Geez, Death, Take A Break Already

STUDS TERKEL - Died Oct 31, age 96. Chicago's favorite son. Author, blacklisted in the 50s, radio host for almost 50 years (Dylan was a guest at his genesis), Pulitzer Prize winner. There is just has too much to him for me to thumbnail it here.

JIMMY CARL BLACK - Drummer and "The Indian Of The Group" from The Mothers Of Invention died Nov 1, age 70, from lung cancer. He was very vocal about Zappa's shitty treatment of the band, but willfully rejoined him for awhile after being kicked out. Also lead the band "Geronimo Black" and was a member of The Grandmothers, a band made up of (you guessed it) Mothers alumni.

YMA SUMAC - November 1, age 83, also cancer. Dig her pic at the top of the post. She was an other-worldly exotic vocalist with a 200-octave range (would I lie?). In recent years she was conveniently lumped in with the ultra-lounge/exotica scene, but was most active from the 50s to the early 60s, same time frame as Martin "Quiet Village" Denny, another exotica figurehead. It is rumored that rather than Peruvian, she was really Amy Camus from Brooklyn, and that her agent or studio moguls flipped the name around for extra exotic strangeness.

BYRON LEE - He of "...& The Dragonaires" fame. What you'd probably know him for most is the song "Jamaican Ska" that ol' Annette sings in "Back To The Beach". Or maybe "Tiny Winey" if you pay any attentiion to the steel band on Caribbean cruises. Well, he was for sure a Calypso King. He started back in 1956, those pre-ska days of Mento music, and he more or less rolled with the changes all the way through reggae, all the while still doing calypso & soca. He was active up until his death from cancer on November 4 at the age of 73. He was a bad-ass cat.

MICHAEL CRICHTON - Nov 4, age 68, cancer. He's the one who gave us Andromeda Strain (not the actual strain, tho), Westworld, Congo, Jurassic Park, and he also created ER.

and finally, ...

RUDY RAY MOORE - Yeah, that's right, Dolemite! This guy's gettin' oral sex in a limo when he gets picked up from prison! (in the movie Dolemite, that is, although who knows?) He was around since the 50s, doing Redd Foxx-style standup (no, not Sanford-type stuff; this was the original x-rated deal) and he was a soul singer, too. But we know him best as the pimp/hustler/player called Dolemite. He had problems with diabetes (gulp) and died at the age of 81 on Oct 19.

OK, OK, now take five, willya?

Goin' Back To The Village Of Love

Nathaniel Mayer died Nov 1. He was a Detroit cat who released some great sides on the legendary Fortune record label, including the international hit "Village Of Love". It had the standard primitive Fortune sound, but the quality was a notch upward from most Fortune singles. Yet typical of Fortune's history of gaffe-ridden releases, the song breaks for a guitar solo that's buried so deep in the mix anyone else would've done a 2nd take, but geez, that would mean more tape. Regardless, that song is a bonafide standard from the post-doowop/pre-soul twilight world of 1962. It's way noisy (Nate screams out half the song) but still couldn't prepare anyone for his next single: "I Had A Dream". I used to imagine spear-wielding African tribespeople in the studio doing the backing track. Once, many many MANY moons ago Nate was a guest on a radio show I used to listen to, "Old & Gold". I called the station during the record-playing segment to tell the host that "I Had A Dream" was on a par with ANY punk record EVER released for chaos, energy & bollocks-out rocking. He said "wait, Nate would love to hear that". Next thing I knew, I'm talking to Mr Nathaniel Mayer hisself, telling him the same thing! He was chuffed, to say the least. And I was as nervous as a record nut having a word with Nathaniel Mayer!

And who can forget his other chestnut, "I Want Love & Affection (Not The House Of Correction)"?

In recent years Nate, with help from local musicians & Dayton's Black Keys, had a couple albums released to critical acclaim. Of course they sold next to nothing. He had a series of strokes awhile back, but his death was still a shock. Recently I saw former Dirtbomb bassist Troy Gregory who during a conversation said, "...and I won't be playing with Nate anymore...". I thought it was an artistic choice until he said, "well, he's been sick..." I had forgotten about that. And I bet Troy's glad he had the chance.

FUNKY PRESIDENT

The Godfather said it in 1973, after Jerry Ford -??!?? - but today it really applies: We just got a funky new president. Even though he can't dance.

Washington has long been known as Chocolate City, and all these stupid sobriquets don't really apply, because Brother 'Rack is the whitest brother this side of Colin Powell (not that that's a bad thing).

Anyway, Daddy-"O", get on the good foot & FIX US, MAN!!!!!!

Death Takes No Holiday

I'm back after a few weeks away from Blogville. Geez, what's happened? McDonna gets divorced, gas prices plummet, and of course, death gets greedy.

Pictured above, Alton Ellis, called "the godfather of rocksteady", died at the age of 70. His best known track is "Dance Crasher", but my favorite by him is "I'm Still In Love With You". Just go check his stuff out, you should've already done so. Catch-up time for you.

Although silenced for a number of years now, one of the greatest voices in the world, Levi Stubbs, has also gone. Even though I have been thoroughly sick of Motown for quite some time, I'll be the first to admit that you would be hard pressed to find a more soulful, emotional voice than Levi's.

Edie Adams was both sultry & lucky - to be Ernie Kovacs' wife. And now that she's dead too, they can rekindle their flame, although I think it was out cold long before Ernie kicked off decades ago. Edie used to have a Muriel Cigar TV ad in which she purred, Marilyn-style, "why don't you pick one up & smoke it sometime?" Uh-huh, baby.

Jack Narz died too, and he hosted lotsa game shows in the 50s & early 60s. The one that instantly comes to mind for me is "Seven Keys", where you acquired keys for winning rounds of questions, and the key could open the door to a new car.

So that's death for you.

Now what's this I hear about Neil Young FINALLY releasing his Archives VOL 1 in January. The first 10-disc set is retailling at $450??!!?? I thought he was a man of the people? Did he CONVENIENTLY forget that no one has a job? I am not happy with him. I guess everyone's a pig at some point, even "everymen".

A word about my recent trip to Hawaii: it was fabby-poo, I spent less money than I expected, and I didn't want to leave (another Mai-Tai, mahalo!). I had the ol' iPod peppered with all kindsa Hawaiian & island-type music, but what shuffled to the top most of the time?

The Fall. Perfect.

I'm Sick Y'all

The title of this post heralds a return to non-political rantings - yay! It's a reference to an Otis Redding song, and also unfortunately a declaration of my health at the moment. And I'm leaving for Hawaii in 5 days! More meds!!

I was reading some miscellaneous stuff about Pittsburgh DJ Mad Mike Metro, guitarist supreme Robert Quine (both dead btw), and James "Hound" Marshall who used to dj on my fave WFMU long before I was hip to it (back in the late 70s). Anyway, I came across some useless information (my favorite kind) that got me to thinking...

What was the first record I bought with my own money? This is a toss-up: it was either Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops" album (unless my sister bought it for me, or the money was given to her by my mother, but I do know it was hand delivered by my sister, who had actually been instructed to buy Jackie's "He's So Fine" lp, but at the time I didn't know the more recent L. T. was out - hell, I was like 5. So she made the right choice.). OR - it was "Fingertips". In the course of my younger days, this seems rather late (9 or 10 years old), because I had a lot of records. Maybe it was just that they were all bought for me, but this one was definitely with my own money, on my own trek to the record shop. Did "Twist & Shout" by The Isley Brothers come out before that one? Because I definitely remember having that one, but I can't remember if I paid for it myself.

My all-time favorite album: "Highway 61 Revisited" by Bob Dylan, I was 12. I remember this vividly, I bought it at Sears (?!) at Macomb Mall. My friend Duane had a sister 2 years older than me (who saw both Detroit Beatle concerts, 64 & 65? she did) & on that same day she bought The Byrds' "Turn Turn Turn". We swapped albums for one day, and I kinda liked hers better for a short while, because it was more commercially pop and like I said, I was 12. But in the end, the man won out, 43 years & holding.

First concert: The Motortown Revue, Fox Theater, December 1963, 10 years old. No Beatles yet, Motown was the thing. Marvin Gaye, Smokey, Mary Wells, The Marvelettes. No Supremes or Stevie. First "rock" concert: SRC, East Detroit High School, March 1970, 16 years old.

And in the same vein, major acts (in my world) that I've seen: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Sinatra, Bill Haley, Bo Diddley, Lennon, McCartney, Dylan, Stones, Velvet Underground, Ike & Tina Turner, John Lee Hooker, Peter Tosh, MC5, Stooges, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash, Dolls, Bowie, Kraftwerk, Stevie Wonder, Aretha, Brian Wilson, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, Dr. John, The Who, The Fall, Ray Davies, The Faces, Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, Dave Brubeck, King Sunny Ade, Wynton Marsalis, James Brown, Neil Young, and then there are the tons of flavors-of-the-week and 2nd and 3rd stringers.

Who did I miss just because I was lazy & didn't want to get in the car & go & now I could kick myself: Monk. And Diz. And Sun Ra.

First real kiss: summer of 1966. First "wow" experience that didn't seem handed down from earlier times: Haight Ashbury and Golden Gate Park, December 1967 - just after the Summer Of Love. First pair of bell bottom jeans: 1968, 10th grade.

First legal beer: Lums, Roseville. First new car: 1975 Chevy Monza. First "totalled" accident: 1975 Chevy Monza, less than a year later.

Where does this end?

Here. I'm sick. y'all.

Hanal To The Chief

WOW!!! Thanx for the comments, all 3 of you (it seemed like so many many more)!! Check the previous post for some top comments -including a quite legendary reply from yours truly!

But here's something that came to mind: why indeed hasn't John Waters run for president? Isn't he actually what we all want to be? Or is that just me? He lives out his twisted fantasies by having someone else act them out on film for all to see, & he can just sit back & stay clean? And in the end the common man love those fantasies & make him a multi-millionaire!! I mean, if someone's gonna manipulate me, it might as well be him. Imagine, living in a world filled with depraved lunatics & obese drag queens. Gee, how I miss going to see his work in grimy art houses half-full of questionable reprobates. The good old days.

Recently at a DC insider cocktail party it was suggested that the Democrats would be happy with the likes of Rip Taylor for president. What was really meant by that statement is that the Dems would take any fruity ol' pisser because that is their wont. Nothing could be further from the truth, I say! Rip is old & boring, and we've already had that. Plus he's messy, what with that confetti all over the place. And he's just not funny. An unfunny queen? Breeder, please. But if he's part of a nine-member cast of leaders who sit three-by-three in a box trimmed in flashing lights, we'd take him in a heartbeat. Considering the Pushing Daisies guy brings Paul Linde back, too.

Look, we gotta crawl before we walk. This election has gotten more people talking about (and acting as if they care about) this country than any time since Woodstock (the one without arson). Even though their reasons may be superficial, and they may just be extremely lucky that the guy they're (probably) backing is (probably) the best guy in recent years who's gonna step up & go for the job, at least we're (probably) not talking about Miley Cyrus or Lezbey Lohan. Let's all just pray this thing goes well because we MUST bring an end to this right-wing, bible-based, fear-nurturing regime. It (probably) WON'T stop under McCain.

ONE MO' THING: I usually never recommend anything from Rolling Stone (what a total piece of crap), but their cover story on the early days of John McCain is quite entertaining, although at times it seems like they wanted to shock but just pulled an "aw". His early days sound like another assholes. His latter days can't be much different. Use the link to read it online.

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain

Now, go rent The John Waters Collection. It's no "Bonzo" anthology, but then what is?

Commenting On The Debate I Didn't Watch: Patriotic!

No, I didn't watch it.

I have cultivated such a strong dislike for her that I didn't want to see her possibly do a good job, because I get a perverse pleasure from hating her & that whole whale blubber clan of the cave bear circus she's part of. If she held her own, then bully for her. If not, bully for me.

I did a fair share of Thursday night quarterbacking, and it appears she was really rocking that Cowgirl-At-A-Themepark bullshit: y'all, yah know, gonna, droppin' her "g"s, ... Can't we have someone who's eloquent & can talk to people intelligently? Oh wait, we already have that: it's called the Obama/Biden ticket. And just because I'm educated and can understand big words does that make me pretentious? (I well may be, but not for that reason.)

I'm tired of folksy. Truly. And just because she drove a van to a

f#%king soccer game doesn't mean she's cornered the market on real life.

This country is supposed to be the place where any US citizen could ideally be president. But honestly, she needs to get wise. She's like some character in a second rate comedy chock full of SNL & SCTV hasbeens where they pull some poor unsuspecting "Joe Six-Pack" (another Palinism) out of nowhere to take the place of some world leader who's been shot.

I wonder if the GOP thought, "hey, this one's a spittin' image of Tina Fey. We pick her and there'll be an uptick on SNL coverage!" "But wait, Fey's not on the show anymore." "Shoot, she'll come back to the show just for this, you watch!"

Hurry, November 4, and be good to me. I'm tired of feeling compelled to post politically.