tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79072741796843163742024-03-06T01:10:08.897-05:00Media PotluckMedia Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-90658332489285647492018-09-16T13:25:00.003-04:002018-09-16T14:42:16.888-04:00Media Potluck 2008 - 2010<br />
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Media Potluck was the late night brainchild of Cap Blackard and Nick Jade, aka Nick Martinolich - two friends with a love of eclectic media and a drive to share their strangest finds.<br />
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As our first ever post read: "we have spent our entire lives
scouring thrift stores, dying video rental houses, and flea markets in a
never ending quest to uncover forgotten music, movies, magazines, and other galactic funk. No matter the quality of the media we post, in one shape or form they are beautiful (and enriching)." Every post is a labor of love and excitement at discovering and/ or paying tribute to something forgotten and special - going down rabbit holes and digging toward even more startling discoveries or strange truths.<br />
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In 2009 our humble blog teamed up with media outlet <i>Consequence of Sound</i> for our partnered series, <a href="https://consequenceofsound.net/artist/audio-archaeology-cos-exclusive-features/">Audio Archeology</a>, which became a regular feature of theirs through 2012, and we also took the premise of a "Media Potluck" to its logical conclusion: hosting a monthly series of themed double-feature movie potlucks in Orlando, FL; featuring memorabilia and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLeFWYF709M">short talks by Nick and Cap about the history of the film</a>s. In 2010, the blog briefly moved an all-new site, MediaPotluck.Net, which unfortunately has been lost to digital oblivion, along with the few posts that were unique to that iteration.<br />
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This potluck may have ended, but guests and hosts departed with their minds and bellies fuller than they were before. Some even kept the party going. Media Potluck inadvertently launched Cap's career in journalism, and their coverage of eclectic media continues over on <a href="https://consequenceofsound.net/author/cap/"><i>Consequence of Sound</i></a> and <a href="http://nerdyshow.com/">The Nerdy Show Network</a>, interviewing the likes of <a href="https://consequenceofsound.net/2016/02/take-a-look-at-phil-now-an-interview-with-phil-collins/">Phil Collins</a> about the game show theme he wrote for <i>Miami Vice</i> and getting the full story from <a href="https://consequenceofsound.net/2017/12/the-military-industrial-toy-chest-barry-levinsons-toys-at-25/">Barry Levinson</a> about his unsung masterpiece,<i> TOYS</i> (to cite but two examples). Meanwhile, Nick has gone on to create <a href="http://www.nickmartinolich.com/"> media</a><a href="http://www.nickmartinolich.com/"> worthy of being discovered by future potluckers</a> with his ever-growing resume of video work.<br />
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2008-2010 were formative years filled with special memories. May these encapsulated moments and media discoveries fill you up, and whet your appetite for the next feast.<br />
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Share.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicVUjNpXQJH-Bp8mNhbRk92VfASVg0Fa2oUSkagD01F1oqC44nvQdYRhikqeOnxwGDCuKrwFWr2WyBEuc1LSXa6sO9P8KB07QOcNKq2fW6jzXLKs6XxTIx1ouFy6qW0MCu9OD2135ttsAS/s1600/1936777_95911857973_3579663_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="402" data-original-width="604" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicVUjNpXQJH-Bp8mNhbRk92VfASVg0Fa2oUSkagD01F1oqC44nvQdYRhikqeOnxwGDCuKrwFWr2WyBEuc1LSXa6sO9P8KB07QOcNKq2fW6jzXLKs6XxTIx1ouFy6qW0MCu9OD2135ttsAS/s320/1936777_95911857973_3579663_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-68445212753319848192010-05-26T02:49:00.073-04:002010-05-26T14:59:03.479-04:00Cobra (1986)<span style="font-size: large;">JUNE IS GOING TO BE <i>COBRA</i> MONTH! All next month we will be posting Cobra related articles and content, culminating in a <i>Cobra</i> viewing party. Check back for more details!</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHl1l8NIhIwSzYiknOwEm4Z9NLHx0HXMWHd-sDZgbOKQwq9KLCROdNuIG8kGRPeRU1p5BF_iAU6AlUf5QxAeSWyHhvj-z-PDfBceASCX1mWWG9XvzZEqVExEaamYundEy3ryv1WxI5l0i/s1600/Cobra_100811_XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHl1l8NIhIwSzYiknOwEm4Z9NLHx0HXMWHd-sDZgbOKQwq9KLCROdNuIG8kGRPeRU1p5BF_iAU6AlUf5QxAeSWyHhvj-z-PDfBceASCX1mWWG9XvzZEqVExEaamYundEy3ryv1WxI5l0i/s320/Cobra_100811_XL.jpg" /></a></div>A few months ago I was talking with my buddy Jim DeSantis who runs the podcast <a href="http://www.moviebrainrot.com/">Movie Brain Rot </a>and somehow our discussion moved to Sylvester Stallone's film <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_%281986_film%29"><i>Cobra</i></a>. (Honestly how many conversations don't?) We started throwing around facts about the film and realized the world may want to know and share the joys we have experience getting a better understanding of its place in our nation's history and pop-culture psyche. So we sat down and made it happen:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.moviebrainrot.com/?p=353">Movie Brain Rot Episode 60 - Cobra</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><i>Keep up to date with Jim's other podcasts on Twitter. @moviebrainrot</i></span><br />
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In 1985, Stallone was coming off of two extremely successful films in two well know franchises, <i>Rambo: First Blood Part II</i> and <i>Rocky IV</i>. As <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2010/03/aliens-vs-rambo.html">previously mentioned</a> on this blog, <i>Rambo</i> contains a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4PvdpXxXpY">strong political message</a> as our patriotic hero gets a second chance to go back to Vietnam and "win this time" in a war that was lost by politics and spineless bureaucrats. Again a similar theme is displayed in <i>Rocky IV</i> as Stallone defeats the communist juggernaut Ivan Drago and changes the heart's of a nation as he delivers a<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qz74cEN5aw"> speech on change</a>, while wrapped in an American Flag. <i>Cobra</i> (1986) continues what I like to call the political trilogy in Stallone's career, tackling the issue of crime in America and the bureaucratic rules and regulations that prevent the police from combating the every growing violence. The opening monologue:<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ToFDFIVgaE"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>"In America… there’s a burglary every 11 seconds... an armed robbery every 65 seconds... a violent crime every 25 seconds... a murder every 24 minutes... and 250 rapes a day."</b></span></a><br />
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And so begins an hour and a half of of Marion "Cobra" Cobretti shooting, burning, and tackling crime by his own rules. As part of the "Zombie Squad" Cobra is the bottom line, doing the job nobody else wants to do. To my knowledge no other film brings the "no rules cop" concept to the forefront more openly than <i>Cobra</i>. Of course most action films in the 80s contain a hint of this notion and crowds (this author included) love when the good guy can finally take off the gloves and just win. But with scenes so up front in their message, <i>Cobra</i> almost stands out like a PSA against the downfalls of the current justice system. In a 1986 review <i>The New York Time's</i> Nina Darnton even goes as far as to say, "this film shows such contempt for the most basic American values embodied in the concept of a fair trial that Mr. Stallone no longer, even nominally, represents an ideology that is recognizably American." <i>Whoa.</i><br />
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In the podcast Jim and I discuss this and other opinions of the film, taking a look back with 20+ years of reflection on an era where the people were looking to roll up their sleeves and start fixing the nation.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcu190eGWaqAwy6Tf61R1fwu45MntGi3qHgHCDdf1rXTV8Oum9-6PHmrJGsgtbtYM2wUnJr03XrbaQHp0gYiKmD22CSdMJplxSM3HLo_pihNeTVdu1WT1KFh4uF4mkZbfDkTLTGpTd9CFK/s1600/stallone-cobra04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcu190eGWaqAwy6Tf61R1fwu45MntGi3qHgHCDdf1rXTV8Oum9-6PHmrJGsgtbtYM2wUnJr03XrbaQHp0gYiKmD22CSdMJplxSM3HLo_pihNeTVdu1WT1KFh4uF4mkZbfDkTLTGpTd9CFK/s200/stallone-cobra04.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>But the podcast is not all serious discussion! After all, <i>Cobra</i> is first and foremost an action film written by and starring one of our best known action stars from a decade famous for its over the top (no pun-intended) action films. It has one-liners, a new world order subplot, axes, and one of the best villain deaths ever caught on film. We touch on the importance of the soundtrack and branding of the film, which lead a young Jim DeSantis to walk around with a matchstick in his mouth and me to instantly purchase the soundtrack before even seeing the film based on the cover alone. We also talk about the strange career of director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Pan_Cosmatos">George P. Cosmatos</a> and his involvement with Stallone and other well known Hollywood actors who wished to direct from behind the scenes.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">- Nick </span></span>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-53145453590392364952010-05-10T13:08:00.001-04:002018-09-16T14:41:28.880-04:00Big Trouble for Buckaroo Banzai<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Media Potluck is proud to present, "Big Trouble for Buckaroo Banzai" on Saturday, May 29th 2010.</div>
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Two outstanding genre-bending comedy adventures in the same night! Both of them mysteriously connected...<br />
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The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is one of the most influential sci-fi comedies of all time and a major cult classic. Released in 1984, directed and produced by W. D. Richter, Buckaroo Banzai combines a complex comic book plat with sharp whit and hard science for a wild ride. The film stars a ludicrous cast including Peter Weller, Jeff Goldblum, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, and Ellrn Barkin. Thrill as Dr. Buckaroo Banzai renowned physicist, neurosurgeon and rock musician tears a hole in the fabric of space and time and accidentally ignites a war on Earth between two inter-dimensional aliens... a war that only he and the Hong Kong Cavaliers can fight. The film has influenced writers and filmmakers for decades including Wes Anderson, whose credit sequence in The Life Aquatic is an homage to this film.<br />
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Buckaroo flopped in theaters... and a sequel, Buckaroo banzai Versus the World Crime League was planned but never released, however, W.D. Richter was called on to write the scrip for John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China and there are some striking similarities... Namely that Big Trouble's nefarious villain, Lo Pan is strikingly similar to accounts of Buckaroo's arch nemesis, Hanoi Xan. Yes, for all intents and purposes, John Carpenter's legendary Kurt Russel kung-fu epic is the Buckaroo Banzai sequel that never was!<br />
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Not only is this a Media Potluck, but it's also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a delicious cake. Please RSVP and comment with what delicious food you'll bring.<br />
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<b>HERE'S A RECAP OF THE EVENT!</b><br />
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<b> </b>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-76319362990868337982010-03-22T23:15:00.003-04:002010-03-22T23:25:05.768-04:00Aliens vs Rambo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxoLKayizgnHUIa0ntvdS-OqDDCF5FoMtzOzT_UDqtkr8aUcszAGn9zv4d5QpWnp_QI6Vg1NFw21b43Vz98ow99IRx9rQJFYr6HkhyBdsd090scv38r6SbtSOA9NidosDfgLrodSJPyfF/s1600-h/ramboaliens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuxoLKayizgnHUIa0ntvdS-OqDDCF5FoMtzOzT_UDqtkr8aUcszAGn9zv4d5QpWnp_QI6Vg1NFw21b43Vz98ow99IRx9rQJFYr6HkhyBdsd090scv38r6SbtSOA9NidosDfgLrodSJPyfF/s320/ramboaliens.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Media Potluck is proud to present, "Aliens vs Rambo: James Cameron's Action Sequels".<br />
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We will be screening two action sequels that have permeated the American cultural psyche and exist thanks in part to the vision of James Cameron. <i>Aliens</i> (1986) and <i>Rambo: First Blood Part II</i> (1985) have spawned countless rip-offs, references, and parodies providing more evidence that Cameron has the ability to create films (and sequels) that have an impact and lasting power far beyond their contemporaries.<br />
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Not only is this a Media Potluck, but it's also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a delicious cake. Please RSVP and comment with what delicious food you'll bring.<br />
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<i>Aliens</i> takes the brooding suspense and horror of the first <i>Alien</i> film (1979) and injects it with adrenaline to create a new form of cinematic terror. Sigourney Weaver returns as Ellen Ripley, awakened from hyper sleep after 57 years adrift in the space to find the world she once knew replaced by a suicide mission with a platoon of space marines that takes her back to LV-426, the planet that began her nightmare. We will be screening the 1992 Special Edition. This version adds in seventeen minutes of footage including an alternative opening revealing how the Aliens make their way into the colony on LV-426, the marines using sentry guns to fight off a hoard of xenomorphs, and a subplot involving Ripley's deceased daughter that adds a greater depth to her character. Lock and load or its game over, man.<br />
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Beginning the political era of Stallone's career, <i>Rambo: First Blood Part II</i> provides a second chance at the Vietnam war where the the bureaucrats get the boot and America gets to win this time. But before Sly added in his political overtones, Cameron laid down a solid framework that gives recently imprisoned veteran John J. Rambo a chance to reconcile his post-war grievances and document the possible existence of prisoners of war still trapped in Vietnam. The reconnaissance mission ends with Rambo shirtless, oiled up, and firing an M-60 from the hip. If you don't like this film then move to Canada.<br />
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Cameron provides two solid stories of damaged heroes getting a second chance to eradicate the demons that haunt them.<br />
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=106409986048179&index=1">RSVP</a> on Facebook.<br />
Non-Facebook users e-mail us to RSVP and get directions at <a href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com">mediapotluck@gmail.com</a>. <br />
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We hope to see you there!Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-43115936835117724622010-02-14T13:28:00.001-05:002010-02-14T13:31:30.502-05:00Fantasy February<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht38AHag31jNkpnIKDOGLKh5pA86ICA00A3YxmwbO6oVM70nwGut87zULy2ekHLPLYGGj3YQCLsLzuQuahbkCyF3FhqoDKftFL05sIIS_HnzStlvPrSwjhlhc992vDDt1jfN1RYdYkmeUk/s1600-h/fantast+february.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht38AHag31jNkpnIKDOGLKh5pA86ICA00A3YxmwbO6oVM70nwGut87zULy2ekHLPLYGGj3YQCLsLzuQuahbkCyF3FhqoDKftFL05sIIS_HnzStlvPrSwjhlhc992vDDt1jfN1RYdYkmeUk/s320/fantast+february.jpg" /></a></div> Media Potluck is proud to present, "Fantasy February"!<br />
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We're going to be screening two outstanding and artful forays into the fantasy genre, Ridley Scott's Director's Cut of "Legend" and Richard Donner's "Ladyhawke". Both these films are ripe with action, comedy, drama, romance, and incredible casts.<br />
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This isn't just a regular Media Potluck party but also Cap and Eleanor's anniversary party, celebrating their 7 years together. It's a costume party! Should the spirit be willing come dressed in some sort of medieval, renaissance, or fantasy attire. (But don't feel bad if you must wear modern garb). There will be party favors and much fun.<br />
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"Legend" (1985) is a lush fairy-tale like fantasy world, threatened to be corrupted by Darkness. A young Tom Cruise and Mia Sara star as two young lovers torn apart by the demonic Darkness (a legendary performance by Tim Curry). They must resist the torment, torture, and seduction of their idyllic world torn-asunder. "No good without evil, no love without hate, no innocence without lust. I am Darkness." We'll be screening Scott's Director's Cut. Though it loses the amazing Tangerine Dream score and Jon Anderson track, it gains a Jerry Goldsmith score and an already great film is made even better by additional and extended scenes.<br />
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Also from 1985 (oddly enough) Donner's "Ladyhawke" is a seldom seen take on the fantasy genre. A very realistic,12th century setting, with no obvious fantasy elements save one: a curse. Two lovers (Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer) were cursed by a jealous Bishop. By night Hauer is a wolf, by day Pfeiffer is a hawk - never to meet in human form ever again. Matthew Broderick plays a young thief, whose daring escape from an inescapable prison gives Hauer the call for revenge.<br />
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Not only is this a Media Potluck, but it's also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a delicious cake.<br />
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=270896403690&ref=mf">RSVP</a> on Facebook.<br />
Non-Facebook users e-mail us to RSVP and get directions at <a href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com">mediapotluck@gmail.com</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 100%;">We hope to see you there! </span>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-63578850960445835552010-02-07T10:31:00.004-05:002010-02-08T00:23:07.752-05:00Football Music Videos (1985-present)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFtFHJwaAZJYKFoFcL1ASFxVF92FfdgPiyt8G9dVKu79k4BcZr6B3_2LALDgfSXLPCIJHPpgiNrevyzmyxP_w56lok4UMsRhugZEqFsexxiiec8xnw65mLBcgKuYeS5RiqGg0oOitc_iS/s1600-h/shufflin_crew2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLFtFHJwaAZJYKFoFcL1ASFxVF92FfdgPiyt8G9dVKu79k4BcZr6B3_2LALDgfSXLPCIJHPpgiNrevyzmyxP_w56lok4UMsRhugZEqFsexxiiec8xnw65mLBcgKuYeS5RiqGg0oOitc_iS/s320/shufflin_crew2.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>Super Bowl XLIV is almost upon us. So it's only right that we dust off the old classic, The Chicago Bear's “The Super Bowl Shuffle”. But everyone's seen that video. There's not an 80s retrospective that doesn't at least <i>mention</i> it. Here's what you might not know: “ The Super Bowl Shuffle” was only the beginning. After The Bears' track made it to the 41st place on the Billborad charts, got a Grammy nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance, and led into them decimating the Patriots at Super Bowl XX, every team wanted a some of that good luck music mojo. The Shuffle spin-offs are all over the place - hilarious, god-awful, and kitschy. Some of them surpass“Super Bowl Shuffle” in quality, and many more of them fall far beneath it. Good, bad, and ugly, Media Potluck has charged through the offense to give you a touchdown of gridiron gems and musical miscellany. <br />
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Put plainly, “The Super Bowl Shuffle” is not good. It's 100% novelty riding on the coattails of a massively successful season for The Bears. You cold say it's the good kind of “bad”, but that depends on your endurance. The track is an absurd six minutes in length, so that every member of the team has a chance to rap a verse. (You know, “rapping”, it's that urban fad all the kids are into these days). But hey, they're “not this because [they're] greedy, The Bears are doin' it to feed the needy”, so it's all good. Though it's seldom recognized for it, “The Super Bowl Shuffle” was right at the beginning of the super-powered charity song trend - debuting between “Do They Know it's Christmas?” in late 1984 and “We Are the World” in the early 1985. This is one of the aspects that sets it apart from all its spin-offs. The Bears were shufflin' for a purpose, everyone one else was doing it to look cool.<br />
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The Bears didn't invent team songs. Perhaps the most direct precursor to the “Super Bowl Shuffle” is<a href="http://cousinsvinyl.com/2007/detroit-lions-song-by-spiderman-allen/"> a track from 1980</a> of the Detroit Lions, fronted by their Safety Jimmy “Spiderman” Allen, parodying Queen's “Another One Bites the Dust”. But a century before that, the Cincinnati Red Stockings would occasionally join together and sing a song to their spectators during their 1800s baseball games. From the 70s until the early 90s it was also popular for UK football teams to record a song if they qualified for the FA Cup Final. These recordings, called the “cup final record” were either original compositions or parodies of popular songs, and, like “The Super Bowl Shuffle” some of them even made it in the pop charts. None of the “Shuffle” spin-offs can say the same.<br />
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It's a little known fact that there was another pre-Super Bowl XX song in 1985. The unlikely culprits: The Seattle Seahawks and their song, “Locker Room Rock”. Unlike almost all other football songs that followed, there's no rap to be found here. Without the influence of “The Super Bowl Shuffle”, the Seahawks delivered something completely different: a 50s rock 'n' roll style jam more like something that stumbled from a high school production of <i>Grease</i> than a football fight song. The video even has a musical-style dramatic setup. The team is exhausted but, ol' number 55 (Michael Jackson) comes in, tenderly wiping some sweat off a teammates chin, and gives them an enthusiastic song-and-dance pep talk, 'cause “the blue wave is on a roll.” Bonus points are awarded for one of the team emerging from a steamy shower room wearing only a towel and playing the saxophone.<br />
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In '86, just before the Bears swept Super Bowl XX, their contenders, The New England Patriots released a song of their own. But instead of a right-back-at-ya rap, the song is a cheerful anthem with a bit of anti-Bear bloodlust from the New England community called, “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INBayZpjeSY">New England, The Patriots and We</a>”. The song was recorded mostly by local New England celebrities, with the Patriots in a few shots and verses (suspiciously all wearing MTV caps). <br />
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After their Super Bowl win, every team wanted a piece of the “Shuffle” pie and the lasting power of The Bears' goofy charity track began to show. The “Shuffle” spin-offs attempt to vary somewhat in style and direction, they essentially replicate the format of the Bear's track: the ridiculous image of padded football players dancing back and forth, and each player rapping a self-referential, usually boastful verse. With this format, most of these songs are as unbearably long as the “Super Bowl Shuffle”. What singles out the “Shuffle” from all the copycats is that The Bears seem really into it. In many of the spin-off videos there are a few players that are very obviously uncomfortable, either with stage fright or that they don't want anything to do with any MTV tomfoolery. It's one of the many added novelties to the post-“Shuffle” videos.<br />
The crown jewel of 1986 football songs is without a doubt the L.A. Rams' “Ram It”. The song is non-stop sexual innuendo. It's hilarious, catchy, and very self-aware: “if you ram it just right you can ram it all night.” See it to believe:<br />
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The Oakland Raiders' “Silver and Black Attack” is a definite change of pace from the feel-good football tracks. The song is said to be a stylistic reference to the Christian metal group, Stryper, who were popular at the time (their first album is entitled <i>Yellow and Black Attack</i>). The actual effect of the hair metal combined with the Raiders' rapping makes it more reminiscent of dark gangsta rap. At 2:45 one of the players, disguised as a hair metal guitarist jumps in and starts wailing on the guitar and most of the team recoils with their hands on their ears. Yeah, real tough, guys.<br />
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Meanwhile in 1986, other sports took the opportunity to do their own shuffling, or boogying as may be the case. The University of Memphis Pom-Pon Squad performed their “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc2E8kcLyjk">Pom-Pon Shuffle</a>” during one of the Memphis Tigers' halftime performances. It's nothing special, but skip ahead to 2:43 for a guaranteed spit-take. The L.A. Dodgers' “Baseball Boogie” takes the sport video fad to ridiculous, high-budget extremes with an enthusiasm not matched by any football team. You could say they're a little too excited.<br />
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Neither the Rams or the Raiders even made it to Super Bowl XXI in 1987. Instead the Giants and the Broncos faced off against one another. They didn't have songs to give them good luck, but the Giants celebrated their victory by recording a track, a Katrina and the Waves parody called “Walk Like a Giant”. During the commercials of the 1987 Super Bowl, another football music video aired, but not from any team in the NHL, or even in America. It turns out that American football has some life beyond U.S. soil, even in Glasgow, Scotland. Makes perfect sense when you think about it. “Diamond Rap” by the Glasgow Diamonds is the most pop-centric and likable of the football songs. It was produced by Ivor Novello award-winning producer, Bill Padley and breaks from the “Shuffle” format by favoring only one singer who brings the rhymes in addition to a catchy pop chorus. The only off thing about the song is that the singer, Paul Birchard, is an actor, not a football player. Talent-cheating aside, the video is fun, the song is enjoyable, and Birchard is charming in his role as a football singer with a good set of pipes.<br />
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Football songs started to fade by '88. The Philadelphia Eagles' “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlR6ujpB89k">Buddy's Watchin' You</a>” (a reference to their coach, Buddy Ryan) is a forgettable song in the vein of “Super Bowl Shuffle” with an under-produced video. The “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtvxPezTY6U">49ers Rap</a>” is equally weak, but their video is more watchable with a slew of kitschy editing and digital 2-D animation that looks like it was rendered in MS Paint. They're the “team of the eighties” alright.<br />
Elsewhere in the sporting world, the Calgary Flames composed a power ballad called “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9eF6DVI0tk">Red Hot</a>”. There's no sign of the stereotypical hockey aggression here, no spitting on the mic, just wistful hope, pride, and full, glorious mustaches: “you can climb the highest mountain, you can put a man on the moon, you can see to the horizon... but you can't touch a flame when it's RED HOT!” Unlike all the other tracks from '88, Liverpool Football Club (not the American kind) took the Hollywood of “Super Bowl Shuffle” to heart, and produced a serious hip-hop track. “Anfield Rap” riffs off of a few of the hip-hop tracks of the day and delivers a witty song with a colorful video reminiscent of the opening of <i>Fresh Prince of Bel-Air</i>. In this track the only two native Liverpudlian's on the team make fun of the other player's accents (and viceversa) It's an amazing gem of 80s British hip-hop.<br />
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The fad had all but died when the 90s set in, and the Dolphins were the final nail in the coffin. “You Can't Touch Us” by Cory and the Fins sees the Dolphins rapping to a parody of MC Hammer's “U Can't Touch This”. The opening is pure retro cheese. South Floridian talk radio personalities Rick and Suds are in the studio playing the campy “Miami Dolphins Fight Song” from the 70s and get Dolphin linebacker David Grigs on the phone. Cut to Grigs leaning against a white Mercedes in an alleyway, wearing a tank top and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zubaz">Zubaz pants</a>, talking to the hosts on a walkie talkie-sized cellphone: “yo, first of all Rick, the Dolphins are back. We're a new team, we're Super Bowl bound, and they can't touch us.” It's not just Grigs kickin' it in Zubaz, it's the whole team and the cheerleaders (Dan Marino is fashionably absent from the whole video). Every Dolphin present gets to rap a line or two, but the real star of the video isn't a Dolphin at all, but the mysterious “cool guy” named Cory. I mean, nothing says cool like a dude in a tux and bow tie with no shirt underneath riding an escalator with a Hooters girl as he threatens to, “bust these football lyrics.” The video is colorful, super dated, and full of laughs. Stop. Dolphin time.<br />
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The only other highlights from football music in the 90s is Bill Medley's “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwqh9Dw0FPo">Friday Night's a Great Night for Football</a>” which served as the awkward opening title sequence for an otherwise terrific movie. Tony Scott's 1991 action movie <i>The Last Boy Scout</i>. If the former Righteous Brother's song and dance serves any purpose, it's to put you off guard for how fucked up the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVrsGHs2MCk">opening scene</a> of the movie is. (Possibly the most incredible movie moment ever filmed on a football field, but I'll let you do the clicking to find out why.) In 1999 the Jacksonville Jaguars released a song and video for "<a href="http://beemp3.com/download.php?file=5093584&song=Uh+oh+-+Superbowl+Song">Uh Oh, The Jaguars Super Bowl Song</a>". It didn't give them any good luck and its presence on the internet is almost nonexistent. It wasn't until 2005 that another team tried their luck with a song and video. Funk music superstar, Bootsy Collins teamed up with his home team, the Cincinnati Bengals for a bit of hip-hop and funk fusion called “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Vby2hKBkkk">Fear Da Tiger</a>”. Despite the star power of Collins, the song weak, succumbs to a similar “Shuffle” format and both the song and the video are mediocre without entertainment value.<br />
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Now, 2010, the football video has returned in slick, new self-aware package. LaDainian Tomlinson, aka. L.T., of the San Diego Chargers, a football mega-star, is now an Internet sensation. His song and video for “L.T. Electric Glide” is mind-blowingly ridiculous. It's a send up of to the comedy songs of <i>Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job</i> complete with green screens, cheesy effects, and homeless-looking backup dancers. The video was filmed two years ago for a Nike ad, but not released until now, and was directed by Tim Skousen, the assistant director of <i>Napoleon Dynamite</i>. L.T.'s dance is real easy to do, you just glide with it, and “wave to your mama – she's in the stands.” Check it out, you'll have all the moves down in no time.<br />
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This story comes full circle. Twenty-five years after the “Super Bowl Shuffle” began all this madness it's about to return. During the commercials of Super Bowl XLIV members of the 1985 Chicago Bears - Jim McMahon, Mike Singletary, Richard Dent, Willie Gault, Otis Wilson, Steve Fuller and Maury Buford will return to perform an updated version of “The Super Bowl Shuffle”. The reunion is for a Boost Mobile commercial as a part of their “Unwronged” advertising campaign, but as with the original “Shuffle” the Bears aren't doin' it because they're greedy. Boost customers will be able to download the “<a href="http://www.unwronged.com/#/mainstage/">Boost Mobile Shuffle</a>” ringtone for a dollar and the proceeds go to charity.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPXOBnqRYdhNjU8FVAOXX3hA9w9i2DsLkSVeg-o-XT9FaxRCxLmbJ2diNrufyXgxBckDZ3YEoYRsvq3yWr3VJvyThJ7QydqaHAPrm_1-DZVDV4hS-__fGxHwd9r2K5sQ8Pno2Er49Odkm0/s1600-h/group_medl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPXOBnqRYdhNjU8FVAOXX3hA9w9i2DsLkSVeg-o-XT9FaxRCxLmbJ2diNrufyXgxBckDZ3YEoYRsvq3yWr3VJvyThJ7QydqaHAPrm_1-DZVDV4hS-__fGxHwd9r2K5sQ8Pno2Er49Odkm0/s320/group_medl.jpg" /></a></div> -Cap<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s1600/Audio+Archaeology.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s320/Audio+Archaeology.jpg" width="100" /></a></div><br />
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<a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/category/cos-exclusive-features/audio-archaeology-cos-exclusive-features/" style="font-style: italic;">Audio Archaeology</a> is a <span style="font-style: italic;">Media Potluck and </span><a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/" style="font-style: italic;">Consequence of Sound</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> presentation.</span><br />
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<b>UPDATE</b><br />
Now, for your viewing pleasure, the full "Boost Mobile Shuffle":<br />
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<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nxOSz095_HY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nxOSz095_HY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-44630330192771805762010-01-26T16:04:00.002-05:002010-01-26T16:09:27.605-05:00True Geniuses, Real Stories<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmocVFJdmOihXIXiqW1WgO8uPgMIJ9ji8cQXdKFJFw2CegGcekrREl617Ejuh6tGzjAuUCIaD-1G4vaygVzESogEtX_LCllFGHYGq_vZG9tmbqiH1zLlpisyRmWk9t7zQsKZv3wajBNRSM/s1600-h/true+genius.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 248px; height: 354px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmocVFJdmOihXIXiqW1WgO8uPgMIJ9ji8cQXdKFJFw2CegGcekrREl617Ejuh6tGzjAuUCIaD-1G4vaygVzESogEtX_LCllFGHYGq_vZG9tmbqiH1zLlpisyRmWk9t7zQsKZv3wajBNRSM/s400/true+genius.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431158595363946274" border="0" /></a>Media Potluck is proud to present, "True Geniuses, Real Stories"!<br /><br />Two alternative 80s comedies with amazing soundtracks! These movies aren't cheesy nostalgia trips, they're works of art.<br /><br />First up is 1985's "Real Genius". This movie, though, similar in format to many of its contemporaries, stands above the average 80s college comedy film. A young Val Kilmer stars as a fun-loving genius working against the system while the government tries to trick him into developing a Star Wars-like space defense program. It's social commentary, big laughs, terrific direction, and an astounding alternative music selection from a bunch of amazing bands that have been forgotten (oh yeah, and Tears For Fears). Directed by Martha Coolidge who also directed the totally awesome, "Valley Girl".<br /><br />"Real Genius" trailer:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ANnIcJcbykE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ANnIcJcbykE&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Then we have Cap's favorite film of all time: 1986's "True Stories". The film is written, directed by, and starring Talking Heads' frontman David Byrne. It's a work of art - a musical comedy that observes modern American life in ways no one has before or since. The fictional town of Virgil, Texas is celebrating their state's sesquicentennial with a big talent show. It's tabloid strangeness come to life, it's a completely cool, multi-purpose movie that will leave you forever changed.<br /><br />"True Stories" trailer:<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.videodetective.net/flash/players/movieapi/?publishedid=733" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="260" width="320"></embed><br /><br />Not only is this a Media Potluck, but it's also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a delicious cake. Please RSVP and comment with what delicious food you'll bring.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=270896403690&ref=mf">RSVP</a> on Facebook.<br />Non-Facebook users e-mail us to RSVP and get directions at <a href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com">mediapotluck@gmail.com</a>. </span>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-91281805791779968992009-12-25T06:56:00.006-05:002010-01-30T18:42:36.694-05:00Media Potluck Holiday Feast Volume 2 (2009)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpJMUqt_63ggGBliwNMBmYTRgWUDnL-qTo4xo1jolM1q5iVZNSYz7iaHhDX6K-JnGNXXfkz-hnoFogU0ngak-9veS6Of0IG0JCj_GQ7GlAuI8nqRUClyyDcTzyU4TCNKVocLDRrhUPhbF/s1600-h/holiday+feast+2+b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419143214829546338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLpJMUqt_63ggGBliwNMBmYTRgWUDnL-qTo4xo1jolM1q5iVZNSYz7iaHhDX6K-JnGNXXfkz-hnoFogU0ngak-9veS6Of0IG0JCj_GQ7GlAuI8nqRUClyyDcTzyU4TCNKVocLDRrhUPhbF/s400/holiday+feast+2+b.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 400px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;" /></a>At long-last! The 2009 <i>Media Potluck Holiday Feast</i> is here! An album-length podcast of holiday tunes freshly compiled with a big-shiny bow on top to make your winter celebration merry and bright. This year's <i>Holiday Feast</i> has some crazy surprises. As always, we strive to collect holiday tunes that won't make you want to put a yuletide bullet in your brain. There are astounding renditions of old classics, fun new holiday tunes revitalizing tired Christmas concepts, awesome instrumentals, songs about the season, never mind the reason, and even some cussing – oh boy!<br />
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So, nestle up close to the yule log crackling on the television, settle into your leopard print Snuggie, and let your ears sip deep on this hot toddy of audio awesome.<br />
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<a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=P4ZGPFZ2"><i>Media Potluck's Holiday Feast Volume 2</i> (2009)</a><br />
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<b>1. Jon Anderson - “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GYW9Y3pRBs">Three Ships</a>”</b><br />
As Cap promised in <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2009/12/christmas-evening-together-media.html">Media PODluck: A Christmas Evening Together</a>, this year's <span style="font-style: italic;">Feast</span> opens with Yes vocalist Jon Anderson's rendition of the classic Christmas track. It's a Mannheim Steamroller-style synth explosion with subtle extraterrestrial implications. ...Okay so maybe the only certain implication is in the <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirvfSyTCdjE_jlc_iuW5oFA8bxvfm0zvPV8U7gX08frs9vSZGcrgA0k7XNpIFZS-LsmWNEPUP2a-lXh_C5Ards-SKhUvwqf_wp8sAAFptbAWLUQRnOG1FYx7rWIQcaFw-SBYfdd4lqd56k/s320/front.jpg">album art</a> and the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GYW9Y3pRBs">m</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GYW9Y3pRBs">usic video</a>. <i>3 Ships</i>, the Anderson album this track hails from, was out of print for ages and only on CD in Japan until recently. Now everyone can <a href="http://www.jonanderson3ships.com/">experience</a> the heavenly combination of Anderson's angelic voice and Christmas synths<br />
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<b>2. <a href="http://www.jimdooley.com/">Jim Dooley</a> - “Change of Heart”</b><br />
This instrumental track comes from the score to the Brain Fuller television series <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pushing_Daisies">Pushing Daisies</a></i>. Dooley's score to the amazing (and canceled before its time) series is nothing short of breathtaking. Never has there been a more cinematic and diverse score for a network television show and “Change of Heart” is a perfect example of this. The track is a winter-themed arrangement from the season one finale, “Corpsicle”. It combines sleigh bells, a choir, and a distorted version of <i>The Nutcracker Suite</i> with a full orchestra for an effect that would make Danny Elfman weak in the knees.<br />
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<b>3. Jethro Tull - “Birthday Card at Christmas”</b><br />
This is one of the few new compositions featured on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jethro_Tull_Christmas_Album"><i>The Jethro Tull Christmas Album</i></a>. Most of the tracks are either new recordings of older songs or Tull versions of Christmas tunes. Ian Anderson wrote this cynical song with his daughter in mind: "My daughter Gael, like millions of other unfortunates, celebrates her birthday within a gnat’s whisker of Christmas. Overshadowed by the Great Occasion, such birthdays can be flat, perfunctory and fleetingly token in their uneventful passing. The daunting party and festive celebration of the Christian calendar overshadows too, some might argue, the humble birthday of one Mr. J. Christ. Funny old 25ths, Decembers…"<br />
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<b>4. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ocean_Blue">The Ocean Blue</a> - “Frigid Winter Days”</b><br />
The Ocean Blue are a dream rock band that we did a short <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/10/ocean-blue-1989.html">article</a> on a while back. They're a late generation dream rock band fueled by a love of Morrissey but without all the depression and self obsession. “Frigid Winter Days” is charged with a superb energy and rustic feel that embodies how much fun it can be to be a kid during the wintertime.<br />
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5. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_specials">The Specials</a> - “Holiday Fortnight”</b><br />
From their 1980 album, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Specials"><i>More Specials</i></a>. The politically-charged champions of the late-70s British ska movement, find the time to work in a jolly instrumental for all your merry holiday mayhem.<br />
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6. The Kinks - “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjaPXihbORk">Father Christmas</a>”</b><br />
Unlike many rock band Christmas singles, The Kinks' doesn't compromise. It's rockin', it's in the spirit, but it tackles some serious issues: namely the class struggle. In the song a fella playing Santa is stuck up by some young punks who aren't interested in toys. Their parents don't have jobs, life is hard, and all the world is merry and bright while theirs is in the gutter.<br />
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<b>7. The Three Wise Men (Aka <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xtc">XTC</a>) - “Thanks For Christmas”</b><br />
Following the Kink's social crit Christmas single, we have a fun and catchy, but certainly schlocky, holiday tune from an unlikely source: XTC. The new wave band released this single under the pseudonym of “The Three Wise Men” and no hint to the actual band appears anywhere on the original single. Presumably the anonymity was to maintain their good name as edgy rockers and not suffer the flak and regret as Squeeze did with their 1979 single, “Christmas Day”. The song was credited to “Blathazar/Kaspar/Melchior”, actually written by front man Andy Partridge, and produced by “The Three Wise Men and the Good Lord”, the “Good Lord” being producer, David Lord. Strange and sentimental Christmas pop from the band who would, three years later, release the scathing atheist single, “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk41Gbjljfo">Dear God</a>”.<br />
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<b>8. Reel Big Fish - “Mele Kalikimaka”</b><br />
A goofy 50s novelty tune made goofier by ska greats Reel Big Fish. Loud and crazy Christmas tunes are in short supply and this track more than makes up for their absence. Interesting note: “Mele Kalikimaka” is a transliteration, not a translation, of “Merry Christmas” - so in essence it's just a ridiculous nonsense word.<br />
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<b>9. Jimmy Eat World - “Last Christmas”</b><br />
If there's one stand-out Christmas single from the 1980s it's Wham!'s “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3354flS1KJs">Last Christmas</a>”. It has its charms, certainly, but let's be honest – it's pretty flimsy. Lots of potential, more than enough to keep it alive, but not enough to give it any true longevity. In 2001 Jimmy Eat World brought “Last Christmas” to full bloom. Not only is the song given a much needed boost in energy, but every bit of the melodies that gave the original its staying power have been beautifully reproduced and layered into a wonderfully full sound.<br />
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<b>10. <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2009/03/corky-juice-pigs-1987-1998.html">Corky and the Juice Pigs</a> - “Christmas Dreams”</b><br />
Sappy Country-Western tearjerker ballads are cut to shreds by this hilarious parody. You may recall our <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/03/29/audio-archaeology-corky-and-the-juice-pigs-1987-1998/">article </a>earlier in the year on the amazing talent of this Canadian comedic music trio, now savor their laugh gravy drizzled delicately over your Christmas ham. Alcoholism was never so funny.<br />
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<b>11. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Long_Winters">The Long Winters</a> - “Christmas With You is the Best”</b><br />
A Christmas love song, but no sappy stuff here. This is a song for holiday cynicism and a “non-traditional, non-denominational celebration” with your loved one... you know... intercourse. Be sure to listen for the really funky mid-song keyboard breakdown.<br />
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<b>12. <a href="http://www.partydream.com/">Gil Mantera's Party Dream</a> - “Brave New Christmas”</b><br />
Party Dream does what they do best: dark, danceable synth rock – but this instrumental jam from their debut CD <i>Bloodsongs</i> has sleigh bells in it. Party. Christmas bonus.<br />
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<b>13. Tenacious D & Sum 41 - “Things I Want”</b><br />
A powerhouse X-Mas Rock ballad from two incredible bands. Jack Black takes the vocal chores and wields his rock expertly against the intense backing provided by Sum 41 and K.G. The lyrics are classic D material that will make you lust for another album (put that on your wish list). The song was originally composed for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KROQ">KROQ</a>-FM's 2001 Christmas compilation, <i>Swallow My Eggnog</i>.<br />
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<b>14. <a href="http://www.ifightdragons.com/">I Fight Dragons</a> - “I Want an Alien For Christmas”</b><br />
This track is brand-new and comes from NES-infused pop rockers I Fight Dragon's mailing list. This is a cover of a little-known Fountains of Wayne track from 1997, spruced up with IFD's expert chiptunes accompaniment. Don't know who I Fight Dragons are? Check out Nerdy Show's <a href="http://nerdyshow.com/?p=414">interview</a> with them, and then sign up for the <a href="http://www.ifightdragons.com/mailinglist.html">mailing list</a>, they give out fun tracks like this all the time.<br />
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<b>15. <a href="http://www.pffr.net/">PFFR</a> - “X-Mas Time”</b><br />
From the production company/ art collective/ electro rock band that brought you <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Showzen"><i>Wonder Showzen</i></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xra"><i>Xavier: Renegade Angel</i></a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delocated"><i>Delocated</i></a> comes... <i>this</i>. Best not to explain it. Suffice it to say that it's a beautiful track and you'll be forever changed.<br />
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<b>16. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luscious_Jackson">Luscious Jackson</a> - “Let it Snow”</b><br />
A fast and fun return to a holiday staple from Luscious Jackson. This track is best known for being a part of the Gap Jeans ad campaign between 1998 and 1999. The campaign featured popular bands (such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taG9mrUdYgA">Aerosmith</a>) performing short songs against white backgrounds. This is a different and longer version of the song than the one featured on the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGep6RwLrGk"><i>Let it Snow</i></a> Gap ad. Check out this video for another one of their 30-second songs, “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENV7JgUZofw">Stone Fox</a>”.<br />
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<b>17. Gordon Lightfoot - “Song For a Winter's Night”</b><br />
Gordon Lightfoot is certainly a well-known musician, but he doesn't get the attention he deserves these days (at least not in America). His folk music transcends its genre and slips into an unclassifiable place reserved for heartfelt, beautiful music much like his more famous contemporaries Simon and Garfunkle. So ease back and listen to one of the great musicians of our age paint you a winters night with melodies and words. This song was originally recorded in 1967 on his second album <i>The Way I Feel</i>. The version included on the <i>Holiday Feast</i> is a re-recording from 1975 from his hits album, <i>Gord's Gold</i> and features a string arrangement.<br />
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<b>18. <a href="http://www.marcyplayground.com/index.php">M</a><a href="http://www.marcyplayground.com/index.php">arcy Playground</a> - “Keegan's Christmas”</b><br />
Marcy Playground are a brilliant band who have been long over-looked. Their second album, <i>Shapeshifter</i> is one of the greatest albums of the 90s, but the curse of their not particularly inspired hit single, “Sex and Candy” remains. “Keegan's Christmas” doesn't go toe-to-toe with most of the band's material, it's a simple tune, but its recollection of a child's impatience for Christmas to finally come is wonderful. Marcy Playground released their fourth LP, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaving_Wonderland...in_a_fit_of_rage"><i>Leaving Wonderland...in a Fit of Rage</i></a> this year. Check it out.<br />
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<b>19. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Oldfield">Mike Oldfield</a> - “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4uLZcaRXcU">In Dulci Jubilo</a>”</b><br />
A rollicking instrumental from Mike “Tubular Bells” Oldfield. This was a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Dulci_Jubilo_%28Mike_Oldfield%29">holiday single</a> in 1975 and made it to #4 in the UK charts. The traditional Christmas tune is very skillfully rendered with a full arrangement of modern instruments including synths and Oldfield's distinctive electric guitar work.<br />
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<b>20. The Cast of <i>Twin Peaks</i> - “<a href="http://www.glastonberrygrove.net/texts/tp12days.html">The Twelve Days of Christmas</a>”</b><br />
What would a Christmas CD be without another oddball rendition of this classic Christmas tune? Last year we had Bob and Doug McKenzie's Canadian hoser version, and this year something entirely different... a body... dead... wrapped in plastic. Many of the <i>Twin Peaks</i> cast including Kyle McLaughlan, Jack Nance, Kimmy Robertson, Dana Ashbrook, Frank Silva, and Robert Bauer as the seldom seen Johnny Horne appear on this oddball track. Fans of the series will be delighted others might be... confused. Do yourself a favor and <a href="http://www.cbs.com/classics/twin_peaks/">watch the show</a>. The song contains what some might consider spoilers. It's pretty vague, so new viewers - just don't dwell on it too much and you'll be fine. The track is another made especially for one of KROQ's Christmas compilations.<br />
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<b>21. R.E.M. - “Christmas Time (Is Here Again)”</b><br />
Every year, just as the Beatles did before them, R.E.M. releases a Christmas song to their fan club. It's only appropriate that eventually they got around to covering the Beatles' Christmas tune, “Christmas Time (Is Here Again)”. This is their offering from 2000, a hap-hazard cover featuring an untuned horns section. Hilarity ensues.<br />
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<b>22. Monty Python's Flying Circus - “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmZYIyySxPE">Christmas in Heaven</a>”</b><br />
The grand finale of the final Python film, <i>The Meaning of Life</i>. Graham Chapman parodies Tony Bennett and the entire production is full of Vegas-style theatricality. This isn't what you'd call a typical Christmas song by any stretch of the concept, but it does play on some common themes such as consumerism and wish-fulfillment. An excellent specimen of the Python's brilliant humor.<br />
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<b>23. Emerson, Lake, & Palmer - “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqOfXumI18A">I Believe in Father Christmas</a>”</b><br />
A direct confrontation to the rampant consumerism of the holiday season. Alan Lake originally recorded this track as a solo effort in protest of Christmas' commercialization, this is a re-recorded version with all of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. It's often mistaken as an anti-religious son to which Lake replied: "I find it appalling when people say it's politically incorrect to talk about Christmas, you've got to talk about 'The Holiday Season.' Christmas was a time of family warmth and love. There was a feeling of forgiveness, acceptance. And I do believe in Father Christmas."<br />
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<b>24. The Crash Test Dummies - “In the Bleak Midwinter”</b><br />
Another track from the Crash Test Dummies' amazing Christmas album, <i>J<a href="http://www.crashtestdummiesmusic.com/process.php?PHPSESSID=867ddff487e7a5d476013b8cdbc365ab&pname=ShowAlbumDetailsProcess-Start&CategoryID=CategoryID&AlbumID=5">ingle All the Way</a></i>. A rare treat among CTD songs is having band member Ellen Reid on lead vocals. Reid's voice is beautiful and she delivers the most soulful rendition of this somber Christmas tune that you're ever likely to hear. Her 2001 solo album, <i>Cinderellen</i> is amazing – expect to see a Potluck article on that someday soon.<br />
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<b>25. George Harrison - “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r61noMrx3qw">Ding Dong, Ding Dong</a>”</b><br />
It's not often that New Year's gets songs devoted to it. Okay, there's U2's “New Year's Day”, but an actual holiday track not so much. This 1974 George Harrison single is the perfect peppy sing-along to musically bridge December 25th and the new year. See you on the flip side.<br />
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Happy Holidays from Media Potluck!Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-15077252549606517082009-12-21T22:04:00.018-05:002009-12-23T22:07:52.889-05:00A Christmas Evening Together (Media PODluck #1)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqjfRtY57ds4eFQb0hEPKq3trO_HwcvdntRzayU4Wocwhu76rW9vMMTfn4nhOkXcj0p9K3Z7P8MzzggrX_3nUig2W7kebtwDdz40eAzZBoOrojHRZvkANivQwot821MrjBrBzXQw-vJRF/s1600-h/evening+together+cover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEqjfRtY57ds4eFQb0hEPKq3trO_HwcvdntRzayU4Wocwhu76rW9vMMTfn4nhOkXcj0p9K3Z7P8MzzggrX_3nUig2W7kebtwDdz40eAzZBoOrojHRZvkANivQwot821MrjBrBzXQw-vJRF/s400/evening+together+cover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418625684175449890" border="0" /></a>Escaping to a secluded cabin in North Carolina, Cap and Nick discuss some of their favorite Christmas music, moments, and memories. Enjoy an eclectic mix of music across the decades as well as reflections on the holidays; including how to kill a boar, how holiday music playing in steak restaurants can be life changing, and a Floridian answer to snow. Listen in as two friends share a Christmas evening together.<br /><br />Enjoy some <a href="http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=134914&id=78575517973&l=8d4726dfe6">photos</a> from the trip.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Media Potluck: A Christmas Evening Together</span><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannheim_Steamroller">Mannheim Steamroller</a> - "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fresh_Aire_Christmas">Carol Of The Bells</a>"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_&_Lisa">Wendy & Lisa</a> featuring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_%28musician%29">Seal</a> - "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9geCS0v7w8">The Closing Of The Year</a>"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Goulet">Robert Goulet</a> - "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVzEoaOIxjM">H</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVzEoaOIxjM">e's Gonna Take Away Our Christma</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVzEoaOIxjM">s</a>"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Anderson">Jon Anderson</a> - "<a href="http://www.jonanderson3ships.com/">2,000 Years</a>" / "<a href="http://www.jonanderson3ships.com/">Forest of Fire</a>"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy-Manuel_de_Homem-Christo#Le_Knight_Club">Le Knight Club</a> - "Holiday On Ice" / "Santa Claus"<br />The Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Venture_Bros.">The Venture Brothers</a>) - "<a href="http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/podpress_trac/web/2959/1/venture_bros_little_drummer_boy.mp3">Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy</a>"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Kamen">Michael Kamen</a> (<a href="http://www.soundtrackinfo.com/title/diehard.asp">Die Hard Soundtrack</a>) - "The Nakatomi Plaza" / "Welcome To The Party" / "Ode To Joy"<br />The Avalanches - "Winter Wonderland"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Seasons_%28band%29">The Four Seasons</a> - "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Bush">Kate Bush</a> - "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZiadb3bpOI">December Will Be Magic Again</a>" (Alternate Mix)<br /><a href="http://www.danphillips.com/">Dan Phillips</a> - "<a href="http://www.danphillips.com/let_it_snow.htm">Jingles Are Jingles</a>"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crash_Test_Dummies">Crash Test Dummies</a> - "White Christmas"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Williams">John Williams</a> - "Somewhere In My Memory"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom">Max Headroom</a> - "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZHrC05qt6c">Merry Christmas Santa Claus (You're a Lovely Guy)</a>"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasure">Erasure</a> - "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_Tull_%28band%29">Jethro Tull</a> - "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_from_the_Wood">Fire At Midnight</a>"<br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Iceberg">Michael Iceberg</a> - "Olympic Suite: Mt. Olympus" / "Forest Rains" / "Penguins In Love" / "Imagine Finale" / "Epilogue: Flashbacks"<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">*Titles link to most relevant content on the internets.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.megaupload.com/?d=DEGBM0HN">Listen Now!</a><br /><br />Also check out the <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/12/media-potluck-holiday-feast-volume-1.html">Media Potluck: Holiday Feast Volume 1</a> from 2008, another great mix of holiday fanfare.Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-54400324828824507892009-11-29T02:18:00.002-05:002009-11-29T02:22:26.761-05:00Non-Holiday Holiday Movies<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnvLdFdl0RqSrxej0Fn2HKalUvWIz_SxssjeCaFkWb5yyCFxGY3y2r_StvB3FtmUfxOuC5ICBqPHtbK20BwVToZNetAWgDmLGAMhrtZzTJIkKCooGrEwaKfGsfSFnEIR5w4h2fSkYaSbX/s1600/dietoys.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNnvLdFdl0RqSrxej0Fn2HKalUvWIz_SxssjeCaFkWb5yyCFxGY3y2r_StvB3FtmUfxOuC5ICBqPHtbK20BwVToZNetAWgDmLGAMhrtZzTJIkKCooGrEwaKfGsfSFnEIR5w4h2fSkYaSbX/s320/dietoys.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409422565871132194" border="0" /></a>Media Potluck is proud to present, "Non-Holiday Holiday Movies" Sunday, December 6th!<br /><br />The holiday season is upon us!<br /><br />But let's not drown ourselves in sentimental hogwash, let's take in some quality films that take place in and around Christmas time, but aren't necessarily what you'd call Christmas movies.<br /><br />First up there's one of Cap's all-time favorite movies: Barry Levinson's "Toys" (1992) starring Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Robin Wright Penn, Joan Cusack, and LL Cool J. It's a surreal, multi-layered dark comedy unlike anything ever made - and it has an incredible soundtrack to match. (Media Potluck article pending)<br /><br />Check out the trailer below, you can also watch a few clips on <a href="http://www.hulu.com/toys">Hulu</a>.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/djN0eZ3Jcs0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/djN0eZ3Jcs0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Next is John McTiernan's genre-defining action flick "Die Hard" (1988) starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, and the immortal Reginald VelJohnson. Action, explosions, cuss words, yule-tide cheer - What more could you ask for?<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-qxBXm7ZUTM&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-qxBXm7ZUTM&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />We're breaking tradition a bit here and throwing the party on a Sunday. We're also starting a bit early. Party starts at 5, movies start at 6.<br /><br />Not only is this a Media Potluck, but it's also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a delicious holiday cake. Please RSVP and comment with what delicious food you'll bring.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=169698464533&ref=mf">RSVP</a> on Facebook.<br />Non-Facebook users e-mail us to RSVP and get directions at <a href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com">mediapotluck@gmail.com</a>. </span>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-50170322905418441802009-10-17T15:13:00.004-04:002009-10-18T15:43:25.652-04:00Terror Times 4: The Phantasm Legacy<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.best-horror-movies.com/images/phantasm-1979-horror-movie-review-36460.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 255px; height: 387px;" src="http://www.best-horror-movies.com/images/phantasm-1979-horror-movie-review-36460.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Media Potluck is proud to present: "Terror Times 4: The Phantasm Legacy"! Saturday, October 24th.<br /><br />For the haunted month of October we're pulling out all the stops and rolling out a QUAD FEATURE: all four Phantasm films!<br /><br />Phantasm (1979)<br />Phantasm II (1988)<br />Phantasm III: The Lord of the Dead (1994)<br />Phantasm OblIVion (1998)<br /><br />Phantasm is a unique gem in the world of horror series - not only is the series more surreal and artful than your average horror movie, but it's more consistent. All four films were written and directed by the same man, Don Coscarelli, and they have impeccable continuity between one another.<br /><br />Check out the trailer for the first film:<br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EKTs3I68cEA&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EKTs3I68cEA&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Four films in one nigh is a tall order, but they clock in at just over six-hours- as long as one of our usual parties.<br /><br />The party will start at 6 PM, films begin at 7 PM and into the dark of the night. It'll be our very own grind house of savory movie-potluck-mayhem.<br /><br />Not only is this a Media Potluck, but it's also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a spooky themed cake and haunted popcorn. Please RSVP and comment with what treat (or trick) you will bring.<br /><br />Please note: these films are all rated R and, being horror movies, things are going to get intense.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=169698464533&ref=mf">RSVP</a> on Facebook.<br />Non-Facebook users e-mail us to RSVP and get directions at <a href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com">mediapotluck@gmail.com</a>. </span>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-54167909939856221392009-09-10T15:31:00.008-04:002009-09-10T15:58:21.979-04:00Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme (1990)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/_1252099743794.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 382px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/_1252099743794.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: normal;">Once in preschool, my class was shown a video for a special occasion. It was a story about nursery rhymes in live action, but with all the bright colors of a cartoon. Mother Goose had disappeared and her son was looking for her. People started just... vanishing without a trace. I recall enjoying the video, but not being able to shake a s</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ense of dread. It was a </span><i>strange</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> movie. One of the clear</span><span style="font-style: normal;">er memories I retained was of the Three Men in a Tub, oddly d</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ressed, floating by in a forest, not speaking, only gesturing. To make the my memories of the film even more fragme</span><span style="font-style: normal;">nted, we ran out of time in class and the video was stopped before it was over, leaving the disap</span><span style="font-style: normal;">pearances unresolved. Every so often I'd remember the video, but could never figure out what it was. Then one day, almost twenty years later, it c</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ame up in conversation - </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8A4F42F432C28CCE&search_query=mother+goose+rock"><i>Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme</i></a><span style="font-style: normal;">. The solution to my years of curiosity was only a Google search away.</span> <p><i>Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme</i>, also called <i>Shelley Duv</i><i>all's Rock and Rhymeland</i>, was a made for TV movie from 1990, with frequent play on the Disney Channel during the early nineties. It's distinctive for having music video-style production as well as starring a number of well-known musicians and actors. The musical star power alone is <i>insane</i> – Cyndi Lauper, Debbie Harry, Bobby Brown, The Stray Cats, Little Richard, ZZ Top, Paul Simon <i>and</i> Art Garfunkle (though not in the same scenes), and that's just hitting all the high notes.</p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgKDUOB-KoR_cCMazt9OIeOChFXrLzRScsSERhTnS2obrW-06-iBJ4qHKzpbLOEl1BEqQUEbUXZs1lH80ZbgV_SOOOC_N8tQ3oaB-IjAHsdhDBEq2WxKjVKlW5I3Cd1tZhlBS6-h29B8p/s1600-h/8601739_l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 139px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgKDUOB-KoR_cCMazt9OIeOChFXrLzRScsSERhTnS2obrW-06-iBJ4qHKzpbLOEl1BEqQUEbUXZs1lH80ZbgV_SOOOC_N8tQ3oaB-IjAHsdhDBEq2WxKjVKlW5I3Cd1tZhlBS6-h29B8p/s320/8601739_l.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5379929031201873138" border="0" /></a>The film follows Gordon Goose (Dan Gilroy), the adult son of Mother Goose, who can't stand living in Rhymeland amongst all of his mother's spastic creations, called “Rhymies”. One day, on his way to work, Little Bo Peep (Shelley Duvall) drives up and tells Gordon that his mother has disappeared. Their fears are confirmed when Itsy Bitsy Spider tells them he saw something come out of the sky and take her. Together, Gordon and Bo Peep drive through Rhymeland meeting with other nursery rhyme characters, searching for clues. They soon discover that, due to Mother Goose's disappearance, Rhymies are vanishing from existence and if they don't find her soon, their world will end. Pretty bleak stuff for a kid's movie.</p> <p>Does it hold up? Well, kinda. Certainly no adult will feel the same tension I did in preschool, but it's easy to see how a kid might. If <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i> had been animated in the goopy TV style of the late 80s it would've been no more memorable than an episode of <i>The Smurfs</i>. The bright colors, crazy camera angles, and absurd sets of the production, coupled with the intense, mismatched fashions of the time give <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i> a unique feel. Cartoon-like live action strips away a lot of the goofiness that an actual made for TV cartoon would've accentuated, and emphasizes the drama of the situation. To my kid brain, the strange lighting, the desperation of the main character, and the actuality of people <i>vanishing</i> without a trace amounted to real concern and dreamlike foreboding. To an adult audience, <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i> is clearly made for kids. The writing isn't very compelling and there are some severe pacing issues. What it does have are adult undertones that would've gone over kids heads, terrific 90s aesthetics, and a high-profile cast that few children could appreciate. Check out this scene with Cyndi Lauper as Mary (Had a Little Lamb) and Woody Harrelson as the Little Lamb, turned full-grown sheep, Lou:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/BVYWd4Mo0YQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/BVYWd4Mo0YQ&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></p> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size:78%;">"I lost two wonderful husbands all because of Lou's insistence on following me<br /></span><span style="font-size:78%;">everywhere.... if you know what I mean."</span><br /></div><p><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/10890063_l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 167px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/10890063_l.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>What's particularly strange about this all-star musical line-up is that there are only a few songs in <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i>, and of these big names, only Little Richard and the Stray Cats actually perform. The real stars of the show are Shelley Duvall and Dan Gilroy as Little Bo Peep and Gordon Goose. Shelley Duvall you may know – as actress she gets around, but she's perhaps best known for creating, producing, and staring in her own live action television show of children's stories, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faerie_Tale_Theatre"><i>Faerie Tale Theatre</i></a> and its several successful spin-offs. Though Duvall didn't produce <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i>, it's no wonder that some versions of the film bear her good name in front of the title. (What's more, it was written by two of her show's frequent writers, Mark Curtiss and Rod Ash.) Dan Gilroy is more of an enigma, until I realized who he was. Gilroy was the lead singer of a band called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakfast_Club_%28band%29">Breakfast Club</a> - no relation to the film. Breakfast Club deserve an article all to themselves, but in short: they formed in the late 70s, briefly featured Madonna (who Gilroy Dated) as a drummer and sometimes singer, released one album, and their 1987 single “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdpRAsBAe-4">Right On Track</a>” is one of the greatest forgotten hits of the 80s. The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdpRAsBAe-4">video</a> for “Right On Track” is a likewise forgotten, but no less outstanding gem – if Pee-Wee's Playhouse had a house band with more energy and antics than the Puppetland Band, this would be it. The video looks like it was shot in Pee-Wee's very own digs and the band are like cartoons- wait... this sounds familiar. Yes, it turns out that man who directed most of Breakfast Club's videos is none other than the director of <i>Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme</i>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0825506/">Jeff Stein</a>.</p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/comparison.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 233px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/comparison.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>The connections go even further and unlock just how this strange film came into being. Jeff Stein isn't just some guy who made some videos for a band you've never heard of, he's a prolific video director. The first film of his career was the groundbreaking 1979 rockumentary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kids_Are_Alright_%28film%29"><i>The Kids Are Alright</i></a>, placing Stein on the music video radar right as the genre was inventing itself. All through the 1980s he directed videos for everyone from <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLYCcBhPoQo">The Cars</a>, to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDjc6o846mQ">Debbie Harry</a>, to every single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' album <i>Southern Accents</i>... including the ultra-famous video for “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5H0wUo37RY">Don't Come Around Here No More</a>”. Of course the surreal video of Tom Petty as the Mad Hatter is by the same guy as <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i>! It all makes perfect sense. In fact, the giant black and white checkered room in the music video is almost identical to the court of Old King Cole in <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i>.</p> <p>Stein and Duvall's joined forces are the best explanation for the tour de force star power behind <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i>, as to what warranted a huge musical cast with little to no musical output from most of them, that's a secret I haven't been able to uncover. Excess aside, the absurdity of the cast makes for a fun viewing. Veteran actress, Jean Stapleton plays the kindly old Mother Goose who spends her days writing into existence the wacky denizens of Rhymeland. Every morning that Gordon leaves the house he's assaulted by the Rhymies' absurdity, as seen in the opening song, “Hop To It”, performed by a cast of characters including the nearly 70 year-old musical trio, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_rubio_triplets">Del Rubio Triplets</a>. The bouncy tune of “Hop To It” suggests that it was written by Gilroy and perhaps some of the other then-disbanded Breakfast Club, but information is sparse.</p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/8601734_l.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 154px; height: 225px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/8601734_l.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Gordon is an awkward main character. Kids can easily relate to all the strange and carefree characters of Rhymeland, especially the quirky Bo Peep, but Gordon is cynical, sarcastic, and downright rude. A terrific example of this is when, in mistaking the voice of Itsy Bitsy Spider for Bo Peep, Gordon turns to her and says, “you know, you have the stupidest little voice” - ouch. What <i>does</i> make Gordon relative to kids is that he's lost his mother, a profound childhood fear that everyone shares. I recall from my original memories of <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i> that the tension of Mother Goose's disappearance was made even more foreboding by the interrupted message of Itsy Bitsy (played by famed actor and dancer Ben Vereen, best known to kids as Mayor Ben in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKj2pMrHRhM">Zoobilee Zoo</a>). He mentions that something big came out of the sky, but the rain washes him down the waterspout before he can finish his message. Actually, he doesn't finish his message because he has some kind of Attention-Deficit Disorder and can't stay on one topic. As a kid I didn't pick up on that.</p> <p>Bo Peep and Gordon set out on a road trip through Rhymeland to search for clues. Herein is the heart of <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i>, exploring a Nursery Rhyme universe where all the characters are played by famous people and they're all a bit dysfunctional. The mysterious Three Men in a Tub who confounded me as a youngster were ZZ Top. They point Gor<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/vlcsnap-4982502.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 192px; height: 144px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/vlcsnap-4982502.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>don and Bo Peep in the right direction even though Gordon insults them (“they look like dropouts from barber college if you ask me”). Harry Anderson is the alliteration articulating Peter Piper, Howie Mandel plays the egghead Humpty Dumpty, Pia Zadora is the pint-sized, hospitality obsessed Little Miss Muffet, and Garry Shandling and Teri Garr are the “modern Rhymie-something kinda couple” Jack and Jill, who talk every problem to death: “Jill, I respect your need for needs, but I too have needs.” A scene featuring <i>Married With Children</i>'s Katey Sagal as Mary Quite Contrary was inexplicably removed from the <i>Rock 'n' Rhyme</i> VHS release, while the <i>Rock and Rhymeland</i> version (seen on TV) kept the scene with a few <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100192/board/nest/27872203">other differences</a> elsewhere in the film.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0xYALui7Ss0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/0xYALui7Ss0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></p> <p>As “that grand old man of rock 'n' roll, that merry old soul, Old King Cole”, Little Richard is the first musician to perform his own music in the film. He serenades his rowdy court of rappers and his Minister of Merriment (a bit part inexplicably played by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Dyke_Parks">Van Dyke Parks</a>) with a some old time rock 'n' roll. “Come on and give me some pie,” he wails as a giant pie is rolled into the court, out of which pops three female singers in crow outfits. Gordon makes the mistake of using the word “serious” in front of the king and is sent to the dungeon, “where we will drill the meaning of merriment into you until you <i>scream</i> with laughter.”</p> <p>The dungeon scene is one of the most memorable of the entire film. Gordon is chained up and accosted by a grotesque, masked hair band who perform a song about what a tool he is. The band is an interesting point of discussion for fans of the film. They're credited as “The Dank” and over the years have been attributed as everyone from KISS to Twisted Sister. In actuality they're an assemblage of former Breakfast Club members Eddie Gilroy, Steve Bray, and the future <i>American Idol</i> judge, Randy Jackson with additional members Dweezil Zappa and Warren DeMartini, the lead guitarist of Ratt. What's confusing about that lineup is that there's one too many guitarists (there are only two in the scene) yet all those individuals are credited. So among these masked men it's hard to say who was and wasn't a part of The Dank. Regardless of the specifics, the song is catchy, fun, and features that creepy chant from <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> in the backing vocals:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/fF-S115ZH7Q&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/fF-S115ZH7Q&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></p> <p>Night falls on Rhymeland and even more people are disappearing. Gordon and Bo Peep turn to shadier sources for clues, that being Georgie Porgie's, a dingy night club where the Stray Cats (wearing feline prosthetics) are the house band. Art Garfunkle plays Georgie Porgie, the nearly silent bar tender. If he wasn't credited as the part I wouldn't have known it was him. It might be that he was just in the film so that both he and Simon could be credited in the film together. Simon appears later on as Simple Simon, a hitchhiker with no short term memory (and a crazy jump suit with peace signs and ankhs). Simon sings a rendition of Willie Nelson's “On the Road Again” briefly (“on the road again, can't remember why I'm on the road again”) before Gordon snaps at him. There's a couple of subtle Simon and Garfunkle jokes thrown in, such as that Simple Simon's rhyme that he met a pieman going to the fair (as in Scarborough) and later Gordon chidingly calls him “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9czkZiO-38">bright eyes</a>” (as in the Art Garfunkle song).</p> <p>In between Simon and Garfunkle's scenes is an odd aside in which Gordon meets the Three Blind Mice, all played by Bobby Brown. They run a detective agency and make some noir detective jokes, as well as blind people jokes, and then an inexplicable dance scene happens. What's odd about Bobby Brown playing all three of the mice is that <i>someone</i> had to play the other two and the whole routine is very reminiscent of his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Edition">New Edition</a> days, but as best as anyone can tell no one from his former group joined him for the scene:<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OAP0RuIjIvM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OAP0RuIjIvM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/vlcsnap-4983502.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 123px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/vlcsnap-4983502.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Gordon and Bo Peep steal the Cow that Jumps Over the Moon from Cheech Marin (The Cat and the Fiddle) and tear a hole though their reality into *gasp* the real world. There they find that a young boy has abducted Mother Goose, and encounter some of the worst child acting on record. Gordon easily convinces the child to let them return home by flatly telling him that he is destroying everything that Mother Goose created. They return safely, Gordon accepts that he too is fictional, changes his boring clothes for fancier duds including Gilroy's distinctive pork pie hat, and begins a strange romance with Bo Peep.</p> <p><i>Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme</i> is one of those rare experiences in children's programming that is so weird and unique, that despite its many dated qualities and failings, it withstands the test of time where it counts. It's certainly better than most young children's shows these days, excepting the awesomeness that is <a href="http://yogabbagabba.com/"><i>Yo Gabba Gabba</i></a>. Most people who grew up watching it understandably want to show it to their kids. Unfortunately, neither version of the film has been available since the initial VHS release. Bootlegs featuring both versions are frequently available online, but the easiest way to experience <i>Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme</i> is good ol' YouTube, where <a href="http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=8A4F42F432C28CCE&search_query=mother+goose+rock">the whole thing</a> has been archived.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/naIGGZf1TdY&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/naIGGZf1TdY&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /></p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s1600/Audio+Archaeology.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 100px; height: 100px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s1600/Audio+Archaeology.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/category/cos-exclusive-features/audio-archaeology-cos-exclusive-features/"><br /></a></p><p><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/category/cos-exclusive-features/audio-archaeology-cos-exclusive-features/">Audio Archaeology</a> is a <span style="font-style: italic;">Media Potluck and </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/">Consequence of Sound</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> presentation.</span></p>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-1142720576235069942009-07-22T17:11:00.006-04:002009-12-23T23:03:08.070-05:001970/2019: Detectives from Past to Future<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhUJaQX2GuiMVla0vSdj6roq_TxXxo6-ks6lE1-FkKe16vL1j3Afa0U5LKxygZb90rYpawfB2jPKYoCPCEpvUAzS1BYCqQI_ZHy-kepAsVLjiPsXftBjqQLpSmwiNJPfmvKJMQlWpX0l9/s1600-h/blade_runner_2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361396886021181474" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; width: 272px; height: 400px; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhUJaQX2GuiMVla0vSdj6roq_TxXxo6-ks6lE1-FkKe16vL1j3Afa0U5LKxygZb90rYpawfB2jPKYoCPCEpvUAzS1BYCqQI_ZHy-kepAsVLjiPsXftBjqQLpSmwiNJPfmvKJMQlWpX0l9/s400/blade_runner_2.jpg" border="0" /></a>Media Potluck is proud to present, 1970/2019: Detectives from Past to Future!<br /><br />This month's double feature will be Darker Than Amber (1970) and Blade Runner (1982).<br /><br />Watch two vastly different takes on a classic story, the everyman detective stopping at nothing to make it out alive.<br /><br />Check out our previous articles on Darker than Amber:<br /><br /><a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2009/01/darker-than-amber-1970.html">http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2009/01/darker-than-amber-1970.html</a><br /><br />The version of Blade Runner that we'll be showing is Ridley Scott's definitive 2007 Final Cut.<br /><br />Party starts at 6 PM, films begin at 7 PM. Come prepared for discussion!<br /><br />This will be a media potluck and also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a special themed cake. Please RSVP and comment with what treat you will bring.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=106491341949&ref=mf#" target="_blank">RSVP</a> on Facebook.<br />Non-Facebook users e-mail us to RSVP and get directions at <a href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com" mce_href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com">mediapotluck@gmail.com</a>.Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-73037108094623365732009-07-03T13:16:00.016-04:002009-12-23T23:02:35.869-05:00Photos from Los Angeles is Toast!: Nuclear War in 80s Film<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT6LCXCaMBz9h28F9uBYLApgO3qBqyR1u3Bq7GajH7l9ILrb-sutch26V8NCLmiJ4QHbFjr3N6S2V-h4Uf4u1Jb92fB2wIbOy12YDOLdA1QrRqUrHqey3btqXtg0oAqJS8h_0xBSqW-yL/s1600-h/IMG_3696-800.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnT6LCXCaMBz9h28F9uBYLApgO3qBqyR1u3Bq7GajH7l9ILrb-sutch26V8NCLmiJ4QHbFjr3N6S2V-h4Uf4u1Jb92fB2wIbOy12YDOLdA1QrRqUrHqey3btqXtg0oAqJS8h_0xBSqW-yL/s400/IMG_3696-800.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354287560919929730" border="0" /></a><br />Photos are up from our party, Los Angeles is Toast!: Nuclear War in 80s Film on 6-27-09. See more on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/album.php?aid=89949&id=78575517973&ref=mf">Facebook page</a>!<br /><br />- NickMedia Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-20759193455552003732009-06-19T13:10:00.001-04:002009-12-23T23:03:25.100-05:00Los Angeles is Toast!: Nuclear War in 80s FilmMedia Potluck is proud to present, Los Angeles is Toast!: Nuclear War in 80s Film.<br /><br />This month's double feature will be <span style="font-style: italic;">Miracle Mile</span> (1988) and <span style="font-style: italic;">Repo Man</span> (1984).<br /><br />Taking place in the desolate streets and underground worlds of Los Angeles, circa the mid to late 1980s, Miracle Mile and Repo Man provide two unique, but varied, views of a culture overcome by the fears and anxieties of the cold war.<br /><br />Check out our previous articles on both films:<br /><a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/12/repo-man-1984.html" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/12/repo-man-1984.html</a><br /><a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/09/miracle-mile-1988.html" onmousedown="'UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this)," target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/09/miracle-mile-1988.html</a><br /><br />Party starts at 6 PM, films begin at 7 PM. Come prepared for discussion!<br /><br />This will be a media potluck and also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a special Repo Man themed cake. Please RSVP and comment with what treat you will bring.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=90194329853&ref=mf" target="_blank">RSVP</a> on Facebook.<br />Non-Facebook users e-mail us to RSVP and get directions at <a href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com" mce_href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com">mediapotluck@gmail.com</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDmeoBSzTZbsHVoMscYssHEqcrChvOtkdXQhGn-8b_A_zXG5MDfdOtpGlxVjw-l9AVDBRYw9Yq0r9JuTbP3DRV_O2E-Batd9JqtOl8YCQcVlq-CNlf0eac-XzLLFAOUzqkegI-4MsK1VnK/s1600-h/party.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDmeoBSzTZbsHVoMscYssHEqcrChvOtkdXQhGn-8b_A_zXG5MDfdOtpGlxVjw-l9AVDBRYw9Yq0r9JuTbP3DRV_O2E-Batd9JqtOl8YCQcVlq-CNlf0eac-XzLLFAOUzqkegI-4MsK1VnK/s400/party.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5354283555699769698" border="0" /></a>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-77659692707678352722009-06-13T16:22:00.000-04:002009-06-13T16:22:44.340-04:00Audio Archaeology/ Media Potluck UPDATE<img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 299px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 303px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s1600/Audio+Archaeology.jpg" border="0" /> <div>There are big things coming. Media Potluck is on the verge of a huge face lift.<br /><br />As a result of this, there's no <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">new</span> new article yet, but there has been another re-vamp of one of our old articles. "<a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/11/hooverphonic-presents-jackie-cane-2002.html">Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane (2002)</a>" is now, like "<a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/08/blog-post.html">Musique D'Express (1990)</a>", an <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/index.php?s=audio+archaeology">Audio Archeology</a> article and has been upgraded. Not only is it a better read, but it now features a full audio playlist. <img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 292px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 298px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifCcbWVTFb1eYwaFgACmXLUqOjmdgvDqSfClRhG9Iy_qJ2VuMlDSeDwxuJ9LoIFLZBETPYwXyHWje1c5ZBjcT8sVOR4qms6nh8wb__F9rbubrF2EQ-SZgjX2PmfivJOI4GNe4A0hbZXvXx/s1600/jackie+cane.jpg" border="0" />You can check out the new version here: <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/11/hooverphonic-presents-jackie-cane-2002.html">Hooverphonic Presents Jackie Cane (2002)</a>.<br /><br />In addition to our remodeling, I'm happy to announce that our first <span style="FONT-STYLE: italic">actual</span> Media Potluck, <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2009/05/terminator-party.html">Terminator: The Party</a> was a success, as you can see <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2009/06/photos-from-terminator-party.html">here</a>. We're hoping to make our Media Potluck parties a monthly occasion, so be on the lookout.<br /><br />-Cap </div>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-60187129810884838552009-06-05T17:15:00.015-04:002009-12-23T23:03:40.763-05:00Photos from Terminator: The Party<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaoVxN73GZ_q6dM2wf6wdzx8GvJ9ZbqeM7Dyn1FvQ1jWmL6taEbjaXZqYt-p_ao-D68h71FZt8uSN-Z-AHk6lOn36x8w02ZWSbqBR3KQJkPn2MJwa_VcMZZ3zEnS50Qlld-qGPAUKcWVo/s1600-h/termparty-23-800.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 355px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEaoVxN73GZ_q6dM2wf6wdzx8GvJ9ZbqeM7Dyn1FvQ1jWmL6taEbjaXZqYt-p_ao-D68h71FZt8uSN-Z-AHk6lOn36x8w02ZWSbqBR3KQJkPn2MJwa_VcMZZ3zEnS50Qlld-qGPAUKcWVo/s200/termparty-23-800.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343956184279546194" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobWJqqr4yfZELgBorlSQA3f9fuwgkdpAI7XZVEe-AOroo6UJjjMgryV7Go33b0wGeyXYvKfvlORc_iurxdULp08rUpeLrYD9snFglsH3Dv-yYixVogLDXWT1yuzaW3bWmrZDNwexObevQ/s1600-h/termparty-24-800.jpg"> </a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobWJqqr4yfZELgBorlSQA3f9fuwgkdpAI7XZVEe-AOroo6UJjjMgryV7Go33b0wGeyXYvKfvlORc_iurxdULp08rUpeLrYD9snFglsH3Dv-yYixVogLDXWT1yuzaW3bWmrZDNwexObevQ/s1600-h/termparty-24-800.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhobWJqqr4yfZELgBorlSQA3f9fuwgkdpAI7XZVEe-AOroo6UJjjMgryV7Go33b0wGeyXYvKfvlORc_iurxdULp08rUpeLrYD9snFglsH3Dv-yYixVogLDXWT1yuzaW3bWmrZDNwexObevQ/s200/termparty-24-800.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343956258926822658" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmQ2Jo_7Mv5LmaAkwyGLasq0KTBX_DCUMb8ZlBmu4ui0vB6tGfwoAUZBIR_VZNGDICLXmoZARgYphl9BIXS9e2CKDVIQ_OpFqhlFSIl_SORDi6DeggTYzCdKJHhBsAvH6ZA4qbjE8Y7NW/s1600-h/termparty-18-800.jpg"> <img style="cursor: pointer; width: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtmQ2Jo_7Mv5LmaAkwyGLasq0KTBX_DCUMb8ZlBmu4ui0vB6tGfwoAUZBIR_VZNGDICLXmoZARgYphl9BIXS9e2CKDVIQ_OpFqhlFSIl_SORDi6DeggTYzCdKJHhBsAvH6ZA4qbjE8Y7NW/s200/termparty-18-800.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5343956439805645026" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br />Here are a couple photos from Terminator: The Party on 5-25-09. See more on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/editphoto.php?aid=83649&id=78575517973#/album.php?aid=83649&id=78575517973&ref=mf">Facebook page</a>!<br /><br />- NickMedia Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-28246818368608150872009-05-18T22:34:00.004-04:002009-05-18T22:44:38.759-04:00Terminator: The PartyMedia Potluck is proud to present, Terminator: The Party!<br /><br />In celebration of the release of <em>Terminator: Salvation</em> we will be watching <em>The Terminator</em> and <em>Terminator 2: Judgment Day</em>.<br /><br />This will be a media potluck and also a REAL potluck, so everyone is asked to try to bring some food to share! We will be providing a Terminator cake as well as "I'll Be Back" hot wings. Please RSVP and comment with what treat you will bring.<br /><br />PS - When hot wings come back, you will know it.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=84885792660" target="_blank">RSVP</a> on Facebook.<br />Non-Facebook users e-mail us to RSVP and get directions at <a href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com" mce_href="mailto:mediapotluck@gmail.com">mediapotluck@gmail.com</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQx0iBmHodUU4PhTmb1jza0IECbFYTH73r0_L-7fRmfmzQviq6AN0TXtTYv8i7k0hi6fBXYtMx4iYjR73RRm-r12zHbnW1jfEo519tVVKc9OUM3gm0QhwJ1b4hQiQ_yPiun83HIv7xybC/s1600-h/956-067~Terminator-2-Posters.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 278px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQx0iBmHodUU4PhTmb1jza0IECbFYTH73r0_L-7fRmfmzQviq6AN0TXtTYv8i7k0hi6fBXYtMx4iYjR73RRm-r12zHbnW1jfEo519tVVKc9OUM3gm0QhwJ1b4hQiQ_yPiun83HIv7xybC/s400/956-067~Terminator-2-Posters.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5337357932480248450" border="0" /></a><br /></div>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-58834051162689123572009-04-23T21:15:00.004-04:002009-05-08T00:22:27.953-04:00Audio Archaeology UPDATE<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s1600/Audio+Archaeology.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s1600/Audio+Archaeology.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>One of Media Potluck's first articles, "<a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/08/blog-post.html">Musique D'Express (1990)</a>" has been re-vamped as an <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/index.php?s=audio+archaeology">Audio Archeology</a> post for our pals at <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/">Consequence of Sound</a>! It's one of the articles that I hold most dear to me so I'm very glad to have spruced it up a bit. Instead of reposting the article, I've just updated the <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/08/blog-post.html">original post</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqmZLykT19WhGOyNF0vDFgnenYalSB3SlVjrjFovnI798vAc-GB2LxpvZ5G1jB_cYUpeKS8CLk30-vU5riIdWxyhVxeZBT9tWVgvwA7zZZZ8NrQiZv0Nq9KTbDUk0oWS0lOATC7S3xB7q/s1600/Express+cover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 249px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYqmZLykT19WhGOyNF0vDFgnenYalSB3SlVjrjFovnI798vAc-GB2LxpvZ5G1jB_cYUpeKS8CLk30-vU5riIdWxyhVxeZBT9tWVgvwA7zZZZ8NrQiZv0Nq9KTbDUk0oWS0lOATC7S3xB7q/s1600/Express+cover.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Check out the new "Musique D'Express (1990)" <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2008/08/blog-post.html">HERE</a>.<br /><br />I know it's been non-stop Audio Archaeology for the past few months, but never fear. We'll resume covering the full spectrum of media again soon!<br /><br />- CapMedia Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-32145836135997422892009-03-29T17:08:00.009-04:002009-03-29T18:35:09.321-04:00Corky & the Juice Pigs (1987-1998)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JPG-7ku71l6bhu6H_CjQWCJiqvLyEwEa-U7GwrCy_8rMX9sIbx62tquh-xH5NnE-RZNBmb9yJ53YBRdkiIsY8b2uDQE_vEwDgoRoZo8cJ_OnklnAASZ7vPYloNbwvpLol5KhhGwPPl71/s1600-h/catjp+cover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 342px; height: 339px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8JPG-7ku71l6bhu6H_CjQWCJiqvLyEwEa-U7GwrCy_8rMX9sIbx62tquh-xH5NnE-RZNBmb9yJ53YBRdkiIsY8b2uDQE_vEwDgoRoZo8cJ_OnklnAASZ7vPYloNbwvpLol5KhhGwPPl71/s320/catjp+cover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318739792449424034" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/audio-archaeology-175x175.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 91px; height: 91px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/audio-archaeology-175x175.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-style: italic;">Media Potluck and </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/">Consequence of Sound</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> present </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/category/cos-exclusive-features/audio-archaeology-cos-exclusive-features/">Audio Archaeology</a><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span></p><p><br /></p><p>Comedic music is a fickle mistress. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/They_might_be_giants">More</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquabats">than</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel_big_fish">a</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barenaked_ladies">few</a> mainstream bands flirt with comedy, and some comedians have an impressive musical presence, but there are very few artists who deal exclusively in comedic music, leaving the genre for the most part overrun with one-off <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novelty_songs">novelty songs</a>. However, the comedic music world has recently begun to make something of itself. “Weird Al” Yankovic is, of course, still the king (and probably will be for the next century because the man doesn’t age) but, for the first time in a long time, he’s not the only player in the game. Tenacious D’s unprecedented success with their skillful musical compositions mixed with comedic antics paved the way for other new artists to join them. Recent acts such as <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLEK0UZH4cs&feature=related">Flight of the Conchords</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7yfISlGLNU">The Lonely Island</a> have taken television, Internet, and music listeners by storm with a consistency and integrity that suggests they’re here to stay. This sudden boon has even prompted older faces to return to the scene. The group that practically created the genre back in 1962, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonzo_Dog_Band">Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band</a>, have recently reformed and the legendary <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinal_Tap">Spinal Tap</a> have <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/03/03/spinal-tap-goes-%E2%80%9Cunwigged-unplugged%E2%80%9D/">come out of hiatus</a>. Things are looking up for the comedic music world, but there are many brilliant acts who have burned out before their time and many more that have gone unnoticed. Among the greatest of these lost musical comedy groups is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corky_and_the_Juice_Pigs">Corky and the Juice Pigs</a>.</p> <p style=""><a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pants-band-small.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-13379" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 1px 2px; float: left; width: 183px; height: 221px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pants-band-small-247x300.jpg" alt="" /></a>Corky and the Juice Pigs were Phil Nichol, Greg Neale, and Seán Cullen, a trio of Canadian gentlemen blessed with powerful gifts: music and comedy. From 1987 to 1998 the band coupled cleverly composed musical style parodies, astounding witticisms, baffling weirdness, and insane improvisation into a beautiful goulash of sight and sound. Chances are you’ve heard at least one Corky song. Their immortal classic “Eskimo” still frequently makes the rounds on the Internet, though it’s commonly accredited to other comedy acts and is often under the punch-line revealing title “I’m The Only Gay Eskimo”. Perhaps an illustration is in order, so take a gander at this live performance of “Eskimo” complete with style parodies of the Proclaimers, Bob Dylan, Portishead, Ric Ocasek, Oasis, and Van Morrison:</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/wiEm875PqdY&hl" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wiEm875PqdY&hl"></object></p> <p style=""> </p><p style=""> </p><p style="">“Eskimo” may be the band’s lasting legacy, but it’s far from their finest work. Lines like “I go out seal hunting with my best friend Tarka, but all want to do is get into his parka” only begin to scratch the surface of the Juice Pigs’ comedic prowess. They can go toe-to-toe with the best of those in their field. The Juice Pigs’ self-titled debut was released independently in 1993. Their folksy, predominantly acoustic comedy predates the similar traits of modern musical comedians <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Lynch_%28musician%29">Stephen Lynch</a>, whom they surpass in cleverness, and the Conchords, whom the Juice Pigs have much in common with, though the Conchords are much slicker customers. “Corky and the Juice Pigs” is a twenty-six track long hodgepodge of short skits, short songs, and a few regular-sized songs. While there’s definitely some dead wood there is also brilliance, such as the sitar-fueled ballad to Indian food and romance, “Love Affair”:</p> <blockquote> <p style="">You’re my little curry puff<br />I’m your vindaloo man<br />I want to take you where samosas run wild<br />And lay you in a bed of nan</p> </blockquote> <p style="">“Truckers” praises life on the open road: “I’ve hauled a million tons of freight from Pheonix to Omaha and sometimes I fall asleep at the wheel and I kill carloads of tourists” and “Americans” is a tragically real parody of American politics, ethics, and patriotic ballads:</p> <blockquote><p>We are Americans, we are Americans<br />We carry great big guns,<br />‘Cause we are Americans<br />We’re strong and we’re free<br />We are Coke, we are Pepsi</p></blockquote> <p style="">There’s even a mention of fighting a war in Iraq. Who would’ve thought this song would be even <em>more</em><span style=""> pointed in 2009?</span>The Juice Pigs may disguise their songs with unrevealing titles, but they’re quite blunt in <img class="alignright" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 1px 2px; float: right; width: 233px; height: 158px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/panda-300x222.jpg" alt="" />their comedy. Any normal-seeming situation will quickly break down into insanity such as in the opening verses to their early track, “Pandas”:</p> <blockquote> <p style="">White and black, the friendly bears of China<br />White and black, they rarely reproduce<br />What shall be done about these Chinese bears?<br />What shall be done about these friendly bears?</p> <p>Die, they must die<br />The pandas must die<br />Die, they must die<br />The pandas must die – Yaaaay!</p></blockquote> <p style="">Or the sophistication of their later works, like “REMember”:</p> <blockquote> <p style="">I look over out of the window<br />I see your face<br />And I’m frightened<br />‘Cause I live on the eighth floor<br />And you must be really, really tall</p> </blockquote> <p style="">“REMember” is a prime example of three of the band’s strongest suits – improvisation, style parody, and surrealism. The song starts inexplicably with a tranquil rendition of The Cult’s “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebh4B0RrIwo">She Sells Sanctuary</a>” and then becomes a very unique R.E.M. parody. Rather than riffing off of any one of R.E.M.’s songs or tackling aspects of their more famous works, “REMember” targets the <em>idea</em><span style=""> of R.E.M. Seán Cullen emulates Michael Stipes-esque vocals and spins a web of comical nonsense akin to the alt. rock band’s subjective lyrics. The Juice Pigs had practic</span><span style="">ed with this format earlier in their career with the song “Suzanne” - a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_Vega">Suzanne Vega</a> parody not featuring a note of her hit “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%27s_Diner">Tom’s Diner</a>”, but lampooning its style of winding narrative. Both tracks make use of Cullen’s trademark improvisation which rambles to dadaist heights of humorous </span><span style="">confoundment. When per</span><span style="">formed live these tracks are mostly r</span><span style="">aw improvisation from Cullen leading to varied results as seen in this performance:</span></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/EEKVJZa_gdE&hl" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EEKVJZa_gdE&hl"></object></p> <p style=""> </p><p style=""><span style="">The second track in the above clip, “BVG” (aka “Burn Victim Girl”) shows the Juice Pig’s subversive traits and their aptitude towards clever, short songs and skits. Their second album, 1994’s “Pants”, retools the presence of the first album’s sk</span><span style="">its and P.S.A.s into a clever unifying segway of c</span><span style="">hanging radio stations that play in the pregap (negative numbers) between m</span><span style="">ost tracks. This fun new take on skits is just one of the many aspects of “Pants” that makes it far superior to the Juice Pigs’ debut. In addition to tighter song-writing, the album has more complex production; allowing for a greater variance in sou</span><span style="">nd and styles. </span><img class="alignright" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 1px 2px; float: right;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/pants-cover-300x297.jpg" alt="" width="219" height="216" /><span style=""> “Pants”s title track, and first track on the album, flourishes their new complexity with a parody of early 90s dance hits complete with a wailing female vocalist and substituting record scratches with zipper sounds. “C</span>ome on everybody now/ men and women, young and old/ I can feel your pain/ …if you touch my pants.” In true dance fashion the track is remixed at the end of the album as “The Boot Cut (Pants Trance Dance Mix)”.</p> <p style="">“Pants”’ diverse sound serves it well, from the ska-infused “Picnic Party” (about Third World nations having fun in the sun), to the melodic ballad “Dolphin Boy” (the tragic tale of a boy who abandons the land to be with his favorite sea mammals), the hard rock “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ5Hb_Qm_Ks">Hot Squat Hombre</a>” (about the kind of love only the vertically challenged can give), or the country-western weeper “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9WRfQaQA9w">Christmas Dreams</a>” (scope out videos of the last two songs by clicking their links). “Pants is also home to “Janitor”, the Juice Pigs’ most brilliant and endearing style parody. In it, they riff off of fellow Canadian, Neil Young’s distinctive vocals and folk-rock sound to spin the story of an eccentric grade school janitor who “cleans the bathroom and tells dirty jokes …dresses like a woman and rolls his own smokes.”</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/oXvCltvC3fU&hl" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oXvCltvC3fU&hl"></object></p> <p style=""> </p><p style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Cullen"><img class="alignleft" style="border: 1px solid black; margin: 1px 2px; float: left;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/a0005455_12542539.jpg" alt="" width="214" height="158" /></a>By now you’ve certainly noticed that most of these clips come from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madtv">MADtv</a>. Believe it or not there was a time when MADtv was good. During its first three seasons (1995-1998) the show was at its best - trying to do things better and different, while SNL was at an all-time worst. Corky and the Juice Pigs were the first musical guest ever featured on MADtv. They appeared nine times between the second and third season. This was where I first experienced them, prompting my middle school self to record every episode of MADtv so that I wouldn’t miss a performance. Beginning with the forth season, when the show started pumping in mainstream musical guests, as SNL does, it was the beginning of the end; not just for MADtv’s quality, but also for the band. The Juice Pigs’ appearances on MADtv were as far as they ever got to stardom. In 1998, while assembling new material for a third album, their record label, Denon, went belly-up and the band went separate ways. Two of their last songs “Phone Sex Girl” and “Too Fat to Rock ‘n’ Roll” (a Meatloaf parody) exist only as MADtv performances.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/uqGEVLKaUCk&hl" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uqGEVLKaUCk&hl"></object></p> <p style=""> </p> <p style="">The Juice Pigs had a good run. Barenaked Ladies used to open for them <span style="">back in the o</span><span style="">ld days until the tables turned. After e</span>leven years, two albums, many festivals, and an attention-getting number of appearances on American television, surely the band could walk away somewhat satisfied. However, things appeared to be looking up before the record company closed its doors, so what exactly led to the end of Corky and the Juice Pigs? I can’t seem to find any definitive word. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Cullen">Seán Cullen</a> went on to pursue a stand up and acting career. You may have seen him on <em>Comedy Central Presents</em>. He still does musical improv and recently even did a comedy <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzAlo6h_q5g">P.S.A.</a>, just like old times. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Nichol">Phil Nichol</a> is also a comedian and keeps his guitar close in tow. He recently <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS-Gg3AXfwY">appeared</a> on the <em>Graham Norton Show</em> celebrating an award from if.comedy. The band’s tallest member, Greg Neale, has faded into the mists of mystery.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhmCq3teqPhLQMfl7Sr0wSjlgVA5wBpu5-MRL9h4n0Up1lPzv8WE7r4d7t8XRKGaDJYisRQlOajE6Ql46XbepghMfTYIL5bbBF8OFslYA-74wcdNzm_9COZetQy4uTFn1wer4nngoBnTP/s1600-h/pants+birth.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 258px; height: 185px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhmCq3teqPhLQMfl7Sr0wSjlgVA5wBpu5-MRL9h4n0Up1lPzv8WE7r4d7t8XRKGaDJYisRQlOajE6Ql46XbepghMfTYIL5bbBF8OFslYA-74wcdNzm_9COZetQy4uTFn1wer4nngoBnTP/s320/pants+birth.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5318741575735124722" border="0" /></a>The Corky and the Juice Pigs’ albums have been out of print for a long time and have never been made officially available online. You can find their music floating around the Internet without too much trouble, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNAgUCRRkm4">additional videos</a> continue to appear on YouTube, and there’s a long-running <a href="http://kimberlychapman.com/corky/index.html">fansite</a> good for soundbytes and additional info. Below is a taste of Corky’s porky goodness, from their self-titled debut and “Pants” - but that’s not all. Internet magic has also made available their extremely rare, only ever released on cassette, demo album “Buck A Song” which you can check out <a href="http://www.imeem.com/people/ce9ucdp/playlist/sI8uNzI4/buck-a-song-music-playlist/">HERE</a>.</p><p>LISTEN:<strong></strong></p> <div style="width: 300px;"><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" width="300" height="340"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="src" value="http://media.imeem.com/pl/VEW2Bf2-49/aus=false/"><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://media.imeem.com/pl/VEW2Bf2-49/aus=false/" wmode="transparent" width="300" height="340"></embed></object></div> <span class="sociable_tagline"> <strong></strong></span><br />- CapMedia Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-35853832985717136652009-03-01T00:29:00.028-05:002009-03-08T18:46:27.120-04:00Drastic Measures (1983)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE74Zd7x7g88bkgqEusa31LBP8VE_LV-oQe0p5KDQfcnZtdCX69tuFALeIhGt5XHM8uz_7lbdFxe-us1SdRHtdFFgCuFfks14cdR1zf596zO_Qca7f8N5rVlfblWVVOvjPAu96JwIayekK/s1600-h/DM.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 395px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE74Zd7x7g88bkgqEusa31LBP8VE_LV-oQe0p5KDQfcnZtdCX69tuFALeIhGt5XHM8uz_7lbdFxe-us1SdRHtdFFgCuFfks14cdR1zf596zO_Qca7f8N5rVlfblWVVOvjPAu96JwIayekK/s400/DM.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308100927291536498" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/audio-archaeology-175x175.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 91px; height: 91px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/audio-archaeology-175x175.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Media Potluck and </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/">Consequence of Sound</a><span style="font-style: italic;"> present </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/category/cos-exclusive-features/audio-archaeology-cos-exclusive-features/">Audio Archaeology</a><span style="font-style: italic;">.</span><p><br /></p><p>I firmly believe that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_%28band%29">Kansas</a> is the greatest American progressive rock group of their generation. Throughout the 1970s they composed some of the most memorable prog-rock songs of all time and achieved mass appeal. “Carry On Wayward Son”, “Dust in the Wind”, and “Point of Know Return” are legendary tracks. Even beyond these well-known hits, Kansas’ repertoire is constant in its awesomeness. No matter the decade, no matter the hardships, Kansas has kept its heart beating.</p> <p>Many ’70s progressive rock outfits struggled through the 1980s. Only a solemn few emerged from the gauntlet of the drastically changing music industry with their integrity untarnished. Acts such as Genesis, Rush, and Yes kept afloat by meshing their prog-rock talents with the synthetic sounds of mainstream pop. They met with unprecedented success, but not all groups who attempted the switch can say the same. Jethro Tull’s 1984 effort, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Wraps"><em>Under Wraps</em></a>, fell on deaf ears despite cool synths, drum machines, and a chic spy noir motif. Kansas’ 1983 album, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drastic_Measures"><em>Drastic Measures</em></a>, met a similar fate. It sold poorly, alienated longtime fans, and has since been forgotten, but even more so than Tull’s album it begs to be rediscovered.</p><p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbgXGZ-_w9NfGg8Gdku9KyycikiY4XJ9SK4jyyB7BdRQN3RuAFagCbHZKqIc0DS_Ahhyn9hbHsWxb1636851onI5n8hH3k5FucdV6cbSaHb8DP3z5uTN58zO0bz6NdBgmSvglC4b_6kYT/s1600-h/DM+detail.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 254px; height: 149px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpbgXGZ-_w9NfGg8Gdku9KyycikiY4XJ9SK4jyyB7BdRQN3RuAFagCbHZKqIc0DS_Ahhyn9hbHsWxb1636851onI5n8hH3k5FucdV6cbSaHb8DP3z5uTN58zO0bz6NdBgmSvglC4b_6kYT/s320/DM+detail.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308099759044884834" border="0" /></a></p> <p><strong>Mainstream.</strong></p> <p>At the onset of the 1980s Kansas underwent major changes. They had ridden a tsunami-like wave of success since the 1976 release of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leftoverture"><em>Leftoverture</em></a> followed a year later by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_of_Know_Return"><em>Point of Know Return</em></a>. However, their two following albums, 1979’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_%28album%29"><em>Monolith</em></a> and 1980’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio-Visions"><em>Audio-Visions</em></a> saw that wave break. The music still harnessed Kansas’ unique blend of mysticism, the American West, and violin-heavy rock ‘n’ roll, but their cohesion was slipping and the state of rock was moving on. Lead-singer, keyboardist, and prominent songwriter, <a href="http://www.steve-walsh.de/">Steve Walsh</a>, left Kansas to form the band, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streets_%28band%29">Streets</a>. His replacement was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Elefante">John Elefante</a>, whose voice was compatible to Walsh’s and who took over his portion of the song writing and keyboard playing. Their next album, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinyl_Confessions"><em>Vinyl Confessions</em></a>, was a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjAwliuNHVE&feature=related">stepping stone</a>, between classic Kansas and the modern state of rock, but still not the breakthrough success they had become accustomed to.</p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJ7AEvtl0PTkJm4hpRrB9c260sQ0aL6NEhu9QkSBUUWOwbF48fVZa5Vdzk4Asw0eVHvGw_igTY8nSC_HOukUIIUuWU_j6rElCgmANQprWQwH4yP4HR41U8WZgzmVCARY6iz93RIYIpreS/s1600-h/vinyl_confessions.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 205px; height: 205px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbJ7AEvtl0PTkJm4hpRrB9c260sQ0aL6NEhu9QkSBUUWOwbF48fVZa5Vdzk4Asw0eVHvGw_igTY8nSC_HOukUIIUuWU_j6rElCgmANQprWQwH4yP4HR41U8WZgzmVCARY6iz93RIYIpreS/s320/vinyl_confessions.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308090010090231826" border="0" /></a>The changes didn’t end there. Bassist <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiWzzpSIE74">Dave Hop</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiWzzpSIE74">e</a> and guitarist, keyboardist, and lead songwriter, <a href="http://www.numavox.com/">Kerry Livgren</a>, had recently become born-again Christians as was Elefante. This led to Christian <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNODeiYl-gs&feature=related">overtones</a> appearing in <em>Confessions</em>‘ lyrics. The lyrics are loose enough that they associate with whatever best suits the listener. I never noticed them until they were pointed out to me. U2 is obvious, Kansas… not so much. Regardless, this generated a sudden influx of evangelical Christian fans. They began handing out religious pamphlets regarding the album’s lyrics at Kansas’ shows and Contemporary Christian Music Magazine named <em>Vinyl Confessions </em>the #1 album of 1982. In response to this, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_Steinhardt">Robby </a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robby_Steinhardt">Stienhardt</a>, the band’s distinctive violinist and on-stage front man, left the band.</p> <p>Guitarist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Williams">Rich Williams</a> and drummer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Ehart">Phil Ehart</a> were the only original forces in Kansas still present and fundamentally unchanged. They remain the only members never to leave.</p> <blockquote><p>“Everything was changing, and the future wasn’t bright. The only reason I didn’t leave was that I was too curious to see what was going to happen. If Kansas was going to go down in bloody flames I wanted to be there. I wanted to go down with the ship.”</p></blockquote> <div style="text-align: right;"><blockquote><p>-Rich Williams, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sail_On:_The_30th_Anniversary_Collection"><em>Sail On</em></a> DVD</p></blockquote></div> <p><em>Drastic Measures</em> is exactly what its name implies it to be: a desperate attempt to hold on to rock stardom at all costs. Two key members were gone, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loverboy">Loverboy</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreigner_%28band%29">Foreigner</a> were tearing up the charts, and synth-infused rock ‘n’ roll was the only clear path to commercial viability. Taking stock of all this, Kansas dove head first into the genre of mainstream rock. But there was a twist. The band’s progressive nature turned this very self-conscious transformation on its head. If they were going to make a pop-rock album it would be on their terms.</p> <p style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3JP8ZpCyIu9PYmo9ngS6FUxZB2LA-okc1T2snrF01mWtinHcsEYnsNFF01FIMNCSveRo0_YMkGrtD2BVuOBMYeayyCwNEYYtnKvFuUOiImI9peGSgjnQESpAqDiLd1j22uredqFQid4Qj/s1600-h/kansas.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 178px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3JP8ZpCyIu9PYmo9ngS6FUxZB2LA-okc1T2snrF01mWtinHcsEYnsNFF01FIMNCSveRo0_YMkGrtD2BVuOBMYeayyCwNEYYtnKvFuUOiImI9peGSgjnQESpAqDiLd1j22uredqFQid4Qj/s320/kansas.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308090396549688450" border="0" /></a></p> <p><strong>Fight Fire With Fire.</strong></p> <p>“Fight Fire With Fire”, opens <em>Drastic Measures</em> with a bang: a searing grind of guitars over ominous synth harmonies that bleed into dreamy digressions. “There’s nothing to lose, ’cause it’s already lost. In a runaway world of confusion - I’m not gonna take it!” sings Elefante defiantly. “Fire” is pure rock ‘n’ roll machismo - cryptic lyrics of struggle based around a catch phrase. The song rocks to degrees others groups’ tracks in the format can’t measure up to: a powerful wall of sound that doesn’t let up; even in mellow moments. It makes you feel like a sexy electric badass riding a post-apocalyptic war machine. Try and deny it.</p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4fG80dnduRHngmW0OjN47gS0My3FBwNrtw4q8E5x7sFMyeAXHTXnZ5JDoumxxUEuENCmzzQKIf64ppxdNLkjyl0fkGiqYtVm8A_zCqUeCIHA34kCiHSRaHgDfKzpJzvOhfDrNk1-Zrmy/s1600-h/vlcsnap-413144.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 230px; height: 172px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ4fG80dnduRHngmW0OjN47gS0My3FBwNrtw4q8E5x7sFMyeAXHTXnZ5JDoumxxUEuENCmzzQKIf64ppxdNLkjyl0fkGiqYtVm8A_zCqUeCIHA34kCiHSRaHgDfKzpJzvOhfDrNk1-Zrmy/s320/vlcsnap-413144.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308090967174107954" border="0" /></a>The next avenue of pop-rock cliché Kansas tackles is the inherent obsession with wealth and fame. “Everybody’s My Friend” is a catchy song about the excitable populous’ hunger to interact with the famous. Like the majority of songs on the album “Everybody’s My Friend” was penned by John Elefante and his brother, Dino. The song’s subject is a reaction to Elefante’s sudden fame as lead singer of an international act and the disillusionment caused by absolute strangers trying to connect with him. “Have you met Mick Jagger? Ringo, George, or Paul? Do you have my number? Will you give me a call?” asks the eager fan.</p> <p>“Mainstream”, written by Livgren, mirrors “Fire”’s digital warfare spirit. It calls to mind Apache helicopters firing rockets over a futuristic cityscape, and has a seething rhythm breakdown perfect for stalking prey through the urban jungle. “Mainstream” is the heart of what makes <em>Drastic Me</em><em>asures</em> successful and unique, its self-awareness.</p> <blockquote><p>“It’s so predictable and everybody judges by the numbers that you’re selling<br />Just crank ‘em out on the assembly line and chart ‘em higher<br />Just keep it simple boys it’s gonna be alright as long as you’re inside the Mainstream.”</p></blockquote> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn4F5u6t5mOUZn1984rl9jn-e1qj7fXb8lTJmFCrlnctXC-K2JhAQuvNi8KVj4ZnizAYdZsz61Ve5IakjBJzKfugL5UQpEC6SZV9TSe72KyNgygouRx-ts87X6V95bXnbjXinR1XnQDegz/s1600-h/vlcsnap-400342.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 190px; height: 145px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn4F5u6t5mOUZn1984rl9jn-e1qj7fXb8lTJmFCrlnctXC-K2JhAQuvNi8KVj4ZnizAYdZsz61Ve5IakjBJzKfugL5UQpEC6SZV9TSe72KyNgygouRx-ts87X6V95bXnbjXinR1XnQDegz/s320/vlcsnap-400342.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308091630414138994" border="0" /></a>Livgren makes plainly apparent the beautiful irony that <em>Drastic </em><em>Measur</em><em>es</em> embodies; consenting to studio demands but playing by his own rules and criticizing the marketplace. “Really loved it, didn’t earn a cent, no one’s buying your experiment” writes Livgren, bitterly mocking studio bosses. “Are we moving too far away? Is it worth it if it doesn’t pay?” muses the chorus, answered by the reoccurring line: “survive another year.”</p> <p>“Get Rich Now” harnesses a quintessential Kansas sound atop the backdrop of modern production. It continues the theme of mainstream awareness and chronicles greed through the ages. The chorus is a mechanically filtered mantra of the words “get rich now”. The song’s dark undertones not only targets major perpetrators of greed but subtly accuses the current direction of the band itself. This sentiment reoccurs in Livgren’s “End of the Age”, a ballad about the time of Revelations. This track in many ways sounds more like a traditional Kansas song than any from either of the previous two albums and is the only song on <em>Drastic Measures</em> that features Livgren’s distinctive organ playing.</p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ws8bUQzYC7gDw-Vxd58VH7Yn8PI1ZE1f2fW2VLt3ndiAjYclmwArIzDOctbutZexbEDlfw6aMzRKMtPHRHVVKml9Va7RGUFP_TAT3ZPXzT9xi05fsCCbbKIavC5O5BzYw173fppfEmG2/s1600-h/vlcsnap-401685.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ws8bUQzYC7gDw-Vxd58VH7Yn8PI1ZE1f2fW2VLt3ndiAjYclmwArIzDOctbutZexbEDlfw6aMzRKMtPHRHVVKml9Va7RGUFP_TAT3ZPXzT9xi05fsCCbbKIavC5O5BzYw173fppfEmG2/s320/vlcsnap-401685.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308092458068253778" border="0" /></a>With a beautiful swelling of synth strings interposed with rock guitar, “Going Through the Motions” turns a critical eye to the audience. “Do you really mean to tell me that you’re satisfied?” the song asks while musical and lyrically depicting a scene of city dwellers marching unison, briefcase in hand, to their appointed places. “Don’t Take Your Love Away” is a power ballad tried and true and appeals to all standard conventions - the title says it all. Where the song prospers above other power ballads is that it’s Kansas. It has the harmonies, rising musical surges, and smoking guitarmanship to prove it.</p> <p>One of the most unusual tracks on the album is “Andi”, a very pretty soft rock song. It’s rich with all the melodies and magic of the 80s prom of your dreams. Think “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ5LmQmQZqg">Time After Time</a>” meets “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7CuJ8cR9sg">Forever Young</a>” with a pinch of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangerine_dream">Tangerine Dream</a>’s soundtrack to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVs17MKOiPI"><em>Legend</em></a>. What makes the song truly unique is the subject matter. It’s about a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender">transgende</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender">red</a> girl “trapped inside a little boy’s body.” Some suggest it’s just about a girl who can’t wait to grow into a woman, but the lyrics side with the alternative. The song is lush with beautiful sounds, like a fantasy film; an aspect of enchantment bringing to mind fabrics twirling in slow motion, soft focus, and a voice that promises to grant her dreams. Despite her divergence from the norm “Andi” is granted the same beauty and understanding one would grant to a “normal” girl. I applaud Elefante for reaching beyond his evangelical Christian background to give unconventional subject matter the tenderness and understanding it deserves.</p> <p>The final song on the album, “Incident On a Bridge”, is powerful Livgren work with a triumphant sound to it. The lyrics are allegorical certainly of spiritual tribulation and successes, but also speaks of Livgren’s long road with Kansas and the hint that he might move on.</p> <blockquote><blockquote>“It’s all too real, all these things we feel<br />As the years go by, things intensify<br />And I know, for each life there is a reason<br />And I know, for each time there is a season<br />Now the bridge leads on, to a brighter dawn<br />It’s waiting for me.”</blockquote></blockquote> <p><strong>Going Through the Motions.</strong></p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG_5H5Pa1YM05vDTMbytdx_kDPKpwnNjNxNR8VKbryq1_EfVOP0c5ON2dDBVk1L2kJCK3zZZIvRK-_fFscKboTC2S7ONKvDLYTpkttulJ5wiH797MfVxJ0LNlk8pIrJTBbmVLtI23wpK-/s1600-h/vlcsnap-413706.png"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFG_5H5Pa1YM05vDTMbytdx_kDPKpwnNjNxNR8VKbryq1_EfVOP0c5ON2dDBVk1L2kJCK3zZZIvRK-_fFscKboTC2S7ONKvDLYTpkttulJ5wiH797MfVxJ0LNlk8pIrJTBbmVLtI23wpK-/s320/vlcsnap-413706.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308093462910385570" border="0" /></a>“Fight Fire With Fire” made it to #3 on the mainstream rock charts, though it floundered past 40 in other rankings. The videos for “Fire” and “Everybody’s My Friend” don’t do the songs justice. They’re what you might call “concept videos”, but the actual concepts are anyone’s guess.</p> <p>In “Fight Fire With Fire” some guy is having dreams within dreams where he’s enslaved in a coal mine by the Spanish Inquisition and can throw fireballs. Also a giant mosquito sucks his blood. Awesome. Be sure to note Kerry Livgren and Rich Williams’ funny hats.</p> <p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6HD1FPPGvl4&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6HD1FPPGvl4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />I love the ending. “Oh hey man, you were having a nightmare and we were standing here… watching you.” Wait, why’d the color drop out? Oh! Kansas = Wizard of Oz! I get it.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQw2yLff1_AA9wrYrFPxyjuo9T7D6enMfj1N9k8Usv_KQyni9pKmPWk3ZVB_RRonjOhWEPoC8cTuNvea-ToeCmCw3TYgKo7hCg1Nk7BTAI2VstVh9_LB56_ipcdR9V10Ns5qwV_VlCy00G/s1600-h/vlcsnap-414491.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 154px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQw2yLff1_AA9wrYrFPxyjuo9T7D6enMfj1N9k8Usv_KQyni9pKmPWk3ZVB_RRonjOhWEPoC8cTuNvea-ToeCmCw3TYgKo7hCg1Nk7BTAI2VstVh9_LB56_ipcdR9V10Ns5qwV_VlCy00G/s320/vlcsnap-414491.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308259126566843826" border="0" /></a>In an interview on the <em>Sail On</em> DVD Rich Williams is particularly resentful:</p> <blockquote> <p>“They made me wear this STUPID hat… I don’t know why I didn’t have the balls to say “I’m not wearin’ that hat.” Because that’s what I was thinkin’. But you know, who am I? Everybody’s pointing and telling me what to do…”</p></blockquote> <p>The same <a href="http://www.dominicorlando.com/">director</a> returned for “Everybody’s My Friend”, which is a better video, but makes just as little sense. The coolest part is that it features the bazooka-toting bow-tied musician from the cover of the album. As to why he’s also a luchador, well...<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/TvldF_cI1uc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TvldF_cI1uc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p> <p><strong>End of the Age.</strong></p> <p>Just six months after the release of <em>Drastic Measures</em>, Kerry Livgren and Dave Hope left Kansas to form a new band, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AD_%28band%29">AD</a>.</p> <p><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1-1uk7lDK-7MWq-8bYD_2eBHFvREcuIMradCk4oqU1W_T5X4Pi1xq6OZSBkzryNx_fIQ-bdr_UBeC0fHltRugit19eQRURZDQtmtz1jnej3Gfa7gIi5q6rwGAxGJc4aPpMyoGQNmIHai/s1600-h/best+of.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 212px; height: 212px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB1-1uk7lDK-7MWq-8bYD_2eBHFvREcuIMradCk4oqU1W_T5X4Pi1xq6OZSBkzryNx_fIQ-bdr_UBeC0fHltRugit19eQRURZDQtmtz1jnej3Gfa7gIi5q6rwGAxGJc4aPpMyoGQNmIHai/s320/best+of.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308095725152472082" border="0" /></a>Even without the violin or many of their other conventions, Kansas’ distinctive harmonies and instrumentals survived and adapted into the era’s new sound. Producer, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Albums_produced_by_Neil_Kernon">Neil Kernon</a> who’d produced several Hall and Oates albums, as well as Walsh’s band, Streets, assisted them in the transitory process. Some aspects of the sounds he cultivated with Kansas returned a year later when he produced <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autograph_%28American_band%29">Autograph</a>’s lone hit “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f-pesA8DME">Turn Up the Radio</a>“. That same year, Kernon and Kansas (minus Livgren and Hope) reunited one last time to produce a new track for the band’s first greatest hits album, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_of_Kansas"><em>The Best of Kansas</em></a>. The resulting song, “Perfect Lover”sounds far more like conventional mid-80s rock than any track from <em>Drasti</em><em>c Measures</em>. Though a well-crafted and fun rock song, it’s definitely not the same.</p> <p>Elefante left the band to go on to become a giant in the Contemporary Christina Music scene. The following year Steve Walsh returned to Kansas and brought on bassist <a href="http://www.billygreer.com/">Billy Greer</a>. Since then they have produced five wonderful albums all leaning back towards their classic style, particularly their last album, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somewhere_to_Elsewhere"><em>Somewhere to Elsewhere</em></a>, which reunited them with Livgren and Stienhardt. The lineup of Walsh, Williams, Ehart, and Greer remains the essential core of Kansas to this day. They still play “Fight Fire With Fire” at shows, but largely their work on <em>Drastic Measures</em> collects dust. Put a stop to that and check out these outstanding tracks now:</p><p><object width="300" height="340"><param name="movie" value="http://media.imeem.com/pl/7VTlActK7H/aus=false/"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://media.imeem.com/pl/7VTlActK7H/aus=false/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="300" height="340"></embed></object></p><p>- Cap</p>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-77378793365311668782009-02-05T18:02:00.008-05:002009-10-03T22:58:55.244-04:00The Voyager Golden Record (1977)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/voyager-records.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 201px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/voyager-records.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/audio-archaeology-175x175.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 106px; height: 106px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/audio-archaeology-175x175.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><em>Hey guys! This is the first <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/category/cos-exclusive-features/audio-archaeology-cos-exclusive-features/">Audio Archaeology</a> article, part of Media Potluck's <a href="http://mediapotluck.blogspot.com/2009/02/audio-archeaology-media-potluck-and.html">partnership</a> with <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/">Consequence of Sound</a>. Enjoy!</em><br /><br />I can't think of a better way to kick off this column than with one of the greatest musical compilations of the 20th century, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record">Voyager Golden Record</a>.<br /><br />If there's one good thing I could say about the Cold War it's that it had America looking to the stars. The space race was both a beautiful and chilling thing. America was a country of cowboys again, pioneering a frontier, a frontier which nurtured the dreams of scientists and philosophers. What wasn't possible? In this spirit of profound curiosity and exploration we sent humans to the moon and machines farther beyond. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_1">Voyager I</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_2">2</a> are exploratory probes that took photographs and scientific measurements of the farthest planets in our solar system. They will continue to travel, even after their mission has ended and their systems shut down, carrying with thema profound message of peace: the gift of music.<br /><br />During the mid-nineteen seventies, a group of scientists and producers, led by astronomer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan">Carl Sagan</a>, complied the mixtape to end all mixtapes. An offering of 31 tracks, painstakingly selected as defining examples of humankind's good intentions and accomplishments. These tracks, along with 116 images, were <a href="http://sylvain.kepler.free.fr/news/voyager_record/html/voyager_record.htm">encoded</a> on two gold and copper LPs and launched into the stars. At this very moment, these relics of Earth's cultural history are riding on the backs of the twin <a href="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/">Voyager probes</a> as they push past the threshold of our solar system and into the unknown.The records serve as bottled messages adrift in the infinite sea of stars. If other life exists in the universe, chances of them coming across the Voyager probes are next to impossible. Nonetheless, the gesture is profound and inspired. Over the span of six months, Sagan and his team scoured the globe assembling a diverse and worthy collection of just the right music and sounds to represent our planet.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/voyager_craft-browse.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 312px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/voyager_craft-browse.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />The compilation begins with human voices. An introductory greeting from UN Secretary General, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Waldheim">Kurt Waldheim</a> is followed by greetings in 55 languages, beginning with <span style=""><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_language">Akkadian</a>, an ancient Sumerian language, and ending with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Chinese">Wu</a>, a modern Chinese dialect. </span><span style="">Not all greetings are simple "hello"s. They tell something of the attitudes of their regions. "</span>Friends of space, how are you all? Have you eaten yet? Come visit us if you have time" is the humorous greeting in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoy_dialect">Amoy</a>. Whereas the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajasthani_language">Rajasthani</a> greeting reads more like a veiled warning, "Hello to everyone. We are happy here and you be happy there." The English greeting, which concludes the tack, is a young boy saying, "hello from the children of Planet Earth."<br /><br />The next track is of personalized introductions from each of the UN delegates to the extraterrestrials. Unlike the previous track of greetings, this track is more of a sound collage. The dialogue often fades from one voice to another before they even finish. Check out this delegate's interesting suggestions about what an extraterrestrial would bother to know about Earth:<blockquote>"My dear friends in outer space, as you probably know my country is situated on the west coast of the continent of Africa, a land mass more or less in the shape of a question mark..."</blockquote><br />It's certainly odd, but about a minute in, things get <em>really</em> strange. Whale noises. For the remainder of the delegates' introductions, a whale song rises and falls in the background, until, for the last minute of the track, there's nothing else. Sagan was a true science-hippy visionary. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_trek_iv">Star Trek IV</a> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AQphspbNHA">anyone</a>?<br /><br />The whale song blends into the <a href="http://www.skyscript.co.uk/kepler.html#ch">music of the spheres</a>, the geometric ratios of our solar system translated into harmonies. This begins a twelve minute tour de force collage, f<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/sagan_druyan.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 217px;" src="http://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/sagan_druyan.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>eaturing soundscapes from all over the planet. A roar of thunder, rain, wild animals, and the wind mesh with human heartbeats, footsteps, the sounds of industry - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_5">Saturn 5</a> lifting off. The track ends on a fascinating juxtaposition of concepts: a kiss, followed by a mother's first word to her newborn baby, blend into bizarre electronic thrumming and a pulsing static hiss. Though the latter half may be cryptic, these are all messages of love. It was during the creation of the Voyager records that producer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Druyan">Ann Druyan</a> and Carl Sagan realized and pronounced their love for one another. They were together until his death. The thrumming is Druyan's brainwaves, the pulsing is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar">pulsar</a> beating like a heart in the cosmos, just as Druyan's human heart had beat earlier in the track.<blockquote>"I had asked Carl whether or not it would be possible to compress the impulses in one's brain and nervous system into sound...put that sound on the record and [whether] the extraterrestrials of the future would be able to reconstitute that data into thought. [He] said, 'well, you know, a thousand-million years is a long time. Why don't you go do it, because who knows!...' And so my brainwaves and R.E.M., every little sound that my body was making was recorded... This was two days after Carl and I had declared our love for each other, and...what I was thinking [during that] meditation was about the wonder of love and being in love and...it's on those two spacecraft even now."<br /><br />Druyan's own words from a 2006 <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2006/05/12">interview</a> on WNYC's <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/">Radiolab</a>.</blockquote><br />Druyan refers to the remaining 27 tracks as "a cultural Noah's ark." The first Earth music the aliens will hear is the First Movement of Bach's "<a title="Brandenburg Concerto" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandenburg_Concerto">Brandenburg Concerto</a> No. 2 in F." Just think. Think about that complex sound, that painstaking, beautiful music locked in coldness and darkness, waiting - farther from Earth than any other object humankind has laid its hands on.<br /><br />In addition to the Germans (2 more Bachs, 2 Beethovens, and a Mozart), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Holborne">Anthony Holborne</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Stravinsky">Igor Strazynski </a>round out the classical music. (Can you imagine hearing "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring">The Rite of Spring</a>" in space? Yikes!) Mexican composer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Barcelata">Lorenzo Barcelata</a>'s "El Cascabel" provides a full-scale mariachi ensemble. And rock and blues are aptly represented by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Berry">Chuck Berry</a> ("Johnny B. Goode"), <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Armstrong">Louis Armstrong</a> ("Melancholy Blues"), and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_Willie_Johnson">Blind Willie Johnson</a> ("Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground"). Pretty good, but where's the Beatles, right? Sagan wanted "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_comes_the_sun">Here Comes the Sun</a>" on the record. A perfect choice. The Beatles said 'yes' but EMI said 'no'. And that is why, despite our best efforts, we beckoned down a holocaust from the stars. Way to go EMI.<p style="">The rest of the album samples from non-Western cultures great and small all over the world. It is the most highly eclecticized collection of music I've ever heard. Senegalese percussion clangs and thumps in the primal rawness that time has transmuted into the call of the discotheque. The harmonized vocals of a Pygmy girl's initiation song lull into the vibrations of a didgeridoo as an Australian aboriginal calls out to the Devil Bird. Humanity's creativity and diversity is laid out dynamically in all its sadness and joy. Only on this record, meant to travel through space, is Mozart's "Magic Flute" followed by a rural Georgian male voice choir ("<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bV85zrndvdY">Tchakrulo</a>") and Louis Armstrong and His Hot Seven's jazz complimented by warbling and transcendental <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azerbaijan_SSR">Azerbaijani</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balaban_%28instrument%29">balaban</a> playing. It must be heard to be understood.</p><p style=""><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrm7sX3JhueZmUQ00COyRGnhpbDWQR-j7KEobwl02pfcg9zupGk9NicqPGz66u6zOo8ZZ-b6R_iAxhiSiX-YumJzOC7IPQ7KF0zdrNaVNr7aO9_DqHkmL-06tfVPZ6G2J3QAG9ICpX42q/s1600-h/766px-Voyager.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSrm7sX3JhueZmUQ00COyRGnhpbDWQR-j7KEobwl02pfcg9zupGk9NicqPGz66u6zOo8ZZ-b6R_iAxhiSiX-YumJzOC7IPQ7KF0zdrNaVNr7aO9_DqHkmL-06tfVPZ6G2J3QAG9ICpX42q/s320/766px-Voyager.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299465948835518834" border="0" /></a>For decades, finding a copy of the Voyager record was a near-impossible task. In 1992 it was released as an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_Golden_Record#Availability_of_the_CD-ROM_version_of_the_Golden_Record">enhanced-content CD</a> with a re-issuing of Sagan's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Murmurs-Earth-Voyager-Interstellar-Record/dp/0345315367"><em>Murmurs of Earth</em>,</a> a book on the process of making the Voyager record a reality. The CD has since become very scarce. Fortunately, the internet perpetually makes life easier.<br /></p>You now can experience the entire Golden Record online, including all 116 pictures <a href="http://goldenrecord.org/">HERE</a>.<br /><br />For a quick fix check out these tracks:<br /><br /><embed src="http://media.imeem.com/pl/AvoOB7hV4m/aus=false/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="340" width="300"></embed><br /><br />And, while you're at it, please enjoy this cosmic debris from my childhood:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2LoDX9cR1qg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2LoDX9cR1qg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />- CapMedia Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-25550822188628566512009-02-04T18:09:00.007-05:002009-02-04T18:30:02.623-05:00Audio Archaeology! Media Potluck & Consequence of Sound Team-Up!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s1600-h/Audio+Archaeology.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 283px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ldGQN0VvcUX0wvhnzR6dy3b7t6PsXK_TX86TvV7klTiWqX-jByW6o0Y7lZKghB0zEHfR5gzL7auUm5jWnbCXiSA_ditQ7z_4ucB9ei9qL0jj4rFjgQbzX-cOQy1B1LPud75Uv-sGhM9T/s400/Audio+Archaeology.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299083853249794994" border="0" /></a>Media Potluck and seriously up-and-coming music blog, <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/">Consequence of Sound</a> are teaming up for a bi-monthly feature called Audio Archaeology!<br /><br />Since September of last year, yours truly has been writing <a href="http://consequenceofsound.net/author/cblackard/">articles</a> off-and-on for Consequence of Sound. Now, I write for them weekly. Audio Archaeology is the same as any other Media Potluck audio post. You know what to expect: eclectic, detailed, and personal articles about awesome music. The articles will be featured on Consequence of Sound <span style="font-style: italic;">and</span> Media Potluck, that we might spread the gospel of awesome music off the beaten path.<br /><br />First article coming real soon.<br /><br />- CapMedia Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-67387877163987092662009-01-30T23:29:00.031-05:002009-02-07T00:02:46.900-05:00Liverpool (1986)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfMdjiLUzoQAuysixRtQtYJkLD8-SnoJMKaY1Xc0tM2w4l7-UcHyNdQhmFcBRT61Yt93I0o6sMeFgXhxVxp37WxOMEXamXtNC_-W3b42cgTtGCiHzLof0fCLswPXv-1UW5RlO4H54fDsph/s1600-h/Frankie+goes+to+Hollywood+-+Liverpool+-+Frontcover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 390px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfMdjiLUzoQAuysixRtQtYJkLD8-SnoJMKaY1Xc0tM2w4l7-UcHyNdQhmFcBRT61Yt93I0o6sMeFgXhxVxp37WxOMEXamXtNC_-W3b42cgTtGCiHzLof0fCLswPXv-1UW5RlO4H54fDsph/s400/Frankie+goes+to+Hollywood+-+Liverpool+-+Frontcover.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297324681547463906" border="0" /></a><br />My introduction to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Goes_to_Hollywood">Frankie Goes to Hollywood</a> was much like many others. I was first mesmerized by the pulsating bass stab of their hit single <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relax_%28song%29"><span style="font-style: italic;">Relax</span></a>. I had heard the track many times prior but hadn't really studied it until I bought an 80s compilation CD that featured the song. Funny thing is, I bought the compilation for the song <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Killed_The_Radio_Star"><span style="font-style: italic;">Video Killed The Radio Star</span></a> by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Horn">Trevor Horn</a> fronted <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buggles">Buggles</a>. Mr. Horn would go on to produce <span style="font-style: italic;">Relax</span>, Frankie's debut album <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_To_The_Pleasuredome"><span style="font-style: italic;">Welcome To The Pleasuredome</span></a>, and the executive produce one of my favorite albums of all time, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_%28album%29"><span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool</span></a>.<br /><br />A few years ago I was helping out a local record shop with a summer warehouse sale. I basically sat in a hot industrial sized storage unit filled with the extra stock and memorabilia of a 30 year old record store. It was not a bad deal at all. I would walk out with boxes and boxes full of records. Prime stuff too. Eric, the employee from the shop, would play <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Oyster_Cult"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blue Oyster Cult</span></a> 8-tracks for me and we would talk about the weird breathing noises that open, close, and are found throughout <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depeche_Mode">Depeche Mode's</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Some_Great_Reward"><span style="font-style: italic;">Some Great Reward</span></a>.<br /><br />Somehow we got on the subject of Frankie Goes to Hollywood and he asked me if I had ever heard their second album, <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool</span>. He praised it highly and gave me an extra copy he had bought in the bargain bin. I had played <span style="font-style: italic;">Welcome to The Pleasuredome</span> quite a bit. The singles off the album (<span style="font-style: italic;">Relax</span>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two_Tribes"><span style="font-style: italic;">Two Tribes</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_of_Love_%28Frankie_Goes_to_Hollywood_song%29"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Power of Love</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welcome_to_the_Pleasuredome_%28song%29"><span style="font-style: italic;">Welcome to the Pleasuredome</span></a>) are great but the rest of the album is primarily made up of cover songs. I don't mean to discredit <span style="font-style: italic;">Pleasuredome</span> in any way. It definitely deserves a potluck post. Heck, Relax could be a post all on its own. The bottom line, I was not sure what to expect of <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool</span>.<br /><br />The album opens with the soft syth pads and angelic female vocals that fill their first album, but soon gives way to an enormous and powerful drum roll backed with a thick bass and guitar onslaught. <span style="font-style: italic;">Warriors of the Wasteland</span>, the opening track, has begun. I was completely confused and wasn't sure what to make of it. It sounded nothing like <span style="font-style: italic;">Relax</span> or anything offered in their earlier works. I spent the rest of the car ride home baffled and ecstatic at the same time. Why had I not heard of this album before? Why wasn't this on one of the top album lists of the 1980s? Where <span style="font-style: italic;">Pleasuredome</span> had been some sort of politically influenced sexual romp through all that was conservative, this felt like it was addressing darker issues and building a unique style and audio aesthetic not as present in their first album.<br /><center><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08H-9H-ihyphenhyphenG8wD1FI3WPb2BXJgoM7bFH7khzF6xrOk9zhpr0DyBHWD3MomjtJAwqDtsCpNyGxhiMhX38rIq10eWkUPSGgYqLx3ggNptXyrBxpPXMRfq-BGOxotZ6mXt4upFpybAqZ0Xfv/s1600-h/frankie-goes-to-hollywoo-rage-hard-24499.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 170px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi08H-9H-ihyphenhyphenG8wD1FI3WPb2BXJgoM7bFH7khzF6xrOk9zhpr0DyBHWD3MomjtJAwqDtsCpNyGxhiMhX38rIq10eWkUPSGgYqLx3ggNptXyrBxpPXMRfq-BGOxotZ6mXt4upFpybAqZ0Xfv/s200/frankie-goes-to-hollywoo-rage-hard-24499.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297327926211396722" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsgyVzfrIYF86Eb-C3_nuyQg1oKhj-OWrf64ZBUYjBBo_q6-izM2If_6NKFJECfRnSbQZay8oeG9cVwh0HxQL9Xv_fSfWVZCKBrTdZlrfxQD_m-Ubnbb-2Fojwby5wiCtSI2BDTzX8E7S7/s1600-h/Frankie-Goes-To-Hollywoo-Warriors-Of-The-W-22068.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 173px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsgyVzfrIYF86Eb-C3_nuyQg1oKhj-OWrf64ZBUYjBBo_q6-izM2If_6NKFJECfRnSbQZay8oeG9cVwh0HxQL9Xv_fSfWVZCKBrTdZlrfxQD_m-Ubnbb-2Fojwby5wiCtSI2BDTzX8E7S7/s200/Frankie-Goes-To-Hollywoo-Warriors-Of-The-W-22068.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5297328278237869154" border="0" /></a><br /></center><br />The lyrics throughout <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool</span> create a sense of desolation, poverty, and a battle between the the lower and upper class. <span style="font-style: italic;">Pleasuredome</span> seems to be riddled with thinly disguised sexual innuendo but nothing of the sort exists in this album. Instead one gets the feeling that <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool </span>takes a sympathetic look at the blue collar worker, a suffering manufacturing industry, and high unemployment rate in the city that shares the same name with the album.<br /><br />Warriors of the Wasteland:<br /><blockquote>It seems to be that the powers that be<br />Keep themselves in splendour and security<br />Armoured cars for megastars<br />No streets, no bars, yours wealth is ours<br />They make the masses kiss their asse(t)s<br />Lower class jackass, pay me tax take out the trash<br />Working for the world go round<br />Your job is gold, do as you're told<br />The pay you less then run for Congress</blockquote>Lunar Bay:<br /><blockquote>In the common age of automation, where people might<br />eventually work ten or twenty hours a week, Man for<br />the first time will be forced to confront himself with<br />the true spiritual problems of living</blockquote>For Heaven's Sake<span style="font-weight: bold;">:</span><b><br /></b><blockquote>We don't need aggression<br />We don't need recession<br />Just give us some money<br />Our life could be sunny too</blockquote><br /><embed src="http://media.imeem.com/pl/CtSY3TMSic/aus=false/" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="300" height="340"></embed><br /><br />The album retains many of the elements that make <span style="font-style: italic;">Pleasuredome</span> good and builds upon them to make<span style="font-style: italic;"> Liverpool</span> great. The percussive bass lines of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_O%27Toole">Mark O'Toole</a> are present and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_Johnson">Holly Johnson's</a> unmistakable voice shines, marking the tracks as uniquely Frankie. Just because guitars and live drums are the name of the game on this album, it doesn't mean synthesizers don't play a heavy role. Every track on <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool</span> features some form of electronic flavor, achieving sounds only capable with machines. Both albums share a heavy use of orchestration, which appear more extensively in the extended and alternate mixes on the what seems like uncountable number of 12" and single releases across both albums.<br /><br />Both albums share a unique art direction. The albums and singles are covered in cryptic messages and photos that often seem to have little to do with the content inside. Liverpool continues Frankie's tradition of outsider music videos with several stunning (albeit odd) videos:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mfuNW1QL3Wc&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mfuNW1QL3Wc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y8EZU-7l8gA&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Y8EZU-7l8gA&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZjZdn5Rr9QE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ZjZdn5Rr9QE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />It has been said that this new direction into the area of rock and dark lyrics, over synth and tongue in cheek humor, was a decision made by the other members of the band against lead vocalist Holly Johnson's liking. In fact, it is partly blamed for the eventual break up of the band and poor sales of the album. But after the popularity of <span style="font-style: italic;">Relax,</span> and the advertising monster that was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Say_Relax">"Frankie Say Relax" shirts</a>, how could anyone be expected to top that? It is rumored the band expected it to be as popular and at one time had been their intention to name the album <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool... Lets Make it a Double</span>. It is a shame that for an album that takes such leaps and bounds beyond its predecessor, <span style="font-style: italic;">Liverpool</span> has not received more recognition. It may be that the album was doomed from the start, forever to be overshadowed by <span style="font-style: italic;">Relax</span> and eventually swept under the table with the decadence of the 1980s.<br /><br />BUY IT: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&tag=mozilla-20&index=blended&link_code=qs&field-keywords=liverpool%20frankie&sourceid=Mozilla-search">Amazon<br /></a><br />- NickMedia Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7907274179684316374.post-77801291900625917262009-01-24T17:12:00.013-05:002009-01-25T01:28:20.746-05:00Darker Than Amber (1970)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxr4hXNHsan71-h2E5uYUMCf__dJqHYmQbUSx_sfHoI2GEftLsw-GzgdBdrkQECBvPXbFUP7GHbCbi_YBvTXazsboSGe0AsTuXfBC5IjezIiOHlDnzbFnWf4P_SzmscrADj6tRghocCqkn/s1600-h/Photos+from+Darker+Than+Amber_1232752878052.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxr4hXNHsan71-h2E5uYUMCf__dJqHYmQbUSx_sfHoI2GEftLsw-GzgdBdrkQECBvPXbFUP7GHbCbi_YBvTXazsboSGe0AsTuXfBC5IjezIiOHlDnzbFnWf4P_SzmscrADj6tRghocCqkn/s400/Photos+from+Darker+Than+Amber_1232752878052.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294986211373280130" border="0" /></a>I recently became a fan of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_McGee">Travis McGee</a>.<br /><br />McGee is the creation of famed Floridian author, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._MacDonald">John D. MacDonald</a>, and from 1964 to 1984 he starred in 21 novels. He lives on a houseboat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (my hometown) and takes it easy until he runs out of money. When that happens he does what he refers to as "salvage" - helping people get back what's rightfully theirs and keeping half the value for himself. Over the course of the novels McGee's character grows and changes as does the ever-present backdrop of Florida. McGee and MacDonald are prolific modern literary figures and I feel like a mook for not knowing them sooner. MacDonald was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Hiaasen">Carl Hiaasen's</a> literary progenitor, the boat slip where McGee kept his boat, "The Busted Flush", is a designated <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/eywmm0atthebeach/2288335519/">literary landmark</a> - all this in my own backyard. I set out to do some research to make amends for lost time, and in doing so I found this:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/D1xNxRd_KmI&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/D1xNxRd_KmI&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Travis McGee in action! The climactic fight of "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darker_Than_Amber">Darker Than Amber</a>", a 1970 film directed by <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0167195/">Robert Clouse</a> ("Enter the Dragon") and starring <a href="http://www.rodtaylorsite.com/index.shtml">Rod Taylor</a>. This fight scene blew my mind and, it turns out, is regarded as one of the <a href="http://www.film.com/movies/from-russia-with-love/story/whatever-happened-great-fight-scenes/21896136">greatest fight scenes</a> of all time. You can see the rawness in this fight - it's manic, it's real. Taylor and his co-star, <a href="http://www.williamsmith.org/">William Smith</a> (as the villainous Terry), used no stunt doubles, few precautions, and actually traded blows.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGIC_D751nIuzF-kxNV0RmGOofa9hC6XAhFvAU-sFHJu0Hdq7NNDX0yCRigIi5PgsZy8hE82_9-4ADNP0x-vJ1iszvlDMj_Ai_QtqG42wdRGXo8MkzokYYoz1fPD6DSuE0Ozc5F-oi3Ke/s1600-h/amber_kick.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 367px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGIC_D751nIuzF-kxNV0RmGOofa9hC6XAhFvAU-sFHJu0Hdq7NNDX0yCRigIi5PgsZy8hE82_9-4ADNP0x-vJ1iszvlDMj_Ai_QtqG42wdRGXo8MkzokYYoz1fPD6DSuE0Ozc5F-oi3Ke/s400/amber_kick.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294984898968665890" border="0" /></a>From <a href="http://www.williamsmith.org/fight.html">williamsmith.org</a>:<br /><blockquote style="font-style: italic;">I hit that wall so hard, man. That was such a tough fight scene. We didn't use any stunt doubles at all. He broke three of my ribs and I busted his nose. ...After he busted three of my ribs, I hit him with a bottle, a real one. ...He busted three of my goddamn ribs and I couldn't even breath and he was still hitting me.<br /><br />When he whacked me with that board, he missed the knee pad and hit me right there [indicating a spot just below the knee]. To this day when I talk to him, I accuse him of doing it on purpose. Luckily that was the last take of the whole movie.</blockquote><span style="font-size:100%;">Smith's character, Terry, is a perfect maniac villain. Check out how easily he looses control:<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FXkcoiYVsTE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FXkcoiYVsTE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Unfortunately, those two clips are all that exist on the Internet, and "Darker Than Amber" has never had a proper home video release. Most versions are <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Darker-Than-Amber-Rod-Taylor/dp/B0006OMQ52/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=video&qid=1232832177&sr=1-1">censored</a>, missing the bulk of that exceptional fight scene. It's never been released on DVD. The only uncut </span><span style="font-size:100%;">versions available are <a href="http://www.ioffer.com/i/DARKER-THAN-AMBER-DVD-1970-rod-taylor-uncut-version-15247856">bootlegs</a> with Dutch subtitles. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darker_than_Amber_%28film%29">Wikipedia</a> claims that "</span>pristine American prints disappeared years ago." This movie looks too awesome to be kept from the viewing public. Perhaps if the <a href="http://www.chud.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2313465">long-rumored</a> movie of the first Travis McGee novel, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_Blue_Good-by"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Deep Blue Goodbye</span></a><span style="font-size:100%;">, </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437151/">gets made</a> we'll get to see "Darker Than Amber"<span style="font-size:100%;"> released in all its glory.<br /><br /></span>In the meantime, check out this great article about MacDonald and the McGee series:<a href="http://www.mysteryreaders.org/Issues/Florida.html#Henry"> John D. MacDonald: Florida's Master of Mystery</a><a href="http://www.mysteryreaders.org/Issues/Florida.html#Henry"> by Sue Henry</a>, and then pick up one of his novels.<br /><br />- Cap<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMC8B-9gNX5NvWOkCKmt9xLE4eedOQrp5k_d9HX6l3ki8s2DXjBQGRHMIkHtYoCC761tf3XJkhrm3IDUlY5lHbEA0RgKX_0pj1zYEFVWc9goaVQ5YJD33Z6lc0N5vCtMH-4nAfA9fcMLQS/s1600-h/amber_orange.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 279px; height: 263px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMC8B-9gNX5NvWOkCKmt9xLE4eedOQrp5k_d9HX6l3ki8s2DXjBQGRHMIkHtYoCC761tf3XJkhrm3IDUlY5lHbEA0RgKX_0pj1zYEFVWc9goaVQ5YJD33Z6lc0N5vCtMH-4nAfA9fcMLQS/s400/amber_orange.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294985636810814930" border="0" /></a>Media Potluckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11686143318706407776noreply@blogger.com5