Old Enough to Forget

For a dollar I'll buy pretty much anything if it strikes my fancy. Olivia Newton-John had a remarkable career, first with her country era, then her silver screen turns. She played Sandy Black Tights in Grease which was a hit, although I hated it on principal at the time. But dagnabbit, those pants. Then there was the movie no one saw, Xanadu but everyone heard songs from the soundtrack on the radio. Then came the sweaty headband and the song radio would ... not ... stop ... playing. "Physical" I mean it was everywhere, and it was everywhere for what seemed like FOREVER. I'm sure this was the evil origin story of The Leg Warmer Invasion. Jane Fonda entered the fray, and then suddenly we were glued to the TV watching The 20 Minute Workout,  where the women were all able to place their palms on the floor and look directly at you while they had their backsides facing the camera. Yeah, the '80s. Raise your glass, they were the best of times ... they were the best of ti...

When TOTO released their massive All in In 1978 - 2018 anthology it was as a record and CD collection, and at the time I didn't want the records, but boy oh boy was I interested in getting the remastered discs. Elliot Scheiner by all accounts had worked his magic and the much maligned Turn Back in particular was supposed to sound amazing. I remember following on the band's site and there were questions about when and if the CDs would be offered as a standalone ... Short answer: Yes, and in May of 2019 I picked up the set, and when it arrived it was a good day. The box set included a bunch of stuff like Live in Tokyo 1980 as well as XX and Old is New which were all included in the box set. Of course I now have serious buyers remorse in not getting the records as I'd love to have Kingdom of Desire and Tambu on vinyl ... even though I have the original CD releases and the remastered CDs. I was scrolling on line and saw Old is New on sale and snapped it up. Which is sort o...

As a teenager Friday night often meant staying up late and watching "concerts" on TV. Before there was MTV and MuchMusic there was Burt Sugarman's The Midnight Special. Wolfman Jack would do something or other, but there would be "performances" by a lot of popular bands and musicians. Sure, they were likely lip synced, but what wasn't? You mean to tell me Dick Clark's American Bandstand was actually live? There would be a lot of stuff I don't remember, some I actively disliked. Yeah, early Prince in a loin cloth put me off his music for years. Then one night there was Christopher Cross performing "Ride Like the Wind" and after the fog machine more or less covers the stage the band launches in, and there's no Michael McDonald. Were they actually singing? I'm enthralled by this giant guitar playing Baby Huey with a receding hairline. The song gets to the end guitar solo and for the first time you can actually really hear what he's...