TVD Spotlight | Robert Wyatt | Part I

I have to admit. I kinda paced around back and forth in my mind over the last week trying to think about what my first TVD entry should be. One idea definitely stuck with me the longer I thought about it. Something on Robert Wyatt. More than that. A mini-series on Robert Wyatt. Not like some PBS or BBC type of thing (though he is from Bristol). Just a little three-course meal dedicated to a master chef of psychedelic, progressive chefs. I mean --- he IS the earlier and jazz-fusion. Let's me think about that some more. Ok - he's possibly a master chef of all chefs in all of the kitchens of music. The Food Network can contact to me about that weird analogy later if they want to, but to say that he's influenced me and others greatly is an understatement.

I'll sing more specific praises and give the backstory of his career like the nerd that I am later. For now though, I'll just say this: unreal drummer (notice the patterns, signatures, solos), incredible vocalist (the melodies he choses to use), gripping lyricist, spectacular beard. You'll notice the beard thing in the third part of the series. I promise...

Let's kick it off with the Wyatt-era Soft Machine. Primarily Volumes One and Two.
--Mukisa



Soft Machine - Save Yourself (Vol. 1) (Mp3)
Soft Machine - So Boot If At All (Vol. 1) (Mp3)
Soft Machine - We Did It Again (Vol. 1) (Mp3)
Soft Machine - Returns To The Bedroom (Vol. 2) (Mp3)
Soft Machine - As Long As He Lies Perfectly Still (Vol. 2) (Mp3)
Soft Machine - Hibou, Anemone And Bear (Vol. 2) (Mp3)

TVD | Turns One

One.

What were you doing when you were one? Me...I was in diapers and drinking from a bottle. So, yes...very little has changed. (ding!)

My dad used to have a saying after say, I expressed a distaste for banana cream pie or something. He'd moan, "Aw - you don't know what's good." And he said it often enough, truly without disdain or anything, where'd I almost say it along with him at times. Then I got a bit older and thought about that line, and not that he meant it really, but it dismissed all of my opinions on ANY-thing outright. "I don't know what's GOOD." Like I'm in some netherworld flailing about with the truly mediocre.

So, it started to crack me up and I began to use it in common conversation to the point where my buddy John picked up on it and we were off dismissing each other's taste in everything but mostly music. The computer whiz he is, John set up a bulletin board where, not just he and I, but our entire group of friends would tell each other, "you don't know what's f'n good," practically 24/7. Whoo boy--nothing like dissing your pals on the internet, I tell you.

So, imagine our surprise when the thing got hacked and destroyed. I mean - what? Am I gonna have to WORK now? (I kid, employer!) But it was a real drag and as John and I were plotting the return of YDKWG in some guise, I got to tinkering with Wordpress then Blogspot--and TVD was born. Without forethought or planning. Boom. I was off.

I was enamored with the Retro Music Snob blog at the time (who's back if you didn't know...) and reached out for some guidance and he was damn gracious with his time and advice and do's and don'ts. Two things he said still resonate with me: update daily, give folks a reason to return, and second--don't let it become a job. Sage advice on both fronts, I'm thinking.

Well, I've been fortunate--the thing took off. After 415 posts, 134,655 unique visits, and 246,975 pageviews, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to YOU, the readers who've visited, commented, and participated each day. It's you guys who make the entire endeavor ultimately worthwhile. I'd be remiss if I didn't thank the advertisers over there on the left who've offered their support as well. All I had to say was "DC vinyl blog" and each and every one signed on with enthusiasm. Two-thirds of the "Vinyl District Frequents" list graciously swapped links with me and allowed this blog to swim further down the river on their backs. I trust the wind has picked up enough here to return the favor.

So, with all of this said, I'm sure you'd think it odd that I've been ready to toss in the towel here. Against RMS's wise council, it has become a bit of a job. I've daydreamed about ebaying the blog and selling it off to the highest bidder who'd earn the keys to TVD HQ. Or, like the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" or whatever that book/movie is called, handing it off to another keeper of the flame and hoping the new caretaker looks after it with the same thoughtfulness and care.

Ultimately, the nagging question has been just how long can one blog survive trumpeting VINYL? Well, we're about to find out.

Beginning this week, three new voices will join the mix here at TVD, lending a welcome hand to what has been a one-man blog. Over the coming days Billups, Mukisa, and Kristin will be introducing themselves to you as new, frequent contributors here at TVD. They'll be lending not just their voices to the proceedings, but their record collections as well. And while I trust that there's plenty of overlap in our individual tastes, there's enough divergence to cover ground that this blogger could never accomplish singularly. You'll still have me here each morning waxing nostalgic, but there will also be plenty to have you popping back in throughout the day.

Plus, we have even more ticket giveaways to come as well as some opportunities to score some brand new vinyl, so you readers who aren't locals can win something too for a change. Nice, huh?

So, welcome to year two of this little experiment. Thank you for having us.

_______

A note about this week's "theme"--an all-request week. Rarely does a morning pass where I don't receive a request for something posted way back when, and as much as I'd like to honor those requests for reposts, they're a tough thing to pull off with any frequency. So this week - let us have it! If you've missed something that we've previously posted, want some more, or think it just may be in the TVD archives, leave a comment and we'll post it as a small way of simply saying thanks...and cheers!

The Clash - London Calling (Mp3)
The Sound - Wildest Dreams (Mp3)
T-Rex - Cosmic Dancer (Mp3)
The Clientele - Isn't Life Strange (Mp3)
David Sylvian - Nostalgia (Mp3)

TVD's Weekend Shots

Maybe it's the high gas prices or that turntables aren't on wheels, but I'm hearing a-plenty about "staycations" -- a vacation that's spent at one's home enjoying all that home and one's home environs have to offer. So, as a public service, TVD hereby presents two ingredients to enliven your "holistay" ...

Classic Rum & Coke:
5.0 oz. Cola
2.0 oz. Light Rum
Directions: Fill a Highball glass almost full with ice cubes. Pour Rum and Coke into the Highball glass. Stir well, garnish with a Lemon Wedge, umbrella, and serve til morning.

...and these, your Saturday into Sunday Soundtrack.

Don Drummond & Tommy McCook - (Music Is My) Occupation (Mp3)
Bongo Man Byfield - Bongo Man (Mp3)
Derrick Morgan - Fat Man (Mp3)
Lord Tanamo - Iron Bar (Mp3)
Millie - My Boy Lollipop (Mp3)
Eric "Monty" Morris - Penny Reel-O (Mp3)
Roland Alphonso & The Soul Brothers - Phoenix City (Mp3)
Stranger Cole - Rough And Tough (Mp3)
The Clarendonians - Rude Boy Gone A Jail (Mp3)
Desmond Dekker & The Aces - Rudy Got Soul (Mp3)

Be sure to pop back in on Monday...we've got a bit of news, we do...

TVD | Friday @ Random

Forgive me ... I am sleepwalking.
I am jangling along to some song of the moment,
suffering it's sweetness,
luxuriating in it's feeble aproximation of starlight.
Meanwhile there is a real world ...
trains are late, doctors are breaking bad news,
but I am living in a lullaby.

The Field Mice - Let's Kiss And Make Up (Mp3)
The Pale Fountains - (Don't Let Your Love) Start A War (Mp3)
Shack - Cup of Tea (Mp3)
The Shop Assistants - Somewhere In China (Mp3)
Pale Saints - True Coming Dream (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | Thin Lizzy "Jailbreak"

I'm not sure if it was the Iron Maiden LP from yesterday or the dilemma with categorizing and/or alphabetizing my records...but the clouds parted and the comments exploded. For god, for bad, and well, often way off topic. Yet, this was the just the type of conversations we'd have day in and day out at the record stores I worked in. I guess 'High Fidelity' captured it all rather well--and really what I'd envisioned this forum to be way back when (like last July, ahem...) So, keep 'em coming. Comment is king.

Now, to Swiss Adam's dismay, I give you the last of cartoon rock week:

Thin Lizzy - Cowboy Song (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy - Jailbreak (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy - Running Back (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town (Mp3)
Thin Lizzy - Warriors (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | Iron Maiden "The Number of the Beast"

I've got a dilemma with my record collection I think--it's too diverse. Normally, that's a strength, right? But last night as I was adding a new stack to the shelves--swapping out the generic inner sleeves for pristine new ones then slapping on the poly sleeves--I was thinking I've got a problem. And it's a problem with mixing genres, I think. Last night's stack consisted of some Ozzy records, and some Rush records...The Hollies, Neil Young, Steely Dan, Molly Hatchet (really, not joking), Nazareth...well, you get the picture. It was a 'rock' stack. But I'm a notorious alphabetizer, so I was sliding this stack in between Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Culture Club, Coltrane, Sylvian, Mingus...and I thought, this ain't right. Should I separate my genres?

Back in high school, my friends were as diverse. This Maiden LP reminds me of partying under the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore...a trash can with a fire lit inside to keep us warm in winter. Some cold Jack and a few cigs with the 'wrong' bunch of friends, some still around and a few who have passed on. Come the following Mondays I'd be back in my 'honors' classes thinking, "should I separate my genres?"

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast (Mp3)
Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name (Live) (Mp3)
Iron Maiden - The Prisoner (Mp3)
Iron Maiden - 22 Acacia Avenue (Mp3)
Iron Maiden - Run To The Hills (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | Guns n' Roses "Appetite For Destruction"

After a long time out in the woods, I guess it was the Goth girls who let me know it was OK to dig Rock again. I mean, in their dorm rooms in college, there'd be posters of The Cult alongside posters of Led Zeppelin, The Cure right next to Black Sabbath. And it was another Goth girl who turned me onto G n' R. Somehow she had gotten her hands on some early, uncompromising Guns demos and played them over the in-store speakers at the Record World in Georgetown Park Mall where we worked together. Sure, it was LA metal, but it KILLED.

They used to say it was the teeny-bopper high school girls who had their finger on pulse of the next big thing to come around the corner. But me? I think it's really the Goth girls.

Guns n' Roses - Mr. Brownstone (Mp3)
Guns n' Roses - My Michelle (Mp3)
Guns n' Roses - Nightrain (Mp3)
Guns n' Roses - Rocket Queen (Mp3)
Guns n' Roses - Think About You (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | KISS "Love Gun"

In '79, during a run-up to the release of KISS's 'Dynasty' LP, The New York Times published a long article in their magazine section about the band. I forget the overall gist of the piece, but something set my Mom off a bit where she said almost in passing "I'm going to come down there (where I had my stereo and LPs) and take those KISS records..." "Not if I don't get to 'em first," I thought. I gathered up all my KISS LP's and hid them in a seldom used closet that my folks stored luggage in...and for about a year plus, when I was up for a serious 'Christine Sixteen' butt wiggle, I'd ferret the LP out from the closet, spin at a respectable volume not to be overheard, and return it pronto to the mothballed storage closet.

Eventually it dawned on me that Mom's threat was an idle one at best...but the line had been drawn: us -vs- them, later distilled to: "Rock, be rocked, or step aside." (Ah,...NJ.)

KISS - I Stole Your Love (Mp3)
KISS - Love Gun (Mp3)
KISS - Christine Sixteen (Mp3)
KISS - Shock Me (Mp3)
KISS - Then She Kissed Me (Mp3)

TVD's Weekend Shots

We're a little under the weather today at ol' TVD HQ, so we're more than just happy that SG from DC Casualty has stepped up to the plate with 10 for your weekend:

"So, I suppose my theme for this week would be some sort of a summer fling's chronology. While I was tempted to fill this list w/politically charged folk punk or lay some obscure klezmer-laced hip hop on you, my current state of girltastic wimpie-ness has gotten the better of me - hence the theme. I suppose it might be time for me to light a few candles, pop open some wine and put ole Kate Bush on the record player..."

Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen In Love (Mp3)
Bouncing Souls - Hopeless Romantic (Mp3)
Defiance, Ohio - Lullabies (Mp3)
Avoid One Thing - Lean On Sheena (Mp3)
Artie Morris - Back Home Again (Mp3)
Billy Bragg - A New England (Mp3)
The Car Is On Fire - Ex Sex Is (Not) The Best (Title) (Mp3)
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - Doin' Alright With The Boys (Mp3)
Aretha Franklin - The House That Jack Built (Mp3)
David Bowie - Queen Bitch (Mp3)

TVD Ticket Giveaway | Jay Brannan | Sunday (7/11) at the 9:30

Most Sunday evenings after most weekends, I want a night out musically to "pick me up and undress me/lay me down and caress me" to quote one Mr. Joe Jackson. Ex-New Yorker Jackson may have been channeling current New Yorker and indie singer/songwriter Jay Brannan who brings his soaring tenor and introspective musings to the 9:30 this Sunday evening for a special seated show at the club. Jay's given TVD a pair of tickets to pass along to one lucky yet wistful scenster, and all you need do is to let us know just HOW special it'd be for you to attend the show this Sunday night in the comments section (or just say hello!) and we'll choose a winner for the pair by Friday at noon.

"Often erroneously billed as a 'sensitive songwriter,' Brannan is more like a roaring, emotional force."
-Julian Hooper, FLAVORPILL

Jay Brannan - Can't Have It All (Mp3)


Official Website
Official MySpace

TVD Shuffle Bored | July 10, 2008

The line between artist and audience: "Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith have been uncompromising in their dislike for ('The Way You Are') in the years following its release, Orzabal stating it was "the point we realized we had to change direction", while Smith was even more direct in proclaiming it "the worst thing we've done.""

Yet, oddly, a TVD favorite.

The Babys - Turn And Walk Away (Mp3)
Boz Scaggs - Lowdown (Mp3)
The Motors - Tenement Steps (Mp3)
Tears For Fears - The Way You Are (Extended Version) (Mp3)
Dwight Twilley - Girls (Mp3)

TVD Shuffle Bored | July 9, 2008

I find I tend to drop into the 'royal we' when referring to TVD within the daily posts. I mean, it is ME typing each day, so the 'we' may sound a wee bit put on. But I would be remiss if I didn't mention that well, there are a few folks who do stuff behind the scenes here at TVD HQ. One of them is my good pal JC who spent sometime this past weekend hunkered down in the back end (of the HTML, folks--sheez...) to bring you a visually enhanced TVD. To wit:

Now, despite testing on Mac and Windows among various browsers, I think a few of you may not been seeing John's nifty handiwork. If you're NOT seeing the blog per the image above, please shoot me a note or leave a comment regarding which platform and browser you're using. We'd like to de-bug ya'. (I think there's a cream...?)

...Random!
The Cars - Misfit Kid.mp3
Tubeway Army - Me, I Disconnect From You.mp3
ABC - Date Stamp.mp3
Kent - The King Is Dead.mp3
Field Music - Working To Work.mp3

TVD Shuffle Bored | July 8, 2008

Back in about '94 or so, my folks moved from the home I grew up in to a somewhat smaller, certifiable fixer-upper about a half-hour south along the NJ coastline. And when I say 'fixer-upper' I'm being more than generous. The stairs to the second floor we're at a precarious and dangerous angle, doorknobs would just come off in your hand when you opened a door, and the whole place had this pseudo-Moorish interior architecture--one could swear beheadings be-happened in the place. In short, I thought they had lost their minds.

Fix it up they did however, and over the course of a very busy year, all manner of contractor was hired and the place became quite spiffy indeed. But gone was my old bedroom and I was relegated to the new guest room for visits which also served as a repository for their personal papers and folders and letters waiting to find their proper place once the spiffying was accomplished.

Now, I'm not sure if I mentioned this yet in this forum, but yours truly was adopted right from birth. I like to joke that I went from the womb straight to New Jersey--where I found myself once more, in a work-in-progress guest room with all of the documents regarding the legal aspects of my adoption right there. A nosy SOB I be, so I started reading through them and lemme tell you--freaky. There was all sorts of contractual mumbo-jumbo amidst yellowed carbon copies of correspondence. One letter in particular literally spelled out the availability of the next child for my parents to adopt...there were three mothers all due around the same time and whoever gave birth first would have the child who'd take that plane ride straight to New Jersey. And yes, I arrived prompt and first and was flown away.

The thought that remains however is--holy shit--I could have had one or two completely different (random!) lives...and the letter I was reading right then and there was attesting to that very fact in typewriterease. Had I been a day later, where would I have ended up? (Cue: existential cosmic angst.)

But if there was a theme running through all of the notes and letters between my folks and the adoption agency it was their sheer earnestness at wanting a child from a deep, loving well that I've yet to understand. My dad would very often say to me, "when you're a parent, you'll understand..." but, I'm not and I don't. (OK, maybe perhaps I do to a degree.)

Yet, with the varying ups and downs the ensuing years brought, one tremendous gift remains which is a recollection of that earnest parenting and the peace of mind that was instilled, sometimes afterward--hammered, into my head. And when I put the head down each night, I sleep OK thanks, which I think is the greatest gift you could give a kid. (Next to a record player, of course.)

So, randomly, today is my Mom's 83rd birthday and when I talk to her later, I guess I should let her know how well I sleep, huh? (I'll tell her y'all said 'hi' too. She'd like that, for certain.)

Lindsey Buckingham - Trouble (Mp3)
Arnold - Oh My (Mp3)
Klaatu - The Loneliest Of Creatures (Mp3)
New Musik - Straight Lines (Mp3)
Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (Mp3)

TVD Shuffle Bored | July 7, 2008

The time has drawn neigh, TVD reader, to wrestle once again with happenstance and the uncertainties of the iPod. To place fate in the thumb and forefinger which select 'Shuffle Songs' and be witness to the dulcet tones that spring forth within the ear bud. Join us this week if you will for (an early) Midsummer's Shuffle Bored...

(OK, yea, I got nuthin'. But feel free however to chime in with your random five throughout the week...)

Nik Kershaw - Wouldn't It Be Good (Mp3)
Wire - Surgeon's Girl (Mp3)
English Beat - I Confess (Mp3)
The Fountainhead - Rhythm Method (Mp3)
Talk Talk - Dum Dum Girl (12" Mix) (Mp3)

Crooked Beat to New Location?

Second flood in a week has owners contemplating a move.

The second of two major floods this week at Adams Morgan vinyl vendor Crooked Beat has owner Bill Daly rethinking his store's present location. "We'll most likely be announcing that we will be moving the store to a new location by the end of the year," Daly told TVD in an email yesterday. "We have no idea where that location may be, but we would like to stay in DC. This flood today was the 22nd water related problem we have had with the store since 2004. I can not say much more except that our landlord has not been on top of fixing problems related to our building."

Crooked Beat has been closed since last Thursday when a sewer backup caused damage estimated to be in the thousands to the in-house stock of vinyl. A number of CDs, fixtures, equipment, posters and mailing supplies were also damaged. "Our patience has worn thin with our landlord" added Daly.

TVD's Weekend Shots

fore·shad·ow (fôr-shd, fr-)
tr.v. fore·shad·owed, fore·shad·ow·ing, fore·shad·ows
To present an indication or a suggestion of beforehand; presage.

Also as in, while TVD prepares for the long weekend ahead and reads down the track listing for this Humble Pie Best-of collection...a picture forms. Each and EVERY song title on this list begins to conjure a glimpse of some event that WILL come to pass this weekend. Troubling questions soon arise--in what order will these events occur? Will 'Hot 'N' Nasty' be followed by 'I Don't Need No Doctor'? Will it be 'Shine On' or 'I Can't Stand the Rain'? One thing's for dead certain however, there will be plenty of 'Black Coffee' tossed down the hatch this weekend. Count on it.

See ya Monday...!

Humble Pie - 30 Days In The Hole (Mp3)
Humble Pie - Black Coffee (Mp3)
Humble Pie - C'mon Everybody (Mp3)
Humble Pie - Honky Tonk Woman (Mp3)
Humble Pie - Hot 'N' Nasty (Mp3)
Humble Pie - I Can't Stand The Rain (Mp3)
Humble Pie - I Don't Need No Doctor (Mp3)
Humble Pie - Shine On (Mp3)
Humble Pie - Stone Cold Fever (Mp3)

TVD's Daily Wax | Led Zeppelin "II"

Talk about Fisherman's Friend:

"One evening, two young girls were lounging in the bathtub of Led Zeppelin's hotel suite. Page walked in. He giggled, "We figured you need something to keep you company." Then he threw four live octopuses into the tub. The young ladies wound up enjoying the octopuses more than the rockers. "Oh my god," squealed one of them, "I've gotta get one of these. It's like having an eight-armed vibrator!""

TVD/NSFW!

Led Zeppelin - Heartbreaker (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin - Living Loving Maid (She's Just A Woman) (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin - Ramble On (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin - The Lemon Song (Mp3)
Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love (Mp3)

Hey, did anyone guess the theme to this week's LP covers? I'll bundle the entire contents of each of this week's LPs and forward to the person with the eagle-eye and the correct answer.

TVD's Daily Wax | Rod Stewart/Faces "Live Coast to Coast/Overture and Beginners"

With the utmost in perfect timing, this note from Bob Lefsetz arrived in my mailbox this week while we're coincidently spending time down the road with our blues-rock neighbors, "I bought the first two Rod Stewart albums without hearing them first, the reviews were just that good. And six months later, I ventured to the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester to see him and the reconstituted Faces. That lame gentleman singing standards and serial marrying? I'm convinced he's not the same guy. Because Rod Stewart was the coolest rock star of 1971. You didn't want to be Jagger, you wanted to be him.

Rod entered the stage strutting in the middle of the first song. When he strode up to the mic, he fell backwards, and ascended just in time to hit the first note. And that voice! I was sold. I bought every album thereafter. Because of "Gasoline Alley" and that one performance."

Rod Stewart/Faces - It's All Over Now.mp3
Rod Stewart/Faces - Too Bad/Ever Picture Tells A Story.mp3
Rod Stewart/Faces - Angel.mp3
Rod Stewart/Faces - I Wish It Would Rain.mp3
Rod Stewart/Faces - Stay With Me.mp3