The French version of The Lollipops’ “Busy Signal,” performed by Gillian Hills, as heard on The Queen’s Gambit, thanks to my Netflix subscription, which is paid automatically every month by the good people at American Express. Happy Friday, bastards!
Oh Hell Yeah
My inner 7-year-old is pretty fired up for this one.
YouTube says March 26th but I think it got pushed to March 31st.
HBO Max!
Legends collide in “Godzilla vs. Kong” as these mythic adversaries meet in a spectacular battle for the ages, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Kong and his protectors undertake a perilous journey to find his true home, and with them is Jia, a young orphaned girl with whom he has formed a unique and powerful bond. But they unexpectedly find themselves in the path of an enraged Godzilla, cutting a swath of destruction across the globe. The epic clash between the two titans—instigated by unseen forces—is only the beginning of the mystery that lies deep within the core of the Earth.
Shit
https://youtu.be/gv1Oi3K1vN0
Comedy genius and total hottie Cloris Leachman has hopped the twig. 94!
Just Watch
Terrifying.
Ringo Starr, Genius
Ringo Starr was more than just a lucky drummer who hooked up with The Beatles. This video makes the argument that his originality, technique, skill, patience, and influence all add up to making him an unqualified genius of his instrument. He was, by all meaningful ways, the FIRST rock and roll drummer.
Also want to add that something about this guy reminds me of Lurker.
Shit?
Massively influential, but hard to mourn his passing. Long but informative obit here.
Elbow, I Call You Well
Sublime.
Taking Hippies to School
You’ve all seen the Who’s legendary version of “My Generation” at the Monterey Pop Festival; it was in both the official MPF movie release and The Kids are Alright. Here’s a video of MPF outtakes with more songs from that set beginning at 1:12:52: “Substitute,” “Summertime Blues,” and “A Quick One.” AQO doesn’t quite have the knockout power of the Rock and Roll Circus version, but it’s still far better than most of what transpired at that festival. Scrolling through this and watching a little of each band reinforced what I already knew: San Francisco bands of that era could not play. Their amateurism is pretty staggering. The LA acts acquit themselves much better. But it took the Who, a Seattle guitarist backed by Brits, and Otis Redding backed by Memphis boys to really show how things are done.
The intro by vocal harmony popsters The Association is surpsringly bizarre.
If you’re truly bored, sample the LA bands, The Associaion, Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and Mamas & Papas Then sample the SF ones, Country Joe, Jefferson Airplane, and especially Big Brother and the Holding Company (Quicksilver Messenger Service actually sound OK). The LA bands were products of an established and highly competetive musical culture that thrived around a hit-making city. The SF bands were products of a new scene that revolved around getting fucked up and jamming. The difference shows. And even if you like Janis Joplin as a singer (I don’t), you can’t deny that Big Brother was an execrable band. Their incompetence is just jaw-dropping. I think she ditched them pretty quickly as her star rose. Good move.
Fun fact of the day: Country Joe was one of several bands unfortunate enough to get blown off the stage by an unkown opening band called Led Zeppelin on LZ’s first US tour. By the end of that tour CJ and various other headliners such as Iron Butterfly and Vanilla Fudge weren’t even bothering to show up.
Beatles Bass Sound, 1964
Fascinating stuff for your Monday. Or not.
Job Opportunity
I’m the guy you want. I play E minor pretty well.