Motel Parking Lot

On our recent drive to Philadelphia we had decided to split up the trip so that we would not be driving into the city on a Friday late afternoon rush hour. It's not been a good thing to hit that hardest part of the trip on the final hour or so driving into the city. So we made reservations for a motel room in Binghamton NY for Friday night and we would drive down to Katie's on Saturday morning and get there for lunch.

We stayed at the Comfort Inn which is where we had stayed previously. We got a room on the second floor overlooking the back parking lot where we had parked our car. We went to bed around nine and just as we had started trying to get some sleep there was a lot of noise out in the parking lot. There was a group of teenagers down there just below our window doing some kind of dance routine with some loud music, hand clapping and some shouting. It looked like there were doing some kind of tic-toc dance thing. The parking lot was well lit and there was plenty of room for the 15 to 20 or so kids to do their thing. It actually looked kind of cool and after checking them out from the window we went back to bed.

But they didn't stop. They kept on practicing their dancing routines and it went on for another hour. So now it was getting a little past 10 pm and the noise was keeping us awake. Finally at about 10:20 I'd had enough and went down to the motel desk to make a complaint after trying to call the desk on the room phone. The person at the desk seemed surprised that the kids in the parking lot were annoying us with their loud music and shouting. She said they were rehearsing for some show. I said they were keeping us awake under our window and I needed to get some rest before driving the following day. The desk clerk assured me she would talk to the kids and end the noise.

A few minutes later the kids were all gone from the parking lot.

Call On Me - Songs 1967 FV

Call On Me. Another set of deep cut quirky songs from albums in my collection released in 1967.

Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band in the pic.

Call On Me - Songs 1967 FV

1. Call On Me - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
2. Personal Manager - Albert King
3. Catfish Blues - Canned Heat
4. Touch Of The Blues - Bobby "Blue" Bland
5. A Hard Road - John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers
6. Drifter's Escape - Bob Dylan
7. Tattoo - The Who
8. Uncle Arthur - David Bowie
9. Elevator Man - Kaleidoscope
10. Live - The Merry-Go-Round
11. Stephanie Knows Who - Love
12. How Can I Tell You - The Dave Clark Five
13. Hideaway - The Electric Prunes
14. Superbird - Country Joe & The Fish
15. First Girl I Love - The Incredible String Band
16. Her Name Is Melody - Adrian Pride
17. Say You Don't Mind - Denny Laine
18. I'm Movin' On - The Everly Brothers
19. A Question Of Temperature - The Balloon Farm
20. Come On - The Atlantics
21. 7 Rooms Of Gloom - The Four Tops
22. Hold On! I'm Coming - King Curtis
23. Driftin' and Driftin' - The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
24. My Man's Gone Now - Nina Simone
25. Why Am I Treated So Bad - The Sweet Inspirations
26. Blowin' Away - Laura Nyro
27. Windy - The Association
28. What Am I Doin' Hangin' 'Round? - The Monkees

Friday I'm In Love - Covers FV

Another is my cover mixes recently redone for my Final Version series as I continue to explore my album collection and put together interesting cover versions of good songs.

I've added the original artists to the list which is something new and I'll probably go back and add them to the previous covers posts. Here is a link to the Spotify playlist and it runs for an hour and a half. The photo is from the Yo La Tengo video of their cover of that Cure song.

Friday I'm In Love - Covers FV

1. Friday I’m In Love – Yo La Tengo (The Cure)
2. Handle With Care – Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins (Traveling Wilburys)
3. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes – Hem (Elvis Costello)
4. Black Coffee In Bed – Marti Jones (Squeeze)
5. You Showed Me – The Lightning Seeds (The Turtles)
6. You’re So Good To Me – M. Ward (The Beach Boys)
7. Fall On Me – Cry Cry Cry (R.E.M.)
8. Before They Make Me Run – Great Lakes Swimmers (The Rolling Stones)
9. Little Black Egg – Tarnation (The Nightcrawlers)
10. Crazy – Shawn Colvin  (CeeLo Green)
11. No One’s Gonna Love You – CeeLo Green (Band of Horses)
12. I’ll Be Around – Joan Osborne (The Spinners)
13. My World Is Empty Without You – Lee Fields & The Expressions (The Supremes)
14. You’re All I Need To Get By – Michael McDonald (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell)
15. I Put A Spell On You – Annie Lennox (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)
16. Take Me To Church – Sarah Potenza (Hozier)
17. Up From The Skies – Rickie Lee Jones (Jimi Hendrix)
18. More Than This – 10,000 Maniacs (Roxy Music)
19. Wild is the Wind – David Bowie (Johnny Mathis)
20. Thirteen – Wilco (Big Star)
21. You and Your Sister – This Mortal Coil (Chris Bell)
22. Boys Don’t Cry – Grant Lee Phillips (The Cure)
23. Crazy Love – Ben Harper (Van Morrison)
24. Girl – Rhett Miller (The Beatles)
25. Femme Fatale – R.E.M. (Velvet Underground)

I Feel Fine - Songs 1965 FV

I Feel Fine. Another mix of songs from albums in my collection released in 1965. The mix runs for about an hour and a half. Lots of wonderful music here. Hits and favorites from a great year in music. Of course it starts off with a Beatles song. They had two wonderful albums in 1965. Help and Rubber Soul. 

This mix sometimes sounds like a frat party of the time. Or one of those parties we had in our basement rec room a couple of years later.

I Feel Fine - Songs 1965 FV

1. I Feel Fine - The Beatles
2. I Can't Explain - The Who
3. Lightnin' Strikes - Lou Christie
4. Fever - The McCoys
5. Gloria - Them
6. Land of 1000 Dances - Cannibal & The Headhunters
7. Jenny Takes A Ride - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
8. The 81 - Candy & The Kisses
9. Wooly Bully - Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
10. Dirty Water - The Standells
11. Psycho - The Sonics
12. The Last Time - The Rolling Stones
13. Liar, Liar - The Castaways
14. Look Through Any Window - The Hollies
15. The Little Black Egg - The Nightcrawlers
16. We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - The Animals
17. For Your Love - The Yardbirds
18. Tell Her No - The Zombies
19. Just A Little - The Beau Brummels
20. I'm Not Saying - Nico
21. The Little Girl I Once Knew - The Beach Boys
22. Let's Hang On - The Four Seasons
23. 1-2-3 - Len Barry
24. Over and Over - The Dave Clark Five
25. Concrete and Clay - Unit 4 + 2
26. Do You Believe In Magic - The Lovin' Spoonful
27. I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better - The Byrds
28. Till The End Of The Day - The Kinks
29. Night Time - The Strangeloves
30. Highway 61 Revisited - Bob Dylan
31. The Times They Are A-changin' - Odetta
32. A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
33. Where Have All The Flowers Gone - Johnny Rivers

Kites Are Fun

We liked flying kites when we were young and we took our kids to the park to fly them too. Becky went over to Claytons toy store across the street from here studio late last year and bought a couple of kites for our grandkids for Christmas. They had never flown a kite. So earlier this spring Todd took them to the park to try out their new kites. They had a lot of fun and a lot of other kids in the park were very interested in their kite flying. 

Last weekend Katie and Todd brought the kites along for their weekend at Sean and Ashley's house for Andrew's birthday celebration. So on Saturday afternoon everyone went out in their very big backyard to fly the kites. The kids had great fun and Henry especially got the knack for flying his kite. Becky had fun too. 

Just Dropped In - Songs 1967 FV

Just Dropped In has a handful of hits but is mostly deep cuts from albums in my collection released in 1967. A lot of weird psychedelic stuff to see what condition our condition is in.

Kenny Rogers & The First Edition in the pic. Quite the start for his run of hits.

Just Dropped In - Songs 1967 FV

1. Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In) - Kenny Rodgers & The First Edition
2. Watch The Flowers Grow - The Four Seasons
3. Wait Until Tomorrow - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
4. Abba Zaba - Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band
5. I Had A Dream - Paul Revere & The Raiders
6. Pulsating Dream - Kaleiodoscope
7. Can't Get Enough Of You, Baby - ? & The Mysterians
8. I've Got Something On My Mind - The Left Banke
9. Triangle - The Beau Brummels
10. Goodnight Sweet Josephine - The Yardbirds
11. Fall On You - Moby Grape
12. Lucifer Sam - Pink Floyd
13. From The Underworld - The Herd
14. Friends Of Mine - The Zombies
15. Section 43 - Country Joe & The Fish
16. Green Circles - Small Faces
17. Darlin' - The Beach Boys
18. Everybody's Talkin' - Harry Nilsson
19. This Door Swings Both Ways - Herman's Hermits
20. Guide For The Married Man - The Turtles
21. Joy - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
22. Underdog - Sly & The Family Stone
23. Beside You - Jerry Butler
24. Do Right Woman -- Do Right Man - Aretha Franklin
25. Blues For Mama - Nina Simone
26. If I Were A Carpenter - The Four Tops
27. Wedding Bell Blues - Laura Nyro
28. Tramp - Otis Redding & Carla Thomas
29. A Man With Money - A Wild Uncertainty
30. Fading Lady - Circus Maximus

Andrew's Birthday Party

We celebrated our grandson Andrew's second birthday on Sunday April 16th at Sean and Ashley's home in Glenville NY. It was a week after his actual birthday which was on Easter weekend this year. They wanted to have a party for him but decided to have it a week later so there more people could attend. The day of the party had spectacular weather so the activities could be outside.

Katie, Todd and the three kids came up from Philly for the party and stayed at a motel down the road for a couple of nights. They arrived Friday evening and left Sunday afternoon towards the end of the party. The kids had school on Monday morning.

There was a nice crowd for the party including a couple of families with that were Andrew's age. One girl there was his friend from daycare. There were probably nearly thirty people there including children. Andrew got lots of nice gifts including the tractor pictured above. Also the car that Violet was riding.

Andrew was pretty good considering he was a two-year-old at his birthday party.

Nice food too.

The End - Songs 1967 FV

The End. Another set of deep cuts from albums in my collection released in 1967.

The Doors in the pic.

The End - Songs 1967 FV

1. The End - The Doors
2. Third Stone From The Sun - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
3. Winds Of Change - Eric Burdon & The Animals
4. Wild Tyme - Jefferson Airplane
5. Brown Shoes Don't Make It - The Mothers of Invention
6. Requiem For The Masses - The Association
7. The Mad Hatter's Song - Incredible String Band
8. I Saw An Angel Die - Bobbie Gentry
9. Flower Lady - Phil Ochs
10. Somewhere There's A Feather - Nico
11. Who Am I - Country Joe & The Fish
12. Apples and Oranges - Pink Floyd
13. Laura's Garden - Orange Bicycle
14. No Way Out - The Chocolate Watch Band
15. Apothecary Dream - The Sound Sandwich
16. Randy Scouse Git - The Monkees
17. Portable People - Ten Years After
18. Dream On My Mind - Rupert's People
19. Oops I Can Dance - Circus Maximus
20. Screams In The Ears - Bill Fay
21. Montague Terrace (In Blue) - Scott Walker
22. Granny Takes A Trip - Purple Gang

Flying High - Songs 1967 FV

Flying High with a lot of great bands from 1967 playing some hits but mostly deep cuts and makes for an interesting trip through the year with songs from albums in my collection released that year. A lot of fun.

Country Joe & The Fish in the pic.

Flying High - Songs 1967 FV

1. Flying High - Country Joe & The Fish
2. C.T.A. 102 - The Byrds
3. Moonlight Drive - The Doors
4. Way Back In The 1960s - The Incredible String Band
5. With Me Tonight - The Beach Boys
6. Comin' Back To Me - Jefferson Airplane
7. Live and Let Live - Love
8. Penny Lane - The Beatles
9. Are You Lovin' More (But Enjoying It Less) - The Electric Prunes
10. Respect - The Vagrants
11. 96 Tears - Aretha Franklin
12. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy - The Buckinghams
13. Butterfly - The Hollies
14. Homburg - Procol Harum
15. A Long Way Down From Stephanie - Al Stewart
16. There Is A Happy Land - David Bowie
17. If 6 Was 9 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
18. Codine - Quicksilver Messenger Service
19. All Tomorrow's Parties - The Velvet Underground
20. Words - Bee Gees
21. You Can't Do That - Harry Nilsson
22. Urge For Going - Joni Mitchell
23. So You Say You Lost Your Baby - Gene Clark
24. Call On Me - Big Brother & The Holding Company
25. Just A Taste - Kaleidoscope
26. Cold Rain and Snow - Grateful Dead
27. Only Dreaming Now - The Beau Brummels
28. Turn On A Dream - The Box Tops

The English Beat & R.E.M.

It's hard to believe that Becky and I went to this show was 40 years ago this week. We had seen quite a few shows at the Buff State gym during the early 80's.

We were really excited to see The English Beat that night and R.E.M. was a relatively unknown at that time. Their Chronic Town EP had been out and the Buffalo State College radio station was playing their first single Radio Free Europe and that was about it. The first album Murmur was released the week of this show.

I went out and bought it after the show at Play It Again Sam's and then played it regularly on Saturday nights at the Pastime Lounge. Just gave the vinyl a spin too.

R.E.M. Set List

SHARE SETLIST  

 

1. Moral Kiosk
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2. Pilgrimage
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3. Laughing
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4. Catapult
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5. Talk About the Passion
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6. 7 Chinese Bros.
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7. Sitting Still
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8. Gardening at Night
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9. Harborcoat
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10. 9-9
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11. Pretty Persuasion
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12. Windout
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13. Just a Touch
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14. West of the Fields
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15. Radio Free Europe
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16. Encore:
17. Wolves, Lower
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18. 1,000,000
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19. Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)