I survived Reagan 40 years ago and I can survive this. Take it, girls!
Susanna!
Belinda and Jane!
Cyndi!
(Sorry, Madonna!)
This young fellow with a sense of whimsy is a doorman at the Apthorp Building, where Cyndi lives. I’m hoping to visit a friend who also lives there when my medical status is 100% okay.
Long before she was elected the mayor of Boston, I met her when she was the maid of honor at my nephew Michael’s wedding. Here she is in her side gig, performing “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Boston Pops.
I first saw The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus in abbreviated form on a LaserDisc release. Filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg in December, 1968, only a few weeks before he started filming the Beatles for what became Let It Be.
I especially enjoyed Jethro Tull’s “A Song For Jeffrey”. Ian Anderson, in a fearlessly eccentric performance, was 21 here. Drummer Clive Bunker could almost be mistaken for Mick Fleetwood.
Tull’s first five albums, through Thick as a Brick, were a near obsession for me in high school. The fourth, Aqualung, was the big breakthrough. Tracks from Aqualung continue to be heard on American Classic Rock FM stations.
It’s a shame the first three Tull albums aren’t more widely played, because they clearly show Anderson’s rapid musical progression. Fortunately, they’ve been made conveniently available as official YouTube playlists.
I consider Trump’s bromance buddy Putin to be so bad he’s something of a throwback to Stalin. Soviet-era composer Dmitri Shostakovich, after falling out of favor with Stalin, got back in Joseph’s good graces with his fifth symphony. It’s a favorite of mine, so I have that much in common with a brutal dictator. I wonder if Vlad the Invader likes it, too?