Big Al

Blue Note's website shows them: BN's Three Sounds page Wow. If AMG's opinion is to be believed, neither one of these are top-shelf albums. Not even middle-shelf.

Yeah, but those are DUMB lyrics! As in dumb fun! Nobody listens to Ratt expecting deep thinking! Now if you want stupid lyrics that expect you to take him seriously, we could talk about the ouevre of one Jon Bon Jovi, a fifth-rate Springsteen filtered through the worst of Billy Joel. Here's the one that made me want to slap the shit outta people for buying this crap (mainly the teenage girls I went to school with and worked with when I was a teenager in the 80's) Tommy used to work on the docks Union's been on strike He's down on his luck...it's tough, so tough Gina works the diner all day Working for her man, she brings home her pay For love - for love She says we've got to hold on to what we've got 'Cause it doesn't make a difference If we make it or not We've got each other and that's a lot For love - we'll give it a shot [Chorus:] Whooah, we're half way there Livin' on a prayer Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear Livin' on a prayer Tommy's got his six string in hock Now he's holding in what he used To make it talk - so tough, it's tough Gina dreams of running away When she cries in the night Tommy whispers baby it's okay, someday We've got to hold on to what we've got 'Cause it doesn't make a difference If we make it or not We've got each other and that's a lot For love - we'll give it a shot [Chorus] We've got to hold on ready or not You live for the fight when it's all that you've got [Chorus, repeat infinitely and scream in a higher key with each successive chorus] So, if "it doesn't really matter if we make it or not," then why the hell "live for the fight when it's all that you've got"??? HUH and WTF???? As if that wasn't enough to make you want to rip your ears off, there was the use of that stupid-ass talkbox-guitar which sounded like it was an audio outtake of the belching contest from "Revenge of the Nerds." And people thought these guys were the new Bruce and the E Street Band? Hell, they're not even close to John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band!!! And then there's this one, which should've been called "Spot the Cliche:" You - you got a nasty reputation We're in a sticky situation - it's down to me and you So tell me - is it true ... they say there ain't nobody better Well now that we're together Show me what you can do You're under the gun Out on the run Gonna set the night on fire You're out on the run Under the gun And playin' to win [Chorus:] Raise your hands When you want to let it go Raise your hands And you want to let a feeling show Raise your hands From New York to Chicago Raise your hands From New Jersey to Tokyo Raise your hands I - I've been out on the front line Where you'll go down if you waste time They'll walk all over you But I - I ain't here looking for surrender I'll raise the flag if you'll defend her It's up to you You're under the gun Out on the run Gonna set the night on fire You're out on the run Under the gun And playin' to win [Chorus] A song so unapologetically about sex, and then he decides to go all Springsteen on us with the second verse? And this shit's from over twenty years ago. How is it possible that this guy is STILL successful TODAY with new albums that feature the same old cliches (Have a Nice Day as an album title? Amazing how people will actually PAY to be insulted!), the same old cheez-whiz lite-metal that sounds like it's still 1986..... and yet, the guy's rakin' in millions. Well, I guess it's true that no one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American music-buyer.

How does this compare with the other inexpensive versions (i.e. OJC, K2, Fantasy SACD) out there?

And you don't even point out the most annoying thing about those lyrics: Centrifugal motion is what keeps two bodies rotating around each other, like the Earth and the moon. Do you want your baby always at the same distance away from you? Centripetal motion brings bodies together, the direction you might want if her kisses are that good. Learn something new every day! Anyway, listening to that chorus over and over and over and over is like fingernails on a blackboard; with each repeated chorus representing another fingernail added to the chorus.

Nah. Just a lotta honking and sqwawking over bass and drums. No piano. I mean, really, what was he thinking?

And then there's this little bit of brilliance by Sixpence None the Richer: There she goes There she goes again Racing through my brain And I just can't contain This feeling that remains There she goes There she goes again Pulsing through my veins And I just can't contain This feeling that remains There she goes There she goes again Racing through my brain And I just can't contain This feeling that remains There she goes There she goes again She calls my name, Pulls my train No one else could heal my pain And I just can't contain This feeling that remains There she goes There she goes again Chasing down my lane And I just can't contain This feeling that remains There she goes There she goes There she goes I played that for my son once; his comment was "That's not a song; that's a circle!"

Faith Hill can always be counted on for mind-numbingly bad songs, but this one is the piece de resistance (meaning, I try to resist this piece every time I hear it!): It’s the way you love me It’s a feeling like this It’s centrifugal motion It’s perpetual bliss It’s that pivotal moment It’s subliminal This kiss, this kiss (It’s Criminal) This kiss, this kiss Repeat ad infinitum ad nauseaum, moving up a key with each successive repetition. Damn! Now I've got that stupid-ass song stuck in my head.

As much as I love Hall & Oates, their lyrics have always been more than a little ridiculous. That's more than made up for in the vocal and musical arrangements.

Family reunion in Chicago at the end of July. Unfortunately, no trip to Michigan this summer to hang out with the Michigan Organissimo Gang.

I think you're right.

And don't even get me started on the lyrics of Steve Miller..... (not to mention the fact that every damn one of his singles is a rip-off of someone else's song). I was going to post some, but I got nauseous just reading them again, and didn't want to subject anyone to them.

Dude, you NEED to write volume 2 of The Worst Rock & Roll Records Ever Made!!! I've always hated this song, because it's usually played at the supermarket when I'm there at 10:30 pm (usually followed by Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a Place on Earth"), and I've never even paid attention to the lyrics. I never realized this song was even worse than first imagined! But then, what do you expect from a song that chosen as the theme song for "Dawson's Creek?" In fact, this song could easily be blamed for all of the "pity-poor-me" songs that were created for use on all of the WB teen soap operas that plagued the nineties!

Welcome home!

I was expecting a Ted Nugent site....

My father-in-law and I were talking about McKay and WWoS last weekend, and how Saturdays haven't been the same since they went off the air. Nothing ever is, I guess. RIP to a real sports hero.

Damn, what song am I thinking of? (Searches allmusic) "Hot Smoke and Sassafras" Duh! Well, judging by the respective titles, I wasn't TOO far off!

Always know sometimes think it's me But you know I know when it's a dream I think I know I mean, ah yes but it's all wrong that is I think I disagree I once read that if you changed some of the "knows" to "no," it drastically changes the meaning of that verse: Always... no, sometimes think it's me But you... no I know when it's a dream I think I... no I mean, ah yes but it's all wrong that is I think I disagree

Ah, Bubble Puppy! Always thought that was the strangest record in my dad's collection. I once quoted that song to a former boss of mine over ten years ago, and he was floored that I even knew who Bubble Puppy was. He told me saw them in Houston in the late 60's or so.

DRAT!!! Too late again!!!

Here's an interesting couple of stats: ALBUMS ISSUED BY FANTASY/CONCORD AS K2, SACD, AND RVG/KEEPNEWS (not counting AP SACDs, DCCs, etc): Cannonball Adderley in San Francisco (Riverside/Keepnews) Art Blakey - Caravan (Riverside/Keepnews) Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (Prestige/RVG) John Coltrane - Lush Life (Prestige/RVG) Relaxin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige/RVG) Bill Evans - Portrait in Jazz (Riverside/Keepnews) Bags Meets Wes (Riverside/Keepnews) MJQ - Django (Prestige/RVG) Thelonious Monk - Brilliant Corners (Riverside/Keepnews) The Incredible Jazz Guitar of Wes Montgomery (Riverside/Keepnews) Sonny Rollins - Tenor Madness (Prestige/RVG) Sonny Rollins - The Sound of Sonny (Riverside/Keepnews) NOTE: Every Prestige K2 that was issued as a SACD has now been issued as a RVG. ALBUMS ISSUED BY FANTASY/CONCORD K2 AND SACD (which will likely show up soon as Keepnews Editions) Cannonball Adderley - Things Are Getting Better Chet Baker in New York Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane* Bill Evans - Explorations Thelonious Monk - Monk's Music* Mulligan Meets Monk *Yes, I know this was recently re-issued as a Complete collection, but so what? Think Concord WON'T try to milk that cow again?

When Carrie found a Styx record in one of her boyfriends' apartments, I was immediately hooked.

It ain't full frontal, more like peekaboo around the side, and it's not even fully exposed. Now Cynthia Nixon, OTOH..... Oh yes, and LOTS of boobs. This movie was definitely calculated to give the guys in the audience a few reasons to stick around. That said, I still enjoyed the movie with my wife, who's a big fan of the show. I was maybe one of two guys in the packed house! Funny thing is, despite knowing very little about the show, I ended up caring about what happens to all the characters.

Willy and the Poor Boys by CCR. It actually belongs to my dad, who bought it while mom was still pregnant with me! I'm proud to say I've loved listening to this record since the day I was born; however, I'm also ashamed of the abuse I gave it during my toddler years when I thought that anything that spun was a toy. Ah well, the crackles and pops bring back tons of happy childhood memories. Can't ask for much more than that! Plus, I love watching that blue Fantasy label spin around. Which is why I am now listening to my mid-60's pressing of Cal Tjader's LATIN CONCERT. Some records are fun just to watch the label spin!

Roy Haynes. File this under "Artists Whose Work I Respect, Whose Reputation is Well-Deserved, but I Just Don't GET!" Never been able to connect with the man's work, which is extensive.

Yeah, you can't look it anymore without associating it with what it represented in a very dark part of human history.