Mandolin Wind - Rod Stewart

 

 

"Through the coldest winter, in almost fourteen years

I couldn't believe you kept your smile

Now I can rest assured , knowing that we've seen the worst

And I know I love ya'

As a kid the Rod Stewart era I was most familiar with was his big hair, tight white jeans, flashy 80's period. Thanks to MTV I was introduced to Some Guys Have All The Luck, Young Turks, and Infatuation....a little bit of the late 70's Rod was also in the air with Do Ya Think I'm Sexy and Hot Legs. I feel lately he's gone the crooner route and has released endless standards albums. Those aren't necessarily my bag but I still dig some of the 80's tunes. 

After college I went though a period where I was consuming mass amounts of acoustic records. I remember picking up a Guitar World magazine that listed the best acoustic albums you need to hear. The list included records from Cat Stevens (Mona Bone Jakon) to the Rolling Stones (Beggars Banquet) to Rod Stewart. I was of course familiar with Maggie May and Reason to Believe but I hadn't done a deep dive into the earlier catalogue. I instantly fell in love with his early 70's releases.(All of which featured Ron Wood on guitar before he jumped into The Rolling Stones) Gasoline Alley, Never a Dull Moment, and Every Picture Tells A Story are my favorites.

Back in 2017 over Memorial Day weekend my wife and I had the pleasure to take a vacation to Scotland. We started off in Edinburgh, then drove to Oban and took the ferry to the Isle of Mull. After a few days we then headed to Fort Augustus where our temporary home was on Loch Ness in a former Abby built in the 1800's. The cemetery in the back filled with former monks with wild rabbits and grouse's protecting the dead was a nice touch. To say it was magical would be an understatement. From hanging with thousands of puffins on the Treshnish Isles to watching sheep parade around the hills living amongst prayer stones worshipped by early settlers thousands of years ago to sipping on scotch after dinner watching the sunset..... life was good. Almost too many experiences to share in one post. 

We ended up beginning and ending our trip in Edinburgh so for our picturesque drive from Fort Augustus back to the city, we felt it would be appropriate to fill the airwaves with an artist with Scottish roots. We threw on Every Picture Tells A Story and marveled at the hills (always full of grazing sheep) and stone ruins till will made it back to the beautiful medieval city with the castle on the hill. I loved this album before but now when I have a listen so many wonderful memories come flooding back to my mind. Happy Memorial Day everyone. Welcome back summer!

  

 

Rod Stewart - Mandolin Wind

Rod Stewart - Infatuation (Official Video) Remastered Audio HD

Dancing in Heaven (Orbital B-Bop)- Q Feel

"Hey, Here I am

I hear the Universe Sing

The Celestial Scream

I am not alone

Are you receiving me clear"

Slow-Slow-Quick Quick Slow! Happy Saturday everyone! Since it's the weekend and things seem to be heading in a positive direction, I figured some celebratory booty shakin' music was in order. You may recognize this tune from the dance off scene in 1985's Girls Just Want To Have Fun, with SJP strutting her stuff. If you have a hankering for keyboard licks this one's got a Super Big Gulp's worth to quench your thirst. While I prefer the extended album cut, the visual in this video was too good not to share. 

A few years after this track a couple of the boys from Q Feel went on to assist Mr. Ray Parker Jr. to come up with the guitar and synth parts for the classic theme to Ghostbusters. You get a sense of it from the video version but once you hear the full album cut (also below) it all comes together. You're welcome!!!! Till next time.....

Dancing in Heaven (Orbital Be-Bop)

Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters

Somewhat Damaged - Nine Inch Nails

 

"How could I ever think it's funny how?

Everything that swore it wouldn't change, is different now

Just like you would always say, "We'll make it through"

Then my head fell apart and where were you?"

Greetings everyone! Somehow I missed the month of April. Hope all is well in your worlds. Going to cheat a bit and adjust the flex capacitor and rewind the clock a few days to April so we can acknowledge halfway to Halloween. As a disclaimer It's been less than 24 hours since my second vaccine dose so if something doesn't make sense, most of you can relate. 

I had intentions of posting something from Nine Inch Nails back in October. The above picture was taken by your's truly back on October 10. 2018. This was sold out show number two of the bands two night run at the Anthem in Washington DC. As a teenager I had just missed opportunities to see the band live in the 90's, but 24 years after the release of The Downward Spiral I finally got my chance.

I have vivid memories of first getting my drivers license playing this tape in my parent's 1992 Plymouth Voyager. That's right, before I got my own wheels you could find me cruising around Fredericksburg, VA in a blue mini van. Perhaps I would blast this tape to assert some type of machismo to balance out the fact that my ride was the 90's version of a station wagon. From the opening track of Mr. Self Destruct to the stripped down vulnerability of Hurt it was quite a ride.  Through the discovery of this album, copies of older records like Pretty Hate Machine, Broken , and Fixed (picked up from the mall at Musicland and/or Camelot of course) found their way into my collection. By this point I had upgraded my listening experience and turned in the tapes for compact discs..oh yeah!

Much like my compensating for driving a family truckster, Reznor built this aggressive sound of evil sounding synthesizers, pulsating drums and bad ass guitar licks perhaps to cover up his lyrics expressing self doubt, rejection and confusion. As a teenager these songs were a perfect soundtrack as I could relate to these themes and admired how he was able to take those feelings and create a stronger alter ego. I suppose that's what I admire most about artists is their ability in finding a way to handle the most difficult events in life and creating something beautiful out of the pain.

I realize I've been posting lots of tunes from the 80's so let's get a bit more current and listen to a track from....1999! This song is off The Fragile album. At the show the band came out with all the house lights on and played the song Home from 2005's With Teeth record....once the song was over the lights went down and the opening notes of this tune came on and oh man...here came the goosebumps! Reznor stalked the stage in all black disappearing in and out of the fog like a monster from a 1970's Hammer Horror flick. The show was amazing and the setlist hit on all the band's discography. The night we went they played Closer (which although played to death I never get sick of this one) and the encore ended with Hurt. 

For todays pick someone let Trent down once again. Faith? Parents? A lover? Addiction? Could be all the above. If you thought T. Swift was hard on exes in her songs, T. Reznor takes things to a whole other level!

Oh yeah since we went back in time two days ago to April and sticking with the Halfway to Halloween theme I wanted to share another one my my favorite thrillers. This one is a mix of film noir/horror/voodoo co-staring Denise from the Cosby Show. In fact due to the graphic sex scenes I believe she got into trouble with Mr Cosby for being "inappropriate." What an ironic world we live in! Until next time......

Since it's been a bit let's also revisit one of the most powerful covers/videos I know of it. Here's the great Johnny Cash covering Hurt by Nine Inch Nails.

Bye for now...

Somewhat Damaged

ANGEL HEART - Official Trailer - 4K Restoration starring Mickey Rourke a...

Johnny Cash - Hurt (Official Music Video)