Rock Journalist Joe Viglione

What's Wrong with Classic Rock Radio ?

2011-04-26T14:32:00.000-07:00

Classic Rock Radio Needs to Start Being Classic Rock

By joe viglione

5:33 PM Tuesday April 26, 2011

WZLX, 100.7 in Boston played "More Than A Feeling", for the 9 millionth or so spin.

Keep in mind that Tom Scholz's group was virtually ignored by the major labels first time around...like most of us. Read Ted Drozdowski's piece here:

The lanky six-foot-six MIT grad had nearly gone broke after years of making tapes and having them rejected by record labels.

“I had enough money for one last demo and sent it off to 24 companies, then figured I’d sit back and wait for the rejection letters,” Scholz says today. “Lo and behold, three major labels were interested. I couldn’t believe it. Nobody knew who we were, so I wouldn’t even say we were struggling. It was groveling.”

Now back in the day the revamped "Louie Louie" riff sounded completely modern and breathtaking. Fast forward to 2011 and the song is so overplayed that there's little wonder audiences are leaving radio though there are more people on the planet.

And that brings us to the problem with Classic Rock Radio.

The Consultants aren't the RIGHT consultants. When in 1989 Consultant G G (initials only please!) was at the Hard Rock Cafe in Boston he told me he was at a Bob Seger concert and saw the people swaying and thought "more Seger" for a Boston radio station...but the problem was he was in Texas and the transistor radios blasting from the people painting houses and out of car radios was not Bob Seger...they wanted to hear The Cars, Aeorosmith...the Beatles...and not just the familiar tracks.

But here's where it gets dicier! A Classic Rock radio - in order to keep a huge fan base - needs to play a spectrum of classic rock, not just the limited 200 song playlist of "Hollywood Nights", "Sweet Home Alabama", "Freebird", "Stairway to Zeppelin"...you get the idea. Here's what a Classic Rock radio station should play in 2011:

TOP 40 PLAYLIST FOR CLASSIC ROCK RADIO, APRIL 2011

#1 STAND Sly & The Family Stone
Quintessential spiritual protest song for people of every race, colour, creed or orientation! Amazing power and it rocks refreshingly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32V2zun5HlA

2)Sky Pilot Eric Burdon & The Animals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1qBa-Z2sIU

3)Trust Me - Janis Joplin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8c215JM3PZY
Me & Bobby McGee is the hit and what you hear all day long...be it Oldies radio or Classic Rock...but Pearl is a #1 album and every track (except the brilliant instrumental) is fair game...play the instrumental, Nick Gravenites composition "Buried Alive in The Blues" under p.s.a.'s

4)I'm Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOmZimH00oo

THE CURE FOR CLASSIC ROCK RADIO

5)THERE'S NOTHING LIKE A HIT!
http://tinyurl.com/theresnothinglikeahit

6)Mott The Hoople Honaloochie Boogie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_B2hUNuxlQ

7)Blue Cheer I'm The Light
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq01dIP5KGQ

8)Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4yZXb4aD2Q

NOTES:
Tom Scholz interview
http://www.rockmancentral.com/RockmanCentral/Articles/Maximum_Guitar.html

Alice Cooper Box, Iggy Pop Box LOU REED LIVE!

2011-04-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Iggy Pop
http://www.iggypop.org/newreleases.html

for posting the review I wrote for ROVI on his Live In San Francisco album. Next review is ROADKILL RISING disc
http://www.shoutfactorystore.com/prod.aspx?pfid=5257387#axzz1KCkTEBmF

This 1981 disc is the exception to that rule, except for the Ocasek produced studio material, which is a shame because Ocasek is a truly gifted producer when he puts the elbow grease into it. Perhaps Ric and Iggy were having too much fun to settle down and let it rip, as the techno drums on both tracks get in the way of the hard-rocking live set. But all of it -- live and studio -- is nice to have for Iggy completists, and there are some key moments on this fine little platter. [A DVD of the show was released in 1986; this CD-only version was released in 2007.] ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide
Read more here: http://www.slacker.com/album/iggy-pop/live-in-san-fran-1981

ROCK JOURNALIST JOE VIG'S DAILY DIARY
April 21, 2011

It's 6:35 PM on a Thursday night in Boston...have my new workout routine at the gym scheduled for later tonight...after sitting behind a keyboard for most of the day we need to get our exercise...

7:37 PM on the phone with Dinky Dawson talking about the book and DVD we're working on regarding Lou Reed's 1973 Rock & Roll Animal Tour

Oliver Landemaine has an interesting site up about the Doug Yule Velvet Underground and the tape I made of that show:
http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/live/1971-73/perf7173.html

Lou put me on the guest list in 2000 to see him at the Boston Harbor Lights Pavilion. I brought Nancy and Dinky Dawson with me...Lou met us backstage after the gig and Dinky gave him one of the soundboard tapes from 1973...the first show. The book has my perspective on all the RR Animal gigs that Dinky has up on Wolfsgang's Vault as well as the Mitch Ryder DETROIT album, my correspondence with the late Ron Davies who wrote "It Ain't Easy" (recorded by Ryder, David Bowie and Three Dog Night)...and all the aspects that made up the time that was the Rock & Roll Animal Tour...Bob Ezrin recording DETROIT with Mitch Ryder (and Steve Hunter) and the evolution from the Reed gig to the Alice Cooper Group. Dick Wagner did two hours of interviews with me last year ...this is what's going on today. Join the Lou-Reed@yahoogroups.com yahoo group...I'm one of the moderators.

7:41 PM...Dinky & I had two conversations on the phone today about all this...I have a 90 minute interview with him when the LIFE ON THE ROAD book came out. Also in the archives is an unreleased George Nardo interview...Nardo is on the "I'm Sticking With You" 45 RPM and might have been in one of the final Velvet Underground bands. Lots of photographs and concert tickets and reviews we're pulling out for all this.

You can hear the Moe Tucker single that I put out in 1980 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th1G8AqFYRc&feature=channel_video_title

The Jay Leno TONIGHT SHOW played that Alice Cooper video with Dweezil Zappa promoting the new Cooper boxed set. It was a tremendous version of "School's Out". Alice is still one of the great entertainers out there...he puts a ton of time into each show...all these years later. Good stuff.

Some reviews you might like from my pen to your world:

Shirley Bassey live at Carnegie Hall!
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7002206

Tammy Wynette
http://www.allmovie.com/dvd/legendary-performances-tammy-wynette-perf-199681

The Pop by The Pop
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,147892,00.html

The Wonder Stuff (Click on EDITORIAL REVIEW on Best Buy page)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/site/The+Wonder+Stuff%3A+Construction+for+the+Modern+Vidiot+-+DVD/14620341.p?skuId=14620341&id=1478593

BLUE CHEER LIVE IN BROOKLINE MASSACHUSETTS APRIL 8, 2007!

BLUE CHEER ON EASTER SUNDAY, GREAT SCOTT

Vincebus Eruptum is the title of the album that spawned Blue Cheer's Top 40 hit, a cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" in the Spring of 1968. Four decades later the sound from that album shook the rafters at Great Scott's in Allston to an audience of appreciative psychedelic blues
rockers. There were many parallels to the Iggy and the Stooges show the night before - bassist/vocalist Dickie Peterson's skull and crossbones on his amp (which Iggy and The Stooges had as their backdrop onstage), a cross generational audience of twenty-somethings and grey hairs, and the same low tone emanating from the stage. As they plowed into their third
selection, a cover of B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" that sounded less like King and more like...a heavy metal thunder, the Hendrixian guitar sounds of guitarist Andrew "Duck" MacDonald kept the music on an esoteric level the audience could relate to a bit more than the pedestrian hardcore
opening acts. Two of the openers sounded like they were trying to be hardcore rather than taking it in a new direction. Their redundant copying of an overplayed genre was a stark contrast to Blue Cheer's glorious paean to yesteryear.

For a band with such an eclectic catalog, they stuck to the basics, material from the first hit album. Pianist Mose Allison's "Parchment Farm" became psychedelic sludge with Peterson noting that "we picked a lot of our music from a lot of different places" and that Allison might not
appreciate how they put their stamp on the song. Albert King's "The Hunter" from their second album, Outsideinside, had that low thud exploding into Space Age Blues. As Vincent Jeffries on AllMusic.com noted in his review of Outsideinside it "ranks among the most underappreciated hard rock collections ever" and "was released a full year before either the Stooges' debut or MC5's Kick Out the Jams." Though this critic would've appreciated the group dipping into their Bob
Dylan/The Band-styled musings which would happen by 1970's "The Original Human Being", or putting their pristine Pink Floyd-ish chestnut, "I'm The Light", from the album Oh! Pleasant Hope, in the middle of the set to bring some balance, these tried and true veterans were happy to blast away with the trademark original sound that launched a thousand ear plugs.

With The Linwood closing on this weekend and The Kirkland in Somerville about to close on May 31 Great Scott might be the little room to fill the void.

Heaven & Earth expanded disc
http://www.answers.com/topic/heaven-and-earth-expanded

Spirit in the Sky, 4-20-11 Norman Greenbaum

2011-04-20T15:16:00.000-07:00

The Rock Journalist Speaks!

Spirit in the Sky on Northshore 104.9 at 12:33 PM today, April 20, 2011.
Norman Greenbaum gets played frequently at APPLEBEES in his hometown of Malden...it's great hearing his voice as you enter or leave the restaurant on one of their satellite channels. Great place to chat with people right outside of Malden center in the Stop & Shop Plaza...

Lots going on...

did you see in U.S.A. Today that the Grateful Dead have a 72 CD boxed set coming out on their 1972 tour! http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2011-04-20-deadeurope20_st_N.htm

You can make your own boxed set with all the free Grateful Dead downloads on Archive.org http://www.archive.org/details/GratefulDead
Go figure...though I respect and can appreciate their vast catalog of work, there are only specific tracks by the group that I like to listen to repeatedly...the Janis Joplin guest appearances or their covers of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones... The tour listing is on jambands http://www.jambands.com/news/2011/04/07/grateful-dead-europe-72-revisited/

Rather than put the links into the name of the group I post the full links here so you can cut and paste to your hearts content.

Following the Limitless movie on Twitter http://twitter.com/#!/Limitless_Movie

For a quick link to the Jodie Foster roundtable interview conducted on April 12, 2011 at the Four Seasons go to http://tinyurl.com/visualjodie

The JoeVigTop40's PICK TO CLICK this month is the CD from the New York band THE GODZ entitled E L E V E M

ELEVEM
http://www.myspace.com/originalgodz

Listen to the tracks on the MySpace posted above.

This is the original E.S.P. recording artist from New York City, not the latter day Chicago hard rock ensemble utilizing the same name (with the same spelling!)

With a cosmic energy that seems to have been taking from the tracks of The Velvet Underground's "Train Comin' Round The Bend" (review in progress...stay tuned)

The Joe Vig Top 40 PICK TO CLICK
For the Month of April, 2011 is
THE GODZ ELEVEM

Looking forward to reading Dave Thompson's

Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell The Dangerous Glitter of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed

http://www.amazon.com/Pretty-Going-Dangerous-Glitter-David/dp/0879309857

Especially after seeing this insightful rock critic in the DVD of Bowie/Reed/Iggy entitled The Sacred Triangle. My review on TMRZoo.com is here: http://www.tmrzoo.com/2011/23974

I'll be integrating all these writings on the main page on Varulven.com

Joe Vig Top 40
Visual Radio
Varulven Records
Music Business Monthly http://musicbusinessmonthly.com/
Rock Journalist Joe Vig
Marty Balin.org http://martybalin.org
Bobby Hebb.com http://bobbyhebb.com
http://visualradiolive.blogspot.com

So much writing! So little time...more essays to follow

Uploads to YouTube, JoeVigTop40 charting big time

2011-04-09T12:56:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Expect more essays from the rock journalist soon. Migrating the JoeVigTop40.com to JoeViglione.com as well...taking a lot of work.

We're uploading LOTS of stuff to YOUTUBE...tons of interviews going to upload soon with Suzanne Vega, Ray Manzarek, Donny Brewer of GFR and more! Paul Rodgers, John Mayall, Sarah Karloff (daughter of Boris)...stay tuned...

MOULTY TALKS TO VISUAL RADIO JOE VIGLIONE ABOUT THE
T.A.M.I. show
http://tinyurl.com/visualmoulty

We discuss MOVIES on Visual Radio Live on Friday nights...this one discussed on April 8, 2011! 8 PM on http://WinCAM.org

March Madness!

2011-03-13T13:29:00.000-07:00

I'll be updating the Rock Journalist blog with more of my essays soon. Steve Cataldo of the Nervous Eaters scheduled for Visual Radio...

Last night I was watching Random Hearts again...would have loved to have interviewed the late Sydney Pollack a wonderful actor who showed up in movies he directed - Tootsie and Random Hearts being two of them. The Firm works well despite Tom Cruise's inability to act and the strange ending which deviated from the John Grisham book.

But while watching Random Hearts (which the TV listing had as 1 AM - 5 AM) the clock jumped from 2 AM to 3 AM with Daylight Saving Time forcing its way into our consciousness. Anyway, Pollack is unobtrusive but always great...and his directing is sublime...Random Hearts, The Firm and Tootsie always calling me back. Perhaps he had Cruise in The Firm to show what a great flick he could make with a bad actor...it's really too bad that Tommy can't get a grip the way the Keanu Reeves became a better actor before our eyes. Cruise works best in Risky Business where he was out of sync with the world and the transvestite hooker and Rebecca de Mornay got the better of him...his cluelessness worked in that regard...but in The Firm a Tobey Maguire-type would have been more appropriate. Also, what young man with a beautiful wife and everything going for him is going to sleep with some hooker on a beach without waiting for the 7 year itch! But outside of that, the film worked, as does Random Hearts, which got a weird 1 star on the TV rating but is actually much better than Harrison Ford's other waterlogged film, What Lies Beneath. The characters from Random Hearts would lend themselves to a sequel where they move on and help a new protagonist...Hollywood needs to bring back characters that make sense...and that's a story for another day 4:53 PM Sunday

Christmas Eve 2010 December 24 / Christmas Day 12/25/10

2010-12-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

Let's begin the year-end wrap up and think about the future!

The Rolling Stones not vs Jimi Hendrix but along WITH Jimi Hendrix
providing some of the best "new" music of 2010!

Interesting that the best music of the past year - in packaging and performance, are the classic hits of The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Tommy James. "The original's still the greatest" Dobie Gray prophesied with his immortal The "In" Crowd in 1965, 46 years later the "other guys" no longer imitate us...and that's the problem! As I listen to "Three Times In Love" by Tommy James I'm just amazed at the power of this power pop and how it all got lost in the translation.

http://www.angelair.co.uk/sjpcd350a.htm

Radio stations play "all Christmas" music starting before Thanksgiving...while other stations are rife with sophomoric jokes and tired banter. As poor as hit radio was in the 1960s and 1970s it blows away the absurdity

Original Joe Viglione review of Three Times in Love vinyl LP on
AllMusic.com http://www.allmusic.com/album/3-times-in-love-r41609/review

Classic hits radio in Boston is so blues-based that it ignores true pop music that excites the senses. And the biggest insult, rather than play solid blues like the early Animals ("Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", "It's My Life") these stations don't even play the band's poppier side, "Don't Let Me Down", "Sky Pilot" or "Monterey". Crosby Stills Nash & Young can get Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" some airtime, but the stations are so lacking in style and innovation that you won't hear the rendition on the soundtrack to the Woodstock film, despite all the hoopla over Woodstock...not to mention Jimi Hendrix.

http://www.angelair.co.uk/sjpcd345.htm

Which brings us to the new Hendrix boxed set WEST COAST SEATTLE BOY: The Jimi Hendrix Anthology

ALICE COOPER Theater of Death

My review of Alice's DVD / CD is in TMR Zoo - read it here: Theater of Death

Miscellaneous stuff to cause trouble....

BALIN APOLOGIZES TO WRITER JEFF TAMARKIN

Marty Balin phoned to wish me a Merry Christmas this Dec. 25th afternoon at 3:35 PM for those who want to be precise (or peek onto my cellphone time and date)...I noted to him that Jeff Tamarkin was not pleased about the comments Marty made in the new Crawdaddy Magazine interview. Marty had not read it yet...

Here's the Crawdaddy interview by Andrew Lau:
http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010/12/16/jefferson-airplanes-marty-balin-gets-out-of-his-own-way/2/

Balin told me that he stopped working with Bob Yehling and had no idea the "interview" turned into a book "Full Flight: A Tale of Airplanes & Starships"
Marty said that Yehling was quoting incorrect information from a variety of sources so he (Marty) didn't feel like continuing the interview.

Full Flight: A Tale of Airplanes & Starships

Marty Balin (Author), Robert Yehling (Author)

JEFF TAMARKIN AIN'T THE ONLY ONE WITH SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BALIN CRAWDADDY INTERVIEW:

The Crawdaddy article is called "Marty Balin Gets Out Of His Own Way", but as Lau asks him about "Versace", saying it "has a strange film noir feel to it, even though it’s a true story, and it’s unlike anything you’ve ever written". Marty replies: "... I love Versace, his design, his style… thought he was a great artist. I was just playing these chords and walked into the room and the news was on and they were talking about the Versace murder. ... You ought to hear the dance mix I did for that—different bass line. It’s really funky. This friend of mine in Boston, he’s gay and he said, “Oh, I love that song, man.” And I thought, “Hmm, gay guy, Versace…” Great! work, Marty! You have a Boston and he's "gay" ? How descriptive? Who is it? Ryan Reynolds? Perry Mason? Raymond Burr? Rock Hudson? Jim Naybors? Tony Romo? Phil Rivers? Me? Penn Badgley? Me and Penn Badgley together? Dylan Walsh when he was cute in the movie "Bloodwork?" Tell us, Marty? Who have you outed??? Here's an interesting video of Badgley and Walsh in THE STEPFATHER where you can watch the film condensed!

re-title magazine article: Getting In Your Own Way...and ending up in the Rock Journalist's miscellaneous department...

Is Ryan Reynolds the new Burt Reynolds? Burt took his clothes off and showed his fuzzy-self to the world in Playgirl...Ryan is the well-shaved picture perfect model material GQ type with the obligatory gay rumors swirling around him . "Brokeback Mountain II" could feature a resurrected Jake Gyllenhall with Reynolds Ryan, that's a wrap, and Penn Badgley...

Go to the above link on obligatory gay rumors to read what the comment posters have to say:

(THIS IS FROM A COMMENT SECTION, NOT FROM THE ROCK JOURNALIST!
" also think most male actors are gay. I think it's rare to find a really straight one. I agree. Ryan Reynolds, John Travolta, Michael C. Hall, George Clooney, Daniel Craig, Tom Cruise... etc., etc.

All gay. "

OK, BACK TO ME, THE ROCK JOURNALIST:

Heck, at least they weren't pairing them up with Barbara Stanwyck. Read her Wikipedia to see the blatant comment about arranged marriages in Hollywood, yet still they say she "fell in love" with Robert Taylor. Read The Leading Men of MGM for more info on that!

From synopsis "The Leading Men of MGM exposes these legendary figures in all of their salacious glory — from Clark Gable’s clandestine homosexual encounters in bistro bathrooms to Elvis’s pill-popping, and Sinatra and Lawford’s icy post-Kennedy jousts"

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Leading-Men-of-MGM/Jane-Ellen-Wayne/e/9780786717682

POP CULTURE STUFF

A Charlie Brown Christmas
http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/interview-with-charlie-brown-christmas-producer-lee-mendelson--2027

Miracle on 34th Street vs. Miracle On 34th Street (remake)

(review pending approval by author as he mulls it over in his own mind...stay tuned, 4:33 pm December 25, 2010...

Thanks to my Visual Radio guests, in no particular order....

Janis Joplin Jimi Hendrix Al Wilson Conspiracy

2010-08-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

BLIND OWL AL WILSON

Arlington's Forgotten Music Legend

By Joe Viglione
Correspondent
recordreview2001@yahoo.com

September 3, 2010 is the fortieth anniversary of the passing of Arlington's Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson, the late lead singer and founding member of the legendary blues/rock group Canned Heat. I was sixteen years old and living on Beverly Road in Arlington, on the shores of the lower Mystic lakes when the Arlington Advocate published its obituary of Wilson. As a huge music fan I certainly loved the groups' hit recordings, "On The Road Again", "Goin' Up The Country" and a cover of Wilbert Harrison's "Let's Work Together". Wilson sang the first two hits while his friend and band co-founder, Bob "The Bear" Hite, sang "Let's Work Together."

As the history of Arlington music goes, Canned Heat is an essential - perhaps central - component, deserving of a place in the history books because of Al Wilson's roots in this community. Along with Alan Hovhaness, former Arista recording artist Andy Mendelson, The Prince and The Paupers, Fox Pass, Tony Caliendo of the Pink Floyd tribute band Pink Void, The Tarbox family and others, Arlington has a heritage to be proud of.

There are plenty of places to find out about Alan Wilson's work with Canned Heat. Wikipedia and AllMusic.com have lots of entries, this writer contributing reviews to All Music of the Canned Heat album Hallelujah as well as a "best of" package entitled Canned Heat Cookbook: Their Greatest Hits. Released in 1969 it would be the first of dozens and dozens of repackages, according to the AMG site. This tribute being what it is, readers are urged to check out those sites for more information, especially a fan page for Wilson called simply BlindOwl.net

What people don't realize is that Wilson was the first of four 27 year old rock stars to pass on, and when put in this context it is actually quite chilling. After Otis Redding died in a plane crash in 1967 at the age of 26 it was Wilson's death on September 3, 1970 that preceded Jimi Hendrix on September 18 and Janis Joplin's on October 4. This is the 40th Anniversary of all three of these rock & roll legends...and their story doesn't quite stop there. Conspiracy theories abound for all three of these counterculture figures.

But why the seemingly harmless Alan Wilson? In the epilogue of Salvador Astucia's controversial book " Rethinking John Lennon’s Assassination - The FBI’s War on Rock Stars" as well as at the conclusion of the biography on BlindOwl.net there are hints and more. Wikipedia currently has a photo of the upside down American flag being planted on the moon in an Iwo Jima-type way (one has to look at the actual flag with his upside down on a rightside up pole). Wikipedia notes "The upside down flag was Alan Wilson's idea and was a response to his love of nature, growing environmentalism and concern that humankind would soon be polluting the moon as well as the Earth (as reflected in his song "Poor Moon")." While Astucia states in his essay - Targeting the right people - "Alan "Wilson made a powerful political statement by displaying an upside-down American flag on the cover of Canned Heat’s 1970 album, Future Blues". In Chapter 12 of his book Astucia writes " Canned Heat performed with Jimi Hendrix on September 4, 1970 at a concert in Berlin, but Alan Wilson died that very morning. (JV notes: Actually, Wilson died on the 3rd) This fact has been suppressed in virtually all accounts of Hendrix’s final days." Astucia also claims Janis Joplin was at the Berlin concert, which would have been impossible if her final concert with Full Tilt Boogie was August 12 1970 in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wikipedia notes that her Pearl album's recording sessions "...began in early September, ended with Joplin's untimely death on October 4, 1970."

But the fact that Canned Heat and Jimi Hendrix played just two weeks before Hendrix's death, and that Al Wilson died on the day before the show, is definite food for thought as more evidence is uncovered that both Hendrix and Joplin might have been murdered. Alan Wilson.net says in the biography of Wilson " Although Alan Wilson’s death was ruled a suicide by the press at the time; the fact remains that in many instances, the statistics surrounding his passing were mis-reported. The police officer listed the cause as "accidental". The music tabloids in Europe, where Canned Heat was on tour, reported several incorrect drug-related scenarios (we have copies of at least 4) that were debunked by documents in the public record. In addition, The LA times article from September 4, 1970 reported that Alan was found with 4 "reds" (phenobarbitol) and that it was an "overdose of barbituates."

Three counterculture figures died within a month of each other, all at the age of 27, and J. Edgar Hoover was said to be watching these individuals who potentially had control over the youth during the Viet Nam era. Despite Salvador Astucia getting somewhat overzealous by adding Joplin to the German concert and pushing Wilson's death up a day (the time difference between West Coast Pacific Time and German time being about 8 hours), his information is still hard-hitting and, for the most part, very accurate.

Wikipedia notes that Alan Wilson may have attempted suicide twice before his passing, so we are left to our own conclusions. But it is pretty strange that he was the first of these 27 year old rock stars who had all performed at Monterey Pop and Woodstock together (Canned Heat, Janis Joplin and Jimi Hendrix both performing at those iconic moments in music history)
to leave us.

This is the Fortieth Anniversary of the passing of Arlington's Alan "Blind Owl" Wilson. At the very least we'd like to respectfully note his accomplishments and hope that people in the town recognize his importance.

LINKS:

Notes

Alan Wilson site
http://www.blindowl.net/biography.html

Astucia
http://www.jfkmontreal.com/john_lennon/Epilogue.htm

Canned heat Catalog
http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:wifwxqw5ldfe~T21

Canned Heat Cookbook review by Joe Viglione
http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:abfrxqe0ld0e

Hallelujah review by Joe Viglione
http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kifrxqw5ldje

Wikipedia with Upside Down Flag photo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canned_Heat

Future Blues CD review with upside down flag
http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0ifrxqw5ldje

Hendrix/Canned Heat Chapter 12 Astucia
http://www.jfkmontreal.com/john_lennon/Chapter12.htm

Janis Joplin PEARL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_(album)

Joplin's Lsst Concert
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janis_Joplin

Biography on BlindOwl.net
http://www.blindowl.net/biography.html

Peter Cetera Live at the Boston Esplanade

2010-07-31T22:30:00.001-07:00

Saturday evening, July 31, 2010

Former musician from the group Chicago plays it soft and safe at the Boston Esplanade

By Joe Viglione
recordreview2001@yahoo.com

To those of us who loved the pop music of The Velvet Underground and The Beatles, the underground rock/pop of Lou Reed and the mainstream pop of John, Paul, George & Ringo,
the music of the group Chicago was truly anathema when it first touched our collective ears.

Four decades or more later one can appreciate the majesty of songs like "If You Leave Me Now", "Hard Habit to Break" and the endless stream of other adult contemporary confections that Peter Cetera has collected during and after his stint in Chicago.

With a solid band of musicians behind him P.C. strangely put together an extremely pedestrian presentation. It was actually quite shocking that the performance concentrated so heavily on the sounds of the eighties when there was much potential for a dynamic roller coaster ride through his career.

Interviewing Syb Hashian of Ernie & The Automatics (and the group Boston, of course), Cetera stopped by and said hello to Sybby...a professional and very nice gentleman, I was hoping he would go out there and out Chicago his former band Chicago!

Alas, the audience was hoping for the same thing too and didn't get it. Rather than open up with the song co-written by legendary Rolling Stones producer Jimmy Miller and Traffic's Steve Winwood, "I'm A Man", a huge hit in Boston for Chicago as the flip side of "Questions 67 and 68" as well as a Top 10 hit for Spencer Davis Group in 1967 - produced by former Bostonian-for-a-time, the late Jimmy Miller, the set featured laid-back ballads punctuated by a quasi-reggae tune (??), a cover of "Lady Madonna" (??????). A pleasant surprise early in the set was the accompaniment by a young lady who performed duets on Peter's hits with Cher and Amy Grant. When they went into the Top 10 1989 smash "After All", the young lady (we'll track her name down) sounded so much like Cher the audience resounded with total enthusiasm. The audience also responded when the star asked them to pull out cameras and sway with one of the super power ballads, possibly "Hard Habit To Break" (wasn't that from the interesting movie "Summer Lovers" back in the day?....no, no, no ...it was probably "Hard to Say I'm Sorry")...anyway, lots of Cetera vocals/songs have spilled over into the film world...good for him - glad he has something to fall back on because the free concert audience was clearly getting tired waiting for the break of day, waiting on "Make Me Smile" or "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is", songs that he avoided. Perhaps because Robert Lamm or Terry Kath were the voices on those old hits (it seems that Lamm did take the lead on "Does Anybody Really Know...", proud to say I'm not an expert on the music of Chicago...far from it!)...still, the audience wanted some punch and the Chicago hits would have brought them to life.

The rendition of "If You Leave Me Now" was more Dan Fogelberg than Chicago, the strings definitely needed to bring this one home, and the acoustic encore of "25 or 6 to 4" was truly foreplay without the kiss - don't even think about the sex. When the riff that's as classic as "Sunshine Of Your Love" (I'm not comparing the value of the tunes, just that both songs contain two of the most historic opening riffs in rock) came in for verse two the audience finally almost got what they came for. But unlike Eric Burdon's mesmerizing "Sky Pilot" or Three Dog Night's terrific "Celebrate" or Peter Noone's exquisite "There's A Kind of Hush", all performed on the Esplanade in years past and all delivering pandemonium, the truncated rendition of the most necessary song of the night (though not Cetera's biggest) was a let down. As was the concert.

Look, I was not a Peter Cetera fan to begin with, but I do appreciate his contributions and was rooting for him. When someone is giving an artist more than a benefit of the doubt and that artists takes his hits and puts together a show with the worst pacing this writer's witnessed in a decade, well, it is clear he's having fun and if you can enjoy it with him, all the better.

It was a nice summer night with pleasant music on the Esplanade with a major name who could have walked off the stage owning this town. Instead, he delivered predictable songs with a bit of a dated feel to them. A pity...the song construction and his marvelous voice could have made for a dynamite conclusion to this year's summer concert series from 103.3 FM. Cetera showed up sober and was professional throughout, but he could have won some converts over and just didn't care to.

July 2010

2010-07-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

Joe Vig Top 50 for July 2010

#1 THE TAMI SHOW

#2 Exile On Main Street

The month of May, 2010 has Mick Jagger on your TV screen…from Jimmy Kimmel to Larry King, with welcome chatter about the greatest band in the world…and the quintessential double album that is now expanded with bonus tracks…EXILE ON MAIN STREET. We’ll be reviewing the Exile On Main Street DVD in the very near future…but as I haven’t opened the “official” Universal Music promo copy download of the CD (what the heck? Can’t even hold the disc in your hands when reviewing…what’s the world coming to?) for now we’ll revisit a space in time with the man who made Exile On Main Street, the late Jimmy Miller. Jimmy Miller remembered Read more here:

http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=11585

Lots more on this CD and the DVD reissue

Stones to Retire?
http://www.spinner.com/2010/07/26/the-rolling-stones-to-retire-after-world-tour/

Entertainment Hotline visits Ringo Starr; Malden musicians perform Beatles music

By Joe Viglione / recordreview2001@yahoo.com

GateHouse News Service

Posted Jul 22, 2010 @ 04:51 PM

Malden —

Hotline bumped into Malden guitarist David C. Mooney at the Jethro Tull/Procol Harum show on June 15 and again for Ringo and his All Starrs at the Bank America Pavilion on Tuesday, June 29.

At the superb Ringo event, where Beatlemaniacs were out in full force, Mooney brought his fellow Maldonian guitarist, David Andrulli, along with him. Mooney performed in a Jethro Tull cover act back in the day but Andrulli informed the Malden Observer that his musical colleague is currently busy working on a number of his own versions of Beatles’ songs.

“They came out really good...he did a good job,” Andrulli stated while Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Gary Wright, Ringo Starr and the band played on the old Harbor Lights stage... The songs recorded thus far include “And Your Bird Can Sing,” “Run For Your Life” from Rubber Soul and an acoustic rendition of John Lennon’s “Watching The Wheels” from Double Fantasy.

Andrulli, de facto spokesman for Mooney, said, “He did all the instruments, harmonies and vocals,” while noting that the recording of “She Said, She Said” was erased by accident.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/features/x522012184/Entertainment-Hotline-visits-Ringo-Starr-Malden-musicians-perform-Beatles-music

#4 Dave Munro & Air Traffic Controller

Courtesy/ Dave Munro

Air Traffic Controller features singer/songwriter guitarist Dave Munro and his drummer/brother Rich Munro. Dave recently performed at Boston City Hall Plaza with a string quartet. On Friday, July 23, he is appearing with producer Bleu for the Lowell Folk Festival. On Saturday, July 24, though, you can catch Bleu and Air Traffic Controller with the Aquavia String Octet for a 6 p.m. and a 9 p.m. show. CLUB PASSIM is in Harvard Square near the Coop/Barnes & Noble at 47 Palmer St., Cambridge

#5 Peter Noone's New Photo Book

The entire, unedited copy of the Foreword by Rock Journalist Joe Vig
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=12550

Living With The Myth of Janis Joplin: The Story of Big Brother & The Holding Company 1965-2005

Author Michael Spöerke

As Stephen Davis put together a biography entitled “Jim Morrison: Life, Death, Legend” with less of an emphasis on The Doors, Author Michael Spöerke has written a much-needed book on Big Brother & The Holding Company with an attempt to focus on the band itself: bassist Peter Albin, drummer David Getz with Sam Andrew and James Gurley creating an awesome guitar duo.

That this is the 40th anniversary of the passing of Janis Joplin means that more people will be looking for information on the innovative and highly creative band that backed her up. This book fits the bill. Don’t let the 106 pages make you think it is a small book…on large paper with double-spaced text, there is a lot of history here worthy of review and deserving of a place in your bookcase

Read more here:
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=12918

FOUR CDS from TOMMY JAMES ON COLLECTABLES
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=13405

#7 I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW

If Collectors Choice wants to reissue all the James’ discs separately, I say go for it. If they want to give us two-fers, unreleased tracks, different language versions (and those rarities DO exist for some of the hits) and interviews, please do so. The more the merrier. In any case, all four discs are strongly recommended, even the Travelin’ album which, though a swan song for the band, is beautiful in its “back to the future” approach, the seasoned professionals going back and recording something akin to their earlier discs what Tommy did in his first incarnation on the Hanky Panky album…loose and fun and full of life.

Tommy James will be appearing at the National Rock Con this July 30 – August 1 at the Sheraton Meadowlands

#8 GETTIN' TOGETHER

#9 TRAVELIN' THE FINAL TOMMY JAMES & THE SHONDELLS CD

#10 MY HEAD MY BED MY RED GUITAR

#11 Lou Reed's BERLIN LIVE
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=1654

#12 JAMES SULLIVAN ON GEORGE CARLIN

#13 STEPHEN McCAULEY - INSIGNIFICANT OTHERS

#14 Mark Black "Pictures of the Highway"

#15 Patty Larkin

#16 The Monster & The Ape

#17 Peter Parcek

#18 SEA OF BLACK by the group MASS
For those who enjoy the hard-hitting precision of Deep Purple’s Perfect Strangers album or the late Ronny James Dio fronting Black Sabbath this exquisite new collection of a dozen tracks by the band I consider New England’s premiere metal outfit will surely satisfy the group’s followers as well as hard rock aficionados.

The title (and closing) track, “Sea Of Black“, is probably my fave of this top-notch collection …”can you feel the power…”…yes, you can as Gene D’Itria’s guitar riff chugs along underneath Joey Vee’s incessant beat and bassist Michael Palumbo’s moving bottom-end waves of sound.

Read more here in TMRZoo
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=13478

#19 Peter C. Johnson 1978-1981

#20 PETER WOLF Midnight Souvenirs

#21 Canned Heat
With Bob Hite and Alan Wilson switching off on vocals, Canned Heat delivered as consistent a blues product as George Thorogood, only with more diversity and subtle musical nuances keeping the listener involved. "Same All Over" breaks no new ground, opening up the Hallelujah disc, but the enthusiasm and reverence the band has for the genre is special. Al Wilson's distinctive voice -- heard on two Top 20 hit records in 1968 -- is enhanced with his eerie whistling on "Change My Ways" and the wonderfully ragged instrumentation. The way the keys bubble up under the guitars, it would have been a natural for these guys to groove their way into a Grateful Dead-style jam band thing, but two vocalists dying within an 11-year span is a bit much for any ensemble. The name Canned Heat is so cool that it becomes the title of the third song. "Canned Heat" is a pretty accurate description of what they play, and the bluesy, slow Bob Hite vocal works wonders over the incessant Henry Vestine/Alan Wilson guitar work. Nice stuff. Read more here

http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kifrxqw5ldje

#22 Canned Heat Cookbook From Monterey Pop & Woodstock

Send to Friend

This initial best-of package, Canned Heat Cookbook, was released rather quickly in 1969 after the band's initial burst of creativity resulted in four albums and two hit singles between 1967 and 1968. Friend/manager/producer Skip Taylor lists tons of the band's engagements from 1966 on the gatefold of the album, which constitutes its only liner notes. Dozens and dozens of gigs, from the Monterey International Pop Festival to Club 47, the Boston Tea Party, and what they call the Woodstock Pop Festival, are all listed, and this is a staggering resumé suited well to a greatest-hits package. There are baby photos of the five bandmembers (and the obligatory thanks to their moms for providing them), as well as a very cool cover design by Dean Torrence, which features his artistic rendition of each performer along with a couple of butterflies. They look somewhat like the Band here, and their rocking blues were actually somewhat similar to the dudes who backed up Bob Dylan. But the sound of their records differed from that other ensemble, and Al Wilson's personality shines through on "Goin' up the Country" and "On the Road Again," two blasts of '60s pop which were quite different from anything else on the radio at the time read more here
http://test.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:abfrxqe0ld0e

#23 Joplin In Concert 2-12-69 on Wolfsgang's Vault

http://www.wolfgangsvault.com/janis-joplin/concerts/fillmore-east-february-12-1969.html

PERRY MASON!
Radio's DELLA STREET on Perry Mason was from Malden

Thanks to Peter Levine, Malden historian and archivist, for this information July 2009

http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/news/lifestyle/columnists/x695085704/COLUMN-Malden-Musings

Remembering Maldonians

Joan Alexander passed away this past May at 94 years of age, and although her ties to Malden are somewhat tenuous I will note them anyway. Her career was long and successful — fashion model, star of the stage, and popular radio actress from the 1940s most notably playing Lois Lane, ace reporter working at the Daily Planet and constantly being rescued by Superman. But her claim to Malden fame is from her re-occurring role as “Della Street” on the very popular Perry Mason radio serial from the same time period.

Perry Mason was created by one of Malden’s most famous residents Earle Stanley Gardner and the character “Della Street” (Perry Mason’s loyal secretary in the series) was named after Dell Street in Malden, which is located right off of Salem Street. Interesting side note, Joan’s second husband was John Sylvester White, otherwise known as Mr. Woodman, an actor universally known and loved for playing the assistant principal in the smash hit Television series “Welcome Back, Kotter.”

Top 40 for June 2010...a work in progress

2010-06-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here's my list of reviews and such...

#1 JETHRO TULL LIVING WITH THE PAST

Jethro Tull and Procol Harum — A ‘perfect pairing’ in Boston, June 15

Photos

Courtesy image

The Bank Of America Pavilion will host Jethro Tull and Procol Harum on Tuesday, Jun 15, at 7:30 p.m. (EDT). Both British musical groups have strong followings in the Boston area and the combination of the two is something both fan bases will find inviting. Ian Anderson of Tull and Gary Brooker, the voice of Procol Harum, both spoke with the Winchester Star about the upcoming show and their current and past work.

By Joe Viglione/Special to the Star

GateHouse News Service

Posted Jun 14, 2010 @ 01:44 PM

Winchester, MA —

The Bank Of America Pavilion will host Jethro Tull and Procol Harum on Tuesday, Jun 15, at 7:30 p.m. (EDT). Both British musical groups have strong followings in the Boston area and the combination of the two is something both fan bases will find inviting. Ian Anderson of Tull and Gary Brooker, the voice of Procol Harum, both spoke with the Winchester Star about the upcoming show and their current and past work.

Back in Arlington High School in the early 1970s the "buzz" was on the bands coming over from the U.K., Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull garnering the chatter, that word-of-mouth - as did Black Sabbath, the groups all viewed as if from different genres but with blues as the base for their now very classic rock. It was very hip to have gone to a Jethro Tull concert in those early days, which is how I opened my conversation with one of the great figures of British rock, Ian Anderson.

Movie Review: The A-Team – The Inadvertent Sequel to Mission Impossible IV

by Joe Viglione June - 11 - 2010

Action. Loud noises as things blow up. Director Joe Carnahan puts the “bio” of the A-Team front and center as the film opens, and for those not familiar with the TV show that ran in the mid 1980s, the character development will be tough to follow at the onset. There’s no “Mr T” larger-than-life figure, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson playing the role of Bosco Albert B.A. “Bad Attitude” Baracus (Jackson of some UFC and WWF fame), Liam Neeson as Hannibal, a cool choice for new audiences (George Pappard would be 79 this year, having passed on at 65 in 1994)…Battlestar Galactica’s Dirk Benedict IS 65 this year and his Lieutenant Templeton “Faceman” Peck is played by the 35 year old Bradley Cooper, who was probably eight years old when the show originally aired on television.

Cooper, from He’s Just Not That Into You and Nip/Tuck, was supposed to appeal to the chicks, but according to BoxOfficeMojo.com the chicks didn't show up to this heavily male, over 25 audience grabber - read more here:
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=12182

RETROSPECTIVE: Charlie Farren Live at the Regent Theater

by Joe Viglione June - 12 - 2010

Journeyman Charlie Farren’s love of his craft is obvious on this DVD, Retrospective: Live At The Regent Theater, which comes in a deluxe package with an accompanying CD.

The project started with an idea from videographer Bob Boyd, the fellow who taped Joan Jett, til tuesday, The Stompers, John Lee Hooker and others. Boyd met with Charlie Farren for lunch and discussed his idea…and now it is a reality covering the highlights of Farren’s storied career.

The audio is superb on the CD…you can hear all the instruments while Charlie’s strong-as-ever vocals cut through on “Love Street” and opening track “Nobody’s Somebody”

read more here:

http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=12197

#5 Peter Noone's new book! I wrote the foreword

Http://peternoone.com

Read the text from the Foreword here:
http://joevigupdate.blogspot.com/

The photos here portray the relentless Peter Blair Noone in a variety of roles, while others are scheduled for another book. So if you don't see Peter performing "Oh You Pretty Things!" on the BBC with songwriter David Bowie (nee Jones) at the piano in a dress, or the artist working next to Joel Goldstein, son of Planet of The Apes soundtrack genius Jerry Goldsmith (with Noone performing the title track of the Kirk Douglas film from 2000: "Diamonds"), ...or busily writing one of the 41 of his own compositions listed on the BMI worldwide site...or if you don't get to view Phyllis Diller introducing the Hermits on Hollywood Palace, you will get a glimpse of Peter on Broadway in Romance, Romance and as Frederic in Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance.

#6 MARK RIBOWSKY'S BOOK ON THE SUPREMES

Joe Viglione June - 15 - 2010

http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=12416

Hear THE SUPREMES do THE TOYS A LOVER'S CONCERTO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA2hY7nhVWE

#7 Jimmy Miller / Rolling Stones

Remembering the man behind EXILE ON MAIN STREET

http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=11585

#8 Essential Carole King - a review
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=11601

#9 Visual Radio & Joe Viglione Articles in Google News
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=joe+viglione

#10 New article in the Medford Transcript
http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/news/lifestyle/x1717108012/Visual-Radio-kicks-off-14th-year-on-the-air

#10 Medford Transcript article Tiny URL

http://preview.tinyurl.com/visualradiointranscript

#11 BOSTON GLOBE ARTICLE: LANDING BIG NAMES:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/02/01/landing_big_names/

#12 JOHN LENNON

http://www.swapadvd.com/dvd/title/190525-Classic+Albums%3A+John+Lennon+-+Plastic+Ono+Band

#13

Going Track By Track with Exile On Main Street

2010-05-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

Track by Track song by song reviews by Joe Viglione

Joe Viglione with Mick Taylor, Exile On Main St. guitarist,
chatting with on Visual Radio

LOVING CUP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex1nxuM1fU8&feature=related

The piano sound on the opening of this tune, a prelude to Jagger's neo-Gospel plea, and the guitar coming in with subtle urging...I don't know if the kids today know the great memory this music evokes, how when it was released when I was eighteen years of age it made such an indelible effect on my life and my musical journay. Exile On Main Street was more ambitious than even The Stones themselves may have realized...more than just a double live album (which hadn't even really come into vogue yet the way J Geils Blow Your Face Out (1976), Bob Seger's Live Bullet (1976) and Frampton Comes Alive (1976) would four years later; an indicator that The Stones SHOULD have put Get Your Ya Ya's Out as a double-duty set of discs, as they have today)...

My friend Trivial Tony notes that "as for double LPs the era had its share even before the bloated mid-70s. I'm thinking of Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs & Englishmen," Donovan's "Gift From a Flower To A Garden," The Who's "Tommy" and of course Chicago's first four sets. Trouble is, the Beatles and Stones were among the few bands (maybe the ONLY two) whose musical statements could cross four sides at the time. Easy to forget "Get Your Ya-Ya's" was in a way a response to the "Liv'er Than You'll Ever Be" bootleg reviewed and even selling decently then" ...Tony is right...but I've never forgotten that Liv'er Than You'll Ever Be forced the hand of the powers that be to release Ya Ya's. My complaint was that they didn't INCLUDE Liv'er WITH Ya Ya's as a double CD. And as much as Mad Dogs & Englishmen and The Who's Tommy
were trailblazers (The Bee Gees' ODESSA was not everpresent like those two epics, Bruce Eder on AMG noting "Odessa is one of perhaps three double albums of the entire decade (the others being Blonde on Blonde and The Beatles) that don't seem stretched, and it also served as the group's most densely orchestrated album. ")

See Bruce Eder's ODESSA review here:
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:aifoxql5ldae

Back to Joe V's commentary: The White Album (The Beatles) was 1968, four years prior, so this was one of the few times Mick and the Boys didn't copy the Fab 4's business moves, though had Beggar's Banquet emerged as a four-sider it would have been a brilliant maneuver...Miller and the boys were brimming with talent and certainly had enough great stuff in the archives...the inevitable comparisons with "white" covers would have also been made (of course the original Beggar's Banquet artwork being almost as risque as the Beatles Butcher Cover)...but I digress, the conclusion of "Loving Cup" just a wonderful fade. The Stones bringing the music of The Band into the pop/rock world that made Mick, Keith, Charlie, Bill and Mick Taylor so much more popular back in the day...and right into the future.

Jimmy Miller's drumming on "Loving Cup" simply a commanding performance which really cuts through on YouTube...in fact the mix on YouTube is pretty revealing...the piano, guitars, vocal all blending perfectly, those horns come in at a perfect moment.
(Song Review written 1 PM May 21, 2010)

Loving Cup version on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsbSyMNVzLI&NR=1

White Stripes' Jack White and The Stones live with "Lovin' Cup"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swV30IHHqvY&NR=1

NEWS FLASH:

I'm reviewing the new EXILE right now, 2:20 PM on Friday, May 21, 2010...Aladdin Song is something I played for Jimmy Miller in the 1980s...they've finally completed it. More soon!

Exiled Genius: Exile On Main Street Revisited

The month of May, 2010 has Mick Jagger on your TV screen…from Jimmy Kimmel to Larry King, with welcome chatter about the greatest band in the world…and the quintessential double album that is now expanded with bonus tracks…EXILE ON MAIN STREET. We’ll be reviewing the Exile On Main Street DVD in the very near future… as well as the new release on Universal Music!

For now we’ll revisit a space in time with the man who made Exile On Main Street, the late Jimmy Miller.

Jimmy Miller remembered

Few people who hear “Honky Tonk Women,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and “Street Fighting Man” realize that the man who put many of the classic sounds into those Rolling Stones classics lived in Medford, Massachusetts for a year or so in the 1980s.

Along with Beatles’ producer George Martin and the once revered Phil Spector, Jimmy Miller rounds out the three greatest producers of the rock and roll era.

The world lost Mr. Jimmy, the man Mick Jagger was “standing in line with” in the song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” on Oct. 22, 1994, 15 years 7 months ago this week. Strangely, Marianne Faithful, produced by Jimmy on an album called “The Rolling Stones Rock And Roll Circus,” released on ABKCO a year after his passing, told this writer to “give my love to Jimmy” just 13 days before Miller’s death.

I never got the chance.

Medford might be known worldwide for the song “Jingle Bells” having been written on what is now High Street, but it’s also very special that our city was home for a time to the man who co-wrote and produced “I’m A Man” for the Spencer Davis Group and who went on to produce Traffic, Spooky Tooth, Blind Faith, Johnny Thunders, The Plasmatics and, of course, that band called The Rolling Stones.

Miller, in fact, produced more than 100 songs for the Stones. As his business partner and exclusive representative, I had compiled about 93 recordings Jimmy worked on for The Greatest Rock & Roll Band in the world, uncovering more in Martin Elliot’s excellent “The Rolling Stones: Complete Recording Sessions 1962-2002.”

Hendrix Travels to the Valleys of Neptune

2010-03-04T05:40:00.000-08:00

Jimi Hendrix Travels Once Again to The Valleys of Neptune from South Saturn Delta

by Joe Viglione March - 3 - 2010

Chief Film Critic, TMR Zoo
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=8350

Jimi Hendrix loved to utilize space themes - from Astro Man to South Saturn Delta, First Rays of the New Rising Sun to the Valleys of Neptune. The Sun and Planets figured heavily in his imaginative writings.

For hardcore Jimi Hendrix fans the impending March 9th release of Valleys Of Neptune is a major score, the first launch from the Sony/Legacy distribution of the Hendrix masters after they moved from their original home on Warner Brothers to MCA/Uni for many years (with some releases like Band Of Gypsys and the Curtis Knight material on Capitol and other titles finding temporary residence at Ryko Disc, now owned by Warner Brothers long after the fact). You truly need a scorecard, or at least a new edition of John McDermott and Eddie Kramer’s excellent HENDRIX: Setting The Record Straight (Warner Books) along with Steven Roby’s Black Gold (Billboard Books) to get through the maze of releases and recording dates.

45 RPM Cover

ou’ll find an eight minute and ten second “Hear My Train A Comin’ ” (recorded May 21, 1969) on the Villanova Junction 7 track disc unofficially officially released in 2004 on Alchemy Entertainment, and one can hear how dramatically different this rendition from the Valleys of Neptune disc is – tracked a month and a half earlier on April 7, 1969 at Record Plant Studios, New York City, New York. On it you can distinctly hear the “Ohio” riff that was so essential to Neil Young’s C.S.N.Y. Top 15 one-off hit from July of 1970. Since the Kent State shootings happened on May 4, 1970, it is very possible that Young, said to have written “Ohio” after the Kent State incident, lifted the riff from Jimi. You can even sing “Tin Soliders & Nixon Coming” – the words to the song “Ohio” – over Hendrix’s “Hear My Train A Comin’ ” groove on the Valley’s Of Neptune disc, though it is not as pronounced on the Villanova Junction disc …Jimi morphing the guitar lines into a more fluid, quasi-live vamp. So for the aficionados who study at the College of Hendrix, this material is a magnificent find…and for those who just want some great “new” vibes from Jimi…the verdict is that Valleys of Neptune works on many levels.

Morning Symphony Ideas

ow that’s not to say it is a complete document of what Jimi would have put together in-between Electric Ladyland, the final studio album released with his blessing, and The Cry Of Love/Voodoo Soup/The First Rays Of The New Rising Sun, the superb posthumous release with instant classics like “Angel” (covered by Rod Stewart), “Driftin’” (with Buzzy Linhart’s tremendous vibes), and “Ezy Rider”, itself pretty much a nod to the film which included Hendrix’s “If 6 was 9″ from 1967’s Axis: Bold as Love. So what the Hendrix fan has to decide (and what’s not to like about exploring his music while making a judgment on the authenticity of the release?) is if this music is obscure enough (read: not found in the bootleg canon) and if it satisfies.

Listening to the superb instrumental of “Sunshine of Your Love”, though in tempo flux still delicious, and the exquisite opening track, a lovely reading of “Stone Free” that comes straight out of the band Traffic’s repertoire…or wait a minute, Traffic’s “Rock And Roll Stew” appeared on the 1971 Low Spark Of The High Heeled Boys album…did Hendrix’s jazzy grooves infiltrate Jim Gordon and Rich Grech’s composition? More than likely …and perhaps Experience Hendrix’s John McDermott can shed some light on that since he wrote the liners to the Blind Faith deluxe double disc.

Phrasings of “Dolly Dagger” and “Ezy Rider” can be heard in some of the material, but the bottom line is if there’s enough territory here that has yet to be explored by the fans….and if the disc can hold up to all the “57 Varieties” the H.J. Heinz company used to boast…because after the Warner Brothers slew of releases – War Heroes, Rainbow Bridge, Hendrix In The West – Sound Track Recordings From The Film Jimi Hendrix, Alan Douglas mutations – 1975’s Crash Landing and Midnight Lightning discs, Loose Ends, 1980’s Nine To The Universe – and even the Experience Hendrix official releases like South Saturn Delta (which followed First Rays of the New Rising Sun in the same way that Warner Bros. released War Heroes and Rainbow Bridge right after The Cry Of Love) and Morning Symphony Ideas, well…Jimi’s recordings have been making the rounds in official, semi-official and unofficial fashion. And then there’s the titles released on Radioactive Records in Europe. The double disc entitled Studio Outtakes 1966-1970 actually contains some of this Valleys Of Neptune release: Stepping Stone, Valleys of Neptune, Lover Man along with a variety of other songs. For those of us who have faithfully collected Jimi’s music over the past 45 years plus, well, it’s nice to have new mastering jobs, new mixes and the new promotion that comes with Sony/Legacy’s reissuing of the entire catalog. And the good people at Sony/Legacy have the highest of standards, so it is with great anticipation that we who follow all things Hendrix await the re-establishment of Jimi’s recorded works.

But here’s my two cents as a fan and as a Hendrix devotee: the best part of The Who’s appearance at the Superbowl 2010 (in fact, the only appearance by the real Who of Entwistle, Moon, Townshend and Daltrey) was the dance/re-mix of “My Generation”. Along with this version of “Valleys of Neptune”, which is growing on me but might not have staying power, a psychedelic re-mix would’ve been a nice idea for 2010…especially in light of Yoko Ono’s success with the dance hit version of “Walking On Thin Ice.” It’s a lost opportunity as a sweet remix of the title track in addition to all these delicacies would’ve been the frosting on the cake. Still, it’s wonderful to have a “new” Hendrix release, even for us oldtimers who have an idea of what is out there, and Valleys of Neptune succeeds as an important addition to Jimi Hendrix’s catalog of recorded music.

The Studio Out-Takes 1966-1970

Avatar - Third Viewing, this time in Imax

2010-02-27T22:08:00.001-08:00

Avatar ...for the third time

My original review Dec. 18, 2009 in TMR Zoo
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=6076

It's 1:08 PM on Sunday morning, the last day of February 2010.

Release Date: December 18, 2009
3rd viewing: February 27, 2010

It was $12.50 to get into Imax...all showings in Reading, Massachusetts selling out today, about 71 days after the film was released. Think how incredible it is for a film to sell out 3 shows on a Saturday in February on its 71st (or so) day of release - and the worldwide estimate close to two and a half billion dollars.

Looking at the credits it is clear that a James Cameron film is an industry unto itself.

11:43 AM Sunday morning, 2/28/10 I'm thinking about new things to say about this movie.
Every time you view it you see something new. I missed that there's a fellow loaded in with Sam Worthington's character in the space pods when the movie opens. Look underneath Jake Sully's space travel pod (straight out of Lost In Space) to see a fellow upside down underneath him. Also look deep into the space ship...Cameron's attention to detail takes one straight out of the original 1933 King Kong co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Kong_%281933_film%29

I'm processing more ideas from the IMax viewing last night to take the current review to places where I took THE DARK KNIGHT two years ago. Maybe Cameron will take a cue from the Batman series and make the sequel even bigger and better? Wouldn't that be a trip? And as the script in Avatar has numerous weaknesses one can see how it had to take a back seat and merely open the door for the special effects. Still, a tighter and leaner film script a la The Wizard of Oz could have made the film even more special. One thing I came out of my third viewing feeling: no one can deny this is a spectacular piece of filmmaking.

My original review Dec. 18, 2009 in TMR Zoo
http://www.tmrzoo.com/?p=6076

Here's my AMG review of Tommy James HOLD THE FIRE cd re-published on Vibe985.com
Outside of repackages and live albums, original music from Tommy James is far too limited for an artist of his stature. 1980s Three Times In Love contained the sublime title track which hit the Top 40, while 1990s Hi-fi on Aegis Records and 1995's A Night In Big City remain treats for hardcore fans. Hold The Fire deserves a better fate, and the team-up of James with James "Wiz" Wisner leads to some very creative moments. "Isn't That the Guy" has a great hook, a terrific hook, and some modern sensibilities, but may be a bit too avant-garde for adult contemporary radio. Read more:

http://www.vibe985.com/music/albums/843065

REVIEW OF TOMMY JAMES BOOK;

Tommy James interview March 5, 2010 Friday night 7 PM http://www.wincam.org

Joe Viglione's reviews of Tommy James material - in reverse alphabetical order
Watch this item

ALBUM REVIEWS

Hanky Panky
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9fpxq95ldje

It's Only Love
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:f9fpxq95ldje

I Think We're Alone Now
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:hxfoxql5ldae

Gettin' Together
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:g9fpxq95ldje

Cellophane Symphony
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wxfoxql5ldae

TOMMY JAMES SOLO - Post Shondells

TOMMY JAMES solo l.p.
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:fxfpxql5ldse

Tons more Tommy James' reviews on my First Impressions page
http://joevigfirstimpressions.blogspot.com/2005/02/tommy-james-song-reviews.html

SHONDELLS SOLO
http://www.mp3.com/albums/33396/reviews.html
Hog Heaven
The first mistake was not to call this band the Shondells, since that is who this band is and was. The second lapse was that they named the group and the album Hog Heaven, as dreadful a moniker as Lee Michael's drummer Frosty's group, Sweathog, who appeared around the same time. OK, so Peter Lucia came along to co-write "Wilma Mae" after Mike Vale and the boys cut "Fanny Mae" on the second Shondells album, but Lucia rode the wave during the heyday and co-wrote some Shondells album tracks. While Tommy James was producing Alive 'n' Kickin' or playing with Elvis Presley's bandmates, one would think his former musicians would want to prove their value and flex some musical muscle. Covering and co-writing a tune like "Bumpin' Slapcar Mama" was not the kind of work which could compete with Tommy James' gospel masterpiece "I'm Comin' Home" or "Draggin' the Line," both of which charted. James is not even mentioned on the various thank yous -- quite conspicuous in his absence (Peter Lucia showed up in 1976 to sing on James' In Touch album, though). The album opens with a blues rocker that could be considered watered-down Sweathog, so maybe the similarity in names wasn't a coincidence. That is not the direction ex-Shondells should be taking. "Glass Room" has more personality; it is psychedelic, with Peter Lucia's voice showing considerably more prowess than ex-members of Alice Cooper or Mott the Hoople could ever muster. It is when the band floats into a country bag that they really lose their way, and "Bumpin' Slapcar Mama" is very out of place here. Not as charming as "I'll Fix Your Flat Tire, Merle," which Big Brother & the Holding Company gave the world when they found themselves without Janis Joplin. "Prayer" is interesting, maybe because it is emulating what Tommy James did on both his Christian of the World and My Head, My Bed and My Red Guitar albums: a little gospel and a little country. The big difference is that James knew enough to separate the two, and despite this song's pretty and musical approach, Hog Heaven shifts gears three times in four songs. Change that total when you get to the almost seven-minute-long "Happy"; the quasi-reggae basement rock sound completely swipes Mickey & Sylvia's "Love Is Strange" and is further evidence that the band was dabbling with sounds and not knowing where to go. Without a strong enough personality or driving force, they didn't get the opportunity to stretch and make their mark. Tommy James, on the other hand, had no such dilemma; his solo efforts were fully focused and remain an underappreciated body of work. His presence on Hog Heaven is sorely missed, as his ex-bandmates drift from the boogie sound of "Pennsylvania" to the long ballad "Come Away." "Come Away" sounds like it was lifted off the third Velvet Underground album, which is certainly a step in the right direction. Had Mike Vale and Peter Lucia explored the possibilities they play with in the songs "Glass Room" and "Come Away," they would have had a more cohesive and articulate rock statement. Despite their myriad flaws, the ex-Shondells surpass the efforts of other groups who lost their focal point, most notably the Spiders From Mars (ex-Bowie) and Flint (ex-Grand Funk). ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide

Joe Viglione's Malden Entertainment Hotline for February 26, 2010
This is my monthly column in the Malden paper which gives odds and ends that won't fit into my weekly essays on Malden area musicians/arts/entertainment people

Happy Birthday Preacher Jack February 12

FOX PASS CHARLIE FARREN and more

http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/fun/entertainment/x267280622/Malden-Entertainment-Hotline-Locals-invited-to-birthdays-celebrations-record-release-parties-and-a-Haitian-relief-benefit

Charlie Farren's MYSPACE
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=91319972&blogId=490509656

More Writings

W. Fraser Sandemose - 3 Beatles Books

The newest, “Beatles Books: From Genesis to Revolution,” is a jaw-dropping bibliography on 1,400 of the published titles … fourteenhundred! Ask a Beatles fan the question, “How many books do you think are currently in-print on the Beatles” and you’ll get varying responses … hundreds … 700 … 900 … but this number is mind-boggling, and will continue to go up just as movie fans will continue to purchase tickets to Avatar in 2010.

As a long-time book critic I tend to put Beatles books in three categories, GREAT as in Geoff Emerick and Howard Massey’s superb “Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording The Music of The Beatles”, The Beatles own biography on Chronicle Books or any of George Martin’s titles, especially “All You Need Is Ears” and his discussion of Sgt. Pepper. Then there’s the books that are good, and then there are the dreadful tomes that miss the mark.”

http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/fun/entertainment/arts/x1631826574/Canadian-Beatles-author-calls-in-to-Soap-Box-on-Winchester-s-WinCAM-Feb-12

Emmy Cerra
http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/fun/entertainment/x1090838207/Emmy-Cerra-to-release-Tinderbox-Local-artist-drops-latest-album-at-All-Asia-Feb-6

Harriet Schock
http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/fun/entertainment/arts/x1685913070/WinCAM-Harriet-Schock-gets-on-the-Winchesters-Soap-Box

Buzzy Linhart
http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/fun/entertainment/arts/x925450290/WinCAM-Buzzy-Linhart-debuts-new-radio-show-in-Winchester

Air Traffic Controller
http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/fun/entertainment/x1566713138/Gaining-control-of-the-airways-MTV-finds-Malden-area-band

Joey Voices
http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/fun/entertainment/x626053402/Joey-Voices-carry-through-Malden-and-beyond

Extreme

Extreme makeover: Cherone's band is back with best album ever

http://www.wickedlocal.com/winchester/fun/entertainment/arts/x1157499486/Extreme-makeover-Cherones-band-is-back-with-best-album-ever

Stay tuned:
Music/Film Journalist Joe Viglione
P.O. Box 2392
Woburn, MA 01888 U.S.A.
Varchives@varulven.com

http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/search?q=joe+viglione&submit=Search

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT

2008-07-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

JV's ultimate Batman / Joker / The Dark Night Commentary July 18, 08 - July 21, 08

An excellent piece of filmmaking.

PART I - The Review of the Film in Imax by Joe Viglione

For those of us who have longed for a comic book character to get just treatment when committed to celluloid (or a reasonable celluloid facsimile), it was becoming more and more obvious that "The Dark Knight" was going to be the film to bring integrity to the genre. A "super hero" movie that would transcend the niche the world has created for that species of film.

Not that "Batman Begins" didn't have that integrity. It did. The problem with iconic heroes having their "origin" thrown in our collective faces time and again is that those "re-boots" get bogged down with so much overtold baggage that the central plot is allowed to get lost in the shuffle . The Dark Knight doesn't insult our intelligence, and as Bride Of Frankenstein became an essential and timeless complement to Boris Karloff's classic debut as the monster, this "sequel" does more than expand the scope of the earlier film. The Dark Knight truly makes "Batman Begins" the prequel to the real deal.

IMAX

The Imax experience is absolutely terrific. For non-Batman fans one must feel the rumble of the amplification in the seats, the viewer is now in another world and that is the main function of a motion picture - it is our own personal time travel chamber.
On this level The Dark Knight bats 100% and the viewer is URGED to go to the
IMAX for a simply stunning look at buildings and people and settings - it is incomparable and essential. Dark Knight delivers with a good script, superb acting and lots of special effects over two and a half hours.

The Imax imagery is simply stunning beyond words. Let's forget for the moment the content of the film - lets just look at the imagery - director Christopher Nolan didn't get carried away or lost in the effects the way George Lucas forgot about plot and character in the three latter-day Star Wars movies. Nolan integrates the high spectacle with solid performances from Aaron Eckhart, Christian Bale and even Michael Caine.

The late Alan Napier did a fine job of playing Alfred Pennyworth, the butler, as did Michael Gough in the four 1980s/1990s movies, though born in 1913 he is about
95 years old as of this writing. Napier and Gough were both unknown enough to allow the character to bring them into his world. Caine, on the other hand, is so famous that it takes an exquisite job of acting for his own identification to cloud and wrongly colour the part. He doesn't. Aging gracefully Michael Caine is not Alfie, he is Alfred, a very fine Alfred.

THE DILEMMA OF MICHAEL CAINE
To expand just a bit more on the above study, Caine's dilemma is that which follows Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and especially Jack Nicholson - that their personas are larger than life, that their parts can't help but be them. Heath Ledger, on the other hand, is a marvelous chameleon able to morph from Ennis Del Mar, that rugged cowboy with a twang in his voice on Brokeback Mountain , to a very mysterious "Joker" with a style all his own. This Joker is much like the violent psycho in the comic book that killed Robin, the show-no-mercy murdering thug who takes glee in punishing and exacting pain on his victims. To use a famous musical metaphor, if Lou Reed's Transformer album was Lou Reed playing David Bowie playing Lou Reed, the original copying the copy for more exposure, Jack Nicholson was The Joker playing Jack Nicholson playing Jack Nicholson. There was no way to escape the ghoulish cartoon parody of the Batman franchise that director Timothy Burton haphazardly slapped on the iconic character, breathing his enormous ego into this important franchise and sticking the inevitable "origin" back into the mix. Cesar Romero wanted to play the Joker and Adam West wanted to play Batman. Had the original cast been resurrected for a very serious Batman, something along the lines of The Dark Night, we would not have had to suffer through Val Kilmer, George Clooney and perhaps the 5th worst role for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Batman vs The Terminator would have had more appeal than Arnold's awkward Mr. Freeze.

The simplicity of just bringing the comic book to the big screen by taking the best elements of the literary version was just too much for Hollywood in 1966 and in 1989.

It's a shame that Hollywood is so clueless as to let this franchise flounder for six and a half decades, dating back to the 1940s serials. Had there been a bit more respect for the Batman, serious films tracked over the last century could have built a terrific library of great historical importance. Ah, in a perfect world. The Dark Knight is truly the epic that re-launches the entire franchise, but more telling and of far greater importance, The Dark Knight is already changing the way Hollywood makes a motion picture, and changing it for the better.

Did the 1966 "Batman" movie waste time telling how Adam West (in a superb portrayal of the caped crusader) met Robin? NO! They jumped right into all the action. The audience was given some credit for knowing the character they were spending money and time on. The true tragedy of this saga is that the 1966 Batman: The Movie was saddled with ridiculous jokes and juvenile humor - those very things that destroyed the franchise when Michael Keaton put it in another dimension twenty three years later.

PART II - A Cultural Study

Heath Ledger meet Christian Bale
This is a ...unique...YouTube "interview" between Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan about the Velvet Goldmine scene where Ewan McGregor and Bale share a "moment", and the thought of being put in the same "position" ...an "underlying sub-text"...
of getting on all fours for Obi-Wan Kenobi and the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger are forever in the "public consciousness" with Ledger on top.
It's 9:47 in length and at times tedious

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_zN_vYC2xw

Batman is the ultimate homo-erotic super hero. Even if Bob Kane modeled Victoria "Vicki" Vale after Marilyn Monroe (see Wikipedia)
the world has always thought of "Batman and Robin" as the dynamic coupling, not Batman and Vicki or even Batman and Batgirl. There is a truly interesting YouTube where a fellow plays Christian Bale having a dilemma over being paired with a star from Brokeback Mountain - specifically because Bale was positioned in gay fashion himself in the film Velvet Goldmine.

Michael Caine & Christian Bale Parody "Brokeback Begins"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yuBmOJPWJwQ

Bob Kane Wikipedia information on the creation of "Robin"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_kane
"...I went along Batman needed a Watson to talk to. That's how Robin came to be. Bob called me over and said he was going to put a boy in the strip to identify with Batman. I thought it was a great idea."

The parallels are humorous, but more significant when one realizes the undercurrent of The Batman and The Joker's attraction to destroying each other. When someone is fixated on an enemy the enemy "rubs off" on the other party. It is just part of the magnetic tape aspect of life in this dimension, something Hannibal Lecter explained to his consort, Jodie Foster in "The Silence Of The Lambs".

Usually I write a review in the theater so my immediate thoughts are published to the world.
The Dark Knight, getting so much coverage, needed more time in the incubator. I have to applaud some of writer Matt DeKinder's views in his "Ledger's portrayal of evil dominates 'Dark Knight'" published July 19 in Suburban Journals:

http://suburbanjournals.stltoday.com/articles/2008/07/19/entertainment/sj2tn20080718-0723ssj-knight0.ii1.txt

DeKinder comes right out and says " the greatest super-hero movie ever made, featuring one of the most iconic performances that cinema has ever witnessed" - the very thing that made me put my review in the incubator. Leaving the theater it was obvious that FINALLY someone made a film that followed the friggin comic book and didn't deviate too much. That's all - that's the big secret to making "the greatest super-hero movie ever made" (to date).

Where Spiderman came very, very close, the cheesy Goblin suit worn by William Dafoe, and the strange casting of Dafoe, gave the film two quick strikes. An unknown was needed to play
The Green Goblin, and the suit needed to be more Halloween from the depths than Halloween from the costume section of Target Stores or Khols. X-Men came close too, excellent casting, a level of seriousness, but scripts that look like they came from any monthly comic book than from the early Marvel tales which worked so much more effectively and which made that super hero team so special.

This film, The Dark Knight, is the best so far, but there is so much room for improvement. DeKinder also writes in Suburban Journal " Not since Hannibal Lecter have we been so gleefully creeped out" and he is correct. The Joker in the hands of Heath Ledger is as much of a smashing new super villain as Hannibal Lecter proved to be the next "Dracula"
(just see Hannibal where Anthony Hopkins gets to be Bela Lugosi as he has no Jodie Foster to steal his thunder; or - perhaps more appropriately - no Jodie Foster to be Batman to his Joker).

Where Hannibal Lecter is a heterosexual villain, The Joker's obsession with "The Batman" borders on true attraction. He orders them to "kill the bat" knowing that no one can, and when he gets his chance he realizes "what would I ever do without you?"

But my take on the Hannibal Lecter aspect of The Joker differs from DeKinder's in that we see Ledger waxing philosophical with as much in-depth psychology and focus as the character Anthony Hopkins plays so well. Hopkins and Ledger both became their creations in the film. "I'm having an old friend for dinner" is such a wonderful way to end The Silence of The Lambs as his nemesis, Dr. Frederick Chilton, is about to get his not so instant "karma". A side note is that actor
Anthony Heald does a neat metamorphosis in 8mm as Daniel Londale, the despicable lawyer, and is able to play Chilton with a different maniacal spin.

Heath Ledger's Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain is so different from The Joker, and that he played both parts in such a terrific fashion, is more evidence that all this Oscar talk is not overrated. This was a truly gifted actor that should have had people around him who cared enough not to let him destroy himself. That his death impacted his performance is not even a question. He went out like Janis Joplin, giving the world a "pearl" among many great moments in a very short career. A very resilient and portable actor the silver screen will miss him and those who want to take his place would do themselves a favor by copying - not his parts - but his intuitive skills.

The fact that The Dark Knight is in release 19 years after Keaton's slanted portrayal should be an indicator that it takes Hollywood two decades apiece to sit around and think about how they are going to define an icon when all they had to do was put the comic book to the screen. Christopher Nolan gets a good 90-95% for doing just that

THE MATRIX USE OF SCENES FROM OTHER FILMS:

http://www.superherohype.com/news/topnews.php?id=7437&offset=225
Heath Ledger: "You know, you remind me of my father. I hated my father."

Ruthless People
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/r/ruthless-people-script-transcript-bette.html


The bedroom killer: "You... look like my mother. I hate my mother."

No. { Whimpering Bette Midler)

[ Gasp ]

The Bedroom killer to Judge Reinhold: "You-- You look just like my father.              
I hate my father!"

{ Scream }Judge Reinhold: "Jesus. "

{ Barbara/Bette Midler }"What the hell was that?"

{ Sandy } Honey, don't touch him.

Oh, my God. It's the bedroom killer.  He told me I look like his mother.
He hates his mother.

He's dead.
{ Barbara - played  by Bette Midler)  So, if I look like his mother... and you look like
his father, this is what our son 
would look like.

NOTES:

Batman 1966
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060153/

Ruthless People
http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/r/ruthless-people-script-transcript-bette.html

APP.COM - Batman review

Heath Ledger delivers as Joker

By DAVID GERMAIN • THE ASSOCIATED PRESS • July 17, 2008

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080717/ENT01/807170443

""You complete me," the Joker tells Batman, dementedly borrowing Tom Cruise's sappy romantic line from "Jerry Maguire."

The Dark Knight - the mobile game
http://www.glu.com/noram/pages/thedarkknight.aspx

http://theinternets.com.au/blog/2008/06/26/the-dark-knight-christopher-nolan-and-their-steamy-affair-with-realism/

The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan and their steamy affair with realism

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/16-07/ff_darknight?currentPage=all

The Journalists Journey Continues...

2008-01-25T19:51:00.000-08:00

It's 10:51 PM on Friday night, January 25th, 2008...just left a message for producer Rob Fraboni re: Virginia MacNaughton's 2003 disc, "Levers, Pulleys & Engines"...boy is this disc special. It sets a mood by opening up with 4:57 minutes of a dreamy "Essentially Grey" - "Time and space have taught me to be patient..."...picture Kraftwerk backing up Norah or Rikki Lee Jones - the Jones Sisters...a sweeping arrangement and devoted vocals with cosmic guitars erupting underneath...this is special stuff...will have to email Fraboni...answer the phone, man...Track 10 (you know computers, always in shuffle mode), "Shadow Me", 6:05 of something that sounds like an answer to John Lennon's "Plastic Ono Band" album...an album I adore...this is very different from track 1, and the piano/drum combo is played to perfection...at 11:33 PM track 4 "Anonymous" has totally captivated me!
Thrilling, excellent...a very necessary album!

CLASSIC RECORDS WE CAN'T LET GO OF

What in God's name was John Kongos doing performing on "Pyromania", the 1987 album from Def Leppard?

John Kongos
Review by Joe Viglione

This classic 1972 album on Elektra by John Kongos has Queen/Cars director Roy Thomas Baker remixing superb production by Gus Dudgeon, the man who created many an Elton John hit. Elton sidemen Ray Cooper, Caleb Quaye, Dave Glover, Roger Pope, Sue (Glover) and Sunny (Leslie) -- pretty much the crew from John's 1971 epic Madman Across the Water -- are all excellent here. But this album has more to offer than the solo records by Kiki Dee and Bernie Taupin, which also proliferated around the same time. Though he never made it to Joel Whitburn's Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits in the U.S.A., there were three minor splashes on this disc: "Tokoloshe Man," "Jubilee Cloud," and "He's Gonna Step on You Again." The totally original sound -- producer Dudgeon on "asses jawbone," bicycle bell, maracas, and Mike Noble playing the "clapper board" -- build a texture one didn't hear on Elton John records. Highly experimental, the brilliant piano and guitar by Quaye invigorate "Jubilee Cloud," which can only be described as psychedelic gospel. Not only a gospel feel, the mysterious Sue and Sonny personify a church choir next to Mike Moran's ARP Synthesizer. Read more here:

http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BAAE02CA45A079FCBEF5CFCDD6C3F3E9D8EDB&sql=10:gxftxqq5ldae

The Joe Vig Top 15 for Friday Night 10:55 PM - These are tracks that I find
exhilarating. The art of the hit single has got to come back to save radio...and the world. "There's Nothing Like A Hit" is our mantra and we need to find those essential songs and exploit them...in a good way, of course!

1)The First Cut Is The Deepest - P.P. Arnold
The "Sixties Summer Love" 50 track double CD from Universal Music Group UK (probably a release for sale on television) is as attractive as The Beach Boys "Endless Summer" lp. Really! Tracks by The Kinks, Herman's Hermits, Bobby Hebb and this lovely P.P. Arnold track will keep you glued to this collection.

Read review here:
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BA9E02CA45A079FCCE453F9D6643B2DFC93&sql=10:g9frxqyrld6e

2)Shadow Me - Virginia MacNaughton

3)Jubilee Cloud - John Kongos

4)Traffic

5)Margaret MacDonald
http://www.myspace.com/margaretmacdonald

http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BAAE02CA45A079FCBEF5CF9D56C3E3D9D8EDB&sql=10:hpfpxzu5ldje

Here's a great disc I received from my good friend Harriet Schock. Harriet is one of my heroes, she puts music together the way Bobby Hebb does, constructed with inspiration, vision and methodically. Margaret's album has lots to offer, I need to give it a few more spins before the full review but check out her my space (above) for some samples; 11:44 PM 1-25-08 (I still have Virginia MacNaughton in the player as Mr. Fraboni needs a full essay on it...and it is more impressive with every spin!)

MORE JOE VIG PERSPECTIVE...

My days as A & R man...doing A & R for Jimmy Miller (and six years later for Fraboni's Domino Label while promoting Alvin Lee & Rusty Kershaw), is a lot like reviewing a record...though from my point of view it is always about how much the music stirs me. MacNaughton's disc does it for me...it's great...and one of the difficulties is that it was sitting on my desk for a couple of months...with stacks of articles to write it is very difficult to isolate the time to spend on the multitude of CDs, DVDs and other media that fly into the mailbox...

SPECIAL MENTION

Phoebe Snow It Looks Like Snow

David Rubinson's production of Phoebe Snow on the 1976 release It Looks Like Snow is an overpowering collection of pop-jazz-funk-folk that puts this amazing vocalist's talents in a beautiful light. Whether it's the Bowen/Bond/Hazel blues classic "Shakey Ground," which Elton John, Etta James, and so many others have explored, or her exquisite interpretation of the Beatles' "Don't Let Me Down," there is no doubt the material here should have ruled on the airwaves the year after her Top Five smash, "Poetry Man." How could Columbia Records not have this material saturating radio across America is the question ... read more here...

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BAAE02CA45A079FCBEF5CFCD56C3F349D8EDB&sql=10:fbfixq95ldhe&writer=1

Monsieur LeRoc on Barnes & Noble.com

A clever array of sounds permeates this outing by the inventive dancemaster Monsieur Leroc. Though not as complex as Marvin Gaye and the soul legend's unique body of production work, the artist is certainly a student of that part of the musical landscape. As far out as Parliament/Funkadelic during their wild '70s explorations -- though milder and with more manners -- a segment like "P.off" unintentionally ripples with Sly Stone musings, a little "Family Affair" bubbling under the dance beats. Courtney Mace and Bargain Josh add much to the thick, grooving undercurrent, which trances on for close to seven minutes. "Baby" is low-key Prince from the 1999 era, a good diversion found somewhere inside the 46 minutes and 38 seconds that make up I'm Not Young But I Need the Money. German dancehalls are overflowing with American music, riding the wave of the U.K.'s vibrant Northern soul scene, and Arne Drescher in this incarnation takes that devotion further with Jerry Lee Lewis samples all over "Great Balls." It's a strange mutation of the Killer's neo-rockabilly evolving into what feels like an evening of Earth, Wind & Fire bandmembers having a musical tug of war on-stage. Jerry Lee's in-your-face sexuality simmers on the stove here, some kind of prelude to "Freewheelin' Frankie," an ode to Sinatra and a place that goes even further back in the time machine. Leroc unabashedly turns bachelor pad music on its head, though his sincerity is obvious and part of the charm. If Esquivel is the serious older brother, Monsieur Leroc is the kid who puts his inquisitive mind to good use while the elder sibling is not using the chemistry set. I'm Not Young But I Need the Money concludes with a multimedia track of "Cooley McCoolsen," the hipster opening cut that grooves steamier than Charles & Eddie or Terence Trent D'Arby at their most velvety sublime. Joe Viglione, All Music Guide

http://www.cdconnection.com/details/_Monsieur_Leroc_-_I'm_Not_Young_But_I_Need_the_M_/235234&source=googbase

All Music Guide

A clever array of sounds permeates this outing by the inventive dancemaster Monsieur Leroc. Though not as complex as Marvin Gaye and the soul legend's unique body of production work, the artist is certainly a student of that part of the musical landscape. As far out as Parliament/Funkadelic during their wild '70s explorations -- though milder and with more manners -- a segment like "P.off" unintentionally ripples with Sly Stone musings, a little "Family Affair" bubbling under the dance beats. Courtney Mace and Bargain Josh add much to the thick, grooving undercurrent, which trances on for close to seven minutes. Read more here:

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?ean=788377103721

HOTLINE TO THE UNDERGROUND

2007-07-08T08:12:00.000-07:00

HOTLINE TO THE UNDERGROUND by Janis Reed and Joe Viglione

OK, we last published on Feb 11, 2007 - it is July 08, 2007 - 11:12 AM, Hotline To The Underground ran in Musicians' Magazine back in the 1970s, moved over to THE BEAT,
Rockwatch and a number of other publications I can't even remember. Oh yeah, it was in the
Real Paper (bought out by The Boston Phoenix) as well.

Liz Walker is on Channel 4 - Sunday Presents! a.k.a. Sunday with Liz Walker
http://wbztv.com/bios/local_bio_052115506
July 8, 2007 Liz has a Visual Radio guest, Dennis Lehane, followed by Jonathan Soroff from Improper Bostonian and Deric Dyer http://dericdyer.com/
a very cool version of the Gladys Knight hit - "Imagination", done instrumentally - sax, piano and keyboards closing out the show at 11:28 AM. It's a song written by Gerry Goffin (Carole King's ex husband) and Barry Goldberg, the Gladys Knight hit produced by our old friend Kenny Kerner

Deric's Credits:
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dbfrxqq5ldte~T4

He's on Tina Turner Live In Europe
http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kpftxq95ldse

We've got reviews of THE JEFFERSON STARSHIP at Harper's Ferry on June 26th,
Blue Cheer at Great Scott's and Iggy Pop live at The Orpheum coming up soon! Along with the Boston Rock & Roll Gossip you've come to expect.

Joe Vig's history of New England Rock Music is now online:

http://newenglandrock.blogspot.com/
or
http://mewenglandrock.blogspot.com/

The Beatles in Cleveland!

2007-02-10T16:33:00.000-08:00

It's been an interesting two nights of rock & roll. Ian Lloyd of the band STORIES visited Boston on February 9th - Dorchester Massachusetts actually as the band he is working with, Social Hero, performed at the Emerald Isle. The fact that the guitarist/vocalist David Lloyd is Ian's son is no secret - Brandon Lotti on bass, his brother Griffin Lotti on guitar and drummer Roy Odabashian played a good, hard set at the Emerald Isle on Dorchester Ave. Material from their five song CD E.P. - "Under Control", "Adore (w/a Bullet), "Radioactive Man" and other songs were played to the twenty-something crowd. There's a lot of promise for this group - and they have the voice that backed up Lou Gramm on many hits from the band Foreignor providing a unique sound for a band. They've got stacks of gigs under their belt http://socialhero.com/main.html
and a rock star mentor, so keep your eye on 'em.

On Saturday night, he who never goes out anymore (that would be me), missed the
Fox Pass/Third Rail/Totaro show at The Kirkland - rock journalist joe vig has yet to be cloned, but he did make it to The Regent Theater and get a tour of the room and the beautiful new downstairs while Brad Delp and Beatlejuice were rocking away in the main room. It was SOLD OUT, of course, for the lead singer of RTZ/Boston and his band as they played hours of Beatles songs, with Delp perfectly matching the voices of John, Paul, George and Ringo! It's one thing to have a rock star singing material by the Fab Four, but another thing to hear this amazing talent in a setting very far removed from the music of Tom Scholz. After the show Brad told RJJV (that would be this new blog) that he had "to learn all the harmonies in the old days" to teach his other bandmates, but he was being modest. Few people on the planet can vocally match one of the greatest music catalogs in history for rigorous hours on end - and be the voice with the dynamic vocal range on his own classic hits like "More Than A Feeling", "Long Time" and "Don't Look Back". Hearing the vocal work of Ian Lloyd and Brad Delp in these intimate settings over a Friday and a Saturday night is the kind of thing to inspire me to get away from the computer and back into the clubs.
The group Boston will be touring this year and Ian Lloyd's STORIES, a band I saw a couple of times oh about 35 years ago at the Stone Phoenix Coffee House and then The Boston Club (now THE PARADISE) will be returning to Boston, so 2007 promises some nice music in the future.

===================================================================================
Interesting how one's writings show up all over creation in this day and age of the internet. My reviews of Sky Saxon's SEEDS have shown up on the Lost-In-Tyme Blogs:

http://lost-in-tyme.blogspot.com/search/label/Lost%20In%20Tyme
with more 60's ramblings on http://xxxrockrula.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html

XXXRockRula.com including my Vanilla Fudge review - these bloggers are real psychedelic freaks, aren't they?, and another cosmic one, Akashaman's Kosmos

http://akashaman.blogspot.com/2006/12/paupers-ellis-island-verve-68.html

has some of my etchings on "The Paupers", a band which included an eventual member of Janis Joplin's FULL TILT BOOGIE BAND. Yes, we're deep inside a Janis Joplin kick these days and there's going to have to be an entire blog on that. The Texas International Pop Festival was kind enough to send me a DVD and CD of material from that major event, and John Till - from both Joplin's Kozmic Blues and Full Tilt Boogie Band - just did an interview with me for his biography on AMG

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E8BB0C65F68652DE39F670DAB73F08657A92961E65913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB78AFE02CA45A089FC2E457FAD662382DED93&sql=11:3b8j1vj8zzha~T1
Simultaneous with the Till bio I also wrote one on Steve Hunter, another of my guitar heroes. As I'm writing a book on the Rock & Roll Animal tour it was fun/work putting together Steve's AMG bio (as well as John Till's).

THE DEACON STEVE HUNTER

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E8BB0C65F68652DE39F670DAB73F08657A92961E65913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB78AFE02CA45A089FC2E457F5D6633B2DED93&sql=11:cnen97r7krjt~T1

You can get many of my biographies here:
http://jvbiographies.blogspot.com

This new Blog will have my current ramblings and explore a little more of my Top 40 from the Varulven website:

http://www.varulven.com Music Business Monthly/Joe Vig Top 40

A terrific find is comedian Dave Schwensen's THE BEATLES IN CLEVELAND

http://www.beatlesincleveland.com/

Dave Schwensen is the author of Comedy FAQ's And Answers: How The Stand-Up Biz Really Works, (Allworth Press, NYC), and How To Be A Working Comic: An Insider's Guide To A Career In Stand-Up Comedy, (Back Stage Books, NYC), so one wouldn't expect him to come up with a book on the Fab 4, but a chance page on his website a couple or three years back regarding John, Paul, George & Ringo got him instant karma...instant feedback actually, and as this writer supervises the Bobby Hebb webpage, well, the eventual Schwensen/Hebb interview happened and this book found its way into my hands.

It's impressive! Combining the 1964 and 1966 Cleveland Beatles performances and all the drama and trauma that surrounded them makes for great reading. Conspiracies between radio stations, the crowds going beserk in the early days, and the controversy created by the band's album cover and comments in the press make for a pure investigation of 60s pop culture and the major phenomenon that spearheaded it.

There are some incredible books on the Beatles, initiated by Kris Engelhardt's sublime BEATLES UNDERCOVER, Geoff Emerick's brilliant "Here, There and Everywhere", Tim Riley's "Tell Me Why", Richie Unterberger's new "The Unreleased Beatles: Music & Film", and to a lesser degree The Beatles by Bob Spitz and Ticket To Ride by Larry Kane. There are a few books on Sgt. Pepper including the one by Allan F. Moore http://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Peppers-Lonely-Cambridge-Handbooks/dp/0521574846/sr=1-4/qid=1171157665/ref=sr_1_4/104-1842449-4106366?ie=UTF8&s=books
...no shortage of work on the music that is the soundtrack to many of our lives. Which is why when a thorough effort on a major part of that band's career is put together, a companion piece to Barry Tashian's "Ticket To Ride" (a different - and better book - than Larry Kane's one with the same title), well, it gets a tip of the hat.

1)The Beatles In Cleveland by Dave
2)James Brown performing "SUNNY"
3)Rain On The Roof CD by Margaret MacDonald
4)The Shirts: Only The Dead Know Brooklyn CD
5)Barre Phillips Live In Vienna
6)Social Hero CD from Social Hero

honorable mention
Karen Grenier LIVE CD
Atlantics

BARRE PHILLIPS is a genius, and this DVD from Music Video Distributors is really terrific.

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E8BB0C65F68652DE39F670DAB73F08657A92961E65913E65CA46F68BA5DBB677AB78AFE02CA45A089FCDE453F8D6653D2DED93&sql=10:9r548qmcbtz4

===================================================================================
Contact:

http://myspace.com/joeviglione

last edited 2/10/07, 6/2/07

DORIS TROY JUST ONE LOOK

OK, everyone, it is 1/25/08 and some of these links have changed! It's a drag, I know, as I have to go in and find the songs and re-post them.

Let's start with JUST ONE LOOK:
Song Review by Joe Viglione

"Just One Look" is as magic a pop tune as you'll ever hear. Bass, piano and drums open Atlantic Records 45 RPM #2188 with an unforgettable riff which embraces the immediate chorus and Doris Troy's incredible voice. The song captures that moment of love at first sight with commanding power - a Gospel vocal way out front with a tonal quality that is so appealing one wonders why Doris Troy didn't own the radio waves in the sixties and seventies and beyond. Yes, it's the same voice heard in the grooves of The Rolling Stones "You Can't Always Get What You Want", Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon and scores of other recordings that Troy performed on, but it is this two minute and twenty-eight second classic that she is most identified with. Top 10 in the summer of 1963, the reggae guitar is like so much of this song - one of the elements but not the resulting style. Reggae guitar, raspy gospel vocals, bluesy bassline and shuffling drums all combine to make for perfect power pop. On The Demo That Got The Deal radio show, July 1, 2000 - the 37th anniversary of "Just One Look's" chart action - Doris told this writer that the demo tape was the recording which was pressed and distributed by Atlantic. In David Nathan's excellent book, The Soulful Divas, he notes "In 1998 the song was used once again in a television commercial (for Direct TV)". Along with other advertisements the tune's been covered by many, many artists including Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad, Linda Ronstadt, twice by The Hollies with Graham Nash, and is irresistable whenever someone works that timeless melody and sentiment which almost everyone can relate to. It's the quintessential song for hopeless romantics because Doris Troy inpsires in her determination to "get you, someday." Just one listen is all it takes to fall in love with the singer and her song, especially when the "I thought I was dreaming" bridge comes in. Immaculate. Written by Gregory Carrol/Doris Payne

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BAAE02CA45A079FCBEE5CF8DF6C3F3F9D8EDB&sql=33:fifixcejldse

Joan Baez DIAMONDS & RUST

Song Review by Joe Viglione

A & M Records single #1737 is a haunting four minutes and forty-four seconds of music from Joan Baez which stands as a classic epic translating a love affair by two legends into equal parts paean/spiritual revenge. Calling her ex the "unwashed phenomenon" and someone good at keeping things "vague", she tells Bob Dylan and the world she needs "some of that vagueness now." "Now" is the end of 1975 and urban legend has it that this Top 35 hit (not nearly as big as her Top 3 "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" from 1971) was the product of some record company ultimatum to deliver a chart song or else. Much like the alleged demands put on Garland Jeffries which resulted in "Wild In The Streets" on Atlantic (and the "or else" anyways, or else being termination of residence at that particular label). If the myth is true, this is a pure pearl from the oyster's irritation, recorded between January 21-24 1975, it would gain momentum in October and November of that year. A truly magical excursion into the relationship between Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, the songstress has to deliver words on par with her stunning voice, and she does, matching her famous ex-lover and capturing a "Hollywood" relationship brilliantly. Bernie Gelb's liner notes shed some light on the creation of "Diamonds & Rust", noting it was the first track cut at the sessions. Baez equates gems and tarnish with thinking about the past, and concludes the ode/attack with the notation that she's already purchased that luxury, paid in full. Reading between the lines is half the fun, and Dylan's friend Buzzy Linhart says he can go on and on about the significance in these grooves, as can most fans of Dylan...and Baez. A classic in the truest form of the word, produced by Joan and David Kershenbaum with the singer on guitar as well as Moog and Arp Synthesizers. Exquisite, and the title of a superb and important album from this artist. Read more here:

http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:axfrxzejld0e

JERRY LEE LEWIS Another Place, Another Time
Written in April 0f 2003...yikes, does time fly...

The title track of the 1968 release on Smash Records from the album that unleashed &"What Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made A Loser Out Of Me)", "Another Place, Another Time", is a two minute and twenty-five second rendition by Jerry Lee Lewis of a song originally recorded by Del Reeves.According to the excellent liner notes by Keith Glass in the Raven Records re-release "The Killer's" version went Top 5 while Reeves earlier attempt was "unsuccessful." Written by Jerry Chesnut before he joined television's Hee-Haw program, the former Kentucky railroad conductor/vacuum cleaner distributor turned songwriter garnered his first #1 and a Grammy nomination with this title, (according to the Nashville Songwriter's Foundation hall of fame). The simple drumbeat, bassline and piano accompaniment was produced by a third Jerry, Jerry Kennedy, a fact which might inspire another country/pop crossover artist, Bobby Hebb, to remark that everyone on the record had to be named Jerry in order to participate. Keith Glass ponders in his liner notes why this success didn't last longer for Jerry Lee. Perhaps the format was too limiting - when he wails "Won't that old stairway be hard to climb/To a lonely room waiting for another place, another time" it almost sounds like Tom Jones going into his "They'll all come to see me" line on "Green Green Grass Of Home", a country song that crossed over with the help of a pop crooner. Read more here:

http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BAAE02CA45A079FCBEF5CFED46C3D399D8EDB&sql=33:kcfuxq8rldfe

Jerry Lee - What Made Milwaukee Famous written by Glenn Sutton

Song Review by Joe Viglione

Covered by Rod Stewart, Nat Stuckey, Hank Thomas, Commander Cody, Del McCoury, Liz Anderson (as well as her daughter Lynn Anderson ) the Nashville Songwriter's Foundation calls this title "the Jerry Lee Lewis trademark." One might take some kind of issue with that honor since the tune was written by Glenn Sutton, not Jerry Lee, and it doesn't take a film biography entitled Great Balls Of Fire to clarify that the rock & roll side of the singer's career is the identity best perceived by the world at large. What is significant is that a singer so explosive could calm down and issue this lament resplendent in rippling piano which adds infinitely to the Jerry Kennedy production, Lewis' keyboards taking over from the guitar lines which sound like they were cloned off of a Kitty Wells recording.The two minutes and thirty-six second tune which appeared on "The Killer's" 1968 lp, Another Place, Another Time, takes from another trademark, Schlitz Beer, and tells a tale of life on the skids via love lost - lost after drinking night after night after night. The lyric is simple with the chorus repeating the title of the song - and not in the same way that The Hilltop Singers and The New Seekers shamelessly endorsed Coca Cola with "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing". The negative connotation surely didn't hurt Schlitz sales, though the brand is pretty much obsolete with the song outlasting its inspiration to become a country classic. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the performance is that Jerry Lee Lewis is absolutely authentic - none of the questionable country of Olivia Newton-John or even Kenny Rogers when those artists added more pop to the music form than purists were comfortable with. Read more here:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BA9E02CA45A079FCFE453FBD667342DED93&sql=33:0cfuxq8rldfe

CHER BELIEVE
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X3062830

CHER BANG BANG
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X4295951

J GEILS Looking For A Love
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X1164551

WHAMMER JAMMER
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X2624123

J GEILS LOVE STINKS
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X4221695

FREEZE FRAME
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X3096149

CENTERFOLD
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X3096151

DETROIT BREAKDOWN
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X2721005

ANGEL IN BLUE
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X3096156

Pack Fair & Square
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X906080

One Last Kiss from Sanctuary lp
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X5211723

Must Of Got Lost Blow Your Face Out lp
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CASS80305221859&sql=X60447

Bette Midler FRIENDS composed by Mark "Moogy" Klingman/Buzzy Linhart

Atlantic single #2980, "Friends" by Bette Midler, is a different vocal and mix of a magical song which opens and closes side two of the singer's sensational 1972 debut, The Divine Miss M. The first version on the lp is campy with tons of off-the-cuff vocalizing by the soon-to-be superstar. After the first chorus she says touchingly "Standing at the end of the road, Buzz" instead of "boys", a nod to co-songwriter and friend Buzzy Linhart. The second go round on that version she says "Standing at the end of a real long road, Jack." This version is an entirely different take with different musicians save for pianist/rhythm track arranger/co-producer Barry Manilow. It features David Spinozza on guitars, Ron Carter on bass, Ralph MacDonald on percussion with Ray Lucas on drums.

All the vocals are by Bette, and they get quite energetic and wonderfully chaotic.

The single is actually taken from the second version which concludes the album, featuring a new vocal by Miss M. on at least the first half of the 45 rpm where she goes up an octave. It is one of the interesting and cool aspects of the single version. Another important component is arranger, conductor and co-producer Barry Manilow's gorgeous harmony vocals up in the mix(on the album the instrumentation is in front of Barry's voices). It's a stunning production by Ahmet Ertegun, Geoffrey Haslam and Manilow which has a fade nine seconds longer (2:59) than the two minute and fifty-second version that concludes the album. The song hit the Top 40 in November of 1973, the third hit for the singer that year, but it should have been much, much bigger. Barry Manilow covered it on his Bell Records debut, also in 1973, and though Manilow would prove to be an incredible interpreter - how can this be said with respect - his version on Barry Manilow I is absolutely dreadful. Those delicious harmonies he added to the Midler disc are replaced by neo-disco. Just imagine this wonderful tune transformed into some sort of prototype for his 1978 Top 10 hit "Copacabana (At The Copa)". If that combo sounds bad on paper, rest assured the end result is even worse. Barry has 2/3rds of The Harlettes on his version, Gail Kantor and Merle Miller (then girlfriend of co-writer Moogy Klingman ). Laurel Masse is the third backing vocalist on Manilow's version while Melissa Manchester is the original Harlette with Bette and appears on the hit. Steve Gadd plays drums on Barry's rendition, Utopia drummer Kevin Ellman is on the Midler smash while the guitar on both Bette (model 2 and 3) and Barry's is by Dickie Frank with pianos by Sir Barry.

Read lots more here:

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BA9E02CA45A079FCCE452FBD663352DFC93&sql=33:kvfwxct0ldte

Bette Midler Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Hughie Prince/Don Raye
Song Review by Joe Viglione

The two minutes and twenty-six seconds regenerating this energetic Andrew Sisters hit from 1941 became a #1 Adult Contemporary hit for Bette Midler in the summer of 1973. Atlantic 45 rpm #2964 was her second hit single and first Top 10 on the pop charts, beating the Top 15 showing of the version that was popular 32 years before. It's a real period piece produced by Barry Manilow, Ahmet Ertegun and Geoffrey Haslam, arranged by Arif Mardin, with a vocal arrangement by Marty Nelson. But here's the clincher, it is The Divine Miss M herself on all vocals! Despite having her Harlettes available the song becomes a brilliant vehicle to silence any criticism of Bette's ability to sing with the best of them. This isn't a modernization, it's a period piece with ette Midler as The Andrews Sisters backed by drummer Ted Sommer on those great horn parts, Don Arnone on guitar, Dick Hyman playing the old-style piano with Milton Hilton on the essential bass. "He was a famous trumpet man from old Chicago way" the serious musician turned into a clock who has to wake the boys up with reveille. The camp is not in its reverence, it is in the audacity to tackle such a selection, the vocal sound straight out of an old Victorola with big band jazz embracing the old world pop. Read more here:

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BA9E02CA45A079FCCE452FBD663352DFC93&sql=33:3vfexct0ldte

The Rose Bette

Song Review by Joe Viglione

There was, as songwriter legend has it, a frantic rush to compose music for the soundtrack to Bette Midler's film character, heavily based on the life of Pearl, Janis Joplin. Reportedly Donnie Fritts (a musician on Barbara Streisand's 1977 soundtrack A Star Is Born )and other writers were holed up in a hotel room for a few months cranking out songs, Buzzy Linhart writing some as well, though much or all of that material doesn't appear to have been utilized on the final cut. This slow ballad by Amanda McBroom did get the nod and the composer's harmony vocal appears on the record with along with Bette's lead. The musicians in the film and on the soundtrack feature members from Lou Reed's Rock 'n' Roll Animal band, but it is this close to solo piano/vocal performance that would become the signature tune to the film and album. On the long player is a stripped down version - Bette's voice accompanied only by "The Rose Ensemble" of songwriter Amanda Bloom on harmony vocal and Lincoln Mayorga on piano. Much like the original "The Sounds Of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel which eventually got Joe South's electric guitar and other frills to

bring it to #1 in December of 1965, "The Rose" rose up the charts with additions to the performance that appeared on the album. Read more here:

http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE47319DD49A87520E89B2C45F6A672FE19D650DA971F28455A92B63E45913E65CA46F68BA5DBB674AB7BA9E02CA45A079FCCE452FBD6633C2DFC93&searchlink=BETTE|MIDLER&samples=1&sql=11:aifwxqw5ldhe~T3

LOST JOE VIG REVIEW OF STORIES

http://uk.music.yahoo.com/read/review/14179371

About Us Review

07/13/2005 4:22 AM, AMG

Stories had a minor hit off their debut album, "I'm Coming Home" getting substantial airplay in Boston circa 1972. Michael Brown and Ian Lloyd had the luxury of producing their own self-titled debut, no doubt due in part to the success of Brown's days with Left Banke. Eddie Kramer co-produces five of the initial 12 songs on this wonderful follow-up album entitled About Us -- initial because the recording had two lives. Michael Brown left the band and the new Stories went into the studio with former Music Connection magazine editor and producer of Gladys Knight, Kenny Kerner. He and Richie Wise recorded a song written by Errol Brown/Tony Wilson and released by their British band Hot Chocolate. The song was "Brother Louie," a strange concoction of the Hot Chocolate sound found on their latter-day hit "Emma" and the Kingsmen's "Louie Louie." Kama Sutra later put the 45 in the original pressing's sleeve before adding it as a 13th track on About Us. That unique Hot Chocolate song was a far cry from the Paul McCartney-ish pop of opening track "Darling" or closing track "What Comes After," and the hit song's production was a lot heavier than the light pop which was Michael Brown's trademark, something Ian Lloyd translated very nicely. It's interesting that with "Brother Louie"'s success in the summer of 1973, masterful pop songs like "Love Is in Motion," so very Beatlesque, and "Don't Ever Let Me Down" couldn't find a huge audience. Though from New York City, the album sounds like Britain's answer to David Gate's Bread. Had Kama Sutra pursued that avenue, the band may have had a number of hits that their hard work and superb musicianship deserved. Instead they created Traveling Underground as a followup, with the "Brother Louie"-sounding "Mammy Blue," again, removed from the pure pop that was "Hey France" on this disc. Guitarist Steve Love leads off side two with his "Changes Have Begun," and it continues the early formula the band was working on. The piano-heavy instrumental "Circles" and out-and-out heavy pop/rocker "Believe Me" all pointed toward a music that should have at least been as big as the Raspberries with Eric Carmen. "Words" almost sounds like the Moody Blues with both Denny Laine and "Justin Hayward." Stories did release a followup to "Mammy Blue," a single entitled "Another Love." Rather than explore the interracial theme of Janis Ian's "Society's Child" again, "Another Love" was about a gay relationship. It should be included on a Stories compilation. Till then, the rock & roll pop of "Top of the City" is indicative of most of the music on About Us. Michael Brown would go on to produce Boston's Reddy Teddy, and the Cars' Ric Ocasek would help Ian Lloyd attempt a solo career; however, About Us is representative of the two sides of Stories and, despite all the changes happening to the group at the time, is a very fine record. ~ Joe Viglione, All Music Guide

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