Ramblin' with Roger

Roger,

Hi! RK here! I’ve noticed that you have quite a few blog entries dealing with music. (Well, one has to feed the monkey, somehow!– whatever that means!) And I suppose there certainly is a lot to be said about the political scene at present. But I do have a musical inquiry for you. Perhaps you’ve dealt with it in the past already (in which case I humbly apologize in advance).

Well, here’s the thing. I recently picked up a book on the making of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and afterwards, naturally, I went back for a listen. Now, I never was much of a Floyd fan, myself.
In fact, before reading the book, I knew virtually nothing about the group. Still, I must confess, it IS quite an album. So here are my questions:

a) What are your favorite “headphone” albums?

Pretty much anything I like to listen to at some volume: Who’s Next (The Who); In the Court of the Crimson King (King Crimson); anything with a good bass line. Music that gives me a physical, as well as intellectual, reaction. There are jazz and classical albums that work well. But the #1 album has to be Abbey Road (the Beatles), because it was in a period (spring of 1975) that I didn’t have a stereo or much in the way of anything, so I would go to the Binghamton Public Library and listen to albums to keep my sanity.

b) Which albums stand out for you in terms of production??

Never have been that much of an audiophile in that way, except when something sounds off – one example of that is “I Saw Her Again” (Mamas & the Papas) on “Farewell to the First Golden Era” on LP, where the lead vocal is mixed down and the background voices are more upfront, very different from the album on which it originally appeared. I’ve bought some cheap classical LPs that sounded like mud.

That said, I think albums can be OVERproduced to a point that the very lifeblood is sucked out of them. Couldn’t give you a specific example.

And not that you asked: maybe it’s because I’ve been making mixed cassettes and now mixed CDs, but it’s a lot more noticeable to me NOW, the sheer drop-off in volume from one album to the next.
***
Gordon asks “What’s the best part of being a librarian? Worst part?”

The best part is learning cool new stuff almost every day. It’s also the case that, by and large, librarians are very collegial folks who help each other find answers to life’s persistent problems.
I suppose the worst part is trying to answer questions, usually multiple-part queries 1) for which I’m pretty sure there is no answer and 2) for which if there WERE such an answer, I don’t know how it would help them, the “How many left-handed, black, homosexual Hispanics with children drive a manual transmission on the Upper West Side of Manhattan?” questions. These folks are trying to define their market – a reasonable goal – but sometimes they parse it so finely that no one, even a paid resource, is going to have what they want. The librarian wants to please, so the librarian hates the dumb@#$% question that the librarian couldn’t possibly give a good answer to.

(Scott, I’ll answer your questions on Sunday. Gordon, I’ll answer your other question when I review the book some West Coast blogger sent me.)

Last Thursday down in Charlotte, I asked my family to watch Lydia so that Carol and I could go to the movies. Some folks wanted to invite themselves to come along, but I needed to uninvite them, as this was Carol’s and my monthly date.

I know quite a lot about (Diana Ross and the) Supremes and about Motown generally. But, aside from the hit song from Jennifer Holliday from a quarter century ago, “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going”, I knew relatively little about “Dreamgirls”, the popular musical, beyond what was widely known.

In the cover story in JET magazine about the new movie, the writer announces, “Most people think [it] is about …the Supremes. It is not.” Someone should have told director Bill Condon, for there were loads of stylistic touches that echoed Diana, Mary, Florence (and Cindy), starting with hairdos, costumes (The Dreams in Liverpool was spot-on) and the album covers. The homage to the Supremes album cover to the left is very prominent in a couple shots.

Still, this is ostensibly the story of Effie White (played here by seventh-place American Idol candidate Jennifer Hudson) was pushed aside as lead singer in favor of Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles) by record label owner Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Jamie Foxx). The early scenes rang true, from the ersatz Motown Review to the music being co-opted by Pat Boone types. Where the movie lost me for a time was during a scene where several characters were singing to Effie, trying to keep her in the group in a lesser capacity. It felt like people singing in a musical, and I mean that in a bad way. Another scene, not much later, when Effie is thrown out of the group, I felt pretty much the same. I didn’t notice consciously, but my wife detected poor lip-synching, and maybe THAT was the problem.

However, right after that, Effie sings “And I’m Telling You”, which got thunderous applause in the theater I was in. It brought me back into the picture. Much of the next portion of the picture involved Deena and Curtis, the Berry Gordyesque character, blending late Supremes with early solo Diana Ross (movie career).

I should mention Eddie Murphy’s James “Thunder” Early was partially James Brown, but at least partially Marvin Gaye at the point he wanted to release “What’s Going On”, right down to the cap he wore, similar to the one Marvin has on the Let’s Get It On cover. His performance was very good, not the sometimes over the top schtick he sometimes engages in. The other performances were fine, although Foxx seemed to have a constant sneer.

The early awards suggest that Jennifer Hudson will be nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. I’m not sure that would be appropriate, since it is her character that is the emotional core of the picture. But the first time actress is excellent.

It was an enjoyable experience.
***
Tosy’s review. His assessment of applause I agree with totally.

To which you say, “How are we supposed to miss you when you never leave?” Good point.

Actually, I’ve been away from December 23-31, but thanks to a savvy co-conspirator, I was able to post every day. (Thanks, co-conspirator.) I had written something for every day before I left, some of it short, and would have used it them all save for the fact that James Brown and Gerald Ford passed away.

Carol, Lydia and I trekked to Charlotte, NC to visit my mother, sister Marcia, and niece Alexandria. My sister Leslie and her boyfriend Bobby came from San Diego in midweek. I hadn’t realized it until we thought about it, but I don’t think I’d been in Charlotte since January 2002, and now I remember why: it’s tricky.

Even before we left, my wife announced that we wouldn’t be going NEXT year, because arranging all the things one needs to do before one goes away by car with two adults and one child seemed to be endless. [That may change, though.] It didn’t help that she got one last-minute project that took three hours, and another that took two. Initially, we were going to leave on Friday night, December 22, but that was causing too much stress.

New York drivers must have been feeling the Christmas stress, for I saw one woman just laying on the horn behind a car that was trying to turn left, but couldn’t because of traffic. One driver roared into the gas station in Oneonta, not seeing that our car was at the pump, saw that I was just starting to fill up the car, then stormed out, leaping the curb in the process.

Our “early morning” departure on Saturday the 23rd turned out to be 9:30, and with a lengthy stop the Powell grandparents, we didn’t hit the Pennsylvania border until 1 p.m. We ended up, exhausted, in Harrisonburg, VA at 8:30 p.m., 475 miles later. The next day, we went the rest of the 305 miles. Fortunately, Lydia is a MUCH better traveler than she was a couple years ago, when she’d fall asleep for an hour, then wake up screaming for the duration of the trip. Now she’s satisfied with her dolls, food, and occasional conversation from the parents.

Based on our limited examination, I’ve discovered that fast food places in NY and PA have changing tables in the men’s bathroom, but the ones in VA do not, only the women’s room. But one in a rest area south of Wilkes-Barre, PA had the changing table blocking one of the two urinals in the men’s room, and (I’m told) one of the two bathroom stalls in the women’s room.

I have a very irrational attraction for West Virginia based on remembering listening to WWVA in Wheeling, a powerful country station, during my childhood; it’s also the last state to enter the Union east of the Mississippi, in 1863, when it broke away from Virginia during the Civil War. But I need to remember that when I order tea in the South, and that apparently includes WV, they’ll serve you iced tea. (If you want tea, you have to ask for “hot tea”.)

Invariably, I get lost in Charlotte. Even though we were on WT Harris Blvd, a major road which wasn’t far from our final destination, I found myself pulling out the city map, to no avail, while standing in a mall. Fortunately, some former New Yorker took pity and gave us directions; we STILL got lost again, even though we were clearly in the neighborhood.

Found the house, finally, and eventually ate dinner. Watched some videos, and went to bed. Lydia was supposed to sleep on an air mattress, but THAT didn’t work, so she slept comfortably with her mother on an Eva Bed Base, while I slept on the air mattress. Lydia, though, had a coughing jag, so I got her cough medicine, which she didn’t want to take, and she started to cry. Carol gave her the liquid anyway and she REALLY started to cry, which woke up my sister. It also woke the dog, who started barking, which woke up my mother and my niece. It’s 1 a.m., and the whole house is awake. Merry Christmas.

More on this trip later, alternating with whatever strikes my fancy.

Happy New Year! Been away. More details soon. Little time for blogging or reading the news. Something about the flags at half-staff because Michael Jackson showed up at James Brown’s funeral? That can’t be right. So I’m going to go read a week’s worth of newspapers and get my DVR below 95%. Meanwhile:
From Tosy again. It’s that he’s SUCH a good thief himself.
1) My uncle once: Well, I never had an uncle. My parents were both only children. received a Purple Heart. Now my great uncle died just before the family, who were rushing to the hospital, could see him. First recently dead person I ever saw.
2) Never in my life: Been to Minnesota.
3) When I was five: My baby sister was born.
4) High school was: A balancing act, getting along with the politicos and the theater people and the music people and being tolerated by the jocks.
5) Fire is: what burned down a whole apartment complex on my grandmother’s street when I was nine. Four or five buildings. No one hurt, I don’t think, but dozens dispossessed, and the smell reeked for months.
6) I once saw: Daniel Patrick Moynihan walking down the street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.
7) There’s this woman I know who: Constantly underestimated her worth until she moved out of his house.
8) Once, at a bar: I got a really high score on Ms. Pac-Man.
9) By noon I’m usually: Just getting started.
10) Last night: I went to bed, exhausted at 10:30 p.m.
11) If I only had: the power of flight, so I could get more things done.
12) Next time I go to church: it’ll be to sing.
13) What worries me most: Escalating violence in the world.
14) When I turn my head left: I see 50% of my books.
15) When I turn my head right: I see a mess.
16) You know I’m lying when: I’m talking about cars or going shopping in a positive way.
17) What I miss most about the eighties: won’t appear in this blog any time soon.
18) If I were a character written by Shakespeare, I’d be: melancholy.
19) By this time next year: I’m hoping Lydia will be sleeping better.
20) I have a hard time understanding: people who LIKE to shop. Seriously – it’s like something out of a Lord of the Rings novel; impenetrable.
21) You know I like you if: I tell you something “real”, not just conversational piffle.
22) If I won an award, the first person I’d thank would be: Well, I suppose it would depend on what I got the award for.
23) Darwin, Mozart, Slim Pickens & Geraldine Ferraro: All were alive in the past 250 years.
24) Take my advice, never: Lie, particularly about substantive stuff. It’s too hard to keep track of.
25) My ideal breakfast is: Waffles, eggs, sausage. Which I almost never have.
26) If you visit my hometown, I suggest you go to: the junction of the rivers.
27) Why doesn’t everyone: Vote.
28) If you spend the night at my house: We’ll find a wayaccommodatedate you.
29) I’d stop my wedding: If pigs actually flew.
30) The world could do without: Rudeness.
31) My favorite blond is: Big Bird.
32) If I do anything well, it’s: Think too much.
33) And by the way: When I become rich, I’ll get a massage every single day.
***
WTO Announces Formalized Slavery Market For Africa At a Wharton Business School conference on business in Africa that took place on Saturday, November 11, the WTO announced the creation of a new, much-improved form of slavery for the parts of Africa that have been hardest hit by the 500-year history of free trade there.

This guy I wrote about a few months back who was interested in finding out about my grandfather wrote this about that station where Pop used to work. And since it’s New Year’s Eve:

I am a nostalgia person. I’m always looking up things from my childhood that evoke pleasant memories. WNBF-TV was the first channel that Binghamton had. One of the things I discovered Monday night before I hit your site was a listing of the first commercial TV stations from 1950. WNBF started Dec. 1, 1949. We received our first TV for Christmas 1951. In those days I believe channel 12(WNBF) was located in the Arlington Hotel at the corner of Chenango & Lewis Sts. across from the train station.
My first memories were coming home from school and watching Kate Smith and then “Chuck Wagon Playhouse” from NYC. That was like 4 or 4:30. WNBF started the broadcast day at 3:30, I think, and went to about midnight. This was a few years before Bill Parker started his shows. I remember the Ranch Club, Officer Bill and a couple of others that he had of course. In those days a lot of programs were 15 minutes or a half hour and very short commercials. My favorite night was Thursday when my mother’s father(who lived up the street from us) would come down for The Lone Ranger at 7:00 and right after was the Cisco Kid. We had a 17″ Admiral TV (B&W naturally) that my brother made a stand for. We were the first in our neighborhood and all my friends would come over to see the westerns and Kukla, Fran and Ollie. I was about 10 or 11 then. As a matter of fact the TV signals use to come by microwave(I think) through Albany and Cherry Valley. Whenever they had signal problems they would flash a sign saying “Trouble with signal from Cherry Valley”.

In those days too, WNBF and WKOP Radio had disk jockeys. Bill Parker, Ken Kirkander, Bill Kunkel and several others would ply the time on WNBF. They also filled in on TV since it was the same ownership, Clark Associates, I think. Several years later in the late fifties they moved to the Sheraton Hotel on Front St. which is now a senior housing facility. As far as I remember WNBF was always a CBS affiliate primarily but they carried programs from all the networks (NBC, ABC, DuMont and syndication) until WINR-TV started in 1957. It was owned by Gannett Newspapers and was primarily NBC. By then, I think, DuMont was gone and they split ABC programming.

I don’t remember just when channel 34 started 1962 but it was the ABC affiliate.

Sitting watching what was there then something there. I thought Sat, clearly a Sunday (Nov 25, 1962)

Anyway, I just usually go on Google on nights when the Yankees aren’t on and type in things that are pleasant for me and see what comes up. That is how I came across McKinley Green by accident and to my great pleasure. The only problem is I have dial-up because I’m too cheap for Roadrunner. I’m also a fan of Jerry Colonna and Jimmy Durante. There is a great site from England… http://great-song-stylists-uk.com/ that has Colonna, Durante, Danny Kaye, Eddie Cantor, etc. with songs and radio programs that I go to quite often for a few laughs.

I read that you used to listen to the out of own stations when you were a kid, so did I. In the 50s I’d pick up Boston, Charlotte, Atlanta, St. Louis, Chicago, New Orleans, Minneapolis, DesMoines and even Tulsa. When rock-n-roll was in I used to listen to Dick Biondi on WLS-Chicago every night. When I was going to Broome Tech in 1959-61 it would start coming in at about 9PM very clearly to about midnight. I used to listen while doing my assignments. One of my favorite programs was easy listening music. Holiday Inn and American Airlines used to have a female disk jockey that sounded very sexy. It was syndicated I think and on several clear channel stations that I could pick up. Ah, those were the days.

A couple pieces I found re: this here and here.