Tampa Calling

Last Thursday, on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to land on the Moon, NASA came out with the embarrassing news that it had somehow, over the years, managed to record over America’s most important historical footage of said trip to the Moon’s surface. You know, the famous footage of Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” the one that all those conspiracy theorists say is faked Wag the Dog style? Yeah, that footage.

(Apparently, in the 1970s and ’80s, NASA had a shortage of tapes, so it erased about 200,000 of them and reused them, including ones documenting the historical event.)

Luckily, NASA’s news came with a Hollywood saves-the-day solution: those crafty preservationists who restored Casablanca are digitally sharpening and cleaning up grainy footage of the moon landing taken from four sources NASA scrounged from around the world. The results are said to be better than what TV viewers witnessed on July 20, 1969, and according to senior NASA engineer Dick Nafzger, “There’s nothing being created; there’s nothing being manufactured.”

In honor of NASA’s royal fuck-up, I’ve made up a playlist of songs dedicated to the moon. There are a great deal more than 10, and some are rather obvious, but headlines are better with nice round numbers … interesting how many of these songs were produced in the ’70s. I guess a mission to the moon will inspire some songs, huh? Read the rest of this entry »

This album looks great on paper:

Legendary organist and Stax Records session mainstay Booker T. joins forces with the Drive-By Truckers, whose Patterson Hood is the son of Muscle Shoals bassist David Hood. Add Neil Young’s lead guitar into the mix, and the result? Gritty instrumental R&B gold, right?

Not really. Potato Hole sounds like a set of 10 rhythm tracks in search of songs — melodies, vocals, that sort of stuff. As a result, while some of the music has a certain scrappy energy, the whole affair ends up being tedious.

Versions of “Hey Ya” and Tom Waits’ “Get Behind the Mule” fare best, mostly because the aggregation has a melody to dig into.

Booker T. is not an improviser, a soloist of any particular skill. (Just listen to the Booker T & the MG’s 1962 hit “Green Onions” — it’s a quick, grabby riff with a good groove, and little else.) Read the rest of this entry »

Now that the first wave of rock legends has passed that used-to-be retirement age of 65, a new crop of important artists is closing in on 60. Over the last few months, it surprised me to discover just how many prominent rockers were 59. Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Tom Waits, Stevie Wonder, to name a handful.

I got curious if this was a particularly good age for rockers. Rather than telling you how many rock artists are 59 at this very moment, I did a search and unearthed which ones were born in 1950, the height of the post-WWII baby boom. Quite a few, as it turns out. Here’s a chronological list of pop artists born in 1950. A pretty good year. The list is extensive but not all-inclusive:

January 9, 1950, David Johanson (New York Dolls, Buster Poindexter)
January 5, 1950, Chris Stein, (Blondie)
January 21, 1950, Billy Ocean
January 23, 1950, Danny Federici (E Street Band)

January 23, 1950, Pat Simmons (Doobie Brothers)

February 6, 1950, Natalie Cole
February 12, 1950, Steve Hackett (Genesis)
February 20, 1950, Walter Becker (Steely Dan)
March 2, 1950, Karen Carpenter (The Carpenters)
March 4, 1950, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top)
March 21, 1950, Roger Hodgson (Supertramp)
March 26, 1950, Teddy Pendergrass
March 27, 1950, Tony Banks (Genesis) Read the rest of this entry »

BOB LOG III PLAYS THE GARAGE IN DOWNTOWN ST. PETERSBURG ON SUNDAY, MAY 24.

A lot of people don’t know who Bob Log III is. Those that have seen him will never forget him.

My first Bob Log III experience came at the Deep Blues Festival ‘08. He played with Possessed By Paul James and Scott H. Biram at a few night shows, so I managed to catch him a few times outside the festival and once actually at the festival. The first time I saw him, I was convinced it was Scott H. Biram in disguise, but then I walked up to the bar for a drink and Biram was sitting there. Suddenly I wondered, Who the fuck was this man on the stage in a full-faced helmet and full-body cannonball man suit? As the show wore on, he had women sitting on his lap, women with their tits in his drinks and by the end of the weekend, he had a devoted fan in myself.

(MORE OF THE BOB LOG-APALOOZA AND MP3s AFTER THE JUMP)

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This Saturday marks the second annual Record Store Day, a national salute to the more than 700 indie music stores located across the country and the positive impact they make on their communities. In honor of the event, several Bay area stores are offerings specials and carrying limited edition, exclusive Record Store Day releases.

Daddy Kool gives 10 percent off all new albums and 20 percent off all used inventory, and hosts some yet-to-be-announced activities.

Other area stores, like Sound Exchange, Mojo Books & Music and Vinyl Fever, have stocked up on an array of exclusive Record Store Day releases available only at indie stores. Amid the offerings are an array of split 7”-ers, including a double 7” of live tracks from Atlanta and Edinburgh by Tom Waits and Lucinda Williams, and a split 7” featuring covers of songs from Warner Bros.’ back catalog – Flaming Lips with Stardeath and White Dwarfs performing Madonna’s “Borderline,” and The Black Keys doing Captain Beefheart’s “Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles.” Guided By Voices re-releases its Hold On Hope LP with three bonus tracks, My Morning Jacket offers a limited run CD and double 10″ vinyl release recorded live in Louisville at Ear X-tacy record store, and Wilco makes its forthcoming concert DVD, Ashes of American Flags, available solely to indie stores and on its website on Record Store Day. Other exclusive RSD vinyl releases come from Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Mastodon, Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Jane’s Addiction, The Stooges, Modest Mouse, Slayer, The Decemberists and Black Kids, among many others. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a continuation of my “Top 10: Depressing Christmas Songs.” Because, truth be told, I still ain’t feeling too damn cheery this time of year. But, y’know, happy holidays!

1. “Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis,” Tom Waits
Killer line: “I’ll be eligible for parole come Valentine’s Day.”

2. “Blue Christmas,” Elvis Presley
Killer line: “Youll be doin all right, with your Christmas of white, but I’ll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmas.”

3. “Christmas in Washington,” Steve Earle
Killer line: “If you run into Jesus, maybe he can help you out.”

4. “A Long December,” Counting Crows
Killer line: “I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower.”

5. “Same Old Lang Syne,” Dan Fogelberg
Killer line: “She gave a kiss to me as I got out, and I watched her drive away.”

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Perhaps you’ve heard about Gov. Rod Blagojevich getting busted for trying to auction off a senate seat.

Poor guy.

Now Obama is urging him to resign. I say, throw Blagojevich’s corrupt ass in jail. Or better yet, prison. With a big dude named Bubba.

Top 10 Songs for Blagojevich

1. “Christmas in Prison,” John Prine
2. “Xmas in Jail,” Asleep at the Wheel
3. “The Governor,” James McMurty
4. “Jailhouse Tears,” Lucinda Williams w/Elvis Costello
5. “Jail,” Dan Bern

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