Welcome Home - Til Tuesday

It pisses me off when great bands and great albums are forgotten. This was Til Tuesday's second album and it was at the very least an absolute masterpiece. Aimee Mann has been for many years one of America's most talented song writers and it is clearly evident by this album. From beginning to end each and every song was clearly thought out, composed and created with meticulous care, much like the rest of Til Tuesday's small but ingenious catalog. Among the tracks is what I consider one of the most amazing songs ever written "Coming Up Close" is perhaps one of the most beautiful songs ever composed by any artist and it a shame more people are not aware of it. "On Sunday" is also a fantastic song which truly displays Aimee Mann's amazing vocal talents which are often over looked. "What About Love" and "David Denies" would also have charted well and perhaps gone to number one as they are also perfect songs, if only the band had received proper support from their record company. Til Tuesday a true tragedy of the recording industry, a band that never received their due credit. In a age where talentless cookie cutter pop seems to be the order of the day, it's that much more disheartening that a band like this was allowed to fall through the cracks. This Album is must have for any music fan, it's freakin amazing.

I have included a low quality video of Coming Up Close below, when Til Tuesday released a video collection through CBS Fox in 1986 (VHS) this video was never included, probably because it hadn't been filmed yet. This means that someday this footage will probably be lost forever, as it stands this is the best that's available, and all that's left. I hope you appreciate it as much as I do...

UK Decay - For Madmen Only

Recorded in 1981 this album was called For Madmen Only and was released under the Fresh Records label. It was engineered by John Loder, Tony Cook and Simon Scofield at Southern Studios in London England. With a unique sound that seemed a cross between goth and punk UK Decay was one of the early pioneers of the genre and this albums was a brilliantly creative piece of work. It's very dark, nightmarish journey, bazaar insane and morbid, as far from the mainstream as one could possible get. Though it is now 27 years since it was recorded the album holds up incredibly well. The band members were Steven Abbot, Steve Harle, Steve Spon, Eddie Branch with former members Paul Wilson and Martin Smith.

The tracks are as follows...

Duel

Battle of the Elements

Shattered

Stage Stuck

Last in the House

Of Flames

Unexpected Guest

Sexual

Dorian

Decadance

Mayday Malady

For Madmen Only

Led Zeppelin coming to Canada

Yeah, like I'll believe that when I see it...But I shit you not rumors abound one of the greatest rock'n roll bands of all time is set to play four...yes I said four !!!, dates in Canada. This is according to the Much Music web site so don't get too excited yet. There's been no official word from the band on this subject so I choose to remain dubious...Hypothetically Speaking of course, if they do decide to show up in Toronto, I'm kinda hoping they won't stick us for $350 bucks per ticket ( Can anyone say "Van Halen") I love the band very much but I seriously don't feel like getting bent over and !!?&#@!!(@!!!*....and it's not like they need the money.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

This movie premiered this week at the Cannes Film Festival and its causing quite the quagmire. Apparently critics are so desperate to see this flick they're actually jumping over barriers only to be brought down by security as they attempt in vain to gain access to the theater. I have to admit that I myself am also desperate to see it. So far the reviews aren't great but if I know anything at all about film critics, it's that most of them are incredibly pretentious and don't know shit. I'll reserve my judgement till I see it.

Melanie C in Toronto

I took this shot ( and many others ) last night at the jammmed packed Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto. Melanie C aka. Sporty Spice played to a sold out crowd of absolutely hysterical fans and literally blew the roof off the building in what was perhaps one of the greatest small venue shows I have seen in years. An accomplished solo artist in her own right, and dubbed by the media "talented Spice" she certainly did not dis-appoint the audience. Arriving from Montrael where she played a show last evening she blew into town for a one night stand playing all her hits as she continues touring her latest album "This Time". To all who saw this show ( myself included ) it was quite the extravaganza. Hopefully Melanie will make T.O a regular stop in the coming years...rumor has it she's in the studio working on new material.

The Seeds of Love

 Tears For Fears. "The Seeds Of Love" was the follow up to their biggest album release "Songs From the Big Chair". As impressive as the singles from this albumn are, I think the tracks that weren't release as singles are even more impressive. Produced with a budget of over a million pounds ( 2 million dollars ) this album was a considered massively expensive for its time... and well worth the money. Besides the singles "Woman in Chains", "Sowing the Seeds of Love" and "Advice for the Young at Heart" the rest of the album in particular " Year of The Knife", and "Standing on The Corner.." are equally fantastic. The energy and compositional complexity of this album, with layer upon layer of tracks both instrumental and vocal, make it the most intricate production ever created by Tears for Fears or any band for that matter. In fact the break up of the band shortly after the completion of this album was largely believed to have been due to Roland Orzabal painful and frustrating approach to production... It is simply one of the greatest albums ever created.

Who is it, and when was it taken ?

 This photo was taken in 1969, what I find fascinating is that it doesn't look dated ( at least I don't think it does ) It's none other than Erin Grey, she was only 19 when it was taken.


...She was one of Sports Illustrated first swimsuit models?...Erin Grey played Wilma Dearing on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, if you've never heard of the show then go away right now and never return! It was a motion picture and TV series developed by Glen A. Larson and ran for two seasons, from 1979 - 1981...below is a  picture you should be more familiar with...

The Movie No One Wanted

On May 25, 1977, George Lucas's “Star Wars” movie opened in theaters, kicking off my three-decade-long fascination with a story from ''a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ". The movie went on to revolutionize Hollywood and ushered in the era of the big screen special effects epics. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, didn't start out as a blockbuster. It took a lot of convincing by creator, George Lucas, just to get a studio to take a gamble on the film. In fact, when it opened on May 25, 1977 only 32 theaters across the country agreed to show it..... In true Hollywood fashion, the film no one wanted to make went on to become the most successful movies of all time. The film earned $215 million dollars in the U.S. and $337 million worldwide during its initial release. Star Wars also went on to earn 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture...

Spoons

....In the Winter of 1982 one of my all time favorite Canadian groups hit the air waves with their first commercially successful single the song was "Nova Heart" and the Band was The Spoons. Produced and mixed by John Punter, who flew in from England to do so, this would be the first of many singles to rush up the charts by this talented foursome...The single would be followed quickly by the album "Arias & Symphonies" which would help establish the Spoons as one of Canada's premier New Wave bands. With the right balance between keyboard and guitar, they possessed an original sound that allowed them success not just in Canada but also America as well. Among their hits were Nova Heart, Arias & Symphonies Smiling In Winter, Tell No Lies, and Romantic Traffic. "Spoons" were and still are in my opinion Canada's greatest contribution to the New Wave movement. Although not as active as they use to be, the band still performs one-off concerts from time to time. Many of us North of the boarder still remember them fondly and continue to support them whenever the oppertunity arises. I had the privilege of seeing them perform last January at Jeff Healy's in Toronto, they still do gigs now and then and they are every bit as impressive now as they were 25 years ago....

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The Spoons are...

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Gordon Deppe...........lead vocals and guitar

Sandy Horne.............vocals and bass

Rob Preuss...............keyboards, synths..1979-85

Derrick Ross.............drums...1980-1985

Brett Wickens...........keyboards, synths...1979-80

Scott MacDonald........keyboards....1985-present

Steve Kendry............drums...1985 - present

Peter Shepherd.........drums...1979

Logan's Run Re-make

I will update this blog as more info becomes available...For the time being it's enough to say that there's a re-make in the works...

This is an absolutely fantastic film, based on a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson it was a spectacular screen adaption albiet not entirely true to the novel. This pre 1977 Sci-Fi film was unfortunately forgotten by most movie fans with the advent of Star Wars, it is never the less a absolute master piece which I consider to be one of the top 5 Science Fiction films of all time. Superb acting by Michael York, Jenny Agutter and Peter Ustinov combined with academy award winning special effects made this movie one of the most memorable I've ever seen. Some people feel this film is dated, I've never really understood what the hell that means, and I could disagree more. This is a perfect movie without faults. It was nominated for three Academy awards back in 1976 Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Special Effects (won). I wait with anticipation and hope they don't f*ck it up...can anyone say "Rollerball Remake" ???

Arthur C. Clarke Passes.

Any time J-Lo takes a shit it seems to make top news headlines, yet one of the greatest authors of our time passes away and it's hardly even freakin reported... Sir Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction writer, died on March 18 he was 90. He wrote more than 70 books most notably the The Sentinel", which was later adapted for Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey"., nominated for a Nobel Prize he was also credited with inventing the concept of communications satellites in 1945. Rest in peace Mr. Clarke, a life well lived.