NewYork NewYork #3

(Gil Scott Heron – Madison Avenue)

Bit late with today’s cut..such is life.
So without further delay hold this piece, (from his 1978 set ‘Secrets’ from Gil Scott Heron, a Cat who speaks.

Of interest, (at least to the football lovers among us), is that his father is the acclaimed footballer Giles Heron..the first Jamaican to play for Celtic in the 1950’s !!

Plastic Bertrand on Top of the Pops 1978 – forgot how funny this was – the song, the leather trousers, the jacket with the rose in the lapel, the dancing….

Amigos do Trio,

Além do Vasco da Gama,tivemos nesse ano o retorno à Série A de mais um campeão Brasileiro, o Guarani.

Para quem não sabe, o time de Campinas foi campeão Brasileiro em 1978, disputando uma polêmica final contra o Palmeiras.

No primeiro jogo, disputado em São Paulo, o goleiro Emerson Leão acertou uma cabeçada em um tal de “Careca”, um jovem atacante que começava no Guarani.

Além da marcação do Pênalti, Leão foi expulso, e o jogo terminou 1×0 para os Campineiros.

No segundo jogo, repetiu-se o placar, e o Guarani Futebol Clube se sagrou o primeiro, e até hoje único, Campeão Brasileiro do interior.

Em pé: Neneca, Édson, Mauro, Gomes, Miranda e Zé Carlos; Agachados: Capitão, Renato, Careca, Manguinha e Bozó.

Curioso é que a cobertura do segundo jogo da final marcou o início do Globo Esporte, famoso programa esportivo da Rede Globo que vai ao ar na hora do almoço.

Mas, infelizmente, parece que as glórias da equipe Bugrina ficaram no passado.

Apesar da volta à primeira divisão, depois de 5 anos de ausência (o clube perambulou pelas segunda e terceira divisões), a situação do clube é caótica.

Fruto de péssimas administrações, as dívidas já chegam a mais de R$ 120 milhões, o que já levou à penhora tanto sua sede social, quanto o estádio Brinco de Ouro da Princesa.

Com isso, o clube não tem dinheiro em caixa, além de praticamente inexistir qualquer trabalho nas categorias de base, estas que já revelaram para o futebol Brasileiro nomes como Careca, Evair, Neto, Amoroso e Luisão.

Existe um projeto em andamento no clube, que prevê a venda do Brinco de Ouro, localizado em valorizada região de Campinas.

A verdade é que nem o mais fanático Bugrino previa o acesso à Série A.

Entraram na Série B, sim, para não sofrer o segundo descenso do ano, eis que em abril o time foi rebaixado para a Série A2 do Paulista.

O acesso é, sim, fruto do excelente trabalho do técnico Osvaldo Alvares, o Vadão.

Sem dinheiro, o clube foi atrás de jogadores que se destacaram por equipes pequenas no Campeonato Paulista, conseguindo formar um grupo que, além de nunca ter estado fora do G-4, brigou pelo título até a metade do segundo turno.

Entretanto, o problema é que grande parte do grupo têm vínculo com o clube apenas até o final da Série B, o que traz grande incerteza quanto ao futuro da equipe no ano que vem.

Enfim, que com este acesso o Guarani consiga se reestruturar, voltando a integrar o grupo de grandes equipes do futebol brasileiro.

Outros acessos:

Além de Guarani e Vasco da Gama, Ceará e Atlético-GO também garantiram vaga na Série A do ano que vem.

Fico muito feliz pelo Ceará, que, com os rebaixamentos de Sport e Náutico (este último, se ainda não certo, iminente), garante uma segunda vaga ao futebol do Nordeste na primeira divisão.

Além do que, sou capaz de apostar que a equipe Cearense terá uma das melhores médias de público do ano que vem.

Parabéns, também, ao estado de Goiás, que emplacará, no ano que vem, 2 times na primeira divisão.

Além do que, teremos mais um Atlético!

Aurélio Camargo

aureliocamargo.blogdotrio@gmail.com

http://twitter.com/aureliocamargo

I caught myself watching Holocaust – a mini-series from 1978 on Fox Classics (it’s continuing tomorrow night if anyone’s interested). Meryl Streep and that lovely actress that plays Aunt May in the recent Spider Man movies. They’re both so very believable. And Nigel Hawthorne (of Yes Minister fame) makes a surprise appearance as one of the upper-echelon type Nazis tasked with murdering Jews at every town and village they enter. It shows how they scoff at this ridiculous order from Hitler y’s’v – but they still carry it out. It’s interesting that like in Star Wars, the ruthless, efficient bad guys are also here played by English actors by and large, whereas the good guys are American-accented.

It was of course difficult to watch.

It’s hard to believe that I’m what they were after, only 60 years ago.

I thought a number of things. I’ve dreamt about being hunted by Nazis.

In real life, there were actually helicopters outside my parent’s place tonight for a few hours- search and rescue. I said a prayer to G-d that whoever was being looked for would be found safe and sound. I thought of what it would be like with choppers chasing me with spotlights (yes, I guess I’ve seen too many movies – the Nazis wouldn’t have used them much, if at all). But I did recall the words to one song that ‘gets’ me every time I hear it, I Was Only Nineteen:

“And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep?
And why the Channel Seven chopper chills me to my feet?
And what’s this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only nineteen.”

As one can tell, it deals with a war veteran’s ongoing trauma, decades after. It was on one of my Dad’s famous (to us kids) compilation tapes from when we were young; it had a major impact on me growing up.

That’s certainly what it is like to be a Holocaust survivor too. The dreams haunt you every night. My own grandmother has suffered this especially in recent years.

Part of the curse in the Torah, should we stray from its dictates, is that when the night time comes, we will say ‘please give back the day’, and when the day comes, we will beg for the night. How can a survivor close their eyes comfortably for sleep, and how can they open them in the morning? Hope? Forgetfulness? – I’m sure such things play a part.

A friend from work told me about an Andrew Denton interview she watched with her Mum on ABC’s Elders. A Holocaust survivor, Helen Bamber, was the interviewee. One thing Bamber laments is that humanity is so terrible at learning. She says the stories have to be told over and over again, and less and less people want to endure the pain of listening. She is a ‘witness to the vulnerability of humanity’, and what else is protection against such vulnerability than the inoculation of moral education? My colleague said she and her mother were so greatly unsettled by Bamber’s harrowing story. And it is – they all are, unsettling stories.

I just keep wondering, after all we’ve been through as a people, how come every Jew doesn’t cry for a few minutes each and every morning when they wake up? I’m just amazed that we all don’t ‘have it out’ every morning a little, before we put on a face for the world and everyone in it, pretending everything’s alright, and that we aren’t changed, and that we can still smile brightly, and certainly the world has progressed and isn’t after us anymore? (Because we know it’s not so).

And now I remember, there is a law, that every Jew is to awaken at midnight almost every night, and sit on the floor, put ashes on their head, and weep and mourn like we do on the 9th of the Jewish month of Av (over the loss of our Temples, and all the tragedies that have happened to us over our long history). It is codified, but few people I know actually do it. It’s called Tikkun Hatzot – the Rectification at Midnight. Rectification of our actions, of the world around us and so on.

With just a few tomes and movies and such produced, I think I’ll leave the bulk of this particular task to Elie Wiesel and others. They are eminently more capable. But these were some of my thoughts tonight. Perhaps they are indicative of what many of us – Jew and Gentile alike – think about and feel from time to time.

Title: They Called It Rock

Artist: Nick Lowe

Album: Pure Pop For Now People

Year Released: 1978

What It Is: Smart funny rock-and-roll by Nick Lowe and Rockpile. It’s a remake of a song called “Shake & Pop” that was on his “Jesus Of Cool” LP in England, but this version is much cleaner, faster, and takes the message home effectively.

Riffage / Hookage: Nick Lowe always has a way with hooks, and Billy Bremner’s opening riff is pretty solid in a twangy 50’s way.

Cowbell?: Nope.

Words Of Wisdom: “They cut another record, it never was a hit
Someone in the newspaper said it was shit
The drummer is a bookie, the singer is a whore
The bass player’s selling clothes he never would have wore”

Mixology Report: Lowe’s always good for a mix or three!

Top Five Genius Results: Rockpile – Play That Fast Thing (One More Time)
Graham Parker – Mercury Poisoning
Elvis Costello – You’ll Never Be A Man
Dave Edmunds – Girls Talk
Joe Jackson – Kinda Kute

I’m surprised Billy Bremner’s solo single isn’t in the top 5.

For The Good Of The Order: This was recorded during quite a whirlwind era for Lowe. Rockpile recorded three records (one by Dave Edmunds, one by Lowe and one as Rockpile) plus sessions that became another Edmunds LP. This song was a non-album single. Lowe also was busy as a songwriter and producer. After splitting from Edmonds, and after his marriage to Carlene Carter (making him related to Johnny Cash in a cousin in-law way), he slowed down and stalled creatively. He was quite clever, but soon his cleverness became trite. He still was a go-to producer, though, and brought together Ry Cooder and Jim Keltner to work on a John Hiatt record. That record (“Bring The Family”) is the reason we know Hiatt today. That’s just a tidbit of what I could say. I didn’t even mention Brinsley Schwarz…yet…

And here’s a live tidbit!

oneculture’s signature thread color references, “1970” (beige, olive and brown) and “1978” (orange, brown and turquoise), are comprised of colors that were prevalent during that period.

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Cheers,
Mark
oneculture
For those who love jeans

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Medalha.

Another track I’d completely forgotten about, which is really strange as I used to play it all the time in my slow set. Thanks to fellow Morpher DJ, Joe Barker from Montreal, who played it on his show which then sent me off to google and youtube to do my research.

If you want to know what I found out you’ll have to listen to our show – I’ll be playing it somewhen between now and Christmas. However I can tell you that, as far as I can see, he is not related to Minnie Caldwell from Coronation Street.

Cheers Joe!

Click to enlarge

Band: Melody Ramblers
Home: Chatham Ontario
Circa: 1978
Style: Country Covers
Band History: Ran from 1953-1994 with various line ups.

Members:
(Back Row)
Bruno Pinsonault – Bass
Mark Buckwheat – Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Larry St.Pierre – Drums
Dan St.Pierre – Guitar
(Front Row)
Dennis Smith

Notes: Mark Buckwheat would later join the band Home Grown.

____________________-

These pictures are from the October 1978 issue of “Bicycle Motocross Action”. They appear courtesy of Bob Osborn. Do not reprint or publish without his expressed written permission.

Seeing the bash guard on the Stormer Jr. made me wonder if it wasn’t the Pikes Peak bike. So I had to find the article. Clearly the bash guards are different. And the bike in the test is a regular Stormer. I have not reprinted the article do to its very long length. I may later on till then try to get your hands on the magazine and enjoy these pictures in the meantime.

Ok this bike was recently spotted and I had to add it to the site. Thanks to Steve for sending me the pictures. Two very unsual things about this bike. First was immeadiately obvious. The bike has a CYC Bashgaurd just like the one in the article in “Bicycle Motocross Action” on Pikes Peak.

Was this that bike, or merely a local attempt to duplicate the Pikes Peak bike?  **Editors Note- See the article above (Pikes Peak). Clearly the bash guards are different, and the bike used in the test was stickered as a regular Stormer. **

Second was the decal says Stormer Jr. Never heard of this model before. The bike shows tall and looks like a a regular Stormer. This bike has a 18.5″ top tube just like a regular Stormer.  So what is the difference? Could it be that CYC had intended to do a CYC Stormer Jr. Model and just never did? This clearly looks like a regular Stormer to me. Could it be the factory simply mislabeled it? This is a very interesting find.

***This just in*** Barry (last name unknown) just commented that he was on the CYC mailing list for years.  CYC it turns out made a production run of special edition Pikes Peak Stormers and Stormer Jr.’s. maybe 500 of the Stormers and 250 of the Stormer Jr.s were planned for production. It is unclear how many they actually produced. Thanks for the info Barry!***

The lovely and talented Monique St. Pierre began her Playboy career as Miss November 1978, but she has gone on to achieve much greater positions within the company.

Photographed by Richard Fegley

A clear case of the carpet not matching the drapes, which for my money is just plain false advertising, but the woman has a very interesting background and is a skilled businessperson so I’m not going to throw too many stones.

My individuality is very important to me. I cannot stand to be dominated and I cannot stand being mediocre at what I’m doing.” Right now, she’s working on being the best model she can be, and she’s studying to be the best actress she can be. “I’ve been studying acting here in Denver, and I love it. I’ve signed with Willhelmina in New York and I’ll be moving there soon. I’m going to find the best New York acting instuctor I can and devote myself to the art until I know I have the ability to take a major role in a play or a movie.” (“Unique Monique,” Playboy, November 1978)

The Wiesbaden, Germany-born Ms. St. Pierre was indeedy represented by Wilhelmina Models at the time of her interview for her appearance as Miss November, but they shitcanned her after this issue went to print. I am surprised by that, given the number of playmates who Wilhelmina has represented before, during, and after Playboy shoots — Stephanie Adams (Miss November 1992), e.g. — so whatever. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Monique came back to Playboy and took a job with the Playboy Channel, which at the time was just starting out. Besides being an executive, she also worked as crew on many of her projects, continued to model and appear in Playboy videos, etc, –even some cameos on “The Girls Next Door”– and, in addition to doing the money-side of production, she also enjoys costume-designing.

One source of Monique’s admirable confidence is hypnosis. “My life last year was moving more quickly than I could handle. I desperately wanted to relax. By coincidence, I met a hypnotherapist, who put me under, then suggested that I wake up feeling calm and refreshed. I stayed under for three hours, just loving the feeling. Then when he brought me out, I felt great. He hypnotized me out of a cold once; just made my fever vanish.”

We wondered if a strong-willed person like herself wasn’t afraid to submit to hypnosis. “Not at all. You really won’t do anything you don’t want to do. As an experiment, the hypnotist suggested I meet him in his hotel room at a certain time. Of course, I didn’t show up.”

Um, I do not claim to be an expert judge of character, but I’m not sure that a hypnotist who suggests “as an experiment” that you meet him in a hotel room is someone you should see again. Just sayin’.

A rare instance of the centerfold being the cover model as well; I can tell from those 70’s-rific suede boots Monique is wearing that the cover photo’s from the same set of shots as the ones in the pictorial. Also, dig the story at the bottom left: “Who Killed Jimmy Hoffa and Why,” with an exclamation point instead of a question mark. Like the top minds at Playboy had solved the mystery and the Feds could now rest easy. Awesome.

“Badaltey Rishtey” (1978) was released to a lukewarm response and the movie did not do well at the box office. Of course there is no correlation between a movie’s box office performance and its production values. The story of this movie was different from the usual “dhishum dhishum” stuff of those days. From what one can see from the title of this movie and from the songs, this movie was a story on a love triangle or something similar where Reena Roy have two suitors competing for her.

This movie had some very nice songs it it. Here is a superb song from the movie that is sung by Lata and Mahendra Kapoor. Anand Bakshi is the lyricist and Laxmikant Pyarelal composed the music. This is a stage song, where Reena Roy is on the stage and she sings this song, encouraged by Rishi Kapoor from the backstage. Unknown to her, Jeetendra is seated among the audience. These are the two men in Reena Roy’s life. She is singing this song which is meant for Rishi Kapoor, but Jeetendra, sitting among the audience, thinks that the song is meant for him.

Lata sings this song very nicely. Mahendra Kapoor , for all his efforts, sounds jarring. How I hope that the music directors had used some other male voice for this song.

Overall, this is a wonderful semi classical song. The movie is forgotten, but this song has left its mark among the lovers of old Bollywood music. This song is a wonderful example of a classical raag being used in a movie song, and still managing to come up with a popular song.

Song-Meri saanson ko jo mahka rahi hai (Badalte Rishtey) (1978) Singers-Lata, Mahendra Kapoor,Lyrics-Anand Bakshi, MD-Laxmikant Pyarelal

Lyrics

aaa aaa
hmm
meri saanson ko jo mahkaa rahi hai
hmm
meri saanson ko jo mahkaa rahi hai
ye pahle pyaar ki khushbu
teri saanson se shaayad aa rahi hai
meri saanson ko jo mahkaa rahi hai

shuru ye silsilaa to usi din se huaa thaa
shuru ye silsilaa to usi din se huaa thaa
achaanak toone jis din mujhe yoonhi chhuaa thaa
achaanak toone jis din mujhe yoonhi chhuaa thaa
lahar jaagi jo us pal, tan-badan mein
wo man ko aaj bhi bahkaa rahi hai
pahle pyaar ki khushbu
teri saanson se shaayad aa rahi hai
meri saanson ko jo mahkaa rahi hai

bahut tarsaa hai ye dil, tere sapne sajaake
bahut tarsaa hai ye dil, tere sapne sajaake
ye dil ki baat sun le, meri baahon mein aake
jagaakar anokhi pyaas man mein
yahi thi aag jo dahkaa rahi hai
ye pahle pyaar ki khushbu
teri saanson se shaayad aa rahi hai
meri saanson ko jo mahkaa rahi hai

ye aankhen bolti hain, jo ham na bol paaye
ye aankhen bolti hain, jo ham na bol paaye
dabi wo pyaas man ki, nazar mein jhilmilaaye
dabi wo pyaas man ki, nazar mein jhilmilaaye
honthon pe teri halki si hansi hai
meri dhadkan bahakti jaa rahi hai
pahle pyaar ki khushbu
teri saanson se shaayad aa rahi hai
meri saanson ko jo mahkaa rahi hai

La misto

Absolutely massive Funk tune. Forgive the suspect name, this is a breakbeat funk behemoth. Forget Part One, its a “Radio Edit” of 3 minutes and when there’s a 6 1/2 minute funk marathon on the B-Side, why would you take anything BUT Part 2?

I’ll be back with more Star Wars goodness in about a week, including a post on last week’s Clone Wars episode, but in the meantime, I want to wish you and yours a happy Life Day on this, the 31st anniversary of The Star Wars Holiday Special…

The late Bea Arthur in The Star Wars Holiday Special

Yes, back when I wasn’t even five months old, this travesty of televisual variety programming was terrorising children and adults alike with its bizarre sketches, incomprehensible Wookiee dialogue and a very wooden Harrison Ford. But what else was hot at the time?

• “MacArthur Park” by Donna Summer was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with Summer’s own Live and More album topping the Billboard 200
• Ralph Bakshi’s animated version of The Lord of the Rings was tops at the box office
• Laverne & Shirley was the highest-rating TV show during the 1978-9 period

Yes, in 1978, Tolkien, dance music and spin-off TV shows dominated pop culture. The late ’70s sure were wacky! Thank God those days are over!

Here are the top-30 movies from the 70’s. This decade is the best one. I always said that the best movies were made in the 70’s. Take a look for yourself and hit that video store on the way home. Ladies and gentlemen, the best movies from 1970-1979…

1. The Godfather part II (1974) Director: Francis Ford Coppola
2. A Clockwork Orange (1971) Director: Stanley Kubrick
3. The Godfather (1972) Director: Francis Ford Coppola
4. Jaws (1975) Director: Steven Spielberg
5. Barry Lyndon (1975) Director: Stanley Kubrick
6. Annie Hall (1977) Director: Woody Allen
7. Chinatown (1974) Director: Roman Polanski
8. The Deer Hunter (1978) Director: Michael Cimino
9. The Exorcist (1973) Director: William Friedkin
10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) Director: Milos Forman
11. Apocalypse Now (1979) Director: Francis Ford Coppola
12. Marathon Man (1976) Director: John Schlesinger
13. Manhattan (1979) Director: Woody Allen
14. National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) Director: John Landis
15. Papillon (1973) Franklin J. Schaffner
16. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) Director: Steven Spielberg
17. The Tenant (1976) Director: Roman Polanski
18. Deliverance (1972) Director: John Boorman
19. The French Connection (1971) Director: William Friedkin
20. Taxi Driver (1976) Director: Martin Scorsese
21. Love and Death (1975) Director: Woody Allen
22. Dog Day Afternoon (1975) Director: Sydney Lumet
23. Five Easy Pieces (1970) Director: Bob Rafelson
24. Serpico (1973) Director: Sydney Lumet
25. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) Director: Robert Benton
26. All the President’s Men (1976) Director: Alan J. Pakula
27. The Last Detail (1973) Director: Hal Ashby
28. Midnight Express (1978) Director: Alan Parker
29. Three Days of the Condor (1975) Director: Sydney Pollack
30. Play It Again, Sam (1972) Director: Woody Allen

THE TRAILERS FOR THE TOP 3 BEST MOVIES OF 1970-1979

Oh man, it’s finally arrived, the day I’ve been dreading, the day that I, in taking on the task of talking about every Gentle Giant album, have seen as an inevitability since the beginning. Yes, this is the day we’re going to talk about Giant For A Day!

This album is about as infamous as you can get when talking about a band as famously non-famous “prog” rockers Gentle Giant. The cover just about says it all: the Giant, an insignia of the band’s since day one, when it graced the front of their first album, is now a paper-cut-out cartoon version of itself with the insane idea of taking a pair of scissors to this album you would have paid good money for, and putting it on your own face, presumably in order to show up to one of the band’s shows with the mask on to give everyone a laugh. Heck, U2 just did something like that in a concert I went to this year, but there’s a difference between U2 this year and Gentle Giant in 1978, only one of those bands actually played shows.

Yes, Gentle Giant only played 1 show in the entirety of 1978. A band that toured relentlessly with like 90 instruments being played between 5 guys that was actually starting to see a bit of success (as can be heard in the live album Playing The Fool), decided that, after consistent record company pressure to churn out some pop hits that date all the way back to The Power And The Glory, to take a bit of a break.

Having already tested the waters of their new-found pop sound with The Missing Piece, Gentle Giant seemed to forget one very important step when it comes to writing and recording new, completely different material: actually playing that material for people to see if it was successful. The result of such a lack of experimentation meant throwing out a new product before it was anywhere close to stable and strong enough to stand on its own.

Still, when one looks at the type of music Gentle Giant was blumped into, and the other bands that were around at the time, 1978 was simply not a good year for progressive rock. King Crimson were nowhere to be found, having split up 4 years previous, Yes (a band I have yet to get into) had released Tormato, another album where the prog formula was shortened to pop songs, and despite the album going platinum (Yes were a much more successful group than Gentle Giant), was still their lowest-charting album of the 70’s. Genesis had released …And Then There Were Three, another musical shift from bad avant-garde to worse pop, but despite the album being (reportedly) terrible, it was the band’s first platinum seller and it even spawned their first U.S. radio hit.

When one looks at the apparent death of Progressive rock, and the bands that had shifted to a more crappy sound seeing success, even resounding success, and looking at the other sounds that were around (disco being the biggest offender), is it any wonder that a band who only seen glimpses of that success when the bands that used to open for them like Yes and Genesis, would want to try and replicate it? Sure, Gentle Giant denounced their intention to be “commercial” all the way back in the liner notes of Acquiring The Taste, but since they had spent nearly a decade now failing to acquire enough money to succeed, clearly their tastes had to change.

Oh, the boys gave it their best shot, but there were some problems. For one, Gentle Giant, by prog standards, were far more advanced in terms of complexity and arrangement than most, and without a shred of ego among them. This meant that, in shifting to pop, which is all ego and the arrangements all come out of a cookie cutter, meant that the band was having to write against their most obvious weakness: paying attention to what’s popular.

Really, to listen to the album with “let’s write some pop songs” in mind, you kind of see that, instead of carefully shifting their established sound to something that would appeal to a wider audience,  the guys decided to just turn completely away from their original sound and shot-gun blast every genre they could think of that was selling, and try to represent it in the same album. The result is an album that could have used a lot more of that good old-fashioned arrangement and care that they so effortlessly seemed to be able to put into an album, even a two-week rush-job like Interview.

Overall, the styles they chose to go for are mostly sparkly, positive-minded and completely toothless bubble gum pop, or as close as a band of this caliber could get to it without frontal lobotomies. The first example of this new type of sound is “Words From The Wise“, of which they were nice enough to make a music video (indeed, this would be an album that would see 3 extremely low-budget videos, further proving the band’s intentions).

Indeed, like with the shrill guitar riff of “Two Weeks In Spain” that opens up The Missing Piece, the 4-part vocal acapella harmony of “Words From The Wise” should jolt you into an upright position, finger extended to push the STOP button as soon as possible. Still, to stick with the song, one is rewarded with an earnest effort to recreate the sounds of… oh who am I kidding, the song sounds like a damn Mentos commercial. Still, the song is well constructed, and the timing of the vocals and instrumentation throughout is at least complex enough to keep one’s attention beyond the crazy in-the-front-row vocals. The song’s bridge has some really crazy effect coloring Kerry Minnear’s vocals, and I kind of wish they would have explored that a little more, but what can you expect in a 4 minute song when you have 21 repetitions of the one-line hook to get through (that’s not exaggeration, I sat here and counted)?

The next song is an abrupt shift, going from the glittery pop (which I just accidentally wrote as “poop” and almost left that way on purpose) to this kind of Southern Rock-sounding acoustic number called “Thank You“. Now, “acoustic numbers”, when it comes to Gentle Giant, used to carry with them a great deal of excitement, because the dual guitar parts constructed by Gary Green and Ray Shulman are usually a thing of wonder to behold. In this case, such excitement is replaced with torpor, as the duo’s usual fancy picking is replaced with loudly, almost clumsily, strummed open chords and nothing else. Gary comes back in with some modest electric guitar to counter-act Derek Shulman’s really weird vocals on this song. I don’t know what it is, but it seems like the recording process with which the group got Derek’s vocal for this song left him without any consonants. I’ve heard demo tapes with better-produced vocals than this, and yet it all seems so intentional, like the band was trying to sound “rootsy” or something, but with a tune so cheesy that it makes Boston blush. Despite that, this is one of the stronger songs on the album, and was actually co-written by the band’s drummer (which is how you know you’re in trouble, see also The Beatles, Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma).

The third track is, in my opinion, the best on the album. It’s the title track, and despite not sounding anywhere near what Gentle Giant had ever produced, even in this album so far, is one of the most conventionally “catchy” tunes they’ve produced. I’m honestly not sure how to describe the sound using words that apply to any other song that was produced at this time, there’s a lot of Queen-like dual electric guitars which more or less form the hook, and the beat and “computer sounds” keyboard part by Kerry is something you could have gotten off a Devo album (or a Weird Al song that parodies Devo). Interestingly, despite this song predating Weird Al’s hit by 7 years, Derek seems to be taking a cue from the comedian in his vocal stylings here. Why would a guy choose, at no discernible benefit to the actual song, decide to do his singing in a ridiculous, foreign-sounding accent? I have no idea, but it’s still a song that I enjoy listening to, even on days when I’m incapable of enjoying the rest of the album. It also has the closest thing to a conventional music video the band has made, so enjoy!

Next, we have yet another mysterious shift in genres. Inexplicably, “Spookie Boogie” is an instrumental in the form of a cartoony Halloween party song. It features some tonal complexity, and a xylophone part that may recall some of the Giants’ early days, but none of that changes what the song is. I have no idea why the band included this song on the album, were they really hoping to get into that demographic that really enjoys instrumental “spooky” songs that are every bit as spooky as an episode of Scooby Doo? Maybe the band had the wrong idea of the meaning of the word “boogie”, taking the “boogie-man” definition instead of the type of music, since this song certainly isn’t a “boogie” by any musical sense of the word. Either way, I have read reviews that have called this the “best song on the album”, so that probably gives you some idea of the level of quality at which most people put this album.

“Take Me” is a bit more of a boogie, and actually a pretty good song. I have often though about Giant For A Day! as something of a Gentle Giant children’s album, because of the simplicity of the tunes and the all-too colorful and bright tone compared to something like Acquiring The Taste. This song disproves that theory soundly, as it’s one of the more “adult” songs by the band, taking a complex approach to the subject of relationships, at least as much as one can in a song primarily composed of heavy-handed choruses in 3 1/2 minutes:

Smooth-talkin’, slow-walkin’ tell no lie
Cool is the fool with the eagle eye
Spending my time drunk and living fast
Nobody knows what lies in my past.
I’m lookin’ back, my life is cryin’ out
What did I do, what was I all about?

Oh, take me
Save me from my misery
Oh, take me
I want to be free
Oh, take me
Take my hand and help me on
Oh, take me
I will soon be gone

Not too bad, really. It’s definitely on the same level as previous efforts to croon about relationships that Derek has made, and certainly as good as something like “I’m Turning Around”. I still say Phil did it better, but yeah.

Next we have another musical direction for the band to take, this time back into Southern America for a very Lynyrd Skynyrd-like blues-rock style, complete with the same guitar riffs you’d hear all throughout the 70’s. Derek tries his best, God bless him, to destroy his voice hitting some fairly annoying high notes, and Kerry might have been slightly cursing the single-chord bang on the piano part that he was given (or gave himself, who knows). This song is a bit of a train-wreck, and doesn’t even have an interesting title, “Little Brown Bag” indeed.

“Friends” is another unique step in the entire Gentle Giant catalog. It’s a simple acoustic guitar number, entirely written and sung by John Weathers, the drummer. Again, you know you’re in trouble when you let the drummer write and sing songs, but you’re in even worse trouble with the song your drummer sings is one of the best on the album. Indeed, it’s hard to deny the warmth and sincerity of “Friends”, and despite it being the simplest song Gentle Giant has ever recorded, musically speaking, it actually evokes the humble good nature of the band better than anything else on this album.

Indeed, it’s about the opposite of “No Stranger”, which puts the band into a kind of Motown mode, only if Motown was being played by 5 English nerds who can play better songs than this simply by tuning their instruments. Yeah, I kind of hate “No Stranger”, and not only for the stale tune, but because he rhymes “stranger” with “danger”, and I know it may just be modern-day cynicism saying this, but screw that.

Next up is a song that was clearly written with the intention of drawing tears from the eyes of the listener, but to hear the opening guitar whine on “It’s Only Goodbye” is far more likely to draw those tears out from laughter. Indeed, “It’s Only Goodbye” is about as obligatory as you get, as it’s a piano-driven 4 minute power ballad with Gary Green doing his best to strangle his Les Paul as it makes rather convincingly the sound of a cat giving birth. I would love to applaud the mature lyrics or catchy tune in this song, but my hands are too busy holding my gut as I laugh this song away. It’s worth hearing, it really is.

Finally, we have one more foray into piano-based bluesy Southern-rock nonsense with “Rock Climber”, a play on the word “rock” as a musical genre rather than a mountain for someone to climb. The song is a bit catchy, despite the pile-driving vocals, but it’s already too late. There was no saving this album ever since the first notes were sung.

So, as it goes, the band’s attempt to stay afloat by capitalizing on a very obvious shift in music was a well-meaning one, but unfortunately would not succeed. The band lost a lot of fans over Giant For A Day!, and to nobody’s surprise but their own, didn’t gain any new ones either.

Still, the album is not a total failure, it’s actually a fairly interesting case study when one looks at how a musically accomplished yet culturally detached band like Gentle Giant approached the idea of trying to write popular music. It’s like if Johnny Cash were to try rap or Genesis to try heterosexuality. While I could make the case that, like Acquiring The Taste is the ultimate “night-time” album in Gentle Giant’s catalog, Giant For A Day! is the ultimate “day-time” album, I don’t feel compelled to compare Giant For A Day! to the band’s other accomplishments in that way. Instead, I believe that the album is the opposite of Acquiring The Taste in that it completely goes against the Gentle Giant mission statement that they made back in ‘71:

“It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of being very unpopular… From the outset we have abandoned all preconceived thoughts of blatant commercialism. Instead we hope to give you something far more substantial and fulfilling.”

Of course, the band themselves would ultimately realize this fact and subsequently break up, but not before giving us one more album, which has a few surprises of its own. We’ll be talking about that album in December, not only because that’s the mission statement *I* put forth in January, but because it was a freaking expensive album to obtain. Until then, Happy Gentle Giant (for a) Day!

This textile bleaching factory was built in 1879. In 1978, the factory went bankrupt. Sobelta bought the factory grounds and sold them to Artifex in 1990, who used the sheds for storage. Unfortunately, at this time, some parts of the protected steam engine were stolen, surrendering the factory into a downward spiral. After Artifex abandoned the building, vandalism and theft increased, rendering the factory into a ruin. Today reconversion plan started; demolishing the most decayed parts of the buildings and redeveloping the best preserved ones into social housing.

Quick info: Produced by Nippon Animation. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Based on a novel called The Incredible Tide.

Expectations, etc: It’s a yet another series I’ve been intending to start watching for quite some time, but have been too lazy. From promo pictures this looks like an adventure series and if we add the title into the mix then I guess there’s going to be this boy who came from the future.

Impressions: The shark-hunting scene broke my suspension of disbelief a few too many times, but that boy running around the place carrying that shark around was even worse, I spent the whole time screaming in my head “Put that shark down! It’s too heavy! It makes no sense to carry it around! Put it down!”. Though by the time he put it down, I didn’t really care anymore and just wondered who that girl who got washed up the shore is. For some reason, in anime, everyone always ends up being washed up the shore, but let’s not dwell into that.

Once the little girl told that people from “Industria” are bad guys I just rolled my eyes since it became clear where this whole anime is going to go. Miyazaki’s anvilicious environmentalism is one of the reasons why I dislike his movies, I thought this anime will be a simple adventure series that I could enjoy regardless of it being directed by Miyazaki, but it looks like I was wrong, and this whole anime will be nothing but an environmental fable.

After that realization I just wished the episode ended faster, and was glad when it finally did.

Rating: 5.5/10

“Off To Wintersports In Tip Top Shape “

This super corny record is a classic! It’s a 30 minute workout with a big variety of ski-related excersises spiced up with some super corny tiroler music. Toll! The enthousiastic narrator will make sure you’ll get your feet of the floor!
Side B is filled with a 16 minute aprés-ski tiroler party medley (with the cheering and yodeling of drunken people already filled in!)

This record will get every party started… or end

Pop a bottle of glühwein and download the whole disk (60mb) here.

Capri Mk3 3000S 1978-81

What is your favourite Ford Capri?

The third-generation Capris were introduced at the Geneva Show in March 1978, allegedly with 150 revisions, but in practice little different from their predecessors. The new extended bonnet gave the headlamps a sort of eyebrow effect. The S models ran on Ghia wheels but gained a soft plastic rear spoiler and prominent S side striping. Desirable extras from the options list were Recaro seats (75.84), headlamp washers (56.14) and a high quality steel sunroof (£146).

If you would like to find out more about the classic Ford Capri Mk3 car art featured in this guide please click here.