General Observations
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS features articles that don’t fit comfortably into any of the other categories.
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the cheesiest semi-legal records in the world?
I MOVED TO CALIFORNIA from my native Northeastern Pennsylvania in June of 1978. I naively believed I would find some semblance of “the sixties” hidden away in San Francisco. But in only a few years, most of it had been blotted out.
where was the “vinyl rapture” before the “vinylgeddon”?
WHILE THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG is to address the records that were released decades before most of the people who spend the most time on the internet were even born, I can look at a current topic every now and again. [Continue reading]
wikipedia really messed up “music recording certification”
I LEFT WIKIPEDIA ALONE for the past few months, even though critiquing their entries is like shooting fish in a barrel. When it comes to “definitions” of persons and terms regarding popular music, Wikipedia’s theme song seems to be a well-known song by Elvis: “If you’re looking for trouble, you’ve come to the right place. [Continue reading]
talkin’ ’bout the bleeding heart liberal petition blues
I HAVE A FACEBOOK PAGE titled Bleeding Heart Liberal Petitions. Most days, I receive a slew of emails with petitions for various causes such as saving an endangered species, urging my representatives in state and federal government to vote for or against a particular bill, protest an injustice, etc. [Continue reading]
the expense and inconvenience of collecting vinyl today
MY OLD (OLD) BUDDY, Jerichau St. John, posted a cartoon on my Facebook page. It struck an immediate chord in my record collector’s soul. I left a comment for JSJ and then went looking for the image online. I found it and I am sharing it here with my readers. [Continue reading]
what is a sex kitten and where have they all gone?
WHILE TWEAKING AN ARTICLE for publication on my Tell It Like It Was publication on Medium, I noticed that I had referred to lead singer Diana Ross’s soft, whispery vocals on all three of the Supremes’ #1 hits of 1964 as “sex kittenish.” [Continue reading]
rutherford chang wants to buy your white album (and yours and yours)
IN NOVEMBER 1968, the Beatles released their long-awaited new album. It had been eighteen months since the release of their landmark Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, an unheard of period of time between albums in the ’60s.
Let’s do the “tell it like it was” all night long!
MY ATTENTION remains focused on Tell It Like It Was, my new publication on Medium. And Tell It Like It Was remains focused on music—mostly music of the ’60s but we will get into the rock & roll and rhythm & blues before and after that decade eventually. [Continue reading]