The Kinks

If you’re old enough to know or remember, records on vinyl were sold at places other than record stores.

I remember seeing a vinyl copy of The Kinks’ album at the top of the post near a store checkout counter when I was a kid.  Just as the marketing practices placed candy and other sweet treats there to lure children into asking their parents to buy them, I nearly asked for that Kinks record. 

The Kinks had a single out when I was younger called Come Dancing easily around the time I saw that 1960s album.  However, for some reason or another, the album cover at the top of the post caught my attention more than that 1980s release.

As I’ve stated many times, the 1960s fascinated me even when I was a kid.  I believe it was from CHOM Radio that I recorded a bunch of 1960s British Invasion classics onto audio cassette.  I think there was a special on The Kinks because I had almost 30 minutes of their songs. 

I consider You Really Got Me to be one of my favorite, if not definitive, classic rock grooves. Anything remotely similar to that recording will really get me. 

I’m not too sure of how widely the term is used but I might help propel it forward by default now.  The album by a 1960s band considered to be creative and innovative masterpiece is to be its “Sgt. Pepper”. None of the album’s tracks made their way onto common Kinks’ greatest hits compilations but Village Green Preservation Society is the band’s masterpiece and most important album.

Years ago, I had the chance to buy a Village Green Preservation Society CD copy but barely knew the album‘s magnitude and I put it back on the racks.  When I found a clean vinyl copy during an out-of-town record hunt, I broke out into song.  Ironically, I didn’t sing a song from the album when I found it.

That Kinks Greatest Hits! album was presented as a choice for me by a 2013 Puces Pop Record Fair vendor.  After comparing what I was gaining/losing from each track listing, I made my decision.

If memory serves correctly, The Kinks 20 Greatest Hits collection was advertised on television at the time of its release.  I at least remembered that compilation to have bought the CD when I was old enough to do my own music shopping.  At 20 songs deep, it was my one-stop-shop for The Kinks.  It would be maybe another ten years until I learned greatest hits packages only give you a synopsis of a musician/band’s work.  Sometimes there are gems on the individual albums that do not make it onto compilations. 

Such was the case when an invited Suite Delight guest DJ brought Kinks Greatest Hits! album and played Who’ll Be the Next in Line.  I had no knowledge of the greatest hits album, the song or which album the song could be found. 

The Paul Weller Under the Influence compilation introduced me to another Kinks song that I otherwise may never have learned of called Big Black Smoke. 

I contemplated getting a 2LP Kinks collection called The Kinks Files but opted not to do so. I believe I've captured enough Kinks for the time being. 
    

Dub Echoes

They say nothing happens before its time. The Dub Echoes DVD landed in my hands at the right time for me to truly understand and enjoy it.

I managed to learn the names of most of the artists that were interviewed from Howie B. to Ticklah. I'm also old, wise and fortunate enough to have learned reggae music history to fully appreciate the influence of dub reggae on electronic music.

Just when I thought Lee Perry was influential on Bob Marley, I find out he's important in the current electronic music scene. No wonder Dubblestandart and Andrew W.K. worked with him.

 

I paid no attention to dub versions or sides of singles. Now I have to pay a little more attention to respect dub reggae even more. I've been wondering how or if I'll incorporate dub reggae into my radio show or future DJ sets. Time and the playlists will reveal how I fare.

Top 10 Country Music Songs

I was up late one night and the Time-Life infomercial advertising the Country music compilation showed up on my television set. I reached for something to write with because inspiration hit me. My mild interest made me watch and quickly decide to compile my Top 10 favorite Country music classics.

10 I Ain’t Never – Webb Pierce

This is a very recent entry on the list. Among the songs played in the infomercial that I didn’t know, I liked the melody of this song the most. It’s good enough to rank higher with subsequent listens.



9 Wings of a Dove – Ferlin Husky

I remember this song form previous Time-Life Country compilations. I never heard it in its entirety but I want to.



8 Singing the Blues – Marty Robbins




I know Marty Robbins for El Paso but this too is a recent addition to my Country list and one I never heard completely, yet.



7 Buck Owens

While I was growing up, my father watched any country music television programming he could. Buck Owens co-hosted Hee Haw with Roy Clark. I cared just enough to remember their names. Clark and Owens had a sort of friendly faces and as a kid, that was the gateway for me. If they hosted a children’s show instead of a country music variety show, it could have ranked high up there with Mister Rogers Neighborhood and The Friendly Giant.

While I was at my home-away from home, Death of Vinyl/Nice Music, I heard an incredible Buck Owens cover of Simon & Garfunkel's I Am A Rock. I would have put that song on this list but my love for any Buck Owens earns him a spot here regardless of the song.

6 Patsy Cline - I Fall To Pieces




She is the original queen of Country music to me. It just seems so sad that most of her songs are so sad. I don't think anyone could sad Country music better than her though. This one is my favorite of hers.

5 Johnny Cash - Ring Of Fire




4 Jack Greene - There Goes My Everything




It would be easy for anyone to discount, discredit or disregard Country music. I almost did so when I was younger but learned to be a bit more appreciative of the genre. The lyrics of some Country songs are so profound, it's almost too much to bear. One day I listened carefully to this song and realized it was brilliant and heartbreaking at the same time.

3 Johnny Cash - I Walk The Line




Johnny Cash was probably my first face and voice of Country music. When De La Soul used his music for their debut album, I felt a connection to them that is even stronger today. Although I would care little for Country during my hip hop pre-teen/teen years, I would tell you Johnny Cash is the man and his name twice on this list does that for me.

2 George Jones - She Thinks I Still Care




In the same vain as There Goes My Everything, She Thinks I Still Care is another tune that tugs at the heart strings. Does he really still care about her or not? The clever songwriting makes the question and song all the more ambiguous. Further listening may hopefully answer the question.

1 King Of The Road - Roger Miller




There's some debate as to whether King Of The Road is really a Country song. To me, it is one of the coolest songs, Country or otherwise, ever recorded. I always liked the song for some reason but love the song even more. I wonder how big the song was when it was released. I wonder if it was a monstrous hit. The song is truly classic and probably serves as my representative of what cool Country living is all about.

Peter O'Toole

I was eating at restaurant and found a pile of old magazines. Among them was an old Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue. I love the Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue! I love the actor and actress photographs, dreamed of being photographed by Annie Leibowitz and hope I can make that happen somehow someway.

That old Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue had a photograph of Richard Harris and a laughing Peter O'Toole, sitting at at table.

O'Toole is one of my favorite actors and inspired me. I admire the older United Kingdom actors. I saw a few minutes of Harris in This Sporting Life and was blown away.

Woody Allen chose O'Toole as the lead in his directorial debut What's New Pussycat. Mind you, O'Toole with the great Peter Sellers in the same film is indeed great casting.

The Lion In Winter is my favorite of his movies. I've never seen Lawrence, even though I own the DVD. I watched What's New Pussycat again not too long ago and wondered if people knew he was a great actor back then. They must have.

A few years ago, he was a Best Actor Oscar nominee for his role in Venus. I wanted him to win so badly. To my knowledge, he is he only living multiple Oscar nominee to have not won. An actor of his calibre should have won at least twice in his career. I wished he had won for Lawrence of Arabia, The Lion In Winter and even for My Favorite Year.

He received the Academy Honorary Award a few years prior to his nomination for Venus. At least the Academy got to honor him before he passed away.






















Late one night, I stumbled onto Venus on CBC. I had a feeling it was Venus because I remember Vanessa Redgrave was in it, the plot had something to do with a young girl and a scene where O'Toole's character falls in the art class. It was a nice film. His greatness as actor is present as an old man. He sure as hell must have been amazing on stage and in the 1960s.

I don't watch movies like I used to. My life has been music for most of the last few years since I left theatre school. I'm surprised to be writing this much about Peter O'Toole but he deserves it. He was part of the standard of actor I aimed to be. If I ever act again, I will always carry Peter O'Toole's influence with me. Hopefully they give me an Oscar sooner than later :)

Peter O'Toole passed away on December 14, 2013.

10 Greatest Wrestlers of All-Time

I got nostalgic and thought about wrestlers from the days of old.

There are many wrestlers that I admired for their technical skill & prowess in the ring, microphone techniques and sheer character.

When I think of my favorite wrestlers of all-time, the ones below make it difficult for me to choose who I'd want to be the victor if they were pitted against each other.

In no particular order, these are the greatest wrestling entertainers I've been fortunate to witness to date.

The Ultimate Warrior was one of, if not the most, entertaining wrestler of all-time.  From the frenzied entrances to the ring to the dynamic promos, he was the total package.  He was never that incomprehensible to me.

Davey Boy Smith will always be THE British Bulldog.

The storyline of Batista's evolution from an Animal to peer of Triple H was fantastic.

It never ceases to amaze me when I state I stopped watching pay-per-views after Bret Hart's infamous Montreal match against Shaun Michaels.  I won't say I have not seen another pay-per-view since their match but if I would have chosen to stop being a wrestling fan, it would have been that night.  

In most cases, I preferred to hear Randy "Macho Man" Savage speak rather than wrestle.  He quite possibly is my gold standard for wrestler character and microphone presence.

If Macho Man was my gold standard on the microphone, Owen Hart was my gold standard of wrestling technique. We were fortunate to have had the two Hart brothers in the ring.  

Rick Martel's Arrogance promos were so hilarious that they manage to edge out those by Mr. Perfect & Million Dollar Man.  As funny as those promos were, Rick Martel was no joke in the ring.

I miss Dino Bravo very much. I looked forward to his matches most of all. A recent Facebook post mentioning him was the 2nd motivator of this trip down wrestling memory lane.  

I lost my mind when I saw Triple H deliver the Pedigree in dress clothes.  Even though I have disagreed with some of his actions, I've been a fan ever since.

Ravishing Rick Rude was another great character and wrestler.  

"The Natural" Butch Reed had the majority elements from all of the wrestlers above to be one of my favorites.

Raekwon

Rappers dream of having an album the caliber of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... in their repertoire. 

Glaciers of Ice is my favourite song from the first album and I get goosebumps whenever I hear it.

I might as well acknowledge the Pt. II because it is a solid album. 

The Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 album snuck itself onto many year end best albums lists, including my own.

It was released near the winter, around the time most people were compiling lists.

It took 14 years for Raekwon to follow up Cuban Linx and quite frankly, he could not disappoint.

  

By teaming up with the hottest of-the-minute acts in hip hop, you should have a contender for best album on your hands. 

My only beef with it is that Raekwon does few songs alone.

I stated my grievance to a friend of mine that told me the first album barely had him solo too. History repeated itself indeed.

The Suite Delight new time slot is Tuesday morning 2-3am EST on www.ckut.ca & 90.3 FM.

If you haven't already, please make yourself familiar with the link below for more of your favorite show and mine.

Click here to download the podcast and more.

The Suite Delight - April 1 Playlist:

1. James Last - Inner City Blues 
2. Scrimshire - All I Do feat. Stac
3. Aloe Blacc & The Grand Scheme - The Dark End Of The Street 
4. Greenwood Rhythm Coalition - Guajira '78 (Colman Bros. Remix)
5. Omar - Ghana Emotion (Una Mas Trio Remix)
6. Bob Marley & The Wailers – Get Up, Stand Up (Thievery Corporation Remix)
7. Mo Kolours - Bomptious (Shafiq Husayn Remix)
8. Fashawn – The Ecology
9. Jazz Spastiks - Move (Remix) feat. Apani B Fly
10. Moka Only - More Soup feat. MF Doom
11. Fat Joe - John Blaze Ft. Nas, Big Pun, Jadakiss & Raekwon
12. Jadakiss - Why (Remix) feat. Styles P, Common, Nas & Anthony Hamilton 
13. Naughty By Nature ‎– Guard Your Grill (Smooth Mix)
14. EPMD - Total Kaos
15. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib - Robes feat. Earl Sweatshirt & Domo Genesis

The Suite Delight - March 18 Playlist:

1.       aKido –  I'm Beggin' (aKido's When I was King Remix)

2.       Thievery Corporation - Until the Morning (Rewound By Thievery Corporation)

3.       Seed Organization – Bam Bam (Riddim) feat. Sister Nancy

4.       Elaquent  - Aurora feat. Esta

5.       DJ Format – Black Cloud (Nostalgia 77 Remix)

6.       Si*Sé  – Go (Second Sky & Thomas Blondet Remix)

7.       DJ Cosm – No Reason feat. Ghettosocks & Prince Po

8.       Prince Po – Bump Bump feat. Raekwon

9.       Redman – Time 4 Sum Aksion (Remix)

10.   Percee P – No Time For Jokes feat. Chali 2na

11.   DJ Muggs vs. GZA – General Principles

12.   DJ Muggs & Planet Asia – Thriple Threat feat. GZA & Chace Infinite

13.   DJ Vadim – Raise Your Glass

14.   D-Nice – Time To Flow feat. Naughty By Nature

Haul of Records Celebrates 500,000 Page View Milestone!

As of now, my blog has had over 500,000 hits!

I wondered how and if I would ever see this day. I was frustrated at not making enough of what I thought was an impact. It looks like I don't need to worry about that. The fact that people have indeed been visiting my space on the blogosphere is reassuring and a blessing.



I have everyone who has visited, visits and will visit my blog to thank for this milestone.

I give two special shoutouts to Frank BLVD & Moonstarr for their helping me see this day come about.

The New Warriors

I went to a comic book convention a few years ago with some friends and I'm pretty sure they were confused as to why I was asking every vendor for The New Warriors series. I'll explain now.

If there's a word for someone that wants to get the complete works of something, I'm it. Whatever I like, I try to get all of the books, CDs or DVDs if possible. I'm a fan of Marvel Comics teams like X-Men and Avengers. I wasn't big on X-Men until the Extinction Agenda story line. Prior to that, X-Men was too much for me. I almost felt it was older than me. 

Since it had been around almost as long as Spider-Man, I felt like I was too late to follow the series. Even if I wanted to catch up, it seemed the back issues were so numerous and costly that it stopped me. It wasn't until The Extinction Agenda storyline that I felt comfortable with the series.

The New Warriors came along and I was interested on the spot. It had all the winning conditions to hook me. It was a new series, young team and new beginnings with a first issue. I liked the whole vibe of the comic book. A bunch of young superheroes working together and making a difference interested me. I was happy there was a Black member, a red-hot redhead, a red-hot Atlantean and a telekinetic.

I barely read the comics. I bought them, bagged them and put them away. I made it up to 30-40 issues until I stopped collecting in 1991-93. I would've possibly continued with The New Warriors even afterwards but I stopped cold.

Many years later when I moved to my first apartment, I imagined chilling, reading some comics on Sunday afternoons and remembered The New Warriors. I'd collect from where I left off and read them at my leisure.

Not too long ago, Capitaine Quebec had a sale on back issues and they practically had all the New Warriors I was missing. The price was ridiculously cheap but I proved to be cheaper. The comics got cheaper as the sale came to an end and I wanted to EBay the sale by cleaning up near the end. One the day I was ready to claim them, the ones I was missing were sold. I had the chance to pick up what I was missing and lost it. 

Since then, I picked up the few I missed and even some doubles of some issues. Lucky for me, the series is available, affordable and I don't need many more for my collection to be complete.

Buddy Guy

Years ago, I was at the Montreal music library and took a chance on a Chess Records compilation. It was one of the best things I could have done for myself musically.

I was meant to learn that Blues music is very important to any music lover's consciousness and Chess Records is the alpha & omega record label.

Although I was aware of his name for years, hearing First Time I Met the Blues from that compilation would be my first time hearing Buddy Guy. It would be the only song I would know of his until a purchase of Buddy's Blues last year.



I didn't get around to listening to the CD until a few days ago. The 15 tracks didn't finish playing before the inspiration to blog about Buddy Guy hit me.

What I took away from that initial Chess Records compilation was that Buddy Guy was among the youngest of the label's blues recording artists and Buddy's Blues reinforced my initial observations. Aside from the gravelly-voiced Howling Wolf or grandfatherly-sounding Sonny Boy Williamson, Buddy Guy's youthful blues singing and wails gave me the impression he was the next generation's blues leader in training.


First Time I Met The Blues has all of the conditions I need for me to like it. With my love for screaming soul singers, Guy's delivery gives me the dramatics I enjoy in a song as well.

When the opportunity presented itself for me to buy Buddy's Blues, I knew I would get over a dozen more chances to experience Buddy Guy's music. Stone Crazy and Pretty Baby caught my attention and ear after my first listen.

I have yet to catch a live Buddy Guy performance and I believe he was in my city not too long ago. Thanks to YouTube, I am able to see the Blues legend at work.

Danger Mouse

I’ll take this time to talk about how much of an inspiration Danger Mouse is to me.

I was watching the Mixtape Inc. DVD last month and a photograph of him on a magazine cover sparked the idea to put fingertips to keyboard. 

I couldn’t help but notice how my taste in music is similar to the career paths of Danger Mouse and Kanye West in a number of ways.  Both started out producing traditional hip hop music but slowly drifted more towards experimentation. 

Ironically, my approach to music is similar and that is possibly why I have such respect for the two. 

I learned about Danger Mouse shortly after learning about MF Doom and the Madvillainy album.  I wanted more MF Doom and discovered an album called Danger Doom.

I believe The Grey Album mixtape was released roughly around the time I wanted more Danger Mouse.  I played the What More Can I Say from that mixtape on one of my birthday celebration episodes of The Suite Delight.

My quest for more Danger Mouse put me on the path to the album Ghetto Pop Life with Jemini The Gifted One.  The Only One is the only song I played more than once on my radio show at the time when I wasn’t repeating songs on my playlist. 

Gnarlz Barkley was something of a surprise to me.  To think that Danger Mouse would pair with Cee-Lo Green of Goodie Mob fame was unbelievable and the resulting dark beauty of the Crazy single was just aptly named. I wasn’t quite expecting Danger Mouse to produce a song like Crazy.  As I think about it now, I have not heard a traditional or stereotypical hip hop beat from Danger Mouse since Crazy. 



Regardless of that fact, I have an interest in Danger Mouse production and I'm sure that if he returns to hip hop production, the beats will be simply crazy.