More "Hot August Night"

"Well I'm New York City born and raised and nowadays I am lost between two shores. LA is fine, but it ain't home, New York is home, but it ain't mine no more."

FRT, Imagination

I am tempted to forgo tonight's FRT based on the DMCA take down notice from my last week's version. I had planned on loading up the songs from Neil Diamond's Hot August Night album, which was a taped performance of his concert at the Greek Theater back in the 1970's.

I don't care if any of you like Neil Diamond at all. He is a rather erudite songwriter/musician, whose works are standards in music.

I am listening to the album now. I'll probably put up ONE song, and hope I pass the DMCA smell test!

Growing up in Los Angeles, many of us avoided paying to see acts play at the Greek Theater by climbing up into the trees that surrounded the stage and seating area (the Greek is in the giant Griffith Park area). We were always noticed because after the regular seated audience would finish their applause, then we, the "tree people" would be heard clapping and whopping it up. In this album, it's nice that Neil "acknowledged" the tree people after he thanked the people in the audience.

You have to play these back to back.

Friday's Random Top Ten

OK, so it is really Saturday morning (but hey, if you are clubbing, you still count it as Friday).


Friday's Random Top Ten, You Tube Style.

10. Hold The Line: Toto



9. Katrina and The Waves - Walking On Sunshine



8. Nat Cole Trio - Route 66 (Loved that it was used in the Disney annimated film "Cars," [the song, not this version]).



7. Kelly Osbourne - Shut Up



6. Junior Brow & The Beach Boys - 409



5. Bruddah Iz - Hawai'i Aloha



4. Anti-Flag - Die For Your Government



3. Chingon - Malaguena Salerosa (for those "Kill Bill" fanatics!) Mariachi with a rock slant.



2. Sugarland - All I Want To Do (CMA Award Show) Oh, we already know I have a thing for the guitar player ... LOL.



1. Irene Cara - Hot Lunch

Friday Random Ten

I haven't done a Friday Random Ten in a while.

I loaded up all 10,267 song titles, hit random play, and here they are.

5726 Wes Montgomery - Far Wes (some of the best and most stylish electric guitar playing, ever).

5820 Bo Carter - Pussy Cat Blues

9073 Ruben Ramos - Paloma Negra (hey, what can I say? I like Mexican music.)

1619 David Soul - Don't Give Up On Us (ok, who among us over 50 that doesn't remember this song!)

2958 The Fifth Dimension - Working on a Good Thing (Bones Howe was a fabulous producer).

4303 Michael Buble - Sway (of course, Dean Martin's version is far better!)

7951 Aerosmith - Janie's Got A Gun

1780 Asleep At The Wheel - Route 66 (I love this band, but I like just about any version of Route 66). Speaking of Route 66, I'm buying your next round on Route 66 in Tucumcari, New Mexico, Anonymous (or as we like to call it, TucumCarrieCann!)

7475 Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers - I'm Not A Know It All

5437 Stevie Wonder - Living Just Enough For The City

Bonus track:

7962 Alice Cooper - Model Citizen

Happy Second Blogiversary To Me!

Happy Second Blogiversary to me! Two whole years. Damn. The first year, I was totally fired up, especially politically. I was inspired by a lot of political blogs like AMERICAblog, MyDD, DailyKos, The Carpetbagger Report, FDL and Feministe. Especially fun was Feministe's Friday Random Ten, to which I cross-posted my top ten for a good year. But, having a full time job, my time to devote to blogging was limited, and quite frankly, I was surprised I posted as much as I did that first year.

This past year, I've come to realize I did/do not want to expand into a community blog, and I do not want to limit myself being just a political blog. To that end, my inspiration has always been DJ Rix. We're both writers, although I write legal briefs on a regular basis, and he writes prose and poetry. Still, it's writing, and it takes a certain discipline to continue writing.

Before I had this blog, I kept diaries. I have over 20 volumes of written tome from 1980 to the present. In the late 1990's and early 2000, I had a hockey website that I enjoyed overseeing. When blogs became the fashion, I easily migrated to this forum, and have totally enjoyed expressing myself. As I've noted before, I originally thought I would do this blog for a small circle of friends I had been bugging by sending all these political links by email. My motive was to present the links with my little comments in the blog, and my friends could then peruse the blog at their leisure. I have had a handful of regular viewers, but for the most part, I just get hits from referral links usually garnered from a Goggle search. I try to put key words in my titles/headings so that things can be easily tracked.

I love blogging, and I have no intention of stopping or slowing down. I probably will change the format a tad (oh, and did I mention I do NOT like the new Goggle/Blogger/YouTube alliance).

UPDATE: Gotta thank skippy for the props.

Disco Saturday Night

Disco Saturday Night - YouTube Random Ten

Ain't No Stopping Us Now - McFadden & Whitehead



Everlasting Love - Carl Carlton



I'm Your Boogie Man - KC & The Sunshine Band



Heart Of Glass - Blondie



Got To Be Real - Cheryl Lynn



Mamma Mia - Abba



It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls (MY FAVE!)



I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor



Disco Duck - Rick Dees



Turn The Beat Around - Vicki Sue Robinson

FRIDAY'S RANDOM TEN

Friday's Random Ten

I notice that when I want to load up all my songs, Winamp works best. It takes about ten seconds to put up about 10,000 song titles. WMP, on the other hand, takes about 45 minutes or more to load up the same amount of tunes. I prefer the quality of WMP in playback, but unfortunately, if I'm doing a random top ten, I generally have to use Winamp. It's faster.

5666 - Garth Brooks - Beer Run

Yeee Haaaa! I actually like Garth Brooks. I started listening to him back in the 1980's when country music went a little rock and roll. I can't tell you how many hair band dudes I turned on to Garth's music (laughing .. ah, the memories)

1624 - Jimmie Rodgers - Honeycomb

Of course, I know this song when it actually came out, in the 1960's. Many youngins know this song as the first theme song for the breakfast cereal "Honey Combs."

7834 - Steely Dan - Deacon Blues

What can one say about this band, and this album, in particular? Such a milestone. I remember a concert I attended at the Long Beach Arena, Seals and Crofts were the headline band. The music that the was piped through the arena during the breaks was from this album, Aja, and was the first time most of us had heard it. Such a difference from their past rock oriented albums.

6105 - John Klemmer - Arabesque

Great sax player. My early 1970's experience, living in the north county area of San Diego (Leucadia), with an apartment on the bluff overlooking the ocean (ok, so I was on the other side of the street) I was a jazz fusion/funk freak. I liked the soft stylings of Klemmer and Bob James, as well as the sticatto style of The Brecker Brothers. I used to play Klemmer loud, with the lights out, lying on the floor. I had newly installed surround sound speakers, plus the whole apartment was wired (I was an complete audiophile back then, with a Macintosh preamp, the requisite Marantz receiver -- can't remember the tuner .. oh, yeah, a Scott ! .. you get the picture -- tubes, tubes, tubes).

2878 - Don Johnson - Heartbeat

Ok, stop laughing. When he was dating Babs (honey, what WERE you thinking making this record?), she did this album with him. I'm getting a refill.

7179 - Pete Seeger - Boll Weevil

Sorry to say I'm old enough to even remember this song. I need another drink. Gonna fire up a joint to celebrate my "folk" roots.

7158 - Paul Simon - Born At The Right Time

Gotta say I am an unabashed fan of Paul Simon's. Sure, I liked Simon and Garfunkel, who didn't back then? But when they split (sad, sad fucking day), the one that actually really took off, and that I liked, through each genre he embraced, was Paul Simon. Before I "got" the layering of "thirds" in harmony from Crosby, Stills and Nash, I learned harmony singing Art's parts to S&G songs.

4632 - Billy Vera - Big Chief

Ha ha. Funny song. Billy had only one big hit, "At This Moment," which came about thanks to Michael J. Fox's character on Family Ties breaking up with his on screen girlfriend (who turned out to be the Mrs. Fox later on), and "that song" playing on the jukebox in the background. Me, I'm one of the original "Beater Buddies" that followed this band in the '80's. This was the quintessential bar band in Los Angeles! Don't EVEN get me started on Billy trivia ... (grins).

5816 - Ike & Tina Turner - Rock Me Baby

You know, I'm rather fortunate to have grown up in Los Angeles. Most people really don't know that this band played high school cantines back in the 1960's. Hell, I saw James Brown, Brenton Woods, and Ike and Tina at Lakewood High School's Friday night cantine's back when I was a sophmore and junior at Long Beach's Wilson High School. My sister, our friend Debbie, and I, all wore the same really, really short skirts and that wratted high hair, and hung out with the "bad boys" at Lakewood High! Ike and Tina made numerous appearances at the cantines... and tell me you WOULDN'T want to have been sitting on that really small stage WATCHING Tina and her girls strut!

1095 - Boston - Don't Look Back

Cranking up that damn volume! Man, when Boston hit the scene, I nearly peed my pants. Between Boston and Queen, and that wall of guitar sound ... I only went to one Boston concert, in that no man's land called Orange County. Loved the concert, hated the venue.

Bonus Track

3818 - The Byrds - Mr. Tamborine Man

Who didn't emerge from this band successful? Of course, Dave Crosby, one. Chris Hillman, and we all know I'm a Souther, Hillman Furay fan (and let's not miss the connection with Richey Furay and Steve Stills - Buffalo Springfield, and Crosby, CSN&Y).

Disco Saturday Night - Another Edition

Disco Saturday Night At Carrie's Bar & Grill - Top Ten

Yahoo Radio:

1. Boogie Fever - The Sylvers
2. Dancing Queen - ABBA
3. In Hollywood Everybody Is A Star - Village People
4. Le Freak - Chic
5. Night Fever - Bee Gees
6. I Love The Night Life - Alicia Bridges
7. Celebration - Kool & The Gang
8. Car Wash - Rose Royce
9. Cuba - Gibson Brothers
10. Boogie Nights - Heatwave

Carrie's Juke Box:

1. Good Times - Sister Sledge
2. Disco Inferno - The Tramps
3. Got To Be Real - Cheryl Lynn
4. Dirty Ole Man - Three Degrees
5. Car Wash - Rose Royce
6. You Make Me Feel Like Dancing - Leo Sayer
7. Boogie Oogie Oogie - Taste Of Honey
8. Boogie Nights - Heatwave
9. You're The First, The Last - Barry White
10. Copa Cabana - Barry Manilow

Real or Memorex ... you decide.

The House's Pick For Friday's Random Ten

I sort of got tired of Yahoo Radio, so this is my Friday Random Ten, culled from my 10,000+ song titles:

7295 Only You -- The Platters
2048 San Diego Stomp - Bob James & Earl Klugh
9628 Spanish Harlem - Original Broadway Cast of Smokie Joe's Cafe
5462 Moondance - Van Morrison
6890 White Man In A Black Body - Sinbad
8708 Alla En el Rancho Grande - Los Panchos
2223 Ma Estan Hablando del Ceilo - Celia Cruz & Kenito Mendez
175 Hey, Paula - Paul & Paula
7431 Mas Tequila - Sammy Hagar
6928 Men Are Pigs - Tim Allen

Bonus Track:

4676 A Song For You - Ray Charles

Van Halen FRT

I reached 5150 hits today, so in honor of Van Halen, I loaded up all 38 of my VH songs, hit shuffle, and here are my Friday Random Ten:

1. Higher & Higher (Dreams)
2. Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
3. Little Dreamer
4. 5150
5. Hang ‘Em High
6. Why Can’t This Be Love


7. Top Jimmy
8. Running With The Devil
9. Unchained
10. Jump (probably my all time favorite Van Halen song...definitely the first song on the "road trip" playlist!)


Bonus track:

11. Black And Blue (I have a seriously intense story about a sexual encounter to this song, but I shall leave that for my "porn" blog.

Another Yahoo Friday Random Ten

With a deeper catalogue than my 10,000 song titles, tonight's Friday Random Ten is brought to you by my station at Yahoo LAUNCHcast plus

1. Sunshine Superman - Donovan
2. People Got To Be Free - The Rascals
3. You Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears
4. Mitras Commander - Plastilina Mosh
5. What's New? - West Montgomery
6. Let's Get Serious - Jermaine Jackson
7. Clockwork - Descent
8. Some Kind Of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad
9. Looking For A Leader - Neil Young
10. Boondocks - Little Big Town

Bonus Track:

11. Lonely Weekends - Charlie Rich

Friday Random Ten, Drinking Style

Lining up the shots, pouring, one by one, the following:

1. Pat Dailey - I've Got To Be Drunk To Do That
2. Tom T. Hall - I Like Beer
3. Yardbirds - Drinking Muddy Water
4. Molly Hatchet - Whiskey Man
5. Travis Tritt & Marty Stewart - The Whiskey Ain't Workin
6. Skip James - Drunken Spree
7. McGuire Sisters - Rum & Coca Cola (yippeee!!!!!)
"Oh you vex me, you vex me."
8. Duane Eddy - Tequila
9. The Champs - Tequila (how funny is that?)
10. Joe Jackson - What's The Use Of Getting Sober

Bonus Shot:

11. Fifth Dimension - Stoned Soul Picnic

One Year, 705 Posts, 4,800 Hits

It has been one year now since my first entry into the blogosphere. What prompted me, it’s hard to say. An overall dissatisfaction with politics, in general, and with the Bushites, in particular would rank in the top three. Mostly, it was wanting simply to keep a few friends of mine politically informed without inundating their email boxes with countless links to stories I felt had relevance.

Once I had decided to blog, I concentrated on what would be my very first post. After Bush was installed in the White House in 2000, my relationship with my best friend started to sour. He became more and more openly bigoted and extreme, and it alienated me. When I had the audacity to feel hope that the 2004 election would vindicate those of us who believed Bush was in the White House illegally, he mocked me, and took personal pot shots at me. It was sort of like being swift-boated by my own friend. So, I had to end the friendship, and I did my first post (as well as my first diary at MyDD) about the ending of that friendship over political partisanship.

I did not dream in the slightest that any of my diaries or blog entries would garner the attention of more than a handful of friends, and it was with extreme surprise and excitement that my first diary was selected as a feature diary that day at MyDD. That resulted in my blog’s very first day receiving nearly 500 hits!

It is now one year later, 705 posts later, and 4,800 hits later, and in looking back, I am pleased with the effort, and still have the drive to continue this blog. There were absolutely zero low lights, and the high lights include being been nominated for a Koufax for best post, a nomination that came from MyDD, for that very same post about my best friend, and being a featured blog at the Daou Report courtesy of The Carpetbagger. My favorite postings, though, are the Friday Random Ten, especially cross-posting over at feministe.

So, thank you to all who stop by occasionally (and I know there are a few), and to those that just found their way here by blog browsing. Step up to the bar and browse the menu. I’m sure there’s something here that will whet your appetite.

Friday's Random Ten, 1960's Era

I clicked the link on AMERICAblog to give a listen to Pink's "Dear Mr. President." Wow. I've been a fan of Pink's since her debut album. The tenor of the song really took me back to the early stages of the '60's counter-revolution when being against the war was looked down upon just as it is today. It reminded me of when the tide turned, and more and more pop artists were protesting via music.

Tonight's Friday Random Ten is dedicated to the 1960's protest era, as well as to just the whole generational music genre itself:

1. Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C. Riley
2. The Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel
3. Somebody to Love - Jefferson Airplane
4. I Feel Fine - The Beatles
5. Marrakesh Express - Crosby, Stills & Nash
6. California Dreamin' - The Mamas & The Papas ("... if I was in L.A.")
7. Runaround Sue - Dion & The Belmonts
8. Hit The Road Jack - Ray Charles
9. Crossroads - Cream
10. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright - Bob Dylan (sigh, ah, the old days)

Bonus Track - cuz, it ain't over yet:

11. Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf


Now, one really has to bear in mind that in the '60's, there were no specialty radio stations. So, all of the above songs would have been heard in circulation on one of the local pop stations. Here in Los Angeles, it would have been either KRLA, KHJ or KFWB. All AM of course. FM was still to come, and that would change the face of radio.

Friday's Random Ten

Friday’s Random Ten

Where you load up the MP3 player, hit "shuffle" and see what plays next.

1- Israel Kamakawiwo’ole - Hawai’ian Superman
2- Gene Pitney - Down In The Boondocks
3- Willie Nelson - Rainy Day Blues
4- Youssou N’Dour - Africa, Dream Again
5- Broadway Cast The Lion King - One By One
6- Jack Jones - Love With The Proper Stranger
7- Esquival - The 3rd Man Theme
8-Dionne Warwick - This Girl’s In Love With You
9- Bob James - Pure Magic
10- Donovan - Sunshine Superman

Bonus Track:

Budapester Klezmer Band - Di mame iz gagangen

HEY, I only play them, damn it!

Friday Random Ten, Mardi Gras Style

Richard LeBouef & Two Step - Empty Glass
Irma Thomas - Baby Don't Look Down
Pete Fountain - When You're Smiling
Clifton Chenier - Zydeco Sont Pas Sale
Buckwheat Zydeco - Madame Pitre
Wayne Toups - Take My Hand
Queen Ida & Her Zydeco Band - Bad Moon Rising
Harry Connick, Jr. - Recipe For Love
Neville Brothers - Mardi Gras Mambo
Fats Domino - Ain't That A Shame

Friday's Random Top Ten - A Bottle Of The Best *&@# Champagne Coming Right Up

Friday's Random Top Ten - Where you load up your MP3 player with all your songs, and hit random.

Josh Groban - You Raise Me Up
Ok, so that was truly the first song out of the gate. I know it was oversung at the American Idol competition this session, but, still, it's a great song, and Josh has the pipes to sing it. And, given the state of this country, it's probably all I can feel good about tonight.
Bruce Willis - Comin' Right Up
"Bruno's here, baby, at your service." I have to admit, I really do like Bruce Willis. (grins)
Hapa - Ka Uluwehi o Kei Kai
"Nui ke aloha." (adjusting those famous coconuts)
Gipsy Kings - Bamboleo
(kicking back chair and doing my best latin dance pose)
Brian Austin Green - They Didn't Have A Clue
(drinking more of that *&@# champagne ... don't slap me .. I'll fast forward, ok?)
Salt n Pepa - It's None Of Your Business
(So Don't Try To Change My Mind ...) I really like this song. Lyrics are straight to the point... "better yet, get your head check." "You can call me a tramp if you want to." "It's None Of Your Business" ... very appropos given that OUR business is NOW this government's BIZZNESS.
Nancy Wilson - Fly Me To The Moon
Ahhhhhhh... that's more like it. Bartender, another *&@# martini, please.
Barbra Streisand - Gotta Move
(sipping more of that martini) ... man, that broad has some pipes.
Dixie Chicks - Some Days You Gotta Dance
I LOVE Natalie! She can sure sing a song ... "I had to get away ... Somedays ...you gotta loosen up those chains, and dance." Dancing my way back to the bar, for a refill.
Janis Joplin - Maybe
Great way to close out a Friday Random Top Ten - firing up a joint, swiggin some spirit juice, and playing hard rock and roll.

Proud to be a boomer -- And now for the bonus track:

Leo Kotke - Louise
"They say that Louise was not half bad ..."

Is It Party Time? FRT - 1970's Edition

Friday Random Ten - 1970's Edition

Sister Sledge - We Are Family

Three Dog Night - Easy To Be Hard

Uriah Heep - The Wizard

B.W. Stevenson - My Maria

O'Jays - Money, Money, Money

War - Slippin' Into Darkness

Brenton Wood - Gimme A Little Sign

Village People - In The Navy

Ramones - Rock 'n Roll High School

Rick James - Ghetto Life

Bonus Track

Rick Dees - Disco Duck

Quack Quack

Gonna Miss That Voice, Damn It

"You know, there was a time when someone told you to do something, you did it. Bam, right on, no questions asked. It was Yes Sir, and Yes Ma'am. You never said no, you know?
But you know things are changing nowadays it's a new day, babys .... "

Rest In Peace, baby ... It's Friday Random Ten, Lou Rawls Edition

A Natural Man
You're Gonna Miss My Lovin'
Your Good Thing Is About To End
Lady Love
Tobacco Road
Dead End Street (my favorite)
Love Is A Hurting Thing
See You When I Get There ("Pardon me, do you have change for a quarter?")
Early Morning Love
Stormy Monday



Bonus Song ... dedicated to Barry Cowsill, whose body was found recently in the rubble of New Orleans.

We Can Fly (See How The Clouds Fly By)

Holiday Friday Random Ten

FRIDAY'S RANDOM TEN
Holiday Style

Enya - Silent Night
Elvis Presley - Winter Wonderland
Ben Folds - Lonely Christmas Eve
Na Leo - A Christmas Wish
Shinehead - Silent Night
The Falcons - Can This Be Christmas
Perry Como - There Is No Christmas Like A Home Christmas
Bryan Adams - Something About Christmas
Barbra Streisand - O Little Town Of Bethleham
Lee Ritenour - White Christmas

Bonus track:

Drifters - The Christmas Song