BIG IDEAS

Sometimes there are songs that you love but really don’t feel comfortable admitting in public that they move you for whatever reason. “Sailing” by Christopher Cross is one of mine. But this is another - Captain of Her Heart, by the German soft-jazz group, DOUBLE.

But I must confess to this one. I liked this song the first time I heard it. Moreover, the full album is really very good. For a solid summer, that album and Tears for Fears’ “Shout” were every day staples on my turntable. So much for being cool.

Apparently, even though there are many decent cover bands around the country, no band I’ve seen in person or on You Tube seems to be able to get one particular rock song right: Living Colour’s Cult of Personality. I suppose, like a lot of Led Zeppelin’s tunes, it’s just one of those tunes that look a lot easier on paper and in theory than when you have to strap yourself in and amplify it.

A while ago I put up a bunch of bass players trying to rip Larry Graham, and some did better than others. These folks trying to channel Vernon Reid are all pretty universally not that great. But good efforts all around. Back to Guitar Hero, folks. For a reminder, I put the real thing at the end.

What’s amazing when legends like Issac Hayes die is not how old they were but how young. Hayes dies Sunday at age 65. Counting back, that would have made him in his early twenties at the height of his musical prowess, which, given the impact of his early music on the direction of soul, is an amazing fact.

There are many great young songwriters in te history of music, of course, but each has to be put within the context of what music styles came before them, and how innovative their own stylings were given what they had to work with. Prince was and is innovative, but was also clearly an outgrowth of James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Funkadelic, Joni Mitchell.

But Hayes and the rest of his Stax cohorts changed the game, twisting R&B and blues in a new direction. He was also the godfather of the modern soundtrack, breaking the genre open for popular artists instead of just formal composers and arrangers. Too bad a whole generation only have memories of him as “Chef” on South Park, though even that was pretty revolutionary.

We stumbled onto a January 1959 edition of Playboy, which was mighty racy for the time but by today’s standards reads and looks like a copy of Vanity Fair - only tamer.

Anyhow, one service article clues readers in to the hottest “party games” of the moment. Not to scare you, but apparently this is what your Mom and Grandmom were doing after you nibbled on blue-tinted cream cheese in celery, port cheese logs on a Ritz and sneaked a hit of your drunk uncle’s Johnny Walker Red. We’ve got a new game: Try these out at your next shindig and test the reaction of your guests. First one to call you a douche to your face wins.

From Playboy January 1959:

“Under the Sheet” is a fine stunt to play on the life of the party. A guest is placed under a sheet and told to take off something he or she has on. Guest must continue to take things off under the sheet until he realizes that the “something” to be removed is the sheet itself.”

“Ha-Ha” is really a relaxing ice-breaker. Everybody stretches out on the floor with his head on someone else’s stomach. At a signal from the host, everyone laughs out loud. Heads bob happily on the shaking tummies, the forced laughter becomes genuine and your party is on its way.

In “Fumble” guests are blindfolded, after which they must try to find their dates. The catch is that talking is not allowed, so identification must be done by groping. Once dates find each other, they can remove their blindfolds and watch the others searching. The last couple to complete the game must pay a forfeit.

A few posts ago I mentioned that I did something that I had never done before, which was to buy something based on an infomercial. In this case, a 9-DVD set of highlights from NBC’s Midnight Special, a concert-style series that ran from 1972 until the early 80s and featured live music from the hottest rock and soul acts of the time.

So the first DVD of the series came in, a compilation of “Legendary Performances” featuring Roy Orbison, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton, Al Green, David Bowie and a few others. For the heck of it, I let my boys -who are 5 and 3 - stay up late to watch it with me since they’ve already become die-hard rock fans. So here are my thoughts and theirs on this treasure trove of cool 70s music on video.

First Impressions

The background info that comes in the box had a few revelations about how the show got made. Most intriguing that despite its live appearance the show was actually taped at 10am. Not that interesting until you discover that in order to duplicate the kind of energy they had at concerts that were usually late at night, many of the bands (Aerosmith in particular) “fortified” themselves with various substances to ratchet up the groove a bit.

The other odd thing is that I suppose I forgot that the show actually aired on Fridays at 1 a.m. and I remember watching these when they started. Which begs the question, where the hell was my family when I was a little kid still up at 1:00am on a Friday watching TV? But that’s a question for my mama, I suppose. OK, off topic. On to the performances:

1. Roy Orbison (Oh, Pretty Woman)

Even though it was 1972, Roy Orbison was already pretty much over and done twenty years prior. Never been a fan. Still ain’t.

The kids’ opinion: “He has girl hair. Why?”

2. Fleetwood Mac (Rhiannon)

From 1976. Always dug this tune. Had then and and still have a serious crush on Stevie Nicks, the first rock chick that really moved me with her voice. She looks and sounds great here. The band does a slightly extended version with a bit more percussion and Stevie does her hot witch dance thing.

The kids: “She’s pretty, Daddy. Why do all the boys have girl hair?”

3. Peter Frampton (Baby I Love Your Way)

Great performance by a really young looking Frampton. Never realized his resemblance to Leif Garrett until now. Very underrated song.

The kids: “He really has girl hair. Did you have girl hair?”

4. John Denver/Cass Elliot (Leaving on a Jet Plane)

John Denver’s goofball hippy image (which would likely serve him well in today’s green environment) was really unfortunate. He really had quite a beautiful voice that this song was made for. Did not know that he wrote this song. I always attributed it to Peter, Paul & Mary, whose recording made it famous. A pre-ham sandwich Mama Cass adds a haunting quality to the background vocals. This is actually the standout on the whole DVD, to my serious surprise.

The kids: “We know this song! It’s on your iPod. We like this.”

5. The Bee Gees (Jive Talkin’)

I like the Bee Gees in general, but this is one of my least favorite tunes by them. Their performances of fast songs like this were always unimpressive, mostly due to the uncoordinated weirdness of that middle brother with the high voice. You know, Not Barry, or whatever his name is without the beard.

The kids: “What does jive mean?”

6. Linda Rondstadt (You’re No Good)

Can’t really say I ever got the Linda Rondstadt thing, either. But on this one she does a pretty good job. Strong voice, but heavily carried by her two background singers. Huge set of congas in the band. Whatever happened to congas in rock music?

The kids: No comments, but this was the first song that got them dancing.

7. The Guess Who (American Woman)

One of my favorite songs. But I realized that I never actually saw The Guess Who before. Not sure what I expected, but Burt Reynolds on vocals with Jack Black on guitar was not it. Seriously, lead singer Burton Cummings in a moustache and white leisure suit throws you off completely and makes the whole performance look like it could have been transplanted to a bar in the Ramada Inn. What a voice on that guy, though - for a Canadian.

The kids: “Lenny Kravitz looks funny.”

8. Al Green (Let’s Stay Together)

From 1972. Wow, all sweat, all energy, all talent. Al Green rocks it tough with his six pack abs hanging out of a too tight vest kind of thingy. An all black audience too, which was rare for Midnight Special.

The kids: “Daddy, does he have on his son’s jacket?”

9. Aretha Franklin (Respect)

From 1976. An alarmingly skinny Aretha belts out this tune in some weird feathered Big Bird costume with one arm out. Rocked it, though.

The kids: Boredom to my surprise.

10. David Bowie (Space Oddity)

Another one of my favorites. Bowie in full glam, silver striped body suit, sock in the crotch - the whole nine yards. In perfect voice. Didn’t realize a background singer was doing the high parts on that song. Given that this was 1973, it’s amazing how this song not only holds up musically but still seems futuristic. Bowie’s the man, but I couldn’t convince the kids of that.

The kids: “Who’s Major Tom? Why does it look like he has on eye polish?”

11. Blondie (Heart of Glass)

Deborah Harry was kinda sexy in a matching dress and headband sorta way.

The kids: “She’s pretty. Is she going to the gym?”

12. LaBelle (Lady Marmalade)

I’ve heard this song way too much in too many lame situations over the years for the live performance to have much impact, but it did remind me of how edgy LaBelle was as a full group. I remember always feeling a sense of something wild about to happen whenever they were on TV. And Nona was just badass. Maybe it’s just me, but either Patti LaBelle has grown into her nose or something’s been worked over there a bit. Maybe that’s old news, but I don’t follow these things.

The kids: Nervous fidgeting.

13. The Steve Miller Band (The Joker)

Crap song from a crap band. Pompitous of love, indeed. Can’t believe Miles Davis was once an opening act for this guy.

Kids: Snoring

14. Donna Summer (Last Dance)

Weird performance from Donna Summer who recorded it shortly before that awful movie ‘Thank God It’s Friday” came out. She introduces the song with this long drawn out snippet of acting from the movie. Super cheesy and so is the song. But she looks good singing it and an underutilized voice for the type of music she did.

The kids: Out like a light.

Orangeburg, S.C. — The invasion is nearly over.

After three long weeks of being poked and prodded by political doctors, the residents of the Palmetto State will soon be able to resume their normal, quiet lives. They’re all holding their breath for Saturday night’s primary, where someone – anyone – will get a thumbs up from the state’s democrats. And then, only then will the hordes of reporters and volunteers and movie stars and old-head politicos leave sweet South Carolina.
This means that parents visiting their children at the University of South Carolina will be able to book a hotel room again. And South Carolina State University students will travel to Atlanta to see superstars like Usher in person, instead of seeing them on campus for a candidate. Old men sitting on street corners in Orangeburg will no longer interrupt their conversations to respond to random questions delivered by random White reporters hailing from the BBC, the Wall Street Journal and CNN.

Even the Black newspaper here can go back to normal after its managing editor endured the following, ridiculous question (posed by another newspaper reporter she was reluctant to name): “Where can I find some Black women to quote for my story?”
Something about all this hoopla over a state full of very tiny, very poor towns feels a bit disingeniuous and manufactured. The Obama headquarters here buzzed with excitement, overflowed with cars and certainly kept many pizza delivery guys happy. But as one Clinton worker noted: “Well, I got a job until January 26th. Then I’ll get fired. That’s what they don’t tell you when they sign you up.”
Pretty soon the all-seeing presidential eye will leave this land of mustard-colored barbecue and Gulf oysters- trading it all for the deserts of California and the uncertainty of Midwest swing states.
Then what?

The cluster of old men and young men who sift through the ancient gas station on Magnolia Street in Orangeburg say they’ve been here before. Their town and their county is the pinnacle of the Black vote here in South Kakalacki. After their votes are taken, as has happened in decades of elections past, the politicians will fade away and the residents won’t see another superstar again unless it’s at the movie theatre. And that seems unlikely in a town where person after person streams into the old gas station to buy one, single, solitary cigarette. It’s only 30 cents. No one here buys the whole pack.
“They’ve been flooding us, it’s true,” says William Hickson, 71, sitting on a stool inside the College Corner All-American Gas station, where nothing is digital and the coffee is free. It’s a place that has the feel of a barbershop, yet sells penny candy, Colt 45, Trojans and Little Debbie snacks for the students who come by with the munchies.
For the old-heads who collect here everyday to talk, the memories run deep. Obama isn’t the only one who tried to catch the attention of the college students at nearby SCSU and Clafin University. Jesse Jackson did it too, back in 1984. Jackson signed up plenty of students.
“They registered like the devil,” remembers Hickson, a ward leader in those days. “But after it was over you could tell who registered with Jesse because they didn’t show up.”
This is not to say that Obama’s kids won’t come through. It is to say that these seasoned gentlemen have seen it all and they know that, though many among them live in tiny, two bedroom shacks, no one running for office can afford to skip them over. No one would dare, they say, since O-burg’s ace in the hole is not the president, but the majority whip, Senator James E. Clyburn.
“In this town, they know their power,” says Ulysses S. Jarvis Jr., 78, dressed smartly in Sunday pants and a pony hair, wide-brimmed hat. “We have a good reputation.” — A .P. S.