A ship of fools sailing on

Another 'classic' from the '80's, that horrid wasteland of culture (except of course for all the shit I like). This is a harmless little tune with a unique video. The video is likely to induce seizures but that's the way it used to be and we liked it. The cool part of being a duo is that when you're ready to make a video that looks like you've got a million backing musicians you can just pick out the cool lookin' people and never worry about whether anyone has skillz.

Wang Chung -- 'Everybody Have Fun Tonight'

BONUS -- Wang Chung Japanimation style
Funny: I was going to suggest you check out this homemade video to avoid the apoplexy that might arise from the original version. But then I remembered this is Japanimation, so the epileptic fit warning is just as high.

They'll tell you you're out of style

When I was in high school I bussed tables at a restaurant where the chef/owner would plow down red wine and listen to Patsy Cline every night as soon as the place closed. Man, I hated Patsy Cline, I hated 'Walkin' After Midnight' and all those songs that I had to hear again and again. Then one day the tape died and we moved on to Edith Piaf or something and I missed Patsy. Since then I've had a soft spot for Patsy, her songs come from an age where music uplifted people rather than just signaling to them which clothes they should buy. There's truth in her voice that you just don't get from pop singers--or any public figures really--any more.

Patsy Cline -- 'I've Loved and Lost Again'

Hiding the tears in my eyes

I wasn't much of a Cure fan back in the day, I was more of a Replacements/Husker Du sorta joe. But I certainly hung out with many a Cure fan and I dug a fair amount of their songs. This is probably one of the first I ever heard. Goofy video, looks like the drummer kid is struggling to keep up.

The Cure -- 'Boys Don't Cry'

Dancer-ing

My favorite song from Clarke's School Days, an absolute classic of the jazz fusion '70's. Beware: this is a non-video, just the song played over a still of the cover of the album. Still, a classic tune.

Stanley Clarke -- 'The Dancer'

Ba-roque as a joke

I saw Russell play many years ago. He was a badass then and he's still a badass now. (Aside: As a nail-biter, I always marvel at the absolute manicured perfection of a real musician) Here is a marvelous performance of a Villa-Lobos piece for Spanish TV.

David Russell -- Villa-Lobos's Choro #1

BONUS -- Were you thinking of a different David Russell?

It's a psychobilly freakout!

One great contemporary instrumental piece in a classic style deserves another.

Reverend Horton Heat -- 'Psychobilly Freakout'

Too real is this feeling of make believe

I always dug this song. I believe I first heard a clip of it on an old Spike Jones record and was pleased to like the song even better when I heard it for real. You Tube has much sweet Platters action, nice to see.

The Platters -- 'The Great Pretender'

It ain't too pretty but its fast

This is some sweet playing right here. Chet still kicks ass, incidentally, his last album with Tommy Emmanuel is a shredder's extravaganza. Here he's throwing down the old school way with a showman's deft touch.

Chet Atkins -- 'Tiger Rag'

Hell would be like a fucking resort!

In the wake of the passing of Jerry Falwell (doesn't the world feel like a better place?) it's time for us to look to the kind words of a religious man. And who better to turn to for just a touch of realism than the late great Sam Kinison. Here's a clip from a 1987 HBO special where he takes on Pat Robertson's political follies and the tough life (and resurrection) of Jesus of Nazareth. I think we can refer to Kinison's religion in this period as…'reformed'?

The Reverend Sam Kinison

'Dr. Zeus, Dr. Zeus…Dr. Ze-us'

This guy was seriously before his time: he totally looks like Antonio Banderas, the whole vibe has just a touch of Eyes Wide Shut, and the rainbow wig was never as huge as it was on his head. A visionary.

Falco -- 'Rock Me, Amadeus'

They couldn't be any fun

For whatever reason I thought of this song the other day, a song I vaguely recall liking when I was a little kid. So this is what 'hard rock' used to sound like, I'd forgotten. I love the random girl just rocking out in the background, the bassist's ham-fisted lip-syncing and the drum kit larded with a plethora of pads (that fad never really caught on, I guess) and a double snare! The song is okay, I guess, it's got a funky keyboard hook and rocks itself out pretty quickly. (Collecting obscure tunes like this is why God invented the internet)

Tommy Shaw -- 'Girls With Guns'

Don't let them handle me

Nina Simone brings a grave determination to every performance and that power doesn't diminish when the tone is more relaxed. There is always the possibility that she will always be drenched in a seriousness that becomes tiresome or overdone but that never happens because everything she does is so lovely and so effortless. Here she takes a classic show tune and gives it a twist of her signature melancholy. (Good to see that You Tube has quite a range of Simone performances from a variety of time periods and moods)

Nina Simone -- 'I Love You Porgy'

She gets quite militant in this interview for a French documentary. I understand her feeling, but the reality of violence is a bit more complicated than her fierce feeling completely considers. Non-violence worked for Gandhi because his followers by far outnumbered the oppressive imperialists in India; in the USA that demographic reality simply did not exist. Non-violence in America (which was only non-violent to the whites, it should be noted) was a bold maneuver designed to expose injustice to the world, to open peoples' eyes to injustice that they'd simply never previously considered. Revolutionary violence would've led their constituents to nothing more than early graves and any thought of overthrow would've been unrealistic. That said, its hard to argue with her passion, her power is just is strong in conversation as in performance. (And there is some cool footage of her playing 'Mississippi Goddam' as well)

BONUS -- Nina Simone interview

Throw your big leg up over me, mama

Taj has been just about everywhere, played just about every type of music with just about every cool player on the planet. And yet he's certainly no slave to context. His style is so unique and clever and flexible--dude, he could be opening for Redd Foxx or appearing on Sesame Street, it'll feel exactly the same. He's bawdy yet gentle, playful yet serious, accomplished yet he plays with the exultation of a newbie. Taj Mahal is a treasure, man.

Taj Mahal -- 'Cake Walk Into Town'

1 great movie, 2 great soundtracks

One of my truly all-time favorite albums is called Rising Sons and it features a combo of a young Taj Mahal and a young Ry Cooder. Its circa 1965 and, in the music editor's (not terribly) humble opinion, is far superior to what the Beatles and Stones were doing at that time and more joyously musical than Bob Dylan by many furlongs. In short, it is maybe the finest record from one of the most fertile musical periods in western history. Since I started with Taj, I thought it might be nice to pair the two together. Man, stunning to find so little sweet Ry Cooder action available--mostly covers instead of the real mccoy. The slim pickings include a couple of interviews and some chunks of scores from films. Paris, Texas is one of my truly all-time favorite movies so its got to be there and Crossroads features a great Ry Cooder score (even if the peak of the film is all Steve Vai), so these clips will have to suffice. I wish there was more.

Ry Cooder -- 'A Good Man Feelin' Bad' from 'Crossroads'
Ry Cooder -- the opening of 'Paris, Texas'

BONUS!
This is one of the finer climaxes in the history of cinema: an absolute show-stopping musical finish to a film obsessed with what it means to be a musician. The rest of the film, unfortunately, is hit and miss. It’s the kind of film that relies on its characters to be rock stupid to advance the plot along (for example, if you look at a map you'll find that Mississippi is not the quickest route to Los Angeles from Philadelphia), rather then just letting them develop naturally into situations that rise and fall in the accepted Aristotelian manner. Too bad, a loving examination of the work of Robert Johnson sounds like a natural topic for a film! Ry Cooder's slowburn blues score is marvelous throughout and it all builds nicely to the big finish--dude, the day Ralph Macchio beats Steve Vai at anything, I'll stick my dick in my ear!

Steve Vai -- The guitar duel with devil from 'Crossroads'

Da-da-da-disappointment

Investorplace says:
On May 7, 1824, the greatest of all symphonies, by the greatest symphonic composer, premiered. Beethoven’s 9th (Chorale) Symphony premiered in Vienna, to mixed reviews. One court reporter (Joseph Carl Rosenblum) was blunt in his diary entry for this date: "Friday 7 May, 1824: Concert, Lovely, but tedious. Many boxes empty, no one from the Court. For all the large forces, little effect. Beethoven’s disciples clamoured, most of the audience stayed quiet, many did not wait for the end."

Undoubtedly some young hipster was heard on the way out saying, 'Yeah, his old shit was better. Ever since the 6th, man, he just hasn't been as good.'

Competition get blown

This album back in the day was the shiz-nit. The world treated the newly emergent collection of kooky personalities and styles like Jonas Salk bringing forth a cure for polio when frankly I found it to be just another slightly above-average hip hop record. The legend of Wu-Tang kept rising and I never quite understood why everyone thought they were so new or different. I dig them, I just don't see them as re-inventing anything. I always felt similarly about the Sex Pistols: everybody treats them as these legendary innovators when their stuff strikes me as ponderous and derivative. I don't dislike the Wu Tang--I like them!--I just don't think they're the S on Superman's chest or anything. Here's a home made video with a collection of old timey kung-fu flicks. Good stuff.

Wu Tang Clan -- 'Bring Da Ruckus'

Disney's castle, Hitler's music

Most of my papers from college were written to either Wagner or Beethoven (and occasionally Prokofiev, but he never summoned my finest work). And Tannhauser is probably my favorite Wagner piece, it builds steady slow to a soaring theme. Here it accompanies some marvelous footage of the interiors and exteriors of Bavaria. Not sure why it exists but this is why God invented the internet.

Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra -- Wagner's Tannhauser 'Overture'

Ever see The Da Vinci Code?

I read the book in an airport, which is where it deserves to be read. (I didn't see the movie because, well, I don't go to airports to see movies) At any rate, the twisty-turny plot of The Da Vinci Code recahes its conclusion in a venerable chapel in Scotland where they've also discovered wacky carvings on the walls. What do these carvings mean? According to a Slashdot article, it is a piece of music that has only recently been decoded and performed. The code revolves around Chladni patterns (wasn't that an HP Lovecraft story?). It’s a haunting motet, but I must say it is quite brief and I'm not sure why one would encode it into scratchings on a church wall. And I don't understand anything that is visually going on in this video but check it out. Maybe it'll make sense to you.

Tallis Chamber Choir -- 'The Rosslyn Motet'

Every ol' place I go

Chris Whitley, a blazing guitarist who almost never soloed, was one of those cryptic singer-songwriters whose next album was just a little different from the last. Here he throws down (presumably in conjunction with blues historian Peter Guralnick who opens and closes this clip) on a Robert Johnson classic. He wails all over the fretboard, his foot steady tappin' and it’s a good thing. This is how I will always remember the late great Chris Whitley: pasty and emaciated with a beat up guitar and a t-shirt he's probably been wearing for a few days. He was all about the music, man. Player.

Chris Whitley -- 'Hellhound on My Trail'