The Stores. The Chores. The Mainstream. The Oddball. The Serious. The Goofy. The Awesome. The Not So Awesome. 45's. 33's. The 'What Were They Thinking.' Stories from the Store. Observations from my armchair.
What's All This Then
Why should I care what this guy has to say?
The correct answer is that you shouldn’t. We’re all entitled to our opinions. Develop your own. I try to be sane and rational, but that may change with the level of caffeine intake. I’m just telling my stories in the hopes they may amuse and/or inform others. And... I Confess... I'm showing off my bitchen collection a bit.
Originally this is from a post about a record shopping trip in Chicago. I never wrote anything about it, but thought the photos might make some wistful for the days of visiting a store.
Shopping online just isn't that fun. I enjoy going through the used bins. I love the smell of slightly musty piles of records more than the petroleum smell of a new sealed albums. I love the random discussions that emerge between strangers.
When this is all over, I 'm visiting my local emporium and welcoming them back like a soldier from the war. Please do the same.
Who doesn't like loud, dumb rock?! You can certainly count me in!
Grand Funk Railroad was all the rage when I was in Jr. High. I still pull the records out here and there...
This is one of my favorites
Grand Funk Railroad - Closer to Home (Capitol 1970)
The cover features Mark, Don and Mel in high contrast with 'real' eyes.
A friend who saw them back in the day relayed a story of a drum solo. Seems Don had the obligatory rock drum solo. The grand finale had him doing what appeared to be playing a drum with his head. In reality he was hitting his bass drum pedal to make the sound. I have searched far and wide for video of this, but have yet to strike gold.
This virus thing has changed everything. I'm working from home - and seem to be working more than ever. Although in many cases I'm able to play records while working, I haven't really had the time to update this here blog thing. It's now a Sunday afternoon and I'm revisiting a bunch of half done posts......
So here's one about LA Punk Black Randy.....
Contrary to mainstream perception, punk rock in the early days was not about violence and silly clothes. The early punk in Los Angeles comprised itself of performance artists, disaffected youth and regular folks bored with corporate rock. A major fact that eludes the perception about the scene is that it possessed a sense of humor. A fine example is Black Randy and the Metro Squad.
Black Randy was a dumpy white guy who thought it would be fun to form a punk band. Was it a joke? Who knows? Who cares? The records were a lot of fun. Here's a few from the colletion:
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Idi Amin EP (Dangerhouse 1978)
Black Randy and The Metro Squad - Trouble at the Cup b/w Loner With a Boner/Sperm Bank Baby (Dangerhouse 1977)
Enjoy a Video of their single 'I Slept in an Arcade'
They managed to release one album. The cover is an obvious homage to Bowie's Hunky Dory....
Black Randy and the Metro Squad - Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie (Dangerhouse 1979)
Record company compilations are nothing new. The basic idea was to feature one unreleased song by one or two major artists and fill the rest with the B-team.
Here's one from Decca records in 1965
14 (Decca 1965)
The basic idea here - if you like the Rolling Stones, why not take a listed to The Apple Jacks or Unit 4 Plus 2 (a six piece?)
Nevertheless, we do get the Stones doing Surprise Surprise in glorious mono. They didn't contribute their best song to this throwaway compilation, but hey, it's The Rolling Stones.
....Or are they just 'Eagles' Since most living creatures have already been used in group namings since the early '60's, it was genius to find one that hadn't been used. And to scrap the article 'The!' The height of creativity.
Founded by coked out studio musicians in Los Angeles, the band was instrumental in founding the California denim clad mellow rock scene. We owe them a debt of gratitude for that. The Blue Jean Committee would not have existed without them.
For our benefit, the band still exists with one original member. All the dead weight of previous incarnations have either died or been sacked by their benevolent leader. They now tour often and present reasonably priced concerts. They even sound exactly like the record playing the same set every night!
