One Step Forward, Two Steps Back - Lp's

At a garage sale I came across a Sanyo turntable, receiver and some mid-level speakers for next to nothing that was in almost perfect shape. It looked like the original owner had bought it right before the beginning of the CD era and pretty much just let it sit somewhere for the next 30 years. It plays perfectly, with great sound and the needle itself looks like it’s brand new.

There has been a whole bunch of debate over the years about what sounds better, analog or digital with strong opinion on both sides of the subject. Now me, I can't speak for the science of it all, but all I know is that to these imperfect ears, the music just plain sounds better on a record then on a CD or MP3.

Granted a lot of this has to do with the record player being a high end system with a good receiver and decent speakers as opposed to my computer speakers which is what I listen to most stuff on. So even if the better sound of analog is just my imagination, I like the sound of records regardless

So here I am with this very nice stereo system all set up and ready to go and  but unfortunately, like most of the rest of us, I got rid of all my records. Now I held out longer than most, but the last of my albums went away at least three years ago and even then they had sat for quite a while just gathering dust.

As luck would have it, Colorado Springs has two excellent places to shop for old lp’s,  Independent Records and Earthpig Music. And with the expenditure of a

round $50.00, I was able to make a nice start rebuilding the collection.

Sure some of these records are pretty obvious choices for any basic record collection, but still I was happy to be able to find some of them as easily as I did.

The nice thing about moving to an outdated entertainment technology is just how easy it can be to find the music you want to listen to. I was able to fins many of the records I wanted right off the bat, although there were certain bands that were very hard to find, like the Cure, or were every single piece of vinyl was marked up to collectors pricing, like the Grateful Dead. But even then that still left a whole bunch to choose from.

1. The Beatles - Revolver

The Beatles - Revolver (1966) 

While there are Beatles albums I probably "like" more than Revolver, there are none that I wanted to listen to on album again more. From the opening notes of Harrison's Taxman, all the way through to Lennon's classic Tomorrow Never Knows, Revolver is one of the best albums by the best band ever.

2. / 3. Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food / Little Creatures

Had to get some Talking Heads, there was no other way about it. This classic post-Punk band is one of my all time favorites. Led by the enigmatic and brilliant David Byrne, Talking Heads proved that a band could be both smart and danceable.

Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food (1978)

More Songs About Buildings and Food, Talking Heads second album and their first with producer Brian Eno is funky, loud, outrageous and fun. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel, The Big Country and Stay Hungry are some of the best songs with the best piece the bands rocking cover of Al Greens, Take Me to the River. This was the first record by Talking Heads I bought when I was about 16 years old, and it had to be one of the first records in any new collection I was going to begin.

One of Talking Heads most commercially successful albums was 1985's Little Creatures

Talking Heads - Little Creatures (1985)

Little Creatures is a collection of some truly dark songs, almost all about alienation, loneliness and the emptiness of the modern world. And yet Byrne and company stunningly disguised all the depression and nihilism inside of a bouncy pop album, making Little Creatures one of those albums that will catch up with you and knock you off your feet when you least expect it.

4. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Smash Hits

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Smash Hits (1969)

The version of Jimi Hendrix Experience's Smash hits is the later American, stereo release, that contains pieces from all three of the bands studio releases. Obviously as a hits collection the album lacks the depth of material found on the original albums, but as a basic catalog of the bands most impressive work, this nicely produced, well mixed collection is more then satisfactory. All the hits are there from Purple Haze and Foxy Lady, to the more blues inspired, Hey Joe, and of course Jimi's blistering version of Dylan's All Along the Watchtower. I need to get the full albums as I find them, but in the meantime, Smash Hits will hold any fan of the maestro over.

5. / 6. /7. Elton John - Greatest Hits / M.U. - The Best of Jethro Tull / The Best of Dave Edmunds

Again three more excellent greatest hits packages to hold me over as I rebuild buying the original albums. Elton John's Greatest Hits is a nice collection of the hits from the artists early years, while the Jethro Tull collection has pieces from throughout the bands most productive period. Finally the Dave Edmunds hits collection is just a fine package of the rockabilly/blues inspired work of this British great. Again, I highly recommend the original albums these songs come from, but as hits packages go these are really hard to beat.

8. Pete Townshend - Empty Glass (1980)

Pete Townshend - Empty Glass (1980)

Who guitarists Peter Townshend's first full length solo record 1980's Empty Glass has the songwriter taking a serious look at just what 15 years of fame and the hard living that came along with it had wrought in his life. Such classics as Let My Love Open the Door, Gonna Git Ya, and Rough Boys, make this one of Pete's best works solo or otherwise. Plus this is another of those records I had when I was much younger that I just can't possibly picture having a record collection and not having a copy of.

9. / 10. Laurie Anderson - Home of the Brave / Mister Heartbreak

Two by Laurie Anderson

If I'm going to go full on analog, then I better get something out of the ordinary, something intelligent, something odd and most of all something fun, and all of those choices work when you are talking about the great American composer, musician and artist, Laurie Anderson. For decades Anderson, with her synthesized violin and wall of filters has been making both biting commentary about the human condition, but great and incredible music in the meantime. If you have never had the pleasure of hearing Anderson, I can't recommend wither of these two records, Home of the Brave or Mister Heartbreak enough. Home of the Brave is the soundtrack from Anderson s performance film of the same name, while Mister Heartbreak is a more straightforward studio release, but both of them are filled with wonders for the ear like the classic Sharkey's Day and the amazing Language is a Virus, songs that only get better the more times you play them. 

Another of my MUST artists.

11. The Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976)

Alan Parsons Project - Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976)

The first album by Alan Parsons, producer of Pink Floyd's classic Dark Side of the Moon and his musical partner Eric Woolfson is a series of songs based on the works of Poe. The first side is straight forward enough with several enjoyable pop songs based on stories such as the Raven, Tell-Tale Heart and Cask of Amontillado, but side two's full length instrumental work, Fall of the House of Usher is what makes the album such a treat. It's a full bore progressive rock symphony with blaring horns, rising violins and spooky synthesizer, that luckily just misses being overblown by about three notes. Another fine treat from the 70's




12. The Concerts for the People of Kampuchea.

The Concerts for the People of Kampuchea (1979)

The Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. From a series of concerts in 1979 to raise money and awareness to help the victims of the Cambodian genocide, this collection was not only for a good cause, but it also has some great live performances from some of the best bands of the early New Wave. Bordered with nice traditional live sets of the Who for side 1 and Paul McCartney & Wings for side 4, in between though, you've got live performances from the Clash, the Pretenders, the Specials, Rockpile with Robert Plant, Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Ian Dury & the Blockheads, and a great live cut from Queen. The performances are all first rate and really provide a great slice of the culture circa 1979.

13. Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)

Yes, I bought it, I admit my taste is sometimes questionable

Okay, look, I know it's cheese, but I'm a complete sucker for Earth, Wind & Fire's version of Got To Get You Into My Life and Aerosmith's amazing version of Come Together. The rest of the album goes from the so-so to some of the very worst cheese ever recorded by a group of people on too much cocaine. Still it was only a quarter so there you go. Plus the poster inside the album is awesome.




14. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Armed Forces (1979)

Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Armed Forces (1979)

Armed Forces is in my opinion the seminal Elvis Costello album. What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding, Oliver's Army, Accidents Will Happen and Two Little Hitlers are among the very songs Costello ever wrote and this entire album is just full of energy and great music. Armed Forces is to me anyway one of the great rock albums.

15. / 16. Led Zeppelin - IV / In Through the Out Door

The mighty Led Zeppelin 

Of course there is no way I can get a bunch of records from the 70's and skip the might Led Zeppelin. And here are two good ones to choose from. First there's the classic IV, an album that pretty much everyone alive who speaks English and is over the age of 40 knows by heart. Sure Stairway's the most famous song, but Going to California and When the Levee Breaks are my personal favorites. In Through the Out Door is the last studio album the band released before the death of drummer John Bonham and features some of my favorite songs by the band including All of My Love and Fool in the Rain. 




17. / 18. Pink Floyd - Meddle / Dark Side of the Moon

Pink Floyd the kings of vinyl

Oh come on now, you new Pink Floyd was going to come into this at some point. We're talking albums and when you are talking vinyl Floyd is king. I straight up admit to buying the only two Floyd albums in the store and would have just as happily bought any of their other works too. Meddle is in my opinion where the second lineup really starts to take off, One of These Days still blows me away after all these decades. it is still one of the great guitar works of all time. And what's there left to say about Dark Side of the Moon, progressive rocks perfect work?






19. Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols

Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols album is not the best record ever recorded, but it's absolutely one of my very favorites. There is not a single song on the entire record that isn't a classic. From the blistering opening of Holidays in the  Sun until the last chord of EMI, Bollocks never misses a beat. The only issue I have is that it should be Glen Matlock up there instead of Sid, but I guess that's just how rock n roll works eh kids?

Well that's the start.


Now to get some Miles Davis, and Queen, the Cure and The The, Neil Young and John Coltrane, and boy do I need some Johnny Cash.


More to come.

1971 - The Devils

Ken Russell's The Devils (1971)

On a hot August day in 1634, Father Urbain Grandier, the priest of the church of Saint Croix in the French city of Loudun was burned alive at the stake for the crimes of sorcery and spell casting as well as his responsibility in the possession and corruption of the enclosed Ursuline nuns of the city during what has been come to be known as the Loudun Possessions.

Urbain Grandier

Good looking, polished, popular, with no hesitation in disobeying his vow of abstinence, Grandier had made friends with many of the women in his parish, while becoming intractable enemies with their politically and religiously well connected husbands and fathers. Most dangerously of all, Father Grandier had also made an enemy of the defacto leader of France, Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu, so that when the head of the local Ursuline convent, Sister Jeanne des Agnes and most of her fellow sisters showed signs of demonic possession, writhing in ecstasy, making obscene offers to the priest all the while claiming that the person inflicting them with Devils, was none other than Urbain Grandier, the once well connected priest found himself friendless and alone on the path toward the fire.

Olive Reed as Urbain Grandier, The Devils (1971)

Stripped, shaved, both of his legs broken through torture, Grandier was forced to crawl to the metal chair affixed to a large wooden stake surrounded by a huge pile of wood, soaked in holy water to make him burn longer, a loose garrote tied around his neck, and then the fire was lit. Priest stood by and waved the smoke away from Grandier so that he would not choke on the smoke before the fire reached him. They kept the fire low so that Grandier’s suffering would last as long as possible, though they would call to him again and again giving the priest the chance to confess to his crimes.

The trial commences, The Devils (1971)

But he never did.

As the fire took its toll and Grandier’s spirit was finally allowed to leave this earth, he cursed his torturers to early deaths, and indeed his chief persecutor died exactly a year later to the day. But by then it was far too late for Grandier to take any pleasure in this small revenge as by then he was long since ash and dust.

One of Grandier's Persecutors, The Devils (1971)

The story of Grandier’s sins and the sins committed against him are covered in great detail in AldousHuxley’s brilliant 1952 novel, The Devils of Loudun. A combination historical paper, psychological treatise and comic horror story, Huxley’s novel details with a mirthful tone, the way that one man, through his “sin”, can turn the whole world against him. Huxley turns a cruel eye toward Grandier, his foes, his torturers and most importantly the vain and spiteful Jeanne Agnes, whose utter boredom at convent life, her lust for Grandier a man she has never even met, her wish to be the center of something important and her disgust for the twisted hump on top of her back, combine to destroy a man in the most horrible way possible.

The "Question" is put to Grandier, The Devils (1971)

 All of which brings us to Ken Russell’s 1971 adaptation of Huxley’s novel, The Devils.

The Devils is at times not so much a film as a hallucinatory trip through hell, a hell of repressed desires and hidden lusts, where Grandier, the only person honest in his sins, must be destroyed because of them.

Vanessa Redgrave and the possessed nuns of The Devils (1971)

Starring as Grandier, Oliver Reed carries himself with a detached cynicism, recognizing that he is just one sinner surrounded by a world of people as equally ugly inside, and yet who can at the same time defend his town against armed intruders with nothing but bravery and a few dozen crossbows.

Grandier on the stake, The Devils (1971)

Russell has often used very disturbing imagery of sexual and religious iconography combined with stunning violence and it is easy to understand why the Devils was long kept out of distribution. 

Sister Jeanne in ecstasy. The Devils (1971) 

It is a deeply offensive movie on many levels, filled with images that are guaranteed to enrage and insult most true believers. And yet inside of all the ugliness a deeply moving story emerges of a man who has come to terms with his own sins, and who must pay because of it. 

Grandier and the flames, The Devils (1971)

As Grandier moves closer to his final fate Reed brings to the character a dignity and sense of knowing that as he continually suffers more physical abuse brings an almost Christ like calm to the character.

And all the world is against him, The Devils (1971)

As Sister Jeanne, Vanessa Redgrave gives one of the bravest and most disturbing performances in cinematic history, playing a woman who allows the most hideous abuses to be heaped on her just to bring about the destruction of a man who she sees has having rejected her. Jeanne is beyond salvation, happy in her depravity, sealing her damnation in the end with one final obscene desecration. Redgrave is positively Shakespearean in the depth of her evil.

What follows is unspeakable, The Devils (1971)

While it is true that The Devils suffers from many of the worst excesses of early 70’s film-making with its stilted imagery, overtly simple symbolism, excessive nudity just for the hell of it and in many cases caricature in place of character, it more than makes up for it with what is a compelling story about a flawed but heroic man facing a horrible fate and the Devils that brought him there.

The Devils (1971) Film Trailer

The Future is Now - The Golden Age of Popular Mechanics

The Original Air Pirates - Popular Mechanics, January 1936

The wife and I were at one of the local antique stores today and along with the normal pile of old clothes, toys, records etc, I came across a small pile of Popular Mechanics dating from the 1920's through the late 50's, all for only a couple of bucks each, so of course I dived on them.

Portable Air Force Base - Popular Mechanics, July 1925

The books are in decent condition and have some great articles and ads inside that I'll get around to sharing at some point, but right now I just wanted to share these amazing covers with all of you.

The Theory of RADAR - Popular Mechanics, December 1930

I really got a kick out of the above article on the development of a device that can track aircraft in flight using sound. Actual RADAR was still almost a decade away and this early article on the subject was surprisingly accurate in describing just how RADAR would actually work.

The 300 Miler Per Hour Motorcycle - Popular Mechanics, June 1935

The thing that I liked the best about the idea of the 300 mile per hour motorbike was that the driver has this tiny leather helmet on. Frankly cool picture and all, but this idea just was not likely to end well.

Warship of the Future - Popular Mechanics, September 1940

A little more then a year before America entered WWII, and Popular Mechanics was one of the leaders in the call for rearmament, as both the drawing and the article by Eddie Rickenbacker can demonstrate.

Ejector Seats - Popular Mechanics, June 1957

While the inside of these magazines were mostly made up of cheap newsprint, the covers on these classics are just remarkable, not just for the quality of the art itself, but also because of the image of the future that never was, that they project for us.

Simply put, these were a hell of a nice find.

The Firesign Theatre



The Firesign Theatre - Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers (1970)

The Firesign Theatre was never really like the other comedy teams out there, in that they never really seemed too worried about telling actual jokes. and instead were more than happy to let the absurdest situations and incredibly complicated dialog of their materials draw the laughs out of you, both by playing with expectations and then making not so much a complete left turn with them as a full fledged dive into a Rubik's cube of confused metaphors and an oddly intellectual stream of consciousness absurdism. You had to pay attention to the comedy of the Firesign Theatre, because when they said, that "Everything You Know is Wrong", they probably were right.

The Firesign Theatre - Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, Phil Proctor & Dave Ossman

Starting out as on public radio in 1967, the Firesign Theatre, made up of David Ossman, Phil Austin, Phil Proctor and the late Peter Bergman worked to give their highly scripted, heavily referenced performances an improvisational feel, that bellied their highly structured nature, and because of this many people have tended to ignore the Firesign Theatre as a counter-culture "hippie" group.

And sure, they definitely were part of that era, but there is something more to it than simple "Head" humor coming from these guys.

With albums like Waiting for The Electrician, or Someone Like Him, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers and I Think We're All Bozo's On This Bus the Firesign's played with literlism in a fast moving, pun filled frollic where you never quite knew what was going to happen next.

Probably the best known of the various characters created by Firesign Theatre, Nick Danger, Third Eye, has long mixed the detective genre with a twist of Borges by way of one too many acid trips. In the clip below quips fly in this truly funny piece.

 When I heard this morning that Peter Bergman had passed away, I thought that it was a good time to bring the team up and try to pass them on to a new generation. The Firsign Theatre was one of the best of the thinking man comedy groups, wacky, confusing and totally insane.

This final clip is after the brief commericia for Battleship and features the team starring in a actual, real life commericial for a used car lot circa 1971, that truly captures just how out of the ordinary and just plain bizzare these guys could be.

Enjoy...

Book Review - The Great American Cereal Book

The Great American Cereal Book: How Breakfast Got Its Crunch

I don't really do many book reviews here at Studd, but as anyone who has ever posted out here can tell you, I'm a sucker for the odds and ends of late 20th century American life, and there really isn't much more All-American Odds and Ends, then the surgery goodness of breakfast cereal. And with that in mind I want to recommend just a fantastic little hard back by Marty Gitlin & Topher Ellis.

 The Great American Cereal Book, is a combination history and encyclopedia of American breakfast cereal, from it's earliest start in Battle Creek Michigan until the present day, filled with tons of information and trivia and loaded with beautifully shot photos of hundreds of classic cereal boxes.

It's just a good looking hardback, squat and thick, looking like a small box of the product it's talking about, and like I said above filled with beautifully laid out pages of photographs of cereal boxes, toy give aways, character sketches and more.

Gitlin & Ellis obviously love their subject and it shows on every page, and I highly recommend this book to any fan of commercial art, or even just looking for some great memories of youth.  The Great American Cereal Book, was just too fun not to share.

Just some of the cereals covered in this lovely volume

So go ahead, click the link, you'll be glad you did.

 The Great American Cereal Book

1960's - The Smoking Lamp is Lit

Barney Rubble for Winstons

I will turn 50 years old this year which means that I was 8 years old when cigarettes were banned from advertising on television in 1970. The thing is that more than 40 years later, and I can still remember the various jingles and "stars" of different brands to this day.

That they used to sell smokes on the air probably doesn't surprise most people, but the younger folks out there might be surprised to see just how many television shows of the 1960's mixed their cigarette ads into the shows themselves.

The Flintstones for Winston

Having made the internet rounds for years, I'm pretty sure that lots of people have seen the above video of the Flintstones selling Winstons, but Fred and Barney weren't the only ones hawking smokes to the masses back in the good old days.

Here's none other than Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez making their push for Phillip Morris

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez for Philip Morris

In fact Lucy and Desi did dozens of ads for Philip Morris over the years, which might tell you something about the fact that both of them died of smoking related illnesses.

It's easy for us to look at these commercials now and think that they are just a little bit insane, but you've got to remember that cigarette ads have been a part of filmed advertisements right from the start, as the below short for Admiral Cigarettes shot by Thomas Edison in 1897 will show you.

Edison was a man who liked to make a buck

Anyway back to television.

Here's several commercials for Kent cigarettes featuring the cast of, The Dick Van Dyke Show....

Dick Van Dyke and Rose Marie for Kent

Dick Van Dyke, Morey Amsterdam & Richard Deacon for Kent

Rose Marie, Dick Van Dyke & Mary Tyler Moore for Kent

However for just plain bizarre, it's really hard not to look at these ads from the Beverly Hillbillies for Winston Cigarettes and feel like you took a left turn into the Twilight Zone.

Nancy  Kulp, Buddy Epson and Max Baer jr for Winstons

Irene Ryan and Bea Benaderat for Winston

Buddy Ebson and Raymond Bailey for Winstons

Scary stuff in it's own way and really a good example of how smoking was presented to kids as a fun thing to do. 

Like I say it was a different world then.