Playlist March 15/15

March 15, 2015March 15, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

Here it is… A Playlist out on the Day I planned for…

Enjoy!

“FOH” – Superchunk

I wrote about them and this song a couple weeks back. It’s the kind of tune that has such a good ‘riff’ that the lyrics cease to matter, which isn’t a bad thing considering it is a bit of an inside nod to music techs (roadies) and crews. Still, you just gotta love that fan made video.

“Have Love Will Travel” – The Sonics

Was reading Paste (I think) a while back, and there was this playlist for the 50 Best Garage Rock Songs ever. This was the number one song on the list and they put forth a really damn good argument for this being the first punk band ever. Regardless, I’m looking to by this stuff on vinyl now.

“Happy Ways” – Joe Walsh

While this song appears on a Joe Walsh record, it is actually the band Barnstorm and doesn’t feature Walsh on vocals at all. It also stands way outside his usual work in terms of song construction. Each piece of the band has stand out moments in this tune that was said to be influenced by music coming north from Mexico to California. To my ears, this song stands out as rather timeless and I always imagine it being covered by an eight or ten piece band with horns.

“Evangeline” – Matthew Sweet

Like everything on Girlfriend there is a sense of playful desperation hidden within this quest for love. Sweet’s characters never quite get it right, but remain optimistic somehow. Perhaps it is naivety that keeps things light, or just the nature of this record, but a couple decades after its release it still seems to hold its youthful soul.

“Rhiannon” – Best Coast

Somehow Best Coast manages to sweep away the entire ethereal mystic evening nature of this song and turn it into a Sunday stroll on the beach. Weird thing is, it actually works. Rather than ‘Rhiannon drifting into the sunset, she seems to skip away to play in the waves. It’s a different interpretation unlike anything I would have expected. Very Cool!

“Over at the Frankenstein Place” – Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick & Richard O’Brien

Despite being an important part of a large picture, I love this song as a standalone piece. It captures my imagination and just makes me all warm inside. Buy vinyl here.

“Fade Into You” – J. Mascis

A most amazing cover of the Mazzy Star classic, it was the single that got away last Black Friday/Record Store Day. Having never given up on it, it may make it into my collection at some point… soon.

“Hannah & Gabi” – The Lemonheads

The first cover song I learned how to play on my beaten up old 12 string a few years back. Just a simple little song about loves lost and the confusion found as relationships end. Honest in that it really finds no resolution.

“Brill Bruisers” – The New Pornographers

Saw these guys do a quick set down at Sugar Beach in September. They did an awesome cover of ELO’s “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” along with the title track from their amazing record Brill Bruisers.

“California Sun” – The Ramones

What can I say, my kids were Watching Curious George (sequel) the other day and this song was a big part. Besides, I’ll use any excuse to include the Ramones on every mix I do.

“Baby Six String” – Dressy Bessy

Dressy Bessy is on my bucket list of bands to see before I go the way of the Dodo. All it took was one listen to their debut Pink Hearts, Yellow Moons back in 1999 to make me a forever fan. “Baby Six String” is from their 2003 eponymous record, and rumour is, a new album and tour will be happening soon. Check them out.

“The Root” – Kim Deal, Morgan Nagler

Something about Kim Deal has always screamed “coolest person on the planet” to me. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Pixies, the Breeders or her solo stuff, there is always an element of some twisted riff that makes you want to pogo all over the dance floor. Love that she’s selling vinyl singles from her own web site.

“Hailing A Cab In Hell” – Viva Viva

Couldn’t resist putting these guys on after Kim Deal… I mean come on, they have an ep called What’s The Kim Deal?, how could I resist? Besides, they’re heavy garage ‘riff-age’ gets me throwing my hair around every time.

“Whenever You See Me” – Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

When three young brits sound both out of time and modern at the same time, you have a pretty awesome combination. Style jumping and instrument swapping can make them a little hard to pin down, but it sure is fun to try.

“(Ghost) Riders In The Sky” – Johnny Cash

My dad and I didn’t agree on much… pretty much nothing… except that Johnny Cash was frickin fantastic.

“10 Million” – Gina Villalobos

Another artist on my bucket list, I became a fan the first time I heard her play this song. Ever since I’ve been ordering stuff direct from her sight – here.

“I’d Run Away” – The Jayhawks

‘Alt-country’ before the term went both in and out of style, this song is from their best album Tomorrow The Green Grass. Oddly they were Minneapolis peers of Husker Du, Soul Asylum and the Replacements.

“Skyway” – The Replacements

Just a beautiful song for a cloudy day, by a band that helped create the whole ‘alt-rock’ movement of the 90’s. Legendary!

“Committed” – Jenny & Jonny

A fun album of duets by the boyfriend/girlfriend combo… it doesn’t feel like duets at all, but rather a bunch of great songs with two individual vocalists having a great time doing harmony together.

“Thorn In Her Pride” – King Khan and the Shrines

As far as I’m concerned, this would be the band I’d want to play at a very large party. They rock, they swing, and they make you want to dance.

“Oh Woe is me?” – The Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack

March 13, 2015March 13, 2015 / ds barrett / 2 Comments

It isn’t easy to understand how taste and emotional turmoil mix together to breed meaning into songs that were not intended. How a simple line can be grasped on as hormones and depression impact how you hear something, and then you use it like a type of lifeline. So here I am, a young teen, feeling like a big bag of shit, and the Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack is playing in the background at some party. I’m sure there is an unrequited crush somewhere around, because, well, there always seemed to be some sort of unrequited crush going on until I was old enough to not give a shit. (Then it became boy is confused with too many choices… but I digress.)

Now the first half of the Rocky Horror is almost impossible to be depressed to, I mean come on, a bunch of 15-16 year old fools screaming the words to “Time Warp” and “Sweet Transvestite” as if half of them have a clue is always an amusing spectacle. (I can honestly say that at 16, the themes of open sexuality and personal choices/freedoms were lost behind, the “want sex – want sex – want sex” images my brain was interpreting.”)

However, it is song three “Over At The Frankenstein Place” that has always made me return to this album. In my mind, it stands out as another example of a perfect rock influenced pop song. It has a simple message with enough naivety to make you believe in happy endings. In the one line “There’s a light, light in the darkness of everybody’s life” I could slip out of my “oh woes me” life, and believe that even “I” could be happy too. (Yeah, it’s overly dramatic, but, it was also a very long time ago.)

On its own the song can be as happy and uplifting as you want it to be. Put it in a mix between the Beach Boys “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and the Hollies “Bus Stop” and it fits great. There is just enough syrup to see life in primary colours, which is why I had such a strong feeling towards it as a teen. Somebody saying “everything will be all right” sounds like horse manure when your depressed, but hear it in a song – a light starts to glow over your head. Of course, now there is the inevitable “But.”

As a concept album and movie, the second half holds up musically, but is really so goddamned depressing you have to listen to the first half again to cheer yourself up. The whole ‘happy ending thing’ is just blown to shit with Frank dead, and Brad and Janet climbing out of the mud barely able to look at each other. Like life itself, everything is so much more complicated than a ‘perfect pop song.’

Which leads us to the question – should I buy it on vinyl?

Well yeah, of course!

Order this frickin’ collectors copy from Newbury Comics. Why?

Because my context

And the songwriters context

And anyone else’s for that matter

They don’t mean a thing.

This is a record that has one eye on fun and another on nostalgia and will have you laughing and singing along regardless of any context. The pink translucent vinyl just sends this over the top and makes it the perfect gift for the person who sat beside you as you tossed rice at the screen.

https://newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=103-2045070N

If I could go back to that guy I was at 16 I’d shake him and say “Relax, shut your face, do the “Time Warp” and stop worrying about all the shit that hasn’t happened yet. Afterall Dude, your still in the first few songs.”

Playlist #2 March 8, 2015

March 12, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

Another week and another playlist. Hope you enjoy! https://open.spotify.com/user/12178865004/playlist/6JqhrQW7eP0LJ4CLuEx0vX

“Story of My Life” – Social Distortion

Legendary punk bands best known song, just because I was playing Guitar Hero the other day and it reminded me how frickin’ cool they are. I’ll be starting to write about some past Record Store Day finds and Social Distortion will definitely be a part of it. (And rumour is, their first record will be coming out on vinyl for RSD)

“Redemption Song” – Joe Strummer

There is so much more to Strummer than the Clash. Damn I miss him. Streetcore was re-mastered for vinyl back in 2012, and comes highly recommended from this reviewer and many others.

“Help” – The Damned

I love punk covers of classic songs. Either you love the Damned or you never got into punk at any point in your life.

“Secret Agent Man” – Dwight Twilley

Singer / Songwriter almost no one has heard of, yet captures my attention with some great songs… and of course, I love this cover – so there! Actually comes from an album full of covers.

“Blood and Roses” – The Smithereens

Something about the Smithereens and their brand of 80’s power-pop catches me every time I listen. They are just so damned easy to sing along with.

“Get Up” – Bleu

Then you take that power-pop thing into the 2000’s and give it to a guy who loves the studio and with a bit of blending you end up with Bleu. Sure it’s another rock song about staying strong in the face of adversity, but we can all use one of those from time to time.

“I Think We’re Alone Now” – The Rubinoos

Shift back down a gear and we end up with cult fixtures the Rubinoos who are famous for providing the theme for Revenge of the Nerds and taking Avril Lavigne to court for plagiarism.

“September Gurls” – The Bangles

Awesome cover of Big Star, who are the originators of the power-pop genre, the Bangles are just a lot of fun to hear at any time.

“The Great Salt Lake” – Band of Horses

Was gifted to me when I was doing all that “driving.” Was a great companion during hard times. Sometimes a few songs can make all the difference.

“Better Man” – Beth Hart

Another of those ‘musicians musician,’ Beth Hart is well known amongst her peers, but hasn’t found a door big enough to get her past the small venue life. Weird, because every time I hear her I wonder why she isn’t bigger than many stadium playing bands.

“When The Stars Go Blue” – Ryan Adams

One of my favorite tracks off Gold (which I kinda talked about a week or so ago), this is one of those songs that just gets covered a lot. The Coors w/Bono did a pretty good cover… although I’ll still take the original.

“Rocket Man” – Elton John

Or should I say “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time).” I couldn’t resist putting it on here right after Adams seeing as the post from last week featured them both.

“Burnin’ For You” – Blue Oyster Cult

Sometimes when you put on one classic 70’s track, you feel like hearing another. What I always loved about these guys is that they never seemed to fit into a genre proper. They weren’t metal, or prog, or … they were just a band that put out some songs I really liked.

“Second Option” – Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell

I’ve always loved this song, but also found it strange that Cary would collaborate with a vocalist who sounds so similar to what she already had in Whiskeytown. I hear this and I pretty much picture Ryan Adams singing it.

“The Day That Lassie Went To The Moon” – Camper Van Beethoven

This was really my introduction to Camper, who I discovered after Cracker (go figure). Right away I just fell for the quirky characters found in Camper songs and have remained a fan ever since. I was lucky enough to see them together a month back.

“A Long December” – Counting Crows

I don’t know why I consider these guys a guilty pleasure, but I’m a fan. For some very odd reason, every time I hear this song I picture Kermit the Frog singing it. Really, I just think the green muppet himself would do an awesome version.

“Deadwood” – Dirty Pretty Things

I was rather bummed when the Libertines called it a day after only two records… I was cheered up when I heard “Deadwood” blast out my speakers. Good to hear that the Libertines have gotten back together, but I’m not holding my breath over the quality of work that will come out of it. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

“Horses” – Gemma Hayes

Something about this song just frickin’ caught me and has never let me go. It was just the kind of song that gets you to buy the record and then the whole back catalogue.

“Need Your Loving Tonight” – Queen

Just because I have been spending a bit of time listening to them recently, I think I’m just about over this phase.

“I’m A Little Airplane” – Jonathan Richman

Just like on that Sesame Street bit, my kids and I would spread are arms out, sing and pretend to fly.

Driven to Far: An Autobiographical Music Review – Dark Night of the Soul – Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse

March 9, 2015April 13, 2015 / ds barrett / 3 Comments

Driving

I suppose I could have added up the kilometres, but that information wasn’t relevant.

Distance

Doesn’t have a goddamn thing to do with how far you have travelled.

Locked in thoughts of where you were and where you’re going without the benefit of perspective. Each moment passing without the ability to reflect on it, because time passes and you can’t grasp it. Words linger without being able to wrestle them to the ground and beat them for information.

Instead there is only me, the kilometres and the music I’ve chosen to spend my time with.

Driving back and forth through snowstorms, Mark Linkous sings “When you raise your head from your pillow don’t delay / Because people decay / Will you let the rays of the sun help you along / I woke up and all my yesterdays were gone.” I might have a tear. It depends on which day; which snowstorm; they kinda blend together like the snow as it settles on the ground.

December 24, 2009 is the last Christmas I have with my parents. It isn’t pleasant. Sick people don’t make for good company… and by this time we’re all sick. They have cancer – I have depression. Everyone else is just sick with worry. None of us know yet.

Dark Night of the Soul is playing in the car on the ride home – another snow storm. Vic Chesnutt is singing “What went on in my horrible dream / I was peering in through the picture window / It was a heart-warming tableau / Like a Norman Rockwell painting / Until I zoomed in / I was making noises in my sleep / But you wouldn’t believe me when I told ya / That I wasn’t with someone in my dream / Catfish were wriggling in blood and gore in the kitchen sink / Yeah, I told ya / I told ya / I told you / Now sweetie, promise me / That you won’t sing /This sad song, grim augury.”

On boxing day, as I drive alone towards my parents house I hear of Chesnutt’s death. He took a bunch of muscle relaxants on Christmas Day and never came back. Some tears hit me and I’m not sure if they are for me or him. He was such an awesome songwriter.

New Year’s eve, my parents are both being taken from their home by ambulance. My mom needs surgery, my father can’t take care of himself and I can’t be with both at the same time. Separate rooms in palliative care two hours away from me. Peterborough – nice city, full of shitty memories. I’ve grown to hate Highway 115/35.

Frank Black is screaming “I’m pluckin’ all day on my angel’s harp / Shoutin’ at the rising moon / Knowin’ that I will soon stay” and I’m driving in another snowstorm… following an ambulance from Peterborough to Toronto. Cars are sliding around, but I take my time, life has handed me enough drama, it doesn’t need me to create more by being an idiot.

After the surgery my mom is in and out of consciousness, sometimes doing well and sometimes not; talking to doctors about my parents is like watching a yo-yo go up and down without any tricks.

Iggy Pop sings “A massive headache in my aging skull / Means I do not feel well / Pain, pain, pain / Bad brains must always feel pain.” Maybe, but I’ve got a steady diet of pain killers and muscle relaxants to keep that shit at bay. There are too many places to be and I‘m never in the right place.

She died. My mom. I don’t know what I was listening to when I found out. I was five minutes from the hospital in another fuckin’ snowstorm. And after, I was alone in the parking lot, distraught, destroyed, and I don’t remember what I was hearing or seeing.

February turned to March, and there was more snow and more trips and the doctors and nurses knew me by name and the Black Keys, Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash had joined the soundtrack of my trip along with Dark Night of the Soul. Two days before my father died Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse) shot himself.

“Our souls / Time slippin’ by / I call out your pain / All alone / Shadows movin’ / Shadows movin’ / Shadows have long gone by / Dark night of the soul”… words, they haunt you more if you place them into your own context. They take on meanings that the writer never had. I slip further in thought.

Like Chesnutt, Linkous music had meant a lot to me. It had seen me through some good and bad times… and there should have been more. Both had put out an amazing repertoire of tunes and suddenly – like my parents, they were gone.

When the hell everything turned to shit I don’t know, but when my mourning turned into a full out depression, I got help. That was four years ago.

“Daddy’s Gone” spins on the turntable. A tear drops. Not for my parents… it’s for my kids. Cancer doesn’t just rob the sick of life; it steals time from the living; it steals focus away from happiness and places it squarely in survival mode. Caregivers and their families endure but those too young to understand see smiles slip away when heads turn from their eyes to look upon the photos on the wall. Funny, was I just describing cancer or depression?

Every few months I listen to this record and it takes me to places to important to forget. The emotional resonance just pulls me in and washes over me. Then, for a short time, I mourn again, and then I move on.

I Really Want This! Captain America’s Shield

March 9, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

I’m on Facebook yesterday just checking out stories and pictures when up pops Chris Evans and Chris Pratt at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Of course Evans is in full Captain America garb handing out gifts to kids and posing with – the Shield. The one of a kind vibranium/adamantium hybrid. OK, sure, as mentioned before, I’m a comic geek. So depending on what origin story you prefer for his shield it just can’t be destroyed by any ordinary means. (OK a couple of small ‘g’ gods have done the trick over the years, but it gets fixed by some other small ‘g’ divinity and all is again good in the universe.

And I suppose that is the point. Steve Rogers isn’t just one of us. Or rather, he ‘is’ a representation of what we could aspire to be. He is empathetic, compassionate, and regardless of the consequences true to himself… even when the country he loves turns its back on him, (See how Rogers becomes Nomad and even returns the Shield to President Nixon when he sees corruption at the highest level. see Captain America & the Falcon #180, 1974 and a few other issues after.)

Captain America does the right thing – not because he’s ordered to, not because of reward, but simply because it is the right thing to do.

So when Steve Rogers looked to be killed during the Marvel Civil War a few years ago, and Joe Quesada (Marvels Head Honcho at the time) gave the shield to Steven Colbert – I was jealous. Sure, in the comics it went to Bucky Barnes (yes the Winter Soldier), but I watched Colbert and stewed.

Anyway, now Chris Evans is visiting kids with shield in tow, being the coolest possible Captain America, and I want that shield even more than before. And no my sons Cap Frisbee just will not do.

Of course there is this little problem of money… and that little problem of being sold out… but I’ll ignore that for a moment.

You see, an official replica of the one carried in the movies is available. It is actually made from the same mold as the actual movie prop… but it isn’t cheap.

Still, in my dreams it looks great sitting a couple feet away from my Big Star neon sign and a 360/12 Rickenbacker guitar like Roger McGuinn played in the Byrds.

Last weeks Playlist! March 1/ 2015

March 7, 2015March 8, 2015 / ds barrett / 2 Comments

Of course I love vinyl more than any other form of music listening, but sharing music is also fun… so… if you’re doing that Spotify thing, each week I plan to publish a playlist with some tunes I’ve been playing around the house. I’ll be updating this with a bit of info as this post is a bit of a test to see how the playlist looks on the blog. Or you can friend DS Barrett on Facebook where the playlist will show up first. Anyway, here it goes – March 1/15 Playlist Hope you enjoy!

“Cherry Bomb” – The Runaways

Was listening to a lot of Joan Jett this past week as I got her Greatest Hits on (cherry bomb red) vinyl a few days ago. I decided to put the Runaways version on simply because I really wish I had it on vinyl. Maybe some day… Still can’t believe that a sixteen year old kid (Cherie Currie) could pull off that much power and venom.

“In The Street” – Big Star

What was it that Westerberg sang about Alex Chilton – “I never travel far without a little Big Star”. This is an alternate version of the song taken from the documentary Nothing Can Hurt Me. By the way, loving this song has nothing to do with That 70’s Show, but then again, it doesn’t hurt it either.

“Stutter” – Elastica

I love the female perspective on this song. Probably because every girl I ever dated had to pretty much smack me in the head to get me to figure out they were interested. “What… you’re actually talking to me (gasp, gulp) um… nice weather.”

“Substitute” – The Ramones

Awesome rendition of the Who classic from their covers record Acid Eaters. I got it as a Christmas gift from my birth mother, which makes me love it all the more.

“Stone Cold Crazy” – Queen

For some reason more people seem to be familiar with the Metallica version, which is funny because I thought Motley Crue had covered it… anyway – this is the original from Sheer Heart Attack, which I picked up used a few weeks back.

“Kindergarten” – Zeus

The song that turned me on to this band. Frickin love these guys.

“Bleed A Little While Tonight” – The Lowest Of The Low

Pretty much said it all when I wrote about them a little while back.

“déjà vu” – Mo Kenney

My wife and I were talking one night and we had the TV satellite playing music for us when this came on. I think I might have actually ‘shssh-ed’ her while I scrambled for a pen and paper. Mo Kenney was a staple around the house for a few months after that.

“Milwaukee” – The Both

Love Aimee Mann and Ted Leo and this song brings out the best in both. The music video is pretty funny as well.

“I Am The Cosmos” – The Posies

Wish I could find the Beck cover of this song. I know he did it during the “Sound & Vision” session back in 2013. Anyway, this Posies cover of Chris Bell is quite awesome.

“Daddy’s Gone” – Sparklehorse & Danger Mouse

Have tried writing about this song and album a few times. 2009-2010 was the worst year of my life. I spent a lot of time driving the two hours between my parent’s house and my home when both fell ill in 2009. Dark Night of the Soul was keeping me company a whole lot during those trips and “Daddy’s Gone” had me thinking about where I wasn’t.

“Can’t Cry Hard Enough” – Victoria Williams

Funny story. I was at the concert when this was recorded. I yelled out a request for “This Moment”. After explaining that she had never played it live before – she did it anyway. The album it’s taken from is (drum roll) This Moment: Live In Toronto.

“Hummingbird” – Imaginary Cities

In March of 2010 I went to see the Pixies at Massey Hall in Toronto. Imaginary Cities opened the show. They were phenomenal. I’m sure I’ll be writing about them soon.

“All The Young Dudes” – David Bowie

It isn’t that the Mott The Hoople and Bowie versions are all that different… I just like how Bowie seems to perform songs rather than simply sing them… discuss if you must.

“Nausea” – Beck

Some songs just make me and my kids rock out as we drive from point A to B. Beck has quite a few songs that get us doing the Wayne’s World head nod thing.

“Bull in the Heather” – Sonic Youth

With Kim Gordon doing the publicity thing for her new book Girl In A Band, I’ve found myself pining for the 90’s version of Sonic Youth. Oddly enough, I always preferred her songs.

“Pumping On Your Stereo” – Supergrass

Please don’t tell anyone, but I kinda liked Brit-Pop… and I really got into Supergrass for a while.

“Spectacular” – Graham Coxon

Speaking of Brit-Pop… another song about a boy fantasizing over a picture in a magazine. Makes me yell at my stereo – “Dude – your lead guitarist for fuckin’ Blur… as if you couldn’t get her number and ask her out for coffee!”

“Wave of Mutilation (Peel Sessions) – Pixies

Sooner or later I’ll get around to writing about Doolittle 25. This was the tour I caught back in 2010 and Kim Deal was still in the band. Not sure it would be a true Pixies concert without her.

“Limitless” – Dust Galaxy

Heard this on a magazine compilation a few years ago, then I had to spend a few weeks tracking down the who, what, where and why and order the damn CD online. Dark and sinister rock…

Lament for a world gone by… Queen – The Game

March 6, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

We would stay up and just talk until the wee hours. It was a bond we had, although it probably meant way more to me than her. Cousins, although not by blood, when my aunt said we were too old to sleep in the same room, we instead just went to the sofas down stairs and kept the conversation going.

There wasn’t any specific music as we chatted, it’s just that Queen’s The Game reminds me of those times. It was at at my cousins place where I first listened to this record but over the years it began to fade into the background, until I recently picked up this used copy on vinyl. It was the only format that I really wanted to own it on. I’m sentimental that way. If I originally heard it on vinyl, then that is how I want it now.

Queen put out ‘better’ records of course. (Although, The Game has sold more than any other Queen record due to two number one hits “Another One Bites The Dust” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”)

Early on they did the prog thing, and then they started this hybrid roaring twenties in the distant future bit. Honestly, I always pictured Queen as being at their best when imagining a movie cross of styles between Metropolis and Blade Runner. While Mercury and May were always a pretty much “over the top” duo, The Game along with the Flash Gordon Soundtrack was the end of the FM years for Queen as they began turning towards Mercury’s more ballad and broadway inspired material. He has always been the greatest vocalist to come out of “Rock”, but in the 80’s and 90’s it was as if he wanted to prove it… in my experience, when the ego gets bigger than the music, that’s when an artist begins to really… um… suck!

From The Works on I just couldn’t get into it. “Radio Ga Ga” was a song that just forced a change in the station. Maybe the Brits at Live Aid were into it, but that song drove me insane.

So it was nothing new after that. Sure I would, and did go back to listen to Night at the Opera and Day at the Races, but it was like photographs of days gone by. The Game, is a great classic record, but it is best suited as an entrance to memories. My cousin and I see each other now and then, but it’s been a long time since we sat up talking late into the night about nothing and everything. Meanwhile Queen keeps trying to keep memories alive, and in the process kinda ruin the legacy they have.

I Really Want This! Big Star Neon Sign

March 1, 2015 / ds barrett / 4 Comments

Anyone who collects anything has that one object that is simply unattainable. Usually it is either a cash problem… or it just isn’t available to buy. In my case, it falls into both categories. You see, I have this dream of having a bar that has a single neon sign just off to the side.

This sign

It isn’t just a sign. It is major history in the world of one of my favourite rock bands. It is a story hanging on my wall. It is the ultimate geeky altar to music people who are ‘in the know.’ A way to instantly tell people we worship awesome music in this home.

The sign first shows up on the cover of Big Star’s #1 Record. In fact, it is pretty much the cover.

Then it shows up again on a tree for the cover of Big Star Live,

and once more on the movie poster for the Big Star biography Nothing Can Hurt Me.

It is gorgeous and glorious and the ultimate fan possession.

The cool thing was that a couple years back, some official replicas were made around the same time Omnivore was putting out a special edition of Third/Sisters Lovers for Record Store Day. It was out of my price range.

But I still want it… it is one of the coolest memorabilia items in existence… but alas, I haven’t won the lottery yet. Guess a poster might have to do.

http://ardentmusic.11spot.com/merchandise/poster/big-star-neon-star-poster.html

Joan Jett & the Blackhearts Greatest Hits – It’s Rowan Approved!

March 1, 2015 / ds barrett / 1 Comment

As I first sat down to write this, I desperately tried to separate Jett the rock star, from Jett the ‘female’ rock star. Just look at the music by itself without the distraction of a person’s gender and ‘rock mythology’ getting in the way.

Couldn’t do it. The very first song on this record is “Cherry Bomb,” a tune about youth rebellion, underage girls and promiscuity all from the female viewpoint.

My opinion is that next to the Ramones, Joan Jett is the ‘coolest’ (not to be confused with ‘Best’ ‘Greatest’ or ‘Favourite’) rock star to have walked the earth. Gender is part of that package. When I was a skinny kid on my banana-seat bike she was belting out “Cherry Bomb” with the teenage Runaways appealing to both the stoner set and emerging punk scene. During my own adolescence as big hair metal was killing the airwaves, she was singing about loving rock ‘n’ roll in a way that was both kiddie-pop and rock power simultaneously, and being welcomed into the boys club as a peer. Then in 90’s she was rock aristocracy as a virtual ton of female driven bands claimed her as influence and anointed her to the status of ‘rock god.’ Who else but Jett could be welcomed into the fold by rockers, punks and metal-heads a like.

This all came about not because she sang meaningful folk songs, or using her sexuality to sell records through image, but by jumping into the ‘rock’ game straight up and singing about being a disaffected youth and sex from a female perspective. These being two of the most common themes of rock music coming from her rock ‘n’ roll heart. Like the Ramones, she didn’t follow a trend, her jeans and leather image never really changed from beginning to present. Instead she just turned the amp up and rocked out.

It is hard to imagine a world where Hole’s Live Through this, Phair’s Exile On Guy Street and even Morrisette’s Jagged Little Pill exist without Jett blazing a trail of ‘fuck you – I’m a woman who rocks’ right down the middle of male dominated guitar/loud amp highway. As if to prove this point Jett is the first woman to win the Revolver Golden Gods Award which honours metal performers. Put it this way, when record companies wanted nothing to do with her in the post Runaways era – she just started her own label and then sold records in the millions.

So I pick up this “Cherry Bomb” red vinyl copy of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Greatest Hits (ordered from Newbury Comics http://www.newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=103-2040175N ) and my kids immediately start bouncing their heads around and dancing at the lunch table to “Bad Reputation.” My ten year old says “does this mean she doesn’t care what people think of her.”

Me: Yep.

Him: That’s cool.

Me: Yep

Him: Who is that?

Me: Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

Him: Can we listen to this again?

Me: Any time you please.

Him: Can I work the turntable?

Me: Not a chance.

So, we have an incredible record and it is Rowan approved. What more can you ask for?

Update Elastica & Alan Cross & Record Store Day

February 27, 2015February 27, 2015 / ds barrett / Leave a comment

As some of you might remember, I wrote a little blog about Elastica and a possible release for Record Store Day 2015. I had heard the rumour through Alan Cross on his segment Adventures in Vinyl on CFNY 102.1theedge in Toronto.

https://barrettbites.com/2015/01/19/the-mystery-of-elastica-and-alan-cross-on-the-path-to-vinyl-glory/

Anyway, his reply to the question was to look at discogs, which I did AND

http://www.edge.ca/2014/12/11/adventures-in-vinyl-elastica-line-up-1995/

Nope.

As far as I can tell there is nothing going on. The Elastica eponymous record was already re-released on vinyl in May of 2014 (on red translucent vinyl to boot), and has not shown up on any advance lists for Record Store Day 2015.

Oh well, …

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Vinyl and Collectibles reviewed and geeked about!

Author: ds barrett