Songs For Foodies

I like food. Most of us do. And it's always interesting and fun and sometimes even weird when musicians write and perform songs about food. Not exactly what you'd expect from rock or pop (or other) artists, since food isn't exactly sexy (maybe an exception or two) or cool or tough... or sad or angry or inspirational. But it might make your mouth water.

A lot of those songs may have a food title yet the lyrics have nothing to do with food. Like Prince's Raspberry Beret or Led Zeppelin's The Lemon Song or Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles. 

Not long ago, I killed some time by scraping around in the back of my mind and coming up with the names of some songs about food. My list is by no means exhaustive; these are just the tunes that I thought of off the top of my head and after a quick scan of my CD collection. Based on what I've got here, I see that all the major food groups are covered, and then some. And every meal of the day, even desserts and snacks.

The first rule in making my list was "no beverages"... if I included drinks, then my task would have been far too easy. There are so many songs about alcohol - One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer comes to mind. Or Kim Mitchell's Lager and Ale. Or The Eagles' Tequila Sunrise... and so on. So food only! My second rule in making my list was that there must be a food reference in the title, though it wasn't important that food appear in the song lyrics.

I guess what you see here represents my breadth of knowledge about food in music, so make of it what you will. I think my favourite of the bunch is Ice Cream Man by Van Halen. The song starts out with a playful bluesy comp then kicks into heavy metal high gear that features a blistering (and tasty) solo by guitar master Eddie Van. And a swaggering finale... the cherry on top.

Bon appetit! 

Raspberry Beret (Prince)
Rat Salad (Black Sabbath)
Apples Peaches Bananas and Pears (Monkees)
Shaved Fish (John Lennon)
Cold Turkey (Lennon)
Glass Onion (Beatles)
Brown Sugar (Stones)
The Lemon Song (Zeppelin)
(Do the) Mashed Potatoes (James Brown)
Lemon Wedge (Kim Mitchell)
Peaches (Presidents of the United States)
Savoy Truffle (Beatles)
TV Dinners (ZZ Top)
Supper's Ready (Genesis)
Quiche Lorraine (B-52's)
Strawberry Fields Forever (Beatles)
Another Piece of Meat (Scorpions)
American Pie (Don McLean)
Sugar Sugar (Archies)
Candy (Cheap Trick)
I Want Candy (Bow Wow Wow)
Hot Dog and a Shake (David Lee Roth)
Ice Cream Man (Van Halen)
Poundcake (Van Halen)
Cherry Pie (Warrant)
Marshmallow World (Bing Crosby)
Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock)
Chocolate (Kylie Minogue)
Lollipop (Chordettes)
Popcorn (Hot Butter)
The Candy Man (Sammy Davis Jr)
Pretzel Logic (Steely Dan)
Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast (Pink Floyd)
Pour Some Sugar On Me (Def Leppard)


Mmm mmm good music... 

Plant vs Lynott - Brit Birthday Double-shot

Let's celebrate a couple of musical birthdays today. 

First off, Led Zeppelin front-man Robert Plant celebrates his 68th birthday. Plant was born in Staffordshire, England in 1948, muddled about as a child, impersonating Elvis, then left home at age sixteen to pursue a music career. He popped back into school to train as an accountant, but quickly dropped that. Plant worked several Joe jobs and sang with various bands until one day he met a bloke named... John Bonham. Page and Jones joined in, and the rest is history. 

Long hair, bare chest, tight pants... yep,

you're a rock star

Led Zeppelin was a favourite in my early days of buying records and appreciating rock music. I was a dedicated fan during my teens and early 20's, but over the years, my tastes have changed enough that I rarely revisit Zep tunes. Still, the album IV (untitled, actually) is what I'd consider one of the best rock albums of all time, and definitely my preferred Zep album. From the call and response heavy blues of Black Dog to the sonic rowdy blast of Rock and Roll; from the folky Hobbit-oriented Battle of Evermore and pumping Misty Mountain Hop to the groovin' Four Sticks and Going to California; and of course... from the epic and over-rated Stairway to Heaven (a masterful and memorable guitar solo, though) to perhaps the heaviest Zep track ever... When the Levee Breaks. Hard to believe this was a 1969 release - it has generally aged well. 

Zeppelin, of course, went on to become one of the most popular rock bands of all time. When the boys dissolved the group after the death of drummer Bonham in '80, Plant immediately carried on with a successful solo career. I liked a bit of his early stuff, particularly his first offerings, Pictures at Eleven, which was loaded with great tracks (Burning Down One Side, Fat Lip, Worse Than Detroit), followed by The Principle of Moments, boasting a few strong songs (In the Mood, Other Arms, Big Log). And just a little bit of his Now and Zen album, which I felt was just too slick for its own good. Ship of Fools is a good one, though.

Alongside Elvis and Morrison, Plant made a statement as a top vocalist and charismatic frontman in the world of rock music. His unique and soaring vocal style set the standard for singers to this day. His influence cannot be denied... just look at other 70's and 80's hard rock and metal singers; everyone wanted to look and behave like this pioneer of the then-newborn arena rock genre. 

Happy Birthday, Robbie!

And in this corner:

Mister Philip Lynott (rest in peace... he passed away in 1986) would have been 67 today. Lynott was born in 1949 in Staffordshire, England, though in a different part of the county than where Robert Plant came about. A messy family situation led four-year-old Philip to live with his grandmother in Dublin, Ireland. Phil was first exposed to music via his uncle's record collection, and by age 16, he was singing in a band in Dublin clubs. The revolving door of guitarists and other issues led to the splintering of the group. Back in the saddle, Phil was demoted from vocalist, but some rest solved his tonsil problem. He took up the bass guitar and in '69 co-founded Thin Lizzy, singing and taking on most of the songwriting duties. Despite Lynott's multi-tasking chores, he was too reserved to step into the spotlight - quite literally. His efforts to be more confident and charismatic paid off: Thin Lizzy met with greater audience response, thereby bumping band popularity and record sales. 

The Top 10 hit Whiskey in the Jar, a cover of a traditional Irish song, gained Lizzy a commercial foothold, but they floundered until 1976, when The Boys Are Back in Town song became a huge international hit. That year's album Jailbreak should have pushed the band into the stratosphere, but more internal issues put progress on hold. Eventually, things clicked and a few hot albums got Thin Lizzy back on track. In the late 70's and early 80's, Lynott had some side projects on the go, but drug and alcohol problems made it difficult for him to continue that pace. 

As a teen, I only ever heard a couple of Lizzy tunes on the radio: Jailbreak, and The Boys Are Back in Town. And I never saw their albums in the record shops. Slim pickings in my area. During high school, I got to know a few guys in a band, one of whom wore a Thin Lizzy patch on his jacket, and the group covered a song or two. Years later, I picked up the Dedication compilation, and while I enjoyed it a lot, I never sought out any Thin Lizzy studio albums. I admit there is good solid songwriting and showmanship there now that I've looked at some video recordings of some of their performances. Lynott pumped out standout melodic bass to accompany his low-register vocals. A class act.

This Little Droid

Kenny Baker, the man inside the world's most beloved cinematic robot, R2-D2,, has passed away at the age of 81. I had no idea Baker was that old... this explains why he did not climb into the R2 unit for the recent Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie....  but he did serve as consultant for the droid. Quite the guy.

Even though Baker is best known for his R2 part in the Star Wars movie series (plus special appearances elsewhere), he was an actor with a considerable list of roles in notable films. Among the movies both pre- and post-Star Wars were: Circus of Horrors, Flash Gordon, The Elephant Man, Time Bandits, Amadeus, Labyrinth, and Willow. It is clear that Baker was cast mostly in films leaning toward the fantasy end of the spectrum, due to his size (3 foot 8 inches, or 112 cm). 

Kenny Baker as robber Fidgit in The Time Bandits

Besides Baker's robotic emoting in the Star Wars movies, my favourite of his works was Time Bandits, a darkly comic adventure starring six little people. Kenny was one of the lead dwarf robbers who helped a boy navigate a dangerous fantasy world to return home. The banter, bickering and physical humour between the dwarves was, and still is, priceless comedy. And a fine entry in the fantasy film genre. 

Baker was born in Birmingham, England. He started in show business working with a theatrical troupe, then a circus, ice skating shows, and a comedy act. Then along came George Lucas, who opened wide the door to a movie career. Kenny also did some television and stand-up comedy,  and interviewed extensively for his written biography. 

For a man of such small stature, Kenny Baker certainly carved out a big and successful career for himself with so many memorable film roles. 

Rest in peace, little man. 

Collecting Mania

Many decades ago, most collecting hobbies focused on postage stamps and coins. Maybe licence plates, bottle caps, matchbooks, baseball cards, soft drink and liquor bottles. If you were a film fanatic like Forrest J. Akerman then you amassed movie memorabilia from childhood until ripe old age. The guy was fascinating so please look at that link to see a video tour of his "museum" home.

I was never as fanatical about collecting as when I was a teenaged Rush fan. I loved the music of the Canadian progressive rock band so much that that was all that was on my mind for several years. I bought and constantly listened to their many albums (including some bootlegs). I recorded radio interviews with Rush over many years, I collected buttons and pins and patches, books about Rush, posters, concert programs, and band T-shirts. I also filled two thick binders with newspaper and magazine clippings (articles and interviews, etc), photos of all kinds, concert tickets, and many neat little bits and bobs (like a Rush headband and 3-D glasses given to fans on one of their tours). Every possible thing I could get my hands on concerning Rush, I grabbed it for my archive. Today, I still have everything except for the posters (I sold off all 40+ posters to a deserving new Rush fan) and most of the T-shirts (shrunken and tattered and long gone). I no longer accumulate Rush stuff... the interest just isn't there anymore, but I do hang onto those old nostalgic goodies. And share them here, so explore the blog for more info.

A selection of the Beatles books on my shelf

Before I became a die-hard Rush fan, I was a Beatles maniac.... that was around the mid-70's (the band was gone, but their music lived on). I got as many of their albums as I could find at the time (not so easy in a small-ish city in pre-Internet days), and over the years I gradually filled in the collection with all studio releases plus some rarities collections. I bought books about the band back in the 70's and still have them all.

About that same time, I was also crazy about the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories about the most famous fictional detective of all time, Sherlock Holmes. I picked up several different volumes that contained every Holmes story written by Conan Doyle. I also bought a bunch of spin-off novels by other authors, but didn't go too far with that. I enjoyed and bought some of the old movies (mostly the Basil Rathbone ones) based on the literature, but never made it a priority to be a completist in that department. 

Rewinding a few years, long before Beatles and ol' Sherlock, I collected Hardy Boys books (the beginning of my detective fixation and collecting fandom), most of them Christmas and birthday gifts. 

As a kid, I was into certain comic books, mostly Archie and his gang. I had big stacks of Archie comic digests on my book shelves. My comic collecting never got out of hand... I closely followed only a few titles, like Shang Chi: Master of Kung Fu, and those Tomb of Dracula and Werewolf By Night comics of the 70's. Stuff like Superman, Captain Marvel, and Spider-man were all in there, but I wasn't insane about them.

I also bought random paperbacks.... novelizations of the weirdest crap, like Alan Dean Foster's Star Trek books and even TV's Happy Days in book form. Oh, and there were those Happy Days collector's cards, too. Weird. Shelves full of weird stuff.

Oh, and now that I've mentioned Star Trek, I must admit I was a Trekkie of the nearly first order. I bought stuff shown in the backs of magazines, mostly from the Star Trek Fan Club... all sorts of unusual and cool items, like embroidered Star Trek uniform insignias, bits of film stock showing a few frames of scenes from the show, photos of all sizes, fanzines, and T-shirts. I had a modest collection of Trek books and still treasure them. I also built model kits of the Enterprise, the shuttlecraft, and reproductions of the phaser, communicator, and tricorder. And then there was that toy phaser that made bizarre bird tweeting noises. All gone now, but fun at the time. There's lots more about Trek on this blog, so search around, friend.

Just some of the Star Wars goodies I procured,

mostly from the 70's

When Star Wars (Episode IV) first hit the big screen, the world of collecting opened up like crazy. but I was sort of moving on from my sci-fi phase. I did buy (and still own) novelizations of the first three movies, a small assortment books about the movies, soundtracks on vinyl record, posters, photos, and T-shirts. No toys, though. I was in my teens in the 70's and that stuff just wasn't cool or acceptable then like it is now. Later in life, I bought VHS then DVD copies of all of the movies. I write more about Star Wars elsewhere on this blog. 

Around the time of Star Wars, I caught a bit of the movie poster bug. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the earliest Star Wars prints, and a few other things adorned my walls. When music became more important to me, I concentrated more on band posters like Van Halen, Beatles, and of course, all of those Rush ones (most of which never even made it up on the wall).

The 70's saw me building a bit of a vinyl record collection, both LPs and 45's, but when I left home for college in '83, I made the grave error of selling them all. I went to the cassette tape format for easier storage and portability. Fine, but I still miss some of those records. 

The 80's were all about amassing a collection of hard rock and heavy metal albums, mostly on tape, but I later upgraded to CD. Rush, Yes, and Metallica were my main focus back then, though I did keep abreast of other faves, like The Police, Triumph, Van Halen, Scorpions, and so on.

Music has always been a constant with me. My love of many styles has meant an ever-growing CD library. Jazz, classical, rock, pop, metal, dance, electronic, soundtracks, and small representations of the Motown, rap, folk, and country genres. And other miscellaneous stuff that I can't recall right now. 

A few items from my growing collection

of James Bond paraphernailia

In the mid-90's, I found an entire set of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels at a used book sale. That was the beginning of another obsession, which sort of continues to this day. Not only are my shelves full of Fleming's novels and the many spin-off stories by other authors, there are books about the books, books about the movies and their actors, books about Fleming, and more.

Then there are the many Bond movie posters, photos, vinyl records (framed on my walls), CD soundtracks, all of the movies and documentaries on home video, and some other neat little things (like an MI6 shirt and cap). There are lots of other posts and photos elsewhere on the blog... enjoy!

James Bond led me to other great fictional spies and crime-fighters. Len Deighton wrote terrific espionage novels, some of which were adapted to the silver screen. His works take up a portion of my shelves, too, along with several mystery and crime fiction writers (Cornwell, Connelly, Nesbo, Parker, Block, and others). Whenever I find someone new that I like, I plough my way through their books. 

A life-long movie fan, I always loved watching whatever was on TV back in the 70's and 80's. It wasn't until the 90's that I thought it would be a fun and informative hobby to build a collection of movies on home video. Like many other folks, I began with the Columbia House Video Club, starting out with stuff like The Shining, American Werewolf in London, and Terminator and T2. In fact, the first year or so of collecting these VHS tapes centred on classic horror and science-fiction. I did branch out into other genres eventually, but a huge portion of my library is comprised of those two fantastical categories. My movie collection goes back as far as 1920 horror classics The Golem and an early version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. VHS gave way to DVDs and then Blu-rays, and my shelves are packed. I've sold off all my tapes just to make room for the newer media. 

My movie fandom reaches beyond the discs on my shelves; my walls are decorated with colourful posters of all of my favourite films.... Star Wars: A New Hope, Casablanca, The Double Life of Veronique, Three Colors: Red, Goldfinger, and Lost in Translation. Those are just the ones up at the moment... I rotate them with others that I keep in storage when not on the wall. There are other Bond and Star Wars posters, and another fave is an eye-catching Apocalypse Now image.

A sampling of my many horror movie publications

My fascination with the history of horror film extends to a small set of books about the genre. I never thought my home would benefit from the display of garish imagery from fright flicks, so I never went in that direction with poster purchases. But I do have both my childhood glow-in-the-dark Dracula and Wolfman model kits, AND my more recent statuettes of Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Mummy, and Wolfman. Science fiction and fantasy sort of naturally fall into the same catch-all category of fantastical films... I've got a healthy number of those movies alongside my horror titles. From Metropolis to Under The Skin, and then some. 

I have slowed way down on accumulating stuff like this, but I do work at building a tasteful archive of cinematic wonders on my Blu-ray shelving unit. A fellow movie collector and I share our discoveries and discuss at length not just film but also this compulsion to collect. I recently listened to a series of podcasts about this very topic (at the CriterionCast site, start with Part One). The seemingly strange and useless past-time of buying and maintaining movies on home video is explored, discussed candidly, and is ultimately validated. Speakers on the program acknowledge, and make brave efforts to defend, the hobby of film collecting. Anyone outside of this community of hard-core collectors may dismiss the practice as ridiculous and wasteful of time and money. But those in the know feel it in their hearts and minds that this is a fulfilling way to spend their lives (for it is often a life-long passion). 

As pointed out in the Criterion Completionist podcast, there is a comforting feeling for the collector who can view his shelves that hold the history of film. A sense of accomplishment isn't just an end result, but a motivation to continue to discover, assess, and self-educate through movies on home video media formats. As a stamp or coin collector would attest, one can admire the assembly of components amassed over a period of time. The complete or incomplete set brings pleasure and joy and fulfills a need... it's fun to seek out rare and unusual titles, and then enjoy them on one's home theatre, and in between viewings, simply behold the visual arrangement on shelves. I didn't think too much about such facets to what I was doing, but once I heard this explanation, I understood and realized that "yes, I do that, and I feel that way, too". 

It may all seem nerdy, but isn't that always the case with anyone who devotes time and effort to a past-time, whether it's building model airplanes or Ham radios, reading the Encylopedia Britannica, or collecting comic books, stamps, or..... movies? As with all or most hobby choices, there is something to be gained. The dedicated cinephile reads the booklets that come with the better-quality releases, and reads books and websites... all to further his or her hunger for knowledge about the history of film and details of how films are made, and more. And more.There is really no end to how far you can go.

Just a few of my many shelves of movies, 

cluttered with movie-related trinkets

I try to keep reasonably up-to-date on movie releases as well as learn more about film history by listening to podcasts. My two favourites are at Filmjunk.com and Criterioncast.com. The gang at Filmjunk are fans who talk movies, tell stories, joke around, and review flicks both old and new - mostly modern stuff, though. A very informal and silly podcast. The Criterioncast people are a bit more reserved but channel far more energy into their website and several series of podcasts. There is a focus on the Criterion Collection of films, but there is still plenty of discussion of movies outside of that niche. Very informative and fun in its own way.

One's budget will determine just how seriously you will want to approach this hobby. Because once you've started, it's hard to stop, and there is a snowball effect that can drive you crazy. Amazon sales, Criterion sales! Ack, they are always calling out to me from my e-mail inbox. Should I unsubscribe? Or do I risk missing out on that newly restored vampire film from the 1920's?

And don't get me started on how to arrange and store the collection. Another time? The guys at Filmjunk actually drew up a Movie Organization Manifesto (start with Part One). Yes, they put the "G" in geek. Wear that "G" proudly, film freaks!

Dinner With The Stars

Celebrity worship is a huge part of our lives these days. Decades ago, movie stars and famous musicians and athletes may have been adored by their admirers, but insane fandom did not exist then. At least not as far as I've ever heard. Less paparazzi and stalker trouble, I'm sure. There certainly wasn't the constant instant media attention there is today, and the lack of internet and social media buzz back then made it impossible to keep up with the latest scoop on your favourite stars. 

I've had tiny brushes with the rich and famous, but I was happy to let the moment pass and not make a big deal out of it. I met a couple of top NHL players (Paul Henderson and Marcel Dionne) when I was a young lad, but a simple autograph was good enough for me. Then again, I was in a line-up at a signing event. Just the other week, an Olympic athlete from the 80's walked into the store where I work. A couple of co-workers (grown men) kind of flipped out and wouldn't leave poor Ben Johnson alone. They took selfies with Johnson and made a fuss over the guy. Me.... meh. Even though I am a runner - a recreational runner, that is - myself, I had no interest in bothering Mr. Johnson. Just an interesting story to tell.

When I ran the Ottawa Half Marathon several years ago (either 2003 or 2004), I chatted with a young woman for a while as we ran the race. Because that's what you do in long races... maybe meet somebody and pass the time in conversation as you struggle through the miles. Anyway, the woman told me she was an actress but I wasn't familiar with her films. It wasn't until long after the race that it occurred to me to look her up on the internet. I knew she was from Montreal (not born there, but living there at the time) and was named Bonnie. She acted in films. And she ran races. It didn't take long for me to figure out who she was, especially once I saw her photo online... Bonnie Mak. Some of her major film appearances were as a slave girl in 300, a nurse in The Barbarian Invasions, and a role in The Art of War. Miss Mak even has her own blog. 

Back in the late 90's I attended the Ottawa International Jazz Festival every summer. I'd book a week or two off from work, buy a full-access festival pass, then I'd hit every possible show. One of the late night gigs was an unknown (to me, at least) duo called Alma Tadema & JPS Scorpio. The female vocalist and the electric bassist combined to make the most weird, exotic, and hypnotic music I'd ever heard. After the performance ended, and it was announced that CDs were available, I made a bee-line for the musicians. I actually spoke to them for a minute or two and bought their CD "Dark" (which I am now looking at on my desk, and I'm thinking I need to play it again - it's been far too long). 

Oh, and I don't know if this really counts, but somewhere back in the 2000's, as I was entering the local art-house cinema one evening, dark-suited security men directed patrons to move to the side. Then out of the theatre stepped the Canadian prime minister at the time, Stephen Harper, and his family. I didn't wave. I didn't even smile. Oh well.

Friends and I sometimes throw around ideas about what famous people (living or not) would be fun to engage in conversation.... for more than just a minute or two.... like maybe for a dinner over a couple of hours. The obvious choices came up, like beautiful Hollywood actresses Scarlett, Natalie, and Nicole. But the guys agreed that there could not be any dream scenario with the promise of romance. So with that out of the way, one had to rethink some of those choices. 

Initially, I thought that favourite movie directors or authors would be cool to talk to, but I don't know if those conversations could be as fun and light as I'd like. Both the celeb and I would likely have a bit of a serious approach, which might not be conducive to the proper digestion of dinner. Two of my favourite novelists, Cormack McCarthy (No Country For Old Men, All the Pretty Horses) and Len Deighton (The Ipcress File, Funeral in Berlin), are of a (older) generation that probably wouldn't even like to participate in a "fan dinner". Same goes for the elderly author Larry McMurtry, best known for his sweeping Old West epic Lonesome Dove. On the movie side of things, I'm not sure if I'd really like to sit with serious and sometimes slightly demented geniuses like dearly departed directors Hitchcock or Kubrick. 

I believe I'd keep actress Scarlett Johansson as a dinner and conversation pick. I might be overwhelmed and distracted by her looks, but I'd make the best of it. Scarlett's a fascinating and funny person, so it's not like she'd be boring to talk to.... some members of her family worked in film, she is also a singer/recording artist (listen here), and of course, she is among the top actresses in the business. And it doesn't hurt that she is in some of my favourite movies, like Lost in Translation, Her, Ghost World, and Under the Skin. 

I think that offbeat actors like Bill Murray (Lost in Translation, Caddyshack, and Rushmore, just to name a few of his many films) and Adam West (I know him best as Batman from the 60's) would be cool to chat with over braised chicken and Chardonnay. Now that I think about it, a one-on-one is one thing, but imagine getting a couple of favourite stars together at the same table... the chemistry could make for great laughs and banter. Ever seen Youtube's Dinner For Five? Like that.

Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey, both of film and television, are a couple of my favourite famous personalities. Both are downright funny, together and apart... as seen on TV's 30 Rock. I'd be torn about whether to dine with both of them or just pick one. A tough choice there. 

Larry David, co-creator of Seinfeld and star of his own show Curb Your Enthusiasm might be a blast, or he might be a hassle. Hard to say. He seems like a cool and wacky character, but he might experience a napkin issue or get into an argument with the waiter in the restaurant and spoil the evening. Then again, that might be entertaining, too. Who knows?

I was super-jealous of an old best friend of mine who met two of the members of Rush, our favourite rock band for many years. He even got a couple of drumsticks from Percussion Grandmaster Neil Peart. Damn! But I've always thought it would be cool to sit down and shoot the breeze with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, the singer/bassist and the guitarist, respectively, for Rush. I've seen many interviews with those guys and not only are they very friendly and approachable, they are intelligent and possess a fun and quirky sense of humour. 

Now.... time to make dinner reservations.