Christmas Goodies and Fun

Merry Christmas, dear Reader!

This was a quiet time for me, with no family visiting from out of town. Thanks, COVID! But I did keep in touch through video chats, emails, texts, and phone calls. Lots of time to laze around, sleeping, reading, eating, and watching stuff. I wasn't really into any seasonal movies, even though I own a few classics, and there are loads on the streaming services. Instead, I watched a bunch of the 30 Rock TV show's Christmas episodes. My favourite show of all time, so it's always a blast to revisit those "oldies" (way back in the 2000s) with some snacks and libations on hand.

Tina Fey as Liz Lemon on TV's 30 Rock

Not a big gift haul here this year, at least in terms of physical items. Mostly cash and gift cards, and I turned those gift cards into e-books. I did order a record with some of that moola (mentioned in last week's post), but won't see that for a few weeks since it's shipping from overseas.

As for fun media stuff, I got a couple of things worth mentioning. I treated myself to a 2022 wall calendar. It's become harder and harder to find calendars that I like, since I have used (and keep - don't ask) so many James Bond and Rush calendars over the years that I now see a lot of repetition of the images on them. So I am always questing for something different that'll look good on my kitchen wall. I finally settled on a big colourful Beatles wall calendar. Not the best I've ever seen, but it was reasonably priced and will do the job.

I was given a very cool band biography, one which I had dropped a hint about months ago. It's the one and only book in the world - ever - about the short but fascinating career of Canada's Max Webster. Max has long been a favourite band of mine, ever since I saw them play a gig at one of my high school "dances" back in the late 1970's. If you know anything about Max Webster, you'll understand my enthusiasm for the the band... and this book. If you have never heard of them, think back to rock radio in the 70's and 80's (maybe even later) when Max staples were in heavy rotation, stuff like Check, Battle Scar, Paradise Skies, Gravity, and Let Go the Line, to name just a few. If you're still drawing a blank, then how about the name Kim Mitchell? He was the frontman/singer/guitarist for Max Webster, before moving on to a more maintream solo career. Kim's solo songs include Go For Soda, Patio Lanterns, and Rock N' Roll Duty. Ring any bells? Those are among his most famous tunes, all from the 80's, when Mitchell enjoyed a lot of success and radio airplay, mostly in homeland Canada, but also got some exposure in the States.

Anyway, I can't wait to get into this book, entitled Live Magnetic Air: The Unlikely Saga of the Superlative Max Webster, by Canadian music author Martin Popoff. My copy was signed, too... and to me. A cherished gift that I'll never part with. That will take its place beside my trilogy set of hardcover books about the history of progressive rock royalty, Rush (also Canadian, eh), also by author Popoff. Rush and Max were on the same record label and were actually good friends,  touring together in their heyday, and even recorded a song together that appeared on Webster's final album.

New Additions to the Record Shelf

My recorded music collecting slowed to a near standstill the past few months. This was for a couple of reasons. First off, I've been struggling with what I even want to add to my couple hundred plus records. Between my vinyl and my CDs, I must have a thousand albums or more... a mere drip compared to some collections out there, but it's significant given my space limitations and spending budget.

So it's a always a bit tough to decide what to get next. I do have a list of stuff I'm interested in, but some of those albums are ones I already own on CD and simply want a vinyl version, while others are by bands I like, but I am not familiar (very much, or at all) enough with them to take the plunge. Therefore it's easy to put off those purchases until I can even give them test listens (hello, Youtube) to be sure I want them.

Add into that equation the fact that I do not have a bottomless budget for such things. Life is getting more expensive, between inflation and more day-to-day necessities. Sigh, sometimes the fun has to go on the back burner. There is a small handful of albums on my Wishlist that I'd love to get ASAP, but they aren't cheap, not old used copies, or even brand new reissues. So I'm kind of stuck.

Every once in a long while, I'll dig a bit deeper for a pricier record, just because it's one of very few I'll buy over a stretch of time... and because it's a more important addition to my collection. When I know I've been very restrained for months, picking up only cheapie vinyl at thrift shops, or nothing at all, I feel I can justify a $30-40 purchase - at intervals. 

Anyway, all that to say that my buying power is at a low these days, so all the music I've gotten in the past couple months, and only very recently, are:

Lucifer II, by Lucifer - on vinyl, sealed, a 2018 German import. 70's retro-styled hard rock-doom that resonates with me. I hear a bit of Sabbath, Blue Oyster Cult, Danzig, and even a touch of Ghost in their cool, tough, un-forced "light" occult metal, with smoky female vocals and cryptic ancient Egyptian themes here and there.

Lights, Camera, Revolution, by Suicidal Tendencies - seminal 1990 recording jam-packed with gems by this So-Cal band who pioneered crossover styles hardcore skate punk-thrash metal. Angry music with a message and primo musicianship, especially Rocky George's melodic yet stinging guitar soloing. Rare-ish on vinyl, unless you break the bank, so I opted for the CD.

Diary of a Madman, by Ozzy Osbourne - yes, this classic 1981 sophomore metal foray by our beloved ex-Sabbath frontman. I've been revisiting this over and over lately, rediscovering just how great and timeless the album is... much better than his debut, in my opinion (I'm sooo tired of Crazy Train). Rhoads' guitar tone was corrected to near-perfection here (unlike that weird, compressed, chunky, un-musical sound on Blizzard of Ozz) and his song ideas and playing are even more mind-bending. I'd ignored Ozzy's music, even his best stuff - these oldies - for ages, but coming back to it proved to me that I needed a proper copy of the album after all these years. After my tape days in the 80's, all I ever owned was a compilation mix of Diary and Blizzard, minus a few tracks, on homemade CD. Having learned that modern versions of Diary have been seriously tampered with sound and performance-wise, I sought out an older remaster on CD, which was highly recommended. Happy!

The Beatles: Get Back Documentary Thoughts

I felt just a little left behind when I began hearing about all the fuss over the new Beatles: Get Back documentary that's now appearing on the DisneyPlus streaming service. I did check out several Youtubers' comments to get a feel for how good the doc is, so I could make a proper decision about whether to re-activate my Disney account just to watch this. As it turned out, everyone who talked about Get Back online was a Beatles fan to begin with, so they found the documentary fascinating, if not great from start to finish.

My two CD bootlegs of the music, in various forms, produced in the Get Back

sessions in 1969, intended for what would become the Let It Be album.

I really only waited about a week or so after it first aired to finally get on board. I began my Beatles journey on a Friday, immediately after I got home from work. While I wasn't held rapt to the thing for long stretches, I could see that this was a golden opportunity to look into the minds and lives of the Beatles and their close associates as they created the songs that would be played in their "big" upcoming performance and appear both in a film and on an album. So I knew I was in it for the long haul, and broke up those three marathon episodes (2.5 to 3 hours per episode) into several viewing sessions. And I completed the whole near-eight hour thing over the course of that weekend. The final hour or so was the culmination of all that goofing around and - late in the game - hard work to make things all come together.

I must admit that there were spells where I was, not bored, but kind of just existing with the Fab Four and their people in that room... watching and listening to their ideas and everyday chitchat. Thankfully, it wasn't a whole lot (very little, in fact) of technical mumbo-jumbo. The Beatles were somewhat unschooled, at least with formal theory training, in music, being mostly self-taught, learning songs by ear, and refining their skills through tons of practising and gigging. This meant that they spoke in very understandable words as they tossed ideas back and forth, hashing out songs bit by painstaking bit. I have only a small amount of music theory under my belt, most of it related to guitar only, so I easily got the gist of what they were talking about.

It was certainly an unbelievable undertaking putting this documentary together. I believe about sixty hours of film were shot and about 150 hours of audio recorded at the time (1969) and it was up to modern day director and producer Peter Jackson to whittle all that material down to the "tight" eight hours we ended up with. A labour of love, to be sure. Jackson had this on his To Do List for ages, and it took him nearly four years to edit the thing into something that viewers could digest without bursting their brains.

Get Back dispelled the notion that the Beatles hated each other by this point in time. Sure, there was a bit of drama, but it was mostly surrounding George's dissatisfaction with his part in things. And even that wasn't as big a deal as we thought it was prior to this fly-on-the-wall look at the reality of it. George, after his temporary quitting the band, came back with valuable musical contributions that saw some of his best work come to fruition. We didn't see any true nastiness from John and Paul toward George, or each other. George wanted to feel good about what he was doing, but also needed more of a democracy in the group, with less of Paul telling him what to play. A secret recording captured John revealing as much to Paul, and how he could cut George some slack and be a bit less of a "boss" in the band.

The shared leadership of The Beatles became more apparent here, too. John was the leader, at least historically, since Paul joined John's exisiting band in the early days. Over time, and especially in these 1969 development sessions, Paul stepped up to organize everyone and get the ball rolling... faster... since the clock was ticking and they hadn't produced much for weeks. But they all got on the same page eventually and hammered out some of their finest songs before the final bell.

Though it was cool to see producer George Martin hanging around in his tailored suits, enjoying some of the group's shenanigans and participating occasionally in musical ideas and technical set-up, it did seem odd that he was there so much, day in and day out. He and the recording engineers and other technical guys were ever-present, sometimes fiddling with wires or bringing in yet another new "toy"... ah, we've got the money, let's get another keyboard in here, sometimes sipping tea or pouring drinks for the band as they jammed and joked about.

Ringo was quietly in the background for pretty much the whole thing. He did pipe up once to announce that he had "farted. Just wanted to let you know". Over time, the boys began to bring their wives in to spend the days hanging out while they "worked". Yoko was there from day one, and though she definitely looked extremely out of place, an unnecessary presence in the room, she rarely spoke a word and never caused problems. I have to wonder if the other guys felt a bit put off by this extra body - not participating or part of their work - right up in their faces all the time. But no matter, Yoko wasn't the nuisance that I previously thought she was. At least during this filmed period of activity.

The arrival of Billy Preston was the game-changer. He casually dropped by one day and started jamming with the guys. When they got down to the song Get Back, a troublesome tune to develop, there was magic in the air. You could see and hear the room light up, and the expressions on all their faces said it all. The final piece of the puzzle had fallen into place. Billy, the gifted pianist, was exactly what The Beatles needed to make that song - and others - really shine.

Get Back was informative and somewhat entertaining, though mainly for a major Beatles fan. A few friends of mine, only casual fans, lost steam after only one or two episodes. I totally understand that because these lengthy episodes are jam-packed with not very much going on. It's stuff only a true fan would lap up and fully appreciate. I've been a Beatle-head since I was a kid, collecting their music as well as reading many books about the band. Though I haven't been quite as rabid a fan as the decades wore on, my love of their music never went away, and since Get Back is something rare and special, I realized this was a long time coming and needed my attention. Peter Jackson's pristine film and audio restoration makes this look like it was shot yesterday, with all the latest technology. You feel like you are right there in the room with The Beatles.

I'm happy I watched The Beatles: Get Back, but I know I'll never drag myself through it again. It's just too damned long for what it is. Yes, it's an important document of what went down in the final days of the most famous and successful musicians of our time (all time?), but it didn't make for scintillating viewing. The final hour of the final episode was the culmination of all that sitting around, and made it worth the long wait. But once was enough for me. I've other Beatles stuff to watch and listen to. In fact, I plan to re-watch Ron Howard's excellent documentary, Eight Days A Week: The Touring Years, sometime soon. Also a passion project, this captures the excitement of The Beatles on the road... on planes, abroad, on-stage... before they quit performing live and became exclusively a studio band.

Fab Four forever!

My Favourite Movie Actors

Someone recently asked me who my favourite movie actors were. This initially stumped me, mainly because I never think in terms of actors... instead, I have favourite directors, film score composers, and movie genres. But that same person, seeing my distress at this difficult question, then suggested I think of actors who appear most often in my favourite movies. That helped me to narrow it down a bit.

Yup, that's a 13-year-old Natalie Portman in Leon: The Professional, the story 

of a hitman who reluctantly takes in a girl orphaned after her family is murdered

Unlike some film fans, I don't think I could name just one absolute favourite actor. I mean, I pretty much never see a movie based solely on who stars in it. So I might have a core group of best-liked actors, and then a whole bunch of others who I enjoy watching but could never rank them.

I suppose I'd say the handful of actors I admire and enjoy watching most are:

Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Connery, Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Harrison Ford, Kirk Douglas, Gregory Peck, Humphrey Bogart, Michael Shannon, and Jimmy Stewart.

All talented and charismatic people who have made names for themselves through their years of screen portrayals. Sure, the odd actor in that bunch isn't exactly universally known as a GREAT actor even though they have achieved star status, yet through hard work and developing a solid reputation in the film industry, each has climbed to the top of the ranks in Hollywood. They've all earned respect and big bucks in the process.

Not necessarily any less competent - or just plain cool - are these other well-known performers:

Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Ingrid Bergman, Gary Oldman, Oscar Isaac, Gene Hackman, Leslie Nielsen, Claude Raines, Sam Neill, Vincent Price, Lance Henriksen, Ian McKellen, Greta Gerwig, Charlize Theron, Amy Adams,Tom Selleck, Peter Sellers, Roy Schieder, Orson Welles, Carey Grant.... ah, the list could go on forever.

But you get the idea. A decent mix of classic and modern Hollywood, and whatever fell in between... plus some non-Hollywood actors thrown in there for variety.

You might wonder about a few of my choices, like Leslie Nielsen. Though most of us know him best for his low-brow comedic movies, he did start out in dramatic roles (in the 1950's!), but the 80's saw him transform into a hilarious comedy machine. Though extremely silly and childish at times, his form of humour speaks to me on a base level. Light entertainment at its best.

Lance Henriksen may not be a household name since he has appeared in mostly supporting roles, yet he is the definition of a reliable working actor who brings his likable, often quirky personality into the characters he plays. He's in a number of my favourite movies, mostly in genres like horror, sci-fi, and action. The Pumpkinhead horror movies and the Alien franchise are most notable. Quite prolific, Henriksen may take first prize for the most direct-to-video movies. A lot of crapola, but ol' Lance is always fun to watch.

And you might question my selection of Tom Selleck, who's best known for his 80's hit TV show Magnum P.I. and more recently, the show Blue Bloods. He hasn't exactly been a star of the big screen (only about two dozen films to his credit), but it has been his made-for-TV movies that have caught my attention, where Selleck played a small town police chief in his Jesse Stone series. Based on the crime fiction of one of my favourite authors, these adaptations are excellent, even when they stray from the source material. The casting is excellent, and Selleck shines as an aging and troubled cop trying to thwart modern day crime by his old-school methods.

I'm sure that after posting this, I'll think of more actors I find highly watchable, but maybe that will be a post for another day. Or not. Feel free to share your own fave actors in the Comments below.

New Home Theatre Addition

Not long ago, I inherited from a good friend his old 50-inch television. He was upgrading to a modern 65-inch, so he just wanted his old unit out of the way. I was the lucky recipient of the TV... for free! But I'll reciprocate with a gift of some sort in the near future.

This Toshiba is a fifteen year old DLP rear-projection model, still fully functional, with some life left in it. It takes up a bit of space in my one-bedroom apartment's wee living room, but hey, my whole place centres around home entertainment, so what's the big deal? TheTV has always been the focal point of my living room,with the audio system and shelves of media arranged around that. Fine by me.

After delivery of the new unit, I spent the expected amount of time fussing with cables behind the scenes, TV picture settings, then I turned to the re-arrangement of furniture in the room. I actually ditched a big, old, unlikable couch in favour of a few more comfy single-seater chairs. This opened up the room a lot, so even though my TV monitor had grown exponentially from my existing 37-inch, I found myself with a more spacious set-up. Nice. 

Naturally, I set out to test drive the new TV with a sampling of prime film moments to get a look at the picture's capabilities. I first put on the first twenty or so minutes of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Yep, very cool, though that was a slightly rough un-doctored original theatrical version on DVD (no Lucas blasphemous re-touches for me). Then on to a bit of Gravity, with its mindboggling outer space visuals and more pristine definition. Next, I popped in a full movie... Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. A popcorn flick, pure and simple. Fun, perhaps dopey, but eye-candy all the same. The picture was poppin', looking terrific on my bigger screen. Dinosaurs in my living room.

A few days later, I viewed some concert videos on Blu-ray on the new set. Wow. First up was the live Heaven and Hell performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York. This show was filmed on the same tour I saw the band here in my home city. So the stage looked just like what I saw... and I was transported back to 2007 watching Dio, Iommi, Butler and Appice delivering a memorable set of timeless, top-tier heavy metal. This time I was front row centre.

After that, I popped in my Blu-ray of Kylie Minogue's live show filmed during her 2011 Aphrodite: Les Folies tour, this particular performance at the London concert. Whoa... talk about a spectacle! Part theatre, part carnival, part cabaret... a classy pop extravaganza, I guess you could call it. Again, a prime seat at the event.

Another true test of my TV upgrade was checking out some sports, so I got some NHL hockey going, and that was yet another satisfying experience. Better than being there. All the action crystal clear, the arena sounds projecting all around me. 

What else? Not a whole lot other than Netflix shows and the odd movie, and YouTube videos. All looks great. Very happy with this new addition to my apartment-sized man-cave. Cheers!

Overplayed Rock Radio Songs I Still Like

For most of my life, I found a nice balance between listening to music on the radio and on my physical media players, like record turntable, cassette tape deck, CD player, tape and CD walkman, and car tape player. After all, it was via the radio that I (and everyone else) learned about new (and old) music that I'd never heard before. Then I could decide what was essential to buy for my home music collection. Pre-internet, this was the way.

But ever since about the year 2000, I have not made any effort to listen to radio at all. Zero interest. Yet there are times when I'm subjected to a grocery store's satellite radio playlist while I'm shopping, or must endure someone else's home or car stereo. More often than not, I hear all the same classic rock and some pop of decades past. Not necessarily a bad thing, but you know how a certain bunch of classics are played and re-played ad nauseum all day, every day. It can be very hard on the brain.

Some hold up very well and some now drive me to distraction. I'd say the ones I can still get into are the those that excel at tapping into personal emotions, memories, just plain old nostalgia. There's got to be something there that makes a tune more than just bearable after hundreds or even thousands of listens. Somehow, certain songs trigger that magical chemical in the brain (serotonin) that makes you feel pretty darned good. Happy, even.

While I've grown sick and tired of a lot of those songs that appear on every freakin' playlist out there, there are some that I still enjoy - even continue to love - despite their constant presence over sound systems everywhere. You may shake your head at my musical choices here, but these songs are just so damned good that they endure and continue to lift my spirits despite their inclusion on playlists the world over. 

So, in no particular order:

Don't Fear the Reaper, by Blue Oyster Cult

Hotel California, by The Eagles

Boys of Summer, by Don Henley

Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Pat Benatar

Rock You Like a Hurricane, Scorpions

More Than a Feeling, Boston

Don't Stop Believin', Journey

Free Fallin', Tom Petty

Jump, Van Halen

Photograph, Def Leppard

Feels Like the First Time, Foreigner

Love Me Two Times, The Doors

Roundabout, Yes

Radar Love, Golden Earring

La Grange, ZZ Top

Go Your Own Way, Fleetwood Mac

Yesterday, The Beatles

Logical Song, Supertramp

Lay It Down, Ratt

Feel free to chime in with your own overplayed-but-still-love-em radio songs in the Comments below. Cheers!

Solo Albums By Rush Pickers 2 - My Favourite Headache, by Geddy Lee

The year 2000 saw the release of Geddy Lee's first and only solo album, My Favorite Headache. Lee's work in Rush brought his name and reputation as a (or the) top rock bassist to the world. On this solo project, Geddy shows us just how much of a melodic composer he can be... not that Rush hasn't been responsible for great tuneful songs over the years, but out on his own, Lee demonstrates a knack for catchy music without all the progressive trappings. A simpler approach in a straight-forward rock vein.

On this debut solo outing, Geddy shows a flair for both the technical and musical sides of recording. Not only did he co-produce and co-engineer the album with Ben Mink (of that other Canuck prog band FM), he also co-wrote all the songs therein with Mink. So ol' Ged expressed his talents in both the studio proper and the control room. 

The title track kicks off the album with a splash... a lone heavy bass chugs through the intro, then is joined by a nasty gnarly guitar rhythm, aggressive drums, all accented by a spiraling guitar lead. Pleasant, lighter segments are achieved through Ged's piano, though he focuses more on the gritty and crashing sounds. 

The Present Tense has a Lifeson-esque guitar sense throughout, and it's a solid rockin' affair. Window to the World isn't unlike that, too. Working at Perfekt is a heavier hitter with big, dense guitars and multi-tracked bass, though don't overlook the orchestral strings that add a dramatic flourish. Runaway Train is a busy and energetic exercise, layers of guitars and programming adding to the overall effect of a rocker with heart.

The Angels' Share is a slow-tempo track that, while intricate and layered, sort of plods along without much of interest for me. Not bad, just not great. Next tune Moving to Bohemia is bursting with bass riffage that rivals some old Rush faves. But again, there's a sameness to most of these songs. Not terrible, just not nearly as adventurous as listeners have come to expect of Rush... and even witnessed on guitarist Alex Lifeson's 1996 solo venture. Home On the Strange is a funky piece, a catchy shuffle bearing some entertaining lyrics. This just might be my favourite tune on the album.

Next track Slipping proceeds slowly yet with intention, a sort of ballad, if I may say so. S'okay. Then the following track Still continues that quieter, calmer mood. Again, s'okay. Grace To Grace engages the listener from note one... a forceful riff and drum tempo drive the verses nicely, and the contrast against the ethereal chorus creates a fun and inventive rock song. All right, maybe this is my fave song on Headache, with Home On the Strange a close second.

Overall, I feel this is a fairly solid recording. A couple of outstanding tracks plus a few more good ones anchor an otherwise unexceptional album of "okay" music. Lee has a lot to offer in the context of Rush, but on his own, or with Mr. Mink in the co-captain's chair, his songwriting is competent but a bit too "safe". There are moments of brilliance yet I hate to say there is a sameness that carries from one track to the next... with those few notable exceptions.

Sure, Geddy is the voice of Rush, but I'd say the band's democratic process tempered any one contributor's ideas with an evenness that avoided too much of any one thing. I'll concede that the introduction of keyboards in the 80's at first tamped down Alex's guitar, but in short order, Al evolved his sound and style to fit his six-string voice into the mix effectively. Here on Headache, though, Geddy locks himself into a mostly mid-tempo, plain Jane rock mode. Not terrible, just not all that exciting. Not the way Rush in their prime was. I think Lee's co-songwriter 'ought to have brought something more inspired and stimulating to the table, to bring a little more life to the party. Maybe next time?

Solo Albums By Rush Pickers 1 - Victor, by Alex Lifeson

Here's something a little different.... I'll take a look at the solo albums, just one apiece, by the two axe-wielding members of Canadian progressive rock trio Rush, guitarist Alex Lifeson and bassist Geddy Lee.

In today's instalment, I'll look at Lifeson's one and only solo release, from 1996, Victor. This recording doesn't sound at all like Rush music, instead giving us a peek into our beloved six-stringer's hidden arsenal of songs and sounds. We've got near-metal noise (Don't Care), melodic rock (Promise), experimental oddity (At the End), and an assortment of other genre dabbling.

He chose a number of cool collaborators to accompany him as a band and to front the proceedings on vocals. Take for example the song Start Today, which features female singer Lisa Dal Bello. She's got the high wailing prowess of ol' Geddy in his early days. Amid the jumpin' riffing and trademark arpeggios, there is pretty acoustic strumming and an absolutely ripping solo. Yep, leave it to Al.

There is some definite weirdness here, too, as demonstrated on the instrumental entitled Mr. X. There's a bit of a Joe Satriani feel, though with a bit of a demented jolting quality that screams Alex. At the End is a spoken word piece (Alex on the mic!) backed at first by an eerie synth, then building textures of percussion and guitar. Odd yet beautiful in its way. Sending Out a Warning is less pretty, but nicely contrasts chiming verses and abrasive choruses. Speaking of abrasive, how about Shut Up Shuttin' Up (a line from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon)? Alex's playing is weird and wonderful, unlike the vocals, which are two women (one was his wife) yapping away mindlessly. Kinda funny, but not what I want to hear very often. Very Zappa-esque.

Strip and Go Naked is a front porch foot-stomping acoustic dream, overlaid with tasteful and ethereal licks and soloing. Just a little noise thrown in for good measure, and you've got yourself a wonky and fun instrumental.

The Big Dance steps and shuffles around moods and rhythms, some smooth and some gritty. Funny that title track Victor is so rife with synthetic programming, electro percussion and accents in abundance, spoken word story again by Alex on the main mic. There is an analogue horn, though! Unusual and creative, so I can enjoy it on a certain level.

Wrapping up the album is rocker I Am the Spirit, with singer Edwin (of I Mother Earth) hollering against the wall of guitars and drums. You might consider banging your head to this one.

Lifeson's distinctive guitar sound and style make this album a treat for fans of his axe-work with Rush. I think most Rush fans are open-minded enough to appreciate at least something in this smorgasbord of sonics and song structures. I don't love it all, but there are some very cool things going on here. I admire Alex's boldness to go way beyond the constraints of a Rush song on Victor. He takes risks, not always entirely successful, but does show us there's more to this guy than we ever knew before.

Retro Video Store Find

With the cold weather creeping in, the other day I dug out my winter coat to dust it off and get it ready for winter. As I went through the pockets, I found a true artifact of a bygone era. I discovered a slightly tattered coupon for a "rent one, get one free" movie rental at Rogers Video, dated 2011. So ten years old! I think I had just folded this up and kept it in my pocket to use the blank back side to make notes (which I hadn't). 

I was a Rogers member back in the day and received email newsletters and coupons on a weekly basis. The coupons were printable, and that's what I had done in this case.

Anyway, I wonder how things would go down if I went into my local Rogers (now just cell phones and possibly home TV service), presented the coupon and asked where the rental movies were? And I wonder if some wacky collector would actually buy this coupon off me on Ebay...

New Additions to the Record Shelf

 A couple of records came in the mail this week, and I'm really pleased with both of them so far. First up, the debut album by that band out of Boston... Boston! Yes, that '76 rock classic that everyone knows inside and out. I've loved the album since I first heard it back in the late-ish 70's, I guess. Full disclosure... I knew and owned their second album before I ever got their first. That sophomore recording, Don't Look Back, happened to be the only Boston album in the record store at the time, and since it was prominently displayed, all colourful and beckoning... I grabbed that without a moment's pause. Terrific album, though it wasn't exactly packed to the rafters with hit songs like numero uno.

Back in the early 80's I bought myself the Boston debut on cassette tape and played that to death, which led to its upgrade to CD. I still have that trusty disc, which hasn't really seen much action in many years. I did, however, haul it out not long ago for a spin, and then it struck me that this recording deserved a place in my vinyl record collection. So after some internet searches through Ebay and Discogs (Amazon doesn't need any more of my money), I located a home-based seller asking a reasonable sum for his very nicely preserved copy. It's looks brand new to me, both the sleeve and vinyl in pristine condition, and it sounds fresh off the tree, too. Beautiful! Tom's guitars never sounded so expansive and powerful. One thing that stood out to me was how the volume of the vocals were just barely on par with the instruments in the mix. A touch lower in level and Brad's voice might have been lost amongst the drums, bass, keys, and guitar. But the sound is awesome. Such a timeless set of tunes, all rockin', yet loaded with melodies and harmonies that will never get old. So glad to finally have that on my record shelf... right beside Don't Look Back.

Secondly, I got something quite different. Again, very recently I felt ready to revisit some CDs I hadn't listened to in many years, and Neil Diamond was one of the artists I pulled off the shelf. I have a handful of his discs, a few studio albums (well, one is The Jazz Singer soundtrack) and a few nicely curated compilations. Back in the late 90's I think, and the early 2000's, I was really into vocalists, mostly older ones like Sinatra, Bennett, Matt Munroe, Julie London, and Engelbert Humperdinck. But I think I was even more into Diamond's near-rock style, showcasing catchy melodies and of course, his warm and expressive vocals. 

I remember seeing The Jazz Singer on vinyl at one or two record shows or flea markets in the past, but at the time, I wasn't in the mood for upgrading my Neil music. When I got to shopping online recently, a cool compilation of his early years jumped out at me... especially since it was available from the same Discogs seller who offered me that Boston record. I figured why not, this will at least get me listening to Neil again, both the hits I knew plus a few I didn't know. They are all originals, written by Diamond, and include biggies like Kentucky Woman, Cherry Cherry, Thank the Lord For the Night Time, I'm a Believer (which The Monkees made famous, too), and Shilo. I haven't spun this record yet, so I can't report on sound quality, but a visual check looks very good, as promised. I'll fire it up soon... can't wait!

Horror Movies So Far This October

Though my horror movie To Watch List was a bit unrefined as I started October, I haven't had much trouble finding something appropriate to watch whenever the opportunity arose. Between a decent handful of new additions to Netflix, plus a few on Youtube, and some more from my unwatched batch of DVDs and Blu-rays, I've fared just fine. Here are the scary (or at least atmospheric) flicks I've seen so far this month:

30 Days of Night - a very unique, cool and atmospheric vampire film set in Alaska during a full month without sunlight. Yes, that's bad news for the living human folk in little ol' Barrow. The vamps here are feral beasts!

Strange Invaders - an 80's shlock-fest, with weird rubber alien monsters and lots of bad acting. Watch at your own risk. You've been warned...

The Fog has that timeless 80's charm that makes this the horror classic that it is

The Fog - 2005 remake of the John Carpenter 80's classic... by Carpenter himself. Other than the obvious modernization, it follows the original fairly closely. Not bad, not great.

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death - a pleasant surprise, this kind of lives up to the first one (the remake starring Harry Potter), though is still far from the excellence of the 80's original - one of the best ghost stories put to film.

The Fog - director Carpenter's 1980 ghostly gem still holds up today, with an all-star cast and it checks all the boxes on the horror movie Must Have List. Just do it.

Werewolves Within - an odd horror-comedy that didn't quite work for me. It's okay, starting off pretty well but veers off track and kinda loses me by the end. Not enough good werewolf stuff to fully satisfy.

The Wretched - sort of a spin on the Rear Window mystery classic, though this gets a bit more horrific. Serious suspense and some crazy creature effects help this along nicely.

Bay of Blood - finally! I finally saw this highly-regarded Italian film but... I wasn't impressed. Though I love a couple of director Bava's 60's horror classics, this early 70's proto-slasher just doesn't do it for me. It's more of a thriller with some violence and gore. It's okay, but it just didn't engage me, and gawd, what a crappy ending!

The Block Island Sound - a shoe-string budget didn't hamper this highly atmospheric tale of supernatural goings-on at an island fishing village. Keep an open mind and don't expect a bloody monster mash, and you just might love this. I sure did!

And...

This isn't a movie, but it's worth mentioning Midnight Mass, a limited series on Netflix which I'm sort of half-heartedly jumping in and out of between movies. There are things I really like about it, but the pacing is uneven, or maybe just slow as hell most of the time. Not a bad thing normally, but when I become impatient for something that seems relevant to the story, I consider giving up. However, there are truly creepy horror moments. Hang in there...

Books I've Read So Far in 2021

 It's been a fairly busy year for reading here. Though I had a spell where I didn't read anything for weeks (couldn't read, actually, due to eye surgery), when I got back to it, I really knuckled under to make up for lost time on my stack of books, both physical  and e-books.

Back in 2016, I started a book log, at first just noting the titles and authors of everything I read. Then I gradually developed a little system of flagging my favourites with tiny symbols beside the entries. The past two years, I've even been rating the books out of 5. The reason I even began this log was that I had set a goal of reading thirty books that year, and naturally, jotting down titles helped me to track my progress. That first year, I exceeded my goal by one book. I felt good about that, but found it a bit tougher to meet that same target the following year. I can't recall why that was, but I'd guess those were probably longer books or just plain heavier reading.

Then the following year, I was able to meet that magic number of thirty, beating it by one book yet again. But 2018 brought much lower output, due to both bigger books of slower reading and some false starts - books that I lost interest in and simply didn't finish... so I couldn't tick them off as completed in my log. The same thing happened in 2020, and I just had to accept the fact that a goal of twenty books was much more achievable than thirty. Gotta factor in my other interests, like a great deal of movie watching and review writing, record collecting and listening among them.

I think I should exceed twenty books read by the end of this calendar year, based on where I am now (completed sixteen). I'm currently getting into a creepy horror-mystery called Drood, by Dan Simmons. It's perfect for the Halloween season, and I'm enjoying it a lot.

This year, I took a bit of a deep dive into the fictional crime and legal thrillers of Toronto author Robert Rotenberg, snapping up all of his books and rapidly devouring them. With this kind of stuff, nobody's re-inventing the wheel, but it's the nuances of characters and attention to detail on the police and legal procedural side that makes these books stand out. Rotenberg is a more than capable writer, imbuing his characters with very relatable human flaws and strengths, and building a setting that allows the reader to be absorbed into his realistic world of law enforcement and detection. I'm a fan.

Here are the books I've read so far this year:

A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles - by far the best I've read in a long time. Rated 5/5

Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles - just about as excellent as the Gentleman novel above.  5/5

The Guilty Plea, Robert Rotenberg - second in his Ari Greene series. Canadian crime fiction!

Child of God, Cormack McCarthy -  good; not quite as engaging as McCarthy's Border Trilogy

Movie Freak, Owen Glieberman - non-fiction, a movie critic's life story, funny and revealing

Strangle Hold, Robert Rotenberg - third in the very likable Greene police detective series

Limelight: Rush in the 80's, Martin Popoff - book 2 in this expansive band biography trilogy

Life Itself, Roger Ebert - another movie critic's memoirs... the most famous of all, right? Great!

Stray Bullets, Robert Rotenberg - solid crime thriller in the continuing Greene adventures

Fall of Hyperion, Dan Simmons - sequel to modern sci-fi classic Hyperion; nearly as good

Heart of the City, Robert Rotenberg - an even better entry in the Greene cop-law series

The Rose Code, Kate Quinn - loosely based on real WWII code breakers, great fun

The Innocent, David Baldacci - solid thriller from this best-selling author

The Hit, David Baldacci - follow-up to The Innocent, not quite as effective but still good

Downfall, Robert Rotenberg - the formula works, so the author sticks to safe ground. Good.

Testimony, Scott Turow - well-written characters and unique story hooked me from start to finish

Drood, Dan Simmons - fictional horror-mystery tale of Charles Dickens (in progress)

Driven: Rush in the 90's and In The End, Martin Popoff - final instalment in the trilogy biography of Canadian rock music legends Rush (in progress)

Horror Movie Viewing This Halloween

It is once again that special time of year when the spooky and macabre come to the fore for movie fans... and even regular shmoes who still celebrate the Halloween season in one way or another. For me, the days of dress-up and parties are long past, but every single year I have my own traditions. To begin with, I watch a LOT of horror movies throughout October. I also plan for and hold my own little Halloween Eve movie screening. Armed with snacks and beverages, I hunker down for a scary-ish film or two.

This October, I will do the usual and absorb as many horror movies as possible, leading up to a special selection on the final night of the month. Though I have hundreds and hundreds (a bit over a thousand, I'd reckon) of videos on home media at my disposal, I do get stumped sometimes. It can be overwhelming staring at all my shelves full of DVDs and Blu-rays. What will I watch tonight? I mean, I don't own any (or very many, I should say) bad movies, so it's not as though I don't like the stuff I own. It's more like, I've seen pretty much all of these videos dozens of times, maybe more. Depending on the movie, I might need a few years or more to come back around to a burning need to re-view it. But if it's one of my absolute favourites, I might be game to watch it every year. And something relatively new that I might have only seen once or twice could easily merit a re-watch.

In late September I got a start on a movie viewing list for the month of Halloween. I have done this list thing for several years, and it does help me sort through my options. It's a brainstorming method, in a way. I just jot down ideas as they come to me, whether it's film titles, or sub-genres, or directors, actors, or eras. From there I can work from general ideas down to specifics. Are my choices in my collection, or on streaming services like Netflix, Youtube, or on Roku channels? I have often even bought a movie or two for the occasion. I very nearly did not do that this year, but last weekend, after deciding I should revisit The Fog (1980) by director John Carpenter (I last saw that back in the 80's, I think), I simply couldn't find it on any of the streaming services. And so I hunted down a very inexpensive DVD copy on Ebay (cheaper than a streaming rental). It's on the way.

My list so far isn't very big, nor is it even close to carved-in-stone. I'm working on it, and trying to get fresh ideas. Not long ago, I hauled out a case of loose (in plastic sleeves instead of clamshell cases) DVDs and Blu-rays a friend gave me a year or two ago, and discovered a handful of flicks that I either have never seen or hadn't seen in a long, long time. One of those is Strange Invaders from 1983. I'll give that a go soon.

Also in that bunch are The Blob (1958), one or two of Hammer Studios' Mummy series, something called Flesh and Blood, again by Hammer, The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death, and Scanners.

And on my shelves, there are a few Blu-rays a friend gave me a while back. These are upgrades from the old DVDs I previously owned, but I feel like I could check them out again in newly remastered form. These are Island of Lost Souls, Island of Terror, The Man Who Fell to Earth (technically sci-fi, but I can accept that in the overall fantastical film category), Midnight Special, and the 80's vampire classic Salem's Lot.

I might also re-watch Predators and a couple of the Alien vs Predator movies, which I found for low, low prices a few years ago. Yes, they are shlocky, but the cool creatures are worth the discomfort of terrible acting and flawed stories. Or are they?

Then there are some recommendations I've noted from online movie reviewers, like Candy Corn, The Innkeepers, Killer Crocodile, Great White, and a couple of 70's made-for-TV thrillers I think are on Youtube, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and Don't Go To Sleep. I might have even seen those last two back when I was a kid. No recollection, though.

And after slaving over Google and Roku, I realized there was no free streaming of the Alaska-set vampire tale, 30 Days of Night.... so the next best thing was a sale-priced rental on the Cineplex Store. Good enough. I may pop that on this evening, in fact.

Happy Horror-tober!

Better Beer by Rush

A friend passed the news on to me recently that Canada's own Rush has released a beer bearing their name and iconography. As a long-time fan of the legendary prog-rock trio, I was curious to see this. And taste it. First, take a gander at the striking colours and design on the can. Pretty, eh?

The famous man-in-the-star (2112) image is depicted in black and red on a shiny gold background. The Rush word-logo is cast in the same font as appears on the cover of their Moving Pictures album. Above that, in a script font, it reads on Side A: "Beer is for genuises" (I did not mispell "geniuses" there; it appears exactly like that - on purpose, I can only assume - on the can), and on Side B: "Books are for tourists". Down below the big star logo, under the black "Canadian Golden Ale" banner, is a small crown symbol. Is this a reference to the A Farewell to Kings album? Could be....

Then, as I scrutinized every inch of the product, I found more neat little Easter eggs. On the side/edge of the can, there are four small symbols, which any good Rush fan will be able to decipher. From top to bottom, there are: the wavy arrow road sign from the Snakes & Arrows Live album cover; a tidy Better Beer symbol, referring to the line in the lyrics of the song Territories; the three floating balls from the front cover of the Hold Your Fire album; then the floating rabbit in the top hat from the Presto album cover. And on the other "edge" of the can, beside the Henderson  Brewing Company logo, is the original Rush logo from their very first album from 1974, a lifetime ago. Nice presentation, classy and fun in the tradition of the band Rush themselves. 

Now, looks aside, lets get to the beverage itself. This is a Canadian Golden Ale, featuring a barley and rye recipe that has a distinctive, but not overly hoppy, taste that lingers nicely on the palate. It's smooth and flavourful, and I found it difficult to stop at just one drink. I'd say it's a winner. 

If you'd like to investigate further, wander over to the Henderson Brewing Company website for details. At this moment, the Rush beer is temporarily sold out, testament to the popularity of all things Rush to its massive global fan base. Cheers!

New Additions to the Record Shelf

I'm trying to relax on spending on records, but it's not really working out. Mind you, I did find some albums at a nearby thrift store for only about a buck apiece. Then I paid a proper, but still very reasonable, amount for a long wished-for record. More on that in a moment.

So... last weekend, a little bummed out that my flea market trip a week earlier was a bust (absolutely no record sellers there at all!), I ventured to the Salvation Army thrift shop just up the road. They have a few big stacks (not piled, actually... just sensibly standing on edge in a nice display unit that I wouldn't mind owning myself) of resident LPs, pretty much all of which have been there for the past five years. Like the whole catalogues of artists like Anne Murray, Zamfir, Perry Como, and other similar un-sellable stuff).

Anyway, nothing I got was outstanding, but the one that I do truly like is Rhinestone Cowboy by none other than that cheesily-white-garbed Glen Campbell. Awful album cover aside, the music is quite cool, of you like 70's country-pop crossover music. I've always liked his Rhinestone Cowboy song, even way before I ever liked a single other country tune. And the rest of this album is quality stuff, so no wonder this was the one that put Campbell on the map big-time, allowing him to cross over from the country charts to pop... so, more record sales and cash for everybody (and hopefully Glen, too). At times on this album, I get an Elton John vibe, and that's not a bad thing. Paid just one dollar for this.

In addition to the Campbell record, I also grabbed a 1968 country and western collection called, well, Country and Western. All big names on there, just a couple I didn't know, singing songs I don't think I ever heard before. So it's good music, just not familiar hits. It'll take some time to get to know it. There are Jim Reeves, Dolly Parton, Chet Atkins, Hank Snow, Waylon Jennings, Charlie Pride, and some others. One dollar.

The third and final album I got at the shop was a 1974 K-Tel album featuring a bunch of artists I'd heard of (big, big names) plus several I'd never heard of before in my life. So I wonder if some of those songs were actually "hits", as claimed, or maybe they were one-hit wonders. It's possible.

Anway, the long and the short of it is that this record skipped A LOT. Most of the songs needed manual assistance to continue playing. No fun at all. The one and only song that I really really liked that played fine was 70's rock gem Free Ride by The Edgar Winter Group. Very cool, and since I've known very few of Winter's tunes, I may seek out more by him. Olivia Newton-John appears here, too, with her crystalline vocals over strings and country twang on Let Me Be There. S'okay, though not a highlight. Kool & The Gang provide a smokin' performance on Jungle Boogie... yeah, gotta find more by that funk group, er, gang. Barry White's epic R&B soul classic Never Never Gonna Give You Up is a cool track, but sadly, it suffers from skip-itis on this defective disc. I might hunt for another K-Tel collection or even the artists's proper studio albums for the music that I do like from this mangled sampler. Strangely, this LP was two bucks. I guess they priced it without listening to it first.

My trusty old Clockwork Orange cassette tape,

bought back in the early 80's. Still in one piece.

Then... a little something arrived in the mail that I'd finally located for a decent price, and from a fellow Canadian seller, a 1972 vinyl pressing of the A Clockwork Orange movie soundtrack. Somebody had the good sense to take care of the record and its outer sleeve so that decades later, a mook like me could own and enjoy it further. And boy, oh boy, it sounds very nice. From the title music to the variations on Beethoven's 9th Symphony, and from choice pieces by Rossini (like The Thieving Magpie and William Tell Overture) to Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance, and on to the electronic segments by pioneer Walter Carlos... it's all pure gold to me. I bought this soundtrack on cassette tape back in the early 80's, after seeing the movie for the first time, and played it on a regular basis for years and years. I never did upgrade to CD, though, so a vinyl purchase seemed to be the logical thing to do. Clockwork is among my favourite movies of all time, and the music of the film, especially the Beethoven, is among my fave of all time, too.

The week was a success then, if you consider this little record haul. Other than that, well, work sucks and life is generally "meh". But good music will get me through. Keep spinnin' those records!

Dream Book-to-Movie Adaptations

 I have long been a fan of books, especially fiction. I have also long been a fan of movies. In recent months, I've been turning over in my mind what favourite books of mine I'd like to see finally adapted to film. When I re-read my post about my fave novels of all time (here), I noted that a handful of them had been adapted to the big screen, but not always to my satisfaction. I will address that in this little discussion.

Elric of Melniboné, a sorcerer-warrior created by British

author Michael Moorcock, finally deserves a film treatment...

or maybe a series, with the right people on board

First up is the Border Trilogy, written by Cormack McCarthy. Yes, there was a 2000 film of the first book in that set, All the Pretty Horses. It was okay, but forgettable. As someone else accurately assessed the movie, it lacked the "poetry" of the great western novel. An author's way with words depicts the story's mood and the chemistry between characters... and that does not always come through in film adaptation. Some books brought to film don't translate successfully, despite best intentions and quality cast and direction. Though some big name actors (Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz, to name just a couple) appear in Pretty Horses, they don't resonate or really own their characters, and something is clearly missing in the portrayals and in the pacing of the movie. So I would like to see something more faithfully rendered to the silver screen, with much more care and respect for the source material. Or just leave it alone, so I can simply enjoy McCarthy's written word, picturing the characters and locations in my imagination.

I thought I heard rumours about a possible Netflix film version of The Three-Body Problem, but I believe production has been on hold for some time now. The book, the first in what is called the Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy, was written by Liu Cixin. That and its sequels comprise what I think is the best modern sci-fi I've read. An animated series of some sort was created in China on a shoe-string budget, and what little I saw on Youtube doesn't do the story justice. I recommend the book (the whole trilogy, really) to all science-fiction fans out there. Some of the greatest writing and ideas out there, ever.

Yet another trilogy comes to mind, the Deptford Trilogy, originally written by legendary Canadian author Robertson Davies. But let's just start with book one, Fifth Business. I'd love to see this tale in visual form, with just the right people behind and in front of the camera (I haven't taken the time yet to line up actors, directors, etc) to make it the dark and twisted drama that it deserves to be. Davies blended themes of spirituality, psychology, religion, morality, myth and history... all to intriguing effect in his story. I wonder if the now-denounced director Roman Polanski, given his film-making style, would be the right choice to helm such a production.

Then on to another favourite author, China Miéville, who penned Perdito Street Station and its two sequels in the Bas-Lag trilogy. The Perdito book was incredibly bizarre and engaging; I just couldn't get enough of Miéville's far-out world of dark urban fantasy. So how about a visual translation to capture our imaginations in the cinematic realm? It's been years since I've read the book, and yet I feel like Willem Dafoe might fit quite well into the story, not sure which character yet though. He just has a look and acting style that could be a perfect fit for the freaky and edgy tone. And maybe David Croneberg directing? His penchant for the weird and disturbing, plus his pioneering of the body horror film genre would be pedigree enough to earn him the chair. 

I was bowled over by the 1989 novel Hyperion, by Dan Simmons, when I read it a couple of years back. Considered a science fiction classic (even though it's only just over thirty years old), Hyperion covers a lot of ground, relating several characters' personal stories, as told to their fellow travellers while on a pilgrimage to an historic galactic event. One actor I thought of while reading was Gina Carano, of Mandalorian fame. The role I'd assign her in Hyperion would be obvious to anyone who has read the book.

And how about finally putting the fictional fantasy warrior Elric of Melniboné onto celluloid? Author Michael Moorcock concocted a cool and fun series of novels about the sword-and-sorcery adventures of a "doomed albino antihero", the emperor of an alternate Earth. I first read the Elric books as a teenager, then after many decades, I came back to them in recent years and re-discovered Moorcock's mastery of storytelling, world-building, and character development. It's not high fiction but it is top-notch work in the genre, highly influential and yet curiously lacking in any cross-over to other media (except music, where dozens of rock/metal bands have incorporated Elric themes and stories into their songs). Both TV and film adaptations were discussed over the years but all were shelved.

I may have some other ideas about books to film, but I'll ruminate on them and possibly write something more in a future post. So.... keep on reading, and keep on watching!

New Additions to the Record Shelf

Whew, the hot weather is back, already 40 degrees Celsius with humidex... at barely noon. If I dare play any records today, I risk dripping sweat on the album sleeves and the stylus sinking clean through the molten vinyl. No A/C in my place, so I'm roughing it.

What the.... ?

But speaking of records, I added a couple more to the collection in recent weeks. After the passing of Dusty Hill not long ago, I decided to complete my ZZ Top collection - up to and including Eliminator, that is. I found two on vinyl, and another two on CD. The first was Fandango!, the half live, half studio LP from 1975, and the second was 1973's Tres Hombres, the disc that put the Texas trio on the map. The former boasted their big hit single Tush, plus the super chill Blue Jean Blues and the groovin' Heard It on the X; the latter album of course had the down and dirty La Grange, and other major favourites Waitin' for the Bus, Jesus Just Left Chicago, and Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers. All top-tier ZZ music. Fandango! was a gently used LP, while Hombres was a brand new fairly recent vinyl reissue.

Now though I wanted all of these ZZ Top acquisitions to be on vinyl, the prices on the last two were skyrocketing out of my price range, so I made the decision to get them on compact disc instead. Looking on the bright side, that sure saved me a lot of money. Both were brand new but very reasonably priced. These two were Rio Grande Mud, the band's second album, from '72 (so long ago!), and the '76 release,Tejas (which I learned is pronounced tay-haas - and is a native American word meaning "friends", and is the origin for the name of the state of Texas). The Mud CD had only a couple of familiar tunes, the classics Francine and Just Got Paid, so lots of music there to dive into and explore over time. Tejax is completely new to me. Sounds very cool though, so there'll be more beer-sipping listening sessions to come.

Then - something completely different. The three studio albums by the Spice Girls. Yep, you read right. A guilty pleasure, I guess you'd say. Ever since my young daughter started playing their CDs back in the 90's, I realized I sort of liked some of that bubblegum music. Hey, it's expertly crafted pop, much in the same vein as 60's and 70's pop - just in a more modern dancy way. I think a lot more people like Spice Girls than will admit it. Revisiting these albums after many years, it still remains obvious that Sporty (Melanie C) carries the group with her superior singing ability. They weren't all bad, but at least one, maybe two of the "girls" were clearly not hired for their talent.

 Anyway, a downloaded compilation of Spicy hits (from the early 2000's) wasn't really cutting it for me any more, so I finally bought their three studio albums for a pittance on used CD. No need to break the bank on this. But it's still light, fun boppy stuff that mostly holds up very well... certainly better than the vast majority of pop these days. So when I'm not spinning thrash metal albums, I'll bounce to the other end of the spectrum for some Spice. It picks me up when I'm feeling down in the dumps. Which is rather often these days. Happy, positive, fun tunes. 

My Favourite Music of the 70's

 A while back I wrote about 1960's music that made a life-long impression on me. While the 60's dazzled me the most with a small handful of artists like The Beatles, Monkees, Cream and The Doors, the 70's opened a floodgate of talent that was almost overwhelming. Many major 70's artists started their (recording) careers in the 60's and truly took off as established acts in the following decade.

The Who in full force circa sometime in the 1970s

A band like The Who is as much a 60's band as it is a 70's band; Townshend and crew began recording mid-60's - alongside other notables like The Beatles and The Kinks, and put out a handful of increasingly important albums before they really hit the bigtime in the 70's. Then The Who became simply massive, among the very top international acts for much of the decade. Big fan.

Creedence Clearwater Revival was sort of on the cusp... their short lifespan bridged the two decades, and I'd say they were well established before 1970 hit, though their celebrated Cosmo's Factory was released in that very year. A tough call on that one. Steppenwolf sort of fell into that same category, seeing success before the '70 mark, yet they still had some years to go and fizzle out. I've always enjoyed the gritty swamp-rock of CCR and the groovin' early stoner-rock of Steppenwolf.

Then there were Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Supertramp, Elton John and David Bowie, who all began their recording careers in the late 60's, but found greater fame as they headed into the next decade. You could even throw Genesis into that pack, though I have nothing to say about them. Never a fan. As far as Bowie goes, I like his better-known music a lot, and that's about it. I just haven't dived very deep into his catalogue... yet. But most of those other bands and artists are still quite god-like to me. While I'm not much into Zeppelin nowadays, I still admire Floyd, Mac, Yes, Supertramp,and Elton... they were all part of my formative years as a young music fan. I still enjoy a bit of their music on occasion, though I generally steer away from the radio hits and aim for the deeper, and often surprisingly better, tracks.

Other artists, like Rush, formed in the late 60's, but took some time to land a record deal and release something, finally, in 1974. I would consider Rush a quintessential 70's band, since their signature heaviest, proggiest music came about during that time. Like the album A Farewell to Kings. For me, this was classic Rush. Though the early 80's saw a dramatic turn in their style and a massive surge in popularity, I lean toward the oldies (but I can bend the rule slightly to include 1980's Permanent Waves album, right?).

I can't even discuss the 70's without mentioning Van Halen, who single-handedly (or double, if you see how Eddie played guitar) changed music forever. Their first album is among the most successful debuts of all time. That self-titled disc influenced how future (and present-day, at the time) guitarists would play their instruments, and inspired a whole genre of flashy pop-metal during the 80's. Eddie's techniques and sounds, to this day, are textbook learning for young musicians. But don't stop at their first album... their second sneakily lays down track after track of equally mesmerizing music.

The Eagles have long been a sort of casual fave band of mine. Though I've got all their albums, I can't say I love everything they've done, but they did write some of my favourite songs of all time. Definitely prime 70's tunes. The Doobie Brothers, to me, make for the perfect greatest hits package. I can't say I've heard much beyond their biggest tunes, but I've owned their 1976 release Best of the Doobies on tape, CD, and vinyl ever since the early 80's. So I really like what little I know of them. Same with Foreigner, though in recent years, I've tried out some of their full studio albums... some pretty good fare when you dig for it.

Other stuff that truly influenced my musical tastes early on and still see some love on the turntable and CD player are the quirky and creative pop-hard rockers Cheap Trick, the gods of thunder and visual and aural excess Kiss, prog-hard rock oddballs Max Webster, Boston's seminal guitar rock classic first two albums, those raunchy and rowdy Aussie kings of three chords AC/DC, that Texas-fried boogie trio ZZ Top, the grizzly-sized Canuck rock group Bachman Turner Overdrive, quadrillion-selling pop-rock superstars Journey, Canadian progressive masters Saga and FM...

Though Black Sabbath and Judas Priest have carried on for ages, their heyday was during the 70's, when their albums Paranoid and Sad Wings of Destiny (among many others) laid the foundations of what was to become heavy metal. There was so much more to Sabbath than that one studio album; go back to their creepy debut and work through their impressive catalogue of doomy (and some not so doomy) hard and heavy gems. Even though my absolute favourite Sab album dropped in 1980, I still feel the 70's were loaded with the majority of their best music. And with Priest... well, they took what Sabbath did and refined and honed and tweaked those sounds to achieve their own unique brand of music, which was truly heavy metal (if you had any doubts about Sabbath being metal). Both monumentally important in my musical listening history.

Scorpions, hailing out of Germany, have been a hit with me since I first heard them in the late 70's. Though I have only heard a smattering of their early 70's material, I was heavily schooled in their blazing Teutonic metal stylings on classic late 70's masterpieces, Taken By Force and Lovedrive... and beyond. Guitar shredding and catchy heavy songs that'll never go out of fashion.

Many years after the fact, I learned to appreciate the 70's sounds of slick and smooth jazz-rock studio-rats Steely Dan, and even those pomp-rockers Styx, who simply never registered on my radar back in the day (too busy with Rush and Floyd, I guess). But the songwriting and musicianship is undeniable in both cases.

So there you have it... a whole lot of favourites from the 70's, and it only makes sense since I was a kid growing up back then, young and impressionable and the world was my oyster... and there was just SO MUCH great music back then. What happened? The 80's happened. Yes, a lot of cool 80's music, but also a lot of fluff and weirdness and copycats riding on the coattails of the truly great artists. New genres and bands galore and more music than there was really an audience for? Maybe.

New Additions to the Record Shelf

Things have been picking up a bit lately as far as musical acquisitions go. A little while back, I finally found Strange Little Birds on vinyl, by Garbage. Back in the early 2000s, I was heavily into their unique brand of often dark and moody electro-rock, sometimes bordering on pop. I sort of forgot about them for a while (mostly while they were inactive), but in recent years have given a tiny bit of attention to newer releases. When I finally gave this particular album a full listen, I couldn't believe the wonderfully downbeat vibe, Shirley's still vibrant and haunting vocals, and the whole band's ability to still rock. A really nice package, too, with a colourful double album presentation that includes an etching and a bonus track on Side D. Very happy with this.

Not long after that, I grabbed some CDs that were too cheap to pass up: another Garbage album, Not Your Kind of People from 2012 (more catchy tunes than you can shake a stick at), Emma Bunton's 2019 release My Happy Place (pure pop bliss), and a slab of prog-thrash heaven on Voivod's 1997 album Phobos.

Then last weekend, at a nearby flea market, I found two long-timers on my record wishlist. First, I grabbed Balls to the Wall, the '83 metal classic by German headbangers Accept. I am very gradually rounding out my collection of early Accept, and this - their best-known and best-loved album - is a welcome addition. Much crunching and shrieking. Oh joy.

Then as I stepped toward another vendor's table, one particular record practically leaped out into my hands... Heads or Tales, by Canadian 70's-80's prog-rockers Saga. I've long been a fan of the band, though I somehow never bought this album before (I think I had a tape-to-tape copy back in the 80's). The colourful cover image caught my eye immediately and I was in there for the kill. And only five bucks! Other shoppers got a good laff at my loud (happy) reaction to the price. Heh.

Both flea market records play and sound great, so I'm pleased with my purchases. I could have dug through the bins all day long, but my daughter's patience wouldn't have held out that long. Pretty good for a quick spin through the vendor stalls. Lots of fun and some great music to enjoy. Nice to get out of that pandemic rut.