I was very sad to hear of the passing of former Monkee Davy Jones. Many of you may not know this, but he was one of my first boyfriends.
My older brother Pat was a fan of the Monkees TV show in its original run on NBC., but quickly grew out of his Monkees phase. While I was a little young to appreciate the dreaminess of Davy then, I was able to get to know hime when they started running the shows in syndication on Saturday mornings. I was immediately drawn to Davy because he was the littlest one.
That's when Pat gave me his Monkee albums..the first three..The Monkees, More of the Monkees, and Monkees Headquarters. He also gave me a combo record player/ AM radio. I only owned those three records so I played them over and over over.
My two favorite songs were Davy songs..one on each side of the album.."I'll Be True to You," and "I Wanna Be Free." Even though I haven't heard either in years...I still know them by heart.
The lyrics, by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, are pretty corny, but somehow seem appropriate today.
"I wanna be free..like the bluebirds flying by me, like the waves out on the blue sea.."
Well for me, it means I have to wait one more day to get my paycheck, so that's slightly annoying. And I also think the name "Leap Day" is kind of lame. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.
So I've come up with some other ideas. The first one I thought of was "Lambeau Leap" Day, but I'm concerned there might be copyrights to be concerned about. So here's the final list:
1. Jumpin' Jehosaphat Day
2. Hop Skip and Jump Day
3. Flounce Day
4. Ricochet Day
5. Skip the Light Fantastic Day
Okay, I admit those aren't that great either. And if it weren't for Thesaurus.com I probably would have had fewer than that.
On the upside, I have four more years to come up with something better.
This weekend would have marked the 68th birthday of George Harrison.
There are so many reasons to be a fan of George..he wrote a lot of great songs, he had a great sense of humor, and was perhaps the best actor of the bunch.
Oh yeah..and he played the hell out of the guitar. I remember when George died in 2001, watching a lot of the news coverage..and realizing how many of today's guitar players picked up the instrument because they wanted to be like that guy they saw on the Ed Sullivan show. It would probably be easier to list the guitar players who weren't influenced by George than to list the ones that were.
George's final album came out more than a year after he died. He made every effort to finish it before he became too sick..but gave a lot of direction to his buddy Jeff Lynne and his son Dhani who completed it. The album was called Brainwashed (ironic because what killed him was lung cancer that went to his brain).
It contained this song "Any Road," which I really like. And this video contains some happy images of the "quiet" Beatle, which I hope you like.
How would you like to tickle ivories that have been tickled by Elton John?
The Madison Area Music Awards (The MAMAS) have scored an awesome gift that could bring in lots of money to help put musical instruments in the hands of kids.
The Artist Relations Group at Yamaha has donated a MOTIF keyboard played and autographed by Sir Elton John. This top-of-the-line Yamaha keyboard is in excellent condition and was part of Elton's gear during his 2008 performances at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.
To raise funds to put musical instruments in kids' hands, the MAMAs have placed the keyboard on eBay with a starting bid of $2,000.
The MOTIF keyboard was developed by Yamaha to be the best-sounding synthesizer on the market and features state-of-the-art waveforms, professional-quality expansion capabilities and a stunning range of hyper-realistic drum, piano, string and brass sounds
Don't have a couple grand but would still like to help the cause? Voting for the Madison Area Music Awards is going on now, and your $5 membership fee will help buy musical instruments for children. More info here!
Some of you may know that I collect old board games. I've got loads and loads of them, more than I could possibly display.
Some I had to buy because I had them when I was a kid (Landslide), some I wanted but never had (Tip-it), and others I never knew existed at the time (Mr. Ed and PT 109).
But there's another game that's been on my want list for a long, long time because it intersects with another category of collectibles--Beatles memorabilia.
It's the Beatles Flip Your Wig game, with a 1964 copyright. I found it this weekend at a record show in Milwaukee.
I probably paid too much for it. But it is in pretty good condition, and you just don't run into it that often.
I'm thinking about framing the game board and displaying the box. But then I couldn't play it, could I?
I am not everyone. And neither is my boyfriend, Mike. This weekend we took a little road trip to Milwaukee and discovered a couple new brewpubs.
We've been going to Water Street Brewery for years, and have also visited Milwaukee Ale House and some others. But this time we ventured to the suburb of St. Francis, where we made a pilgrimage to the St. Francis Brewpub. It was a nice place, with kind of a church motif. We enjoyed that the list of beers was on a board shaped like the hymn number list that you find at the front of some churches. I can't remember the beers I tried, but both of them were tasty!
The atmosphere on a late Sunday afternoon was pretty mellow, but the bartender was knowledgeable about the beer and super friendly.
Then we meandered down Kinnikinnick a few miles to the Horny Goat Hideaway. This place was not quiet or mellow, even on a Sunday evening. This place definitely had a party vibe..and was not your ordinary bar. In addition to the bar area, there was an upstairs, and a giant tent outside with another full bar, and another tent with heated sand volleyball. And they had an outdoor firepit..which was more like a fire trench. The gas fueled fire was warm and toasty..and even though there were folks smoking around it, the smoke wasn't too annoying. We met the owner who was out having a smoke. He was asking patrons what they thought of the place..and told us his intention was to create a place that was unlike anything else in Milwaukee. I'd say he succeeded! (Oh, and the beer was good too!)
If you like going on beer road trips, I highly recommend a book by my friend Kevin Revolinski, called "Wisconsin's Best Beer Guide." It includes directions to all the the brewpubs in the state..the scoop on the establishments..even info on other things to do in the neighborhood.
This is the public service announcement Jonathan and I were talking about on the air this morning.
For some reason, this thing aired constantly in central Wisconsin when I was a kid.
Okay, maybe not constantly..but often enough to get stuck in my head., and if you believe facebook, a lot of other folks who grew up in the Stevens Point area.
I found this on youtube, where it got quite a few comments, including one person who said it was going onto his or her iPod.
I don't know if I'd go that far. But it is pretty catchy. (Pun intended).
I'm not one who generally goes for romantic movies..especially if there's a lot of wistfulness and gazing out windows while sappy music plays. (Sleepless in Seattle).
I don't like the typical unbelievable fairy tale type stories (Pretty Woman). I get a little bashful when it comes to movies with explicit or implied sex.
But there are a few movies that might feature the romance or romance label that I do enjoy. Here's my list.
1. Benny and Joon. An uncoventional relationship between two uncoventional characters. And one of them is Johnny Depp.
2. Bringing Up Baby. Do you remember this one from film class? It's Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and it's considered one of the first romantic comedies. And the "Baby" in the title is a pet leopard.
3. Harold and Maude. This movie stars Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort. This movie proves that age really doesn't matter when it comes to love. And it's really, really twisted.
4. Ghost. No, I don't just like this one because of the pottery wheel scene.
5. The Terminator. Kyle Reese comes from the future to save Sarah Connor, who's he's fallen in love with from a picture in her son's wallet! It's a love story that really stands the test of time. I need a tissue just from thinking about it.
Every one says it's the thought that counts. But when it comes to Valentine's gifts, it seems like a lot of people aren't doing any thinking at all!
WIth that in mind, I present this list.
TOP FIVE HORRIBLE VALENTINE GIFTS
1. Anything that your Valentine has to cook. "Honey, look I got you these juicy steaks. What time are you firing up the grill?"
2. School supplies. I once got a backpack for Valentine's Day. And it wasn't from my mom.
3. Sharp objects. You don't want to give your disappointed Valentine any ideas.
4. Anything your Valentine has to feed. I got a pair of goldfish, which I named after the Dark Shadows characters Barnabas and Angelique. The guy who gave them to me once took care of them when I was out of town. I never got them back because he gave them to another girl.
5. Anything from the all night drugstore, because the next day it will be all half-priced! Case in point:: I picked up a box of Larry the Cable Guy chocolates (pictured above)..and I think they only cost around 24 cents for the whole box.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has announced some more inductees for 2012, and I'm pretty happy one of them.. a back-up band maybe you haven't heard of...The Blue Caps.
The Blue Caps were the band for rockabilly pioneer Gene Vincent, and they're being inducted along with The Comets (Bill Haley), The Crickets (Buddy Holly), The Miracles (Smoky Robinson), The Famous Flames (James Brown), and The Midnighters (Hank Ballard).
I'll admit I never heard of the Blue Caps until I met Mike, my musicologist/guitar player boyfriend. He's a huge fan of the Blue Caps' first lead guitar player, Cliff Gallup. And now that I've heard his stuff, I'm amazed by his playing as well.
Remember the song Be-bop-a-lula? It was Gene Vincent's biggest hit, and features Cliff Gallup on guitar. His solos are incredible, and he's influenced many guitar players. Brian Setzer's Stray Cats, Jeff Beck, and George Harrison all were influenced by Cliff. In fact, Jeff Beck did a whole album dedicated to Cliff. It was called "Crazy Legs" and came out in 1993.
An interesting note about this amazing talent..he only played with Gene Vincent for around a year. He was 26 years old at the time and was already married..and he wasn't interested in touring. He wanted to go back to his first job..as a plumber, and to spend more time with his family.
Listen to this song, and pay close attention to the guitar solo!
I already have hoarding tendencies, so it's probably not a great idea to start a new collection.
But this one is so awesome. I was inspired by a new feature on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she celebrates very bad album art. So while making my rounds of thrift stores, I decided to look for some bad covers to send to her.
I really hit the jackpot at Resale Records on Commercial Avenue. All Eric sells is records, and recently he was having a sale of $1 albums. There were some really awful ones! In fact, they were so bad I have to keep them.
I'm happy to share my collection with you. What do you think of these?
I think they're so horrible they're cool! I do have a couple of questions however.
First, How did those birds get so talented at such a young age? Songs they cover include "Bye Bye Blackbird" and "Ol'Man River." I would have thought the later would be out of their vocal range.
Second, has PETA seen that Jack Jones cover?
I will share more album covers with you in the future. That's a promise!
When I got a press release in my email box announcing Paul McCartney will be getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, I was fairly surprised that he didn't have one already.
Fellow Beatles John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all have stars. Heck, even Roseanne and Slim Whitman are immortalized there.
So what took Paul so long? I don't think he would have trouble coming up with the $30,000 nominating fee. If you're going to get a star, you first have be nominated, and also have to agree to make a personal appearance at the ceremony. And what do you know? Paul's ceremony is set for next Thursday, two days after his album of standards, "Kisses on the Bottom" comes out. How convenient!
I rather enjoyed the press release from the fine folks at the Hollywood Walk of Fame, as it gave the highlights of Paul's career, noting how he changed the world forever with the Beatles, his solo work, his philanthropic activities and being knighted by the Queen. But my favorite part was at the very end.
"2012 and, as ever, brings an infinite set of new possibilities for Paul McCartney. If any new musical frontier awaits—be it an entirely new musical medium or genre, a city or song he’s never played before, or something the cleverest among us has yet to imagine--rest assured Paul is already on his way there…"
When Norah Jones gets tired of her usual silky pop, it appears she need to let her country soul shine. That's when she gets together with some of her pals as The Little Willies.
(In addition to Norah Jones, the Little Willies are Lee Alexander, Jim Campilongo, Richard Julian and Dan Rieser.)
Their follow-up to a 2006 album is called "For the Good Times." And if you've heard of the Kris Kristofferson classic that is the title of this album, this record might be right up your alley.
I like older, traditional country music. Think Hank Williams, Sr., not Jr. I appreciate country rock as invented by Gram Parsons, and don't even mind a little bluegrass now and then.
And I loved this record! I'm not familiar with all the original songs the Little Willies chose to cover, but that didn't matter one bit. The singing is pure smoke and honky tonk, without being corny. The musicianship is exquisite, and the harmonies spot on.
My favorite song on the album is "Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves," which conveys an incredible urgency in its minor tones. Loretta Lynn's "Fist City" is great, and "If You've Got the Money, I've Got the Time" is pure fun.
The album closes with a heartfelt cover of Dolly Parton's "Jolene." I think Dolly would approve.
Happy birthday to the Cute Beatle, SIr Paul McCartney! He turns 71 today.
One of the rules for Beatles fans is that you must memorize tidbits of Beatle trivia to try and impress other Beatle fans. This is not that easy to do....as things like...
In 1968, Jeannie C. Riley topped both the pop and country charts with "Harper Valley PTA". She was the first female singer to accomplish that feat and it wasn't repeated until Dolly Parton did it in 1981 with the song "9 to 5". The song was...
This week we're doing story songs on the World's Worst iPod. We start with the story of Billy who really wanted to be a hero. He was a hero, but didn't live to see it and his girlfriend was pretty angry. The song was originally done by...
This week' s Gabby's Pick is another track from emerging artist ZZ Ward's debut album , called "365 Days."
In addition to all the radio airplay " Put The Gun Down" has received, you may also have heard her music on several television...
Apparently Oreo flavored Oreos are not sufficient.
Nabisco is continuing its trend of introducing special limited edition flavors for its Oreo cookies. Last year, the internet was all abuzz about candy corn Oreos, which supposedly didn't really...
One small detail I like about Bonnaroo ... the security people's shirts say "Safety" and "Here to help". They seem well-trained and they do the things security folk do ... but I like the emphasis on safety and that they're doing these things...
Happy birthday to the Cute Beatle, SIr Paul McCartney! He turns 71 today.
One of the rules for Beatles fans is that you must memorize tidbits of Beatle trivia to try and impress other Beatle fans. This is not that easy to do....as things like...
In 1968, Jeannie C. Riley topped both the pop and country charts with "Harper Valley PTA". She was the first female singer to accomplish that feat and it wasn't repeated until Dolly Parton did it in 1981 with the song "9 to 5". The song was...
This week we're doing story songs on the World's Worst iPod. We start with the story of Billy who really wanted to be a hero. He was a hero, but didn't live to see it and his girlfriend was pretty angry. The song was originally done by...
This week' s Gabby's Pick is another track from emerging artist ZZ Ward's debut album , called "365 Days."
In addition to all the radio airplay " Put The Gun Down" has received, you may also have heard her music on several television...
Apparently Oreo flavored Oreos are not sufficient.
Nabisco is continuing its trend of introducing special limited edition flavors for its Oreo cookies. Last year, the internet was all abuzz about candy corn Oreos, which supposedly didn't really...
One small detail I like about Bonnaroo ... the security people's shirts say "Safety" and "Here to help". They seem well-trained and they do the things security folk do ... but I like the emphasis on safety and that they're doing these things...
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