snuhthing/anything

who's that knocking at my door?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:29:55 GMT

A door is a panel or barrier, usually hinged, sliding, or electronic, that is used to cover an opening in a wall or partition going into a building or space. A door can be opened to give access and closed more or less securely.

Doors also have an aesthetic role in creating an impression of what lies beyond. They are also used to screen areas of a building for aesthetic purposes, keeping formal and utility areas separate. They act as a barrier to noise.

Doors are often symbolically endowed with ritual purposes, and the guarding or receiving of the keys to a door, or being granted access to a door can have special significance. Similarly, doors and doorways frequently appear in metaphorical or allegorical situations, literature and the arts, often as a portent of change.

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live." - Flora Whittemore

"There's a door. Where does it go? It stays where it is, I think." - Terry Pratchett

"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." - William Blake

"All doors open to courtesy" - Thomas Fuller

"It is often the last key on the ring which opens the door." - Proverb

"Don't ever slam a door; you might want to go back." - Don Herold

"Men shut their doors against a setting sun." - William Shakespeare

"Aunt Marion was right... Never marry a musician and never answer the door." - Charles M. Schulz

"We often get in quicker by the back door than by the front" - Napoleon Bonaparte

"Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one of them home, I'm tired." - Mae West

Pete Townshend: Let My Love Open The Door - 4MB

Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5: Open The Door, Richard - 5MB

British Sea Power: Open The Door - 7MB

The Sensations: Let Me In - 3MB

Cheech & Chong: Dave - 2MB

Otis Redding: Open The Door - 3MB

B.B. King: Don't Answer The Door - 9MB

Little Richard: Keep A Knockin' - 3MB

Public Image Ltd: Banging The Door - 7MB

The Five Blind Boys Of Mississippi: Somebody's Knocking - 4MB

Smiley Lewis: I Hear You Knockin' - 3MB

Howlin' Wolf: Back Door Man - 3MB

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Lookin' Out My Back Door - 3MB

Uncle Tupelo: Screen Door - 5MB

Koko Taylor: Twenty-Nine Ways (To My Baby's Door) - 5MB

The Posies: Definite Door - 6MB

The Rolling Stones: Can't You Hear Me Knocking - 11MB

does anybody remember laughter?

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 07:11:09 GMT

Wikipedia: Laughter

Laughter is an audible expression or appearance of merriment or happiness or an inward feeling of joy and pleasure (laughing on the inside). It may ensue (as a physiological reaction) from jokes, tickling and other stimuli. Inhaling nitrous oxide can also induce laughter; other drugs, such as cannabis, can also induce episodes of strong laughter. Strong laughter can sometimes bring an onset of tears or even moderate muscular pain. Laughter is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain. It helps humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and provides an emotional context to conversations. Laughter is used as a signal for being part of a group — it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes seemingly contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback. This may account in part for the popularity of laugh tracks in situation comedy television shows.

"Laugh at yourself first, before anyone else can." - Elsa Maxwell

"Laughter is an instant vacation." - Milton Berle

"There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"Laughter is the closest distance between two people." - Victor Borge

"Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand." - Mark Twain

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." - e. e. cummings

"Man plans and God laughs." - Jewish Proverb

"One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent." - H. L. Mencken

"Beware of those who laugh at nothing or everything." - Arnold H. Glasgow

"It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man." - Jack Handey

"Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is far the best ending for one." - Oscar Wilde

"Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing." - Ken Kesey

"In this life he laughs longest who laughs last." - John Masefield

"He who laughs last didn't get it" - Helen Giangregorio

The Gardenias: I'm Laughing At You - 2MB

Chris Connor: They All Laughed - 3MB

Bob Dylan: It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry - 6MB

Gomez: Don't Make Me Laugh - 7MB

The Maytals: When I Laugh - 2MB

Slim Gaillard: Laughing In Rhythm - 4MB

The Beau Brummels: Laugh Laugh - 5MB

Big Mama Thornton: Laugh, Laugh, Laugh - 3MB

The Guess Who: Laughing - 5MB

Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys: I Laugh When I Think How I Cried Over You - 2MB

Derrick Harriott: Laugh It Off - 3MB

The Spinners: Living a Little, Laughing a Little - 8MB

During the beginning of recorded sound industry, no one was sure what people wanted to hear. The idea behind Laughing Records was pretty simple - laughter is contagious, why not have recordings of people laughing? It's not The Dave Chappelle Show, but back then, you took your entertainment where you could get it. I started collecting Laughing Record sound files a few years ago, here's a taste of some of the better ones - these and more can be found at the Internet Archive and the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project.

Al. H. Weston & Irene Young: OKeh Laughing Record - 3MB

The Spoiled Cornet: Laughing Song - 4MB

Maurice Farkoa: Laughing Song - 3MB

Button Buster: Laughing Song - 3MB

I'm guest blogging over at Cover Lay Down, the theme is Gallows Pole and Variants - stop by for a spell and find out about a ballad that's been around for a millennium.

gimme danger

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:40:13 GMT

"When we are afraid we ought not to occupy ourselves with endeavoring to prove that there is no danger, but in strengthening ourselves to go on in spite of the danger." - Mark Rutherford

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin Roosevelt

"A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time and a courageous person afterwards." - Jean Paul Richter

"The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously." - Friedrich Nietzsche

"Considering how dangerous everything is, nothing is really very frightening." - Gertrude Stein

"Danger is a good teacher and makes apt scholars." - William Hazlitt

"Wherever there is danger, there lurks opportunity; whenever there is opportunity, there lurks danger. The two are inseparable. They go together."- Earl Nightingale

"If you define cowardice as running away at the first sign of danger, screaming and tripping and begging for mercy, then yes, Mr. Brave man, I guess I'm a coward." - Jack Handy

"Those who'll play with cats must expect to be scratched." - Miguel de Cervantes

"In this world there is always danger for those who are afraid of it." - George Bernard Shaw

"Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies." - Thomas Jefferson

"A truth spoken before its time is dangerous." - Greek Proverb

"As soon as there is life there is danger." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

"To a profound pessimist about life, being in danger is not depressing." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Every good thing in the world stands on the razor-edge of danger." - Thornton Wilder

"The path is smooth that leadeth on to danger." - William Shakespeare

"There's nothing more dangerous than a resourceful idiot." - Scott Adams

Arctic Monkeys: D Is For Dangerous - 4MB

Henry Buckley: Beware Of Rude Boys - 2MB

LL Cool J: Dangerous - 6MB

Louis Jordan: Beware - 4MB

Desmond Dekker & The Aces: Beautiful And Dangerous - 4MB

The Quarrymen: In Spite Of All The Danger - 2MB

The Robot & Will Robinson: Warning Caution Stop - 475KB

Elvis Costello: Watch Your Step - 4MB

Big Youth: Be Careful - 4MB

thanks to all the little people

Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:37:13 GMT

Little Stevie Wonder: Fingertips Pt 2 - 4MB

Little Jackie: Crying For The Queen - 4MB

Little Walter: My Babe - 3MB

Little Richard: Lucille - 6MB

Little Esther Phillips & Johnny Otis Orchestra: Misery - 3MB

Millie Small: My Boy Lollipop - 4MB

Little Bobby Riviera & The Hemlocks: Cora Lee - 3MB

Little Willie Littlefield: K.C. Loving - 4MB

Little Feat: Sailin' Shoes - 4MB

Little Milton: If Walls Could Talk - 5MB

Little Jimmy Scott w\ Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra: Everybody's Somebody's Fool - 4MB

Little Eva: The Loco-Motion - 2MB

Little Willie John: I'm Shakin' - 2MB

Little Junior's Blue Flames: Love My Baby - 3MB

cry! cry! cry!

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:08:48 GMT

"Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts." - Charles Dickens

"Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed." - Natalie Clifford Barney

"Tears are Summer showers to the soul." - Alfred Austin

"Those who do not know how to weep with their whole heart don't know how to laugh either." - Golda Meir

"It is such a secret place, the land of tears." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

"If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is 'God is crying.' And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is 'Probably because of something you did.'" - Jack Handy

"We must laugh at man to avoid crying for him." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears." - John Vance Cheney

"We are born crying, live complaining, and die disappointed" - Thomas Fuller

"It is not whether you really cry. It's whether the audience thinks you are crying." - Ingrid Bergman

Alton Ellis: Tumbling Tears - 7MB

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles: The Tears Of A Clown - 5MB

Sonny Boy Williamson: Stop Crying - 3MB

Johnny Burnette & The Rock 'N' Roll Trio: Lonesome Tears In My Eyes - 3MB

Elmore James: The Sky Is Crying - 3MB

Joe Cocker: Cry Me A River - 6MB

Johnnie Ray: Cry - 3MB

Johnny Cash: Cry! Cry! Cry! - 2MB

Larry & The Cables: Please Stop Your Crying - 4MB

Lead Belly: Dancing With Tears In My Eyes - 3MB

Ernest Tubb: You Don't Have To Be A Baby To Cry - 2MB

Question Mark & The Mysterians: 96 Tears - 4MB

Blind Willie Johnson: Lord, I Just Can't Keep From Cryin' - 3MB

Tom Hanks/Jimmy Dugan: No Crying In Baseball - 77KB

The Police: Driven To Tears - 5MB

Roy Orbison: Crying - 4MB

Winston Groovy: Please Don't Make Me Cry - 5MB

it's your birthday!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:56:38 GMT

While planning a 4th of July post, I looked over what was relevant for the occasion and realized over the years I've pretty much already posted the best stuff. So, consider this a collection of highlights.

Jean Shepherd was an amazing storyteller, humorist, writer and radio host. His show ran on WOR in New York from 1956 until 1977. He's probably best known to modern day audiences for the film A Christmas Story.

Shepherd's account of a memorable Fourth of July, Ludlow Kissell & The Dago Bomb That Struck Back, was first published in Playboy magazine (the origin of the illustration above) and later as part of In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, a collection of Shep's short stories. Thanks to The Jean Shepherd Project, here's Jean's first reading of Ludlow Kissell, recorded live on WOR.

"What is there about a solid molar rattling explosion that sets the blood tingling and brings the roses to the cheeks? There are muddle headed souls who will tell you over and over that man is basically a peaceful and quiet creature, destined ultimately to while away his golden days strumming lutes, penning odes and watching birds. I have never yet witnessed the turtle preparing to ignite the portentous fuse of a cherry bomb. No - it remained for man to concoct black powder from the innocent elements of the Earth and ultimately to split the atom, all in pursuit of that healing bomb, that thundering report."

Jean Shepherd: Ludlow Kissell & The Dago Bomb - 10MB

D. Boon sang about a Fourth of July spent drunk on a Mexican beach filled with white boy guilt, one of my favorite songs about the day.

The Minutemen: I Felt Like A Gringo - 3MB

Allen Ginsberg addresses the America he sees from looking in the television set.

Allen Ginsberg: America - 10MB

Get down without constrictions - isn't that what it's all about? Funkadelic recommends dancing your way to freedom.

Funkadelic: One Nation Under A Groove - 12MB

Happy Birthday, America.

madam marie's boardwalk life is through - asbury park morns

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 09:54:04 GMT

And it comes right before the Fourth of July.

Springsteen's 'Madam Marie' Dies - Asbury Park Paper (Natch) Got Last Interview

As the news spread around New Jersey, and Bruce Springsteen circles, of the death of "Madam" Marie Castello - the famed fortune teller from Springsteen's 1973 favorite, "Fourth of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" - one newspaper had the others beat.

And as seems fitting, it was The Asbury Park Press.

The Press, based in nearby Neptune, N.J., these days, got the last interview with the 94-year-old Castello - who got busted in the song by the cops for "tellin' fortunes better than they do" - less than two months ago. So when she died Friday, and word broke today, the Gannett paper posted the lengthy May interview by staffer Bill Handleman online.

She retired in the mid-1990s but family members have kept the boardwalk booth open.

One excerpt from the Press:

"One time he came over and said 'All I've got is 50 cents,'" she remembers. "I told him, 'You don't have to give me your 50 cents.'" As the story goes, she told him he would be famous one day. She probably said that to all the boys, Springsteen once conceded. Still, he would immortalize her in song. He would make her the most famous fortuneteller ever to peer into a crystal ball. "He always comes by to say hello," she says now. "He knows where he came from."

Check out the Press' interview here.

Bruce Springsteen: 4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy) - 13MB

Benny Spellman: Fortune Teller - 3MB

the colbert green screen challenge

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:19:31 GMT

Those of you that watch The Colbert Report are aware of the John McCain Green Screen Challenge. McCain gave a speech that even Fox commentators felt boring, so Stephen Colbert kindly offered his help. Senator McCain was good enough to have his speech in front of a green backdrop, making it perfect to spice up using chroma key. The show has made available the raw materials for download, so if you're handy with video editing, you can replace the green screen behind McCain with something more exciting (links below). Here are some of the better ones.

Project Make McCain Exciting: Blue Suede Shoe Edition
  Elvis Presley: Blue Suede Shoes - 2MB

Project Make McCain Exciting: Gray Ambition
  Madonna: Vogue - 8MB

Project Make McCain Exciting: Jedi Edition
  John Williams & London Symphony Orchestra: Main Title from Star Wars - 9MB

Project Make McCain Exciting: Pulp McCain
  The Lively Ones: Surf Rider - 5MB

More Here: ColbertNation.com » Project Make McCain Exciting

Stephen Announces John McCain The Green Screen Challenge!

As Stephen mentioned on last night’s show, when Republican Presidential nominee John McCain addressed a crowd in Kenner, Louisiana on June 3, he did so in front of a green screen, thereby issuing a bold challenge to Americans to make him seem more exciting.

Here is the McCain footage as promised. Right-click and download now! Then upload your green screen makeovers to our server over here.

friday fist jab five

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 05:21:00 GMT

In 1957, Memphis musician, Jim Stewart, tried hawking a two song tape to Sun Records, who turned him down. Undaunted, he started his own company, Satellite Records, to release it. After a few years of success, Atlantic signed them to a distribution deal. Satellite's first major hit was Last Night, which had been recorded by The Royal Spades, who upon release had their name changed to the Mar-Kays. It rose to number two on the R&B charts and three on the Pop. National prominence forced the fledging company to change their name - a California organization was already using the Satellite moniker. Last Night was reissued as the first record on Stax, the "St" taken from Stewart and the "Ax" from co-owner, May Axton. It's fitting that it was the inaugural release, since it's an early indicator of what would later become the Stax sound - fat drums, loud bass, front and center horns.

Mar-Kays: Last Night - 3MB

Sheffield's Arctic Monkeys have the distinction of being one of the first bands to be successfully promoted via MySpace. They also have a clever video to go with the song that I included below. Gotta love that Yorkshire accent.

Arctic Monkeys: Dancing Shoes - 4MB

Arctic Monkeys: Dancing Shoes

Burning Dervish is celebrating the two-year anniversary of the site's launch by reposting all 24 mixes from the last 24 months. These are the deepest of deep cuts, more rarities than I can totally list. You'll find Reggae, African, Jazz and World music, among other numerous genres. I found this delightful surprise, Roll Jordan Roll by the Wingless Angels, amongst the choice selections. After Keith Richards moved to Jamaica, he became friends with Ska pioneer, Justin Hinds, a member of Wingless Angels. They got together and recorded the band's only album, which Richards played on and produced. It's filled with primal drumbeats, chants and hymns from the Nyabinghi Rastafarian sect, to which the seven Wingless Angels belong. Allmusic called it "an utterly unique and refreshing listening experience" - I couldn't agree more.

Wingless Angels: Roll Jordan Roll - 9MB

I think I can count the number of good white Reggae bands with all the fingers on Django Reinhardt's left hand. Sublime is one of them. Most are aware of Bradley Nowell's heroin overdose just two months before the release of Sublime's self-titled third record, which ended up going platinum five-times over. Today's selection comes from that bestseller - how can you lose with lyrics like, "Mucho gusto, me llamo Bradley, I'm hornier than Ron Jeremy"?

Sublime: Caress Me Down - 6MB

Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) was a mystery. By the time of his death in 1965, he'd been around long enough to have played with Robert Johnson at the start of his career and Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Robbie Robertson at the end of it - his first wife was Howlin' Wolf's sister. At various times, he called himself Aleck "Rice" Miller, Willie Williams, Alex Willie Williamson, "Little Boy Blue," "Buzzard Beak", "The Signifyin' Goat" and gave birth dates somewhere between 1893 and 1909. He made one last trip to England in the mid 1960s where he told blues fans he was the real Sonny Boy Williamson, a rouse he had carried on for more than 20 years. The original Sonny Boy Williamson was born in 1914, died during 1948 and was associated with Bluebird Records - ironically, they would both pass within a week of Memorial Day. Between 1951 and 1965 Sonny Boy Williamson II wrote, sang and played harp on some of the finest blues recordings of all time - he was nicknamed "King of the Harmonica" by his peers, here's a page about his harp playing with some sound samples. Rumor has it had he lived longer, he would have been a member of The Band when they joined Bob Dylan.

Sonny Boy Williamson: Bring It On Home - 4MB

Listen, don't be a chump, slide your beach pals the terrorist fist bump (apologies to The Sunrays) and have the mother of all weekends!

rip

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:10:01 GMT

NWS, of course.

George Carlin: Education and the Owners of America

George Carlin: Extreme Human Behavior - 18MB

George Carlin: Drugs - 7MB

George Carlin: Religion - 3MB

George Carlin: Dumb Americans - 15MB

George Carlin: Why We Don't Need 10 Commandments - 9MB

George Carlin: Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television - 11MB

communiqué

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 04:23:03 GMT

Good news for bandwidth suckers - I now have an unlimited transfer account for the mp3s, so leech away. Music lovers are welcome to insert URLs into their neato streaming players - if you can't beat 'em... Now that I no longer have to worry about transfer/storage, I can concentrate more on content. To celebrate, I've restored all the sound files for posts starting back from 7/22/07, along with a few other choice ones. If you have something you'd like me to update with working links, let me know.

Lord Melody: Carnival Proclamation

Chuck Berry: Let It Rock

Louis Jordan: Let The Good Times Roll

Badfinger: Come And Get It

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't been doing a good job of letting all you invisible friends know that I can also be found over at Star Maker Machine, a fine collective of music bloggers from across the Internets. Here's links to a few of my posts:

1984: Baby I'm A Star

1984: The Reflex

Boats: Shipbuilding

1984: Smooth Operator

There's been quite a rise in traffic this year (especially the last few weeks), thanks for taking to time to stop by, more fun ahead...

everybody dance now

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 10:20:01 GMT

YouTube: Barack Obama

YouTube: Hillary Clinton

YouTube: George Bush

YouTube: John McCain

Black Kids: I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You - 6MB

Bob Landers with Willie Joe and his Unitar: Cherokee Dance - 4MB

The Rolling Stones: Dance Little Sister - 7MB

The Miracles: Mickey's Monkey - 3MB

The Five Du-Tones: Shake A Tail Feather - 3MB

The Ramones: Do You Wanna Dance - 3MB

The Dovells: Bristol Stomp - 3MB

Malcolm McLaren: Double Dutch - 8MB

The Kinks: Come Dancing - 6MB

The Fantastic Johnny C.: Boogaloo Down Broadway - 4MB

Shirley & Company: Shame, Shame, Shame - 5MB

Wilson Pickett: Land Of 1000 Dances - 3MB

lady luck

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:27:59 GMT

Luck

Luck refers to that which happens beyond a person's control. This view incorporates phenomena that are chance happenings, a person's place of birth for example, but where there is no uncertainty involved, or where the uncertainty is irrelevant. Within this framework one can differentiate between three different types of luck:

1. Constitutional luck, that is, luck with factors that cannot be changed. Place of birth and genetic constitution are typical examples.
2. Circumstantial luck, that is, luck with factors that are haphazardly brought on. Accidents and epidemics are typical examples.
3. Ignorance luck, that is, luck with factors one does not know about. Examples can be identified only in hindsight.

What brings good luck

four leaf clover

rabbit foot

horseshoe pointed upwards

crossing your fingers

longer half of a wishbone

What brings bad luck

breaking mirror

spilling salt

hat on bed

black cat crossing path

walking under ladder

thirteen

shoes on a table

bird flying in home

Quotes about luck

"Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered." - William Shakespeare

"We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don't like?" - Jean Cocteau

"If a man who cannot count finds a four-leaf clover, is he lucky?" - Stanislaw J. Lec

"The day you decide to do it is your lucky day" - Japanese Proverb

"I do not believe that the Good Lord plays dice." - Miguel de Cervantes

"The only sure thing about luck is that it will change." - Wilson Mizner

"Everything in life is luck." - Donald Trump

"Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure." - Earl Wilson

"It's hard to detect good luck - it looks so much like something you've earned." - Frank A. Clark

"I've been lucky. I'll be lucky again." - Bette Davis

Songs about good, bad, dumb, hard and tough luck.

JoBoxers: Just Got Lucky - 6MB

Earl Lee Hooker: You Got To Lose - 10MB

Elvis Presley: Good Luck Charm - 4MB

Ray Charles: Born To Lose - 8MB

Lester Williams: I Can't Lose With The Stuff I Use - 2MB

Memphis Minnie: I'm A Bad Luck Woman - 3MB

The Moldy Peaches: Lucky Number Nine - 3MB

Kay Starr: Wheel Of Fortune - 4MB

Lene Lovich: Lucky Number - 4MB

Roosevelt Sykes: You Can't Be Lucky All The Time - 3MB

Frank Sinatra: Luck Be A Lady - 8MB

say hi to the friday five

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 06:00:56 GMT

James "Sugar Boy" Crawford said he never received royalties from Iko Iko, the song his Jock-A-Mo is based on. Crawford was inspired by chants he heard in Congo Square in New Orleans - when interviewed in the 80s, Crawford said: "I'd heard these chants and liked the sound of them, so I just put a little tune to them. I can't take credit for the words, obviously, but I guess the tune is mine. It came from two Indian chants that I put music to. 'Iko Iko' was like a victory chant that the Indians would shout. 'Jock-A-Mo' was a chant that was called when the Indians went into battle. I just put them together and made a song out of them. Really it was just like 'Lawdy Miss Clawdy.' That was a phrase everybody in New Orleans used. Lloyd Price just added music to it and it became a hit. I was just trying to write a catchy song...."

Sugar Boy Crawford: Jock-A-Mo - 2MB

I'm afraid Harry Nilsson is becoming one of those artists neglected by time. An incredible tunesmith that recorded some of the most emotion-filled Pop of the 70s, he died in January of 1994 of heart failure after slowly deteriorating from a massive heart attack in 1993. Today's featured tune comes from the soundtrack of Son Of Dracula, produced for Apple Films by Ringo Starr. It starred musicians John Bonham, Peter Frampton, Ricki Farr, Bobby Keyes and Keith Moon. In an understatement, Ringo Starr said "It is not the best film ever made, but I've seen worse." Of the nine songs in the soundtrack, only Daybreak, a tune from a vampire's POV, was written especially for the film.

Harry Nilsson: Daybreak - 4MB

This week, Alton Kelley, who with his creative partner Stanley Mouse, designed Grateful Dead album art and psychedelic concert posters for the Avalon Ballroom and Fillmore West, passed on. Kelley was an visual alchemist whose work helped define 60s art, you can still see his influence today. In his honor, a cut from American Beauty, an album he designed the cover art for. American Beauty is a masterpiece, one of the finest complete albums ever - a perfectly conceived blending of American music genres. Not bad for a bunch of dirty, filthy hippies.

Grateful Dead: Ripple - 7MB

What is it about Denmark bands? I find myself posting an inordinate amount of Danish music, it must be in the water. Powersolo is a Danish punk trio founded by the guitar playing Jeppesen brothers, I think their press release describes them best: "Danish B-Movie punk-a-billy cats. It's Sick-o-billy roots, fucked up and hurt bad with tremolo-twisted echo and reverb dementia! Bullet-ridden Americana! Druggy angst and questionable mental health! Weirder and wilder… because it is from Denmark!"

PowerSolo: Kat Nazer - 5MB

Curtis Mayfield is one of the few members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who have been inducted more than once - first with the Impressions in 1991 and again as a solo artist in 1999. In 1990, a freak accident during a Brooklyn concert left Mayfield permanently paralyzed from the neck down. I saw Curtis in concert just a few months before the accident, the man exuded dignity, grace and soul. He died in 1999, his uplifting brand of R&B lives on through the artists he influenced and his recordings. Here's the extended version of his 1970 solo hit - don't disturb this groove.

Curtis Mayfield: Move On Up - 14MB

Enjoy the first weekend in June, which is just about already in progress...

rip

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:26:23 GMT

Bo Diddley: Gun Slinger - 2MB

a world of fools

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:30:14 GMT

"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right." - Mark Twain

"Fools live to regret their words, wise men to regret their silence." - Will Henry

"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools." - Ernest Hemingway

"A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will."- Spanish Proverb

"That's the penalty we have to pay for our acts of foolishness - someone else always suffers for them." - Alfred Sutro

"I have great faith in fools - my friends call it self-confidence" - Edgar Allan Poe

"Old fools are babes again." - William Shakespeare

"He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever." - Chinese Proverb

"Any fool can write a novel, but it takes real genius to sell it." - J. G. Ballard

"Fools gain greater advantages through their weakness than intelligent men through their strength. We watch a great man struggling against fate and we do not lift a finger to help him. But we patronize a grocer who is headed for bankruptcy." - Honore de Balzac

"You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time." - Abraham Lincoln.

"You can fool too many of the people too much of the time." - James Thurber

"Every fool finds a greater one to admire them." - Bioleau

"When in doubt, make a fool of yourself. There is a microscopically thin line between being brilliantly creative and acting like the most gigantic idiot on earth. So what the hell, leap." - Cynthia Heimel

A Tribe Called Quest: Description Of A Fool - 8MB

Ike & Tina Turner: A Fool In Love - 3MB

The Simpsons: Fooling Machine - 90KB

Sandford Clark: The Fool - 3MB

Joe Jackson: Fools In Love - 7MB

The Dodos: Fool - 9MB

Etta James: Seven Day Fool - 5MB

The Crickets: Love's Made A Fool Of You - 2MB

Ricky Nelson: Fools Rush In - 5MB

Lightnin' Hopkins: Another Fool In Town - 6MB

Aretha Franklin: Chain Of Fools - 4MB

loners

Sat, 31 May 2008 06:55:54 GMT

Know when you see him, nothing can free him. Step aside, open wide - it's the loner

Neil Diamond: Solitary Man - 3MB

Bob Dylan: Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) - 5MB

Jimi Hendrix: If 6 Was 9 - 9MB

The Byrds: Wasn't Born To Follow - 3MB

Neil Young: The Loner - 6MB

summertime, summertime

Wed, 28 May 2008 00:10:28 GMT

Now that Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer in the US, is in our rear mirror, it's time for some summertime music. Here's a repost from last year - judging by the stats it was one of the more popular posts at snuhthing/anything, so enjoy!

When I was a kid in New York City, a sure sign the summer was about to start was when the local top forty radio station, WABC (now all news), played the Jamies paean to the season. Last year, Chris from Locust St, gave his read on Summertime, Summertime - good stuff, check it out.

The Jamies: Summertime, Summertime - 3MB

The Beach Boys weren't really a surf band, but a vocal group in the tradition of The Four Freshmen (picture a bunch of guys in matching sweaters). Those Beach Boy harmonies would glisten like the sun beating down on a blue flake 1964 Corvette Stingray.

The Beach Boys: The Warmth Of The Sun - 5MB

Who doesn't like Weezer? Maybe parents that were forced to watch the Olsen Twins movie, Holiday in the Sun, where it was used endlessly in the soundtrack. But outside of that...

Weezer: Island In The Sun - 5MB

Here's an interesting personal fact - I attended the same high school as Frank Zappa (not simultaneously, of course). We even shared the same music teacher, Rey Vinole. Mr. Vinole did not like rock music and would even lecture on its evils, so we also shared Vinole's distaste.

Frank Zappa: Village Of The Sun - 8MB

The sun burns fast, but Black Rebel Motorcycle Club languidly burns slow.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: As Sure As The Sun - 11MB

Pharcyde remixes Sublime for a 1998 Delicious Vinyl sampler.

Pharcyde & Sublime: Summertime In The LBC -5MB

I picked this up from WFMU, the home of all things arcane.

Ella Fitzgerald: Sunshine Of Your Love - 5MB

A saucerfull of Pink Floyd.

Pink Floyd: Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun - 8MB

Have a fantastic summer - don't forget to wear sunscreen!

the false comfort of the friday five

Fri, 23 May 2008 07:00:01 GMT

Hey, Bucko! Have you often felt yourself without style or grace? Wearing shoes with no socks in cold weather? Then it's time for some Talking Heads for you! David Byrne always seems to be up to something, his latest is a "guitar pedal carpet" installation - from Mr. Byrne's blog: "My piece will be comprised of a kind of carpet of one hundred guitar pedals, which benefit attendees must walk on in order to enter the main dining and performance space. A guitar will be plugged into and run through all the pedals, and then into an amp." Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any TS-9 Ibanez Tube Screamers - pity that.

Talking Heads: Houses In Motion - 7MB

The War On Drugs (TWOD) are a new fav of mine. Instead of telling you about them, just download the damn thing and hear for yourself.

The War On Drugs: Taking The Farm - 8MB

Albert "The Iceman" Collins - "The Master of the Telecaster". This man played electric Blues like no other, here's his signature piece.

Albert Collins: Frosty - 3MB

The track all the cool kids want, ya dig?

Paul Weller & Noel Gallagher: Echoes Round The Sun - 4MB

I wrote at length about Marvin Gaye here, if you need some background on the best R&B singer of all time. The sign of a great artist is whether or not their music still resonates after they're gone - this song is more relevant now than when it was released. Check out the live performance video, it's even better than the studio version.

Marvin Gaye: What's Going On - 6MB

YouTube: Marvin Gaye - What's Going On / What's Happening Brother

I've been stretching out a bit and having a blast posting over at Star Maker Machine. This week's theme is "Songs titled with a woman's name (and nothing else)", stop by for a look. Appease me - enjoy the weekend!

more songs about buildings & food

Wed, 21 May 2008 11:59:00 GMT

Arcade Fire: The Well And The Lighthouse - 7MB

The Beatles: Savoy Truffle - 5MB

Hot Butter: Popcorn - 4MB

Elvis Costello: Hoover Factory - 3MB

Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie Parker: Salt Peanuts - 8MB

Heaven 17: Penthouse & Pavement - 10MB

Cibo Matto: Know Your Chicken - 6MB

The Clash: Lost In The Supermarket - 6MB

Leonard Cohen: Chelsea Hotel #2 - 4MB

The Chips: Rubber Biscuit - 2MB

walls & bridges

Mon, 19 May 2008 22:41:00 GMT

Walls and bridges have a symbiotic relationship - one separates people, the other connects. Whether the Great Wall Of China or the walls of a cellblock, their use keeps humans divided from each other. Bridges span obstacles, sometimes they're as simple as a log fallen across a stream, other times as complex as the 12,828 foot Akashi Kaikyo Bridge suspension bridge in Japan.

Between August 13, 1961 and November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall separated West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany.

YouTube: Ronald Reagan, June 12, 1987, Brandenburg Gate - "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

Knocking down the Berlin Wall

Dead Kennedys: The Great Wall - 3MB

Faron Young: Hello Walls - 4MB

Johnny Cash: The Wall - 3MB

Marcy Playground: Ancient Walls Of Flowers - 4MB

The National: 90-Mile Water Wall - 6MB

Sound Team: Bedroom Walls - 5MB

The Bridge Of Sighs of Venice, Italy was built at the beginning of the 17th century with the purpose of connecting prisons and interrogation rooms in the Palace of the Dukes, its beauty masks what was likely a devastating last walk for condemned prisoners. It's said that one could hear their sighs as they looked one last time upon the outside world before being locked up, their graffiti is still visible on some of the concrete cell walls.

Robin Trower: Bridge Of Sighs - 7MB

Duke Ellington: Chelsea Bridge - 3MB

The Decemberists: Bridges & Balloons - 8MB

Frank Sinatra: The Brooklyn Bridge - 2MB

Mazzy Star: Look On Down From The Bridge - 7MB

A world of bridges instead of walls? Here's hoping...

The Staple Singers: Bridges Instead Of Walls - 6MB

the great umbilical

Sat, 10 May 2008 21:10:00 GMT

"What a mother sings to the cradle goes all the way to the coffin." - Henry Ward Beecher

Hollie Dew, Bull & Group: Don't You Hear Po' Mother Callin'? - 5MB

Faces: Bad 'N' Ruin - 9MB

The Decemberists: My Mother Was A Chinese Trapese Artist - 7MB

Earl King: A Mother's Love - 3MB (h/t BWF)

Kate Bush: Mother Stands For Comfort - 4MB

this way to the friday five

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:00:08 GMT

0px: This Way To The Internet

Dancehall King, Barrington Levy, is Jamaica's answer to Cab Calloway. I first saw him during one of the Reggae Sunsplash tours that made it's way to the US, he's a great live performer. In 1996, Barrington and the remaining members of Sublime, The Long Beach Dub All Stars, did some recording and played a few shows together. Of late, he's kept busy doing one-off collaborations and touring. Listen and find out why Barrington's so big that he's broader than Broadway.

Barrington Levy: Here I Come - 6MB

XTC are an enigma. After releasing the classic English Settlement, the band went on a world tour to support the new release. Only nine full shows were performed before the plug was pulled - after Andy Partridge's anxiety attacks graduated from bouts of crippling stage fright to a complete nervous breakdown, he was forced to withdraw from touring permanently. XTC then became a studio band, releasing eight more albums. In 2006, Partridge announced that the only other remaining member, Colin Moulding, was no longer interested in music and without his participation, wasn't interested in releasing anymore albums under the XTC banner. I guess that closes the final chapter of the band - too bad, it's our loss.

XTC: No Thugs In Our House - 8MB

This Eddie Floyd tune epitomizes the Memphis R&B sound - Bruce Springsteen used it to close his shows. A soul standard, backed by Stax Records house band, Booker T & The MGs.

Eddie Floyd: Raise Your Hand - 3MB

If you asked me who my favorite Montreal laptop-techno Ambient Dub artist was, I'd have to say Deadbeat. Scott Monteith is the man behind the ultra-textured soundscapes and he's just released a new EP, Take Me Back To London Town - here's a taste.

Deadbeat: Bubble And Squeak - 10MB

In 1969, Marsha Hunt had an UK hit with this Dr. John song, also covered by Cher, Widespread Panic, Humble Pie, The Allman Brothers, among others. Perhaps the best version comes from The Modfather, Paul Weller. It features Oasis' Noel Gallagher, who provides guitar and backing vocals.

Paul Weller: I Walk On Gilded Splinters - 10MB

Here comes the weekend - all aboard!

music of the highest caliber

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 09:51:01 GMT

"You can get a lot farther with a kind word and a gun than a kind word alone." - Al Capone

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." - Dwight David Eisenhower

"The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun." - Richard Buckminster Fuller

"Instead of a Seeing Eye dog, what about a gun? It's cheaper than a dog, plus if you walk around shooting all the time people are going to get out of the way." - Jack Handey

"Americans have the will to resist because you have weapons. If you don't have a gun, freedom of speech has no power." - Yoshimi Ishikawa

"As long as there are guns, the individual that wants a gun for a crime is going to have one and going to get it." - Ronald Reagan

"Guns will make us powerful; butter will only make us fat." - Hermann Göring

The Clash: Tommy Gun - 5MB

Johnny Cash: Don't Take Your Guns To Town - 5MB

Cypress Hill: Hand On The Pump - 6MB

Tim Fite: I've Been Shot - 4MB

Warren Zevon: Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner - 5MB

Al Dexter & His Troopers: Pistol Packin' Mama - 3MB

Tom Waits: A Sweet Little Bullet From A Pretty Blue Gun - 7MB

The Valentines: Guns Fever (Blam Blam Fever) - 3MB

Bill Wyman: I Wanna Get Me A Gun - 8MB

Marty Robbins: Big Iron - 6MB

Lightnin' Hopkins: Bring Me My Shotgun - 4MB

Jimi Hendrix & The Band Of Gypsys: Machine Gun - 21MB

Bad Brains: Hired Gun - 6MB

Ragga Twins: Illegal Gunshot - 9MB

Neil Young: Powderfinger - 8MB

Statistics, Facts and Quotes

In 2004 (the most recent year for which data is available), there were 29,569 gun deaths in the U.S:

16,750 suicides (56% of all U.S gun deaths)
11,624 homicides (40% of all U.S gun deaths)
649 unintentional shootings (4% of all U.S gun deaths combined)

The University of Chicago offers an online shooting test in which you encounter a series of men holding either guns or cellphones. You'll proceed through 100 trials where you shoot the gunmen and holster your gun for the others: Shooter Effect

a shot of friday five

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:01:08 GMT

It's been one of those weeks that's end couldn't come quick enough. With that in mind, it's good to be reminded that in life, you only go around once - better grab that gusto and be there first. The Spud Boys do just that in song with this cut from Duty Now For The Future.

Devo: Red Eye Express - 5MB

I don't think Iggy Pop is five foot one, but having met him in passing, I can say he's extremely short. Don't you wish that life can be Swedish magazines?

Iggy Pop: Five Foot One - 7MB

Did you know James Brown's last words were, "I'm on fire"? Though Christie’s holding an auction of his estate this August 1st, his family still hasn't found a final resting place for his body, so they did the next best thing and turned his daughter's backyard into a temporary burial site. Papa don't take no mess, indeed, which is a nice segue into today's selection. At 3:11 into Papa Don't Take No Mess, James sings how "papa didn't cuss, he didn't raise a whole lotta fuss, but when we did wrong, papa beat the hell out of us." Now, the idea of child abuse is disturbing in itself, but inserting audience cheers and a hearty "right on!" at the end of the stanza causes my eyebrow to go into full Stephen Colbert mode. From an early age, James had experienced a violent life, which is certainly reflected in his songs. Hopefully, he'll be put to rest in dignity, not for public display, a la Lenin's Tomb, in some bizarre Gracelandesque sideshow.

James Brown: Papa Don't Take No Mess, Pt 1 - 8MB

The Bar-Kays have to be one of music's saddest stories. They were aboard Otis Redding's chartered plane that crashed into Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin. Only one person made it out alive, Trumpeter Ben Cauley. He talks about it in an amazing must-read story: Bar-Kays hornman Ben Cauley is a survivor.

The Bar-Kays: Soul Finger - 3MB

The perpetually changing Bright Eyes with a breezy Conor Oberst number.

Bright Eyes: Four Winds - 7MB

Now, it's time to throw some sawdust on the floor, fire up the jukebox and down 'em 'til I get cross-eyed. If I get to mumbling about running for President, make sure to have the bartender cut me off - have a great weekend!