Category: Retro & Vintage

Saturday Matinee – Grand Funk, Todd Rundgren, Sarah Collins & The Joanna Connor Band

Yeah. Found here. Grand Funk Railroad released “We’re an American Band” in 1973, It was produced by a 25 year old named Todd Rundgren and it went gold.

Many of his own recordings were catchy pop (and somewhat sappy) love songs and covers of the same IMO, but I liked them.  I liked them especially because the pretty coeds would stay around longer when Todd Rundgren was spinning at 33rpm. Then in 1983 he wrote and performed one of the best ska tunes ever – Bang The Drum All Day. (As a resident of Hawaii, he later recorded “Bang The Uke All Day.)

Sarah Collins‘ vocal overdub of The Specials‘ 1979 cover of Dandy Livingstone‘s 1967 rocksteady song Rudy, A Message to You makes me smile, but we can’t close out with that one. Sorry, Sarah.

DO NOT BYPASS THE INTRO.
Joanna Connor covers Son House‘ classic “Walkin’ Blues.” She pats your head, then smacks you twice before you realize what happened. Pure awesome.

Have a great weekend, folks, see you soon.

1968 Pontiac Firebird With The 9-Foot Tall Escort Option.

[Found here.]

Saturday Matinee – Live From NorWay, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Fishbone & The Allman Brothers Band

LIVE CAM: Train Engineer’s Cab View in Norway [click here for local time]. Not sure which line this is, where it’s headed, or if it’s running above the Arctic Circle. Check it out in full screen view and I’ll see you back here in a couple of days.

Someday, I suppose I’ll go to Norwegia and ride that train. Meanwhile, I’ll listen to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones from 1993.

Or maybe I’ll roll with Fishbone, one of the tightest ska/rock/funk bands I ever heard. Those guys won me over a long time ago. (Check out this 1987 live version. Sound quality sucks, but the energy is killer.)

Let’s turn it down a bit with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower.” The Allman Brothers Band in 2011 always found a nice groove (presumed band lineup here).

Have a great Easter/Passover/Seder weekend, folks. See you soon.

 

Policing The Strip

“The girl you won’t forget.”

[Found here.]

Supercutaneous Hot Links

The antonym for the prefix “sub” may be “super,” but “supercutaneous” just doesn’t sound right.

An AI humanoid taught itself how to, um, walk. More here.

The straightest line between two points is an arc. Proof.

In memory of Zippo.

She looks familiar.

Clever girl. [h/t Rory P]

When Brain Police attack.

Czesława Kwoka (1928 – 1943) was a Polish Catholic child who died in the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp at the age of 14. She was murdered with a phenol injection into the heart.

China built a solar farm shaped like a giant panda. True.

The literal translations of the names of countries is cool. I’ve been to Land Of The Rabbits and In The Navel Of The Moon, but I haven’t been to The Village. Surprisingly, the translation of Iceland is Ice Land.

Actors cold-read statistics for a PSA and learned something in the process [via].

Radioactive cars from the Fukushima disaster are slowly being eaten by nature.

[Top image: Три українських жінки з яблуком found here.]

“Farting Against Thunder.”

In 1783, a political cartoonist could illustrate farting, but was forbidden to say the word. The cartoon above is in reference to The Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779-1783), an attempt by the French and the Spanish to capture Gibraltar from the British who were distracted by the American War for Independence.

“I fart in your general direction!” – Monty Python & the Holy Grail 1975

[Image found here. Related post here. Other potty humor posts here.]

Don’t kiss her until you’re sure she doesn’t have a mouth full of bugs.

“Do not kiss her until you know that she uses Listerated Pepsin Gum, the only antiseptic gum in the world, the only chewing gum that makes it safe to kiss.”

[Found here. Related posts here and here.]

A different time. A different place.

1964 Big Rock, Kentucky. Boy is holding a tin of Prince Albert and pretends to smoke. Looks like he’s got stitches, too.

[Found here, via here.]

The Musty Aroma Of The Hot Links

If traffic wasn’t bad enough already, now we have turn clocks ahead. Crap.

Dr. Milton Friedman on tariffs & protectionism.

Dr. Thomas Sowell on tariffs & protectionism.

Want to tour a Tokyo capsule hotel? Nice amenities.

Guy put a GoPro on a conveyor in a Japanese sushi restaurant and the result was oddly fascinating (until someone or something blurred the faces). Here’s an edited version – watch it with the sound off.

See Red Octopus.

Feel Red Octopus.

Hear Red Octopus.

Touch Red Octopus [via].

Ilusión óptica en el iPhone X.

In 1966, rock power trio Cream had a hit with “I’m So Glad.” It was written and recorded in 1931 by Mississippi bluesman Nehemiah Curtis “Skip” James. Here’s James’ original version.

The Delaney & Bonnie & Clapton connection is a bit of rock history. Interesting article.

If you stop to watch one thing today, let this be it.

[Top image found here. “For God’s Sake, The Man Was Making Noises Like A Pig Rooting In Pudding!” Nice spoof. Smells like National Lampoon.]

Saturday Matinee – Having a Picnic, New Grass Revival & Leftover Salmon

Having a picnic [via]. Ants are not the problem in this clever short.

New Grass Revival from an appearance on Austin City Limits ca. 1983. Their version of John Hartford’s  “Steam Powered Aeroplane” is one of my all time favorites.

Leftover Salmon from 2012. They’ve been around since 1989 and describe their mix of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/Zydeco, “polyethnic cajun slamgrass.” Nice stuff.

Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here in a few hours.