This video is everywhere else, but what the heck, I may as well add it here too.
The Rocking Stones
I’ve been picking away at writing a rather long article called “Back to Mono,” but rather than waiting for that, here is part of it. The entire Rolling Stones in Mono box set is available for free on YouTube! It appears to be official from Universal/ABKCO, so it isn’t some fan offering, and at the moment I’m the only one in the world who has subscribed to this incredibly great channel. How can that be?
T. Roe Price
Decades ago I enjoyed searching for musical vinyl at a long-defunct store called For the Record in Amherst, MA. They carried used records along with new releases, including imports. I bought most of my British Parlophone Beatles albums at For the Record, and some Beatles bootlegs too.
A lot of budget-priced reissues of Sixties music were coming out, and for $4.29 I bought an LP called “Tommy Roe Collectibles,” an MCA reissue of Roe’s recordings for ABC. Playing it this week for the first time in ages, I am stunned by the superb stereo sound most of the tracks have, with the exception of “Everybody,” which is presented in fake stereo. My favorite track is “It’s Now Winter’s Day,” which is nothing like the Bubblegum style that Roe is known for. “Baby It’s Cold Outside” has nothing on this one.
The best retrospective of Roe’s underrated career can be heard in outstanding mono on Andrew Sandoval’s “Come to the Sunshine” podcast at this link. Any performer who can have a #1 Pop hit in 1962 (“Sheila”) — the year the Beatles signed with Parlophone — and then have a #1 record again in 1969 (“Dizzy”) — the last year the Beatles worked together — deserves attention.
Summertime, and Living is Queasy
This music was composed by Ryan Dann for a Joe Pera video with a Wintertime theme. But I’m finding it works just fine in 90-degree weather, as I run my fingers along the deep scar on my head from skin cancer surgery, and I think about my late father and everything I need to do to sell his house in Arizona.
About Face
As explained previously, I deactivated my Facebook account due to a slew of offensive spam ads in my newsfeed. When Prue suggested watching a video on Facebook, I went back in to take a look. (I originally joined Facebook at Prue’s request.)
To my surprise, I was able to log in as if I hadn’t deactivated the account, which I don’t think is how it’s supposed to work. But at least I didn’t see any of those really stupid ads.
Scrolling down the newsfeed I spotted a happy accident, like the one I posted last year, where two items, presented one on top of the other, made a visual joke. Both examples also happen to have comic book connections. In this one the Marvel Comics X-Men character Storm, as drawn by the late Dave Cockrum, comes to life in the face of Mindy Kaling.
Government Cover-Up Revealed!
This picture was taken in 1966. ’66! But at the time the high-resolution quality of the images being taken by the lunar orbiters was hidden from the public. Read all about it here.
Another lunar discovery from the Sixties was the Moon Maid, and there was no covering her up!
