jmjk

I agree that Martin Amis' The Rachel Papers is quite funny, as are some sections of his second novel, Dead Babies. And I can only interpret any underlying bigotry as satire, not the author's own feelings. Martin is very tongue-in-cheek, but he has a heart, and this comes through clearly in some of his other works. Betrand, if you find Martin Amis' subsequent books awful, then you really are missing the boat, and Amis is probably not your thing. Anyway, Al, you may like to pick up Tom Robbins' Still Life with Woodpecker for a laugh. Actually, I would recommend any of Tom Robbins novels, but Woodpecker is particularly humorous. Other books that have made me smile: *Donald Barthleme - 60 Stories (or any collection of his short pieces) *John Updike - The Witches of Eastwick *Will Self - My Kind of Fun and Cock and Bull A book that is FAR from funny, but is a masterpiece of intensity is American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis. It's actually the most disturbing prose I've ever read, but I enjoyed it for its satire and exaggeration of the yuppie lifestyle in the 1980s. Actually, I found myself laughing through parts of it, as it was the only way I could curb the shock of some of the passages.

Fagan definitely belongs in the rock section. By the way, I LOVE your Betty Page avatar!

I just followed Lon's directions and now they load up easily. Could be my browser settings.

Interesting and wild... How much of his BN leader output is unreleased? Spring is still around, and LifeTime is RVG'd and still in print. Are you referring to his 1980s material for BN?

Mule, I'm not seeing these last two images. Lon--that photo of Peggy Lee tripped my pacemaker.

Is Leo still alive? Maybe he'd be up for a licensing deal that would help get his recordings in print.

Yes, yes, YAS! I love Booker Ervin's "Skoo Chee" on On the Spur of the Moment. How 'bout when Tommy comes in for his solo with that rapid-tonguing flutter? I love how the Turrentine's mesh on this tune. On a related note, I was real disappointed with the version of "Skoo Chee" on the Roy Haynes album, with The Book himself on tenor. The Haynes version doesn't bounce nearly as well as does the Turrentines and Parlan trio version.

Big Wheel- Have you checked any Strawberries stores in our lovely city? They usually have a large selection of these kinds of things (Case Logic and other brands), and sometimes they have great sales.

This show is really funny---and I've learned a lot about fashion, too!! However, I'd like to see the guys help a 65 year old become a bit more hip. Or someone who is fairly obese. If the show is focused solely on getting 20-30 somethings to look more dashing and clubby, then it will lose its appeal quickly and become stale. The show would be much more interesting if the guys challenged themselves with unconventional clientele. I think there should be a show where a bunch of jazz fans give a harsh schoolin' to a person whose musical tastes are questionable. Celine Dijon could stand to lose a lot of fans!

jmjk---just my initials, pronounced "jay-em-jay-kay", not as a word.

up

I agree 100%. Good call, Temple. I've stopped e-mailing Mosaic about a Complete Capitol Recordings of Johnny Mercer, but it's still a wish. I'd like to see Tal Farlow's Complete Verve Sessions Mosaic could do a 10" Blue Note set, featuring all the early singles and 10"ers from the 1940s---maybe similar to the Capitol Jazz set.

I'm trying to further my collection of schmaltzy vocal pop from the 50s and 60s, much of which has been re-released by EMI over the past few years in their Two On One series. The following items have been the most troublesome lately and are seemingly OOP: Sue Raney - When Your Lover Has Gone/Songs for a Raney Day June Hutton - Afterglow/Dolores Gray - Warm Brandy If anyone has either of these and would like to sell, or if anyone spots these in a used shop, I'd be thrilled if you sent me a PM. Thanks in advance!

When I bought a new car a few weeks back, I demoed its sound system with Oliver Nelson's Blues and the Abstract Truth (Impulse). I like the seperation and stereo soundscape that this disc has to offer.

Is it good jazz, or is it mood music with a nice trumpet feature.

I'm not sure if my burner has seperate analog inputs. I'll certainly check that out. I believe my receiver has a built-in preamp in the phono jack, because if I try to run the turntable in another input (aux, cd, VCR), the signal is almost absent---if memory serves. I certainly have a tape out, which is from where I feed the signal to the burner. Could I benefit from upgrading my wiring? Would the sound improve if I bought new patch chords with gold hardware? Jim Sangey wrote: "On the old GIGO premise, make sure that your turntable is set up right, your stylus is in good shape, and your cartridge connections all good. And make sure that the vinyl itself is ok. Have you experimented w/different recording levels?" My turntable was set up to the best of my ability. I had to do it myself, as when I bought it, the salesperson indicated that if he set it up in shop, it would be out of alignment by the time I reached home. This may be a large factor affecting my sound quality---which, of course, leads to another question--- how do I know if my turntable is caliberated properly? And what to do if it isn't? Also concerning the GIGO premise, I feel that my receiver may need an upgrade sooner than later. Would the quality of my receiver influence the sound quality of the transfer? My HK CDR20 has very sensitive input/recording levels, and I've ran experiments with these---it's easy to distort, so I generally keep my level in the mid-to-high green, never hitting the red (sorry, I have no numerical signal measurements to mention---just red and green level indicators).

I appreciate all the replies, and thanks for the links to those articles. Jim, I burn lps with my home audio burner. I have a very basic set-up. My turntable is a Pro-Ject 1.2. I take the phono signal from the output of my receiver (a cheap SONY), and throw it into the input of my Harmon Kardon CDR-20. I set the input on the HK to analog, and away I go. All of my equipment could certainly stand to be upgraded. What I'm trying to determine is if the barely adequate results I'm getting are because my equipment will not allow for better transfer, or if there's some "sweetening" that can be done that I'm missing. I have a computer burner too, but logistics prohibit bringing the turntable and receiver closer to my CPU. Right now, computer burning from lp source may be tough for me, but I may be able to do so in a few months.

What's the best way to burn an lp? Best sound quality? Specific computer programs? How about for home audio burners. Is a preamp needed? My lp transfers sound pretty lame, and I'm wondering if I need a complete system re-haul or if there's an easier fix. I know this was discussed a while ago at the BN, but I don't have any of those discussions archived.

Would someone do me a solid and tell me how I will know if I have a copy-protected cd? Is there a statement saying so in the liners? Does the information side of the disc look different? Thanks.

Couw, I was wondering the same thing. Although it's an old photo, maybe it was signed recently---Anita must be in her 80s now. I like Anita's work also, but she doesn't hit me like June does.

It's nice to see the thread I started has turned into a pin-up hoedown!

Yeah, June's the bomb! I read something a while back about her days with Kenton. She said when Kenton or Rugolo were scoring arrangements for the band, they used to pick a key in which it was just slightly uncomfortable for June to sing, so that when her voice would hit that breaking point---BAM! When her voice broke it still sounded so clear, but with more power---and more sexiness! Rugolo seemed to do this on "Something Cool" also, on that line about her having "15 beaus who would ask her to the Ball"---man, I nearly die when she hits that note at the end. Her small group material was often less intense, but more smooth sounding to my ears.

Or on Route 69, anyway!

Dr J - Thanks for the tip--I don't have the The Song is June album, but I have a comp with "Spring Can Really..." on it, and it's fantastic. I look forward to filling in some gaps with more of her material. Vibes - as far as the Mosaic goes, I'll need to think about it. I checked it out, and it's vastly more Peggy oriented, which isn't bad necessarily, but I'm not as large a fan of Peggy's singing as I am of June's. Actually, maybe the Mosaic is just what I need to warm up to Peggy. I'll check back in with you soon to see if the offer still stands. Catesta-- We need some photos here. Can we get one of your famous pictures in this thread?

Yeah, I've been neglecting many of the vocal titles in my cd collection for a while, but last night I pulled out June Christy's Something Cool, and in my infatuated frenzy, I ended up spinning it three times! God, how I missed it! I prefer June's small group work like The Intimate Miss Christy, or the Coop combos, as opposed to her Rugolo or Kenton big band sides. Anyone else like June's singing? (I know, some of you probably saw her live with Kenton way back when...)