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Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2024 3:02:54 GMT -5
(...) By around age 7, I had discovered the so-called Red and Blue compilation albums ( 1962-1966 and 1967-1970) in my parents' record collection and had quietly spirited both of those upstairs to my bedroom, where they were on almost constant rotation on my second-hand turntable. (...) Ah, yes. The Red and Blue albums. The Beatles starter kit for many a young music lover back in the late '70s and '80s. And earlier - with me it was the early 70s - I know, not a great distinction for most people, but for me early and late 70s are like two different worlds. I was old enough even then that I'd already known the Beatles from a very young age in the 60s. To be honest, I was surprised to find the Red and Blue albums came out so late as 1973 when I looked it up just now. Apparently I've been mixing up my memories of hearing their music before then with my memories of listening to that red album repeatedly.
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Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2024 2:44:41 GMT -5
1994.7
Bewitched - Luna
Luna was the band formed by Galaxie 500 guitarist/songwriter/leader Dean Wareham after that band broke up. I had become a fan of Galaxie 500 from hearing them on Brave New Waves, a really great late night (midnight to 4AM) CBC radio show I used to listen to back then and where I was introduced to a lot of the music I loved from that era. Wareham wrote all the songs for Galaxie 500 and sang them and played guitar, obviously the dominant instrument in a trio of that kind, so I was very gung-ho to hear Luna and they didn't disappoint: his new band was a clear evolution from Galaxie 500 and showed that Wareham was trying to expand his musical palette. I've just recently started re-acquainting myself with their stuff and so far I'd say I like their first album more than this one, but this is still a good record with no seriously weak tracks. Here are the two that stood out to me on my latest listen - and they happen to come in this order on the actual cd:
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Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2024 1:17:45 GMT -5
1994.8 Whistling in the Wind - Leon RedboneNormally a Leon Redbone album would be much higher in my "year's best" list but this isn't one of my favourites of his, though it's very good as was everything he did. It's maybe just a shade or two too slick for me compared to his earlier work. I first became aware of him around 1980 through seeing a repeat of his live performance on Saturday Night Live and was just bowled over by how good he was. I bought his first album, On the Track, as soon as I could find it and that's still the one I'd recmmened to anyone who wants to give him a listen. This album is in his usual style but as I said, maybe a little over-produced to my ears, and certainly with fuller, though always tasteful arrangements compared to that first album which was mostly him and his guitar. Whistling in the Wind is also interesting in that it includes two duets with two very well-known performers. See if you can guess who they are (I think one will be very obvious to almost everyone, the other perhaps less so): I considered this one. I like Redbone a decent amount.
Aw, you knew the album already. I was hoping it was new to you so I could see if you recognised the voice of duet partner #2 (in the order I posted the videos, not the album order). I didn't, the first time I heard it.
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Post by berkley on Apr 26, 2024 1:11:00 GMT -5
Didn’t really explain anything (perhaps that was the point?), and I did read that ITV’s switchboards were jammed with complaints after the final episode aired. Apparently, McGoohan felt that he had to leave the country for a few days after the finale since angry fans were showing up at his house demanding answers. I haven't watched "Fall Out" in quite a while but remember feeling that it ended the way the series had to. "Who else could Number One be?" asked McGoohan rhetorically. I still think he's right and that his answer is brilliant, but man, does it ever feel rushed. Speaking of controversial endings - though it was by no means awful, the last episode of Seinfeld seemed based on the premise that these were awful people whom the audience would love to see get their comeuppance. Was I the only one who never felt that way (other than about George Costanza, of course, who by series end had become something of a monster)? Was I supposed to be repelled by these characters?
I agree about Seinfeld: I liked the characters from the beginning. Their occasional mild selfishness and pettiness struck me as very human and was one of the refreshing things about the show as opposed to the usual moralistic posturing of so many US sitcoms. But there was a point where I think the show-runners and writers began to over-emphasise that aspect and that emphasis slowly but steadily grew over the years until by the end it must have seemed to them that the final episode they came up with was the only logical conclusion. And hence the idea - in my view entirely mistaken - that Friends was "Seinfeld done right" or "Seinfeld with heart!" whereas I've always seen it as a regression to the conventional American sitcom that had burned itself out years before. I've just recently started re-watching the series for the first time since the original run, so I'm waiting to see if I have the same reaction this time around. I'm only up to the earlier part of the 3rd season so far.
The Prisoner I have an odd, fragmented history with as a viewer: I didn't see it in its original run in the 1960s but saw most of it when it was re-run in the late 70s on one of our Canadian channels, probably CBC, on Sunday nights. I missed the first one or two episodes - I'd have to look it up to find exactly where I came in but I definitely missed at least the first one - but from then on never missed a one - until the finale, which I didn't get to see until a few years later, and under less than perfect viewing conditions (at someone's house where I'd slept over after a late night). So I've never really assimilated the final episode into the series as a whole, but with that limitation in mind, my feelings are roughly in line with those expressed by RR in his post . Of course I've long had plans to watch the whole series from start to finish but have yet to put them into effect.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 21:53:58 GMT -5
Unfortunately these issues aren't part of Englehart's run but came immediately afterwards. I just looked them up at comics.org to check and they were written by Marv Wolfman. Ah yes, you are of course quite correct. Englehart's last issue was #18, I believe. But these issues continue the story that Englehart had started -- though not in the way he intended, I'm sure. So, rather than just have the run stop abruptly at issue #18, I decided to get the series up to issue #23 because that looks like a suitable jumping off point. That's why they were on my "wants list" and why in my head I was thinking of them as part of the Englehart run, even though they're not.
I'll be curious to hear what you think of them.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 21:18:27 GMT -5
1994.8
Whistling in the Wind - Leon Redbone
Normally a Leon Redbone album would be much higher in my "year's best" list but this isn't one of my favourites of his, though it's very good as was everything he did. It's maybe just a shade or two too slick for me compared to his earlier work. I first became aware of him around 1980 through seeing a repeat of his live performance on Saturday Night Live and was just bowled over by how good he was. I bought his first album, On the Track, as soon as I could find it and that's still the one I'd recmmened to anyone who wants to give him a listen. This album is in his usual style but as I said, maybe a little over-produced to my ears, and certainly with fuller, though always tasteful arrangements compared to that first album which was mostly him and his guitar. Whistling in the Wind is also interesting in that it includes two duets with two very well-known performers. See if you can guess who they are (I think one will be very obvious to almost everyone, the other perhaps less so):
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 21:03:16 GMT -5
The Long Riders is really good, one of the best "modern" westerns - not really so modern now, of course, 40+ years later. But it felt like it at the time, as westerns were even then no longer as widespread a genre as they had been a decade or two earlier.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 20:37:28 GMT -5
Got another three mid-70s Doctor Strange issues off of eBay in my quest to complete the Steve Englehart run. These are in decent shape and didn't cost very much.
Great Frank Brunner cover on #22!
Unfortunately these issues aren't part of Englehart's run but came immediately afterwards. I just looked them up at comics.org to check and they were written by Marv Wolfman. DS#19 has nice artwork by Alfredo Alcala and the other two were drawn by Rudy Nebres, whose style has never been to my taste but I know several people here like him a lot. These issues have always left a bitter taset in my mouth as I was so into the Englehart Doctor Strange, one of Marvel's all time best, IMO.
I had a lot of respect for Wolfman from his Tomb of Dracula, another standout of the era, so I was willing to give him a chance on the series and it's possible the story he began here might have amounted to something but from what I remember he wasn't on the book long enough even to finish this first story-arc. The series became very erratic in general around this time with frequent changes of writer and artist. Starlin took over for awhile but he too didn't stay long enough to see what he might have come up with.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 20:24:06 GMT -5
As long as you are enjoying what you are reading and the reading experience, I'm never going to comment of the quantity. Everyone has their own pace, and their own preference for how much they want to read, let alone different schedules that may dictate how much time you have available for reading. -M Exactly this. I kind of stepped away from logging my reading a few years back because I felt like I was pressuring myself and reading to check boxes rather than fun, but I missed seeing what everyone is into so I jumped back in and I'm trying not to read for anything else but fun.
I like being able to look back and see what I was reading this time a year ago or two years or whatever the case may be. Also, if I've started something and then gotten distracted, I can check back and see where I left off if I don't feel like starting all over again at the beginning. But mostly it's nice to have a record and I've started doing this with everything - the books I read, etc.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 19:28:21 GMT -5
Have you seen any other Walter Hill movies? He's made quite a few good ones. I'm pretty sure I've seen 48 Hours, Crossroads, Aliens and Alien 3. I've never seen Crosswords but a friend of mine loves that movie. I think Hill worked on those two Aliens in some capacity but didn't direct them - Cameron did Aliens, of course, forget who directed Alien 3.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 19:21:21 GMT -5
The first two albums I bought in grade school as a little kid were some early Beatles albums...so I stand by the same statement haha I became weirdly obsessed by the Beatles at a very young age too -- I'm talking, like, 3 or 4-years-old here. This was before I'd even heard their music! I can remember asking my Mum what the band members' names were and trying really hard to memorise them. By around age 7, I had discovered the so-called Red and Blue compilation albums ( 1962-1966 and 1967-1970) in my parents' record collection and had quietly spirited both of those upstairs to my bedroom, where they were on almost constant rotation on my second-hand turntable. For a lot of years I believed or assumed that those two albums represented the Beatles' entire output. I was therefore amazed at age 13 or so, when a class mate at school bought in a cassette tape of the Abbey Road album. I was amazed to see song titles on it that I had never heard of ("Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "You Never Give Me Your Money", "The End" etc). That was the moment when I realised that there must be other Beatles albums out there that featured untold numbers of songs that I hadn't heard. I went to my local library and in the referance section I found a book called The Beatles Album File and Complete Discography by Jeff Russell. In it, I found details of every Beatles album and I can vividly remember marvelling at exotic song titles like "Tomorrow Never Knows", "Within You Without You", "I'm Looking Through You" and "Everybody's Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey". Starting on my 15th Birthday and Christmas of that year, I began to ask relatives for Beatles LPs as presents, since, on my limited paper round wage, I couldn't afford many records. I was also careful to ask for the albums in strictly chronological order, so that I got to hear Please Please Me first, then With The Beatles, followed by A Hard Day's Night and so on. The reason I did this was because I wanted to experience those albums in the order they were originally released to better appreciate the band's musical development. I guess I was already a bit of a Beatles obsessive by then. I had a very similar history with the Red and Blue albums, especially the Red, since that was the only one we had at first, though eventually we got the Blue one too later on in my childhood years. I started buying the albums in my teenage years but for some reason never got any of the earlier, pre-Sgt. Pepper ones, not even Rubber Soul or Revolver, until the 90s when I bought them all in cd form. Not sure why, since I liked the earlier stuff as much as the later. Maybe, as you mentioned, I had retained some sub-conscious feeling that I already knew all the earlier material from having listened to that Red album so much as a ypoungster.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 19:12:17 GMT -5
1994.9
Mellow Gold - Beck
I didn't get this cd until a few years later in the decade. In 1994 all I knew was Loser, which was of course an enormous hit for him, and deservedly so as it is probably the best track on the album, ehcih, as Confessor and kal were saying earlier is a little uneven. But I think the strong tracks outnumber the average, especially on "side 1", or the first half of the album. But I'll go with a cut from towards the end as an example of what I like about this cd: nice tune and a playful sense of humour that is evident in much of Beck's best material:
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 19:06:40 GMT -5
Have you seen any other Walter Hill movies? He's made quite a few good ones. 48 Hours is, I think, a terribly underrated action film. Pretty influential on films to come in the next decade or so as well. I suspect I first saw Warriors on either HBO or Cinemax when I was in college. So likely 1986-88 time frame. Yeah, I've always thought of it as an 80s movie and didn't know or remember that it came out as early as 1979 until I learned it here in this thread.
I think my favourite Walter Hill movie is Hard Times, which I think is also Charles Bronson's 2nd best movie, with Sergio Leone's One Upon a Time in the West at #1.
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 18:22:04 GMT -5
1994.10
Mamouna - Bryan Ferry
Not one of my favourite Bryan ferry albums but it's enjoyable if you like his style. And perhaps that's its only real drawback, that it sounds much the same as all his other post-Avalon solo albums: even from track to track o there isn't a great deal of variety on this cd. I like his sound, so that doesn't bother me too much, but I much prefer the earlier stuff he did in the 1970s, whether with Roxy Music or as a solo artist. But here's a sample from Mamouna:
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Post by berkley on Apr 25, 2024 18:15:19 GMT -5
Expiration DateTim Powers, 1995 In Los Angeles in the early 1990s, about a week before Halloween, an 11 year-old boy named Koot Hoomie ‘Kootie’ Parganas unknowingly ingests Thomas Edison’s ghost after a series of events that left him an orphan and homeless. To wit, the world he lives in is populated by ghosts and people who hunt them down to capture their essence, which can then be ‘eaten’ (although actually inhaled) by the living, which has a drug-like effect. And now a bunch of these ‘ghost-eaters’ are after Kootie, because Edison’s ghost is quite a prize, and since he hasn’t reached puberty yet, the ghost was not really ‘eaten’ – rather it just sort of hangs out in Kootie’s psyche (where it gives him advice and occasionally takes over his body), but it can still be extracted. Several other characters and plot-lines intertwine, the most important being Pete Sullivan, an itinerant electrician who used to work for one of the ghost-eaters in LA (a ruthless woman whose work as an indepnent, mainly documentary filmmaker serves as cover for her more nefarious activities), and Angelica Elizalde, a former psychiatrist who fled the city a few years prior because of séance gone bad that ended up killing a few people – it’s complicated. In fact, summarizing this book is proving complicated, as there is so much story, and so many layers, with supernatural and occult elements intertwined with actual historical events and figures (e.g., Houdini’s ghost also makes a showing here). I’ll just end this by saying it’s a really enjoyable, if dense, story. By the way, this one is the second in a trilogy called the ‘Fault Lines’ series. The first book, which I read a number of years ago, is Last Call (set mainly in Las Vegas, the story revolves around gambling, tarot, Bugsy Segal and Fisher King legend, among other things). Storywise, it has no points of contact with this book, except that they both take place in 1992. I liked the two Tim Powers books I read back in the 80s, The Anubis Gates and Dinner at Deviant's Palace, and always meant to read more of his work but somehow never have gotten around to it. But I'll get there one of these days.
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