400 GB of music loaded onto the hard drive

Almost 46,000 songs and 126 days of music. This is getting hard. Just loaded in Elton John's Empty Sky, 1995 Rocket (Universal) reissue.

Reasons to be Cheerful The Life and Work of Barney Bubbles

Excellent career survey of one of the greatest LP/record sleeve designers of all time by Paul Gorman.  Published last year by Adelita Ltd. in the UK.  It's coming out in the US on August 9.  Here is a blog that has alot of background and some images not in the book.  

http://www.barneybubbles.com/blog/

Last Man in the Hammersmith Palais

I just finished watching Richard Weller's BBC documentary about The Hammersmith Palais.  Narrated by Suggs (Madness), there is some amazing footage, including Ross McManus (Elvis Costello's father) talking about playing there and a funny interview with Mick Jones (Clash, Big Audio Dynamite, Carbon/Silicon).  The last concert at the Palais was on March 31, 2007.  If you can track down this film it is well worth seeing.

Memorial Day Yard Sales

Inflation in Columbia County in New York is really hitting. CDs 25 cents. DVDs 25 or 50 cents.

Here we go:

Ry Cooder -- Paradise and Lunch
Leon Russell -- Leon Live
Don Henley -- Building the Perfect Beast
Dr. Hook -- Dr. Hook
Dr. Hook -- Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show
Glenn Frey -- Glenn Frey Live
Glenn Frey -- No Fun Aloud
The Eagles -- Desperado
ZZ Top -- Greatest Hits
Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet -- The Best of Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quintet
The Animals -- Original Hits (Disky)
Delaney & Bonnie & Friends -- On Tour With Eric Clapton
ZZ Top -- One foot in the Blues
The Monkees -- Missing Links Volume 1
The Monkees -- Missing Links Volume 2
The Monkees -- Missing Links Volume 3

DVD

Nightshift (1999)
The Wicker Man (1973) NTSC regular edition

Books

Las Vegas Then and Now by Su Kim Chung (Thunder Bay Press)
The Munsters Television's First Family of Fright by Stephen Cox (Contemporary Books)

100 Days

Have loaded over 100 days of music on to the drive for about 315 gb content. Alot of AC/DC and Blondie going in right now!

Cataloging the CDs

Just over 250 GB has been loaded in. That's more than 80 days of music and 29,400 songs.

Last Visit to Virgin Times Square, I think...

Went in there a couple of days ago. Feels rather sordid. Fixtures ripped from the walls and dirty. I think I am done. Here was the final haul:

War Child Presents Heroes
The Verve Love is Noise (single)
Ace How Long, the Best of Ace (may have this already, come to think of it)
Brian Wilson That Lucky Old Sun
Marvin Gaye I Want You

And I remember when we had an understudy costume from the last revival of "Guys and Dolls" adapted for Sir Richard Branson around the time the store originally opened. We are going to miss having a CD/DVD store in Times Square.

Here are the Scissor Sisters doing their cover of Roxy's "Do the Strand" from "Heroes"

More CDs in the house

The digitization of the music collection on to the terra-hard drive is going well. 22,000 songs for 185 GB entered so far. Shipment of sleeveless cheapos just came in. So, please welcome the following to the big disc drive:

Dion and the Belmonts Anthology
The Hollies The Best Volume One
The Doobie Brothers The Very Best of...
Stevie Wonder Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants
Dead Boys We Have Come For Your Children
The Damned I'm Alright Jack and the Beanstalk
Alison Moyet Essex
Alison Moyet HooDoo
The Red Krayola Amor and Language

Here is a video of Alison Moyet singing Is This Love.

Retail Therapy

The Virgin Megastore in Times Square is closing any moment now. All CDs are 40% off, which actually isn't much of a bargain, but it still draws a crowd.

Amon Duul II Hawk Meets Penguin

Amon Duul Meetings with Menmachines Unremarkable Heroes of the Past

Amon Duul Airs on a Shoe String

Amon Duul Fool Moon

Richard Lloyd Field of Fire (Deluxe)

The Damned So Who's Paranoid

Eggs Over Easy Good 'n' Cheap

Fairport Convention Moat on the Ledge

Fairport Convention From Cropredy to Portmeirion


So you can see, it's pretty slim pickings.

Here's a video for Archangel Thunderbird by Amon Duul II

Millerton, NY

February 12, 2009

Millerton, NY

February 1, 2009  

Millerton, NY

October 11, 2008

John Martyn dead

I think there will be some major recognition of his talent now. BBC obit.

French Bulldog Update

With the Westminster dog show coming up soon. I thought it timely to go into the scrap book and pull in some celebrity hounds.

Reese Witherspoon and friend from July 2008, courtesy of Page Six magazine in the New York Post. Patti Hearst with the prize-winning Diva, who was entered at the Westminster Dog show last year. This is from Lydia Hearst's column in Page Six magazine. Ramon is living with Christina Ricci and this photo ran in the New York Post in May of 2008.

Let's hope the New York Post will keep running those Frenchie shots in 2009.

A Good Thing

Richard Thompson is so important (and Good).  Can 2009 be the year that everyone gets to understand that?  Here is yet another rave review for one of his live performances from the Times (UK).

It just keeps coming into the house...

Ramones  Weird Tales of the Ramones (box)

Johnny Cash  At Folsom Prison (box)

Genesis 1970-1975 (box)

Jamie deRoy and friends  'Tis the Season Volume 3

Various Volume 1 The Hacienda

Various  North by North West Liverpool +X Manchester

Various UNCUT February 2009

Various Mojo Motown Nuggets February 2009

Various The Word December 2008

Phil Judd  Love Is a Moron

Gong  Flying Teapot

Senor Coconut  Around the World

Edgar Broughton Band  Out Demons Out!

Can  Can

Soundtrack  Slumdog Millionaire

Genesis Carpet Crawlers (1999)

Barney Bubbles in the New York Times

Feature on Barney Bubbles in the New York Times.

Recent Damage on CD

Electronic Get the Message

WORD Now Here This! November 2008

UNCUT Best of 2008

King Crimson KCCC #9 Live at Summit Studios, Denver

King Crimson KCCC #29 Live in Heidelberg

Complete Motown Singles Volumn 7



Electronic Getting Away With It

Forrest J Ackerman is dead

Bruce Weber wrote this great obit in the New York Times. Famous Monsters of Filmland was a great way into the Universal movies of the 1930s as well as some great 50s bad sci-fi. He was a true Hollywood character.

Recent Damage on CD

Mamma Mia! OST The Deluxe Album
New Order Movement (Deluxe)
New Order Technique (Deluxe)
Young Franksenstein OBC
Various Heavy Mod (MOJO Magazine January 2009)
Cliff Richard 1980s
Pete Townshend Virtual Reality (Disc One from the Psychoderelict concert)
Smashing Pumpkins Machina (The Machines of God)
Chris Spedding Hurt

Recent Damage on CD

I am without shame...

Snow Patrol Final Straw (Dual Disc)

Cat Stevens Tea for the Tillerman (Deluxe)

Cat Stevens Teaser and the Firecat (Deluxe)

Guns n' Roses Chinese Democracy

The Killers Day & Age

New Order Brotherhood (Deluxe)

New Order Low-Life (Deluxe)

New Order Power, Corruption & Lies (Deluxe)

The Smiths The Sound of the Smiths

AC/DC Black Ice (Yellow Cover)

Janis Joplin Box of Pearls (Box)

The Smiths How Soon Is Now?

Brian Eno likes to sing

An essay on NPR by Brian Eno about the values of communal singing.

Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in NYC

Here's some advance print editorial on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex. New York Times. New York Daily News. Also, here a link to the Christie's Punk/Rock auction taking place in New York on November 24, and an NPR story about the auction.

New York Times Coney Island Photos

Story in November 9 City section of the New York Times. Images from Coney Island.

Recent Damage on CD

Van Morrison -- No Guru, No Method, No Teacher

Van Morrison -- Enlightenment

Van Morrison -- Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast

Keith Richard -- Main Offender

Kaiser Chiefs -- Off With Their Heads

Big Blue Diamonds performed by Van Morrison from MTV

Never Miss a Beat by the Kaiser Chiefs from MTV

Bubbles by Phil Judd

It just felt like a good time to post this portrait of Bubbles by Phil Judd again.

NYC Marathon

The New York Times posted a cool feature on the website.  Cover the NYC Marathon in under 4 minutes with an animation of 1000s of photos.  Click here to see it.

WFMU Record Fair

My peeps out in force for this one -- bad or no hair and 70s leather jackets. Alot of video bootleg activity, but happily much vinyl too. Used CD prices very reasonable. Mood jolly. Hot and packed and there might have been a wedding going on the the corner -- seemed rude to look...

Damage done:

Compact Discs

Back On Top, by Van Morrison
Rag Doll plus 11 other Hits, by Four Seasons
Handbags & Gladrags, by Mike D'Abo
Blaxploitation (Disc 2), by Various Artists
Big Love: Hymnal, by David Byrne
Blaxploitation (Disc 1), by Various Artists
I'm A Man, by The Spencer Davis Group
Wreckless Eric And Amy Rigby, by Wreckless Eric And Amy Rigby
Gimme Some Lovin', by The Spencer Davis Group
Colosseum Live, by Colosseum
Octopus, by Gentle Giant
The Pride And The Pain (Munich 07/05/73), by Roxy Music
Third, by Soft Machine
Southpaw Grammar, by Morrissey
Lil' Beethoven, by Sparks
Pay The Devil, by Van Morrison
Red Carpet Massacre, by Duran Duran
All The Way From America, by Joan Armatrading
Gentle Giant, by Gentle Giant
Pure Pop for Now People (Expanded Edition) by Nick Lowe

DVD

Julien Temple's concert film of the Sex Pistols filmed at the Brixton Academy last year.

MTV Videos are here:

Sex Pistols Anarchy in the UK (with Sid Vicious) from The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle

Morrissey performs Suedehead

Duran Duran performs Falling Down

Times Square, New York Columbus Day

Voice of Hudson

Several dates