo I shot.  I don’t think we were supposed to take photos but I managed to sneak in a few anyway.

Elvis lived in this house and he died here too.  I went to a coffee house in Memphis with a large Elvis shrine in the window.  It was run by hipsters, so they were comfortable with the kitschy side of Elvis.  I talked to one of them.  He claimed that he knew the mortician, or knew someone who knew the mortician, who found Elvis.  He assured me that Elvis had, indeed, left the building.  He described in detail where and how Elvis was found and how he died.  I have decided not to include that information here.  It’s pretty unpleasant.  It’s better to remember how Elvis lived, and how much he contributed to music and popular culture, than to dwell on how he died.