New Years Day 2024

Happy New Year’s Eve – A Playlist

Thought I might do something different this New Years Eve. Buried in the Archives are over 100 tunes that deserve a replay, at least in my opinion. Some are pure awesome, others are eye-rollers, but all are songs that pleased my earballs in 2023. Each set is in no particular order, one click and you’re off to the races. Have at it.

Set 1 – January, February, March

Set 2 – April, May, June, July

Set 3 – August, September, November & December

And one more thing: Happy New Year!

Auld Lang Syne Boogie, Freddie Mitchell Orchestra (1949)


[Caveat: I don’t own the copyrights to any of these recordings. They are presented here for entertainment purposes only. Apologies for the typo in the first track – That’s Stéphane Grappelli.]

Saturday Matinee – Tuba Skinny, Lucky Chops, Timo Gross & Skatune Network

Tuba Skinny, featuring bandleader Shaye Cohn on cornet. Although we were in NOLA last May, I didn’t get a chance to see them because I was too busy chillin’ on a balcony with the dogs.

Formed in 2016, Lucky Chops  began as a group of subway buskers from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, New York City, and now they perform world-wide.

German bluesman Timo Gross  has been around for a while but he’s relatively unknown in the US; I had to run his Wikipedia entry through Google Translate.

One man ska band JER / Skatune Network rang in the New Year in 2016 and somehow I missed it. Turnitup!

Yep, it’s almost time to turn the calendar ahead again, but before we do, we have a porch that needs sitting on. See you there.

Happy New Year Hot Links

Auld Lang Syne Boogie, Freddie Mitchell Orchestra (1949) The Freddie Mitchell Orchestra (aka Hen Gates & His House Rockers, Hen Gates & His Gators) features Mitchell on sax and Rip Harrigan on piano.

“For years the rumor was that Hen Gates and His Gaters were in fact the Dizzy Gillespie band. In fact Hen Gates is Freddie Mitchell and the tracks on the album credited to them, Lets All Dance To Rock And Roll, are simply old Derby masters given new titles. When Derby filed for bankruptcy in 1954, Freddie Mitchell masters had been sold cheaply and had already been reissued on several labels before they turned up on Masterseal who thought they could pull a fast one and pass them off as tracks recorded by Hen Gates and His Gators who, according to the LP sleevenotes, were ‘a group of talented young Rock ‘N Roll musicians.’ ” [Source]


Oh Kenneth.

A bit of snow.

The 80s called.

Nine baby carrots.

Pikas aren’t doomed.

A bird of many colors.

1. Sound up. 2. Be amazed.

The Gratitude of the Pious.

Kaiser-Fraser plans ahead.

Trippy water photography.

The David Hasselhoff Museum.

The Institute of Nomadic Architecture. [h/t eaglesoars]

“We’re out of projects. What do you want to work on, Bob?”

“Well, Jim, I was just thinking…” Twelve months later...

The Freezer Bowl of 1981 was the coldest game in NFL history.

January 1 2023 is Public Domain Day. Copyrighted works from 1927 will enter the US public domain [via Mme. Jujujive].

Tom Leher has relinquished all copyright restrictions to his music and lyrics, and they are free to download at his website [via Memo Of The Air].

Just added a new archive category: Raccoon Stuff.
Don’t know how I missed it after all these years.

[Top image found here, h/t Gord S.]


From the Archives: 1 year ago. 5 years ago. 10 years ago.

Saturday Matinee – Vi Hart, Otros Aires, The Head Cat & Gunhild Carling

Vi Hart has put together some amazing videos over the years – her series Doodling in Math Class is excellent. [h/t Memo Of The Air]

Argentine tango in black and white.
Otros Aires is a 21 Century Audiovisual ElectroTango project created,  produced and directed by the Argentinean musician, architect & video artist Miguel Di Genova. It was made between Barcelona and Buenos Aires ports in 2003.

Meanest cover of Dale HawkinsSusie-Q  I’ve ever heard.
The Head Cat, live at The Key Club, West Hollywood, California, May 6th, 2010, consisted of Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats) Lemmy Kilmister (Motörhead) & Danny B. Harvey (Rockats). Lemmy died in 2015 at the age of 70 and was replaced by David Vincent (Morbid Angel).

Gunhild Carling is amazing. Someone told her the bag pipes are a musical instrument so she played them.

Happy New Year to all, and let’s hope the insanity abates in 2023.

New Year’s Dayyum Saturday Matinee – Psy, Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators, Carl Verheyen & The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

New Year’s Rockin’ Eve in Times Square NYE 2013. Yeah. Psy did that.
Gangnam Style was the first-ever video on the Utoobage to surpass 1 billion views.

New Year’s Blues
Glenn Crytzer and his Syncopators do the Jazz Age thang with

Some killer riffs in Carl Verheyen‘s New Year’s Day.

Here’s something a bit more traditional, and if your brain done got all swolled  up from last night’s festivities, maybe just an .mp3 will do:

Auld Lang Syne, Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 2010

Wishing all of you a healthy and prosperous New Year.
As for 2021, let’s just not do that again.