Three Is The Magic Number

3 Feet high And Rising (1989) De La Soul

I moved to New York City on August 1st, 1988, not long after the Thompkins Square riots.

The first few months were spent finding a job, getting paintings into a Soho gallery, the Holiday Season, finding my way east of Washington Square Park, and Happy New Year! That January I got hired at AMNH. On February 6, 1989, De La Soul dropped this classic. The Daisy Age was in all the stores, and it's the first record I bought in NYC. It's too bad I upgraded to a CD version in 1991. My long lost vinyl copy is now collectible.
I was a huge fan of Jamaican DJ Dub style Reggae, so digging "3 Feet High And Rising", and Hip Hop, in general wasn't much of a stretch. On May 19, 1989, Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing" came out along with "Fight The Power". I began taping "Yo! MTV Raps. I wanted to become an authentic New Yorker, as fast as I could, and it was definitely an exciting time to be there. I played "3 Feet High And Rising" to death, and have revisited many times over the years. I recently upgraded once again, back to 2 LPs of magenta vinyl. I'm keeping this one, and the CD.

-BBJ

Henry The Human Fly

Henry The Human Fly (1972) Richard Thompson

During my high school sophomore year, a well read musician, and record fiend classmate turned me onto the whole late 60's-early 70's British folk scene, so I knew of Richard Thompson through Fairport Convention. He left them to go solo in 1972, and recorded this incredible debut. When the album was released, he was accused of an inability to sing and has since stated that it was the worst selling album in the Warner Bros catalog. Conversely Mojo counted "Henry The Human Fly" as one of the hundred greatest guitar albums ever produced.
I borrowed my friends cut-out copy and rendered it to cassette. On the other side, I put his and then wife Linda's debut "I Wanna See The Bright Lights Tonight" (1974). It was in my car stereo for the entire Summer of 1978. Both occupy the top tier of my all time favorite albums. I never actually owned a copy of "Henry" until special ordering a CD in the late '90's from Sal at NYCD. It was the only record on my Discogs 'want list', and I finally found this affordable copy ($45) last week while putting together the 30 albums for this list. The back of the album cover is damaged, otherwise it would be closer to $100. Fortunately it has just the kind of relic'd patina I like, and the near mint original Island Records vinyl inside sounds fantastic.
Richard Thompson is still out there making solid albums, but for me, each one after "Henry", and "Bright Lights" is slightly dimmer in it's level of uniqueness and excitement.

-BBJ

Songs Of The Week, 2024: 10/5-10/11

 

Free Salute- Little Barrie
Formidable- Sylvain Sylvain
C30 C60 C90 Go- Bow Wow Wow
Defecting Grey- The Pretty Things
Desperate People- Living Colour
Philadelphia Baby- Charlie Rich
Ask What You Will- Irma Thomas

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Free Salute- Little Barrie
(I love Wikipedia's description of Little Barrie.
"Their sound has drawn from a mixture of influences including freakbeat, garage rock, UK R&B, neo-psychedelia, surf rock, krautrock, funk and rock and roll."
What, no klezmer? Anyway, this track was the first thing I heard by them and it's still my favorite.)

Formidable- Sylvain Sylvain
(I had this playing on a mixed tape at my job in 1982, and a co-worker ran out of the shop sobbing, relating a little too much to the lyric. It's a bizarre memory that will forever be attached to this really solid pop song.)

C30 C60 C90 Go- Bow Wow Wow
(Lenny Kaye mentioned this song in his most recent book and of course, I had to hear it.)

Defecting Grey- The Pretty Things
(I don't love "S.F. Sorrow" the way others do. I think it's a bit overrated, especially next to some other psych records from the same time. But I do love this single, recorded around the same time. This would have made "S.F. Sorrow" a better record...I think.)

Desperate People- Living Colour
(I have had a long relationship with this band, dating back to their earliest shows without a singer. "Vivid" still kicks my ass, and hearing this played live for the first time at CBGBs around 1985 blew my mind.)

Philadelphia Baby- Charlie Rich
("Budda BAH buh BAH DAH.")

Ask What You Will- Irma Thomas
(The Soul Queen Of New Orleans can preach with the best of'em. Don't be afraid of the gospel music, I always say. Remember, as Zimmy once said, "You don't have to be a junkie to listen to "Heroin" by The Velvet Underground."
Just dig the feeling, then you can go right back to your heathen ways. Works for me!)

BW's Saturday #38

 

"Discoveries...Plus" : A WEEKEND SIX PACK

 

A few songs caught my ears while letting the iPod do its thing, and a couple more found me in other ways. 

"Baby I've Changed" could be found on Fountains Of Wayne's oddball collection, "Out-Of State Plates." There are so many gems on this set deserving of more than b-side status, many have gotten lost since its release. This is one of them.

"Heroes & Villains" is nothing short of brilliant. I know I've shared this Geraint Watkins cover before, but you might have missed it.

There were a few Al Stewart records in a recently purchased collection, and "Denise At 16" from "Bedsitter Images" stood out. Thankfully it's an instrumental, so no one gets creeped out.

I knew "Somebody Led Me Away" from Neko Case's record "The Virginian." I hadn't realized it was a cover. Written by Nashville's Lola Jean Dillon and first recorded by Loretta Lynn, this is a classic country reading. I can see the movie now.

Deep into Side Two of Bette Midler's "Songs For The New Depression" is this beautiful track written by Moogy Klingman, with backing vocals and vocal arrangements by Todd Rundgren.

Finally, I want to thank Steve Simels and his local watering hole for letting this Edel Juarez track into my life. I don't know exactly what it is, but it moved me enough to track down the whole album, which I will listen to in full today.

TRACKLIST

Baby I've Changed- Fountains Of Wayne
Heroes & Villains- Geraint Watkins
Denise At 16- Al Stewart
Somebody Led Me Away- Loretta Lynn
Let Me Just Follow Behind- Bette Midler
Mientras Dure- Edel Juarez

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Long May You Limp

 

I read about this and thought, "Man, this must have been amazing."

Then, I found a clip of "Hung Upside Down," a song not performed in almost 60 years. Stills announces it to the crowd of what looks like 14 people, and no one reacts. I'm thinking, "What's wrong with these people? It's Stills and Young playing a Buffalo Springfield tune that hasn't been played live since 1967! React, damn it!"

Then, I watched it. Well, as much as I could stand watching.

At what point do these legends realize, it ain't happening no more? Will they ever?  Or, is the whole point to just keep going regardless of sound or quality? 

This did not make my morning, as I wished it might.

Heads Up Vinyl Lovers!

 

I've listed a bunch of new titles, including some rare desirables, cheap gap fillers and everything in between.

Take a look and buy some records! It's a lot more fun than downloading.

Records for sale