I Am The Hallelujah Man

My visit last weekend to The Great Escape In Bowling Green last weekend was a success. Although I initially did not find much in the regular vinyl racks, once I started scouting the 99 cent racks (piled in wooden troughs at floor level) I found bargain after bargain. Several were priced at 49 cents, and I also got an extra 25% discount, meaning that albums by The Parachute Club, The Ward Brothers, Actuel and a couple of others were 37.5 cents each.
In addition I found the extended remix of Ian McCulloch's "September Song", a promotional only set of Shakespears Sister remixes, the original 12" of Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me Round", and I also fell in love with the artwork from After The Fire's ATF album. Other recent purchases shown above are Novo Combo' self titled album, Passion Puppets' album Beyond The Pale, Ears Have Walls by Blanket of Secrecy, Arias & Symphonies by Spoons and She Went Pop, the mysterious album from Iam Siam.

I thought the tale of Love And Money's 12" Single "Hallelujah Man" was a tale worth telling. I bought it because it had two B-Sides I wanted, even though the condition of the sleeve was quite poor. Observe, if you will, the price sticker. It says something about the lack of respect vinyl has got in the last several years when the record was priced at under a buck nearly seven years ago. It occurred to me it has languished in that box for the whole of my six year old daughter's life. Most of the albums I have bought have been in inventory at least three to four years.



Now, at least for a little while, they will all be loved again.

Love And Money - Hallelujah Man

Confessions of a Music Junkie

I originally planned to buy only vinyl that I couldn't find anywhere else. However, when The Great Escape have a 25% off vinyl sale and lots of stock, I found myself picking up a bunch of stuff - and the best part was I traded a bunch of cheap crap I had left in a box, so I wasn't out of pocket at all. Here's my latest purchases:



The Roaring Boys - Self Titled (1986)
Last Gentlemen - Self Titled (1985)
The Adventures - Self Titled (1985)
The Colour Field - The Colour Field (12" Single, 1984)
Actuel - Monuments (1984)
The Blow Monkeys - Forbidden Fruit (EP, 1985)
New Musik - Sanctuary (1982)
Hubert Kah - Angel 07 (12" Single, 1985)
The Kane Gang - Don't Look Any Further (12" Single, 1987)
Hurrah! - This Boy (EP, 1985)
Les Enfants - Touche (1984)
Time Bandits - Can't Wait For Another World (1988)
David & David - Boomtown (1986)
Max Eider - Best Kisser In The World (1988)

Total cost for all the records was about $25.00. Tomorrow I'm visiting the Great Escape store in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Obviously, I'd better hurry up and buy my new turntable!

Client - Can You Feel (2009)

Very cool James Bond/Hitman inspired video for the new single from the electronic temptresses.

Love Turns To Lies

Although I've posted a track or two by Chris Rea before, I don't think I've ever mentioned the emotional connection I've felt to this man's music for about twenty years. I may have mentioned before that I joined a CD club back in 1988 when I bought my first CD player, and if my memory is correct, Chris' compilation album New Light Through Old Windows was a "selection of the month" for January 1989. Although I didn't expect that much when I ordered it, I was so impressed that I promptly sought out each album going back in time to the late seventies.

My regular blog readers will know that a gruff-voiced northerner with a slide guitar and a Ry Cooder fixation was not exactly the kind of music I was listening to, then or now. But the quality of the songwriting, and my intense emotional connection to the things he was singing about left a huge lasting impression. Dealing with the end of a relationship, I could sense understanding in songs such as "It's All Gone" and "Ace of Hearts". It was the kind of music that would continue to accompany me on new emotional journeys as the years passed - falling in love, marriage, children, missing home, dreaming of a better life. In a remarkable way, Chris has always been there for me. I'm sure many other music lovers have had a similar experience.

While I could have picked from dozens of tracks that I like, I'm going to post three in particular that have a strong emotional resonance for me. The first is the title track from his 1984 album, Wired To The Moon. Much of Chris' songwriting dwells on the joy of being a father, and even before I became one myself I enjoyed the tale of watching a little girl dreaming in her bed, knowing that one day she will lose that precious innocence. Now I have a six year old, the words are even more magical:

Because you want her to laugh
You want her to play
Leave her in sweet dreams
She may lose them one day
Keep her wired to the moon

Chris Rea - Wired To The Moon

The second is a track that almost always leaves me with a tear in my eye and a dry throat, "Hello Friend" from his 1986 album, On The Beach. It's one of those great songs that captures perfectly the mood of seeing someone and feeling the regret and nostalgia of a love that didn't work out:

Bridges You burn, long since turned into ashes
And there were no reasons, now the river runs dry
Seems it's gone in the wind
Washed away in the rain
And the years go by and by

Chris Rea - Hello Friend

Finally I'm going to post a track from Chris' 1985 album Shamrock Diaries, "Love Turns To Lies", one of several songs on that album that deal with losing someone and feeling betrayed. For an emotionally sensitive nineteen year old, these words were a kind of lifeline, a signal that other people have been there and made it through - a theme Chris has consistently used, starting with his first hit single, "Fool (If You Think It's Over)".

Crazy though what I say may seem
I could have learned to mend these broken dreams
You could have pushed, I would have gently fell
I could have played the graceful one so well

Chris Rea - Love Turns To Lies

By the way, I've ripped these from my original CD's. While may collection has dramatically ebbed and flowed over the years, I've held on to these very tightly for over twenty years. Not bad for a spur of the moment purchase from a CD club.

Random 80's Tuesday

Ornamental - Crystal Nights (7" Single, 1987)
His Latest Flame - Somebody's Gonna Get Hurt (7" Single, 1986)
Power - Work Hard (7" Single, 1986)

I Spy For The FBI

I'm sure most of you get some bizarre bank wire scam emails from time to time. I got this one at the weekend and it is hilarious. And, apparently, from one of the most powerful men in America! I've provided a helpful commentary.

Welcome To Federal Bureau of Investigations.

ROBERT MUELLER III
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FBI
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS FBI WASHINGTON DC.

Email:fbialertfunds@aol.com.

FBI SEEKING TO WIRETAP INTERNET

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS SEEKING TO WIRETAP THE INTERNET.

Attn: -

WE BELIEVE THAT THIS NOTIFICATION MEETS YOU IN A VERY GOOD PRESENT STATE OF MIND AND HEALTH. (and just how, exactly, do you know what my state of mind is? Have you been reading my blog? Could you inform my wife, she has no idea where my head is at these days) WE THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) IN CONJUNCTION WITH SOME OTHER RELEVANT INVESTIGATION AGENCIES (so who are the irrelevant ones? The Bureau of Suspicious Cowpat Formations?) HERE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA HAVE RECENTLY BEEN INFORMED THROUGH OUR GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE MONITORING NETWORK (that would be Raoul in Andorra, presumably, the one with the gimpy leg) THAT YOU PRESENTLY HAVE A TRANSACTION GOING ON WITH THE NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT AS REGARDS TO YOUR OVER-DUE CONTRACT PAYMENT WHICH WAS FULLY ENDORSED IN YOUR FAVOR ACCORDINGLY. (I work with contracts all the time, I have no idea what this means. You can't endorse a contract.)

IT MIGHT INTEREST YOU TO KNOW THAT WE HAVE TAKING OUT TIME IN SCREENING THROUGH THIS PROJECT (well, you guys probably didn't have anything better to do, right?) AS STIPULATED ON OUR PROTOCOL OF OPERATION AND HAVE FINALLY CONFIRMED THAT YOUR CONTRACT PAYMENT IS100% GENUINE AND HITCH FREE FROM ALL FACT (yeah, I was just wondering if my latest deals are hitch-free, I use that expression all the time) AND OF WHICH YOU HAVE THE LAWFUL RIGHT TO CLAIM YOUR FUND WITHOUT ANY FURTHER DELAY. HAVING SAID ALL THIS, WE WILL FURTHER ADVISE THAT YOU GO AHEAD IN DEALING WITH THE NATIONAL BANK OFFICE ACCORDINGLY AS WE WILL BE MONITORING ALL THEIR SERVICES WITH YOU AS WELL AS YOUR CORRESPONDENCE AT ALL LEVEL. (Gee, thanks, guys, that makes me feel a lot better. Should I mention Waco, just to be on the safe side?)

IN ADDENDUM, ALSO BE INFORMED THAT WE RECENTLY HAD A MEETING WITH THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF THE NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT, IN THE PERSON OF MR. AHMED NASIR ABIDINE ALONG WITH SOME OF THE TOP OFFICIALS OF THE MINISTRY REGARDING YOUR FUND AND THEY MADE US TO UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR FILE HAS BEEN HELD IN A BASE (In a base? Like, an umbrella base? An army base?) DEPENDING ON WHEN YOU PERSONALLY COME FOR THE CLAIM. (heck, I'm on a flight there right now!) THEY ALSO TOLD US THAT THE ONLY PROBLEM THEY ARE FACING RIGHT NOW IS THAT SOME UNSCRUPULOUS ELEMENTS ARE USING THIS PROJECT AS AN AVENUE TO SCAM INNOCENT PEOPLE OFF THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY BY IMPERSONATING THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR AND THE NATIONAL BANK OFFICE. (I'm sorry, I just don't believe people do that. But, hey, I'll trust you on this!)

WE WERE ALSO MADE TO UNDERSTAND THAT A LADY WITH NAME MRS. JANET WHITE FROM ARIZONA HAS ALREADY CONTACTED THEM AND ALSO PRESENTED TO THEM ALL THE NECESSARY DOCUMENTATIONS EVIDENCING YOUR CLAIM PURPORTED TO HAVE BEEN SIGNED PERSONALLY BY YOU PRIOR TO THE RELEASE OF YOUR CONTRACT FUND VALUED AT ABOUT US$3.5,000,000.00(THREE POINT FIVE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS), BUT THE NATIONAL BANK OFFICE DID THE WISE THING BY INSISTING ON HEARING FROM YOU PERSONALLY BEFORE THEY GO AHEAD ON WIRING YOUR FUND TO THE BANK INFORMATION WHICH WAS FORWARDED TO THEM BY THE ABOVE NAMED LADY, THIS WAS THE REASON THEY CONTACTED US SO AS TO ASSIST THEM IN MAKING THE INVESTIGATIONS.

THEY FURTHER INFORMED US THAT WE SHOULD WARN OUR DEAR CITIZENS WHO MUST HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE CONTRACT PAYMENT, WHICH WAS AWARDED TO THEM FROM THE NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT, TO BE VERY CAREFUL PRIOR TO THESE IRREGULARITIES SO THAT THEY DON'T FALL VICTIM TO THIS UGLY CIRCUMSTANCE. (words fail me here) AND IN CASE YOU ARE ALREADY DEALING WITH ANYBODY OR OFFICE CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT, YOU ARE FURTHER ADVISED TO STOP FURTHER CONTACT WITH THEM IN YOUR BEST INTEREST AND THEN CONTACT IMMEDIATELY THE REAL OFFICE OF THE NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT (NBE) ONLY WITH THE BELOW INFORMATION'S ACCORDINGLY:


OFFICE ADDRESS: PRESIDENCY OFFICE OF THE PAY MASTER
GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION AND SPECIAL ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT ON FINANCIAL MATTERS

NAME:MR AHMED NASIR ABIDINE.

CONTACT ADDRESS: 24 SHERIF STREET, CAIRO EGYPT.
CONTACT NUMBER: +20117409022

FAX LINE: +2018303233

EMAIL ADDRESS:NBEFOREIGNCONTRACTPAYLINE@HOTMAIL.COM

NBEPAYLINE@HOTMAIL.COM

NBEPAYMENTINFORMATION@GMAIL.COM

NOTE:

IN YOUR BEST INTEREST, ANY MESSAGE THAT DOESN'T COME FROM THE ABOVE OFFICIAL EMAIL ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBERS SHOULD NOT BE REPLIED TO AND SHOULD BE DISREGARDED ACCORDINGLY FOR SECURITY REASONS. MEANWHILE, WE WILL ADVISE THAT YOU CONTACT THE NATIONAL BANK OFFICE IMMEDIATELY WITH THE ABOVE EMAIL ADDRESS AND REQUEST THAT THEY ATTEND TO YOUR PAYMENT FILE AS DIRECTED SO AS TO ENABLE YOU RECEIVE YOUR CONTRACT FUND ACCORDINGLY.

ENSURE YOU FOLLOW ALL THEIR PROCEDURES AS MAY BE REQUIRED BY THEM, IT WILL FURTHER HELP HASTEN THE WHOLE PROCEDURES AS REGARDS TO THE RELEASE OF YOUR FUND TO YOU AS DESIGNATED. ALSO HAVE IN MIND THAT THE NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT EQUALLY HAS THEIR OWN PROTOCOL OF OPERATION AS STIPULATED ON THERE BANKING TERMS, SO DELAY COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS. ONCE AGAIN, WE WILL ADVISE THAT YOU CONTACT THEM WITH THE ABOVE EMAIL ADDRESS AND MAKE SURE YOU FORWARD TO THEM ALL THE NECESSARY INFORMATION'S WHICH THEY MAY REQUIRE FROM YOU PRIOR TO THE RELEASE OF YOUR FUND TO YOU ACCORDINGLY.

ALL MODALITIES (Isn't this a mathematical term? Help!) HAVE ALREADY BEEN WORKED OUT EVEN BEFORE YOU WERE CONTACTED AND NOTE THAT WE WILL BE MONITORING ALL YOUR DEALINGS WITH THEM AS YOU PROCEED SO YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. ALL WE REQUIRE FROM YOU HENCEFORTH IS AN UPDATE SO AS TO ENABLE US BE ON TRACK WITH YOU AND THE NATIONAL BANK OF EGYPT. WITHOUT WASTING MUCH TIME, WE WANT YOU TO CONTACT THEM IMMEDIATELY WITH THE ABOVE EMAIL ADDRESS SO AS TO ENABLE THEM ATTEND TO YOUR CASE ACCORDINGLY WITHOUT ANY FURTHER DELAY AS TIME IS ALREADY RUNNING OUT.

IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF ANY MORE INFORMATION'S IN REGARDS TO THIS NOTIFICATION, FEEL FREE TO GET BACK TO US SO THAT WE CAN BRIEF YOU MORE AS WE ARE HERE TO GUIDE YOU DURING AND AFTER THIS PROJECT HAS BEEN COMPLETELY PERFECTED AND YOU HAVE RECEIVED YOUR CONTRACT FUND AS STATED. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR ANTICIPATED CO-OPERATION IN ADVANCE AS WE EARNESTLY AWAIT YOUR URGENT RESPONSE TO THIS MATTER.

BEST REGARDS

Robert S. Mueller III
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue,

NW Washington, D.C.
20535-0001, USA

Email:fbialertfunds@aol.com.

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: THIS COMMUNICATION AND ITS ATTACHMENTS MAY CONTAIN NON-PUBLIC, CONFIDENTIAL OR LEGALLY PRIVILEGED INFORMATION. THE UNLAWFUL INTERCEPTION, USE OR DISCLOSURE OF SUCH INFORMATION IS PROHIBITED. IF YOU ARE NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT, OR HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION IN ERROR, PLEASE NOTIFY THE SENDER IMMEDIATELY BY REPLY EMAIL AND DELETE ALL COPIES OF THIS COMMUNICATION AND ATTACHMENTS WITHOUT READING OR SAVING THEM.

Who teaches these guys English? Do they have the complete works of Shakespeare and a stack of National Geographics? I was just thinking, I could get my six year old to teach them better vocabulary skills. I wouldn't rip them off, or anything...

MFL Download Charts

Alternative Radio - Valley of the Evergreen (#2)

1. (-) Moss Poles - Underground mp3
2. (-) Alternative Radio - Valley of the Evergreen mp3
3. (-) Baumann - Metro Man mp3
4. (-) Search Party - Urban Foxes mp3
5. (-) Floy Joy - Weak in the Presence of Beauty mp3
6. (-) Private Lives - The Memory of Your Name mp3
7. (-) Sideway Look - Inside I Burn mp3
8. (13) Rumblefish - Mexico mp3
9. (11) Vic Reeves & Wonder Stuff - Dizzy mp3
10. (12) H2O - You Take My Breath Away mp3
11. (18) November Group - The Promise mp3
12. (14) Freeez - That Beats My Patience mp3
13. (2) Farmer's Boys - For You mp3
14. (17) The Fountainhead - Someone Like You mp3
15. (10) Bon Voyage - Birthday mp3
16. (9) Lindsey Buckingham - Countdown mp3
17. (3) The Big Supreme - Remind Me mp3
18. (4) Snowglobe - Aimless Sailor mp3
19. (6) Mainframe - 5 Minutes mp3
20. (18) Blue Mercedes - That Beauty Is You mp3

No charts for three weeks so another big shakeup. For the first time in ages, no Midge Ure or Ultravox track - we'll have to fix that later today. I got the Moss Poles track from their informative website, which unfortunately seems to have been taken down in the last few days. BTW, I wouldn't recommend searching for "moss poles" on YouTube, unless you like a certain British model in her undies...

Hollywood Beyond - If (1987)

Birmingham, England singer/songwriter Mark Rogers, under the name Hollywood Beyond, gave it his best shot on If, an energetic, soulful techno-rock record produced by Bernard Edwards, Mike Thorne, Stephen Hague and others. Rogers' voice isn't altogether distinctive, but he croons and belts ably enough to be heard. The music likewise bends toward facelessness, but If's slickness, verve and variety keep it from being boring. Overambitious and premature, perhaps, but not at all bad. (Trouser Press)

Hollywood Beyond - If (1987)

1. Opening Scenario
2. Vision Of Love
3. After Midnight
4. Save Me
5. Crimes Of Passion
6. What's The Colour Of Money?
7. No More Tears
8. Metal On Glass
9. Shadows I Remember
10. Hollywood Beyond

Download now available legally from Amazon!

Any Trouble - Any Trouble (1983)

Stiff Records had great commercial hopes for this Manchester quartet, led by balding, bespectacled singer/guitarist/pianist Clive Gregson, whose songs — mostly about the unhappy side of love — have always shown real talent. It unfortunately took the group a long time to escape their basic facelessness and locate a sound, a slow start that may be why Any Trouble ended without ever receiving the acclaim they deserved. Any Trouble, by a half-new lineup, is the band's first great album (this being their third studio outing), a wonderful new blend of soul and pop strengthened by Gregson's sharpening melodic sense and lightening lyrical outlook. "Please Don't Stop," "Man of the Moment," "Northern Soul" and other tracks resemble a non-obnoxious Hall and Oates crossed with Costello and recorded in Motown; production by David Kershenbaum provides the sonic variety and sophistication previously lacking. Gregson's development into a powerful, sensitive singer is merely the icing on the cake. (Trouser Press)

Any Trouble - Any Trouble (1983)

1. I'll Be Your Man
2. Please Don't Stop
3. Touch and Go
4. Foundations
5. Party in the Streets
6. Northern Soul
7. Man of the Moment
8. Time Does Not Heal
9. You'd Better Not Go Home
10. Falling in Love With You

Download
or
Download

Alternative Radio - Valley of Evergreen (1984)

Here's another band that's new to me. This is the extended mix.

Alternative Radio - Valley of Evergreen (extended)

StarQuest Nashville

I've not really been in the mood to post music this week. My six year old daughter performed at a dance competition in Nashville last weekend and earned two high gold medals. She was competing against several seven and eight year olds so this time she did not place, but she did win the trophy for best junior costume. The two pictures above show her lyrical ballet performance of Rascal Flatts' "Skin (SaraBeth)", portraying a young girl struck by cancer but who dances in her dreams. It's a little dark, and advanced for her age, but if you're going to stand out, why just do another show tune or Disney routine?

You might remember I mentioned that I edited all the music for our studio. The high point for me was that even in competing against some of the most affluent studios in Nashville, our music sounded fantastic and was (IMHO) much better edited. It's hard to fit a four to five minute song, especially one with a story arc, into the required two to three minutes, without destroying the emotional impact or the musical flow. Additionally, you have to take into account the choreography of the routine, and the ability of the dancer - perhaps extending an interlude or shortening a gap that becomes noticeable on stage.

My favorite edit was in cutting "Wild Wild West" by The Escape Club, a fun little song that clips along quite briskly. I took a pistol shot effect from the 12" Single and added it at the front and at the end, curtailed a verse, and - in a moment of inspired genius - sampled the drumbeat from the B-52's "Love Shack" at one point, which sounded great over a large sound system.

This weekend, we are competing in Nashville again. You go, girls!

Don't Know Why There's No Sun Up In The Sky

Just thought I would take a moment to remember my grandmother, Norah Lillian Mansell, who is sadly no longer with us but was born 100 years ago today, February 5th 1909.

Norah was a quietly remarkable woman. Born into a wealthy and influential family, she chose to elope to London with her beloved fiance Albert, a dashing carpenter of modest means. Their extraordinarily touching relationship is chronicled in a series of letters dating from the war years, when Albert served in the Royal Corps of Engineers.

I remember her for many things. One of my earliest memories is of watching the Doctor Who serial Terror of the Zygons in her little bungalow at Christmas time. I remember her devotion to her friends and her love of her family, her cat Blackie, her regular supply of PG Tips cards, and playing Lexicon with me on a regualar basis.

I can still taste her tea (no-one else made it quite the same), inevitably served in a little yellow mug, and the various treasures and ornaments that she collected over the years, including a simple plastic cross that reflected her honest faith and the quiet pain of the loss of her husband from a premature heart attack and her only son Alan from a tragic plane crash during his service with the Royal Air Force.

I remember playing her one of my favorite albums (Jeff Lynne's Armchair Theatre) in the car and we discussed two songs, "Stormy Weather" and "September Song" that she also remembered very fondly from her younger days.

She slipped away from this world in much the same way that she lived in it, quietly and unobtrusively, having taught me at least one important lesson - that a modest life, a humble heart, and earnest devotion to those closest to you is not only an acceptable ambition, but ultimately the only enduring one worth pursuing. Today, I feel her prescence and am comforted by the thought that somewhere out there her love shines on, a gentle beacon to us who linger yet in life's daily shadows.