Old Enough to Forget

When I found Boys Brigade , it seemed familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It didn’t matter. The immediate drawing card was seeing Geddy Lee’s name on the back as producer. The band was on Anthem Records, and honestly, even before hearing anything, I was assuming it was going to be good. Good it was. So good, and it was also a memory jogger too. “Melody” got modest play back in ’83, and it was a delightfully quirky song that was everything cool about the early ’80s. Oddly, whenever I hear the song, it feels a bit like Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers’ “Here Comes My Girl” - they really sound nothing alike, there’s just something about the atmosphere and delivery that makes me think of Petty - and I’m being sort of petty even comparing them. Heck, if I’m going to go all in, I may as well say that Boys Don’t Cry’s “I Wanna Be a Cowboy” sounds like they heard “Melody.” Whatever, none of this jibber jabber takes away from the song - it’s one of the highlights on the record (there a...

Once again I doth findeth myself on the receiving end of an earful of baffling wonderment and wtf-ishness. For the purists who grew up with ELP, I realize this album was released overseas in the fall of 1971, but over here it was 1972, and if you were here in North America then it was 1972 for you too. As far as I'm concerned, this is a 1972 release, as that’s what was stamped on the centre of the record. Here we have a live album that astounds with the sheer scope of what this trio was trying to accomplish. Recorded live at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971, the little hall's capacity for an all-standing audience is apparently around 2,600 people. I suspect they played to a full house. With only two albums under their belt, their self-titled debut and Tarkus, proposing a live album only a year or so after arriving on the scene was pretty ballsy. What they wanted to record was their arrangement of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky’s piano pieces, which he penned to describe...

A few years ago I wrote about Emotions in Motion and relayed a story about “The Stroke” and my friend Gord that I’m going to repeat here for those who missed it the first time. This is as good a place as any to start, so here we go. One of my more shameful recollections involves my buddy Gord (I always blame Gord for shit like this), who was in town visiting. We decided to hang out at the Dairy Queen. We were goofing around and generally acting like teenage idiots when in walked David Mainse, the guy who used to be on 100 Huntley Street here in Canada. Of course, there was a jukebox in the Dairy Queen, and while poor Mister Mainse sat there eating his lunch, we played “The Stroke” over, and over, and over. Please note the restraint I’ve shown in avoiding a needless masturbation joke ... it was hard. Yeah, not a proud moment, but at the time we thought we were hilarious. Yes, I know I missed my chance to work in a Dilly Bar reference, but I can’t think of everything. More to the poin...

“And now for something completely different.” Okay, maybe not completely different, but a bit out of my wheelhouse. I managed to get out to Redrum Records a while back, and the dollar bin was good to me. Goodness mercy me, this was some fun. I’m not generally a big country guy, but I do have a soft spot for Texas Swing, and boy howdy, Asleep at the Wheel delivered the goods. The album charges out of the chute with the title track, a rollicking instrumental bordering on countrified big band  - hence the swing label - and from there I was treated to a bevy of songs that were just so good. The band was literally a big band, boasting eleven members in the credits: not one but two fiddle players, along with mandolin, accordion, clarinet, sax, upright bass, pedal steel, and three guitars. Big band, big fun. I really liked how the album opened both sides with instrumentals. Side one kicks off with the jazz swing of “The Wheel,” which set the tone beautifully, while side two opens with a t...

Permanent Record (Music From The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) came out in 1988. This was the first time I saw Keanu Reeves in a movie (where else would I have seen him?), and I thought he was awesome. I thought the movie was awesome. I thought the soundtrack was awesome. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie. The last time was in the early ’90s when I was chaperoning a Youth Group sleepover. One of the kids actually brought it to watch. I didn’t object. I thought it was still pretty good. Some of the lustre was missing, but it was still good. I’ve had the CD on my shelf since it came out and, despite what you are about to read, THIS IS AN AWESOME soundtrack. I don't know why I wanted this on vinyl, other than I wanted this on vinyl. Still, once I get a bee in my bonnet and all that it becomes a thing ... and as you can see, I managed to find a really nice copy. I did notice my disc had more credits which I suppose was par for the course. By the late '80s album...

When Burton Cummings left The Guess Who and embarked on a solo career, he caught his second wind. Through the mid '70s to the end of the decade, he was huge at home. He went on a double-platinum run starting with his self-titled album in ’76 and hit triple platinum with Dream of a Child in ’78. I always assumed he was Canada’s unofficial troubadour. He also seemed to have more specials on CBC than Wayne and Shuster (just kidding - no one had more specials than those guys), and he hosted the Juno Awards in 1979 and 1980 when he was at the height of his popularity. Me? I could take him or leave him. He was a hell of a singer and all that, but he was also really cheesy at times. Though I really liked “My Own Way to Rock,” mainly because the guitar solo was so good. Considering my limited budget as a teenager, I never felt the urge to spend my money on his stuff. The one album I found a while back that is pretty much essential listening was his 1980 two-record collection, The Best of ...