My “Music Life” blog will now be taking a short hiatus.This will be my last posting until Tues. 7/6/10.Time for a little ‘vacation’.Dorothy & I will be going to Portland, OR for a few days; a nice city to visit.
We have been to Portland, OR on two previous occasions – in 2006 and again in 2008, for my 50th birthday – were you one of the people who attended “Ron-Kon”?RK50PDX808!If you were, you know that there are a plethora of record stores in the greater Portland area (“Everyday Music”, “Crossroads”, “Music Millennium” anybody?).
And I will get to catch up with old friends Ken H and Mark M – Mark lives near Portland in Vancouver, WA – and Ken will catch the train down from Seattle.WillametteRiver boat trip (Coast Guard approved!), Rose Garden, shopping / record stores, artisan pizza, $2 Tuesday @ The Mash Tun, Kennedy School etc. (I heard that the $2 Tuesdays are no more - but that they have a $2.50 happy hour most days)...
The first time we visited Portland, it was extremely hot – 100 degrees or more – so Portland remains a ‘hot’ place to visit, as far as I am concerned.In ’08, we ran into some August rainstorms, but – I kept expecting it to get hot.I’ve had my eye on the weather in Portland for a while now – it doesn’t look like we’re headed for a heat-wave this time!
I have really been a record collecting tourist in 2010 – with visits to Phoenix and the San Francisco bay area – specifically for record store shopping – let’s add San Diego and Portland to that list!My only other regular haunt that I’ve missed this year (so far) is Las Vegas!
On all of our visits, we have stayed at the Kennedy School, which is a property owned & operated by the McMenamin folks – there is a brewery in the hotel!We like the neighborhood around there – officially called “Concordia”, we have spent a lot of time wandering up and down Alberta Street – and enjoying coffee at Extracto on Killingsworth.I plan on introducing Dorothy to Stanich’s on this trip – I went there with 95% of my record collecting friends in 2008, and I think Dorothy will enjoy it’s burger & fries – and atmosphere!
Today, I’m just going to write about the last 20 years of Etienne Daho’s work.In addition to the titles above, he also produced some neat stuff for Lio, Francoise Hardy, Bill Pritchard etc.In the new century, we’re already into his 3rd new album – and there may even be more than I have listed here – but an album approx. every 3 years is an OK schedule.
I think “L’invitation” and “Reevolution” are both copy-guarded, so maybe that’s why I haven’t played them much?Can’t dub to play in the car?A friend got me the LP of “Corps & Armes”, so I played that one a bit more than the others?
I got onto Mr. Daho’s work in the early 80’s – I did my best to advise all my friends that there was pop music being made in France that shouldn’t be ignored – often using the music of Etienne Daho as a case in point.
I liked the first two Roxy Music albums when they were new releases – never quite sure if I could reconcile ‘the style vs. the content’ – I was very young, then.These days, I go for the first 4 x Roxy Music albums – and I am much less worried about ‘the style’.
CD801 LIVE @ MANCHESTER (1977)EXPRESSION UKEXVP 2CD
1997 9 TRKS Live 1977 ManchesterUniversity
CDMANZANERA ARCHIVES - RARE ONE (Collection)EXPRESSION UKEXPCD 21
2000 11 TRK Collection; Quiet Sun etc.
CD801 LATINOEXPRESSION UKEXPCD 24
2001 11 TRKS + CD-ROM
CD6pmHANNIBALUSHNCD 1471
2004 12 TRKS
CD50 MINUTES LATERHANNIBALUSHNCD 1503
2005 11 TRKS
I got interested in Phil Manzanera’s solo albums initially because both Robert Wyatt and Brian Eno sang on “Diamond Head”.I like “801 Live” (1975) better now than I did back then.I was delighted to get the “801 Live @ Manchester 1977” CD recently, really excellent sound, professional recording – just not as many songs as “Hull” – but a much better recording.Manzanera always seemed to work with very interesting vocalists:Bryan Ferry, Simon Ainley, Tim Finn, Godley & Crème etc.“6pm” and “50 Minutes Later” are both very good, too (again feat. Wyatt & Eno!).There are some I’m missing...
Universal Japan must have had a good reaction to the SA-CD’s they scheduled for this month (I don’t have my SA-CD “Who’s Next” as yet – I will advise) – because a few more expensive SA-CD titles have been scheduled for an August 25 release!
UCGG-9003BOHM & VPO / MOZART: REQUIEM (SA-CD; SHM-CD)
UCGD-9004DAVIS & THE ROYAL CONCERTGEBOUW ORCHESTRA / BERLIOZ: SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE (SA-CD; SHM-CD)
UCGD-9003KARAJAN & VPO / R. STRAUSS: ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA, Etc. (SA-CD; SHM-CD)
Jazz:
UCGO-9001BILL EVANS / PORTRAIT IN JAZZ +1 (SA-CD; SHM-CD)
UCGO-9002MILES DAVIS / RELAXIN' WITH THE MILES DAVIS QUINTET (SA-CD; SHM-CD)
UCGO-9003WES MONTGOMERY / THE INCREDIBLE JAZZ GUITAR OF WES MONTOGOMERY (SA-CD; SHM-CD)
Unlike the batch that was previously scheduled, I don’t think any of these titles have previously appeared as SA-CD’s!They retail for 4,500 yen – so – expect to pay around $60 each for any of these titles.Not only are they Super Audio CD’s, they are Super High Materials CD’s!
To be honest, I went for the 10CC and Black Sabbath titles – in both cases, I am replacing 80’s CD’s of each.The 10CC album is known for it’s “good sound” and the Black Sabbath is a decent album, and much in need of a better mastering – and, no, I do not want the Euro deluxe 2CD + DVD Black Sabbath re-mastering.Just the proper album sounding as good as it can sound.
Can’t find in my index if I’ve written about Harry Nilsson (1941 – 1994) before.Likely not.
I was pretty much always aware of Harry Nilsson – “Everybody’s Talkin’” was a massive hit when I was young.And I must’ve been the right age for “The Point” whether it was narrated by Ringo Starr or Dustin Hoffman.I do not keep a large collection of Nilsson:
CDALL TIME GREATEST HITSRCA JPNBVCP-2310
1989 20 TRK Collection ('91 issue)
LPDUIT ON MON DEIRCA USAPL1-0817
1975 11 TRKS
LPFLASH HARRYMERCURY AUS6302 022
1980 10 TRKS
LPKNNILLSSONNRCA USAFL1-2276
1977 10 TRKS
LPLITTLE TOUCH OF SCHMILSSON IN THE NIGHT, ARCA USAPL1-0097
1973 12 TRKS
CDNILSSON SCHMILSSONRCA USPCD1-4515
1971 10 TRKS
LPNILSSON SCHMILSSONRCA USLSP 4515
1971 10 TRKS insert
7"PER CHI / LEGGENDA (PS)RCA ITN 1658
1972 2 TRKS with pic sleeve
CDPOINT!, THERCA US65128.2
1971 17 TRKS ('02 issue) (3 x bonus tracks)
LPPOINT!, THERCA USAYL1-3811
1971 14 TRKS re-issue
LPSANDMANRCA USAPL1-1031
1976 9 TRKS
LPSON OF SCHMILSSONRCA USLSP 4717
1972 11 TRKS
I remember that I first knew something was up when I saw that he had written a song that appeared in The Monkees’ movie, “Head” (“Daddy’s Song”, sung by Davy Jones).
Of course, I snickered along with everyone else when he released “You’re Breakin’ My Heart” (I understand it was the B-side of a 45 in England!) with “F*ck You” in the lyrics.
But as we all know – in the early 70’s, I was lured away from domestic pop culture by European music.So, I missed everything between ’72 and “Flash Harry” – a truly odd LP (and not on CD, as of 6/10, as far as I know) – Eric Idle appears!
The ‘odd man out’ here is the Italian-language 45 that I was made aware of – it’s “Without You” sung in Italian by Nilsson himself!
I know his 60’s albums are very highly regarded, perhaps one of the last bastions of U.S. singer / songwriter that I have yet to investigate.
So, I will continue picking up his LP’s (and CD’s) as they cross my path.I’ve liked everything I’ve found so far.
I miss Tower Records stores.There were a ton of them in California, and we used to go to a lot of them.The last time I was in a Tower Records store, it was in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.Before that, it was in Tokyo, Japan.We all of the Towers went out in ’06, it made me really sad – though I didn’t totally realize it at the time.
We used to go to Tower Records in Sherman Oaks, CA (in the Galleria) after dinner, sometimes.It was a good evening event, stroll on in, check out the new imported CD Singles, see what’s on sale.The big one at 8801 Sunset Blvd in West Hollywood was always fun – I had been going there ever since it opened in the early 70’s.As a youngster, I was lucky enough to have gone to San Francisco with my Dad – and actually patronized the 2525 Jones St. (Columbus/Bay) location before there were any Towers in the L.A. area.
I distinctly remember going to Tower in Anaheim, CA – in search of Can LP’s.They seemed to have them all – German pressings, even!
What music will I hear in a Tower Records tonight?Godley & Crème?The “Monkey Chant”?Some hard-core nonsense?C.M.U. “Space Cabaret”?I certainly heard a lot of new (to me) stuff playing in Tower Records.
And then there were the glorious outlet stores – the one at 3rd & Townshend in San Francisco or the one on Ventura Blvd in Sherman Oaks.I bought an absolute ton of stuff at those Tower Outlet stores!‘New” import CD’s for $3.99, $5.99…
I also remember how much fun I used to have at the Berkeley, CA Towers in the 80’s – the large ‘spoken word’ section, all the jazz…before there was ever an Amoeba in sight!
I also remember visiting Tower Records in London – it seemed expensive, and all I remember buying were PAL 8mm tapes!(Frank Zappa, John Martyn etc.) – and, of course, the glorious 5-storyTower in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan!Now that’s a great record store.I remember meeting somebody in the basement café at that Tower.And it’s still there!(The Tower, maybe not the café).
And I guess there is a Tower Records website that somebody bought the rights to – nothing to do with Tower Records, as I remember it.And Russ Solomon opened another record store in Sacramento, CA – “R5 Records” I think it’s called.Never been out there to check it out, as yet.I wonder if it’s any good?
Tower Records was a serious retailer of new music.Chances are, they would have had pretty much whatever you were looking for – I bet they still do in Tokyo!The tiny Kuala Lumpur Tower Records was OK, I bought an “Island Records” NTSC DVD there – my last purchase from a Tower Records.
I really miss the California stores that Tower Records used to have.
We went to San Diego, CA the other weekend – always an interesting, nice place.We enjoyed our lunch at the Stone Brewery in Escondido, CA.We visited Lou’s Records in Encinitas and RecordCity in San Diego.We saw The Skatalites at the Belly Up in SolanaBeach.Good coffee at Calabria Coffee Roasters in North Park.
CONNIFF, RAY –HAPPY BEAT, COLUMBIAUS CD EZ
CORDUROY –DAD MAN CAT, HOLLYWOOD US CD U.S. version
CRUSADERS, THE –FREE AS THE WIND, MCA JPN CD jazz
DAMNED, THE –NOT THE CAPTAIN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY?, DEMON UK CD Live ‘77
DEVO –BABY DOLL, ENIGMA US CD Single
GOLDEN EARRING –GRAB IT FOR A SECOND, POLYDOR DE LP
INDOCHINE –AU ZENITH, ARIOLA IT LP Live ‘86
JAGGER, MICK –GODDESS IN THE DOORWAY, VIRGIN JPN CD bonus track
MANZANERA, PHIL / 801 –801 LIVE @ MANCHESTER 1977, EXPRESSION UK CD
N'DOUR, YOUSSOU –NOTHING'S IN VAIN (COONO DU REER), NONESUCH JPN CD
ONO, LISA –BOAS FESTAS, TOSHIBA JPN CD
ONO, LISA –PRETTY WORLD, TOSHIBA JPN CD
ORIGINAL LOVE –SESSIONS, TOSHIBA JPN CD 1992 w/United Future Organization; kami sleeve
TAYLOR QUARTET, JAMES –EXTENDED PLAY, ACID JAZZ UK CD EP
TEI, TOWA –SWEET ROBOTS AGAINST THE MACHINE (RE: TOWA TEI), CUTTING EDGE JPN CD w/Tipsy etc.
V.A. –COMPACT REAL WORLD, REALWORLD US CD 1990 sampler
V.A. –POP A PARIS – Comp. #1, SUNNYSIDE US CD Michel Polnareff, Serge Gainsbourg etc.
VELOSO, CAETANO / GAL COSTA –DOMINGO (SUNDAY), PHILIPS JPN CD ‘67
YARDBIRDS, THE –ULTIMATE!, RHINO US 2CD collection
So, the usual grab-bag of oddities to be had down there.Everything was used (except for the Mick Jagger CD).Also got some good 12” single dupes (Voice of the Beehive, Yello etc.) @ Record City – they really seem to put out decent 80’s 12” singles for $1.
= = =
Our next journey out of L.A. will be to Portland, OR in a few weeks.Always an interesting place to visit – Everyday Music!And I get to catch up with Ken H and Mark M.This blog will be taking a vacation between 6-26-10 and 7-5-10 – a “Summer Vacation”, if you will.
