Category: music

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Best of Cramps / Happy Valentine

Since people have asked, here’s a few of the best Cramps songs… okay, my favorites. & The last one is just – well, why not?

Get a playlist!

I have to dedicate the 4th song to my dad. He was driving me somewhere – probably to a shop called Slipped Disc where I bought a ton of music when I was a teenager – and he was humming along with this track until he stopped and said, “is that really what they’re saying?” and promptly changed the station. (For the record, Slipped Disc sold all the great 80s punk & new wave I loved, including all the other crap that went with being a fan: calendars, buttons, patches, picture discs, t-shirts, books… all of that stuff. For anyone who’s been to Record Runner in the West Village, Slipped Disc was kinda like that. With a lot of metalheads.)

So Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone! Make yourself a cocktail, put on those big fuzzy slippers & dance to these tracks. Round out the evening by watching some godawful B-movie. Eat some cheese out of a can. Really, it’s good for you, once in a while.

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RIP Lux

Wow I have been busy, only finding out today, care of Penny on the MHB boards, that Lux Interior died this past week. He was half of the band The Cramps, well-loved punk rock psychedelic rockabilly band.

Yes, that all goes together.

RIP, Lux. & May your heaven be paved in gold lame.

This is them doing “What’s Inside a Girl?” (which was one of my favorite tracks):

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Miriam Makeba

Miriam Makeba died on Sunday right after she finished a concert in Italy. She was a South African singer who I first discovered on a collection of music from the tv show Northern Exposure (of which I was, & am, a huge fan).

The Best of Miriam Makeba and the Skylarks – recorded in the 1950s – is one of my all-time spirit lifters; I have no idea what I’m singing but I sing along whenever these tracks come on. (I’d highly recommend this one, especially, to anyone who loves rocksteady.)

She had such a sparkling, clear voice – the kind that makes you think of beautiful sunny days.

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Marc Bolan’s Extended Family

So here’s a little factoid for you musicheads out there: the song Tainted Love, made famous by Soft Cell, was originally recorded by a woman named Gloria Jones. & Who is Gloria Jones? She was Marc Bolan’s partner.

& When did Marc Almond of Soft Cell decide to become a pop star? When he saw Marc Bolan on Top of the Pops.

There is a DVD of a live tribute show to Marc Bolan that was recorded at The Shepard’s Bush Empire last year which came out Monday- featuring Marc Almond, Gloria Jones, as well as Bolan producer Tony Visconti – which I can’t seem to find anywhere online. If anyone sees one, do let me know.

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iPod Bites It

Found a useful bit of software for converting .m4a files (Apple’s bullshit) to the .mp3 format, and it’s called dB Power Amp, and it’s pretty easy to use. The only vital thing to know is that you need to install the codec you need – for the type file you want to transfer from – after you install the main program.

In my first round with iTunes, I didn’t know you had to tell it to rip from discs to .mp3; silly me, but I assumed they’d automatically rip to the most popular music file format. So I had a few thousand songs on my recently-deceased iPod still in .m4a format.

The good thing is that you can trade-in your iPod for a gift certificate toward your new player (or iPhone, or whatever) and I got me a Sansa Sandisk Fuze, 8 mg. I’m most pleased that it gives me (1) video (which my 4th gen iPod didn’t have); (2) a voice recorder (which makes it deductible!) and (3) the ability to delete songs from the mp3 player instead of having to do it through my computer’s software, like you have to do with iTunes, which always seemed incredibly stupid to me. (What was I supposed to do – keep a list of stuff I wanted to delete until I got home & made the time to do that? Silly.) After trade-in, and a J&R markdown, I got it for only $80. It’s also Consumer Reports “Best Buy” – which basically means it’ s the best bang for the buck.

So I’m pleased. The thing is so small it fits into that tiny little pocket on the front right bit of your jeans, which means it’ll be small enough for shirt pockets, too.

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NYC Soundtracks

MSG has a contest going – like American Idol – of musicians who play in the NYC subways. They aired 16 for the first round, which has already been aired, & yesterday they revealed the 8 that got the most “change.” That’s how you vote for them – you drop virtual change in their baskets, at the MSG website. Eventually they’ll eliminate all but one.

Clever idea, & some really good musicians. Do check it out. You can start by catching up with Episode 1, and you can find more information about the voting and how they chose the musicians, also on their website.