All Tomorrow`s Parties` Rock Festival Raves This Weekend!
Boy oh Boy! I`m listening to some smokin` tracks of `90s slow-burn metal band Sleep. Just heard The Druid, and it practically tanned my hide and left it out to dry. Sleep will playing at the All Tomorrow`s Parties` Rock Festival,
which will be happening in Monticello, N.Y. this Labor Day weekend. This event is slated as an ‘independent music festival,’ and from the looks of the lineup, it has ALTERNATIVE ROCK signposts written all over it.
The festival will showcase Iggy and the Stooges, Sonic Youth, and the Aquarian occult riffs of the inimitable metal-grinders, Sleep. Sleep`s 1993 effort, Sleep`s Holy Mountain is a must have, in case you don`t already own it. YouTube has a keen black and white video of Dragonaut, with long-haired bassist, Al Cisneros, jamming out with his flowing hair and thumping bass, in case you`re interested.
Sunday night`s bill for All Tomorrow`s Parties will include some interesting acts that I would like to check out. There`s the Black Angels, White Hills, Wooden Shjips and Dungen. The festival will be held at Kutcher`s, an old Catskills estate, and looks like an intimate setting with an actual focus on the artists and their music. That`s a rarity!
“It`s not music, it`s a disease.” Mitch Miller on Rock `N` Roll
I completely missed it! I apologize. Mitch Miller passed away on Saturday, July 31st, in Manhattan. Mitch made it to 99. I am going to be honest here, I never much DUG Mitch when I was growing up. He seemed to me to be a musty,
moldy, BLAST FROM THE PAST, who was incapable of comprehending the dramatic changes that were sweeping our nation.
My assessment is fair, I do believe. Mitch was opposed to Rock `N` Roll! Oh no, Mitch was strictly SQUARESVILLE. But now that I`m older, I can see more clearly what MM did for the music industry. He helped to build up the Columbia record label. Not a small thing. Mitch`s strength was in the category that we know today as LOUNGE. In the late `50s and early `60s it was called something different, as best I can remember.
Easy listening or just plain Pop, I don`t exactly remember? This morning I picked up Tony Bennett`s 1951 No. 1 hit, Because of You, with the Percy Faith orchestra`s beautiful backing. MM convinced Tony to record this one. I love it now, but would have rejected it ferociously when but a rebellious youth. But there are lots of other stories of what Mitch did for some of our favorite crooners, like when he convinced Rosemary Clooney to record Come On-a My House.
I will link for you the obituary in The New York Times, Mitch Miller, Maestro of the Singalong, Dies at 99 by Richard Severo. Good summary of his long, productive career. I enjoy reading it, because it`s a good summary of the entertainment industry back in those days. Mitch rejected the new R & R on moral grounds. You may remember the payola scandal when disc jockeys would take bribes to play R & R records. Follow the bouncing ball, my friend. “It`s not music, it`s a disease.” MM
Taio Cruz a Symbol for Newly Emerging Dynamics in the Music Market!
Taio Cruz`s new video Dynamite packs a punch. Nothing all too original. Rather, the usual display of beautiful girls that follow him around as he sings his song about partying. This sort of thing has been around for a million years as a
marketing tool! Sex sells every time, if it`s packaged right. And Dynamite has garnered 16, 749,870 hits on YouTube.
Another single from his newest album, Break Your Heart, has managed to be viewed 35, 975,048 times already. Not bad, but the album Rokstarr has sold only 93,000 in its first 12 weeks. An article in The New York Times was an eye-opener, especially for us old-timers. It`s titled: Platinum Is So Passe. In itunes Era, the Singles Count. By Joseph Plambeck.
Album sales are no longer an accurate measure for the popularity of an artist. Single sales, especially on itunes, and customer counts of their video can be better harbingers for how they fare in the marketplace. Therefore, the Billboard 200 is not such a great gauge these days. A new service has come along called Ultimate Chart, created by BigChampagne, that is a more accurate barometer of the current music marketplace.
If you use Ultimate Chart, Taio Cruz is the No, 2 artist, right behind Eminem. This is starting to make sense for me. When we go over to itunes we just buy one song off the album, probably the one with the biggest popular bar next to it. Then we race over to YouTube and pick up a freebie video viewing of the rising star`s megahit. This helps us test the waters, to see if we want to continue to support this artist.
But who knows, this new formula could be dumped overnight, and the album format, that witnessed a meteoric rise in the late 1960s, could return. And history repeats itself; you might remember that the single format was tops in the mid-1960s. What comes around, goes around, to use a popular cliche.
Frontline`s “Law and Disorder”-The Case of Henry Glover
If you haven`t seen Frontline`s Law & Disorder yet, you should certainly make a point to do so. You can watch it online and I will link it for you here (Law & Disorder). 11 civilians were shot by the New Orleans police in the days
after Katrina. The Frontline special mainly reports on the case of Henry Glover, but also covers the shooting of six civilians at Danziger Bridge.
You may have to watch this several times before it will completely sink in. On the link that I`m giving you there are a number of excellent articles that will spell out for you what happened in New Orleans right after Katrina. Reporters from Frontline, The New Orleans Times-Picayune and ProPublica worked together to bring us this shocking news.
A few of the important questions addressed in Law & Disorder are: was Martial Law ever declared in New Orleans?
Were the NOPD told to shoot looters once things starting getting crazy after Katrina? The New Orleans Police have a history, and much of this is documented under Timeline.
If you don`t mind getting some cold water splashed in your face, you`ll want to study up on this. I`m so in disbelief about this, that I`m focusing all the more on this. Katrina obliterated New Orleans. Once it did this, it looks like the NOPD lost it. At this point the police become the criminals. I can think of nothing as scary as this reality.
Hurricane Katrina: This Perfect Storm Still Gets Our Attention!
Five years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the Gulf coast (Monday, August 29, 2005), I`m still not
completely sure exactly what happened. And so we go back through the plethora of data, galleries of photographs, meteorological records, news footage and personal testimonies in search of answers to the mysteries of this Perfect Storm.
My favorite data source for Katrina is the documentary film by Spike Lee, When the Levee Broke. I`ve seen it at least three times, and will view it again later this week. And now Spike Lee has a new one that aired last night on HBO and a second installment can be seen tonight, If God is Willing and Da Creek Don`t Rise. Some of the older footage is included, but much of this is about the rebuilding of New Orleans.
An NPR story covers many of the excellent television specials that are out this week on Katrina. One that I missed last night, but which maybe will be shown again, is the National Geographic Channel`s Witness: Katrina. This two hour special gathers images and video recordings from Gulf citizens, who have their own personal account to tell. Wednesday (8/25) PBS`s Frontline will have one called Law and Disorder, which concludes that the shooting of a young man was probably done by the New Orleans police.
Yes, I feel a need to study Katrina, and this week is a good time to hit the DVR button or to collect articles from the internet. One fascinating site, that comes from the scientific perspective, is the NASA archive on Katrina. The satellite images of Katrina, as it evolved and progressed, give you data on rainfall, flooding and storm surge. Katrina literally altered the physical shape of the Gulf coast. These maps capture the metamorphosis as it happens.
Hawaii Becomes the 50th State-August 21, 1959! Aloha and Happy Anniversary, Hawaii!
On August 21, 1959 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the proclamation that made the Hawaiian Islands the 50th state of the Union. It wasn`t until July 4th, 1960, however, before the official flag with 50 stars was 
publicly unveiled. I`ve been studying up on Hawaii`s history and culture this morning, and am making a little headway, as far as soaking in its fascinating traditions.
It`s not all surfing, pineapples and slack key guitar playing, my friend, but a good amount of that can be factored into your research. There`s a good bit of sugar plantation activity (starting in the 1830s) that you will have to brood over also. And as far as initial Western contact goes, you need to peruse the explorations of the English Captain James Cook in 1778 and 1779.
Captain Cook called them the Sandwich Islands, in honor of his sponsor, John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich. And don`t forget to read up on Queen Lili Uokalani, who was the last of the monarchy for Hawaii. Lili wrote the most famous song for the Polynesian Islands, Aloha `Oe. I`ve been listening to some slack key guitar by Leonard Kwan today.
I`m grooving to two of the most soothing tunes of Leonard Kwan (1931-2000), Ke`ala`s Mele and Slack Key Serenade. I need to mellow out this morning and these slack key songs are helping a lot. I`ve never been to Hawaii before in my entire life, but boy will I be ready to go when that time comes. Let`s see here, that pic of Honolulu looks enticing! *(sources-Wikipedia and The History Channel)
Elvis Presley Dies on August 16, 1977 At His Graceland Home In Memphis, Tn.!
Elvis died on August 16, 1977 at the ripe age of 42. The exact cause of his death has always been a little hazy. For the most part, I believe it was a combination of out-of-control prescription drug abuse and bad eating habits, which
pickled his arteries. This is an odd form of heart disease, stuffing your system with pills, hamburgers, chocolate cake, and mountainous peanut butter and banana sandwiches.
He had played in Austin not too long before his death. I remember how shocked I was when seeing his blubberous photographs that were included in an Austin American Statesman story covering the concert. I was working as a library clerk at the Collections and Deposit Library, which was the odd man out branch of The University of Texas General Libraries. This is where the Sanskrit titles were parked.
My attitude towards Elvis has remained steady for my entire life. It`s a confounding blend of reverence and ridicule for The King, who himself was subject to contradictory impulses that put him at odds with the Youth Culture, at times. His secret meeting with Richard Nixon to become an undercover Narcotics Agent would have to be the epitome of these conflicting allegiances.
Okay, I`m still on the ground waddling in the mysteries of his Art. My favorite song of Elvis`s is (Marie`s the Name) of His Latest Flame.
Big Mama Thornton Records “Hound Dog” Today-August 13, 1953!
Today, August 13th (Friday The Thirteenth-lay a little low), marks the day that Big Mama Thornton (1926-1984) flew in from Houston to New York for the historic Hound Dog session. The year, however, was 1953. Hound Dog was penned by the winning popster team of Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, and was actually their first
successful song. Big Mama was on the Peacock-Duke label. The B-side was They Call Me Big Mama; the bluesy single sold almost two million copies.
Naturally enough, Elvis Presley recorded it three years later, and it became a gold mind for The King. The Handbook Of Texas reports that Big Mama Thornton only made $500 off the record. This unbelievable! Big Mama`s version is more of a blues tune. Completely different tune from Elvis, who pumped it up to a Rock `N` Roll number. I`ll link for you Big Mama doing it in 1965 with the Buddy Guy Band.
I prefer this version, actually. Did you know that Big Mama wrote Ball and Chain, that Janis Joplin would run with in the San Francisco Golden Days` Era of the late 1960s? I would like to explore (and you may want to also) Willie Mae`s catalog a little further. The record, Big Mama Thornton with the Chicago Blues Band (1967) looks interesting. It features Muddy Waters, Lightnin` Hopkins and Otis Spann.
And check out the Blues Bibliography on the Handbook of Texas link. Blues Studies (an oxymoron) are getting academic on us! But it`s time to pay back Big Mama by buying her records. Remember, she earned a measly $500 for Hound Dog, and her version (in my humble opinion) is superior to Elvis`s!
8 Westerners on Medical Team Killed in Afghanistan – Voice of America
August 7, 2010 by
Filed under Top Story
 New York Daily News |
8 Westerners on Medical Team Killed in Afghanistan
Voice of America Photo: AP An international Christian charity said Saturday that militants killed part of its 12-member medical team, including six Americans, one German, one Briton and two Afghan interpreters, in a remote area of northern Afghanistan. … International Assistance Mission slayings: part of Taliban war strategy Medics killed in Afghanistan 'were not missionaries' Afghan medical mission ends in death for 10 |
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Kagan sworn in by Roberts to become 112th Supreme Court Justice – Los Angeles Times
August 7, 2010 by
Filed under Top Story
 New York Times (blog) |
Kagan sworn in by Roberts to become 112th Supreme Court Justice
Los Angeles Times Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th US Supreme Court justice and its fourth woman ever, taking the oath of office at the high court two days after the Senate confirmed her. Kagan, 50, the former dean of Harvard Law School, pledged to "do equal right … Kagan Sworn In as 112th Supreme Court Justice Kagan to Be Sworn In as Justice Elena Kagan officially sworn in to US Supreme Court |
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