What Will You Play in 2020?

Are you dreading 2012? Depending on the state of that year's election, I may move to Antigua, Guatemala, no matter what the Mayan calendar says. Or, more safely, Barcelona, 20% unemployment or not.

I've also been envisioning the year 2020 a lot lately. I like the ring of it better than 2012 anyway, and there's enough time to get ready for it. Lately I've thought I will learn to play a musical instrument or at least play one better than the ones I've tried through the years -- piano, recorder, flute and snare drums. I was, however, quite a good xylophone player in my high school days and always had my heyday during the Nutcracker Suite.

Does the turntable count as an instrument? Since the days of Sugarhill Records onwards, I guess it has. I used to buy 12-20 CDs a week. Now not that many in a year. However, I've been in something of a frenzy of uploading old LPs. I used to give the line "I'm not a vinyl purist," but that was in the days before USB turntables. Granted, I am uploading the work of true artists and performers, but part of what I love about LP uploads is that it's not a passive act. One must dust the LP and check the stylus for dust, adjust the tone arm for perfect weight pressure. I equate it to the Japanese Tea ceremony. I didn't grow the leaves, I didn't make the pot, I didn't drill the well for the water. But I brought all of these elements together for the perfect marriage of elements.
Last weekend, I heard Ashley Judd on "What Do You Know" who, in explaining her decision to go back and study international affairs clarified that at the peak of her Hollywood success she was not playing the scene but staying home to listen to Beethoven and read the Russians. "And avoid STDs," she added with a wink in her voice. It was fitting to hear that just as I've been transferring a collection of Beethoven -- a rather staggering 10 LPs of his entire symphonies and overtures, several of which I have on CD, but I like the idea of having them from the LP which is in near pristine condition. It has both aesthetic and sentamental value. It was passed down from a family friend of my parents. My mother had two best friends who whose husbands were retired members of the Mexico City and Berlin Philharmonics. The Beethoven collection, not surprisingly, came from the latter after he passed on in the early 1990s and his wife wanted me to have them. I rememer adolescent years of going to his house where dusting the turntable and recounting what brought him and his wife to the small Midwestern town where he whiled away his final years as a German professor at a small liberal arts college.

When the Third Reich emerged, he left the Philharmonic to go into the diplomatic corps, was captured by the British in Cameroon in 1939, interned in Jamaica and never performed professionally again. As these sounds pass from LP to MP3, I try to think where they will be in 2020 and if any vestige of his memory will pass with them.
In the meantime, I hope to have my collection of Poulenc uploaded by or long before 2012. I am getting close on having his complete works in my system.

Another Chapter In The Epic Process of Transfering All My Joni Mitchell LPs to MP3s

...almost there...

Now That You've Let Me Get Started

Okay, not all of these are that obscure, but they usually were good for upsetting folks who would show up at my house with a magnum of Riunite and a bucket of KFC back around 1983. Let's just say I opened a few eyes to the world beyond the Midwest. Thus, we delve into the vinyl vaults here at the JunkPlex to recreate a summer evening around 1983.

As the wife of the founder Michael Zilka, Cristina Monet was sort of the Norma Shearer of ZE Record and the whole No Wave movement. She first put out a self-titled disc that was panned with its sort of disco parodies. For years her take on "Is That All There Is" was banned by the authors but is now on iTunes as is her seminal "Things Fall Apart" that many rank as the greatest Christmas song of all time. Today, I hear, she writes scholarly articles about the era, sort of a Louise Brooks of the early 1980s. I offer:
"Don't Be Greedy" from Cristina (1980)
and
"She Can't Say That Anymore" from Sleep It Off (1984)

It's no secret that Junk Thief has a thing for J-Pop and Japanese boys, though not the thin fragile types but more the tough guy detectives of the Mishima mold. But even more than that ilk of J-men, there are the early '80s punk bands, and none top the wonderful Plastics. Nothing is hotter than a manic J-boy screaming obscenities in broken English over a raunchy guitar riff. Enjoy.
"Cards" from Welcome Back (1980)


People grew to tire of August Darnell and his various incarnations, and by the late 1980s and many people dismissed his back up singers The Coconuts as vapid no talents that could shake their booties well but added nothing to the music. They did, however, put out a pretty cool live disc that included "Ticket to the Tropics" that Cristina also covered. The tune offered here is worth giving them a bit more attention in my opinion. Not deep, but damned fun.
"Naughty Boy" from Please Don't Take My Coconuts (1983)


Though their definitive song is definitely "I Love a Man in a Uniform", I also loved The Gang of Four's Hard, which many saw as a sell out. For many it sounded as if they'd gone the route of Bowie's dreadful Let's Dance. To me, there is no comparison. What do you think?
"Is It Love" extended dance mix from Hard (1983)

Maybe they're not that obscure, but I'm surprised that many people have never heard of this band, although their signature tune has been played at many sporting events. I remember it as the ultimate dance tune at certain downtown, late night haunts. Nothing spells a good party more than Pigbag. Never danced to Pigbag? You're life is a fraud!
"Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" from the (1981)

Now that we're in a downtown instrumental groove, let's move on to Liquid, Liquid whose "Cavern" was featured in the film Downtown 81 but is best known for supplying the famed base line in Grandmaster Flash's "White Lines". This is one of their lesser known tune but proof of their diversity.
"Groupmegroup" from Liquid, Liquid (1981)

Bangles, Bananarama and any other host of 1980s girl groups pale to this, my favorite of the decade. Sadly, their best known hit was a throw away cover of "Iko Iko" on the Rain Man soundtrack, a movie I never saw mainly because it featured Tom Cruise. This, however, is what I consider to be their best tune.
"Sign of the Times" from The Belle Stars (1982)

Dinah Washington is always welcome at any Junk Thief event. She topped Hank Williams in this lively, joyous cover of one of his best known tunes with superb ad libs and fun harmonies. It feels so fresh that it makes me think it was recorded this week.
"Hey Good Looking" from The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury Vol. 2 (1951)


Since we're going back a few years, I have to post a favorite tune from Cass Elliott's solo career. Her cover of the only hit by Hurricane Smith is a reminder that she was less flower child than old time club room performer, but she put her own stamp of verve on this version from this album that is very hard to fine but worth the search album.
"Oh Babe, What Would You Say" from The Road is No Place for a Lady.(1972)

And now (gasp) a "show tune" but not in the conventional sense. Two Gentlemen from Verona had book by John Guare and Mel Shapiro, lyrics by Guare, and music by Galt MacDermot, who wrote the same for Hair. Raul Julia headed the cast, and there was this wonderful little tune sung by Diana Davila that sums up my feelings on romance these days. Not exactly I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face.
"I Am Not Interested in Love" from Two Gentlemen from Verona - Original Cast Recording (1971)

What did a bunch of art school punk kids from Boston know about country music? Did it matter? Rubber Rodeo did a fun take on "Jolene" and were a sight to be seen, and I saw them live once at a seedy bar in St. Louis.
"She Had to Go" from She Had to Go (1982)

I know nothing about this "band" except this one hard-not-to-like-because-it's-so-inane single. My niece was about four at the time, and we'd sing it together in my car that summer even when a sun baked cassette dragged the tape at about 22rpms. I knew she was pretty cool back then, because she'd turn to me and say, "I know that they're not singing about my Strawberry Shortcake." Anyone else remember this one?
"Sweepstakes" from Nursery School 12-inch single (1983)

Personally, I preferred Fun Boy Three's tune "The Tunnel of Love" over this GoGos staple, but it was always fun to put it on to see people's reactions as something that initially sounded so odd suddenly turned into something as familiar as salt. A nice downbeat vibe to piss off any Huey Lewis and the News fans of the time.
"Our Lips Are Sealed" from Waiting (1983)

Despite her annoying "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", I think Brenda Lee is one of the most under-rated early female rockabilly acts. She had volume, energy, verve and more range than many people give her credit for, having also recorded in Italian and German and having played a key role in the early career of the Beatles. I just love this song because it has such a feel of a little Texas girl all dressed up, able to sing with an orchestral back up but still has a bit of country holler in her voice. I especially love her "your little mama" self reference near the end.
"Baby Won't You Please Come Home" from Reflections in Blue (1969)

And finally...not exactly what I'd call a chill out record, but a reflective way to end an evening. Jon Hassell is technically a jazz trumpeter, but he makes Miles Davis sound like Doc Severeson by comparison. His distortion of the instrument and what he called his "Fourth World" recordings that brought together traditional indigenous music with his own retooling in the studio produced sounds that freaked out many of my friends, but pieces like this brought me serenity.
"Dream Theory" from Dream Theory in Malay (1981)

Fabulous Memories, Please Weigh In

A week or so ago, as a part of my ongoing analog to digital conversion process, I was intent on posting a lengthy piece that would re-enact the playlist at a party at the JunkPlex circa 1983. It started getting a bit more complex and tedious than my current schedule could accommodate and made me wonder if anyone would really care. The idea was to post some music from favorite bands, solo acts and oddities from the Junk Thief archives that you won't find on iTunes or other mainstream sources. I started doing short bios, photo sketches and background info with links to each song. I got about 10 songs or so into the project and got diverted.

So, starting somewhat randomly, I'd like to share an example that is not exactly the most obscure track but fairly representative of this project.

In 1979, I discovered Brit band The Fabulous Poodles, sort of a bridge to '70s rock and early '80s punk. They had a dynamite fiddle play that could keep up with Papa John Creach and what seemed at the time to be fairly silly, pointless tunes on the order of the B52s. A quarter of a century later, I see that they had more gravitas than I gave them credit with somewhat snarky but serious takes on suicide and eating disorders. Sadly, it was their swan song, Think Pink, that lead me to them. Amazingly, this group sold more units in the U.S. in 1979 than the Clash, but few folks remember them.

For a taste of their mix of whimsy and a good beat, check out "Pink City Twist" (as with future posts, I'll have the tune in red with a hyperlink to the MP3.

Let me know what you think of this ditty and if you'd like to hear more similar tunes, especially the more obscure ones. On an obscure scale, this one is on the lesser scale of the unknown.

Seeking Advice in Order to Share the Joy

I gotta tell ya, I am so diggin' my little *ion TTUSB turntable. For an investment of just over $100, it is one of the best value purchases thus far in 2008. In barely four days, I've transfered several hundred dollars worth of tracks. I've scoffed for years at those who call me a vinyl purist, even though I have several thousand of those 12 inch ebony treasures and these days probably buy more of them than CDs.

However, although I've managed to find a few, at best, acceptable transfers of vinyl to MP3 through the years, they always lacked the real luster. This little tool, however, is just amazing. It has all the fidelity of the original material, and it's bone chilling at time to hear discs ingrained in my psyche 30 years or more back exactly as I recall them, sometimes with a little crackle or hiss, but usually with far more warmth and character than any digital commercial release.

What joy it is to hear, say, Lesley Gore singing "Only Last Night" or Joe Jackson covering three of his hits from 1982's seminal Night and Day in ...Spanish! The tune "Cancer" with its Latin rhythm really was meant for Spanish not English, and his diction is not half bad. Oh, and then there are all those Gang of Four, Janis Ian, Dory Previn, Pretty Things, Liquid Liquid, JoBoxers, Johnny Dynell, Cristina Monet, Smiths, Burt Bacharach etc. discs.

So now I am seeking a couple of suggestions from fellow readers:

* Do you have any recommendations on the best system/site/software for posting some of my favorites to this site?
* Do you have suggestions on the best way to embed or link playlists to blogger?

Obscure Love

One site I visit several times a week is Obscure Sound where, unlike most music sites, I like about 85-90% of the tracks they feature. Today they have a great Valentine's Day mix. If you've not already made plans for the night, I recommend doing what I will be doing of downloading and playing this nifty little mix to enjoy over a glass of wine while reading a favorite new book, in mine a biography of Borges. That's what I call true love, though I don't really feel one bit lonely, not even alone.

UPDATE: Adding to my pleasure this V-Day, I was able to track down what I think must be the last available copy of the Criterion Eclipse Series release of the Lubitsch Musicals which was well worth the search since its release on Tuesday when it was nabbed by everyone else at the six outlets I scoured around our little berg. What a joy it is to see Jack Buchanan in Monte Carslo who is pretending to be a hairdresser and singing about "trimmin' the women". On top of that is The Love Parade with Amy Winehouse precursor Lillian Roth years before rehab singing "Let's Be Common". Speaking of rehab and 12-step programs, I've discovered this groovy Criterion addict support program administered by, oddly enough, one dude in Brooklyn and another in Oklahoma. As they say, it takes all kinds. "Hello, my name is Junk Thief and I am a Criterion addict!" "HI JUNK THIEF!!!!"