Rock music history continues to look very favorably upon the Electric Light Orchestra, and deservedly so. This hour-long feature analyzes, in great detail, the evolution of Roy Wood’s band The Move into ELO. The lion’s share of credit is given to Wood, but the band’s greatest success came from Jeff Lynne after Wood left ELO to start Wizzard.
Author: DOuG pRATt
Big Boys Don’t Cry
I should have been in Belgium the summer of 1975, after my sophomore year of college. Long story, about a girl, of course. Instead, I spent that summer working the night shift at a Cape Cod restaurant called the Hearth ‘n Kettle. I cooked, I bused tables, and I washed dishes. Back then the workers weren’t immigrants. The crew included the year-round locals and the summertime college kids. There was some flirting, and some of that paid off, but mostly we all just worked hard and got along.
A radio was always playing in the back room of the restaurant. The big songs that summer included “Love Will Keep Us Together” by The Captain and Tennille, “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell, and “Listen to What the Man Said” by McCartney and Wings. But the one that I never tired of hearing was, “I’m Not in Love” by 10cc.
Repeal and Replace
With strong advocacy by Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court has essentially eliminated the first four words from the Second Amendment. So in practice the meaning is exactly what the NRA wants it to be — “Being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.”
Scalia was all about “original intent” in the Constitution, and yet regarding the Second Amendment he insisted upon a radical reinterpretation. One of the four justices dissenting against Scalia was John Paul Stevens. Now retired, Stevens has proposed this amended wording to clarify the original meaning of the Second Amendment.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms — when serving in the Militia — shall not be infringed.”
Leave it to the Public Domain
Is “Leave it to Beaver” in the public domain? Because every episode is on Archive.org. MeTV is still showing them, and if the series were in the public domain you’d think it would be on a lot of channels.
On Facebook, Jerry Mathers recently pointed out that he had worked with Hugh Beaumont before LITB. Watching this promotional film for a cemetery, you can see why Hugh was hired to play Ward Cleaver.
Facebook the Music
Two things yesterday really set me off. First it was Trump’s suggestion that the way to protect schools from gun violence is more guns, by arming teachers. I’ve heard that one before from the NRA, and it means accepting that school shootings are here to stay. Then there was the outrageous and malicious claim by the alt-right that some of the students are “crisis actors” brought in from the outside to further the anti-gun agenda of Democrats. I assume they say things like that because they know their audience will believe them. Very scary indeed.
So for better or for worse, I have not only followed some of the exchanges on Facebook regarding gun control, I have also participated in them. I had fun taunting some of the most extreme pro-gun fanatics, with statements like, “saying ‘gun nut’ is redundant.” From watching, and being a part of, the bile-filled online back-and-forth I am now certain that the manipulation of social media around “hot button” issues is a very real and serious problem, and it’s not just the Russians doing it.
Change is Coming
All of these high school students who are really scared and mad and motivated to demand meaningful gun regulation will soon be of voting age. The lost lives haven’t been enough to bring change, but I like to think we are getting closer to the day when the money the NRA pays to politicians won’t be enough to compensate them for the lost votes.