This will not be profound. I want to take this post to provide both updates and downdates.
First off, from everything I have read there is no added risk for persons with dementia getting a flu shot. This is how rumors get started.
I received the first of a 2-shot vaccination today at the Birmingham airport in a rainstorm that was intermittently heavy.
(I successfully resisted booking a flight to Cancun while I was at the soggy airport.)
My arm hurts a teeny from the shot.
I think the workers out there standing in a parking lot did a great job of making it as efficient as possible. Although there was a steady stream of cars, there was virtually no wait except for the 15-minute hold to make sure there was not a reaction from the shot.
I had made an appointment for the shot. I go back in three weeks for the final shot. My vaccination was the Pfizer brand. I felt a little drowsy after lunch, but that’s not all that unusual. I’ll keep you posted.
Countdown update
If you’ve noticed I have cut into my 678 countdown number of albums substantially recently with multiple albums by Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart and Lou Reed.
Remember the number next to the artists’ names in the title of the post represents where that particular album is in descending order moving toward zero.
Right now I’m at 150.
I’ve been swimming in a river of R’s. I thought I had squeezed the last drop of R’s weeks ago and, and so started on my S’s. But the R’s kept popping up, a stash here and a pile here. There R a lot of R’s. So, I’m working on both S’s and R’s as a group. The T’s promise to be almost as abundant as the R’s and S.
Health update
My health has been overall not bad. Slight increase in tremors on some days — makes it hard to work the keyboard. Hallucinations have been practically nonexistence since the new medication. I believe too, my strategy of eating right and light, exercise (nothing major. I walk, ride an indoor bike when I can’t walk) and keeping my mind stimulated by doing this blog and reading.
I still get inquiries about the ‘hallucination’ post. It is still here on MyVinylCountdown.com. You can scroll down the website or use the search button.
Or, you can get immediately to the blog post clicking here.
ALBUMS: Velvet Underground White Light/ White Heat (1968 )Transformer (1972); Lou Reed Live (1975); New Sensations (1984); Mistrial (1986); New York (1989)
MVC Rating: VU 4.0/$$$$$;Transformer4.5/$$$$$; Live 3.5/$$$$$; New Sensations 4.5/$$$$$; Mistrial 4.0/$$$$: New York 4.5/$$$$$.
Punk, hipster, gender bending street crawler. Lou Reed was quintessential New York City underground. His band Velvet Underground sold few records when they got together in the late 60’s but remain guiding influences for punk/alternative music. Lou Reed left the band after just a few years.
He kicked off his solo career withTransformer, and opening line ‘You’re so vicious, you hit me with a flower.’
‘Walk on the Wild Side’ touches on transgender youth, sex and drugs and the scene where this flourishes. In that song Reed introduced millions to his talk-sing streetwise voice as an edited version hit the radio and charts.
Holly came from Miami, F.L.A. Hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A. Plucked her eyebrows on the way Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says, “Hey, babe Take a walk on the wild side” Said, “Hey, honey Take a walk on the wild side”
When rap came along it wasn’t lost on Reed that he had been doing a Beatnik style rap since the 1960s.
Hip hop gonna bop till I drop.” Watch out world, comin’ at you full throttle Better check that sausage, before you put it in the waffle And while you’re at it better check that batter Make sure the candy’s in the original wrapper
That song like his other 1980’s songs maintained a biting commentary edge. But he seemed less angry than when he was ‘Waiting for the Man.’
In New Sensations he rides his motorcycle out of the City to a country place where he mingled with the country folks — and he enjoyed it.
There were some country folk and some hunters inside Somebody got themselves married and somebody died I went to the juke box and played a hillbilly song
‘Ooh oooh, new sensations…
New York was the last album I bought of Reed’s, and it is excellent with ‘Busload of Faith,’ ‘Dirty Blvd,” the ‘Last Great American Whale’ and, my favorite, ‘Strawman,’ a rocking rant that opens:
‘We who have so much to you who have so little to you don’t have anything at all ... Does anybody need a million dollar movie.
‘Does anybody need another million dollar star. Does anybody need another billion dollar rocket, does anybody need a $60,000 car. ..‘
ALBUMS: ‘Hang Time’ (1988); Easy Street, a 12″ single from And The Horse They Rode in On … (1990)
MVC Ratings: 4.0/$$$; single 4.0/$$
This came out as CD’s were beginning to take hold and, thus, this was probably one of my last vinyl purchases. I can’t remember where though. I probably bought it from Chuck when he was selling records at the Birmingham WUXTRY.
Folks who have been following this know that I bought a good chunk of my collection in high school in Athens, Ga. at WUXTRY where Peter Buck, the future REM guitarist worked. So did Chuck Connelly who by coincidence wound up in Birmingham at the same time I did and opened a new WUXTRY.
Soul Asylum is a band straddling the hard rock of the 1970s and the punk of the 1980’s. The 1993 song ‘Runaway Train won a Grammy and was praised for raising awareness of runaway teens. It was a mainstay on MTV.
You learn lots of towns’ names you’ve never heard before, even if they are only a short drive away.
Towns named Hamner, Geiger, Snoddy, Braggvile, Hycutt, Creet, Black Bottom, Blow Gourd, and Brushy Pond.
When the TV weather folk move the radar cams in close the little Alabama towns pop up like magic.
For a brief shining moment the little towns have their day in the sun, figuratively speaking.
And don’t feel bad if you don’t know where Blow Gourd is. It’s few miles south of Cleveland. That’s Cleveland, Alabama, of course. But you knew that already.
Then the camera pulls back and — poof, the tiny towns of Alabama are gone.
I bought this 2-record album in Leesburg, FL, in about 1988 at a store I did well finding cool, unusual records such as the relatively obscure guitarist John Fahey and some early 1960s folk music such as Tom Rush. Unfortunately for me –and the store — is that we lived in Leesburg for only about a year as I moved to the downtown office of the Orlando Sentinel, making trips to Leesburg rare. Plus buying records was not in our budget.
This band for a while had Sandy Denny who did ‘Who Knows Where the Time Goes,’ and was widely recognized as one of England’s top vocalists.
Future Yes-man Rick Wakeman was a Strawbs member on a couple of early albums in the early 1970s. He went on to become the famous keyboards guy for prog-rockers, Yes.
I don’t know what was the name of the group?
Yes.
No, I just want to know the name of the band he went to.
Yes.
Yes that’s what I want. What is the group’s name.
Yes.
OK, so who went to Yes?
Rick Wakeman.
Digressing again.
Denny went to Fairport Convention, a group similar to the Strawbs. Fairport featured Richard and Linda Thompson, whose crumbling marriage was channeled into one of the most heartbreaking break-up albums of all time, ‘Shoot out the Lights.’
So what about the Strawbs?
Perhaps the album cover liner notes best helps understand what this band was like. Michael Hooker, whom I don’t know, wrote this in the notes:
It’s something of a tribute to the slightly bizarre nature of that catchall pigeonhole known as British Rock that a group which originated as England’s answer to Flatt and Scruggs would go on to cite The Tibetan Book of the Dead as one of its prime influences. …
In a recent post I took a look at Rod Stewart and Bruce Springsteen as part of my countdown of the records in my collection.
It was left knotted up at three each when I judged the two in six categories. It turned out like this (link above explains reasons behind the picks):
Best Song — Rod Stewart
Best Album — Bruce Springsteen
Best Live –Bruce Springsteen
Most diverse body of work — Rod Stewart
Best Voice — Rod Stewart
Best Lyrics — Bruce Springsteen.
And the winner is: Bruce Springsteen with 135 million records sold. Rod has sales of 120 million. (There are discrepancies and wide variations in reporting the sales figures. Explanation in note and links at end of article).
This has translated into a higher net worth for Bruce as well. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Springsteen is worth $500 million. Don’t cry for Rockin’ Rod though. He’s worth $300 million.
Since it is my blog I am entitled to an editorial comment on this:
This is way too much money.
Our teachers, our law enforcement , our bus drivers, our nurses, our construction workers, our miners, our day care workers, our food service folks– these people doing everyday necessary jobs are lucky if they ever crack six figures. Many will never see $50,000 a year after 20 years of work.
I don’t blame Bruce and Rod and the similarly well-strapped movie and sports stars.
They are living the American dream. I know Bruce has been a big donor and organizer of food banks in the various cities where he plays. And Bruce, particularly, has raised awareness of working class America through his songs.
But Bruce doesn’t need $500 million to relive his glory days. And Rod, at $300 million, needn’t steal his daddy’s cue to make a living playing pool.
But that’s the way it is and that’s the way it likely will be.
I am one who will argue that music can be transcendent, life affirming and soul stirring. And that’s priceless.
SPRINGSTEENALBUMS: (Springsteen): Born to Run (1975); Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978); The River (1980); Nebraska (1982); Born in the USA (1984);Tunnel of Love (1987); Live 1975-1985 (box set).
SPRINGSTEEN MVCRATING : Born to Run 5.0/$$$$$; Darkness 4.5/$$$$; The River 4.5/$$$$$; Nebraska 4.0/$$$$$; Born in USA 5.0/$$$$$/Tunnel 4.0/$$$$; Live Box 4.5/$$$$$
STEWART ALBUMS Every Picture Tells a Story (1971); A Night on the Town (1976); Footloose and Fancy Free (1977); Blondes Have More Fun (1978); The Best of Rod Stewart Vol. 2 (1976). Small Faces FIrst Steps (1970).
STEWART MVCRating: Every Picture 4.5/$$$$$; A Night on the Town 4.0/$$$$; Footloose 4.0/$$$; Blondes 3.5/$$$; Best 4.0/$$$$; Small Faces First Steps. 4.0/$$$$$
Bruce Springsteen rules. When I got this idea to put Rockin’ Rod Stewart and BROOOSE in the same post, I figured Bruce would kill. He’s the Boss.
So what am I doing here? Other than creating a sneaky way to lower my Countdown list by about a dozen. (Folks just now tuning in hit the About Me button on the homepage if you are wondering what this Countdown thing is all about.)
So making a dent in the Countdown was a motivator. But I actually got the idea from a website called Answerbag.com, which posed to readers this question: What is the Difference Between Bruce Springsteen and Rod Stewart? That brought out some provocative reaction like ‘Talent,’ ‘Are you kidding … Bruce is the boss.’ And, ‘Their hair,’ and ‘their singing.’
Well I grabbed my stacks of albums from both artists. The list above, like always, lists only those vinyl records I own. So for fun, I made up a little report card to see who scores highest.
Best Song: Maggie May (Stewart). I know this is controversial, but Stewart uses a few words to evoke a time and a place — that precipitous place where you are wrestling with the question: What do I want to be when I grow up? Here, the older woman rejects Stewart, and it’s decision time: You could go get some more education or steal your daddy’s cue and make a living out of playing billiards.
Bruce’s best? My favorite is ‘Thunder Road’ in which Bruce is making no promises to Mary, who enjoys Roy Orbison music. The door is ajar and the windows are open but the ride is not without hidden surcharges.
Best Album: (Springsteen) ‘Born to Run’ edges out ‘Born in the USA.’ Both albums are loaded up with great songs but the breakthrough album was like something we hadn’t heard before. This category is closer than you think because Stewart’s Every Picture Tells a Story is one top-to-bottom classic. Maggie, Mandolin Wind, (I Know) I’m Losing You and Reason to Believe — and that’s just one side,
Best Live: (Springsteen) The Boss made his legend with his high energy, marathon concerts, looking like a natural born blue-jeaned every-guy. After seeing him for the first time in Birmingham on the ‘Born in the USA tour, ‘I drove to South Carolina to see him again. I never saw Rod in concert but I’ve seen him in some videos and he looks like he’s having fun.
Most Diverse Body of Work (Stewart) Stewart started in a blues outfit led by legendary guitarist Jeff Beck. He came to Small Faces which turned into Faces and their raggedy, blues folk rock. He continued with albums and singles hitting h Top 40 singles (Tonight’s the Night, Hot Legs), dabbled in Disco (Do Ya’ Think I’m Sexy,) and wound up tuxedoed, doing the American Songbook. If you made this category ‘best’ body of work, Bruce winds hands down. But Rod has definitely done a wider variety — not necessarily all good.
Best Lyrics (Springsteen) ‘The screen door slams, Mary’s dress waves, She dances across the porch as the radio plays.’ Springsteen wrote some lines that made great stories — consistently. Rod Stewart could write as I pointed out above with Maggie but he often chose to interpret others to good effect for the most part.
Best Voice (Stewart) Now this, probably more than the other categories is a matter of personal choice. Do you like Stewart’s raspy delivery or Springsteen’s guttural voice that teeters on hoarseness. I had a friend, someone who knew way more than me about music tell me that Stewart did a fantastic job with the American Classics project as his voice was pitch perfect and his timing and interpretative abilities brought the songs to life. As for Bruce, let’s just say he can sing in a stadium well. That’s a compliment because few are able to do it — with the possible exceptions of Bono, Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and the Who (in their prime). And then of course, Queen.
But I digress.
So let’s see who won?
Best Song — Rod Stewart
Best Album — Bruce Springsteen
Best Live –Bruce Springsteen
Most diverse body of work — Rod Stewart
Best Voice — Rod Stewart
Best Lyrics — Bruce Springsteen.
So it is all knotted up at 3-3. The final tiebreaker will be who has sold the most records? I’m going to take some time to research this but it should be a multimillion-dollar battle. Look for answer in upcoming post.
This Jamaican duo was widely regarded as one of the best rhythm sections in Reggae/dub music if not all contemporary music. This 1985 release was a breakthrough of sorts and featured musicians such as Herbie Hancock, Bob Dylan and Afrika Bambaataa.
I didn’t play this a lot because it forced you out of your chair and made you dance, and I can’t be dancing all the time.
With its interlocking World Music rhythms, some of the synthesizer and programmed drums sounds a little dated now but most of it stands the test of time as a funky piece of dance music.
Bass and Trouble is perhaps my favorite. The ‘hit’ was ‘Make ‘Em Move.’
Night Moves, the song and the album, was along with the Eagle’s Hotel California, ubiquitous on FM radio in the late 1970s. They fell full square in my high school days.
The songs bring back memories of weekends, cruising and boys looking for girls; where the only future was ‘later that night.’ You could throw Springsteen in there as well with ‘Born to Run.’ Although Springsteen seemed to come out of nowhere at that time whereas Seger and the Eagles were much more of a known quantity.
I recently saw ‘Night Moves’ on eBay going for $90-plus and it reminded me I have that album somewhere. (At my first record convention a year ago, I sold my Hotel California for $20 (It was in Near Mint condition and had the poster). I still have Seger and Springsteen. And that’s fitting because they were the closer aligned. Both had gravelly, powerful voices and wrote rock and roll epics; The kind of story-songs that help you visualize your nostalgic memories. Springsteen edges Seger in lyrics category but Seger dropped some fine lines.
From Night Moves: I woke last night to the sound of thunder/How far off I sat and wondered/Started singing a song from 1962/Ain’t it funny how the night moves.
The album gets a high rating from me because it is strong all the way through with ‘Mainstreet, ‘Rock and Roll Never Forgets,’ and the ‘Fire Down Below,’ to name a few.
Oh, and Night Moves album for sale on eBay was well above what I saw elsewhere. It generally seems to be worth between $15 to $35 depending on condition.
