Category: Pop Culture

Father’s Day – The Vinyl Gifts

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I hate holidays…I don’t know why, but i just do.  Ok, I hate the ones where I have to buy gifts…I feel so much pressure.  The holidays I do like are the ones where I actually get gifts.  The old adage “it is better to give than to receive” is crap.  That person never received vinyl records as a gift obviously.

For Father’s Day this year, my wife and daughters gave me some nice gifts.  Not only did I receive some great cards and some candy, but I got some nice shirts for work as well.  Which I needed.  They also got me some really cool, crazy socks.  One was blue with some pineapples (don’t know why, but I love them) and the other was some gray socks with guitars on them (I understand that one and love them as well).

But what I loved most of all was some vinyl.  I love to go buy vinyl, but I generally only buy used records from the 70’s & 80’s and if I am lucky…early 90’s.  The brand new copies I generally don’t buy…too expensive.  So I always ask for those as gifts.

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Bryan Adams – “Straight From the Heart” & “Cuts Like A Knife” – The 45 Single (1985)

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For the next single that was in my box of vinyl, you get two for the price of one.  It is actually a re-issued single of two of Bryan Adams most popular songs from his ‘Cuts Like a Knife’ album.  A&M Records had a 45 single series called A&M Memories where they re-released singles of artists and both sides were previously released singles from the artist and from the same album.

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The original singles “Straight From the Heart” and “Cuts Like a Knife” were actually released in 1983 as separate singles.  The B-Side for “Straight From the Heart” was “One Good Reason” and the B-Side for “Cuts Like a Knife” was “Lonely Nights”.  This release of those singles was done only a couple years later in 1985. The concept of this A&M series was pretty smart as it gave the customer two hit songs for the price of one.

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Happy Father’s Day – “I Miss You A Little” by John Michael Montgomery

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To remember our Father’s we have lost, here is John Michael Montgomery’s “I Miss You A Little”.  My brother-in-law, Jimmy, lost his father 21 years ago and I remember his dad.  He was a great man.  This song means a lot to him and still brings a tear to his eye every time he hears it.  He sent me this song as he thought this would be a great song to honor his dad and now my dad on Father’s Day.

I lost my dad back in April and so this is the first Father’s Day without him.  It is harder than I thought it would be.  It is made easier as I am a Father and my wife and girls always make me feel special.  Spending the day with them will help me get through it although it doesn’t make me miss my Dad any less.

To all the Fathers out there and all the Fathers we have lost, Happy Father’s Day!

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My Sunday Song – “Not That Cool” by Will Hoge

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My Sunday Song #44 is from one of my favorite artists, Will Hoge.  The song is called “Not That Cool” and is off his 2003 album, ‘Blackbird on a Lonely Wire’.  If you don’t know who Will Hoge is, you are missing out.  He is a singer/songwriter with a southern rock, alternative country and folk rock sound.  You have it to give him a listen.

“Not That Cool” was a song I heard on internet radio way back 2003.  It was one of those songs that immediately connected with me and I went out and bought the album.  Usually I have a 3 song rule before actually buying an album.  I have to like 3 songs on it before I spend the cash.  Buying “Blackbird on a Lonely Wire’ on only knowing ONE song is a strong indication on how much I loved this song.

Growing up, I was a pretty shy.  I didn’t have any smooth lines, I was average looking (still am) and I wasn’t cool (still ain’t cool).  I never would have had the courage to walk up to a beautiful girl in a bar and give her some line or even ask her out.  That wasn’t me.  That is exactly what the song is about.  The song could have been written about me!!  No joke!  That is why this song spoke to me and I connected with it so fast.  It was about ME!  How I ended up with such a beautiful wife is beyond me! I married so out of my league.

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Turntables & Vinyl #8 – The CD Edition

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CD Edition??  What the hell???  This is a series about my journey rediscovering Vinyl. Why would I discuss CDs??

Well, let me tell you why.  Before I started re-collecting vinyl, I use to have a pretty extensive CD collection.  After we had kids and the digital age, I burned all my CDs to digital and then started selling them off (made pretty good money on some).  When we moved from Georgia to North Carolina, I gave my neighbor the final box of CDs as I didn’t want to move them and I was going to have no where to store them (I regret that decision to this day).

Lo and behold, one of my neighbors inherited a collection of CDs he had no desire for keeping.  He had a bunch of scratched up, banged up CDs that probably didn’t even work and he was going to try and sell the rest.  I let him try and make a little money on the others (which he was able to sell about 100) and if there was any left, I told him I would be interested in whatever he had left.

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Harry Styles – ‘Harry Styles’ – Album Review

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I wasn’t planning on doing a review of this album until my daughter asked if I was doing a review.  It made me think that maybe she wanted me to do a review, so after numerous listens of the album, here is my review.

Before I listened to the album, I really didn’t know what to expect.  I know what I hoped to hear and that was an album that was nothing like One Direction, his former band.  The Harry Styles solo album needed to show creativity and give us a different look than what we have seen before.  The pressure for him to deliver is huge.  I know I didn’t care for Zayn’s album (although “Pillowtalk” was an amazing song) so I was hoping this didn’t end up giving me a similar feeling.

Gladly, I wasn’t disappointed.  I was actually pleasantly surprised.  Harry delivered an album of very diverse songs yet they seemed to be cohesive at the same time.  Sonically, the album is pure British.  It has a lot of British musical influences and stylings.  I hear the essences of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Arctic Monkeys, Oasis and even Robbie Williams.  And looking at the songwriting credits, I see Harry has his hand in all the songs which is a good thing…just how much of the writing he did is unknown.

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My Sunday Song – “Champagne Supernova” by Oasis

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For My Sunday Song #42, I bring to you one of my favorite Oasis’ songs “Champagne Supernova”.  The song is off their album ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory’ that was released back in 1995.  The single was released in 1996 and went to #1 on the Modern Rock Tracks and actually to #20 on the Billboard Hot 100.

There is something about this epic 7 minute song that resonates with me and I do not know what it is.  The psychedelic sound of the song and the complete ridiculousness of the lyrics spoke to me for some odd reason.  Musically and sonically it was so rich and it sucked me in to its vortex.

And the lyrics…What the hell do those lyrics even mean?  What is a “Champagne Supernova”?  Does anybody know?  It turns out, NO!  Noel Gallagher was apparently really high when we wrote the song…duh!!…and he doesn’t even know.  He believes the lyrics can mean something different to everyone and I guess that is actually true.

For me, it is the story about how hard life is and how we get caught between the “landslide” of the heaviness of that life.  We think we are going to be and do great things, but it doesn’t really matter as we are going to die and the world will go on without us. We are just a blip in the universe, inconsequential.  Kind of sad actually.

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T-Shirts, T-Shirts, T-Shirts

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I have a new obsession (one of many).  I have started buying band T-Shirts.  My daughter laughs at me for going into a store where she buys clothes and then I grab a couple things as well.

Oh well, it doesn’t stop me.  It all started harmlessly early last year with shirts that showed music in some way…

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“My First Time” with Journey’s ‘Frontiers’

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Love It or Hate It, Journey went down a whole new path with the release of ‘Frontiers’. After the incredible success of the album, ‘Escape’, the ballad became King for Journey. Some feel it was the start of the downfall, others think it is the pinnacle of their success. I think it is a little of both.

With the success of ‘Escape’, Journey was catapulted into the stratosphere of popularity. They were one of the biggest bands in the world.  Steve Perry had the most recognizable voices on the radio and probably one of the absolute best voices on the radio at the time…if not ever.  The man could sing.  But for some reason I still hadn’t bought a Journey album.  When I heard their second single of their latest album, ‘Frontiers’, I finally bought my first Journey album.  The single was for “Faithfully”.

There is so much to love about this album and there is so much to pick on the band for about this album.  Let’s start with the picking on piece first as it is the most fun.  Oh, where to begin…

Let’s start with the album cover…I picture of a futuristic, robotic looking head or maybe a futuristic, human head.  Not sure I get it, but I know it has to do with the name of the album, ‘Frontiers’ as I think the band was saying they were reaching into a new frontier. The amazing artwork from the previous albums was no more.  The whole continuity between all the other album covers was gone…and is sadly missed.

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My Sunday Song – “Dream On” by Aerosmith

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This next batch of songs will be 10 of my favorite songs of all time.  They will be some very well known songs and maybe some that you don’t know, but either way, I think they are awesome.  I hope you enjoy them as well…

My Sunday Song #41 is “Dream On” by Aerosmith.  The song is off their debut album, ‘Aerosmith’ and was their first big hit.  When it was originally released, it only made it to #59 on the Billboard Charts.  When it was later re-released in 1976, it made it all the way up to #5, but for some reason never made it to #1.  It was that re-release and hit that saved Aerosmith from being dropped by their record company, Columbia.

At 17 or 18, Steven Tyler started writing “Dream On”.  It took him about six years to finish, but it is still amazing to me that someone so young could create something so amazing.  The lyrics seem to speak about life and aging and how you have to keep trying no matter what to make your dreams come true.

The opening two lines – “Every time I look in the mirror / All these lines on my face getting clearer”, he is being reflective on his life at 17 as he is snorting the cocaine off the mirror and thinking how fast time has already gone by.

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