Let Me Go - Night Chill FV

This Night Chill mix is starting to feel like something you might here at a night club in the 1980's or 1990's. Many of the songs on here I played from the sound booth where I was spinning records on Grant Street. This mix certainly has the groove and the beat. This mix isn't really a redo of an earlier mix although many of these songs were on different mixes and maybe in different versions. I was going for a definite remix sound here. This was a lot of fun putting together and is part of my Final Versions series. Here is a link to the playlist on Spotify.

Let Me Go - Night Chill FV

1. Let Me Go (12” Remix) – Heaven 17, 1983
2. Heart Like a Wheel (William Orbit Remix) - The Human League, 1990
3. Just Can’t Get Enough (Schizo Mix) – Depeche Mode, 1999
4. Ooh La La (Benny Benassi Remix) – Goldfrapp, 2006
5. Little Red Corvette (Dance Remix) – Prince, 1982
6. Crazy (William Orbit Mix) – Seal, 2005
7. New York, New York – Moby & Debbie Harry, 2006
8. Blue Monday (Techno Remix) – Orgy, 1998
9. Energy Flash – Joey Beltram, 1988
10. Pacific707 – 808 State, 1998
11. Electric Avenue (Extended Version) – Eddy Grant, 1982
12. Space Age Love Song (Major Tom Remix) – A Flock of Seagulls, 1982
13. A Groove – Kisses, 2015
14. In Sea of C (DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid Remix) – Terry Riley, 2009
15. Peter Gunn (Max Sedgley Remix) – Sarah Vaughan, 2005
16. Mission Impossible (Charles De La Salle Remix) – Lizzy Mercier Descloux, 2015

My Woolie Warmie

Over this winter I've been really enjoying wearing what I've been calling my woolie warmie sweater. It's a nice 100% wool sweater that I've had for a long time but only recently seemed to appreciate it for the special garment it really is. When I put it on in the late afternoon as the sun is setting I can really feel the warming difference over one of my other sweaters that are cotton or synthetic mixes. 

It's only been the past couple of years that I've been feeling the cold more intensely than I have over the years in the past. I've been cold a lot of the time this winter and the reason is because of the anti-stroke medicine I've been taken which is not exactly a blood thinner but similar. It is does make me feel the cold more intensely. The medicine is supposed to protect me from blood clots but I can't have a traditional blood thinner which is usually given because of my aneurysms. So this med makes me feel colder during the winter and suddenly that wool sweater has become an important part of my wardrobe. I've also been wearing a lot more fleece this winter. 

We also got a new furnace last year which supposedly has improved the heating in our house but I'm just cold so much more of the time. It certainly is better for me to have to need my woolie warmie than to run the risk of a stroke or aneurysm rupture. 

On Some Faraway Beach - Night Chill FV

Exploring some of the deeper recesses of my album collection with another Night Chill mix that starts off with a classic song from Brian Eno who seems to lurk behind much of the music in the mix series. The mix ends with a cover version of another classic Eno song.

This mix borders on being New Age but that beat keeps coming back. It is now part of my Final Version series.

Here is a link to the playlist on Spotify.

On Some Faraway Beach - Night Chill FV

1. On Some Faraway Beach – Brian Eno, 1973
2. Kelly Watch The Stars – Air, 1998
3. The Weight Of My Words (Four Tet Remix) – Kings of Convience, 2001
4. Breathe – FKA Twigs, 2016
5. Parachute (Dan Romer Spook Out) – Ingrid Michaelson, 2011
6. Original Bedroom Rockers – Kruder & Dorfmeister, 2001
7. Passing By – Zero 7, 2004
8. Magic Tribe – Taste Experience, 2003
9. Shapes in Water (Trinity Remix) – Islands, 2015
10. Ghostdancing – The Orb, 2001
11. Romantic Streams – Sleep 8 Over, 2011
12. Just a Cloud – Lusine, 2017
13. Don’t Ask – Grizzly Bear, 2005
14. Waltz For Koop – Koop, 2002
15. Hidden Place – Bjork, 2001
16. Staralfur – Sigur Ros, 2002
17. Badagry Beach – Ben Onono, 2003
18. Orinoco Flow – Enya, 1988

Only Time - Night Chill FV

Another mix from the Night Chill series. This is also an older mix from about ten years ago that has been rethought and extended about a half hour. It is now part of my Final Version series.

This one starts off with the New Age Irish chanteuse Enya. I've always loved her music and there are a few of her songs throughout this Night Chill series.

Here is a link to the playlist on Spotify.

Only Time - Night Chill FV

1. Only Time – Enya
2. God Moving Over The Face Of The Waters (Alternate Remix) – Moby
3. Sour Times – Portishead
4. Teardrop – Massive Attack
5. Lebanese Blonde – Thievery Corporation
6. In The Waiting Line – Zero 7
7. New Star In The Sky – Air
8. Enigma of the Absolute – Dead Can Dance
9. Climbing Up The Walls (Zero 7 Remix) – Radiohead
10. Shoot You Down (The Soul Hooligan Remix) – The Stone Roses
11. Central Reservation (Ben Watts Remix) – Beth Orton
12. Feelin’ Good (Joe Claussell Remix) – Nina Simone
13. Blue Bell Knoll – Cocteau Twins
14. Another Day – This Mortal Coil
15. Infinity – The xx
16. A Low High (With Ghosts Remix) – All India Radio
17. Blind My Mind – Flunk
18. It’s A Fire – Portishead
19. Celia’s Dream – Slowdive
20. Remember – Groove Armada

AR-15 Pins

I recently saw a couple videos of republican members of Congress wearing AR-15 pins which I assumed was their asshole way of showing some sick and distorted support for the 2nd amendment. These miniature lapel pins are ways for people to flaunt their support for gun violence even as so many Americans are mourning the deaths of families and friends from recent mass shootings.

Today I saw a magazine article online that details the new and ongoing attempt by people in Congress including Santos, Boebart, Moore, Clyde and others that are wearing the pins to support their efforts to pass a GOP bill to make the AR-15 "The National Gun of the United States." Those sick bastards. 

Stars All Seem To Weep - Night Chill FV

The second mix in my Night Chill series. This one also goes back about ten years with a somewhat slightly different lineup and is part of my Final Version series.

Once more this mix uses remixes and chill songs to create a lounge mood with a beat or a special party groove.

These night chill mixes also work very well when I'm riding the stationary exercise bike with headphones. This mix runs for a little over an hour and a half and here is the link to the playlist on Spotify.

Stars All Seem To Weep - Night Chill FV

1. Stars All Seem To Weep – Beth Orton
2. First Cool Hive – Moby
3. Honey (Supatone 1 Dub) – Tosca
4. Roygbiv – Boards of Canada
5. In The Truth – Lemon Jelly
6. Don’t Explain (Dzihan & Kamien Remix) – Billie Holliday
7. All I Need – Air
8. Daydream in Blue – I Monster
9. What Else Is There? – Royksopp
10. Bluish – Animal Collective
11. Angel Eches – Four Tet
12. I Follow Rivers – Lykke Li
13. Wishes – Beach House
14. Eyes Be Closed – Washed Out
15. Daniel – Bat For Lashes
16. Steve McQueen (Maps Remix) – M83
17. When That Head Splits (Maps Remix) – Esben and The Witch
18. White Flag (Timbaland Remix) – Dido
19. Mushaboom (Mocky Remix) – Feist

The Look of Love - Songs 1983 FV

And here is another mix of songs from my collection that were released in 1983. I pretty sure I played every song here during my time working at the Pastime Lounge. Definitely at least all but one or two. 

I would often play the long extended version of the opening song from ABC. It was a lot of fun and I really miss those days spinning records for people

Spotify link for this mix.

The Look of Love - Songs 1983 FV

1. The Look of Love (Part One) - ABC
2. Let's Dance - David Bowie
3. You Are In My System - Robert Palmer
4. Let The Music Play - Shannon
5. Out Come The Freaks - Was Not Was
6. Moody (Spaced Out) - ESG
7. Blue Monday - New Order
8. White Horse - Laid Back
9. Telephone Operator - Pete Shelley
10. Work For Love - Ministry
11. I Love You - Yello
12. Girls Just Want To Have Fun - Cyndi Lauper
13. Sex (I'm A...) - Berlin
14. Boys In Town - The Divinyls
15. Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
16. True Love Pt. #2 - X
17. Barefoot Rock - The Blasters 
18. Can't Get Next To You - The Nighthawks
19. Riding With The King - John Hiatt
20. Testify - Stevie Ray Vaughn

And the Ice Came Down... Loudly

Last night we had an extraordinary ice storm experience that kept us awake for about two hours and then off and on throughout the night. There was a little rain and some wind during the night but it was all the ice everywhere from the previous ice storm over the past couple of days that had such a big impact on us. Starting at around 11:30 pm the ice that coated every branch of every tree in our backyard started coming down and that meant the two trees overhanging the back of our house dropped the ice on our roof making an incredible noise that went on for hours.

It was initially so startling that I had to get up and walk around the house trying to determine where all the sounds were coming from. It almost sounded like an animal in our roof somewhere but I quickly determined that it was pieces of ice falling from the trees on to our house roof. In all of our years in Buffalo we have never experienced something like this before. I wrote about the initial ice storm covering everything yesterday in the blog here. This was all new to us even after over 40 years. 

The backyard, the back porch and the walkway beside the house was all covered with little pieces of ice that looked like ice cubes or shattered glass.

We went out to NCCC today to bring some of Becky's artwork to the gallery where she is exhibiting and fortunately we had a beautiful day and the ice was removed from the car yesterday except for the roof. That did come down but fortunately that happened while we were driving through the campus parking lot rather than on the road because so much ice came down on the windshield that Becky needed to pull over to clear it. 

When we got home this afternoon I went out and cleared the ice from our sidewalk and finished the already started walkway to the side door. It took about an hour to clear that sidewalk. I still need to clear more of the ice away from the driveway and the walkway up to our front porch. I'm making progress but I'll finish that tomorrow.

I was talking to Mark, our next door neighbor, and he said he hardly got any sleep at all last night because of all the falling ice on his house. 

Here With Me - Night Chill FV

This is the first of my newly reworked Night Chill series and part of my Final Version series. The original Here With Me mix goes back about ten years and was part of a group of five mixes in my Night Chill series. This new version of the mix has Again added to the title. Here is the playlist link in Spotify.

Here With Me - Night Chill FV

1. Here With Me (Chillin’ With The Family Mix) – Dido
2. Daybreaker – Beth Orton
3. Sure Thing – St. Germain
4. Black Is The Color Of My True Love’s Hair (Jaffa Remix) – Nina Simone
5. Unfinished Sympathy – Massive Attack
6. Who Needs Forever (Thievery Corporation Remix) – Astrud Gilberto
7. I Don’t Care What I Can Save You From (Royksopp Remix) – Kings of Convenience
8. Summertime (UFO Remix) – Sarah Vaughan
9. Destiny – Zero 7
10. Breathe – Science Dept. and Erire
11. Easy – Groove Armada
12. Divine – Supreme Beings of Leisure
13. Go – Moby
14. Sweet Surrender (DJ Tiesto Mix) – Sarah McLachlan
15. Where The Streets Have No Name (Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You) – Pet Shop Boys
16. So Easy – Royksopp
17. Do You Realize?? (Scott Hardkiss Floating in Space Mix) – The Flaming Lips

Ice Covered

Everything is covered in ice this morning. Thankfully we do not have to go anywhere. The first thing I heard this morning while laying in bed at 7 am was people on the street scaping the ice off their cars as they got ready to go to work. It's somewhat unusual for Buffalo to get an ice storm instead of the regular snow.

There is only about an inch of snow covering the ground but it is encased in ice. There was an icy rain all through the night. It sounded weird. It's not supposed to snow or rain today until this evening when it is expected to rain for a little while. It should be OK tomorrow when we need to drive up to Niagara County Community College to take a few more of Becky's artwork to the gallery for installation. In the meantime we will take it easy today although at some point I will need to go out and clear the ice off the car. First I will just let it run for a bit and melt off most of the ice and then I will do some cleanup on the steps and porch before spreading around some ice melt.

Facebook feed is filled with pictures of ice on trees and bushes or people scrapping it off their cars. Around 11 this morning I went out to clean off the car. This was absolutely the most ice on the car I've seen in all the years we've been living in Buffalo. I started off by getting the car running and then did some ice chopping around the side door and the front steps. It was the most ice ever there too. Becky came out to give me a hand. Overall it took about an hour to get the car under control so that it might not be so bad tomorrow morning getting ready to go up to NCCC.

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday. I saw in my FB feed that Campus Ministry would be coming to the Canisius College Library to distribute ashes so that students would not lose their study spots. In the twenty years I worked in that Library I don't remember that ever happening on Ash Wednesday. There would certainly be lots of students with the ashes on their foreheads but they had to go over to the chapel to receive them. 

Probably the last time I had the ashes was in the mid-1960's. Maybe 67 at the absolute latest. In later years I always thought it was amusing to see people walking around with dirty foreheads.

Of course Ash Wednesday was also the first day of Lent and the official beginning of the Easter season. Lent was a big deal in our family when I was growing up and especially at dinner time when we were only allowed to eat fish on Fridays during lent. It was a ritual. I was OK with it because I always liked eating fish.

Lent also meant we had to give something up. That usually meant something simple like giving up eating a candy bar every day or maybe not saying curse words.

I was also in the church choir all during my years in grammar school and we did a lot of special singing as Easter approached but during Lent all of our singing was very sacred and solemn. 

Wild is the Wind

Becky and I were listening to a Nina Simone compilation album and the song Wild is the Wind came on. She does such a wonderful version of that song that was a hit in 1966 and we had a conversation about it. We both have always loved the David Bowie version too which he did as a tribute to Nina Simone that was on his Station to Station album from 1976. He had met her in 1975. Later I had to listen to his version too.

Then I looked up the song on Wikipedia. I had known it was an old song from the 1950's but that was about it. So it turns out the song was written by Dimitri Tiompkin and Ned Washington for the soundtrack to the film Wild is the Wind from 1957 starring Anthony Quinn and directed by George Cukor. The song was released as a single by Johnny Mathis in 1957 and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song in 1958. Apparently the song has been recorded many times by many artists over the years. I do remember Anthony Quinn wearing his sheep-skin vest in that movie.

Bag of Cans

Tomorrow is when I put out the trash for pickup on Thursday and I have another bag of cans and bottles ready to go out on the street and get collected by someone in need.

It has been nearly three years since I took any cans or bottles back for their five cent redemption. Over the years I would collect bags of cans and bottles in the basement and then take them over to Consumer Beverages to recycle them for cash and I would see Sean working there. Then Sean stopped working there in January 2020, moved across the state and took his new job. In the meantime my cans piled up in the basement.

Then by March the covid pandemic had a grip on the country and we stopped going to stores unnecessarily. I has already stopped going to Consumer Beverages to take back cans but hadn't taken any to a supermarket returns desk or machine outside the building. I started leaving the cans and bottles in paper bags on the sidewalk next to our trash containers and they would be picked up by people going through the neighborhood collecting redeemable bottles and cans. 

To Becky and me it just wasn't worth it anymore to redeem the cans ourselves during the pandemic. It was just so much easier to just put them out there for someone to have that needed that extra cash. There have always been people scouring the neighborhood for cans and bottles on trash day and they would go up and down the street looking into recycle containers. I made it real easy for them by putting them in separate bags in an obvious spot they could see as they came down the street. I talked to one woman who came by every week and she was very grateful for my bag of cans which she said made a difference for her putting food on the table for her family.

Every week now for almost three years I've been putting those bags out on the sidewalk. Becky and I drink a lot of soda water cans plus my beer cans and bottles. I usually have enough for one bag each week. I think I've only missed a few weeks here and there when there was a lot of rain or snow. Otherwise if we are home then I put out those cans and bottles. I really don't think I will ever redeem cans and bottles again.

Talk About The Passion - Songs 1983 FV

Another mix of songs in my collection released in 1983 and part of my new Songs by Year mix series.

Link to Spotify playlist.

Talk About The Passion - Songs 1983 FV

1. Talk About The Passion - R.E.M.
2. The Boy Wonders - Aztec Camera
3. XTC - Love On A Farmboy's Wages - XTC
4. This Can't Be Today - Rain Parade
5. Seconds - U2
6. We're Having All The Fun - Fun Boy Three
7. Wishing (If I Had A Photograph Of You) - A Flock of Seagulls
8. The Walk - The Cure
9. Eurythmics - I've Got An Angel - Eurythmics
10. UB40 - Please Don't Make Me Cry - UB40
11. New Order - Age of Consent - New Order
12. Peter Shelley - Many a Time - Pete Shelley
13. Ministry - I Wanted To Tell You - Ministry
14. Echo & The Bunnymen - Heads Will Roll (Summer Version) - Echo & The Bunnymen
15. Yaz - Mr. Blue - Yaz
16. Duran Duran - Union of the Snake - Duran Duran
17. Spandau Ballet - Lifeline - Spandau Ballet
18. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I Love Playing With Fire - Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
19. Stevie Ray Vaughn - Mary Had A Little Lamb - Stevie Ray Vaughn
20. Jason & The Scorchers - Hot Nights in Georgia  - Jason & The Scorchers
21. The Blasters - Jubilee Train - The Blasters
22. Neil Young - Bright Lights, Big City - Neil Young
23. Richard Thompson - Hand of Kindness - Richard Thompson
24. Are You Glad To Be In America? - James Blood Ulmer
25. Don't Box Me In - Stan Ridgeway & Stewart Copeland

The Night Chill Mixes FV

Around this time last year I put together a series of Night Mega Mixes that each ran a little over ten hours each. There were six of them and I described the process in a post titled The Night Mixes. The starting point for those mixes was a series of mixes I put together in 2012 called The Night Chill mixes. They were redone in 2018 and ran an hour and a half each and there were five mixes. 

Now I've remade them again as part of my Final Mixes series and spent some time over the past month putting them together based on the previous mixes and the mega mixes as a starting point. They each run a little over an hour and a half and right now there are 20 of them. They are late night chill groove mixes with lots of remix extended versions of songs. I will soon be posting them on this blog and there will be a few more of them created some time later.

Here they are so far:

• Here With Me, 2/23/23
• Stars All Seem To Weep, 2/25/23
• Only Time, 2/26/23
• On Some Faraway Beach, 2/27/23
•  Let Me Go, 2/28/23
•  The Richest Man In Babylon, 3/15/23
• All is Full of Love 8/15/23
• Close To Me 10/5/23
• Soak It Up 10/13/23
• Sound System Rocking
• In A Silent Way 
• Heart Breaks Down 
• Lights Out
• The Main Thing 
• With This Love 
• Dawn 
• I Ran All Day
• Tomorrow Comes Today 
• Feel So Good 
• Moments In Love 
• Love Is In The Air 
• Paint A Rumour
• Let The Night Win
• Take My Soul
• Something in the Air
• Holographic Universe
• Nite Flights
• Love Like A Sunset
• Out of the World

The Untouchable - John Banville

The Untouchable by John Banville, 1997

I've been enjoying reading the novels of Irish literary author John Banville over the past several years including of course his detective novels under the name Benjamin Black. I've read twelve of his books but there are so many more. I have to keep going.

This book here was not particularly one of my favorite of his novels. It was well written and I enjoyed it but I thought it just moved a little more slowly than the novels of his that I recently read. I think it was probably how he handled the complexity of the Cambridge spy ring that is the heart of this novel and their moral values for betraying their country. The amazing thing about this novel is the true history of the story of these British citizen spies who worked for the Russians for decades. It was a very strange take on academia.

It took me a couple of weeks to read this novel.

Once Upon A Time - Songs 1965 FV

Back to my early days of record collecting and the sounds of 1965. I had just started high school that year and was getting excited about going to dances and loving music. 

I started exploring the record stores in our neighborhood and some of the ones downtown.

I was also listening to more recommendations from other musicians in my high school bands and also with guys from my Mummers string band. Later on I would go out to see live music with the guys too but that would be another year or so.

1965 was also the year I really discovered Bob Dylan. Sure, I'd heard about him but I didn't really start to listen to him until then. The same could also almost be said about The Beatles. 

The mix runs for a little over an hour and a half and here is a link to the playlist on Spotify.

Once Upon A Time - Songs 1965 FV

1. Like A Rolling Stone – Bob Dylan
2. My Generation – The Who
3. (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones
4. Day Tripper – The Beatles
5. Baby Please Don’t Go – Them
6. The Train Kept A-Rollin’ – The Yardbirds
7. That’s The Way It Got To Be – The Poets
8. You Stole My Love – The Mockingbirds
9. I Want Candy – The Strangeloves
10. Dance, Dance, Dance – The Beach Boys
11. Keep On Dancing – The Gentrys
12. I Like It Like That – The Dave Clark Five
13. She’s Just My Style – Gary Lewis & The Playboys
14. Love Potion Number Nine – The Searchers
15. I Got You Babe – Sonny & Cher
16. Younger Girl – The Lovin’ Spoonful
17. As Tears Go By – Marianne Faithfull
18. Colours – Donovan
19. Tired Of Waiting For You – The Kinks
20. I Know A Place – Petula Clark
21. It’s Not Unusual – Tom Jones
22. Goldfinger – Shirley Bassey
23. I Put A Spell On You – Nina Simone
24. When I’m Gone – Mary Wells
25. What The World Needs Now Is Love – Jackie DeShannon
26. Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye) – The Four Seasons
27. You Gave Me Somebody To Love – The Dreamlovers
28. Cara Mia – Jay & The Americans
29. A World Of Our Own – The Seekers
30. You’re The One – The Vogues
31. I’m Into Something Good – Herman’s Hermits
32. The Girl’s Alright With Me – The Temptations
33. She's Coming Home - The Zombies

Shades of Time - Songs 1969

More songs from my collection released in one of my favorite years for rock music. Some hits of the time and lots of deep cuts too. Went to some rock festivals that year.

Here is a link to the playlist on Spotify.

Shades of Time - Songs 1969

1. Shades of Time – Santana
2. South California Purples – Chicago
3. Hot Smoke and Sasafras – Bubble Puppy
4. Monkey Man – The Rolling Stones
5. Highway 61 Revisited – Johnny Winter
6. Gypsy – The Moody Blues
7. White Bird – It’s A Beautiful Day
8. Tales of Brave Ulysses – Rotary Connection
9. Ball of Fire – Tommy James & The Shondells
10. Atlantis – Donovan
11. Memory of a Free Festival – David Bowie
12. Soul Experience – Iron Butterfly
13. Sea of Joy – Blind Faith
14. Ballad of Easy Rider – The Byrds
15. Lodi – Creedence Clearwater Revival
16. Wheels – The Flying Burrito Brothers
17. In Brooklyn – Al Stewart
18. A Long Road Ahead – Delaney & Bonnie
19. Smiling Phases – Blood, Sweat & Tears
20. Rock Me Baby – Ike & Tine Turner

Too Many Teardrops - Songs 1966 FV

Another mix that I've redone from the Songs 1966 series. There have been several versions of this mix over the past couple of decades. The mix title is taken from the opening line of the opening song. This is the final version. Lots of great songs, hits and deep cuts. It runs a little over an hour and a half and here is a link to the playlist on Spotify.

Too Many Teardrops - Songs 1966 FV

1. 96 Tears – ? & The Mysterians
2. Black Is Black – Los Bravos
3. My Little Red Book - Love
4. You’re Gonna Miss Me – 13th Floor Elevators
5. I Ain’t Gonna Eat Out My Heatrt Anymore – The Young Rascals
6. Circles – Les Fleur De Lys
7. Lost Girl – The Troggs
8. Out Of Time – The Rolling Stones
9. My World Is Empty Without You – The Supremes
10. Ain’t Too Proud To Beg – The Temptations
11. Little Darling (I Need You) – Marvin Gaye
12. Working My Way Back To You – The Four Seasons
13. I Call Your Name – The Mamas & The Papas
14. We Can Work It Out – The Beatles
15. I Want You – Bob Dylan
16. Caroline, No – The Beach Boys
17. No Milk Today – Herman’s Hermits
18. What Becomes Of The Broken Hearted – Jimmy Ruffin
19. It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World – James Brown
20. Wild Is The Wind – Nina Simone
21. I Can’t See You – Tim Buckley
22. Elusive Butterfly – Bob Lind
23. Reason To Believe – Tim Hardin
24. The Dangling Conversation – Simon & Garfunkel
25. Short Grass – Ian & Sylvia
26. Come Up The Years – Jefferson Airplane
27. 5D – The Byrds
28. I’ve Got The Feeling (Oh No No) – Neil Diamond
29. Sunny – Bobby Hebb
30. You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me – Dusty Springfield
31. Love Is A Hurtin’ Thing – Lou Rawls
32. When A Man Loves A Woman – Percy Sledge
33. Until You Were Gone – Aretha Franklin

Billions of Views

I saw on news segment on CNN this morning with the data guy describing the current use of social media and comparing it with past years. The trends were showing less use of Facebook and Twitter and a significant increase in YouTube which is also very popular with young people. He then told the morning show hosts that the most popular video on YouTube had over 9 billion views. To no one's surprise the video was the original Baby Shark.  According to Wikipedia there have been over 12 billion views of the original video.

With us having four young grandchildren we certainly are familiar with Baby Shark and we can both unfortunately sing along. Our experience with the Baby Shark song goes way beyond watching the video which in itself was significant... again, the kids would keep saying. They also had toys that would suddenly and without warning start playing the Baby Shark song. During our many visits at Katie's we had lots of time hearing that song... over and over again.

Becky had bought the kids a few of those toys before we understood the extent of the Baby Shark phenomenon. Katie was a little mad at us. One of the toys was a puzzle that constantly sang the song. The kids loved it and took it with them on vacation to Long Lake where we heard it over and over again in the cabin.

So the news story was interesting but not surprising because the video and the song has been a world wide success with lots of spin offs. I wonder what the count would be if they included all the different versions of Baby Shark.

Apparently the song originated as a camp fire singalong for children where the kids used their hands to imitate the jaws of sharks. The song was said to be a response to the movie Jaws and has been around for fifty years. The song described various sharks in a family.

The current popular video was created by a South Korean company although there have been many other earlier versions on records and videos going back many years. There have also been many copyright infringement lawsuits involving Baby Shark.

I Am The God Of Hell Fire - Songs 1968 FV

And I bring you... another mix of music from my collection released in 1968.

I saw about half of these artists in concert in 68-70 but the one I saw the most... Lothar & The Hand People. How's that? They were a NYC based band an hour and a half away and constantly opened up for bands in the Philly rock clubs.

I also saw that crazy guy Arthur Brown and his group in concert back in the day and it was an incredible show especially with Dr. John The Night Tripper, Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention on the same bill.

This is a very old mix that I recently updated. It was once on a cassette tape and then a burned CD. Now I have it on a flash drive. It part of my Final Version group of mixes. It's also posted here on Spotify.

I Am The God Of Hell Fire - Songs 1968 FV

1. Fire – The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
2. Voodoo Child – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Helter Skelter – The Beatles
4. Sympathy For The Devil – The Rolling Stones
5. Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
6. Magic Bus – The Who
7. Living In The U.S.A. – Steve Miller Band
8. Shape Of Things To Come – Max Frost & The Troopers
9. Oscillations – Silver Apples
10. White Light / White Heat – The Velvet Underground
11. I’m Not Like Everybody Else – The Chocolate Watch Band
12. Flower Punk – The Mothers of Invention
13. Monterey – Eric Burdon & The Animals
14. In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida (Single Version) – Iron Butterfly
15. Hush – Deep Purple
16. Five To One – The Doors
17. Ride My See-Saw – The Moody Blues
18. Rambling On – Procol Harum
19. A Hazy Shade of Winter – Simon & Garfunkel
20. Long Walking Down To Misery – The Beau Brummels
21. This Is It – Lothar & The Hand People
22. Little Girl – The Troggs
23. She Loves The Way They Love Her– The Zombies
24. I Started A Joke – Bee Gees
25. Safe In My Garden – The Mamas & The Papas

Raquel Welch RIP

I was saddened to see yesterday that Raquel Welch passed away at the age of 82. I can't say that she was one of my favorite actors or that I had seen most of her movies but she did make an impression on me back in 1966. I was 14 years old and in that year she was in two films that I saw and loved at the New Lyric Theater three blocks from our house. They were the science fiction movie Fantastic Voyage and the dinosaur flic One Million Years BC. I had that classic poster of her wearing the deerskin bikini hanging on the wall in my bedroom back in the day. 

I saw her in a few more movies in the late 60's such as Bedazzled, Lady in Cement, and 100 Rifles. Then The Three Musketeers and The Four Musketeers in 73 and 74. That was about it. I don't think I saw any of her later movies or television shows but I certainly remember those first two movies when I was a young teenager.

Just Like Me - Songs 1966 FV

Another mix of songs from my collection released in the year 1966 when I was just getting started seriously buying albums and singles. This set has some soul music too which over the years would be a significant part of my collection.

I got that Paul Revere & The Raiders album in the summer of 1966 by winning a copy playing some game on the boardwalk in Wildwood on the Jersey shore.

This is another mix that evolved over time and now we have the final mix. Spotify link here.

Just Like Me - Songs 1966 FV

1. Just Like Me – Paul Revere & The Raiders
2. Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love) – The Swingin’ Medallions
3. La La La La La – The Blendells
4. Little Latin Lupe Lu – Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
5. Money Won’t Change You – James Brown
6. Knock On Wood – Eddie Floyd
7. 634-5789 – Wilson Pickett
8. You Don’t Know Like I Know – Sam & Dave
9. I Got A Woman – Them
10. Stupid Girl – The Rolling Stones
11. Biff! Bang! Pow! – The Creation
12. Taxman – The Beatles
13. Spoonful – Cream
14. In The Midnight Hour – The Young Rascals
15. One More Heartache – Marvin Gaye
16. Standing In The Shadows Of Love – The Four Tops
17. You Can’t Hurry Love – The Supremes
18. (I’m A) Roadrunner – Jr. Walker & The All Stars
19. She Put That Hurt On Me – Otis Redding
20. Misty – Richard “Groove” Holmes
21. Tide is High – The Paragons
22. Sloop John B – The Beach Boys
23. Homeward Bound – Simon & Garfunkel
24. Sit Down I Think I Love You – Buffalo Springfield
25. Straight Shooter – The Mamas & The Papas
26. I Can’t Let Go – The Hollies
27. When I Come Home – Spencer Davis Group
28. Saturday’s Child – The Monkees
29. Do You Still Love Me – The Dave Clark Five
30. I’ll Keep Holding On – The Action
31. You Burn Me Up and Down – We The People

Art Show

Becky has been working very hard the past few months getting ready for her art show at Niagara County Community College in March. Her friend Jim, who runs the gallery and invited her to show there, put together this poster of the event.

The other day he came by her studio with his van and he and I loaded it up with Becky's artwork in boxes. He then drove it up to NCCC and he and some of his students unloaded the van and put the artwork in a storeroom until the installation day.

The opening of the show is March 1 with a reception in the afternoon at 1 pm to accommodate the students. The installation is scheduled for a few days before the opening and Becky has a few more art works that we will bring up at that time but overall she'll leave the installation to Jim.

Do It Again - Songs 1969

Do it again indeed. 1969. One of my favorite years for music and the last year I would be buying a lot of albums for awhile because of military service. Went to lots of concerts this year and some anti-war demonstrations too. 

I had a lot of friends and neighbors in the military and heard many of the war stories from returning vets. The draft was affecting everyone. 1969 was the first year of the draft lottery based on your birthday. I came up with number 10 so I was definitely going in one way or another. Here is a link to the playlist on Spotify.

Do It Again - Songs 1969

1. Do It Again – The Beach Boys
2. Hot Fun In The Summertime – Sly & The Family Stone
3. Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In – The 5th Dimension
4. Come Together – The Beatles
5. Come And Get It – Badfinger
6. You Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Rolling Stones
7. What Goes On – The Velvet Underground
8. Plynth (Water Down The Drain) – Jeff Beck Group
9. Barabajagal – Donovan & Jeff Beck Group
10. I’m A Man – Chicago
11. Time Is Tight – Booker T. & The MG’s
12. Born On The Bayou – Creedence Clearwater Revival
13. Polk Salad Annie – Tony Joe White
14. Up On Cripple Creek – The Band
15. This Wheel’s On Fire – The Byrds
16. Genesis Hall – Fairport Convention
17. Light Flight – Pentangle
18. Bouree – Jethro Tull
19. Sugar On Sunday – Tommy James & The Shondells
20. Christine’s Tune (Devil In Disguise) – The Flying Burrito Brothers
21. See – The Rascals
22. Feeling Alright – Joe Cocker
23. Pretty Smart On My Part – Phil Ochs
24. I’m Still A Struggling Man – Edwin Starr