Alexander

That was the album that turned me on to him, actually... Costello's nickname in the studio is "The Little Hands of Concrete" because he abuses his guitars so... I disagree completely with the people slagging Bernie Taupin's lyrics. Listen to the "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" album and a song like "Bitter Fingers." Love Taupin's lyrics. They work organically with Elton's melodies, to the point where you can't really tell if the words or the tune came first...

See, I love Costello and own everything he's ever done. And I mean EVERYTHING. I even have the limited edition Costello/Nieve live box...

I grew up on Billy Joel's music. My parents owned everything from "Cold Spring Harbor" through "An Innocent Man" on vinyl and played him often. Probably the most played albums were "Turnstiles," "The Stranger," "52nd Street," and "Glass Houses" and "The Nylon Curtain," but I heard them all a good number of times. Once he hooked up with Christie Brinkly, I checked out. He suddenly seemed to happy for my taste. Then, in high school, I disdained him as everything that was wrong with pop music in the '80s. In college, I turned up my nose while all of my floormates (at Hofstra U) blasted "We Didn't Start The Fire" over and over again. At some point during the intervening years, I bought a CD copy of "Turnstiles" which for many years was the only Billy Joel album I owned. I got it mainly for "Summer Highland Falls," "I've Loved These Days," and "Miami 2017," which were my favorite of his songs, but I generally dug the whole album and still consider it one of his overall strongest works. Then, just a few months ago, I started getting interested in him again and wound up picking up his entire catalog (most of it for very little money when I worked at Borders). To my surprise, a good deal of it really holds up. I think that "Streetlife Serenade" is probably (along with "Turnstiles") his most underrated album. Some really great songs on there ("The Weekend Song," "The Great Suburban Showdown," "The Entertainer," etc.). So now, I have to say, I really enjoy his stuff. Not the greatest ever, but pretty damn good. The guy wrote some really high quality stuff. And he's an excellent musical mimic. You can listen to a good number of his songs and very clearly hear the artist he had in mind when he wrote it. Of course, on "An Innocent Man," that was the point (which I didn't get AT ALL when the album was new, btw. Now I can tell on each song which artist Joel was trying to evoke), but he does it on a lot of other albums ("Sleeping With the Television On" on "Glass Houses" (his response to punk and new wave) is very clearly meant to be a "This Year's Model" era Costello song). I like Springsteen, Mellencamp, AND Elton John. For real. I also like Dire Straits...

Is the title track a version of the Christopher Cross tune? How does it hold up without the Michael McDonald backup vocals?

I have the Rhinos. I used to have the Rykos and I don't regret upgrading. Haven't gotten any of the more recent upgrades, since I don't think they have anything I don't already have. If you already have "Out of Our Idiot," DO NOT GET RID OF IT. It's the only place where you can get "Little Goody Two Shoes," the alternate version of "Inch By Inch." Costello never included it on either the Rykodisc or Rhino editions of "Goodbye Cruel World"...

"Is that how you say it? 'That's a bingo?'" "You just say 'bingo.'"

Don't lose sight of the fact that Herbie's Imagine featured P!nk, Seal, India.Arie, Jeff Beck, Konono N°1 and Oumou Sangaré, all performing a song written by John Lennon. The Grammys aren't embracing Herbie (and mainstream jazz) as much as he is embracing them (all the way to the bank). The album wasn't quite as good as "River: The Joni Letters" or "Possibilities," but it has some very nice moments. And John Legend does an outstanding job on "Don't Give Up" (with Pink providing a decent sub for Kate Bush).

I worked at Borders for about a year, after I was laid off from my last teaching job (currently working as a TA, but at least I'm in a classroom and working with kids again). I knew the handwriting was on the wall for Borders and that it was only a matter of time. Mainly because a friend of mine told me, "My brother-in-law has just been made CFO of Borders...and he only comes in when a company is planning of filing for bankruptcy. Get another job, pronto!" I read an article last year that said that Borders was on its way out, largely due to the fact that 1) it has lost the online war with Amazon and 2) it has lost the brick and mortar war with B&N. Shortly before I left, I noticed a marked increase in the stress level of the store's management. That only happens when THEY notice the increased stress from THEIR superiors. And that happens when THEY notice that THEIR bosses are worried. Etc, etc.

"Do what you can with what you have and where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt

Thanks for all of the very good advice and very funny rejoinders. Touché, sirs! Here's where we are as of today: I've left it unplugged for the last couple of days. Today, I plugged it in a turned it on. So far so good. I listened to the rest of "Sign O The Times" (which I had been listening to yesterday on headphones) and then the first disc of the "Costello/Nieve" live set. No smoke. No problems whatsoever. Sounded fine. When the second disc was finished, I powered down and looked closely. The top of the receiver (right over the power source) was warm to the touch, but no more so than usual. After I took a look, I unplugged it. So it played a disc and a half without incident. Hmmmmm.... One thing that had occurred to me was that there might have been some dirt or debris that had conducted some electricity and created a minor short. I've looked, and there's nothing there now (whatever was there might have burned away already). The other thing that I have considered is the fact that when I turned it on the first time (the night it was smoking), I had turned it on while the TV was still on. I've recently moved into a new apartment, and the TV is plugged into the same outlet as the stereo. In addition, the TV is hooked up to my DVD player and the DVD player is hooked up to the receiver. Since this is the first time that I have had the TV, DVD player (which I also used for CDs) and the receiver on at the same time since moving into this apartment, it occurs to me that what might have happened is that the receiver overloaded. I have not tried to use the TV, DVD player and the receiver at the same time since. I also acknowledge that it is possible that the receiver might not have much life left in it. I'm supposed to get paid for a modeling gig I did in December (I played Ben Franklin. I also recently sent an e-mail bugging them about payment), and I plan on using some of that money to buy a new (used) receiver.

No I agree. It's bad. I'm just hoping against hope that it isn't fatal. But it probably is. Which means that I have to find another receiver. I've been looking on eBay and I've found some receivers that are used and pretty cheap (in the $25 range). Obviously, it's not ideal and even that small amount is really more than I can afford to spend. But I could make $25 work, if I eat at my mom's house every night...

Okay...I turned on my stereo to listen to a little music a few minutes ago. I pop in the disc and it starts playing, but no sound is coming out. I check the volume, which is fine. I'm just about to check the speaker connections, when I notice a smell of burning plastic. I look at the receiver (a Sony (STR-AV 220)that I got used on Ebay two or three years ago) and notice SMOKE coming out of the vent. I look through the vent and see a little glowing piece inside. I immediately turn it off and the glow stops, the smoke stops, etc. I give it a few minutes and then turn it on again. It turns on normally (there's a "click" that occurs a few seconds after you push the power button). I decide to test it with a disc. The disc plays and I get normal sound. WTF is going on here? Is my receiver dead? Should I just throw in the towel? Or could it be a chance malfunction that is unlikely to happen again? I'm reluctant to use it now, for obvious reasons. The thing is that I am REALLY poor right now and can't afford to replace the receiver. But I can't imagine having to go without using my stereo for God knows how many months...

I'm a record collector in recovery, necessitated by my recent separation (I have a LOT less money than I used to). I'm surprisingly okay with it. I can't get new music, for the most part. Every penny is going to food and rent, pretty much. And yet, having been a demon collector for so many years, I have PLENTY of music to keep me occupied. I mean, with something in the neighborhood of 5,000 CDs and hundreds of LPs, it's not like I'm gonna run out of stuff to listen to. Not for a LONG time.

York was best known to me (and probably to a lot of people born between, say, 1969 and 1979) as Superman's Kryptonian mother in the Christopher Reeve "Superman" movies. She had a pretty small part in the first movie, but Brando's refusal to do sequels meant that she got a much bigger part in "Superman II."

I've been trying to get some voice-over work for a few months now (I have management and everything), but so far no luck. It's a tough biz to break into. Very few at the top. So I guess the lesson of this story is that I should go out with a sign and do impressions for tips!

The summer of 1978 (when was seven years old), "Baker Street" was EVERYWHERE. I can still remember all the windows on my street being open (no air conditioning in those old Buffalo houses) and the sax riff from that song emerging from nearly every one... You never hear music coming from people's open windows anymore. I miss that...

On this New Year's Day, I got a new car AND a new apartment...

Yeah, Jason Moran posted about this on Facebook earlier today. Very sad...

Elvis died first, then Lennon, then Sinatra. The public attention span is what it is... Also, for all these guys, as the actual music becomes else and less relevant to "everyday people", the marketing machines of the estates will resort to manufacturing all kinds of iconography that will attempt to "guilt trip" you into thinking that THESE PEOPLE ARE IMPORTANT SO YOU MUST BUY THIER(OUR) PRODUCT!!! That's going to work, because so few people have fully-formed senses of self these days (due to a combination of malevolent social forces and just flat out personal sloth) that any easy image they can latch on to works for them. So, what are the images for sale? Beatles/Lennon - Songs that changed music forever, ended a war, ended hate, ended everything bad, all you need is love, yadayadayada. Sinatra - Rough, Rugged Lone Wolf Tough Guy With A Sensitive Heart who defined the Great American Songbook for all time Elvis - three categories: Young Elvis - redneck rebel, shook his hips and shook up the world, still called everybody m'aam & sir, went off and joined the Army like any other Good American would have done. Movie Elvis - uhhh...yeah Vegas/Fat Elvis - Memphis Mafia, specTACular white jumpsuits, TCB, and dead too soon, poor thing. Really, what are the most "attractive" images of these for today's world? Sinatra and the Beatles at least had a core "reality" inside them. Elvis? He let others make it up for him from jump, pretty much. So there's really nothing to his image but image. And as far as music, hell, Elvis is not well-served by his "icon songs" being borderline-novelty songs and/or bloated unintentional self-parodies. If he'd have had the guts/brains/whatever to insist on everything (or at least enough of everything) being as good as "Little Sister" (one of the very few Elvis song I can listen to enjoyably, "Kentucky Rain" almost being another, but only on those quirky days we all have from time to time), then there would be something to work with. But no... "Little Sister" is a favorite of mine. British Invasion sound before the invasion... I LOVE "Kentucky Rain." GREAT performance.

Amazing how far I've come since my 37th birthday. In about a week I'll be moving into my own place (my first since I was in college) and my marriage is pretty much over. But don't cry for me! I'm looking forward to having my own apartment (and my daughter is looking forward to have two bedrooms). The thing I'm NOT looking forward to is moving all those CDs and LPs! Damn! Thanks for the birthday wishes!

He had a tragic flaw and he was brought down by it. According to Aeschylus, and generations of English teachers, that's the stuff of tragedy!

Good thing Hef has love. After all, he doesn't have anything else...

Some people find it comforting to hear the voice of the departed or to listen to them perform, knowing that this is one way in which they will NEVER die. It's different when someone dies of a wasting illness or old age. Death is expected. But Susannah's death - like the deaths of Spalding Gray or Hunter Thompson - was doubly shocking, because we had allowed ourselves the illusion that we knew her, and because it was violent and self-inflicted. I can see someone seeking comfort after learning of such a death...

I see Elvis as a tragic figure. He WAS weak. He WAS a momma's boy. That wasn't his fault. That's the way he was built. The man had very little drive to perform, at least initially. Unlike Jerry Lee Lewis or Johnny Cash, he didn't go to Sun with the idea of making a record as a professional. He just wanted to make a record for his momma's birthday, because his momma liked the way he sang. He was overheard and the right set of circumstances got him into the studio with Bill Black and Scotty Moore roughly a year later. Even then, things weren't foreordained. Philips wasn't getting what he wanted from Elvis, Bill and Scotty, not until the three of them started goofing on a Crudup tune. So, yeah, it was pure chance, not years of hard work that made Elvis into Elvis. That, of course, is a big part of the enduring quality of his legend. If one circumstance had been out of place, he might have gone home from Sun and back to his truck driving job and the world would never have been the wiser. It's like wondering what might have happened if Buddy Holly's plane had touched down okay. So he starts out, full of potential and youthful energy, just happy to be part of something bigger than himself. He couldn't have imagined what the world had in store for him. It would use him up and throw him away. And Col. Parker was the worst of the lot. He saw Elvis as nothing more than a paycheck. If Elvis had kicked Parker to the curb, he might never have made those terrible movies. He might have toured the world (amazing to think that the biggest pop star on earth NEVER performed outside the U.S.). He might have found the purpose that would have kept him away from the drugs, the food, the eccentricity that eventually devoured him. He was a rube. He was a hick. He was a fool. But he was also Elvis. And he had talent enough to somehow overcome all of that, at least for a little while.

Why is Elvis still significant to the point where a ten year old girl would seek HIM out? I didn't inflict Elvis on Sammie. My collection is far too large for me to play any one thing for very long at a time. One night, maybe a month or a month and a half ago, Sammie came downstairs and asked if we had "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Suede Shoes" (and yes, before you say anything, I HAVE exposed her to Carl Perkins. Remember that she's a Beatles fan, and I have EMPHASIZED Perkins' influence on the Beatles and pointed out how many of his songs they covered). I said that I did and got out the '50s box. She took the disc to her room and rocked out to Sun and early RCA Elvis for the rest of the night. I don't know what brought it on. I don't know exactly what sparked the interest, but I do know that when she got an iPod Touch for Christmas, she had me load it up with Beatles and Elvis recordings. How many ten-year-old girls would ask for THAT? There is SOMETHING in Elvis' voice. I responded to it in the early '90s when I got the boxes as they were released. Sammie is responding to it now. There's clearly no socio-cultural context here. It's just good music and she likes it. To me, the ultimate expression of Elvis is that little "hmmmmmmmmm" he gives in "Don't Be Cruel." He says more that little moan than most people do in a whole song. Hell, in a whole LP. It doesn't matter if Elvis really "invented" rock n' roll (my money's on Chuck Berry, personally). The point is that he was LISTENING to blues and R&B recordings. He listened to them, he incorporated them into his style to the point that they were no longer JUST blues or R&B, and he made them into something that was a unique expression. You don't have to like it. But obviously a lot of people do...