Nothing to do with anything

I've been listening to this little bit of Power Pop perfection all week.

Who could ask for more?

Hooks galore, a great little guitar riff crunched up to perfection blasting through a set of big ass Marshall stacks, Beatlesque harmonies, scary but cute, maybe legal, probably lesbian girls with a lot of attitude.

I'm not that sure about gigantic firebreathing baby dolls, but it's a music video it doesn't have to make sense.

Performing the video vesrsion of their #33 Australian hit Take Me Away which was subsequently picked up with rerecorded vocals for the Freaky Friday Movie, this is Micaela Slayford on lead vocals and bass, Jessica Bennett on lead guitar and backup vocals, Belinda-Lee Reid on backup vocals and guitar, and Jaclyn Pearson playing her Pearl drum kit.

Lash

The call has gone out again for respite from the stress and nonsense that defines these troubled times.

As always, we empathize.

So .....

Because I firmly believe that there are only two kinds of people on this earth.

Them that like Little Feat, and them that don't know they like Little Feat.

And .....

Just in case you've ever wondered what's the big deal about Lowell George anyway.

            Here he is seemingly still asleep on slide guitar and vocals, along with Bill Payne on the keyboards, Paul Barrere on guitar, Richard Hayward playing the drums, Sam Clayton on percussion and Roy Estrada playing bass guitar at about 9:00 AM one morning in 1975 for "The Old Grey Whistle Test" program at the BBC.

Fat Man In The Bathtub.

A little boogie is always good for the soul.

Thanks to Jennifer N., Rodney T. and Tall Paul who are skulking either Esquire or Chartporn.

 I told you it was good.

It seems your pants are lying through their zipper about the size of your waistline.

Click on the chart for the article.

Damn, is all I gotta say.

Ever wonder what's the big deal about Tommy Emmanuel?

Ever even heard of Tommy Emmanuel?

Don't worry about it, few have.

If you feel like it, check out his story here, it's a good one, and his site here.

Here is Tommy Emmanuel unaccompanied playing the Merle Travis classic Nine Pound Hammer along just with about anything else he feels.

Dai Vernon also known as "The Professor" is widely regarded as the most skillful sleight of hand artist to ever perform magic and among the most influential card magicians of the 20th Century. He is credited with inventing or improving many of the close-up tricks using cards, coins, and other small items that are employed by professional magicians to this day. 

In 1922, Harry Houdini was the best known magician in the world. Forty eight years old and at the height of his powers, Houdini was so confident of his skills and understanding of magic that he challenged magicians everywhere to show him any trick they might be able to perform three times, and guaranteed that he could tell them how it was done. At the Great Northern Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, young Dai Vernon took the great Houdini up on his offer, performing his "The Ambitious Card" trick for Houdini not three, but seven times in a row with Houdini failing to explain it.

The first video below is a Dai Vernon performance of his version of the Cup and Balls Trick, which version is every bit the standard among magicians as Celebrate and Joy To The World are among wedding bands.

"The Professor" Dai Vernon.

This second vid is an updated version of Vernon's "The Ambitious Card" trick, otherwise known as "The Trick That Fooled Houdini".

See ya Tuesday.

Since we're on the subject.

I have never closed the section of any tape I've ever made offering Life During Wartime and The Walls Came Down with anything other than the Nick Lowe penned and produced, international classic What's So Funny Bout Peace Love and Understanding.

I see no reason to not continue with that practice here. 

This is Elvis Costello on guitar and vocals. Steve Nieve on keyboards, Davey Faragher on bass, the great Pete Thomas pounding the drums and singing along just a little.

Evis Costello and the Attractions, Pickups or Imposters ... take your pick.

What's So Funny Bout Peace Love and Understanding.

Usually Rockpile with Teacher Teacher comes next, but we're probably moving on this time.

With the exception of one Christmas party, I've never done a mix tape that didn't include The Call's The Walls Came Down immediately next to ... usually leading ... Life During Wartime by Talking Heads.

Having posted Life During Wartime last week, I see no good reason to break with tradition.

Because I think it's far more likely that you have seen the promotional video for any given popular song somewhere else already, I mostly go for live performances when posting music around here.  And while there are some real interesting vids of the Call performing The Walls Came Down live, I'm making an exception to that rule here only because none of them include my all time favorite little keyboard break within what is one of my very favorite arrangements in general as Garth Hudson of The Band worked with The Call in the studio, but to my knowledge, never toured with them.

To my way of thinking one of the more underrated bands of all time, this is Michael Been on vocals and guitar, Tom Ferrier on guitar, Greg Freeman on the bass, Scott Musick playing drums, and Garth Hudson on keyboards.  I think that's Jim Goodwin standing off to the side playing what appears to be an old Vox, reverse key organ.

The Call.

The Walls Came Down.

To quote Michael Been.

From their 1984 movie Stop Making Sense, one of our very favorite concert movies.

This is the always interesting David Byrne on vocals, Tina Weymouth on bass guitar, Jerry Harrison on keyboards and Chris Frantz on drums.

Talking Heads.  

They are joined in this performance by Lynn Mabry and Edna Holt on backup vocals, keyboardist Bernie Worrell of Parliament-Funkadelic, percussionist Steve Scales, and guitarist Alex Weir of The Brothers Johnson.

Life During Wartime

Because we posted on Steinway and Sons pianos earlier this week, Terry D. who's probably a better picker than I am a pounder wants equal time for guitar builders of which there is a raft of em.

I can't say anything about Candelas Guitars having never even held one, but I do like Tomas Delgado's story and his attitude well enough to post the promo for his company and I might even look into trying a Candelas guitar one day should a Roanboy start thinking about classical guitar (unlikely) or flamenco guitar (slightly more likely).

This is Tomas Delgado talking about his passion for guitar building and his company which was originally founded by his grandfather and great uncle.

Having absolutely no talent with tools, naturally I was fascinated by this Robert O'Brian video on carving guitar necks.

We haven't done a commercial in a long time.

What the heck.

Here's an interesting ... at least to me ... little vid Steinway did about their antique plant in Long Island City, New York and the people who work there building Steinway pianos by hand.

Having been fortunate enough to have played a decent number of the famed brands of pianos in this world, Bechstein, Bluthner, Bosendorfer, and Schimmel among the German names, Young Chang and Yamaha among the Pacific Rim builders, Italy's Fazioli, given the choice I'll always sit down with the Steinway first.

I think that to be the case for most every pianist (I'm not a pianist) or pounder (that's me) going back a hundred years.

They just sound better.

It's the overtones, I'm told.

Steinway pianos, handmade in America.

As an aside, some of the older Baldwins can be extraordinary as well.