Baron Dave Romm
Five Important Albums
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater podcasts
Five Albums: A Personal Journey
What follows is a list of five capital-I-Important albums to me, not necessarily anyone else. And not even necessarily my favorite albums, though all are amongst my faves, but albums that influenced me in profound ways. These are more-or-less in chronological order when I encountered them. This essay first appeared in my LiveJournal where you can read comments or add your own.
A Child's Introduction to Jazz Bob Keeshan and the Honeydreamers. Yes, the actor who played Captain Kangaroo but not in in this song.
A Child's Introduction to Jazz, Zip file of mp3s. The recording is from 1958 or 1959, and it was a fave for many years until I was 9 or 10. This is a 78 (I think), and probably only contained only this one song story, starting on one side and continuing on to the next. I don't remember ever not having this record (and I may have it still, but I'm not going to dig through the vinyl) and always associate it with the other 78s, 45s and even 33 1/3rds heard on our multi-speed but plastic record player: Captain Kangaroo's Treasure House of Best Loved Songs (w/Mr. Greenjeans) explaining "Walzing Matilda" and "The Bear Went Over the Mountain", and even the Mickey Mouse Club Records with the March and Annette singing "Beauty is as beauty does". I'm throwing them all in as one record because that's how I played them when I was six: No covers, just put them on the turntable, lower the needle and play.
"A Child's Introduction to Jazz" was especially formative because it introduced me to the concept that music came from somewhere. My admiration for covers and fascination with the folk process probably had its genesis here. Despite being anti-semitic (they do the history of jazz including Dixieland without mentioning kelzmer), the journey from African rhythms to Negro Spirituals to French folk music and so on to American jazz is done really well by kid's standards. The Honeydreamers were harmonizing be-bop, sort of like Manhattan Transfer.
Wow, I'm listening to it for the first time in years, and it's still great.
They were coming from all over when America was young. And they knew what they were doing when they picked this promising spot. Oh they came across the sea to the country of the free. And the races got mixed in the (beat) melting pot.America is a melting pot. (xylophone break)
When they settled here they all began to speak the English tongue But it started sounding different 'cause they changed it rather a lot. We speak English now a-days in a lot of different ways. 'Cause the accents got mixed in the (beat) melting pot.
Well, sort of. The Africans didn't exactly come over "to the country of the free" and miscegenation was illegal in many states at the time. Still, for a child, this optimism and recognition of our heritage as a nation of immigrants was pretty powerful.
That Was The Year That Was Tom Lehrer
We had all three Lehrer albums, and in a different mood I might have picked An Evening Wasted With Tom Lehrer, but I'm going with That Was The Year That Was because it's more political and also has my favorite Lehrer song, "Pollution". The 1965 album is the most recent of the three canonical Tom Lerher albums, and we probably acquired it around the release date, so I heard if from about age 10 onwards.
Politics were always serious in our house, as various local and state-wide office holders came in and out. My father's position as a center-left editor in a very conservative county was always precarious. And all of this bounced off us kids. We were exposed, first-hand, to the great issues of the day. Laughing at the foibles and hypocrisy of everyone, even those we agreed with, was part and parcel of the territory.
Tom Lehrer had three things going for him. First, he was a superb pianist and songwriter, and could play in almost any style or from any culture. Second, he was a great stand-up comedian (though he was sitting down) and was truly funny. And third, he had a razor-sharp wit that sliced through political buffoonery rarely matched even today.
Finding out that he did these songs on television, opened my eyes to the power of parody. I've never seen the show, which was before my time. I'm not surprised that TW3 started in Britain and wasn't a huge success here. Music could be funny and witty and political. Lehrer wasn't the first nor the last to produce successful political satire, but he was one of the best, and one of the first I was exposed to.
Calypso Harry Belafonte
I'm generally more song oriented than album oriented and found Calypso when searching for two of my favorite songs: "Day-O" and "Jamaica Farwell". Both on the same album! I got the album, probably sometime in college, which led to a greater appreciation of Harry Belafonte. Calypso was the first album to sell over a million copies; a big feat in 1956, during the height of McCarthyism. Despite the tremendous racism and political repression of the time, Belafonte was the first black man to win an Emmy. His association with Paul Robeson helped get him blacklisted.
By the time I encountered the album, I sort of knew all this, but really it's not why the album was an influence nor why it stands up today. Calypso is a great album and all the songs are strong. Covers of the songs continue to appear. Indeed, the writer of many of the songs, Lord Burgess (aka Irving Burgie) never got the acclaim that went to Belafonte for his marvelous singing but went on to write the national anthem of Barbados and even has his own book and CDs. I have Island In the Sun, which isn't all that good but makes a nice compliment to the Belafonte versions.
Calypso was my first major encounter with what some call "Worldbeat" that didn't sound like be-bop jazz.
Now We Are Six Steeleye Span
Now We Are Six is not my favorite Steeleye Span (SSpan) album, but was the current release in 1974 when I was slipping into science fiction fandom and hung out with the Albany State Science Fiction Society and my eventual roommate Frank Balazs. Frank had many SSpan and related albums, and between the two of us we got most of the available recordings. Starting with SSpan led us (or me, anyway) to related groups like Renaissance and Fairport Convention. And, later, groups like Boiled In Lead and The Chieftans.
I've talked about Steeleye Span in depth in many other places including my CD reviews and don't wish to go on here. Suffice to say that they remain my favorite group (though I haven't heard the most recent CD or two) and lead singer Maddy Prior remains my favorite singer.
Horses Patti Smith
I never liked punk, and still don't. It can be fun to watch angry adolescents rage against the machine, but with few exceptions the punk movement produced no music that survived that particular era of pissed off teens. The Clash and The Dead Kennedy's are exceptions, and possibly the Ramones. But as far as I'm concerned the only real artist to come out of the punk movement was Patti Smith.
Horses is an astonishing album. If she had started 20 years earlier she would have been a Beat Poet, as it is she owes much to The Lost Generation and pissed off social commentators like Lenny Bruce.
I can't really understand much of the lyrics on Horses, but the emotion comes through. I consider Patti Smith a vocalist while Maddy Prior is a singer.
The centerpiece of Horses is the title song, "Land". I consider "Land" to be the best rock and roll song ever: Angry and danceable, it explores the themes of so many 50s and 60s songs: Sex and death among High School kids. Unlike "Teen Angel" or even "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", "Land" takes you up, then down, and finally inward. Like most punk, it isn't perfect and other performances of the song/poem are very different. Unlike most punk (at least to me), I can listen to it more than a few times. But not too often. Thanks to the internet I can read the lyrics, but even at the time the songs, especially "Land", were too powerful to be background.
Horses was followed by Easter with the remarkable combination of "Babelogue/Rock N Roll Nigger", which is not about race but is about being "outside of society, away from me" and screams for the acceptance of the outcast.
Which nicely takes me back to "A Child's Introduction To Jazz".
Minicon next week
I'll be at Minicon 44 next week, so probably no column.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog maintains a Facebook Page, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Michael Winship: Miss Universe's Excellent Adventure (commondreams.org)
In the words of the Post's Dan Froomkin, "The most charitable interpretation at this point of the decision to torture is that it was a well-intentioned overreaction of people under enormo us stress whose only interest was in protecting the people of the United States. But there's always been one big problem with that theory: While torture works on TV, knowledgeable intelligence professionals and trained interrogators know that in the real world, it's actually ineffective and even counterproductive. The only thing it's really good as it getting false confessions."
Froma Harrop: Socialism for Any Occasion (creators.com)
Many conservatives think they've found a winner in tarring President Obama and his allies as "socialists." Earnest attempts to explain why "it isn't so" are futile, as is asking people what the heck they mean when they say raising taxes is "socialism."
Susan Estrich: Mr. Cool (creators.com)
He might be nervous and insecure. After all, he's got the biggest, hardest job in the world. It's not like he's been preparing for it all his life; nine years ago he was commuting between Chicago and Springfield, Ill. It's not like he inherited peace and prosperity; he inherited recession, misery and war. It's not like there are any easy victories; getting us out of the various messes we find ourselves in will, at best, be a long, painful and uneven journey.
Joe Weider: Ordinary Fruits Just as Good as "Super" Ones (creators.com)
Tip of the Week: Read the label before buying that food or beverage!
My love affair with radio (guardian.co.uk)
Film director Richard Curtis celebrates British radio.
Kevin Pang: Ricky Gervais on what makes a Brit laugh (Chicago Tribune)
If you were to view Ricky Gervais' entire oeuvre, you could start in the morning and be done by dinner. There is not much: two television series, a cameo appearance in films here and there, one starring role in the movie "Ghost Town."
Richard Roeper: Big screen takes us away from everyday problems for a while (suntimes.com)
If you've got 10 bucks in your pocket and you're trying to find a small measure of escapist comfort, you can walk into a tavern and get a drink or maybe even two, or you can splurge on a small mountain of fast food -- or you can go to the movies. And maybe that movie will be terrible, and you'll consider it a waste of your time and your money, but just maybe that movie will be something special, and you'll consider it the best investment you made all week. Of course we turn to the cinema when times are tough. The movies are the best way to dream while staying awake.
Robert W. Butler: Before Mitzi Gaynor revisits 'South Pacific,' she shares her love of the Beatles (McClatchy Newspapers)
Mitzi Gaynor phoned to chat about this week's first-time-ever Blu-ray release of "South Pacific." But she talked about so much more. Like the Beatles.
Roger Moore: Passing the (Joe) Buck: Jon Voight remembers 'Midnight Cowboy,' 40 years later (The Orlando Sentinel)
It's a film that still has the power to move, shock and disturb, 40 years after its release. Characters, situations and lines of dialogue entered the cultural consciousness, starting with the title. Even though it was rated X, seemingly everybody saw "Midnight Cowboy." And everybody knows what a Midnight Cowboy is.
Viggo Mortensen: is it goodbye? (timesonline.co.uk)
The actor hasn't accepted a movie role for a year and may never make one again. Why, asks Kevin Maher.
ATC (A Touch of Class): My Heart Beats Like A Drum Dum Dum Dum (youtube.com)
Hubert's Poetry Corner
"The Shark of Security Hill"
Phi$hing for fun and profit? And with a manly scent!
The Weekly Poll
The next Poll will be April 7th - BadToTheBoneBob's 'out state' on vacation.
How many directors did the movie 'The Wizard Of Oz' have?
George Cukor temporarily. Cukor did not actually film any scenes; he merely modified Judy Garland's and Ray Bolger's makeup.
wrote:
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Spectacular spring day.
Volunteers Help Avoid Roadway Massacre
Black Salamanders
The black salamander with yellow spots sat on the roadside in the dark, ready to make a go of it.
But it was not on its own. It got help from an escort - one of 45 people who volunteered on a recent night to carry salamanders, frogs and newts across the road during their annual migration to mate.
On rainy nights in early spring, roads between forests and vernal pools are hopping and crawling with activity. On some nights, hundreds of amphibians cross small stretches of asphalt to mate. But many don't make it.
From rural Vermont to urban centers like Philadelphia, human escorts, called bucket brigades in some places, help amphibians make it to their mating areas without getting squashed by cars. It's part education, part conservation, and part science.
Black Salamanders
Smuggling Ploy
Picture Frames
It wasn't the beauty of the paintings that caught of the eye of Customs agents. It was their drug-sniffing dog turning up his nose at the art that stopped the show.
Federal officials in Arizona say a man was taken into custody after Customs and Border Protection officers found 90 pounds of marijuana hidden in the frames of six large paintings in his vehicle.
Officers selected the man's vehicle for a routine inspection Friday at the border crossing in Douglas, Ariz., and their dog showed an interest in the paintings.
The agency says the paintings were professionally done and the frames were nicely constructed.
Picture Frames
Reopened To Foreign Tourists
Tibet
China has reopened Tibet to foreign tourists, state media said Sunday, almost two months after imposing a ban ahead of politically sensitive anniversaries.
A group of 11 German travelers arrived in the regional capital of Lhasa late Saturday, the Xinhua News Agency said. The group was on a six-day tour, which would take them to a number of "key scenic spots" before leaving for Nepal, Xinhua said.
China requires foreigners to obtain special permission to visit Tibet and routinely bars them from all Tibetan areas of the country during sensitive periods to keep news of unrest from leaking out.
The latest travel ban on foreigners came in February and March because of the Tibetan New Year and anniversaries of Tibetan uprisings against Chinese rule. A man who answered the telephone at the Lhasa tourism bureau said he had not heard the news about the visitors.
Tibet
Leaves Malawi
Madonna
Madonna left Malawi on her private jet Sunday after being rebuffed in an attempt to adopt a second child from the poor African nation, air traffic control officials said.
Police roadblocks prevented reporters from approaching the airport but one police officer said Madonna carried David, her adopted Malawian son, up the steps of the Gulfstream jet.
It was bound for London's Gatwick Airport, air traffic officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to journalists.
The singer's lawyer has said that she will appeal against a court ruling that she is not eligible to adopt a three year old orphan girl, Chifundo "Mercy" James, because she hasn't lived in Malawi.
Madonna
Graham, WA
Predator
A man who fatally shot his five children and killed himself had just discovered his wife was leaving him for another man, authorities said Sunday.
The bodies of James Harrison's children, ages 7 to 16, were found with multiple gunshot wounds Saturday in the family's mobile home, most of them in their beds. Harrison's body had been found earlier in the day with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, behind the wheel of his idling car.
The night before, the father and his eldest daughter went in search of his wife, Angela Harrison. The daughter used a GPS feature in her mother's cell phone to find her with another man at a convenience store in nearby Auburn, said Ed Troyer, spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff.
Candy Johnson, an aunt of the mother, described Harrison as a strict, controlling husband and father who didn't allow his wife to make decisions without asking him first.
"My niece has been so controlled from the time she was young," Johnson said, adding that Harrison had impregnated Angela when she was 13.
Predator
Choreographer Accused
Alex Da Silva
A dancer and choreographer featured on the FOX television show "So You Think You Can Dance" was arrested Saturday on suspicion of sexually assaulting four of his dance students, police said.
Alex Da Silva, 41, a well-known salsa dancer who teaches at several Los Angeles dance studios, was taken into custody after teaching a class at a Hollywood studio and booked for investigation of sexual assault, Det. John Eum said.
Da Silva, who was being held on $3.8 million bail, is scheduled to make his first court appearance Tuesday.
Da Silva had been accused in 2003, 2004 and 2005 of sexually assaulting three women, but for unknown reasons prosecutors declined to file charges, Eum said.
Alex Da Silva
Busted At Jail
Redmond O'Neal
Los Angeles police say the 24-year-old son of actors Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett has been arrested on a drug charge just months after he and his father were charged with drug possession.
Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore says Redmond O'Neal was arrested Sunday on suspicion of bringing narcotics into a jail facility after admitting he was carrying drugs. He is being held on $25,000 bail.
Whitmore says a deputy stopped O'Neal, who was at the jail giving a ride to a friend.
O'Neal was arrested in September with Ryan O'Neal and charged with felony methamphetamine possession. He was on probation for a previous drug conviction.
Redmond O'Neal
What's Optimal
Perfect Running Pace
Most regular runners can tell you when they reach that perfect equilibrium of speed and comfort. The legs are loose, the heart is pumping and it feels like you could run at this pace forever.
For years, it has been thought that humans have a constant metabolic energy rate. It was assumed that you would require the same total energy to run one mile, no matter if you ran it in 5 minutes or 10 minutes. Even though your energy burn rate would be higher at faster speeds, you would get there in half the time.
Turns out, however, that each person has an optimal running pace that uses the least amount of oxygen to cover a given distance. The findings, by Karen Steudel, a zoology professor at Wisconsin, and Cara Wall-Scheffler of Seattle Pacific University, are detailed in latest online edition of the Journal of Human Evolution.
Overall, the optimal speeds for the group were about 8.3 mph (about a 7:13 minutes per mile) for males and 6.5 mph (9:08 min/mile) for females.
Perfect Running Pace
Weekend Box Office
'Fast & Furious'
"Fast & Furious" left the competition in the dust with a $72.5 million opening weekend, the best so far this year.
That topped last weekend's $59.3 million debut for DreamWorks Animation's "Monsters vs. Aliens," which slipped to second place with $33.5 million, raising its 10-day total to $105.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
For the year, domestic revenues are running at a record pace of $2.57 billion, up 14.5 percent from 2008's, according to Media By Numbers. Factoring in 2009's higher ticket prices, movie attendance is running 12.8 percent ahead of last year's.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Fast & Furious," $72.5 million.
2. "Monsters vs. Aliens," $33.5 million.
3. "The Haunting in Connecticut," $9.6 million.
4. "Knowing," $8.1 million.
5. "I Love You, Man," $7.9 million.
6. "Adventureland," $6 million.
7. "Duplicity," $4.3 million.
8. "Race to Witch Mountain," $3.4 million.
9. "12 Rounds," $2.3 million.
10. "Sunshine Cleaning," $1.9 million.
'Fast & Furious'
In Memory
Bud Shank
Bud Shank, a flutist and alto saxophonist who worked with such famous acts as the Mamas and the Papas, has died. He was 82.
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Shank worked with saxophonist Charlie Barnet in North Carolina before moving to California in the 1940s. There, he played with trumpeter Shorty Rogers and then pianist Stan Kenton.
Shank was one of the first jazz musicians to explore Brazilian music, and recorded a number of albums for World Pacific, a world music label, from the 1950s to the 1970s, according to JazzTimes.
During his career, Shank worked with Sergio Mendes and the Mamas and the Papas. His flute work is heard in the latter's song, "California Dreamin.'"
Shank reached the Billboard charts in 1966 with his album Michelle, a collection of covers of pop hits.
More recently, Shank focused on his alto work and formed the Bud Shank Big Band in 2007. Shank was recording a new album in San Diego the day before he died.
Bud Shank
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