They're not shy

No - No - The 80s won't go away.

Well, I was STILL a teen and this song was on my Brit-pop compliation record, something called "Now That's What I Call Music." Anyway, it had the hits of the time and it was all too English. I never bought a Kajagoogoo album. Just that their pictures were in every magazine, be it No. 1 or Smash Hits. "Too Shy" was clever, catchy and had a fantastic bass line but here Nick Beggs looks ridiculous.

Anyway, they were part of that invasion along with Bowowow and Culture Club, so it deserves some sort of mention.

Kajagoogoo official website.

2009 - Year of Ultravox?

Ultravox have put out re-mastered definitive versions of their first two albums Vienna and Rage In Eden. They are each two disc sets containing all the b-sides, live versions and 12" mixes.

The more exciting news is that all members have reunited to tour calling it "Return To Eden." There are no U.S. dates at the moment, but let's hope there are. I'll go to that show in a heartbeat!

My favorite 15 Ultravox songs:

1. Visions In Blue
2. The Voice
3. I Remember (Death In The Afternoon)
4. We Came To Dance
5. Sleepwalk
6. Vienna
7. Mr. X
8. Lament
9. One Small Day
10. White China
11. I Never Wanted To Begin
12. Hymn
13. Reap The Wild Wind
14. New Europeans
15. Mine For Life

Actually, this is a hard list to make as all the Midge Ure Ultravox almost are listenable all the way through. All except the album titled U-Vox. I don't know what happened there. Everything from Vienna to Lament is gold to me.

We will be re-buying these same albums for years to come! I had bought all the Ultravox CDs as they were re-released sometime in the early 2000s. There's always a twist and a reason for buying the new ones that come out. I'll buy them, as long as they don't come with a "tacky badge."

Ultravox Official Site.

Addendum: Also announced is a Greatest Hits CD/DVD package.

7 Random Facts meme - 2

Steve tagged me for this meme which I did sometime ago, but I'll play along one more time to pull me out of the blogging slump I've been in. I will post the rules, but I'm afraid cannot follow all the way. This blog is kind of intimate to just a few people and don't have the 7 people to tag, therefore, I will post the rules in case you want to do it proper. Thanks Steve.

Below are the rules:

1. You must link to the individual who tagged you and post the rules of TAG (which you are currently reading).
2. Post 7 random facts about yourself
3. Tag 7 friends and link to them and
4. Let them know that they have been tagged by leaving a nice little message on their blog.

Here are my seven random facts about myself:


1. I wore black. A lot! Even before I knew about the whole "goth" thing. But this picture is from the late 80s at a friend's apartment in Tempe, AZ.

2. I used to buy records based on album cover and names of bands alone and sometimes I would luck out and I would become a fan. Three of them were Frontline Assembly, Fad Gadget and Christian Death.

3. In Junior High we took a class trip to Philadelphia, someone had a radio and we listened to Joan Jett's "I Love Rock 'N Roll" pretty much the entire trip. Then we took a trip to Washington DC. My friend next to me had a radio, and we played Blondie's "Parallel Lines" album all the way through the entire trip. I provided the tape. In high school we took a trip to Salem Massachusetts. My friend had a radio and he played Frank Zappa's "Apostrophe" album throughout the entire trip. It was a blast. I met Laurie Cabot, the "certified" Witch of Salem there.

4. I didn't know how to prepare a proper portfolio so was not admitted to "The High School of Art & Design."

5. Once as a child I was playing around in a park with my brothers and a car going rather slow ran over my foot. When the crowd screamed for the car to stop, the driver stopped and went in reverse, again running over my foot. I wasn't hurt that much. (This would be the same place where we would watch for the swimming turtle, Steve.)

6. I fell in love with writing instruments at an early age when my dad brought me this really fabulous case of assorted pens. It included a fountain pen and even though I did not know how to write yet, I took an already written paper, put a blank paper on top of it and began to trace the writing with the fountain pen. At school, you were required to write only with fountain pens even though disposable pens were widely available.

7. I have always been fascinated with origins and watching things progress to their maturity. I love reading and learning about the origins of the universe, I love to watch plants grow from seedlings to plants and flowers. I love making strings of yarn into fabric and covering a blank piece of paper with lines, shapes and color to make "art." Also, composing music.

Some art I worked on while I took a class on Fashion Illustration at FIT. These previously posted before in another blog:


I know some of you have done this meme before, so I'm not tagging anyone but you're welcome to do it if you want to again and let me know so I can check it out.

No: I've Changed my mind again (aaaaw!)

The Red Radio a pretty cool music blog has a nice rundown on the new Smiths compilation (The Sound of The Smiths). About every couple of years a new Smiths compilation comes out, but this one is different because both Moz and Marr have teamed up to put it together. Love the cover. I would get this one. It's not a bad idea because Moz is still actively recording and touring. There's just no stopping him. And in recent tours, Moz has performed quite a lot of Smiths songs during his concerts. I think during "Quarry" Moz gained a lot of new fans and this is a way for the new guys to get more familiar with The Smiths.

And over at Middle Eight, XO had a pretty nice post about all the new Moz/Smiths activity and he gave us a chance to "voice" out our list of 10 favorite Smiths tunes. I always love the opportunity to give a list of my favorite artist tunes. Get the details from Red Radio and Middle Eight.

Good Night and Than You.

Watching TV last night was almost like watching Dick Clark's "Rockin' New Years Eve" and waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square. The cheering of the crowds, the dancing, the emotional outpour.

Here's something from Mike Moore:

"But today we celebrate this triumph of decency over personal attack, of peace over war, of intelligence over a belief that Adam and Eve rode around on dinosaurs just 6,000 years ago. What will it be like to have a smart president? Science, banished for eight years, will return. Imagine supporting our country's greatest minds as they seek to cure illness, discover new forms of energy, and work to save the planet. I know, pinch me. "

Speaking of which, you have to go see Religulous. A docu. by Bill Maher. It's a movie to offend anyone that has faith and follows organized relegions and to make those who don't laugh out loud.

Change Underway

Congratulations to Barack Obama on being elected our next president. This is no doubt a most historical moment in our nation. We can now breathe a sigh of relief and say goodbye to 8 years of Bush.

Watercolor practice

I'll post this because it ended up looking like something. But I'm working on it and trying to practice (by the looks of it, I need plenty of it.) But it's progress all the same.

If any artist cares to share, just wondering what you prefer working with (watercolor brands, brushes, paper, etc..) I did this little piece with Winsor Cotman which I've had for years. One of the colors had completely dried up in the tube! Does this happen with the good brands? Is it cause it wasn't used for such a long time?

Head Sketch

IF - Vacant

Watercolor pencils (Caran D'ache) on watercolor post card.

Whatever Happened to the Gender Benders?

Interesting documentary on YouTube about the New Romantics and those Blitz kids that frequented the club in that era. Commentaries include Steve Strange, Boy George, Marilyn and Marc Almond.

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3



Part 4



Part 5

Those Post-It Doodles are back

I was lacking confidence at first, but I persevered and lo. I have posted. I mean Post-It.

There are times when I want to post something of a personal nature, but then I think twice about it. Because when you've got nothing nice to say, wait until you're 80 years old and publish a tell-all memoir like Gore Vidal has. Speaking of which, I have been reading "Palimpsest" and it's been pretty interesting reading about the author's life during the 40s and 50s. If there was any time in the world to be a noted author, I guess that's when it would be the right time. There's a decline in that sort of thing now (or has disappeared altogether.) I have more on this subject but will stretch it out in future posts.

Anyway, there are no bookstores in Astoria. I guess it has something to do with people that might want to read, learn something and get out of Astoria. Who knows. But I find it odd. So yesterday as I walked up Broadway, I did find a rather small bookstore. I walked in and there seemed to be no order to it. I looked around and, after a heavy breakfast before walking in, I was feeling pretty upset and could not wonder around as much as I wanted to. But I did see a hardcover version of Renault's "The Mask of Apollo." Used. I'm sure I've got a paperback of it somewhere at my other home. But whether I read it in its entirely or not is fuzzy. I've got several of her books most having Alexander The Great as her subject (have I actually read them??). Anyway, I paid for it and left the store. It was only $4.

Today while walking outside to get lunch, I found Hermann Hesse's "Magister Ludi - The Glass Bead Game." sold by an individual on the street for $2.

Who needs Borders?

Compu-er says noooooooo

SHUT UP! Little Britain on HBO. Funny shit all around as only the Brits can make it. Matt Lucas and David Walliams are like the male version of French & Saunders, just as Fun Boy Three were the male version of Bananarama. Anyway, there are a host of funny characters. Some new and interesting ones and some familiar like Lou and Andy, Marjorie, Vicky (SHUT UP!), and Daffy (the only gay in the village).

I wish F&S would get an HBO deal too.

Touring The Universe

In April, Depeche Mode will release their 12th studio album. They are in New York recording at the moment. Yesterday they gave a press conference in Germany discussing the European leg of the tour already announced. They're calling it "Tour of the Universe." From what I understand, they are playing cities where they never played before so I guess that would make it the "Universe."

Anyway, see for yourselves. I haven't watched the entire press conference yet, so I don't know if it includes any clips of their new sound. The album is again, being produced by Ben Hillier. As far as I got with this conference, they don't talk much about the new album. It's all about the tour.

Night Flight

During the early days of cable, there was a show on the USA network called "Night Flight." It was a conglomeration of short films, music videos and funny shorts. One of the things I miss on cable before reality TV took over and made TV into the devil's paintbrush. Night Flight went into TV heaven along with MTV's 120 minutes and late night horror films hosted by Elvira. According to wiki, Night Flight is about to make a return, though I doubt it will be anything like what we saw back in the 80s. No more Bob, Church of the Sub-Genius I'm sure. But then, it may be re-runs, which would be great! A search on YouTube will give you a bunch of stuff that was Night Flight. Including the "1 900-Dude" bit, which I know I have on a video tape somewhere as I used to tape the shows on occasion.

Dude!



Arise!

Techno

More here.

So these are the books I've read recently and I think maybe tonight, I might hit The Strand to see what I can find. Probably books in the same area.

Gore Vidal - Creation - This is a re-read. The first time I read it I was half my age. I'm glad I picked this up again because this edition contains some chapters that were omitted in the first printing. And also after many years I understand the book better. I enjoyed reading it as much as I did the first time around.

This is history as told by Cyrus Spitama the grandson of the prophet Zoroaster. He's blind now and is dictating his life story to his nephew. He tells us about his childhood growing up in the courts of the great kind of Persia, Darius. He's close to his heir Xerxes. He's the guy that the Spartans fought during that battle of 300. Cyrus has an interesting life as he heads out to India, meets up with the Buddha and then to Cathay (China) who then meets up with Confucius. It's a battle of beliefs and culture. Lots of war, and court drama. You'll want to read it. I recommend.

Norman F. Cantor - Antiquity- It's OK. Gives you the basic knowledge you need to know on the topic. Egypt, Greece and Rome. But reviewers say there are many errors concerning dates and other things, so I wouldn't take it word for word. I understand Herodotus was wrong on many accounts as well.

Justin Pollard and Howard Reid - The Rise and Fall of Alexandria - In the end belief wins over ideas. It still echoes in today's world. Alexandria was the birthplace for all learning. The brightest minds came to this place and learned and thought mathematics, astronomy, medicine, philosophy and other sciences. Here is where Eratosthenes measured the circumference of the earth by using just a couple of sticks and shadows, using his knowledge of trigonometry - and he wasn't too far off in his calculations. Just one of many discoveries.

Alexandria had a huge library of books. Only a few have survived. Who knows what other brilliance lied in those books which are now lost forever. In the end, religions fought over each other and books were destroyed because most were considered to be the work of pagans. Hypatia, who thought philosophy and science was dragged out into the public by Christians and torn to pieces. It's a sad story. Well worth the read.

The Beta Band

Speaking of which. I was watching Jools Holland and saw this band performing and I thought they were pretty interesting. Looked them up on YouTube and found some more of their stuff.



"Squares"

1984

Maybe for you, as well as me, 1984 was a pretty great year for music. If you were listening to the same stuff that I was. It was really like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet joint. The list of what album you were going to buy was endless. It was exciting, new and fresh. The synthesizer ruled the pop music world. I know you had a local record store that you went to. And I know the store had a name with the words "blankety blank Records and Tapes." Mine was "Numbers Records & Tapes" located in Jackson Heights. Last time I was in Jackson Heights, maybe a year ago, the shop was still open. I had gone in but something felt wrong. The records were gone and my record buying pal was not with me.

***

There were some artists who were very well known for using only synthesizers and drum machines as their only instruments. And some wanted to get away from that. One of them was The Human League. Though Hysteria was recorded using a lot of synths and drum machines, they did incorporate guitars and live bass for the first time. It was an unexpected surprise to me. Remember the days when you had to buy the album to know what it sounded like?

So last weekend I put on my headphones, lied down and listened to Hysteria all the way through and was really enjoying it. Had 24 years already gone by since the first time I listened to this? That in itself saddened me but at the same time remembered how much happiness it brought me when buying albums those days were so much more pleasurable and they were never so discarded too quickly. We listened to our albums over and over. Some of us made tapes of them so that the vinyl wouldn't be too used up or scratched.

Hysteria didn't do too well. It kinda bombed. But for me, it's one of my favorites alongside Dare. The album was a gate fold. See that's another thing that has gone out - The gate fold album.

The first track, I'm Coming Back is one of the better songs on the album, it hooks you in and want to hear more. The guitars come in during the chorus. I think I had to do a double take on this when I first heard and said to myself "wha...?"

The second track is one I've heard before called I Love You Too Much. If you hunted down Human League albums like I did, then maybe you came across the "Fascination EP" which I found much later on that it was erroneously released. It included a version of I Love You Too Much which I've been trying to find since the beginning age of the CD and have not found it yet. I liked that version better. It was faster, more synthier and louder. Gone, gone, gone... someone find it for me!

Then came Rock Me Again (and again) and I don't remember appreciating this at first listen. It was after a few more listens that it sunk in and got into this part of The League that would take them into that worldwide success of Crash.

Louise - Ah Louise. It's like their version of Soft Cell's Say Hello, Wave Goodbye. I bought the 12" single of this and it came with a lovely poster and a remix of The Sign which I prefered. But now I have to re-buy the Hysteria CD to get this extra track. It never ends. Louise had a great bass track. I listened to this track quite a bit and it was included in many a mixed tape.

The Lebanon - Possibly the only track that Hysteria is known for. I don't know how popular this song became but the radio stations did play this for a while. It had a very smart bass line and lots of guitars. Also, the only pop song ever written about Lebanon, a big plus for me.

Betrayed - This song sounded like it could have been a part of Dare. Good synths, non-dance track. I liked this song a lot.

The Sign - Good pop song and even better in the remix as I mentioned before. Everything will be fine... I saw the sign. Yep.

So Hurt, was O.K. While I was listening to this last weekend, I remembered this not being a favorite. But hearing it again, I was able to go through it with a smile only for nostalgia reasons.
Life On Your Own - Another single. This song I really loved. Loved the synth bass especially towards the end.

Don't You Know I Want You - Is this the sequel to Don't You Want Me? It's a great exit and sums up the album and you can hear a little of Crash in here - a prequel to what's to come from The Human League.

***

I can't find this in today's pop music. Perhaps it's age and maybe the mirror ball has stopped turning for me. Sometimes an album comes my way and I'll exclaim "this is it!" But it fizzles out too quick. I have blogger friends who write a lot about today's pop music and see how excited they are with some of today's releases. I'm jealous. I don't know what's happened to me these days but I don't find it relative to my life anymore or perhaps it's some sort of phase. I think maybe Goldfrapp has been the best out of them all. My favorite bands still release new albums today, but they don't bring me the same excitement and pleasure they did in their previous efforts. It does excite me in the beginning but then.... whatever. I hear that Grace Jones is about to release something new and I've heard one of the new songs. That excites me, but let's see what happens. Also, Depeche Mode is in the studio for another release. So I'll hope for the best.

What was your definitive 1984 release? For me, it was Depeche Mode's Some Great Reward. Sampling in the mainstream. That album was a goldmine and out shined pretty much everything else I was listening to. Sadly, 1984 was also the last time Visage produced an album and even sadder was that the album was not that good. Beat Boy will only be remembered as the album that gave us the title track and Love Glove.

Epigram 31 - an epitaph

Tell me, is Charidas buried here?
"If it's the son of Arimmas you mean, he's here."
Charidas, how is it down there?
"Darkness."
What of Return?
"A lie."
And Pluto?
"A myth."
We're done for, then.
"I've given you the truth. If you prefer a pleasantry, beef's a penny a pound in Hades."

- Callimachus of Cyrene