Category: Music

Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music” On 8-Track

Metal Machine Music 8-Track Tape

Here is the ultimate 8-Track cartridge listening experience. Lou Reed’s “Metal Machine Music” is ideally suited to this particular electronic audio medium. 8-Track tapes were notorious for leakage between channels, but in this case, if that were happening who could tell?

Panasonic 8 Track Stereo Deck

I suspect the tracks are identical, but again, who can tell? Nevertheless, here are all four of them, with the “click” between tracks left intact to simulate the 8-Track listening experience. (Four tracks in stereo, for a total of eight.)

8-track label for \"Metal Machine Music\"

Track A-1
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/AUG/MetalMachineMusic1.mp3]

Track A-2
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/AUG/MetalMachineMusic2.mp3]

Track A-3
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/AUG/MetalMachineMusic3.mp3]

Track A-4
[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/AUG/MetalMachineMusic4.mp3]

Meet Prudence Bury!

Thank you so much to a comment writer named Janis [Lia Pamina’s old online handle], for identifying the extraordinarily beautiful young woman who was with Pattie Boyd on the train with the Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night! She’s Prudence Bury-Fuchs, and here she is today, still very lovely.

Prudence Bury-Fuchs
Prudence Bury-Fuchs

That photo is from a French article, and if you click here you can read a Google translation of it. Here’s something in English, about a fund-raiser that Prue organized.

This is great! I’ve wondered for decades about the mystery girl on the train with Les Beatles, and now I know. Thanks again, Janis!

Jo Stafford Was A Lady

Fool that I am, I missed Jo Stafford in the 1943 movie “Dubarry Was A Lady,” shown recently on Turner Classic Movies. Somebody has posted a clip from it, but the quality is only so-so, especially the sound synch. Now that YouTube has blessed us with working playlists again, you’ll find Dubarry after Jo’s appearance on “What’s My Line” from October 14, 1956.

The Buzz on Mitch Miller

An audio magazine I used to get, back when audio magazines existed, had a memorably succinct review of a CD release of a Mitch Miller Christmas Album — “Welcome to Hell.” Jonathan and Darlene Edwards paid tribute to the unforgettable music of Mitch Miller, as only they could, in “Baby Bumble Bee.”

[audio:http://www.dograt.com/Audio/2008/AUG/BabyBumbleBee.mp3]

Darlene’s friend, the late Jo Stafford, can be seen with Frank Sinatra in this old film clip, performing “I’ll Never Smile Again,” a song I featured at this link.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/AUG/PiedPipers.flv 400 300]

Scenes From Lowell Folk Festival

Sunday we went to the Lowell Folk Festival, in the city where Jack Kerouac was born. While the event was winding down heavy rain hit, but before then I took a couple of videos. For my friends Bismo and Samjay, fans of the Blues, here is Mighty Sam McClain, who was featured in the dance pavilion.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/JUL/SamMcClain.flv 448 336]Eric, who plays the viola, was impressed with the Suhas Rao Ensemble.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/JUL/SuhasRao.flv 448 336]

They ARE a girl group!

D.F. Rogers, in his “Denro the D.J.” persona, will introduce this K3 video, which he seems to feel is perhaps their most accessible to American listeners.

“Ladies and Gentlemen — Kah-Thrrree!” Wow! Hey, this is the missing link! This IS Girl Group Music! And they sing part of it in English — and very well! They even do a few Klangs! They do the Supremes thing — but again no “Diana’s” up front — they sing as a group and spread the solos parts equally. The interesting thing is that it seems to be the one K3 song that has comments [on YouTube] in English! The comments in English are divided between “What th…???” and “Awesome!” — mainly because parts are clearly in English and they have no idea what the heck the rest of that stuff is! It seems like it’s an American group – but it’s mind-bending! It has an English title, too. This a gateway to the real hard stuff! Pure Flemish! Een Klang Kusha!

[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/JUL/K3LoveYouBaby.flv 448 308]Note: This video clip required major surgery to fix the shape of the image, so you will see some re-compression artifacts.

Bonus K3 Video! This one is also partially in English, and required no special treatment other than being scaled up from 320×240. Shades of “Happy Days”! Rather than being just fun-loving, Karen, Kathleen and Kristel seem a bit boy crazy here, over a bunch of lunkheads, but we can deal. 😉
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/2008/JUL/K3HippyShake.flv 448 336]