Big Al

truer words have never been spoken Yeah, he's on the album AND in the movie. I didn't want to mention it. Make of that what you will.

I'll go out on a limb and say he was as integral to the sound of Jimi Hendrix as Hendrix himself. RIP indeed.

Speaking of which, ahve you ever seen the movie, Al? As Irecall it (which is very loosely) the soundtrack is perfect for the plot, which, yeah, pretty much implies everything you think it does. I caught the first ten minutes of it with Martin Mull racing to get to his job as a DJ. I was laughing my ass off! Believe it or not, I really do want to see this movie. For all the reasons you mentioned as well as to see where "WKRP in Cincinnati" got the ideas.

WTF is THAT??? Watch the movie. Once. That sounds like a dare... Or a threat.

Why yes, that does make me laugh!

This day just keeps getting better and better!

I'll take either one. Really! I'm not picky.

Oh yeah, there's far worse music out there. But as an ALBUM, well... it's like the Stones Sucking in the Seventies: it's as if someone went out of their way to make a truly hideous album. If EVERYTHING on this album was lousy, we wouldn't even be having this discussion. But the fact that a great tune like "FM (No Static at All)" is then followed by Seger's "Night Moves;" or, as I said before, including Queen's "We Will Rock You" but NOT including "We Are the Champions;" it winds up being a record that was built to inconvenience the listener as much as possible! I gotta hand it to whoever put this together. Something this awful takes more thought than one might imagine.

First of all, I respect your logic and your reasoning, and I think I know where you're coming from (i.e. the ONLY reason I like Foreigner's Double Vision is simply because it was one of the first rock records I ever bought. I tried listening to it with the attitude of not having heard the record before. My reaction, naturally, was one of revulsion. This record truly, TRULY, sucks, as do most (aw hell, I'm on a roll, let's just make it ALL) Foreigner records); in other words, I get the part about things being a product of their time. But that ignores the fact that, especially in Ronstadt's case on these two tracks (which are both live, BTW), the performances are absolutely, mind-bogglingly BAD. It's as if they spent all this time and money on production values but completely forgot about the song itself! I'll grant you that Abbey Road had a shitload to do with that, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. Shawn is dead-on about Queen in this respect: the songs may be shit, but DAMN do they sound nice! For my money, the radio can't play "Fat Bottomed Girls" enough for my taste; sure it's a stupid song, but that drum sound totally KICKS ASS!!! In other words, I dig that it's totally subjective, but in Ronstadt's case, it would've been nice if she'd maybe dug just a little deeper than the surface of the songs she was butchering.

If FM had come out after The Wall, you can bet there'd be a Floyd song on FM.

On the contrary. When Bloom County started out, it was funny, refreshing, and yes bizarre. Then Opus came along and the focus moved away from an ensemble-based strip to a character-driven strip. Breathed's attempt to satirize the Garfield trend with Bill the Cat was a funny one-time gag (literally and figuratively) that should've quit while it was ahead, a lot like your typical SNL skit. All of that was merely annoying, providing the occasional chuckle, until the day when Breathed decided he wanted to be a poor-man's Garry Trudeau. Bill the Cat became an institution, Opus became a merchandising bonanza (I had my Opus doll, just like everyone else), Steve Dallas became..... whatever the hell that was, it was anything but funny. Shit, even the drawn-in cameo of Trudeau in the comic's dungeon was ass-kissing at its worst. Then, when that wasn't bad enough, he beat Rosie O'Donnell to the Trump-bashing by having Bill the Cat become Trump. That was not only unfunny, it was stupid. It immediately guaranteed that Bloom County's timelessness would forever be.... er, trumped by planting itself firmly in the mire of the 80's. All of this at the expense of interesting characters like Milo, the old Steve Dallas, Binkley, Milo's grandpa, Quiche Lorraine, the guy in the wheelchair (the "Starchair Enterpoop") and Bobbi, his teacher girlfriend. Don't think for a second I underestimate this comic's place in history. I just think it's undeserved. It's certainly not the timeless classic everyone wants it to be. Unlike Calvin & Hobbes which was funny from day one all the way to the end, or The Far Side which never failed to satisfy, or hell even Doonesbury which allowed its characters to grow while commenting on the political and social issues of each era through which its gone, Bloom County will forever be looked at as a relic of the 80's.

Correct!

I may change my username, though.

You disappoint me, Al. Seriously. Over a comic strip?

Yes. In fact, there is a reprise of the song at the end of the album which I don't believe is available anywhere else. It's quite nice, actually.

Damn, but that woman is SMOKIN' HOT!!!

I'm working on transferring a whole bunch of records to CD for a friend of mine to give to her husband for Christmas. Now, nobody likes a good "bad" record as much as yours truly, but I think I've found the worst, THE piece of vinyl that explains why damn-near EVERYTHING about the 70's was bad: The soundtrack to the movie FM. Now, I know there are a couple of good songs on there: the title track, of course, and I've always had a soft spot for the Eagles "Life in the Fast Lane" ever since I heard it when it first came out when I was 7. And, of course, Joe Walsh's "Life's Been Good" is always good for a laugh. But the rest? Steve Miller "Fly Like an Eagle." This guy thinks he's a genius. The sound of one hand clapping. Bob Seger "Night Moves." It must suck to live in Michigan knowing that everyone thinks that Seger is such a revered icon in Michigan. I know better. I've hung around people who actually LIVE there! Queen "We Will Rock You." Not bad per se, but without "Champions?" That's just wrong! Billy Joel "Just the Way You Are." Listening to Billy Joel is the aural equivalent of reading "Bloom County:" it has its moments, but you've seen it done so much better by others. It doesn't help his case when he tries to claim he's a rocker with dreck like this. Boston "More Than a Feelin." These guys have been annoying from day one. I don't know of any other band that has gotten more undeserved airtime than these guys. Foreigner "Cold as Ice." It's Foreigner fer chrissakes! Do I need to explain? Dan Fogelberg "There's a Place in the World for a Gambler." The damn song is as long as the title. The nadir of the whole singer-songwriter movement, quite an accomplishment in a world where Paul Simon is allowed to flourish. James Taylor "Your Smiling Face." Like I said..... Doobie Brothers "It Keeps You Running." Even corporate rockers started lowering the bar (but then I'm a sucker for "What a Fool Believes," which could double as the title of this thread). You'd think a song with this title wouldn't sound like a sputtering Edsel. Okay, those are all merely annoying compared to the tracks that put this completely over-the-top shoot-out-yer-eardrums oh-for-the-love-of-God-make-it-STOP atrocious. No, that honor goes to Linda Ronstadt. My GOD, what were record-buyers thinking when they put her at the top of the charts? There is absolutely nothing, NOTHING, remotely redeeming about any aspect of her career. EVERY DAMN SONG OF HERS SOUNDS THE SAME!!! It's like a female Grateful Dead! Buddy Holly's "It's So Easy" never sounded so lifeless than in her cover, and it doesn't sound any different than "When Will I Be Loved" or any of her other recordings. But none of those even hold a candle to the two tracks on this album. You don't even need to be familiar with the Stones "Tumbling Dice" to know that this is the most wretched cover to ever violate vinyl space. She doesn't even bother to change the words to suit her gender, much less put any feeling into the performance. The worst is at the end when she starts screaming "YOU GOT TO RO-OH-OH-OLL ME" with the kind of fake ruggedness that middle-aged guys try to emulate when they're trying to sing along to Springsteen in the car. Okay, I feel much better now. Thank you for letting me vent.

Yeah, that thing was bulky AND disturbing. It's as if they said "We DARE you to buy this."

Gotta love the sales pitch: That's right kids: these artists lived and breathed their art so that hip young "tastemakers" can equate this music with the likes of Amy Winehouse. UGH! I suppose the case could be made that the author of this pitch is too young to remember the first two times all of these titles came out. Probably weaned on the likes of Boney James and such, wanting to dig deeper into this art, lands himself a job at EMI and notices.... Oh My GOSH!!! Look at these titles! I need to get these out there NOW! Or the writer could just be a lying sack-o-shit who would make P.T. Barnum proud. And if you believe the CD is being remastered AGAIN, I have some beautiful beachfront property in Galveston you might be interested in.....

HA!!!

After listening to Paul Gonsalves wail on "Diminuendo & Crescendo in Blue" all these years, I finally realized he's been quoting "Hey Good Lookin'" in there. It takes a while, but I usually figure this stuff out long after it's passed.

Judging from this list, this oughta be an exciting BFT!

Froeliche weihnachten, mein freund! :party:

Yeah, same thing at the Arlington store. I wonder if I can get over to the Ft. Worth store tomorrow? Their selection was halfway decent last time I was there.

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