Posted on

John Mellencamp — 322, 321

ALBUMS: Uh huh! (1983); Scarecrow (1985)

MVC Rating: Uh huh: 4.5/$$; Scarecrow 4.5/$$

I know John Mellencamp. Even Johnny Cougar.

He’s a guy from Indiana. Small town Indiana. I lived in Indiana in 7th, 8th, and 9th grades in the early to mid-1970s. That age, 12-15, is arguably one of the pivotal periods in one’s life.

In Indiana, everyone was Jack and Diane.

We were in West Lafayette. My family lived in an area where I was not zoned for the West Lafayette schools, the ‘city’ schools with professors’ kids in the shadow of Purdue University where my father worked.

I took a bus to a more rural school, farmers’ kids, families in trailer parks, where 13-year-olds smoked cigarettes in the laundromat at the Service Center, inside, playing pinball.

If you knew how to trick the machine into giving you countless extra games you play on a quarter for hours. Or some of us were just that good to hold a machine without tricks.

“Hey ‘rook’ go get me a pack of smokes,” Owens snapped at me as I walked by. Rook meant I was a 7th grader at Klondike Junior High School. Owens was a bully in 8th grade. He and his crew terrorized us through that rookie year.

Owens handed me a dollar and told me to hurry.

“But will they sell me cigarettes?” I asked.

Owens, dirty blond hair touching his shoulders dressed in an Army jacket, laughed and said ‘Rook go get ’em.’ I made the purchase successfully, brought them back with a quarter in change. Owens said ‘You’re all right. Maybe I won’t beat your ass so much.”

I could go on and on with stories from Indiana. And it’s weird because there wasn’t much to do there. Corn fields. In the hot summers some of us would get paid piece work de-tasseling corn. In the fall, especially on Halloween, we’d go into the cornfields and pick up the hard corn kernels and put them in bags. We’d lie in wait in the darkness until headlights approached from a distance. Scooping a handful of hard kernels, you had to time it just perfectly letting loose at the front grill of the car as it passed by. It sounded like your engine just fell apart, clankety clankety, as the kernels bounced around in the radiator fan or other moving belts and such. Harmless we told ourselves but then there was the chase.

It’s an Indiana past-time: Corning cars. At least where I was hanging. One of my buddies said he’d been shot at doing this before. Great, another added touch of cornfed bravado.

But the thrill of corning was not in the actual corning but the chase after the driver pulled over. That’s because most folks were from around there and instantly knew they’d been corned.Sometimes the cars would drive right into the cornfield. We were sprinting through the rows, laughing. Crazy Indiana kids.

I’d love to ask Mellencamp of Seymour, Indiana, if he ever corned a car.

Mellencamp has put together quite a career. I have two of more than a dozen albums he has released. Possibly two of his best and most impactul:

Uh huh! and Scarecrow. I saw him in Birmingham, I believe in 1982, and thought he was fantastic. One of my all time favorite concerts actually. The drums! Kenny Aronoff.

I haven’t listened to these records in years and I thought they may sound dated, but they hold up. Mellencamp is a good if not great songwriter. Straightforward, his words mean what they say. Even when he uses symbolism, it is in-you-face: Rain on the scarecrow, blood on the plow.

The crops we grew last summer weren’t enough to pay the loans 
Couldn’t buy the seed to plant this spring and the farmers bank foreclosed 
Called my old friend Schepman up to auction off the land 
He said john it’s just my job and I hope you understand 
Hey calling it your job ol hoss sure don/t make it right 

But if you want me to, I’ll say a prayer for your soul tonight

‘ol hoss.’ Yep that line sounds like exactly how someone from Indiana would say it.

He astutely captures the cycle of rural Indiana laugh in ‘Small Town:

Well I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
And that’s probably where they’ll bury me

And Jack and DIane’s anthemic, drum-slapping chorus:

Let it rock. Let it roll. Let the Bible belt come and save your soul. Hold on to 16 as long as you can. Changes coming real soon make us women and men.

Don’t know if this would be surprising but the big town Lafayette — the twin town of West Lafayette was home town of Axl Rose, lead singer for Guns N Roses. I knew many Axl Roses as well. sIt’s only two hours from Seymour to West Lafayette/Lafayette, straight through Indianapolis.

Posted on

Uh huh. Um.

Let’s call this my Daily Journal, (put date here).

I’m stuck right now. And p;art of the intent of this blog is to describe what is happening. I took an extra pill for my hands which don’t want to type.

Sometimes right after lunch I get more ‘Lewy.’ And I have several tasks ahead of me. Typing slow. I bounce around ideas in my head.. Lewy bounces them back. I can’t stay long on a train of thought. I think of a song. I feel calmer. I still do’t know how these columns are going to turn out. I have these great ideas but they slip. One thing I just remembered: What to do with CDs . I hope I saved the link. There was a beautiful bird bath.

Here let me find it . https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/24-wonderful-diy-ideas-with-old-cds.html

Pretty cool, huh?

Uh. ‘

Sort it out. Stay focused.

Back to a story on what we are doing with the money we raised over the weekend. How much? What research is it paying for? Target alpha-synuclein proteins. How? Who won Mike Madness. Ask about nonprofit status. I’m feeling better. I got this. Though I just remember I need to read back over some of my posts because I was noticing typos but wasn’t in the edit mode. Now I’ve forgotten which post they are in. I think I have 400 posts or more llive.. I learned of a third person who told me they are reading the posts from top to bottom or bottom to top.

Uh huh.

This is my journal as it sits right now. 2:18 p.m. today July 25, 2019.

Everything is OK right now.

Back in at 3:11 p.m. Had news today from two acquaintances. Different situations: the on who received the diagnosis of Lewy body had been long seeking explanations for a variety of symptoms. He was in much pain physically and psychologically. He welcomed the diagnosis. Another person I’ve talked to is starting to exhibit some classic symptoms. He’s praying he doesn’t have Lewy body dementia, but he’s preparing himself for the worst.

Posted on

Daily Journal, July 23, 2019, on raising money, raising awareness and having fun while doing it

Slow down hoss. Things are moving slower now. After that frenzied state of MikeMadness.

We raised thousands of dollars over the weekend for Lewy body dementia. It will pay for research for a cure of Lewy body, the second leading form of dementia after Alzheimer’s..

Yes, I still have it. The basketball tournament, the socializing, the games and rallying isn’t going to suddenly block the bombardment of destructive proteins trespassing in my brain. But I’ll be damned if it didn’t help on a several levels. This is living. Even when you know you are dying. There’s a ‘thing’ about it, maybe it’s human empathy I’m trying to express this ‘thing’ with this blog.

I got a nice comment on my blog the other day from someone who said he started reading this blog for the music reviews, but then became interested in learning more about the disease and says he has been hooked by my story as a person living with the disease.

This is exactly how I wanted it to work. His comments can be read in full in the comments section of this blog but he said:

Thank you for putting so much information out into the world in such a positive way, and spreading the word about LBD as you do. It’s not an easy subject to tackle, or to even talk about, and you seem to do both superbly.
I’ll admit that I got hooked on your reviews of your lp collection, as you seem to have some similar tastes as me, but then I found that along with the musical explorations, I was getting more and more interested in your story and your cause. Now I just can’t stop reading.
I hope this finds you well. I’m looking forward to more of your insights, and I enjoy going down the rabbit hole with each new post. I listen along to the artists as I read.

So what’s this about again? This is about families coming together. I had 20-plus relatives over to support the cause with money and with love. (My nephew Zach Cohen won the 3-point contest.)

We’ll have all winners listed in my next story when I firm up donation totals and ready the photos.

Still awaiting some donations to be processed. Hurry up if you’ve put it off. MikeMadness.org

Stay tuned to this website and AL.com for specific amounts raised and where they will go and lots and lots of pictures. from UAB which graciously donated the Rec Center facilities and Trim Tab Brewing where we got dunked, sang Karaoke and sipped beverages and ate delicious authentic tacos from a food truck . Great atmosphere, kids loved both the Karaoke and dunk tank as you might imagine.

Thanks Trim Tab for donating 10 percent of sales on Saturday to the cause.

My song for Saturday, or today for that matter is by The The. No, that’s not a typo: there are two ‘The’s. (And nothing else)..

Posted on

Melanie — 324, 323

ALBUMS:The Best of Melanie (1977): From the Beginning (1974)

MVC Rating: 4.0/ Best $$; Beginning $$

Melanie jumped into public consciousness with her Woodstock performance. Candles in the Wind Lay Down, Lay Down) is a showcase for her amazing voice projection.

Funny, how most people remember Melanie for a child-like nursery rhyme with sexual innuendos ‘Brand New Key.’ Song (to me) yucky.

But I do love Melanie’s ‘Look What They’ve Done to My Song, Ma.’ Everyone who has been edited understands this sentiment.

I’ve got a couple of old Melanie albums. The anti-war Lay Down you would think would seem aged but to me it’s quite the opposite — it is powerful, especially when she’s singing with the Edward Hawkins singers as seen on the German video below.

Posted on

Mike Madness: Best one yet

The T-shirts were turned up to Purple.

Myself JD Crowe, John Archibald, and others who did not deserve such treatment, got dunked in a giant container of water — and that was after the main event.

At least 20 teams clashed on the basketball courts at UAB Rec Center fSaturday for the annual Mike Madnss basketball tournament to raise awareness — and money — for the little known and misunderstood disease Lewy body dementia. And we had a raucous crew at Trim Tab Brewing where I made a foolish attempt to moonwalk in my socks on a concrete floor while Karaoke-eying to MJ.

WIthout a doubt, it was the best Madness yet. The first year we raked in $13,000; last year, $12,000 — and we are still tallying but expect to pass each of those years. My ambitious moonshot goal of doublingup at $25,000,however, is likely out of the realm. Money will go to research at UAB and the Lewy Body Dementia Association.

Stay tuned for more numbers, team winners and more in social media, ALcom and this website: www.myvinylcountdown.com

So many thank yous to all who helped and contributed — which you can still do at www.mikemadness.org

Posted on

Jared Mees — 325

ALBUM; Life is Short (2016)

MVC Rating : 4.0\$$$$

It might be hard to find a used copy of this modern album which came out in 2016. So my 4 dollar sign price rating means it will likely be up to $20 for a copy. Could be more.

Mees is a Portland eccentric (not judging here, just accurately describing). He sets himself immediately as a contrarian as he sings on the first song of the album:

They say life is short but I say it’s long

That’s kind of like saying: They say the sky is clear but I say its gray

He sings in a sing song-y voice that sometimes sounds like a sardonic Cat Stevens and other times like Mr. Rogers.

He sings about the media and the ‘echo chamber’ effect and prays to Jesus to not allow him to become: an asshole.

The videos are pretty interesting and funny. I received this as a birthday gift from my Portland-based sister who picked it out by describing my musical tastes to the record store clerk.

Haven’t had a long time with it, but I think the clerk may have done well..

Posted on

Meat Loaf — 326

ALBUM: Bat Out of Hell (1977)

MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$

Meat Loaf motorcycle appears to be flying out of my computer keyboard.

Meat Loaf. That’s Mr. Loaf to you sonny.

Meat Loaf was who he was/is.

What he was was: A powerful singer, who produced a highly entertaining album as I was a senior in high school. Collaborator Jim Steinman wrote the songs and Todd Rundgren threw some of his magic potion in.

And man, did the Meat Loaf album capture a teen moment with humor and dumbed down imagery so that even the slowest among us could get it. A play-by-play featuring former baseball player and announcer Phil ‘Scooter’ Rizzuto.

Bombastic. Sure it was. World changing. Surely it wasn’t.

Unless you are the one being asked in a backseat moment:: ‘What’s it going to be boy, yes or no? … Do you love me, will you love me forever? Do you need me? Will you make me so happy for the rest of my life …”

And we know what rhymes with ‘life.”

Wiki says the album is one of the best selling of all time with 43 million copies sold. It was 343 on a top 500 greatest albums list by Rolling Stone.

Entertaining. Yes. It is like a teen movie, cinematic in scope. American Graffiti with a Springsteen reach for grandeur and a Rocky Horror Picture Show reach for vamp.

Cool fact: It was rejected several times and was really was a slow starter coming out of the garage. But it picked up big support in the UK and Canada before going nuts in the U.S.

Speaking of Ellen Foley –– she was back-up singer and sang the part of the young woman asking those hard questions: Yes, yes, yes, or no?

Posted on

Exclusive interview with my brain

Mike Oliver, who writes frequently about his battle with a fatal brain disease,Lewy body dementia, finally gets some one-on-one time for this exclusive interview with his brain.

ME: Hey brain I need a report, what’s going on up there. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for days.

BRAIN: Well you should know, it’s your brain up here.

ME: Don’t get smart, brain. Remember you sent me some wrong information yesterday. I thought I saw a herd of cats in our yard having a tea party. I knew instantly it was a hallucination of course.

BRAIN: Yeah that was my bad, these little alpha synuclein proteins are tough little critters; they put the alpha in alpha. They took a couple million of my neurons yesterday and slimed them.

ME: Oh that must have been why I got up at 3:30 a.m. and went downstairs for no reason. I woke up staring at a wall.

BRAIN: I tell you, while I, er, we, have billions of neurons, I can’t keep taking these kind of hits and do my job.

ME: Well listen to me, Brain, I appointed you head of this organization for a reason. I have to say you were the leading candidate by a wide margin over the heart. Don’t get me wrong, I like the heart, but I can’t always trust it.

BRAIN: Yeah I hear you. Too sentimental.

ME: I just need you to play smarter here. This is a serious thing, an inflow of unwanted alpha snoopy proteins.

BRAIN: That’s alpha synuclein … you are confusing words Snoopy is a cartoon dog and you heard alpha and went with the dog thing.

ME: Me?

BRAIN: Well, right, US I guess. The latest research is that the bad proteins may be coming from the gut and climbing up to the brain where they wreak havoc, especially on memory.

ME: Really? Who did that research?

BRAIN: Well you read the same article, right?

ME: Oh, I guess I did. Which brings up another thing my memory sucks, what’s going on with our memory banks?

BRAIN: Well the Tactical Team is holed up in a previous unexplored storage space for the memory. I think they are trapped there like Davy Crockett at the Alamo.

ME: Well, keep up the fight. We may not have the strength to beat them head-on, but we can surely out-think them.

BRAIN: Well that’s a good thought.

ME: Thank you.

BRAIN: Thank you? I thought of it.

ME: No you didn’t. You just processed it for me to know. Look we don’t need to waste time arguing, let’s go get ‘em.

BRAIN: Yes I agree, but I feel a nap coming on.

ME: Funny, me too.

Please help us with your donation or participation in MikeMadness, a basketball tournament (and much more) to raise money for research and awareness of Lewy body dementia and other dementias. Go to www.mikemadness.org to see how how you can help.
Story originally appeared AL.com

Posted on

The Mekons (May have been last vinyl I bought before I switched to CD’s) –327

ALBUM: The Mekons Rock n’ Roll (1989)

MVC Rating: 4.5/$$$

I really listened to the Mekons a lot not long after we had moved to Florida. I remember taping this on cassette and listening to it on my daily 50-minutes one-way from Eustis to Orlando.

But over the last decade or more, the band have been out of my awareness.

This came out 1989 so I was standing at the door of the 90s decade carrying my last new vinyl album before going to compact disc. If it was not this album that was my last, it would have been either Warren Zevon’s last record (before he died) or it might have been a David Lindley record that was selling right at the changeover (1988’s ‘Very Greasy’ maybe?) and I remember wondering if I should get it in CD or not. I went with not.

(I think I had Soul Asylum on the other side of the cassette.)

As I’ve said, I love their catchy Memphis, Egypt with the shouted chorus ‘Rock N’ Roll’. It’s a song that most people think it is named ‘Rock N’ Roll. This is a great song, but the album is strong throughout and the lyrics are too, I think. I still need to check that. This is one of those that after 30 years I don’t remember what the album was about. But I remember buying from a little music store in Orlando. Name escapes me now. Despite the guitar solos and distortion there seems to be a tad bit too much production sheen. But maybe not, some like the cleaner brighter sound of meticulously produced music, but this is one of those where you don’t want to produce the energy out of such a raucous opening cut.

The music is straight-head hard rock with a fun alternative touch. Think of Cheap Trick meets the Clash. And some pretty decent lyrics: This isn’t no fake band — it’s smart.

When the female group member, Tammy Sims, is the lead singer as on Club Mekon , it reminds me a bit of Ellen Foley who sang “The Shuttered Palace” produced by her once boyfriend, Mick Jones <corrected 7/17. Not Strummer.>

I’m one and out on the Mekons and I see they have more than 10 recordings — so looks good for opportunity to explore.

One of my favorite lines is from Simms in ‘Club Mekon.’

And when I danced and saw you dance I saw a world where the dead are worshiped 
This world belongs to them now and they can keep it!

“I live alone and I walk the dark edge of the shoplights shadow, 
In each display a private hell, name your price you’re up for sale.

Club Mekon
Posted on

Don McLean — 329, 328

ALBUMS: Believers (1981); McLean (1972);

MVC Rating: Believers 3.5/$; McLean 3.0/$.

You know it’s difficult to break into the entertainment business and make a career at it. Ask Don “American Pie’ McLean. He broke in big time by writing and singing one of the all time classic songs. But as good as that song was – and I loved everything about the song and would sing it at the top of my lungs in the car with my parents – it was like a lightning bolt a flash of mighty heat and light. And then gone.

It was a song that crossed intergenerational boundaries. Singalong chorus, clever allegories.

The words were an elegy to Rock and Roll. Some took issue with the apparent conclusion that rock died (or at least lost its innocence the day Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash. The song is smart has a good tune and McLean was the right voice for it.

So what happened after ‘American Pie’? I may have had the 45 at one time but mainly I listened to it on the radio and wasn’t buying many records around 1971. I know he had another minor hit with ‘Vincent,’ a good song but no American Pie. Last year, when I saw a couple of McLean albums in a bargain bin, I decided to see what this guy was like and why he didn’t do more songs that were that good.

So for $4, I have two McLean albums, a self-titled one and Believers. I came away underwhelmed. Not that these folk songs were bad. There were some very good songs, nice melodies, interesting words on here — but nothing took off to the next level. I think I would benefit from hearing from a big fan of McLean’s, someone who can steer me to what I’m apparently missing.

McLean may be talking about himself here in ‘Bronco Bill’s Lament” of his self-titled album.

“I’m an old man now with nothing left to say; but oh God how I worked my youth away; You may not recognize my face; I used to be a star; a cowboy hero known both near and far.”

Even if McLean has had some slow years, he looks back fondly at his career.

In a 2014 interview with the Advocate he said:

“From an artistic standpoint, I’m taken somewhat seriously, or appreciated, everywhere. I’m happy about that because this business can be cruel and demeaning. The years have been good to me because the stature of my songs has increased rather than diminished.”