This Record Has a Groove

Dat kid blows a mean harmonica

When I was a kid entering my early teens, a friend of mine sort of took me under his wing and showed me the world of music that I wasn't so hip to yet. Rob had two older sisters who likely influenced some of his musical tastes, and I know he had another circle of friends who probably listened to stuff that fell outside my realm of knowledge. I was just beginning to creep out of 60's music like the Monkees and Beatles and was entering the modern era slowly and tentatively... but the newer tunes I found were more along the lines of Kiss. 

Anyway, my buddy often took me to the record shop he frequented and urged me to buy some singles. That was how I discovered BeeGee's and KC and the Sunshine Band, among other things. One 45-rpm single I picked up sight unseen (or unheard) was Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder. Back then in 1977, I don't think I even knew who Stevie even was. But the funky, horn-driven song caught my attention and I did come to like it a lot. The track first appeared on the '76 album Songs in the Key of Life, then in '77 it was released as a single. And that was when I hesitantly forked over my dollar fifty or whatever it cost back then. Apparently the song hit number one on the U.S. Billboard chart. 

Wonder wrote the song as a tribute to jazz great Duke Ellington, who was a big influence on little Stevie. Pretty cool. And there are references in Sir Duke to other music legends, including Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. 

That little record was among the first to open up a new world of music to me, one that went well beyond basic quartets armed with only guitars and drums. And I guess it goes without saying that Stevie's Sir Duke was the first record I ever bought by a black artist.... today I have plenty of such artists in my collection, from The Jackson Five and Tempations to LL Cool J and Public Enemy. And I even got myself a good CD compilation of Stevie's musical career called Song Review. But it's sure nice to have that old Motown record hanging around for nostalgia. 

Played It To Death

Not so scary on the links

Alice Cooper was never even close to the top of my list of favourite music artists, but there was a period when I did appreciate his theatrical hard rock a bit. Probably during high school or thereabouts. My overall lukewarm attitude toward Alice had nothing to do with his image, which I rather liked.... it was more about his style of music and its inconsistency. Once upon a time I owned his Greatest Hits, that early collection with the cover image of his band looking like 1940's gangsters. A handful of those songs appealed to me, but since the rest of it didn't grab me much, the album lay unused most of the time.

I've always been partial to songs like Billion Dollar Babies, Elected, No More Mr. Nice Guy, all from that hits package, plus a later song, Clones, from the 1980 album Flush the Fashion. I had the Clones single, and though the B-side, Model Citizen, wasn't bad, a pretty standard Alice rocker, Clones was a weird and catchy track that I loved.... the song seemed to pre-date industrial or techno metal, splicing a bit of Gary Numan's electro sound (synths and robotic rhythms) with choppy, gritty guitars. 

The first time I ever heard Alice was at a friend's place back in about grade six or seven. We ventured into his older brother's bedroom where we rifled through his record collection, looking at album covers and playing the odd song. I still recall the records that I saw that day so long ago: Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Rush's 2112, The Eagles' Hotel California, something by the BeeGee's, Black Sabbath's Volume 4, and Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare. Yeah, that was my intro to Alice, a bit of the Nightmare's weirdness. I have no idea what song we listened to, but the album cover stuck in my head with its bright colours and Alice in tux and top hat. Hmmm. That didn't really jive with his dark, angry, and ghastly image.

Without going into great detail, for this info is readily available through any old internet search, it is said that Alice Cooper (born Vincent Furnier) took his stage name from a 17th century witch. Or Betty Cooper's mother from Archie Comics. Take your pick.

It was in 1980 that I bought my first Alice disc, the 45-rpm single I mentioned before. And like I said, I nearly wore out the A-side, Clones. But the record is still in good shape, resting in my collection.

Ye olde vinyl 45-rpm record

Time Out for Good Behaviour

That ain't Buddy Holly on the keys!

Back in 2010, I had the opportunity to witness a musical legend on stage. Dave Brubeck, 60's king of the West Coast "cool jazz" hybrid, came to town for the Ottawa International Jazz Festival. 

I'd actually been familiar with some of his music for many years; his classic Time Out album was the first jazz I'd ever seriously listened to, and man, it really stuck.That must have been back in the late 80's or thereabouts. Plus I used to tune in to a late evening radio show from one of the north-eastern U.S. states, and it was there that I developed a deeper appreciation for Brubeck and other artists of the genre. Miles, Rollins, Guaraldi, Blakey, and Getz were among my favourites. 

In years since, I added Brubeck's Time Further Out and Love Songs to my little jazz CD collection. Both terrific discs, nearly as good as his seminal 1959 release Time Out. As I understand it, that milestone actually hit #2 on the Billboard pop albums chart back in the day. Colour me impressed.

Brubeck crossed the stage with care that concert evening. He was a fit enough fellow, with a twinkle in his eye, for a gentleman just turned 90 years old. Ninety! The man was inspirational, gently charging out of the gate to address all of his signature tunes, including hits off the Time Out album, such as Blue Rondo a la Turk, Take Five, and Kathy's Waltz. It was clear he'd slowed down a bit over time, as was to be expected with such advanced age, but Brubeck still commanded the stage, playing more economically yet still with a vibrancy that transcended generations. 

And this living legend exuded such humour, charm and professionalism that it was impossible not to enjoy the show. His backup band were tight and proficient, each politely taking their solos to a round of applause. Dave needed a breather now and then anyway. 

Dave was one cool cat that night. A most memorable show.

My ticket to paradise

The 70's Called

Life was pretty wonderful...

Supertramp was the 70's. Other icons of the era like The Stones, The Who, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and Led Zeppelin were just as popular and successful, if not more. But to listen to the music of each band would reveal something more telling. Supertramp's music, while it still sounds exciting and wonderful today, captured a vibe and approach to songwriting that embodied the scene of that decade. Progressive rock was at its height, especially in the UK, with artists like King Crimson, Gentle Giant, Pink Floyd and Genesis. The genre appealed to a wide demographic, and if you didn't care for one band, say the ever-challenging King Crimson, then you could move on to the slightly more accessible Pink Floyd. 

Supertramp, while comprised of intelligent, virtuoso, imaginative musicians, was not all about pushing boundaries like some of their contemporaries. The group's - or founder Rick Davies' - mandate was to write timeless, powerful rock songs. And those rock songs often carried a pop sensibility, defined largely by incredible hooks, melodic saxophone, and Beach Boys-esque falsetto vocal harmonies. The band successfully merged symphonic with pop. That was their appeal and their distinctive stamp. Nobody else sounded like Supertramp.

I came upon Supertramp quite by accident. There was a day in my late primary school years when I sat around a friend's family stereo system, playing bits of the extensive record collection. There was some Queen, Kiss, Pink Floyd, and Prism.... but what was this - a piano in a snowdrift.... Supertramp? My pal put on the song Fool's Overture. That was it. I was hooked. Roger Hodgson's tinkling piano bled into strident, throbbing thick keyboards. And it seemed that the richly-recorded low end - the bass and drums - was what attracted me to the band initially. 

When I tried to buy a first Supertramp album for my collection, all I found in the store bin at the time was Crisis... What Crisis? I didn't know anything about its songs, but I took a chance and grabbed it. Boy, am I ever glad I made that decision, for even after all of these years and having heard all of their other "classic era" music, I still hold Crisis closest to my heart. The emphasis on acoustic guitars really caught my ear, and I loved that disc from top to bottom. I played the opening tracks Easy Does It and Sister Moonshine over and over and over again. Sister Moonshine is still among my favourite songs of all time.  

My beloved Crime of the Century 8-track,

still in one piece

Only a little after that, I located the gem Crime of the Century on 8-track tape. Yes, again with the 8-tracks! The songs Dreamer and School were my favourites off this legendary album. Crisis and Crime were in constant rotation in my home during my high school years. The song School off the Crime album also happened to be the unofficial anthem of my high school, as it was frequently played during school assemblies. Funny thing, it was my old primary school buddy who later ran the audio/visual for those events, and that would explain the cool musical choices. I distinctly remember hearing Rush's Red Barchetta once, too. 

When Breakfast in America was released in 1979, I was already a major 'Tramp fan, so I picked that up without hesitation. Great album, though it was the first side (half) that I appreciated most. And strangely, even though Quietest Moments was my initial exposure to the band, I did not even own that disc until a couple of decades later. For me, that album doesn't hold a candle to Crime or Crisis, which are without a doubt my favourite Supertramp albums. 

Symphonic pomp combined with rock guitars, silky smooth saxophone, and hummable melodies created a contrast and dynamic that made Supertramp both radio-friendly and notable for their musicianship. Without being too eclectic for the general public. Or me.

Books of Evil

My folks must have been concerned when

they saw these on my childhood bookshelf

If you've been following my blog since the beginning, you know I've a fondness for tales of the macabre, the spooky, the dark, the creepy, the terrifying, the horrible. While I'm not a big reader of horror fiction - though I used to love Stephen King's earlier work and the odd other thing - I have always loved scary cinema. 

Ever since I was a youngster, I gravitated toward the ghosts and monsters on TV. The old Abbott and Costello movies introduced me to several of the most famous monsters of all: Dracula, Wolfman, and Frankenstein's monster - and they did so with a chuckle. Another favourite scary comedy of mine as a child was The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, starring the ever nervous Don Knotts. Man, all I have to do is picture his face and I crack up.

Guides, fact books, & a cherished Karloff bio

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I began at an early age collecting books about horror movies both famous and obscure. I learned a lot about films that I had seen, ones that I wouldn't view until decades later, as well as ones that I've yet to see. It's fascinating to read about how the directors, writers, actors, make-up artists (the whole production crew, really) put together such unsettling movies. And since I was a young lad in the pre-internet and pre-home video days, my book collection provided me with pages of photos from all of those movies to pore over at my leisure. This was as good as it got back then.

A Frankenstein book I've yet to read, plus more guides to the genre

I'm not too fussy about my horror, though I do have a couple of personal rules: first, zombie flicks generally bore me to tears - I am just not into them, with a very few exceptions (White Zombie, I Walked With a Zombie, and maybe the original Night of the Living Dead); second, I'm pretty picky about horror after the 80's. This may outrage some other lovers of the genre, who might claim some of the best horror was produced in recent decades. But I'd beg to differ. I have very rarely found something I really liked from the 90's and 2000's. I try to give the more promising-looking movies a chance, but I often give many of those a miss. Eventually I will get to the most talked about films of recent years. For instance, I was impressed with The Conjuring, You're Next, Let the Right One In, and The Descent (among others). 

My movie collection goes back as far as 1920's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, followed by 1922's Nosferatu, 1923's Hunchback of Notre Dame, and a few others from that decade. I have and enjoy several of these silent pictures, including Lon Chaney Sr's Phantom of the Opera - one of my faves of all time.

The 1930's spawned the best known fright films of all, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Mummy. Scads of pictures flowed out of the Hollywood system back in those days. many of them wonderful pieces of art, some of them not great but admirable, and plenty more that were utter dreck (but even those were sometimes interesting as curiosities). 

The 40's saw sequels from the Frank, Drac and Mummy squad, but also introduced a furry Wolf Man to the masses. Lon Chaney Jr, as the Wolf Man, became my all-time favourite cinematic monster. Still is.... I wish I had one of those movie posters, but the prices are out of this world (over $300 just for a reprint!). Established actors like Lugosi, Karloff, and Chaney found roles in numerous films of varying quality during this decade. A director named Jacques Tourneur was responsible for several moody and visual striking atmospheric thrillers, the best being Cat People, Curse of the Cat People, and I Walked With a Zombie. Moving on, The Uninvited and The Dead of Night are a couple of personal favourites from this era. 

The genre took a bit of a downturn in the 50's, or was at least blended with sci-fi in order to appeal to the changing tastes of audiences. Films like The Thing From Another World and The Creature from the Black Lagoon were examples of that hybrid form done very successfully. Other standouts were Godzilla and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The Quatermass series from Britain injected a more sophisticated tone into the chilling tales. And of course, the UK's Hammer film studios released the first of their long running series of "remakes" of the 30's classic horrors. Hammer brought vivid colour, sex, and increased violence into the mix, basically amping up the Hollywood formula but also delivering some wonderful creative work. A non-Hammer fave of mine from the 50's was Curse of the Demon, by Tourneur again, who'd honed his directing skills to a razor's edge by this time. Oh, and we can't forget about one of the biggest of the SF/horror genre, The Fly. "Help me, help me!"

In the swinging 60's, Hammer studios dominated with their often lurid tales of evil (one of my faves is Curse of the Werewolf). But films like The Haunting and The Innocents brought brilliant literary adaptations to the silver screen. Psycho and Eyes Without a Face were top-notch works, the first from the famous Hitchcock, and the second was perhaps overlooked for years due to its disturbing and graphic nature. Roger Corman directed a whole wack of horrors, both grim and comedic... among his best were Little Shop of Horrors and a cavalcade of loose Poe adaptations, including House of Usher. And I do mean loose. On another note, Burn Witch Burn is a fun and creepy film, among my preferences from the decade. 

That's it for today, kids.... I'll talk about some 70's horror in an upcoming post. 

Better keep the lights on tonight!

I Saw Red... Was It Under My Bed?

Thank you very much, Toronto! Good night!

It was in September of 1984, just back to my second year of college, that I reconvened with my hometown friends in The Big Smoke, AKA Toronto, Canada. For this was yet another monumental occasion, the return of Rush to their hometown for an evening of fine musical entertainment. 

When my gang and I arrived at our concert seats, we found some curious goodies awaiting us. There was a little printed programme for the evening, welcoming us, the loyal fans, to the videotaping of that night's show. And would we please put on the snappy 3-D glasses provided ("you'll know when to wear them") and smile for the cameras? Oh boy, does it get any better than this? 

Opening act Red Rider was mildly interesting. I knew a tiny bit of their music, especially the hit songs Lunatic Fringe, White Hot, and Don't Fight It. Today's youngsters may have no clue who Red Rider was, but they were in fact Tom Cochrane's band in his early days on the circuit. You know, Tom Cochrane, best known for hits Big League and Life is a Highway. Not bad stuff, but not as exciting as the headliner that evening. 

Naturally, Canada's homegrown heroes received a roar of appreciation when they took the stage. Rush injected into the set a healthy portion of their latest album Grace Under Pressure, a synth-heavy soundtrack to a dystopian world - the bleak soundscape that the boys concocted for the recording. As I mentioned in a previous post, Alex's guitars once again moved nearer to the front of the mix, kind of sharing the stage with Geddy's droning keyboards. Don't get me wrong - this is excellent music, crafted with care and precision as always, but it does have a price-tag.... it's gloomy and depressing for the most part. 

Rush always boasts pristine concert sound, with perhaps the best road crew around, so combined with their impeccable musicianship and stunning concert visuals, one can only marvel at the experience. Red Sector A, Kid Gloves and Red Lenses were among my favourite tunes from the new disc, and naturally, the classics from Rush's "Golden Era" were amazing. 

The moment came for our 3-D glasses.... the intro video for the Signals song The Weapon played upon the large screen at stage rear. Count Floyd from television's SCTV appeared, howling and snarling. He warned us that the next song was "scaaaarry stuff, kids" and that we must now put on our 3-D glasses. I don't think there was anything 3-D to look at, but the joke was on us. When I finally got around to seeing the video of this concert, the audience looked pretty silly wearing those white cardboard glasses, peering all over the place trying to find whatever was going to pop out in 3-D. Ha - what a bunch of clowns!

I offered up my hard-earned cash for some merchandise, too: a Grace Under Pressure Tour shirt, a tour program, and a couple of buttons. Everything but the shirt are still in my possession. True Rush fans wear their tour shirts until they are rags not even worth waxing their cars with. Loyalty points!

The tour program: funny stories, great pics, and a puzzle!

Power Window Dressing

Ladies and gentlemen.... Rush's road crew! (1984)

Once upon a time - for a long time, I was a rabid Rush fan. Everything in my life revolved around that band's music. Rush's eleventh album, Power Windows, was released in 1985. I'd already been deep in Rush fandom for several years, having collected all of their albums to this point, not to mention scads of posters, patches, buttons, T-shirts, concert programs, and books. And a massive 3-ring binder loaded with news clippings, magazine articles, photos.... you name it.... all documenting the chronological history of Rush. Still got it, though the one binder has now become two. 

The arrival of Power Windows brought me to my knees. It took me a little while to warm to the previous album, 1984's Grace Under Pressure. GUP, while a slight return to more guitar-oriented prog-rock, was still tucked under the shadow of 82's keyboard-laden Signals. Signals was an even tougher nut for me to crack. It took years for me to get around to buying that one (until that time, I listened to a tape recorded from a friend's record). That music simply didn't capture my attention the way everything else prior did. GUP was a step in the right direction but much of it was still kind of muddied by keyboards. 

Power Windows, on the other hand, was a fresh blast of guitars, with keyboards tucked into the background for effect. The opening track, Big Money, was the perfect intro to this new "era" of Rush music. A fun, bouncy, almost pop sensibility entered the equation here, though Lifeson's thick, bright axe sound remained in the rock realm. And the rest of the album explored territory never traversed before by the band. Mystic Rhythms and Territories revealed exotic old world/world-beat influences. I detected Middle Eastern and Asian rhythms and guitar patterns and flourishes. 

It was in March of '86 that Rush played two nights in their hometown of Toronto, Canada. My friends and I, through careful early planning, snagged tickets to the first show. That was a terrific time, as was expected. But even closer to the date, we came upon tickets for even better seats - on the floor this time - for the second night's show. That was an experience.... my one and only time seeing a band from the floor in an arena. Thankfully, I was a tall young fellow, so my line of sight to the stage was clear. Perfect! So my gang and I attended both shows on back-to-back evenings. The thing is that memories of the first concert were erased from my mind after taking in the second gig, in which I felt more a part of the proceedings, closer to the action, and I suppose Rush amped things up a bit more for their second performance before their hometown crowd. 

Goodies from those '86 tour shows

Back to the Woodshed

My pre-1983 electric: a Kent 12-string

After a couple of years of neglecting my guitars, I've recently come back around. Some guitar-playing friends at work have pestered me for months to pick up the axe again. I haven't actively resisted, but the instrument just hasn't held my interest for quite some time. Too many other hobbies, for one thing. And another is that my music listening choices aren't exactly guitar-oriented. I've been more inclined to put on some EDM (electronic dance music) or even dance pop. Hey, tastes can change, and I've simply added more genres to my collection. Not that I've completely dropped my love of 70's rock, 80's metal and other older genres of my more youthful years. Sort of like a change of scenery in order to keep from feeling stale... or getting bored. 

But when it comes to playing guitar, I need those older influences to fire me up. And since I'm not into listening to Rush or Metallica much anymore, I've leaned toward music that I never explored on guitar before. I have to admit that I'm tired of playing the same bunch of songs over and over, especially the ones from twenty or more years ago. And that means bands like Rush and Metallica. And since I sort of covered the spectrum of my listening interests on the guitar back in the day, it now feels like I should give the stuff a chance that I liked less then but much more now. That means The Eagles for starters, since I've more recently acquired all of their "classic" albums (all of those up until and including The Long Run in 1980) and have a new appreciation for them. I'll cast about for more ideas, like maybe some Fleetwood Mac, and maybe even some more current artists like Band of Horses and Fleet Foxes.

You see a trend here? Yes, it's largely lighter, acoustic, country-folk-oriented rock. I don't think I picked the genre so much as the genre picked me. Some music feels dated after a few decades, but the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac do not. Their style of the 70's and early 80's still sounds fresh and inventive, and very obviously influenced newer artists like Band of Horses. Melodic rootsy rock with great vocal harmonies and the ability to turn to a heavier sound now and then. 

As I strum the acoustic these days, and listen to the likes of the Eagles, I begin to think about tuning up the electric so I can hit those raunchier notes as well as the singing lead solos. If can even remember how to play like that, not that I was ever all that great at lead. At least I could have some fun trying while jamming with friends who can probably show me a thing or two. 

Maybe this old dog can learn a few new tricks after all.

And my post-1985 axe, a Phoenix Phantom Telecaster copy

He Picks Up a Bus and He Takes a Big Bite

Got a light, buddy?

Classic rock band Blue Oyster Cult immortalized the Japanese radioactive thunder lizard best in their fun and campy 1977 song. 

The big guy will be stomping our way in a new American re-boot on May 16th. Yep, everyone's favourite kaiju (giant monster in Japanese) will be returning to the big screen, but thankfully without the comic book-ish theatrics of the majority of the long running film series' entries. From what I'm hearing, this new Godzilla pic will reflect more closely the dark and frightening vibe of the very first movie, released in 1954. Let's hope so, for that film was rather on the chilling side, quite unlike the goofy WWF antics of the many sequels.

The Toho film company produced every Japanese 'Zilla flick, and though they are not involved in the upcoming film, director Gareth Edwards made it a point to capture the same feel of the legendary pictures he grew up with. Edwards impressed me with his 2010 giant creature invasion story, Monsters. Thinking back to that work, I think this man has the chops to deliver a very convincing Gojira (as Godzilla is known in Japan) film. I have yet to see the new movie, but with Edwards' credentials behind it, I now have pretty high hopes. 

I grew up on the classic monster movies, both man-sized and giant-sized. The Godzilla and other Toho creature features were shown on TV on a regular basis during the 70's, so I had a steady diet of this funky stuff. Rodan and Mothra and the whole gang of Godzilla-related monsters were fun, but never quite as engaging as my dear old towering dinosaur. The good, the bad, and the ugly. Speaking of ugly, one of my favourites as a kid was War of the Gargantuas, which starred giant hairy Frankenstein-like beasts battling each other for the duration of the picture. Crazy. 

The silliness of most of these movies doesn't keep me riveted to the TV screen any longer. A little bit is fine just for nostalgic reasons, but I guess I've just moved on. But the odd Godzilla movie is still worth the time: the '54 original, maybe Destroy All Monsters, Godzilla vs King Ghidorah, and Godzilla 2000 are among them. I was never a massive fan of this rubber-suited city-stomper, but it was an important part of my sci-fi/horror education as a young lad, so the nostalgia is still there. 

The Japanese fixation with kaiju inspired other countries to release their own behemoth films. One particularly good one was Britain's Gorgo from 1961. While not quite 'Zilla quality, the Brit treatment - minus laughable voice dubbing and monster tantrums - carried a more serious tone that added to the believability - if that's even necessary. 

And to paraphrase rockers Blue Oyster Cult, history shows us repeatedly how nature indicates the foolishness of men. True dat.

Victory dance!

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y! Hey Laddie!

Lordy be, it's the tartan twangers!

Keep on dancing to that rock and roll... or so sang that silly little band from Scotland back in the 70's. Come on, you know who I'm talking about - if you are old enough. 

The Bay City Rollers sort of took the world by storm for a year or two, spawning what many called Rollermania, with some even claiming they would become the next Beatles. Well we all know how that worked out for them. These guys actually existed since '66 but it took them until '74 to land on the UK singles charts with the song Remember. The Rollers had many hits but of course the biggie that just about everyone on the planet knows is Saturday Night, with that catchy spelling lesson within the chorus. Fun and learning, all at once! Who knew?

The Rollers had a string of hits but the one that I liked, and still like, best is Shang-a-Lang, which boasts some of the band's heavier guitar power chords, strung together nicely with their melodic sing-a-long vocals.

Contrary to the kilted poses in the above photo, the band actually wore pants - funny-looking short pants to be exact. Tartan pants. And tartan scarves. And tartan shirts. And tartan tartar sauce. You name it. This was part of their Scottish branding, and the UK fans loved it, and the UK fans dressed the part, too.

Me, I liked the music back during their musical peak. I was young enough to have little knowledge of much beyond this sort of teen pop. The Rollers' song Saturday Night hit number one on the US Billboard chart in '75, and that was when the mania began on this side of the pond. It was in '76, after a lot of action high on the US song and album charts, that the band began to falter. Personnel changes and waning public interest were taking their toll. The music scene was rapidly changing, with the emerging disco and punk genres taking the front seat. The Rollers tried valiantly to resurrect themselves periodically during the 80's and 90's, but nobody but die-hard fans from the glory days cared much. 

My dear old Rollers greatest hits 8-track, still intact. 

May the Fourth Be With You

No batteries, mods or patches required. 

Back in 1977, the year of our Lord Vader, and the premiere of Star Wars (which would later be re-titled Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), a new game came to town. Before home video game systems, and even before arcade video games became the norm, board games were all the rage. 

And that year the Star Wars game was on my wish list. I can't remember if it was given to me as a gift or if I bought it, but all I know is that as primitive as it was, I loved that game! Super simple to play and not very sophisticated  in appearance, this was merely an excuse to slap the Star Wars name onto yet another product. But since I was nuts about the movie (and I say movie in the singular because there was just the one at the time), I forgave Parker Brothers (toy and game manufacturer) for such a quick-off-the-assembly-line effort. I still own my beloved Star Wars game, though I haven't played it in decades. Wait, I might have hauled it out once or twice to play with my daughter when she was a wee lass back in the late 90's. 

Where does it plug in?

The mission is to escape the Death Star's trash compactor (bottom right on the board pictured above), evade Imperial soldiers and other obstacles, and get to the Millenium Falcon, whereupon one must enter hyperspace without any Imperial entanglements. Holy Toledo, what a gas! Yeah, right. Spin the dial, pick a card, move your cardboard token, yawn. Still, the game is still in one piece and is in reasonable condition considering it's nearly four decades old. 

Chewie just got the hyper drive operational, so next stop - the 1990's. Don't ask when... I have no clue when exactly I found this... the Star Wars game for Nintendo Entertainment System. Apparently, this was released in '91, but I know I didn't own it that early in the decade. I am pretty certain I found my gently used game cartridge later in the 90's. Mildly enjoyable but mostly frustrating, the game is based on the story of Episode IV. I haven't looked at the game in ages so I don't recall much about it. Still got the game hanging around here, still in fine working order. Maybe I'll set up the ol' NES again someday and give the SW game a whirl. And maybe figure out how to advance a bit further in the adventure. I was pretty terrible at it back in the day, so I could only get better. 

Let the Wookiee win

... in a galaxy far, far away

Time for your siesta, Luke.

Star Wars is back in the news this week, with the official announcement that Luke, Han and Leia will once again appear in the upcoming Episode VII. Yeah, let's see how that goes. I mean, OK, I'm not totally on top of everything these actors are doing, but.... Mark Hamill has only retained a bit of fame by voicing The Joker on Batman cartoons; Carrie Fisher writes book after book about her mental and weight issues; and Harrison Ford hasn't done much of importance in movies in a very long time (though he does sport a snappy earring now).

But no Lando? Come on, it's not like Billy Dee Williams has film offers filling his mailbox every day. Get that smooth talkin' dude back into the game. 

"This deal is getting worse all the time."

Jump back in time:

Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope first hit theatres in 1977. I was there. I'm not sure how many times I saw it in cinemas back then, but I do remember being on that bandwagon well before the film even completed production. I was one of those sci-fi nerds who bought Starlog and Future and other magazines to follow spacey TV and movie news and even real-life stuff (like the construction and launch of the very first space shuttle, Enterprise - hm, that name sounds familiar). So I had already been reading about Star Wars for months before that first movie even appeared on the silver screen. 

My Luke and 3PO T-shirt looked awesome, so awesome in fact, that I nearly got beat up by the older kids at school. The teasing was relentless. And don't get me started about my Star Trek shirt!

I collected as much Star Wars related stuff as I could get my hands on - and afford. I bought just about every book I could find at the time, which weren't all that many compared to nowadays, when stores are chock full of books based on the seven feature films and countless TV series spin-offs. In '77, at the age of 13, I was a bit old for the action figures and other toys. But I did grab that original Hildebrandt poster and it is still in my collection (see below). Over the years, I've picked up some other Star Wars posters, which were reprints, but still handsome enough for my walls.

And the books... well, I'm happy that I hung onto all of them, for I've enjoyed thumbing through those pages over the decades. My main collecting years were around the time of Episode IV, with just the odd purchase following the releases of Eps V and VI (the novelizations, which at the time were the only way to re-enjoy the stories in those pre-home video days). 

The Star Wars bed sheets and blanket were a nice touch to my bedroom as a tween kid, but there came a point when I knew it just wasn't cool anymore. So I put those things into storage (and I think I still have some of them somewhere) and I only kept the books out in plain view. Naturally, I eventually bought all of the movies on VHS, then later on DVD. I'm not a big collector anymore, but I do cherish my first editions of early Star Wars books and memorabilia. Not to mention the movie soundtracks on CD... and I sure played that Episode IV score (on vinyl, no less!) a lot.... even more than my rock albums for a while there. 

Good times

Wondering Where the Line-ups Are

I've always enjoyed the little bit of Bruce Cockburn music that came my way. I never really sought it out or ever owned any of Cockburn's albums, but I always thought his songs were pleasing in a creative and energetic way. Via the radio I heard such staples as Wondering Where the Lions Are, If a Tree Falls, and Lovers in a Dangerous Time. 

So after decades of a very casual acquaintance with Bruce's tunes, the opportunity arose for me to see him in concert. Now actually, the 2011 show I'm about to talk about wasn't the first time I saw Cockburn. I did sort of see him at Ottawa's Folk Festival many years ago, but I was far from the stage and was enjoying food and drink in a picnic sort of atmosphere. Fun but not totally engaged in the music.

And at a little church concert in Kingston in 2010, when I went to see another folk pop artist, Jenn Grant, Cockburn made a "surprise" appearance. There were rumblings beforehand that Bruce might show up so it wasn't a total shocker. Still, wonderful music from the two of them (three including the warm-up act Kyra and Tully), both separately and together. A highlight was the whole bunch of them performing Grant's sweet, lilting, and rootsy hit song Dreamer.

But back to the 2011 concert: a friend and I attended the gig at Ottawa's National Art Centre, and I was amazed at how close our seats were to the stage. I could have flipped a coin onto the stage with ease. But I wouldn't have done that... ol' Bruce would have been insulted, I'm sure. 

The NAC is a wonderful venue for both seating arrangement and acoustics. And that night was no exception... excellent seats near the stage, and pristine sound washed over us as Cockburn and his impressive backup band delivered with class and precision a fantastic, mesmerizing set of music. The newer material, with which I was not familiar, was quite different from anything I'd previously heard... very ambient and challenging, though very beautiful. And of course, the older favourites got the audience clapping and singing along. Last Night of the World, Lovers in a Dangerous Time, plus the songs I mentioned earlier were among the biggest crowd-pleasers. 

It wasn't until I'd seen Cockburn up close and personal at that church gig, and again at the Arts Centre, that I realized just how accomplished Cockburn was as a musician. A true Canadian icon.