Enough all ready!

Radio Stations across the world (and also you writers and producers of GLEE – who seem to be on some sort of sick mission to twist and mangle every great song ever written): I implore you…. PLEASE STOP KILLING GREAT SONGS!!!!!!!

Please?

It’s Donna Summer who I think of when I hear the Talking Heads “Life During Wartime” – This ain’t no disco….

Very bizarre how a mind works.

Rest in peace Donna.

I can’t believe I haven’t come across Oberhofer till now – great music.

I just had to make a few changes:

I’m Not your maid (I’m not your maid)
so lend a hand (so lend a hand)
I think it’s time t0
show me you can
We’ll clean this house together, before it’s noon
I’ve got the Windex, you get the broom
You better know that,  you’ll get no green
I’ll start hollerin’ if you don’t get your ass up soon

Hey – I never claimed to be good with rhyme.

Thanks to Eminem for “Not Afraid“

No more bread and butter!
No more toast and jam!

You will not eat them here you will not eat them there!!!

Los Microwaves had a song titled “Time To Get Up” –   a quirky New Wave rant with a hip Egyptian techno back beat. Every once in a while the line “It’s 6 O’clock, it’s time to get up” pops into my head. I haven’t heard this song in almost thirty years.  It was on a mixed tape of other “punk/new wave” bands. I think Social Distortion was on that tape as well.

This song reminds me  of how fun it was to discover new music. And how much work it was.

My daughter asked me the other day how I would hear about new music when I was a kid. I thought for a moment. Yeah, how did I?

There were no music blogs to follow. No YouTube, iTunes or any other form of high-speed instant access to a slew of up and coming bands from all over the world. For a while there wasn’t even MTV. So, I’m taken back to a time when discovering new music required a little bit of detective work, reading, patience and networking.

I didn’t grow up in a big city. I moved around A LOT. I never lived in a town that would ever become known as a prominent music mecca. In several of those places the only record store was a Radio Shack which might, on occasion, sell an album or two. Usually those albums were compilations of the days greatest hits – or more like compilations of greatest hits from generations back:

But on occasion I could find something to my liking such as David Bowie or Elvis Costello. Not that Lawrence Welk or Box Car Willie weren’t cool.

For much of my early teen hood, it was difficult to find anyone who shared my taste in music. Of course there were a few kids here and there who knew a lot about music, but for the most part, I was on my own when it came to discovering new music. I guess I should also mention I was pretty much a loner – moving around from year to year tends to do that to a person. Not that I was always without friends, but in some places it was more difficult to connect with people than in others. On the other hand, it was my love of music that would often lead me to other interesting people, or lead them to me.

For a while we lived in Virginia Beach where I discovered Tower Records. It was the most massive record store I had ever been in.  They had an import section which consisted of about 4 bins of albums. This is where you could find music never played on American radio, as well as rare albums by well-known artists. Tower Records also offered up a great selection of reading materials, everything from the well-known music mags to DIY fanzines, books and lesser known publications not found in your average book store.

Articles on lively music scenes happening around the globe always sparked my interest. As I read about great performances by The Cramps, The Ramones, The Velvet Underground and of course The Sex Pistols I longed to be in a place where I could experience all that energy up close and personal. Generally, I would read about a band before I ever heard their music. This was before music stores allowed you to listen to a sampling of a record before making a purchase, therefore I’d have to take my chance on spending hard-earned money on a band I’d only read about who had either influenced or was influenced by another band I loved.
Sometimes the music wouldn’t meet the expectations extrapolated from a review and I’d be left with a serious case of buyers remorse. Even so, no matter how terrible a record was, I would cherish it and I managed to amass quite a collection of rare albums I would hang onto for many years to come.

In Hawaii I was lucky enough to find a group of other like-minded musicphiles, we’d share finds. A few of those friends had access to fanzines or bootlegged audio tapes offering the sounds of bands like The Circle Jerks, JFA, TSOL  that were passed onto them from college aged siblings. (I’m an only child, so I  had no musical mentors on the home front to turn to). It was in Hawaii where I attended my first show. As exciting as it was, I can’t remember who was playing. All I remember about that show is that a fight broke out and I missed being hit up side the head with a skateboard by only a few inches. Not that I was involved in the fight – now that I think about it, maybe it wasn’t even a fight.:) Looking back, Hawaii had a pretty decent music scene brewing at the time, who’d have ever guessed?

MTV of course was great in its early days and I was introduced to many of my  favorite bands through MTV. But It was through late night t.v. shows and a smattering of video clips from here and there that I’d be introduced to  even more varieties of music. Saturday Night Live and Friday’s could usually be relied on as a good source of interesting musical offerings. Sometimes the musical guests would be a little disappointing (what? I waited all day for this?) Sometimes it would be more on target with what I was looking for – The Cars, Devo, The Plasmatics, The Jim Carroll Band… and it was shows like these that would trigger my scavenger hunts across cities and towns to find record stores that just MIGHT carry such artists.

The best though was when I discovered college radio. Specifically KTUH out of the University of Hawaii. I found out about KTUH from a friend who had a sister attending U of H and I became totally hooked. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all punk/new wave (I’d like to use the terminology “alternative” here – but the word as a genre did not really exist at the time) all the time and the good shows came on after midnight and only once a week, but the best part about this discovery was that I had a stereo  with a dual cassette deck. This meant I could record a show, go back and edit out all the talk and stuff that didn’t interest me and make a 90 minute mixed tape of stolen music for my own repeated enjoyment! Gotta love technology.

I just Googled KTUH – apparently KTUH is now the alternative rock station of Hawaii. Back in the day I remember absolutely NO alternative rock stations and to be anything other than a break dancing wannabe was a sure-fire way to get your ass beat. You go KTUH! I somehow feel proud to say I was there when…. (WOW it JUST occurred to me; I was a part of something great!)

So, this was a nice trip down memory lane, funny how one little forgettable song from almost 30 years ago could bring back such memories.

Now it is time for me to get up and get away from this computer!

All across our nation, kids are struggling with intense issues. It’s sad. What’s even more sad; millions of them have no way of expressing their pain or frustration with life except through violence.

Every night I say a little prayer for these kids.

I’m still a big Nirvana fan and have become quite familiar with most of their music and still enjoy Teen Spirit, but I can’t say it’s my all time favorite Nirvana song. Nor was it a song that led me to jump into that whole “grunge” scene.  There was just ‘something in the way’ Teen Spirit grabbed me and I remember how exciting it was to hear it for the first time.

I think of other songs/albums that also gripped me; made me take immediate notice and altogether influenced my need to explore MORE.

So I thought I would put together this list of albums that for some reason greatly influenced me in some way.  Though I could easily elaborate on each one as to where I was, what I was doing when I first heard them or how they influenced me so deeply – I wont.  I’ll just say that each one completely wowed me either bcause they were so completely different, told an incredible story or somehow raised my awareness about the workings of the world.

Here they are in order of appearence in my life (Just for fun I also included release dates and a  favorite track off each one.) :

1-The Cars Candy O 1979 Candy O

2.Pink Floyd The Wall 1979 Mother

3. Psychedelic Furs – TAL TALK TALK 1981 Dumb Waiters

4. The Cure Pornography 1982  The Figurehead

5. Echo and the Bunnymen Crocodiles 1980 Pictures on My Wall

6. Crass, Penis Envy 1981 Beta Motel

7. Social Distortion Mommy’s Little Montser – 1983 Anti-Fashion

8. Bauhaus In the Flat Field- 1980 Stigmata Martyr

9. Janes Addiction Nothing’s Shocking 1988 Ocean Size

10. Nirvana Never Mind 1991 Something In The Way

Sad to say, since Nirvana nothing has really moved me in the same way. Sure, songs have grabbed my attention and there has been TONS of really AMAZING music released since Never Mind. While a few songs/albums have come close, none have meant as much to me as those listed here. (Oh my gosh!!! Is this what happens when we get old??!)

I did have to exclude: Sisters Of Mercy, The Doors, Kiss, The Butthole Surfers, Blink 182 and a few others…another list perhaps.

Many years go I read “The Sociopath Next Door” by Martha Stout. It was very enlightening. After reading that book, I realized this personality disorder is fairly common and I (and probably you too) have known quite a few sociopaths.

You’ve possibly known a few psychopaths as well. The difference between the two is slight. Both are manipulative con men (or women) with serious god complexes who lack a real sense of remorse. Sure, there is more to it than that but really they are one in the same; the main difference being a tolerance for gore. I think of it as comparing BTK (Dennis Rader) and Bernard Madoff.

This morning while trying to pinpoint exact differences between a sociopath and a psychopath I came across this list on yahoo. Print this list, carry it in your wallet, use it. It could save you millions it might even save your life. If you know someone with more than 3 checks in either category I would definitely recommend you  run run run run run run run away
                                                                                                                                                    (Psycho Killer, The Talking Heads).

For some reason I woke up to “Bicycle Race” by Queen. Which led me to “Brand New Key” which is really more about roller skating than biking. I’m not so sure I would enjoy roller skating up hill either. In fact, I know I wouldn’t.

Then there was “Mississippi Isabel“, by King Charles, perhaps my favorite song to reference a bicycle.

You can enjoy the great cover by Drug Store or opt for the original by Tom Waits. Both are great but I have taken a real liking to the Drug Store version.

Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer

I am in a dilemma about what exactly to do with my hair. Only two days ago I stopped in a Salon, put my name on a list, waited a few minutes, then at the last minute I walked out. Not that I’m totally in love with this “style” I have now, but this is the longest my hair has been in a few years so I thought I’d grow it out. Right now,  it’s in that horrid growing out stage. I’ve had a pixie cut for a long time and I love that look , but with long hair I could fake a pixie look by wearing it up – if it ever gets to the proper length.

I’ve had issues with my crazy hair since forever. I remember the torturous hair combings every Sunday night (yes I only combed my hair once a week back in grade school – on bath night). The unruly frizz all through middle school. Remember Pat Benetar and her totally awesome pixie rock and roll cut? All the girls were sporting that in school for a while. I didn’t dare go there, I would have ended up looking like a troll doll impersonating a french poodle.

Fortunately I have had many, MANY years to learn to work with my hair and certainly there is a lot to be said for the products and tools available to us now as compared to thirty years ago. I imagine if I had access to such products and tools back then, I could have certainly become

QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE!

But girls with bad hair just aren’t that “cool”.

So here it is, my hair. Somewhat tame today. I’m imagining that long, streaming, gleaming,falxen,shoulder length hair. This is about eight months of growth; maybe I’ll have a pony tail by Christmas.

I find myself worrying mostly about things way beyond my control. Things like:

Tigers becoming extinct

Global warming

The economy

What if a family of raccoons take up residence somewhere in my house and I wont know about it until it reaches the state of being an out of control infestation?

Am I recycling as much as I could be?

All the trash on Mt. Everest.

Oh, the list goes on. But still, I manage to stay happy. That sort of worries me too. What kind of person am I?

I worry all this worrying is going to give me a head full of grey hair. Lucky for me as a natural strawberry blonde, I’m able to pass off my grey as blond streaks. Hair dressers have even complimented me on how “natural” my hair looks, thinking I dye my hair. Ha – I worry about how much longer I’ll be able to pull this off….

Happy Friday!

This will be my 106th post on this blog. I’ve missed a few days. Three of which were beyond my control; an ice storm knocked out our power. The other time, I just simply forgot to hit the publish button. You can bet all my loyal fans let me know about THAT.

Anyway, today, there is no song, no tune, no ditty at all. It happens. But I did promise myself to post everyday and so here I am.

I’m actually on the way to the hospital to find out about a kidney biopsy, my son had last week.  He’d hate me for blabbing this here – but there are times when I feel I would like to share more about my life than the random songs I think of or my attempts at DIY projects.

Anyway, being the perfect mother that I am, I thought I would take a moment to post before heading out. It’s like that Seinfeld episode when Elaine stopped at the theater concession stand to get Jujube’s after hearing about her dates car accident. Personally, I thought he over reacted.

Well, That’s it for me today.

You Oughta Know was and is one a great song. Except for just a few things:

1. This older version of Alanis, who this guy dumped her for? Well, come on – what man would leave a woman for an OLDER version?

2. Honey, you weren’t replaced. Replaced implies you were there in the first place and clearly you weren’t.

3. Is he thinking of you when he’s doing her? I would say that is a  big Hell to the NO.  In fact, I would be willing to bet he isn’t even thinking of HER when he’s doing her. He’s most likely thinking of the next joke he can lay on the bed.

Well, in spite of waking up with such an angry song, I think it’s going to be a fabulous day today! In fact, I KNOW it is going to be a fabulous day.

Apparently a pretty woman will only make you look small, she doesn’t clean or cook and will only make you miserable.On the other hand, an ugly woman is likely to be more subservient, but if we are sticking to stereotypes here, the ugly woman is likely to be too smart to marry you in the first place.

Honestly, I can’t help but like this song, it’s so upbeat and catchy.

I can’t help but think about Peter Gabriel’s “Digging In The Dirt” as I toil away. But what a brilliant allegory.  Sometimes digging in the dirt is a painful process, but the reward is great. Further, it is a very long, sometimes tedious process. But again, patience and tenacity will be rewarded.

What a great song.

Too Many Fish In The Sea
The Marvelettes

Maybe his 2 pack a day habit and/or the fact he thought a crystal vase would make a nice ashtray is what caused this relationship to go sour in the first place.

Also, I’m not sure why the song is titled Crystal Vases, when it seems to be about only one vase.

Beware of wolves dressed as sheep. Keep your feet firmly planted in reality and your head out of the clouds.

Wow, interesting message for the day. Woke up with the ba da ba part in my head, but I think all the yard work we did this weekend has finally got to me….

“Go get your shovel
And we’ll dig a deep hole.”

Yep, been doing a lot of that lately. And there is more to do.  Will it ever end?

We have sun today. Hallelujah! I think we might be in for several days of sunshine in a row.

Let The Sunshine In!!!!! finally

I sure hope you all are gonna Love Today, love today, love today.

Happy Saturday.