By the late 1970s, rock music was in the doldrums, the pits. Almost everything seemed to be corporate-marketing-department-formula-driven-pre-packaged-garbage, and much of it sounded the same. There was so much over-produced audio drek, I started going retro. Then this song hit me, and I liked the vibe.
Have a great weekend, folks. Be back here tomorrow for more stuff.
P.S. We filed a complaint with the WordPress peeps about auto-play advertisements and got a positive response. They asked for a screencap of the offending ad, so I sent one. Let’s see what they do with it.
Only 20% of the 156 submissions for the survey came close. I’d have been in the 3% of those who drew the logo as the rainbow-striped version retired in 1998 unless I submitted something vaguely scatological for snark. Good thing they didn’t ask me.
The Blasters. I saw them in the early 1980s at The Whiskey. They opened for The Fabulous Thunderbirds, who opened for some other band. Those two bands left little else to say, and I honestly can’t remember who the headliner was.
Sid Laverentsplayed the classic song “Nola,” written in 1915 by pianist Felix Arndt (author of many player piano rolls). Laverents 1970 short film film Multiple SIDosis is one of the few amateur films to have been selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry [h/t wheels].
BTW, Newark Athelete (1891) is the oldest film in the NFR and runs about 10 seconds.
Workman on lunch break plays boogie woogie at the Public Piano in St Pancras Station, London. Some think he was just a plant in a public works suit, but so what. It’s all entertainment.
“As the plump sausages were beginning to brown, there was a knock on the door. Chicago Mob Boss Sam Giancana showed no fear as he turned back the double locks on the heavy steel door of his fortress like home that protected him from the outside world. Sam looked his old friend Johnny Roselli in the eye and invited him in. The men kissed on the cheek, exchanged pleasantries and shared a laugh. Then “Mooney”, as Johnny affectionately called Sam, heard the sausages sizzling in their pan and ran back to the stove to keep them from burning. While he was rolling them over, Johnny quietly crept up behind him and placed the muzzle of a .22 caliber handgun equipped with a silencer at the base of his skull and said “Sam, this is for Marilyn”. Sam hesitated a moment as he tended to the sausages. A split second passed. In that moment, an image of Marilyn Monroe, the quintessential Hollywood Goddess, platinum blond bombshell, orphaned child, cheesecake pin up girl, fantasy lover to thousands of men, supposed tragic suicide victim and lover of President John F. Kennedy and his brother Bobby, filled Sam’s head. Then Johnny pulled the trigger.”
Guy fitted his cat with a GoPro to find out what it does while he’s away, and no, it doesn’t sleep [via].
Ever hear of David “String Bean” Akeman? No? Here’s a documentary of the comic/iconic speed banjo player. Video starts at 06:00 for his rendition of the traditional folk song “Li’l Liza Jane. [Related post here.]
Akeman and his wife were murdered by burglars at their rural Tennessee home in 1973. The killers took only a chain saw and some firearms and were later apprehended and convicted.
The Blasters perform “Jubilee Train” at the 1985 Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois. (Check out the impressive list of performers at the link.)
“Buckjump” by Trombone Shorty – a nice retro-funk groove to wrap things up.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I once confused Nena (Gabriele Kerner of Hagen, West Germany) with Nina Hagen (Catherine Hagen of East Berlin, East Germany). Never again.
