With our new truck we get Sirius XM radio free for 6 months. Not sure we'll keep it but for now I'm digging Lithium (90's alternative & grunge). A little too heavy on the STP and not enough Canadian content, but otherwise a really nice mix. Its companion channels "1st Wave" (80's alternative) & XMU (current alt) are pretty cool too.
We get a free trial this time of year and First Wave is my go-to and Lithium is close behind.
There are a few CBC channels way up past all the talk ones and there's a really good one that seems to be all Canadian alternative stuff. It's another favorite of mine even though I can't ever remember any of the band names.
I have sirius in the truck and have some sports and such, but I really like Soul Town. I tend to cycle through the rock stations because they all fit supertight niche's and you have to go through a lot of new junk (sorry, screaming ain't singing) to get to the occasional good stuff.
Damn you, you kids! Get off my lawn or I'm callin' tha cops!
Planning a trip to the thrift store later today, so spun a bunch of things I want to donate: just to make sure they were in sound shape. (Sorry.)
I've decided to send away my pair of Carla Bley LPs, though I have some of her stuff on my computer anyway. So no big deal. My main beef with her as that often her compositions seem to be more about the idea of music than all that interesting on their own terms. On the other hand, she takes many chances, always has great performers in her stable, and sometimes I enjoy her self-admitted corny sense of humor. (You sometimes have to wait a spell, or know a bit about jazz, before you get the payoff, though. She doesn't run to broad parody a la' Spike Jones.)
Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on DeviantArt! Drop by and tell me that I sent you. *updated often!*
Wow. Haven't seen that video in years. Bananarama later had a No. 1 hit in the US with "Venus." Here's the original by the Dutch band Shocking Blue (also a US No. 1, way back in 1970):
Speaking of '80s girl groups, this has become one of my favorite videos of the '80s--although I'd never heard of it until about three years ago. I love the dance routine they do, and the song isn't bad, either.
But what I'm really listening to a lot these days is old Guess Who songs, which, I've come to realize, are among my favorite tunes of all time. Here's the famous Bachman, Cummings, Kale and Peterson lineup from their 1983 reunion tour, singing "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature."
Wow. Haven't seen that video in years. Bananarama later had a No. 1 hit in the US with "Venus." Here's the original by the Dutch band Shocking Blue (also a US No. 1, way back in 1970):
I actually had no idea that Bananarama was doing a cover with "Venus". Thanks for dropping knowledge, HWW!
Lucked onto two Emily Remler LPs for eight bucks total last week. I've been listening to them a lot. Remler, "nice Jewish girl" from my homestate of N.J., started her career in the mold of Wes Montgomery. She was beginning to branch out into her own thing, even dabbling in fusion, when she died of drug abuse complications at 32. Still makes me sad to think about it. Just an awful waste in a field where women artists were already so few and far between.
Hey, Kids! My "Cranky and Kitschy" collage art is now viewable on DeviantArt! Drop by and tell me that I sent you. *updated often!*
Because the work-in-progress 4th installment of my Dr. Gy'mll's forum essay, "The Foresaken Fangirls of the Direct Market Era," will cover the first half of the 70s, I've selected a trio of old reliable favorite albums from that time frame:
Elton John, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
T. Rex, "The Slider"
Lou Reed, "Transformer"
PLUS: Selected tracks from a Roxy Music best-of collection, released about 15 years ago; a fair amount of Roxy purists bristled at the inevitable omissions, but I find it more satisfying overall than even their best studio albums.