Category: Music

Saturday Matinee – Freedom, World Climate Control, Flo & Eddie, Neil Young (and A Poll)

Sure it’s simplistic, with the 1949 cartoon stereotypes and all, but that doesn’t make the message wrong. Worth watching.
[Found by danrudy here.]

Koko and Fitz try to change the climate.  Fleisher’s “Out of the Inkwell” series was nothing less than bizarre, and this is a good ‘un.

How ’bout some Flo & Eddie. Nobody got the joke, and the Turtles were fairly successful.

Neil Young’s “Powderfinger” was one of my favorites.  Never stopped to wonder why.

We don’t do many polls here, but we like to hear from you quiet ones from time to time. There’s no risk, your votes are completely anonymous. Just click as many as you like.  Consider it your contribution to the TR Steerage Committee.

Saturday Matinee – Gumbasia, Anyway The Wind Blows & Homunculus

Art Clokey passed away 9 January 2009. Here’s his (pre-Gumby) tribute to Disney’s Fantasia. [Found here.]

Whoa. Bill Wyman, Georgie Fame, Peter Frampton, Gary Brooker, Beverley Skeete, all rolled into one rock.  Nice late night low key roadtrip music.

Very nice piano version of Zappa’s classic f-u song to an ex*, originally recorded by the Mothers in the mid 60’s. That final chord is awsome.

*The story I heard, Larry… Someone named Wendy was one of FZ’s early loves. There is also a story that no one was named “Wendy” until Disney’s “Peter Pan” was released in 1953. Although that may be true, “Peter Pan and Wendy” was published in 1911, according to The Wikiness, and “Wendy” may have appeared as early as 1902.

Now for our feature presentation: HOMUNCULUS
[Warning: NS for young kids.]

[Found here.]

Saturday Matinee – Hatebird, Deathkitty, Spadina Bus, Magic Bus & the BorgMobile


HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE
[Found here, crossposted here.]


Metro found this oddity.  Reminded me of Karma Ghost, now on the Utoobage.


Spadina Bus:  Great find by Gabriel, who tried to hide it in the comments.


Can’t believe that this one rolled in 1968. I want it.

I was looking for a song that I heard in the mid-seventies that had these lyrics:

I want to be a bus;
I want to be a big bus;
I want to bus the world around;
I want to be the biggest bus to ever bus the world around.

The google machine didn’t help; neither did the Utoobage search. Meh.

And Now For Our Feature Presentation:
Ernest Borgnine On The Bus (Part 1).

Elvis: Still Alive At 75

[Image from here. .Gif from here. Video previously posted here with awesome commentary. Long Live the King.]

Saturday Matinee – Miscellany

For the New Year, we thought that this Saturday Matinee might consist of top hits of decades past… that is until we looked at the list of contenders:

1890 Semper Fidelis – The U.S. Marine Band [no video]
1899 Kiss Me, Honey, Do – Arthur Collins [no video]
1909 Good Evening, Caroline – Frank Stanley & Elise Stevenson [no video]
1919 O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? – Bert Williams [no video]
1929 Sweethearts On Parade – Guy Lombardo [no live video]
1939 They Say – Artie Shaw [no video]
1949 A Little Bird Told Me – Evelyn Knight [no live video]
1959 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes – The Platters
1969 Crimson And Clover – Tommy James & The Shondells
1979 Too Much Heaven – BeeGees
1989 My Prerogative – Bobby Brown
1999 Have You Ever – Brandy
2009 Love Story – Taylor Swift

After careful consideration and review of the available videos on the Utoobage, we just couldn’t bring ourselves to post any of them, but the links are there just in case some of you are into self-flagellation.  Meanwhile, let’s just back away from the pop trainwrecks for now.

The shortest Rolling Stones song you never heard. [Found here.]

As for rock commercials, try this.

Squirrel Nut Zippers’ “Ghost of Stephen Foster” with a cool cartoon.

[Update 12:50PM – Gabriel left this fine memory in Thursday’s comments.  Gotta post it here.]

Saturday Matinee – Reptilicus, Rob, Roches & James Gurley


The Day after Christmas.  Quick! What’s the first word that comes to mind? “Reptilicus! An annihilating mastodon immune to all known weapons of warfare!”


Where’s Rob? Simple premise, funny result, and the ending makes it all worthwhile. [Found here.]

Cbullitt sent an email link to The Roches’ version of “The Hallelujah Chorus.”  It reminded me of the first Roches’ song I ever heard, “Mr. Sellack.”

Here’s some serious retroness from 1967. From the Utoobage:

Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding company perform live on San Francisco TV program called “POW” that had Rolfe Petersen as the host on KPIX.

Big Brother & The Holding Company’s guitarist James Gurley recently passed away at the age of 69.

Great Christmas Vinyl

Have a Cartoon Lee Majors Christmas… oop, no, wait:

Have a Tiny Tim Christmas, or not.  But hey! Lookee here:

We wish you all a Bootsy Christmas! And may Santa bring you all the funk you deserve.

[Found here, here and here.]

Saturday Matinee – Simpsons in Estonia, How to Make Candy Canes, Sleigh Ride, Darlene Love with the E Street Band


Another Simpsons opening scene re-enactment, from ESTONIA!
[Found here.]


How candy canes are made.  Very cool. [Found here].

Bunky just can’t get into the Christmas Spirit until he hears the Ronettes’ version of  “Sleigh Ride.”

Unfortunately, the best vids of that song have been pulled, and we just can’t bring ourselves to post a video of a vinyl record spinning on a turntable, or worse, a picture of an album cover (losers).  BUT, we’re certainly willing to post THIS version. Screw the copyright Scrooges.

So here’s a compromise, a Christmas song with Darlene Love, backed by the E-Street Band (with video splices from, um, “Home Alone“).

Christmas Shopping – Something for Everyone

I’d love to see her gift list.  I just hope they fit.

This picture reminds me of a classic Steve Goodman song, cowritten with Shel Silverstein: “3-Legged Man.”

[Image found here.]

Saturday Matinee – B_ETWE_EN, Maccabees, Bunkface, Ronettes

B ETWE EN. Very odd, reminds me of David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Click on the image, hit full screen, and meet me back here.

The Maccabees put a video of the winner of the 2007 Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling to music. Who woulda guessed. (Bunkarina suggested this one.)

So just for the heck of it, I click the Utoobage and start typing b, u, n, k… and up pops  Bunkface.  (I’ve been called worse.)

You’d not believe how difficult it is to come up with the correct video links  for rain.  “Rain Rain Rain” doesn’t even come up on the search mojo;  The Videos’ “Trickle Trickle” is a no show also. Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow held possibilities. Or I could link to It’s a Beautiful Day’s self-indulgent  “White Bird (in a golden cage in the rain).”  Ugh. I couldn’t bring myself to post a Melanie vid either, so while I’m hunting, try this.

The Ronettes’ “Walking in the Rain” is THE best rain song ever.