Holy Cow!

This is THE only reason Lebron James is better than me. Well, OK, then maybe not the only one...

Top 100-Roxy Music

1983 was a very strange year for me.

I was in then out then in a relationship with someone who I will consider one of the true loves of my life. I don't think there has been finer, more decent, more beautiful person I have ever met than her. When we loved, we loved and when we didn't get along, we wouldn't see each other for weeks at time. You see, I was 27, she was 23 and still needed a chance to explore who she was. I got it and was willing to wade through all that to receive the rewards that waited on the other side. While I was trying to figure out what was happening while she was away, I wanted to play. I must admit to being someone who would take advantage of my profession, I met women everywhere.

This was the record I would seduce them with. From beginning to end, this album is all about one thing. While I am not an expert on this, I would probably think this and some Gino Vanelli would be about suited for any job. For that reason, this release has reached my top ten. The songs are mellow magic and if you listen to the whole thing in one setting, (as I did), right about the time "To Turn You On" hits the speakers, the party is in full bloom (so to speak). This is the sex manual. Roxy was getting ready to break up, having been a band for awhile, they were approaching a time where they couldn't stand each other. Brian Ferry was getting into his solo (and Jerry Hall) thing and guys like Phil Manzenera (who is one of the most underrated guys in the business) probably got tired of being told what to do.

"More Than This" kicks it off well as a great prelude to the body of work. My favorite is "Avalon" and it juts catches me somewhere around the heart. "While My Heart Is Still Beating" as almost a perfect song. Great music, excellent lyrics and a sweet vibe. This was released in 1982. While a had a passing fancy toward the band and mostly liked what I heard, I had no idea they had this in them. This is pretty close to my "Dark Side of the Moon" "The Main Thing" is about half way through the album and once again, pretty much nails where you should be at this time. A funky, chunky tune that rolls along. Every time I hear this, I get thrown back about 26 years to nameless, faces people that I really don't remember much. The neighbor, what was her name? "Take A Chance With Me" slows the tempo down a bit, more of a slow groove. Perfect. Phil Manzenera shows his mellow chops on this one. Could have been a hit single, I think. "Hey Angie, can you come out and play? Yeah, I know it's 2am. Thanks. " "To Turn You On" is the orgasm of the record. Damn, I hate to say it, but it is. I don't know if he's ever done a better piece of work. The only member on it was Bryan Ferry. Paul Carrack played piano. This was a clue is to what was to come with them. They were done after this record. Too bad, like Michael Jordan retiring with only one ring. "True to Life" rounds it out very sweetly, it sounds like the sun coming up, after a short instrumental coda we'll have breakfast and I'll call you, I promise.

The thing was, it was fun but it didn't mean much, the only time it meant anything that year was with her, but she was a bitch sometimes and I was an ass sometimes because I couldn't hold on, I got hurt too much. I had to get away and two years later, while still in this off again, on again deal, I get the call to come to St. Louis. That was the deal breaker.

See? See what happens when I listen to this record?

It all comes back. Isn't that what those classic recordings do? If I was to give this a ranking in my life, it would be about number 7.

Powerful, meaningful stuff. For me, anyway.

A Lifelong Crush

Man, I've had it bad for her since "One Day At A Time". Then Eddie got a hold of her and almost ruined it. She got big (she was still hot in my book) and now she's not. Posing in a bikini at 48? You go, young woman. Whoever has you is a very lucky man.
Woof!

New Stooges Movie

Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

MGM and the Farrelly brothers are finally slapping together their high-profile cast for "The Three Stooges," a comedy project the filmmakers have been developing for years. Sean Penn is set to play Larry, and Jim Carrey is in negotiations to play Curly. Benicio del Toro is a rumored possibility for the brothers' taciturn leader, Moe.

The studio is looking to start production in the fall for a 2010 release slot.

The project was originally set up at Columbia, which produced the 1930s Stooges shorts. C3 Entertainment Inc., which holds the licensing rights to the Stooges brand, then sold the feature rights to Warner Bros. in 2001 for the Farrellys to write and produce the movie. Eventually, Warner Bros. let the rights lapse and MGM's Mary Parent scooped them up along with the Farrellys' continuing participation.

Peter and Bobby Farrelly wrote the script, which Bobby has referenced as "Dumb, Dumber & Dumbest," and will produce with Bradley Thomas and Charlie Wessler. Earl and Robert Benjamin of C3 will executive produce.

The film is not a biopic but a fictional treatment that maintains the Stooges' gleeful slap schtick updated for a modern milieu.

Originally constructed as four separate shorts, the feature screenplay has since been streamlined into a single narrative. Included in the story line is an opening that shows the Stooges as kids in an orphanage, a device that will require some "Benjamin Button"-style visual trickery to place the adult actors' heads on child actors' bodies.

The Stooges maintain remarkably global brand recognition, and their shorts, films and cartoons are still broadcast in 30 countries. The Farrelly brothers' latest comedy "The Heartbreak Kid" grossed $124 million worldwide.

from Yahoo.com

I just hope they have some kind of disclaimer so I can tell between the new version and the old one. If they don’t, I’ll just have to remember that in the old version, it was Larry who was Puerto Rican and mumbled incoherently, and Moe was the middle-aged one who was super angry and took human growth hormones. In the movie version, it’s the opposite.

R.I.P. Uriel Jones

URIEL JONES, a drummer with the MOTOWN studio band THE FUNK BROTHERS, has died. He was 74, reports THE DETROIT FREE PRESS. AUDLEY SMITH, the Chief Operating Officer at the MOTOWN MUSEUM said he heard of JONES' passing but did not have more details. "We (the MOTOWN MUSEUM) will do something," SMITH said. "We'll have to sit down and think how best we remember and honor URIEL JONES and we have those details later in the day..." JONES was a member of the loose-knit group of musicians known as THE FUNK BROTHERS, a revolving group of players who performed the backing tracks on MOTOWN tunes recorded at the famed studio on WEST GRAND BOULEVARD in DETROIT. JONES, who played on tunes like THE TEMPTATIONS’ "Ain’t Too Proud to Beg" and MARVIN GAYE’s "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," was one of three primary FUNK BROTHERS drummers. The others were BENNY BENJAMIN, who died in 1969, and RICHARD (PISTOL) ALLEN who passed away in 2002.

Here is one of the most famous drum fills ever. Just listen to the beginning. It's classic and pure Uriel. One of the guys who got me into drumming. Funky as can be and not ever to be topped.

Here's Uriel on "Heard Ot Through The Grapevine" just in case you don't remember. Strong, strong.

Past Posts

Jeebus, I spent an hour perusing through some posts from 2005 when I started this damn thing 1,470 posts ago. If you want to know how we got here, go to the bottom of the page and click on the year you want to visit. What a long, strange trip it's been. Thanks to Steve Mays who got me started. This whole thing would make an interesting damn book, wouldn't it? We just keep on truckin along...