The Clash - London Calling

to finish February on this the 29th day of the month, here's the only band that matters- the Clash! I believe this is shot on the Thames where they were giving an illegal free concert, or something like that. I forget how that story goes now.

The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated

just dawned on me that I didn't have two of my favorite bands represented yet, and it's the end of the month! so here are the awesome Ramones. I think this video is more recent than the original song, but it's still cool.

Pitt's War of the Gargantuas

apparently Brad Pitt talked about "War of the Gargantuas" last night on the popularity contest called The Academy Awards.  it's little moments like this that still can't make me watch the entire show.

it's really nice to to hear such a respected actor stating it was a giant Japanese monster movie that started his love of cinema. that's just cool, as these movies were almost universally reviled back in the day.  I've talked about this movie a few times on the blog, and it's nice to know that Mr. Pitt has the some of the same great taste in movies that I do.

XTC - Dear God

here's a sort of controversial video, though I think it's really very misunderstood. Andy is railing against what he perceives as the man made God, one that so many people ascribe human thoughts and emotions to, rather than what God really is. we as humans can never understand His ways, and the whole "why do bad things happen to good people" (and vice versa) question is something that we just won't ever get.

This is only a test

This is my first mobile blog. Just seeing how it looks.

The Beatles - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

this is the song and the movie that introduced me to the Beatles in 1973. I am sure I had heard them before on the radio, but I didn't know who they were. I had also heard Elton John's cover of the song, and really liked it. I was 8, and when I saw this I thought "Hey, these guys do this song as well?" didn't quite grasp the concept of a cover song at that age.

Danny & Armi - Tahdon olla sulle hellä

this is one incredible video performance from the above named duo. they are Finnish, which explains some of the fractured English present in the song. I kind of like the song itself. Armi passed away in 2002.

The Cramps - What's Inside a Girl?

this is a live performance by a great band. I first heard their cover of "Psychotic Reaction" back in about 1984, thanks to a pen pal. and I had heard of the album "A Date with Elvis" before that, but only because of an unnamed song about a dog and a cat. it was never released in this country until the CD came out.

Rogues of Sherwood Forest (1950)

Prince John has returned to England after Richard the Lionheart's death and is king now.  he's trying to get revenge on Robin Hood, which means his son.  there's a lot of daring do to be seen, and King John starts raising taxes and torturing his subjects.  this starts to rile the barons and Robin rounds up the old Merrie Men to stop King John before things get rotten (sorry).

this is a fun sequel/remake, if not up to the standards of the wonderful original.  and what are the odds of this Robin falling for a ward of the court named "Marianne"?

Aqauabats - Nerd Alert

I love this band. this is a fan made video, but it's so much fun I think (and hope) the band would really love it. they sure understand nerds...

Ghost Rider (2007)

I have now seen both versions of this movie, the theatrical one and the extended edition.


I really enjoyed it.  so many people hated it- well, comic book fans, it seems, but I thought it was just like the 70s comic book (with a little of the lame 90s version thrown in).  it was dramatic and cornball all at the same time, with awkward lines and and some decent acting thrown in as well.  

The Eagles - Already Gone

good thing these guys made great music, cause they sure aren't the most exciting band to watch live.  sue me, I like a spectacle with my music performances.

Abba - Take A Chance On Me

here's a video I've never seen, for a band that was everywhere in the 1970s. I used to roller skate to this song, way back when, and it's still one of my favorite ABBA songs.

Adam and the Ants - Prince Charming

had to change the title, since this was when it was "and the Ants" as he still had a band at this point in his career. he sacked them after a live concert appearance. thought the band didn't give it their all.

exclusive interview with Blue Oyster Cult

well, one member of the group, anyway.

I've had this magazine for almost thirty years, and I don't think I ever read most of the article.  it's not like I hated the bands they were talking about, they were just kind of... there.  I bought it for the piece one the Plasmatics (the same reason I bought my first issue of CREEM as well) and the other stuff was just kind of... there.  I bought many issues of CREEM after 1982, but Hit Parader was never as much fun.  treated the artists too well, I think, with no sense of humor.

Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock

this is the Elvis that I really like, that early one. he's so ubiquitous that one forgets just how good he was. there's really not that much more to say about it at all, is there?

U2- Gloria

I'm so used to this version of the song that I add the live bits in when I listen to the studio version. I bought the album "Under a Blood Red Sky" which had the images of Red Rocks (where this video was taped) but it only had two cuts from the Red Rocks show. kind of annoying at the time. why? I was at this show, and I wanted the entire show on vinyl, or at least all 8 songs.

Trekkies (1997)

is it me, or do many documentaries not know exactly how to end?  just a question, as many I've seen tend to wander around for a bit at the end.

the other big question that doesn't get answered here is who is the best captain?  I still can't believe anyone would vote for Janeway.

I saw this doc several years ago, and enjoyed it.  it spawned a small cottage industry of similar docs about Star Wars, Dungeons and Dragons and the like.  none of the ones I saw were as good as this one.

Blue Oyster Cult- Burnin' For You

I'm not the huge fan of BOC that my pal Chris is (wow, two posts in a row mentioning him, what'd he do to deserve that? poor guy) but I do like a lot of their songs. singing about Godzilla will do that. they sang about all sorts of cool stuff, and always had a bit of a sense of humor about it as well.

ESP for metal dudes!

from the April 1983 issue of "Hit Parader" magazine.

this sort of thing is closer to my pal Chris' sense of humor, but this was too good for me to pass up.  it's even funnier that it's in what later turned into a "heavy metal" magazine.  at this point it was a fair mix of music, but not as much fun as CREEM magazine (no wonderful captions on these photos, more like a quote from the article).

they also had lyrics for songs in the back, and I've only heard about half of them.

however...

The Epoxies - "Synthesized"

I love me some Epoxies, and wish I had discovered them much sooner than I did. I've written about them before, but that was a fan made video. this is a real one, I think.

KISS - The Oath

I can't believe it's taken me this long to post an actual KISS video. well, sort of. we did have a cover by The Donnas. this is a live performance from the TV show Fridays. pretty much the only live stuff from the cool album "The Elder" out there, as they didn't tour for it. last I heard this record was the only KISS album to never make it to platinum status. sad, as it's quite good.

Five Superfighters (1979)

I'm going with the 1979 date, though three places I've looked all have different release years for this movie- 1978, 1979 and 1983.  the month and day is the same.

Cheap Trick - Surrender (Live)

Cheap Trick is quite the unusual band. very unique musically and visually they made some great songs, and then they made some not great songs. I never knew much about them, other than they got famous in Japan first.

Icehouse - We Can Get Together

one of the many videos I enjoyed on Channel 12's "FM-TV" when it first was airing. there was just nothing that sounded like this on the radio at the time. nor was eMpTV playing it, at least not when I was watching (and in 1983, who wasn't watching music videos?).

Nancy Sinatra ~ These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

wow, there's a ton of versions of this song on youtube. a lot by Nancy, and then there's covers and mashups as well. I knew it was a popular song, but had no idea I'd see that many different takes on a classic song.

J. Geils Band - Love Stinks

another overnight success story that took years to achieve, and then it was over in a flash. seems like some bands can't handle stardom as well as others. I remember hearing "Love Stinks" in the summer of 1980 and had no idea who the J. Geils Band was. couldn't go to wiki and click on it and find out. heck, I thought the lead singer was J!  they had been playing for over 10 years by the time they got such huge national exposure.

a fandom by any other name...

odd things occur when to me when I am working on occasion.

take this- ever notice how some genre fandoms get easily identifiable nick names?  you know, like "Trekkies" or "Whovians" or... uh... well, Big Bang Theory has fans called "Bangers" now.  are Lord of the Rings fans called "Ringers"?  I'll cover comedy shows in a bit, but dang I'm drawing a blank here.

help me out here.  do Xena fans or Buffy Fans or Simpsons' fans have those sort of names?  are South Park fans called "Parkers"?  how about fans of the Japanese hero Ultraman? I find it odd that there seem to be so few of these shows that inspire these names.

The Beatles - Twist And Shout

one of the "early" (and best) Beatles signatures tunes, and one they didn't even write. they sure made it their own, though. there's really not much more I could ever add about the Beatles that would be insightful, so I'll just leave it be.

Ringo Star - No No Song

I saw this song performed on some variety show (maybe this very one) but I forgot about it for many years, til hearing a Ringo Starr greatest hits tape (which contains a lot of cool songs). of course, Ringo was still saying "yes yes yes" for several more years, but he seems to be pretty clean now. I sure had no idea what the song was about at the time.

Joan Jett - Bad Reputation

here's Joan Jett's signature song (well, the one she wrote, anyway). this was made after "I Love Rock n Roll" was a hit. her backing band was studio musicians on the first album, as opposed to the Blackhearts in the video.

The Donnas - Strutter

The Donnas have been compared to both the Ramones and the Runaways. I find that they are harder rock than the Ramones, and the Runaways moved from hard rock to a more punky sound, whereas the Donnas moved in the other direction. their harder edge sounds better on them, I think.

Eric Heatherly - Flowers On The Wall

here's a something rare in my musical history- a country song.
well, sort of. it's got the country twang, and it's a remake of a Statler Brothers song (apparently it was in Pulp Fiction, I've not seen that movie) which may or may not be an original of theirs.

New BLB #16- Space Ghost

In... The Sorceress of Cyba-3!

Blip discovers the gem Queen Satanori is imprisoned in, and she makes Jan release her.  she tries to convince Jan she's a good queen, but the mere mention of Space Ghost's name causes her to reveal her true nature, and Jan is poisoned by her ring.  this stops her from telling Space Ghost that the Queen is evil, but with a name like that he should be able to guess her true nature.

The Sounds - Living in America

here's a new band (well, relatively new, and definitely new to me) that I really like. The Sounds are from Sweden and have a great... uh, sound.

Classix Nouveaux - Guilty

this is one cool video. I've seen it a lot (especially since youtube started) but there was nothing like it in Colorado in 1982. it was just amazing looking and sounding. I think I have finally heard the song on the radio, but I had to move to San Diego to hear it. and that was in the 90s! the AOR stations in the early 80s just weren't gonna play any of that new music. though somehow the Police and Split Enz snuck in there on occasion.

Shooting Star

this month's theme will be music videos. probably "vintage" as they were just more fun back then. heck, I don't even know if they make promo vids any more. some will be serious, and some will be of a humorous bent. just whatever strikes my fancy.