Chalk it up

I went back in time last night.  For real, time travel is possible.  I went to the Jane's Addiction show at the Joint.  I have been a huge fan of Jane's since I first heard of them way back in the late 80's.  We are talking well over 20+ years.  Back when Tipper and Barbra were waging war on the free speech of artists, and plastering warning labels on everything and forcing young kids like myself to resort to breaking the law.  No I'm not talking about stealing, although it was a thought, I am talking about having to have someone "of age" buy cassette tapes for me.  "Hey man are you 18?  Will you buy this for me?"  How Rock 'n Roll is that?

Without a Parental Warning label on an album was like a glaring sign that the music was not good enough to spend hard earned allowance.  The blue hairs in Washington with their idea to clean up the industry had the opposite affect.  Now we had the government's approval, by placing a warning label on an album meant it was quality.  There was "adult" content on this cassette, or even better the F-word.  Tipper and Barb made it easy to spot quality, they put their seal of diss-approval, which was our quality control at work.  Now the industry had a standard to live up to...put the F-word in a song, sing about sex, drugs, and alcohol.  It was a formula to sell.  Thanks for making it so easy, thanks for the free publicity. 

Every Jane's album I purchased, legally or otherwise, had this seal of approval.  Their album Ritual de lo Habitual actually had an album cover that was changed because of the artworks offensive nature.  Super tame by today's standards (or lack thereof) but none the less it had to be changed to be sold.  I was unlucky and did not get the first run album cover, I instead had to settle of the secondary run of the sanitized version.  After touring with this album Perry broke up Jane's for fear that they were going to become too mainstream and wanted to "keep it real". 

Dave Navarro did time with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and also tried his hand at a solo career.  Perry and Stephen formed the band Porno for Pyros, which became top 40 with the song "Pets".  I ate all of this up, I was so starved for anything Jane's.  Perry created Lollapalooza.  So if you say or read anything with the suffix -apalooza, or -looza you can thank him.  Lollapalooza was and still is a music festival without equal, at least it was in the early days.  My sister went to the first five or so, I got to go with her to the 3rd annual one in St. Louis in '93.  This is an experience I will never forget.  Thank you Cess, and Perry for making it happen.

We come full circle to the email that I get that said Jane's Addiction is going on tour with their newest album, and they are doing a presale on tickets.  Reading down the list for a city near me...Catoosa, OK?  This was truly a what the... moment.  Catoosa?  No way, wait.  Hard Rock is in Catoosa... Way.  Long story short, I find myself last night in the audience watching childhood, adolescent, adult musical heroes that I have wanted to see for 20+ years.  Dream come true.  They did not disappoint.  I walked out of the concert thinking...no way they could have done a better job.  I left with the feeling that I saw what I had always wanted to see, and I would pay to see them again.

I crossed the big white whale off my list last night, now there are only two or three left, but none as big. 

In the thick of it

All cleaned up and time to hit the town.  I can already feel the vibe of the awesomeness envelop us before we even make it to Main.  FiL wants some Italian, so the search is on.  I pull up Google Maps and somehow can't spell Italian, is it I before A except after L? Google pulls up a few restaurants.  Turn left here, and it is right on our right.  Parking lot?  Was that 12th?  Oh, no not again Google!  Next.  Get back on Main and look for a left turn on 7th.  Alright, 1 for 3 ain't bad.

Hoity toity super expensive hostess girl asks if we have a reservation.  Otherwise it's going to be 45min.  I'm thinking I can rack up a GDP sized bar tab in this place in 45min.  Must have been my shoes, Fox Racing...not Prada.  Thanks but, No thanks.  Time to pound some pavement in search of sustenance.  FiL spies a familiar place on the corner and we proceed to our destination.  Upon opening of the door, first look says Bar and not so much Grill.  It is all of 40' across and packed with a mixture of locals and tourists, we fit somewhere right in between.  We find the table that is open right next to a tiny stage and a speaker.  People at the bar have been there for a while, or at least for a few shots.  Maybe they had been there for a long while, or a lot of shots.  I'm starving and the body is shutting down starting with it's ability to make conversation.  I'm in full on tool mode and FiL is looking at me like this is going to hurt a little.












I need carbs.  Beer me!  Now!  Stat!  Where is that 1800's clad dancing girl waitress?  Oh, great the "talent" is taking the stage.  Well at least we don't have to worry about conversation.  Pizza, and could I get another beer in this century?  So this C&W singer cranks it up.  I'm not into Country or Western music.  It's somehow a sing-a-long and I don't know the words.  Dude stops and says "sir, you are not participating"!  I gave him my best I'm not from your country and don't understand your strange customs.  "Sorry I don't listen to Country"  After my second beer and half a pizza down the hatch, I tried my hand at heckling.  I, being fluent in music and somewhat of a smart arse, I yell out Don Mclean!  C&W guy seems to be more fluent than I and busts out into American Pie.  Touche!  

And a good time was had by all.  It was a rocky take-off but a smooth landing.  Next morning up early, body still set to central time.  Time to hit the road and find Durango Nordic Skiing Club.  I'm going to try XC Skiing, for the first time in my life.  I am excited, and a little apprehensive.  I have knowledge of XC and know that it is 90% technique and 120% cardio.  I am going to hurt tomorrow, hurt in places that are new and interesting.  First I need to learn how to clip into these stupid skinny nothing of a ski.  It took me so long that the rental guy came out of the club house to help out the "challenged" kid -me.  I'm feeling so cool at this point.  Can I get a padded helmet and a safety vest?  And, can you have the short bus come by to pick me up?

Learning new things, one sometimes has to set aside ego and embrace ones inner self deprecating loser.  I love me.  The club has 20k of trails.  We dabbled in a few of the k's and I found that I can't turn when going downhill.  I did learn that gravity is most certainly real and not just a myth cooked up years ago.  The earth is flat, at least the parts that I hit with my arse are flat.  The views were some of the best of the trip. (up to this point) 

That's all for today...Coming up...More Pizza...and a trip to the Durango Brewery

Day Uno

Ok, I know that now I am temporarily unemployed that I need to write more.  I know this, so stop complaining about "I don't have anything to read on the toilet" "why don't you have a new post?".  I'm not saying it's going to be good, but at least I will provide you with a small distraction for your day.  You are welcome.  Not thanks necessary, just tell your friends how awesome it is to read, and they will tell their friends and then I will have four people reading this blog.  Livin' the High Life, or just drinking it.

*Not a Race Recap*
I donated some money to suffer in the cold, which turned out to not be that cold, and participated in a timed group ride.  It was good to get out and ride with friends that I have not seen in a while.  Good times, as the kids say.  I was hoping for some CX weather, which means mud and crud.  Saturday would have been nice and sloppy and a little warmer, but Sunday was almost perfect temps for a CX race.  It is amazing how fast you forget how bad it feels to run the engine in the red for 40mins.  I had my memory fade and decided to register for the 4 and the 3/4.  Needless to say that after the 4, I decided that drinking beer was a better option than "riding" another race.  20lbs gets really heavy after a few laps, and the barriers seem to grow out of the ground.

I am recovering quite nicely with my coffee and thinking of all the tasty treats that I can make for breakfast.  Waffles?  Omelette?  Oatmeal?  Cereal?  Coffee?  Already working on the coffee, dang how many cups was that?  There goes my data for my scientific research.  No grant for me.  Maybe tomorrow I will discover the "Too Much" and the precise quantity to reach said limit.  Today will just be a blind dress rehearsal. I should get a lot of cleaning done, and my list of chores will vanish.  ADHD + Caffeine makes for strange bedfellows.  Who wants to go ride bikes?

Check out the What I'm Listening To section of my blog.  I'm hitting up some 80's and 90's today.  The dogs are thrilled that I am a stay at home dad, we are going to hang out and have a good ole time.  Anyway, starting to lose my train of thought, short and sweet.  Enjoy your day, and if you are in the Greater Tulsa Area hit me up if you need someone to go ride with.  Road or MTB or CX, I'm multi-cycle.  As my sister says -Ciao for now.

if it's too loud

What are you listening to right now, no not this instant, but what is your "mix tape"?  What is your "go to" music?  Look at your collection, or should I say play list, and see if you are like me and are heavy into artists that you grew-up listing to.  I'm talking about grade school through college (or college years). 

My playlists are laden with late '80s through the '90s alternative "college radio" artists.  This would be the years that I would consider my growth years.  The years that I was influenced by friends, parents, my sister, religion, and anything else shiny or sparkly (I was a teenage boy).  I am just curious to know if other audiophiles have the same tendencies, a prevalence to go back to the roots?  I do listen to new music, but you can easily draw comparisons or six degrees of separation from the "then" to the "now playing".

I think for me it is easy to listen to my music, because it is my blanket my comfort food for the soul.  You have that one song that reminds you of your first slowdance, kiss, break-up, or hook-up.  There might be some songs or artists, maybe an album you can't even listen to anymore because of the emotional flood that it conjures up with every cord and verse.  TSA has their NO Fly list, I have my NO Play list.

I hate to admit it, but I am at an age, or more of a turning point where I don't like the music of the "next" generation.  Maybe it's not that I don't like it, it is I just don't get it.  I listen to music that came before my generation and have several go to artists that produced albums 10-20years before my birth.  I have found very few "new" artists that I like or can tolerate, and find myself always turning back to my faithful tried and true.

Somehow we emotionally tie time and space to music.  Some songs are tied to a specific memories, others are woven into a time period.  Try it.  Put on a playlist sit down and listen to your music, let the memories come rushing in.  Warning, some songs might not be all Shiny Happy People memories. 

Radio Free Europe

You probably gathered by now that I like R.E.M.  I do, but do you know what I really like?  Listening to the radio, and finding new music -music that I have to listen to again.  I hate the radio stations here in Tulsa.  Tulsa is supposed to be a kind of hotbed for music.  No hotbed here that I can see, unless you count that we do get some big headliners: Lady Gaga.  If you have tickets to that (and you spent your own money) you can stop reading now, this will be of no interest to you.

I really think there is one person that programs every station in Tulsa.  We did get a "Retro" station a year ago and it was cool, until all the other stations changed their programming to suit, the songs were new -for awhile.  Crap, now even their playslists are played.  This brings us to the point where I bash and rehash my disdain for Tulsa radio.  Ok, I'll be positive, too much negativity in this already, no need to add more.

I went on a road trip to Texas and New Mexico between Christmas and New Years.  I loaded up the Sony Walkman MP3 player set it on shuffle and let digital magic happen.  Oh boy, did it happen, it was like listening to a radio station programed by me (kinda was), but there is a little bit of chance and randomness involved. 

I used technology all the way to the Texas State line and then turned the AUX off and the radio on.  89.9 FM 90, Amarillo's Cutting Edge.  Who would have thought?  My favorite radio station was still playing songs I wanted to listen to, and new songs that I had not heard -but wanted to listen to.  College radio in the middle of a truck-stop-town nowhere, that destroys any and all radio in Tulsa.

I grew up listening to 89.9 and I turned out alright, didn't I?  That's not the point, what is the point is the ability of a station to be everything for all of these years.  Tuning in two weeks ago was like reconnecting with a long lost friend.  We've both grown up (kind of), but we are still the same even after all of these years and the time away from each other.  At least one of us should have changed for better or worse, right?  What are the chances that we grew old together with time being the only void that needed spanning?

Speak and Spell

There is a theme here and it is not intentional. Or is it?  Anyway the first time I heard Depeche Mode was on a ski trip, but it was not a church trip, it was to a lodge in Colorado where families would ski and fellowship (Ok, Churchy but not an organized church trip).  We were in the game room playing pool and ping-pong, someone had a "boom box/ghetto blaster" and Speak and Spell was playing.  Now at this time I was used to "jamming out" to Twisted Sister and Ratt, so hearing Depeche Mode was not a big eye opening moment, but somewhere in my subconscious it left an indelible mark to be revisited later, much later.

Flash forward to 1990 and the spring of my freshmen year.  "Personal Jesus" hit college radio and I was in deep.  Had to get a ride into town and buy this single.  Things are a little slower in rural TX and by the time "Personal Jesus" was on the radio, the album was already out.  Decisions, decisions.  Do I buy the album or just the single?  I took the plunge, bought Violator and hurried to get the cassette out of the case and into the tape deck of a friends car.

"World in My Eyes" was the first track.  The first track to get my attention and then "Sweetest Perfection".  I already liked "Personal Jesus", then "Enjoy the Silence" and "Policy of Truth".  This album to me is the lynch pin of Depeche Mode's catalog.  It was dark compared to earlier albums and they were changing musically with this being their seventh album in a span of nine years.  Violator was nowhere near the the Speak and Spell that I had heard years earlier.

With Violator I became a fan, and started buying more, Music for the Masses was next for me, and imagine my surprise when I played the album for the first time and actually knew songs.  Wow, really?  Who knew.  A few years later my senior year, I picked up Songs of Faith and Devotion.  Once again David and Martin were keeping up with the times and put out an album that was different from the rest, but yet was still true to their craft.

Depeche Mode is one of the groups that I can always go back to and play.  And when I do click a little icon or push a button I am transported back to an earlier time when things were new and different.  A time of growing up, learning, pain and joy.  Girlfriends past, friends past, times past, listening brings it all back. Take something off the shelf that you have not listened to in a while, dust it off (so to speak, in this digital age) and see where it will take you.  Careful... music has sharp edges and can open old wounds, or it can be a beautiful thing.  Happy listening.

Soothes the Soul pt. 2

Violent Femmes first album is a must own.  If we did not have digital this and download that, it would be one of the albums that I would save if my house were on fire, after I got the dogs out.  You get my point.  I was introduced to Violent Femmes on a Church ski trip many many moons ago, by Becca Johnson.  She was two years older than me, and at the ripe ol' age of 13 that is a continental divide.  All the guys in the youth group worshiped at the alter that was Becca.  I was 13 and a little behind the "girls don't have cooties" power curve.  Anyway Becca and I were "buds" as she put it, because I could ski.  I could ski up to her ability and none of the other kids could.

So I'm sitting on the church bus headed to New Mexico in search of the pow pow, Walkman plugged into the ears and a suitcase full of tapes.  That's right, if you grew up in the '80s you know what I speak of.  Walkman=tapeplayer and a suitcase full of cassette tapes.  Your tape box was your pride and joy, sometimes alphabetized, arranged by genre, or just a mess.  I preferred alphabetized, but not completely, just the a's together b's together and so on.  Didn't want to look to anal.  Becca sits down next to me and checks out my catalog, pops open my player and slips a tape into it, and presses play.

I was introduced to the Violent Femmes with the track Add it up.  I would love to reprint the lyrics, but it is better served up by listening than by reading, experience it for the first time with your ears.  If you are familiar with this song then imagine what it did to a Texas farmboy at the golden age of 13.  I think at the time I was into the hair bands of the '80s, but after this I had a revelation and a coming of age in my musical taste.  If only at such a young age I would have know what it all meant.  Oh, well can't cry over milk that was never spilt.

This album became the soundtrack for my relationship life in middle and high school.  It may be a few decades old, but boys and girls and songs about their relationships will never lose its relevance.  I would have to say that it is timeless, yet has a nostalgic quality for me.  If I still had a Walkman and some tapes I would pop in the 'Femmes and listen to Gordon and crew.

*Warning* there are some explicit lyrics on this album -don't say I didn't warn you

Soothes the Soul pt.1

I was asked if I could only listen to one song what would it be.  I don't know how to answer that question.  I love music (country music excluded).  I would have to pick something classical, no not Classic Rock -Classical as in"Real Music".  I don't listen to classical, one -we don't have a good station here in "short bus radio land", two -I like classical, but its hard to look this cool rocking out to Bach.  Not that you cannot rock out to Bach.  You can.

I am a Wagner man.  That is some heavy stuff.  If you are not familiar, think helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now.  Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, and Ride of the Valkyries would be on my shortlist of "the one song". Yes I know it is not a song it is a Opera, so there I kind of circumnavigated the "one song" by choosing an opera.

This brings me to an interesting dilemma...  Most influential albums in my life, or must own albums.  It is easy to throw down albums on a list and let, you the reader wonder what they mean to me.  If you own the album or know the music, you know what it represents in your life, but not mine.

Off the top of my head... Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon  -How can you not own this album?  Aside from the fact that Money is overplayed to death.  It is a great song, but enough already.  This album is meant to be listened to as one work.  Put it in, press play and enjoy you can't listen to it out of order and by all means do not listen to just one song.  It is truly a work of art.  Not to mention the "Dark Side of the Rainbow", but you can play Wizard of Oz with DSotM as the sound track.  I've never done it, but heard about it.    ?????

I found DSotM later in my musical growth, I did have The Wall, and was introduced to it by the movie in the early '80s.  Oh '80s music.  Got to love it.  I cut my teeth on the "hair-bands" and then the "velvet" movement.  I started skateboarding and as a rite of passage had to listen to "punk".  I did own a Michel Jackson album in there somewhere, but who didn't.  Cast the first stone.

Up Next...
Violent Femmes
Depeche Mode
The Cure
Fugazi
U2
INXS
Joy Division/New Order
NIN

What's the frequency Kenneth?

Does anyone out there (in radioland) have a good radio station? Is there really such a thing anymore. Who killed College radio?

What's up with corporate America telling me what I should listen to? OK, OK, not everyone is stuck listening to the same old songs over and over or the same old new songs over and over. I am stuck in a radio black hole, yes I am sure that there is worse out there, but you would think that a place such as Tulsa would have better radio. We have a great music scene and excellent venues, but radio is a vacuum. Are we really that dense that we can't tell when they have played the same song at lest four times in the last five hours?

How many times can you actually play Sweet Home Alabama? Skynyrd does have a deep catalog, but Tulsa radio seems to think there is only one song. Don't get me started on Pink Floyd's Money, or Led Zepplin's Stairway. Come on people Classic rock is classic and there are hundreds of thousands of tracks to choose from, but yet we get the same 20 songs a day. The so-called alternative rock station wouldn't play a track from Sonic Youth, The Pixies, The Jesus and Mary Chain, or The Cure if you stormed it and took it over gorilla style.

I could run a radio station and not play the same track in a week, and that is commercial free. I need a pirate radio a la Pump up the Volume. I'm not in the car enough to need satellite radio, but my guess is that it is not much better, and you actually have to pay. Stop the bleeding.

I grew up listening to college radio, Amarillo College 89.9 on the FM dial. That ruined me for life. Punk, Velvet, Rock, Electronic, Indie, you name it they played it, seriously you could call them up and request a song and if they had it, it would be on the air within the hour. My favorite was Alamosa community college's station. I actually was able to spin some CD's one night after snowboarding at Wolf Creek with the South Fork Crew.

I don't think that Video Killed the Radio Star, corporate America Killed the Radio. I would like to take Morrissey's advice and Hang the DJ, but it's not their fault, they are just doing what they have to, to keep a job. The only personality a DJ has is there on-air voice. No longer can we tell what music the DJ actually enjoys playing, it is a job and we killed the soul.

I hope if you are outside the listening area of the greater Tulsa area that you have real radio, the way radio should be, the way radio was.

Photo: Unknown, Seattle Weekly

Sound

Been going through my CD collection. CD for those of you who don't know what that is or can't remember what it is, CD is Compact Disk. It was state of the art, it killed the cassette tape the way the cassette tape killed the 8-track, and the way video killed the radio star. They are works of art, the jewel cases and how the liner notes are folded in, some forming small books with pictures of the band, lyrics, a track list, and sometimes hidden little gems. I can still remember getting my first CD player all in one desktop stereo cassette player. You had to have the cassette player so you could make a copy of the CD to play in your car, Duh, cars did not come with CD players...yet.

Looking through my collection is a field trip to memory land free of charge. I can remember buying some of these CDs where I was, who I was with. I can put a track on and remember the first time I heard it, or something special about the song. There is history woven into the lyrics and beats, my history. It is a trigger, the proverbial "they" say that smell is the strongest trigger of memory, I agree to an extent, but for me sound. Better yet, Music. Music is powerful.

I like all kinds of music, except country, you would think growing up on a farm in Texas would make me a fan. No dice. Actual quote, wish I would have come up with this one---"country music is the special olympics of music." That pretty much sums it up. Totally off subject but I saw a shirt that said "I would rather lose a pick-up game of Hockey than win a Gold medal in Figure skating." Just sharing, your turn.

If you had to pick out a soundtrack for the movie adaptation of your life could you do it? I think it would be easy. Only problem: I would have more soundtrack than movie. That's the beauty, all talk no substance.