A Birthday: Actor Fred MacMurray

Today let's celebrate the day of the year when Fred MacMurray was born, way back in 1908. He passed away in 1991, but is still fondly remembered for his many TV and movie roles.

Who's that sneaky dame behind the door? Watch out, Freddie...

I first got to know the actor as the dad on the hit 60's TV show My Three Sons, which ran for over ten seasons. As a kid, I tuned in often for his straight-man style of comedy. The show's premise was a bit different for its time; it was about a widower raising his three sons, with the help of lovable old curmudgeon Uncle Charlie. Uncle Charlie was added to the show about halfway through its run, and he was all I knew in that secondary adult role. Pretty funny with all his cranky remarks. Apparently, My Three Sons places third as TV's longest-running live-action sitcom.

MacMurray enjoyed a long career in film, beginning with minor parts in a few 1929 movies! I must have been a young kid when I first saw ol' Fred in a movie, and that was most likely one of his late 50's and 60's comedies, like The Shaggy Dog, The Absent-Minded Professor, and Son of Flubber (sequel to The Absent-Minded Professor).

Though MacMurray appeared in over 100 films, I've only seen a handful of them. The best of the ones I've seen is definitely the 1944 noir classic Double Indemnity. It's a very tense and moody thriller, which I can still enjoy to this day.

Fred MacMurray was typecast as the "nice guy" in the majority of his pictures, yet perhaps his most effective and intriguing roles were where he was cast against type, Double Indemnity the best example of that. Other less savoury characters he played were in The Caine Mutiny and The Apartment, both of which I saw many, many years ago. Long from my memory, but possibly worth a re-watch soon.

A true renaissance man, MacMurray worked as a musician in his early years, and later, during and after his acting years, was a livestock and crop rancher, not to mention his painting, fishing and skeet shooting past-times.

For me, though, he'll always be the My Three Sons dad... and the shifty insurance salesman Walter Neff in Double Indemnity. Like day and night.

Great Rock Anthems

Go to a sports event (well, maybe not right now, since precious little is happening that way with the current state of affairs in the world) and you will undoubtedly hear at least a few rock anthems blasted out of the stadium or arena PA system to pump up the fans and the home team. You know the ones... We Will Rock You, and We Are the Champions, both by Queen. Born to Be Wild, by Steppenwolf. My Generation, by The Who. Born in the USA, by Bruce Springsteen.

Rock anthems were not necessarily written originally to be "anthems". Some of them just became that way by chance, while others were likely composed exactly as sing-a-long songs that celebrated rock music itself. The chorus and chanted parts of songs were especially appealing to revellers. Music that had arena-rock sound became a staple at sports events long ago, and it's become as big a part of the experience as the athletic action.

Most of the anthems we hear today come from the classic rock genre. Mostly songs from the 60's, 70's and 80's, some 90's, by legendary rock and even metal artists. And some Motown and disco hits, too. Then there are the more modern additions to the arena and stadium anthem playlists, which I don't really know and won't bother with here.

Here are a bunch of well-known (not all favourites of mine, I might add) rock anthems, some off the top of my head, and some scavenged from other online lists:

Baba O'Riley, by The Who

Won't Get Fooled Again, by The Who

My Generation, by The Who

Born to Be Wild

American Woman, by The Guess Who

Living After Midnight, by Judas Priest

You've Got Another Thing Comin', by Judas Priest

Free Fallin', by Tom Petty

Rocket Man, by Elton John

Come Sail Away, by Styx

Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen

Glory Days, also by Bruce

Born in the USA

Eye of the Tiger, by Survivor

Another One Bites the Dust, by Queen

We Will Rock You

We Are the Champions

Start Me Up, by Rolling Stones

Satisfaction, by Rolling Stones

We're Not Gonna Take It, by Twisted Sister

Living on a Prayer, by Bon Jovi

Jump, by Van Halen

Smells Like Teen Spirit, by Nirvana

Enter Sandman, by Metallica

Paradise City, by Guns'n'Roses

Sweet Child of Mine, by GNR again

Welcome to the Jungle, by GNR

Don't Stop Believin', by Journey

I Love Rock'n'Roll, by Joan Jett

Here I Go Again, by Whitesnake

Cum On Feel the Noize, by Quiet Riot

Rock and Roll All Nite, by Kiss

Satisfaction, by The Rolling Stones

Pour Some Sugar on Me, by Def Leppard

Pride, by U2

Celebration, Cool & The Gang

Smoke on the Water, Deep Purple

Rebel Yell, Billy Idol

Mony Mony, Billy Idol

We Are Family, Sister Sledge

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., John Mellencamp

All Right Now, Free

Dream On, Aerosmith

Rock and Roll Band, Boston

Rock You Like a Hurricane, Scorpions

School's Out, Alice Cooper

Back in Black, AC/DC

You Shook Me All Night Long, AC/DC

Revolution, The Beatles

Respect, Aretha Franklin

I Can't Drive 55, Sammy Hagar

YMCA, Village People

Bad to the Bone, George Thorogood

Dancing in the Street, Martha and the Vandellas

Lovin' Every Minute of It, Loverboy

I Want You to Want Me, Cheap Trick

As Cold as Ice, Foreigner

Boys Are Back in Town, Thin Lizzy

Gimme All Your Lovin', ZZ Top

Go, Jays, Go!

My Favourite Songs- Part V

It is time once again to look at a few of my favourite songs of all time. I never have to strain my brain to think of these... my faves are always right there, foremost in my mind. I think about them often, even if I don't listen to them often. Though some of these songs got a lot of play thirty or forty years ago, but not so much now, they still remain the top of the tops, the best I've ever heard.

Those are mighty big boots to fill, but Elton does it nicely for the Pinball Wizard

Today I'll kick off with a tune that grabbed me by the ya-ya's way back in the late 70's, when I first spun Cheap Trick's third record, Heaven Tonight. Pretty cool album overall, but it was Auf Weidersehen that really went over the edge. Surely their heaviest song of that early era of this very durable band.

Not only is the music heavy, and I mean downright metallic... and aggressive, but those lyrics (available here) are nothing to sneeze at. Sure, there are those that mock the words of the song, saying they are silly and juvenile. Well, it's rock'n'roll! Isn't that what most rock music is? "Auf weidersehen" is German, and translates as "goodbye". The song is about suicide, maybe not as doomy and depressing as Ozzy's Suicide Solution, but with a bit of a lighter lyrical flair... sort of. Cheap Trick is famous for their twisted humour and it shows here. The lyrics are basically a series of "goodbyes" in various languages, serving as a farewell to a suicide victim. A bit grim in a sense, but comical if you approach it properly.

That crisp gutsy chugging on verses perfectly complements the expansive slashing chords on the chorus. And what a riff... er, riffs. Guitarist Rick Neilsen invented many memorable riffs and patterns on his axe over the years, and this particular song boasts a couple of my favourites. There's a garage punk band feel toward the end of the tune, when Bun E. Carlos thrashes his drum kit with joyful abandon. And that's appropriate, since Trick emerged out of a punk-ish sound on their first album.

The Who's Pinball Wizard is a rock classic, to be sure, but I actually prefer the version by Elton John. In fact, I knew this song first - and best - from an early record purchase as a kid, Elton John's Greatest Hits, Volume II. I've seen the movie Tommy, where Elton sings with The Who backing him up onstage. But it was Elton's studio re-do, with his own band, that I discovered on that Hits II record.

Elton substituted a choral piece and piano for The Who's acoustic guitar intro, and the emphasis is on piano throughout. Rightly so, since he's a wiz on the keys. It's a jumpin' rock song to begin with, and Mr. John runs it through his special filter with supreme success. I can't say it surpasses The Who's version, but it's something different, and very exciting. And it was his rendition that I heard first and listened to most for several years. Elton's voice and the new arrangement work so well that I can't find any fault with the song. Yes, The Who do play a definitive version of the song... but Elton makes it his own when he plays it.

Photograph may not be the best Def Leppard song, but it holds the most nostalgia for me. And it is indeed a very cool "light" metal track. Photograph signaled a shift in the music biz; hard rock and metal were being prettied up for commercial success on MTV, radio, and in album sales. The album Pyromania, from which the song came, shot through the stratosphere in popularity and sales.

The opening guitar riff is among the most identifiable in music, as is the cowbell-driven chorus. The heavily-layered vocal harmonies could have been overkill, but in the end, they are so perfectly balanced with the big, BIG chugging guitars and very 80's-sounding drums that it all gels into a pop-metal classic.

When I hear Photograph, I am transported back to my high school years, when this song played everywhere... every boombox, every Walkman, every home and car stereo, at every party, at every beer-swilling moment. I even owned a Union Jack sleeveless t-shirt, just like singer Joe Elliott wore. But I was too self-conscious to wear it more than once.

The Conjuring, by thrash-masters Megadeth, took a good long time to become a favourite. I had the album Peace Sells... But Who's Buying back in the 80's, and later on CD, yet some of their tunes just didn't resonate much with me at the time, so I listened to them far less. But fast-forward a couple of decades, and man, this particular early Mega-gem absolutely shreds... and impresses the hell out of me.

The intro's creepy plucked guitar line simmers beneath Mustaine's spoken-word invitation to a black magic ceremony. The theme here delves so deep into the dark arts that singer-songwriter Mustaine refused to play the song live for many years, saying he blamed his early fascination with the occult for his misfortunes in life. But he has since changed his stance on that and now plays The Conjuring in concert. Lyrics are here, if you are so inclined.

When the whole band clicks in, the heavy factor jumps to 10. The long instrumental breaks are heavenly, even if the subject matter is more on the evil side. The hammering drums, bass, and chugging rhythm guitars contrast the riff-laden breaks and searing solos. This is pure headbanging, mosh-pit music. Thrash at its best.

2020 Sucks for Entertainment, So Read Books!

 I don't think I'm alone in feeling like the quantity and even the quality of entertainment out there is severely lacking in 2020. I mean, just a couple of months into the year, the world caught its first wiff of COVID-19, and that snowballed quickly, destabilizing and shutting down much in the way of new entertainment.

Movies? Nobody was going to work on new movies (or shows) with the COVID scare, so that business was stopped in its tracks. Netflix and other streaming services eventually began to throw up the odd new release that was already in the can prior to the pandemic. It's been a solid five months, or a bit more, that we've had to put up with dwindling offerings on this front. And pretty much nothing made an impression during this time. We're just watching whatever because that's all we've got. I've seen more crap - or so-so - movies in the last while than in my entire life up until this point.

Movies theatres shut down. Not that this affects me, really, since I've avoided the cinemas for years now. The theatrical experience had already become pretty unbearable for me. Too many patrons behave like animals, noisy, phone-obsessed, kicking seats... no thanks. Plus the average run-time of most modern movies has become uncomfortably seat-locked, clocking in at 2.5 hours and up. I like the freedom to pause what I'm watching so I can hit the can or the fridge, or just stand and stretch, whenever I want. I hear that some cinemas have opened, though with physical distancing restrictions in place. Still, an iffy proposition.

Music? For a good long while there, that industry had been shut down. It's still in a weird state of limbo. No concert tours, no album releases. But after some of that cabin fever wore off, certain artists got antsy and creative, and became more active online with streaming concerts, some new music, and later, eventually some new albums were dropped into our lives. Nothing for me, though. Instead, I found marginally interesting Youtube channels by musicians who had nothing better to do.

While my music and movie consumption has gone way down this year, I've maintained a decent reading schedule. I haven't bought many brand new book releases (just one recently, in the mail at this moment), but I've had online purchases of past titles shipped to my door, and have kept up my reading. I had a slump or two when my mood (COVID-related, no doubt) sort of messed with my motivation to seek out a new book.

Early in the year, I enjoyed the novel Motherless Brooklyn, by Jonathan Lethem. A quirky detective story that made me laugh out loud more than once. The Alice Network by Kate Quinn is one of the best two books I've read so far this year. It's a spy tale that spans the two world wars, with riveting characters, dialogue and scenarios. Definitely one I'll read again someday.

Exhalation is a collection of science-fiction short stories by an under-appreciated author Ted Chiang. His intelligent and imaginative style and ideas appeal to me, reminding me a bit of fellow Chinese powerhouse writer Liu Cixin.

A slight departure from sci-fi took me to a quick and light-hearted novel called Madrigal by John Gardner. A reluctant assassin makes for comical reading, believe me.

Back to sci-fi, I finally tried out the much-lauded Hyperion, by Dan Simmons. Yes, it lived up to the promise. I thoroughly enjoyed the expansive world-building and fascinating characters and their individual backgrounds. I intend to check out the sequel, Fall of Hyperion, one of these days.

Still on a speculative fiction kick, I went for the classic Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke. Good but not as good as I expected. Still, for its time, it was a big deal, so I can appreciate the significance of the novel. In a nutshell, it is about man's first contact with an alien race. No spoilers here... if that's your thing, see for yourself.

Then on to The Mote in God's Eye, another purported sci-fi gem, co-written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. It was a thick book that sort of set me up with high expectations. It started off great, kind of went strange on me - almost losing me entirely, but I hung in there and rode it out to a fairly good conclusion. Not great, in my opinion, but a fun read, I guess.

After that, I was "in the mood" for Anthem: Rush in the 70's, a biography of the progressive rock legends. I knew the author (we'd done a little business years ago, and met more recently), so was ready for something cool. The book is a solid and detailed account of the band throughout their early years. These guys first formed in 1968 and only just retired a few years ago. Rush's lengthy career was comprised of various periods of musical transformation, so the author concentrates on just the 70's here, with upcoming "sequels" to cover the decades to follow. As a long-time fan of the band, I found the book expertly written and researched. Very nice job!

Then for something completely different, I read a legal "thriller" called Reversible Errors, by Scott Turow. The author is known for applying his lawyer's knowledge to his literary works. I enjoyed the book as much as one could, considering there is zero action, and pretty much all dialogue. It's an achievement, and probably well-suited to adaptation to a certain type of film. Not for everyone, but it was intriguing and intelligent.

I just recently started Ball Lightning, by the aforementioned modern science-fiction master, Cixin Liu. I'm only a little ways into the book, and while it's a neat idea, I feel this is a lesser work than Liu's amazing Three Body Problem trilogy (AKA Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy). But I will reserve judgement until I've actually completed the novel. So far, so good.

On deck, I have a few things that have been sitting for a while. Early in the year, I started Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine, but got distracted by another book, and put that on hold. But no matter, it's an easy thing to pick up again. Very funny and informative. Something I could use to ease my COVID tensions.

The Gods Laughed, by Poul Anderson, is also on my "to read" shelf. I've long meant to try something by sci-fi author Anderson, but never have. A friend recently gave me a handful of the author's books, so I'll have a chance to see what his writing is like.

I also have a handful of Isaac Asimov novels, courtesy of that same friend who cleared out his collection... these are the first four of his famous Foundation series. I read Foundation long ago, but look forward to a re-read and then will proceed with the sequels. More heady sci-fi for the brain.

And that one new release that's on its way is Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor. It's an historical fiction about the life of Victorian era author Bram Stoker. This tells of the years leading up to his writing of his famous novel, Dracula. Yeah, you've all heard of that book, even if you haven't read it. It sounds like a fascinating story... about the aspects of Stoker's life that inspired and influenced his soon-to-be-published horror masterpiece.

Nothing to Fear From Rush

Something a little different today... I'd like to talk about a series of songs by a band that for much of my life produced my favourite music, Rush. They were an intelligent, hard-working, inventive, thinking-man's hard rock band. Their lyrics were thoughtful and artfully crafted and their music was rarely run-of-the-mill... nearly always pushing the boundaries of rock music.

On their 1981 album Moving Pictures, Rush gave us the song Witch Hunt (Part III of Fear). Funny, since we had yet to see parts one and two of this mysterious trifecta. One would only know the song is Part III of Fear if one read the lyrics sheet included with the album... the title on the sleeve is simply Witch Hunt. This is the darkest and heaviest track on the Moving Pictures album, its other tracks brighter lyrically and musically.

Witch Hunt is an early successful melding of guitar and synthesizers for the band. Spare, heavy slashing guitar on verses is countered by dramatic, symphonic keyboards on chorus. One thing to note is the lack of a guitar solo - quite uncommon for a Rush tune. Moving Pictures was Rush's first foray into compact, less sprawling song structures, and Witch Hunt is no exception. In fact, The Camera Eye, which precedes it on the album, runs the longest at nearly eleven minutes, and it marked the last of the epics for Rush. Witch Hunt is a tightly-written composition, yet it feels like a leisurely pace that takes us from the atmospheric intro to the lean ominous verses, and on to the swell of the synths, and so on. It packs a punch.

The lyrics of Witch Hunt deal with fear of that which is different, or intolerance. Whether religion, politics, creed, or whatever, it is this that the song, through metaphor, discusses. Early in the lyrics, the imagery conjures up an actual witch hunt - with an angry mob armed with torches, as in the real-life Basque Witch Trials of the early 1600s. As the story progresses, though, it is revealed that this intolerance of people or ideas exists today. And it is this prejudice that breeds fear. This is how I would interpret the words of the song; there are other opinions out there, but they are all fairly similar. The lyrics are literal enough for one to grasp what songwriter Neil Peart had in mind as he put thoughts to paper. Through symbolism, Peart makes his point more vivid and colourful. I cannot include the lyrics here due to copyright laws, but you can see them at the official Rush website here.

On Rush's 1982 album Signals, they continue to unfold the enigmatic trilogy - in reverse - with The Weapon (Part II of Fear). The Signals album... um, signaled... a new musical direction for Rush. Synthesizers dominated the mix on the album, sort of dulling my interest in it for a long time, yet it can't be denied that the band wrote and recorded some masterful compositions here. And really, The Weapon is very guitar-heavy. As with Witch Hunt, guitar is prominent on verses, and only on choruses do keyboards swell up. There is a very nice symbotic relationship between the instruments on the track, especially during the dark and moody guitar solo - a perfect balance and contrast. The extended break is perhaps a high point on the album for me, closer to the vibe of Moving Pictures and maybe even earlier Rush. An interesting factoid is that Geddy Lee and a friend devised on an electronic drum machine the bizarre drum pattern which drummer Peart eventually learned to play manually (on his acoustic drum kit) for The Weapon. This would account for the unusual and intricate rhythms that "decorate" the song.

While the musical themes tell a story through sound, Neil Peart's lyrics conjure up images that join seemlessly with that aural backdrop. As best as I can decipher, Peart writes of control, and how people will live as they are told, under the power of other people or beliefs, for fear of... what, the unknown consequences? Within Peart's words, there is mention of political and religious figureheads, so I'd gather he speaks of an authority of some kind that can manipulate the masses by threatening them. Fear of something external. Read for yourself at Rush.com.

Next up, on their 1984 album, Grace Under Pressure, Rush presented us with The Enemy Within (Part I of Fear). This song sat comfortably within an album just drenched in misery. Not a happy record overall. That may be a reflection of the mood of the band and crew due to the death of a beloved recording technician, who was remembered in the song Afterimage.

While a brilliant work of art, this is a downer of an album, both thematically and musically.... bleak, pessimistic, tense, and atmospheric only in a stark coldness...  all evoked by the new-found wall of droning synth sounds. There's plenty of guitar here, but Alex Lifeson was in the process of transforming his style. On Grace Under Pressure, Lifeson moving away from traditional power chords and straight-up speedy solos to effects-soaked rhythm-oriented playing, with solos often arpeggiated chords and wrenching all he could from single notes via sustain and vibrato. This approach often evoked heart-aching sadness and despair. Yep, real happy.

The Enemy Within shows Geddy getting ultra-busy with the bass, while Alex complements with rhythmic playing, though he is not relegated to the backseat behind loads of synths here. The song perhaps stands out on the album as having a bit more room for guitar, with keys only adding atmosphere during short quieter sections. The jangly guitar drives portions of the song, while a reggae style is employed on verses (and the outro), allowing Geddy space to noodle out melodic basslines. Drums are fairly straight-ahead, busy but rooted in restrained time signatures.

While a relatively upbeat tune musically, the lyrics are another story. The Enemy Within describes just that... what we fear most is in our minds, or, our fears are internal rather than based on anything that is real - or external. Yeah. Just read those lyrics (here)... creepy, unsettling, almost nightmarish, paranoid, the psychological manifesting itself in the physical. Phobias are right there - spiders, shadows, strangers, the dark. Loads of fun!

Trilogy completed! Right?

Well, nearly two decades later, in 2002, Rush released the album Vapor Trails (after a lengthy hiatus). And on that disc was Freeze (Part IV of Fear). So our little Trilogy of Fear was no more, now a quadrilogy. Unless more would come? Nope, that was it.

Freeze, and actually all of Vapor Trails, went entirely unnoticed by me for many, many years. When I first heard the album, I was so completely turned off by the sound of the recording that I didn't even consider buying it. Noisy to the point of irritating and unpleasant. Plus Rush had adopted a style of playing that wasn't at all in line with what I was listening to at the time. While I was in jazz and electronic mode, Rush had gone into complete noise-rock. I did get a ripped CD to at least act as placeholder in my Rush collection.

But a year or so ago, I finally tracked down the remixed version of Vapor Trails and found it much more listenable. The songs still haven't really won me over, but I just need to keep at it, give them a chance, wait for that day when I am truly ready for this re-born Rush. Anyway, I am now revisiting Freeze in order to complete my discussion of the Fear song cycle.

Freeze kicks off almost jazz-like, funky bass, a clanky percussive cymbal, a muted guitar chugga. Geddy's double-tracked vocals join in shortly. The tune gradually gains an edgier hard rock vibe, but with a difference. There's some breathing room, no thick impenetrable wall of grit. Some nice jangly guitars enter the picture on what I believe is the chorus. Shades of Rush past. Geddy offers a melodic touch with both vocals and his slap-happy bass, while Alex progressively turns up the volume, at least nearing song's end. No solo, but an airy bridge section that creates contrast within a track that could otherwise have been a bit monotonous. Freeze works well enough, though I'd say that musically it fails to create any real mood.

Looking at the lyrics (read 'em here), I feel like these are just as fascinating, maybe more so, than those of the original three Fear songs. Peart writes of the three reactions to something fearful: fight or flight or freeze. We often hear of the "fight or flight" response to a stressful situation, but not necessarily the "freeze" response. It is very real, how one can be so overwhelmed by an external threat that he or she cannot act. No ability to respond at all. The proverbial deer in the headlights, so frightened or surprised that it can't think or even move.

I'll risk it and quote my favourite line from the song: "The city crouches, steaming, in the early morning half-light". Whew... one of the cooler, more evocative lyrics in Neil Peart's written works. Yet symbolism and literism work hand in hand in Freeze. I feel as though if Peart had expressed himself more metaphorically, there might have been more to chew on here. More artful and playful, as he has often been with the written word. Still, a worthy final chapter in the Fear song series.