R.I.P. Mr. Cool Hand Luke

One of my personal favorites passed away, legendary actor Paul Newman. His career needs no accolades, his movies and his life speak for themselves. I remember watching one of my favorite movies "Cool Hand Luke" in the tenth grade at school, I was so impressed with him then and always loved his work. This is a movie for the ages and I will honor him by watching it today (for the 50th time) and just marvel at the way he did his craft. A true legend, I know he will be missed by millions.

(Reuters) - Legendary film star and philanthropist Paul Newman, whose brilliant blue eyes, good looks and talent made him one of Hollywood's top actors over six decades, has died, a spokesman said on Saturday. He was 83 and had been battling cancer.

Following are some facts about Newman:

* Newman was nominated for Academy Awards for acting in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "The Hustler," "Hud," "Cool Hand Luke," "Absence of Malice," "The Verdict," "Nobody's Fool" and "The Road to Perdition," as well best film for directing wife Joanne Woodward in "Rachel, Rachel." He won as best actor for "The Color of Money" in 1986.

* He started the Newman's Own food line in 1982 with salad dressing and later added popcorn, salsa, marinades, spaghetti sauce, lemonade, cereal and steak sauce. The products generated more than $200 million in donations to charities. Newman also founded camps for severely ill children and a foundation to fight drug abuse.

* Married since 1958 to a fellow Oscar winner, the actress Joanne Woodward, Newman had one of Hollywood's rare enduring marriages. Asked for the secret, Newman said he had no reason to roam: "I have steak at home. Why should I go out for a hamburger?"

* Newman's trademark blue eyes were color blind, which prevented him from pursuing his goal of becoming a Navy pilot in World War Two.

* A supporter of liberal Democratic presidential nominee Eugene McCarthy in 1968, Newman ended up on President Richard Nixon's "enemies list." He said it was "the highest single honor I've ever received."

* His starring role in "Winning" in 1969 inspired Newman to pursue auto racing. His first professional race was in 1972 and he continued competing into his 70s.

* Newman was so ashamed of his first movie role, the 1954 flop "The Silver Chalice," that he took out a newspaper ad in Los Angeles to apologize. Continued...

* His last major film acting role was playing a gangster opposite Tom Hanks in "Road to Perdition" in 2002. It earned him an Oscar nomination but in 2007 Newman told ABC TV that his acting career was essentially over. "I'm not able to work any more as an actor and still at the level I would want to ... so that's pretty much a closed book for me," he said.

* Newman had a reputation for practical jokes and reportedly once cut director George Roy Hill's desk in half with a chainsaw and put 300 chicks into director Robert Altman's trailer.

(Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Patricia Zengerle)

SOURCE: http://www.reuters.com

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Memorable quotes for Cool Hand Luke (1967)


Dragline: He's a natural born world-shaker.

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Boss: Sorry, Luke. I'm just doing my job. You gotta appreciate that.
Luke: Nah - calling it your job don't make it right, Boss.

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Captain, Road Prison 36: What we've got here is... failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it... well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men.

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Luke: I can eat fifty eggs.
Dragline: Nobody can eat fifty eggs.
Society Red: You just said he could eat anything.
Dragline: Did you ever eat fifty eggs?
Luke: Nobody ever eat fifty eggs.
Prisoner: Hey, Babalugats. We got a bet here.
Dragline: My boy says he can eat fifty eggs, he can eat fifty eggs.
Loudmouth Steve: Yeah, but in how long?
Luke: A hour.
Society Red: Well, I believe I'll take part of that wager.

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Dragline: Nothin'. A handful of nothin'. You stupid mullet head. He beat you with nothin'. Just like today when he kept comin' back at me - with nothin'.

Luke: Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.

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Dragline: He was smiling... That's right. You know, that, that Luke smile of his. He had it on his face right to the very end. Hell, if they didn't know it 'fore, they could tell right then that they weren't a-gonna beat him. That old Luke smile. Oh, Luke. He was some boy. Cool Hand Luke. Hell, he's a natural-born world-shaker.




Goodbye, Mr. Cool Hand Luke

CD sales continue to fall, vinyl sales push up

So what else is new? Here's an interesting article- Hail Vinyl !

The future of CD sales continues to look bleak as consumers turn to digital formats and other media devices, such as vinyl.

As the music industry reaches out into online markets, a dwindling CD audience has become the target of other media devices.

"There are lots of reasons that media device sales are down," said Stephanie Taylor, recording industry law professor at MTSU. "One reason is that games, movies and other devices like those directly compete with CD sales. Each company is thinking about the disposable income of its consumers."

Read the rest of the story here: http://tinyurl.com/3s3ao5

Can a Metallica album be too loud?

Even Heavy-Metal Fans Complain

That Today's Music Is Too Loud!!!

They Can't Hear the Details, Say Devotees of Metallica; Laying Blame on iPods

Can a Metallica album be too loud?

The very thought might seem heretical to fans of the legendary metal band, which has been splitting eardrums with unrivaled power since the early 1980s.

But even though Metallica's ninth studio release, "Death Magnetic," is No. 1 on the album chart, with 827,000 copies sold in two weeks, some fans are bitterly disappointed: not by the songs or the performance, but the volume. It's so loud, they say, you can't hear the details of the music.

Read the rest of the story here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122228767729272339.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Classic Rock Videos

One of the all-time great doo wop groups

Album Cover Art

We're moving along on Gigwise's top 50 most controversial, weirdest, best and worst list of album covers.

Controversial


32. Ministry: 'Dark Side Of The Spoon' Don't you just love naked fat people-seems to be a theme of sorts. At least we didn't get the frontal view.

Dark Side of the Spoon is the seventh studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 1999 through Warner Bros. Records. There are two theories behind the title, the first being a play on words, as it is easily noticed as a parody of The Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd. The second is a reference to the blackened or dark side of a spoon when heated to dissolve heroin, as the band suffered from addiction of said substance at the time. "Bad Blood" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the Grammy Awards of 2000.

The album's cover generated some controversy when retailer K Mart refused to stock it in its stores. This from Rolling Stone Magazine:

""We took a look at it and said it's not something that we normally carry," says Kmart spokesperson Dennis Wigent. Kmart specifically objects to the naked overweight woman seen wearing a dunce cap on the album cover. The same woman, shown only from behind and always naked, reappears on the back cover and three times on the jacket sleeve.

"I thought that people would probably be offended by it, but not to the degree that it would be offensive," says Ministry bassist Paul Barker. "I think it's really beautifully composed. It's just how we want to have the band represented for this record and the social satire involved in it. It's a highly developed concept and I think it was perfectly realized."

On the cover, the naked woman stands in front of a blackboard where the words "I will be god" are written over and over again. Barker says the band has no intention of using an alternate cover of Dark Side of the Spoon -- perhaps one with a clothed woman -- to conform to Kmart's standards. "The corpulence of it is part and parcel to the whole concept," Barker says. "So if the person were clad, you wouldn't necessarily notice."

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Weird

32. Peter Gabriel: ' III' Seems to me we have seen this one before, (logged in at # 34-best album cover). I guess it was so well liked that it was put up twice, one of the weirdest. Hmmm. makes me think we may see it again

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Worst


32. Bob Dylan – ‘Saved’ Saved is Bob Dylan's 20th studio album, released by Columbia Records in 1980. Amen brother.

Saved was Dylan's second album to follow his conversion to born-again Christianity, explored on the album's predecessor (1979's well-received Slow Train Coming). Every song on the album is about strong personal faith and features heavy gospel influences; unlike the previous record, many critics dismissed Saved for its dogmatic songs and bombastic arrangements. While it still made a healthy #3 in the UK, it only managed #24 during a brief chart stay in the US and never went gold.

The cover of Saved originally featured a painting by Tony Wright of God's hand reaching down to touch the hands of his believers. However, this cover was subsequently replaced by a painting of Dylan on stage performing during that time period in order to downplay the overtly religious nature of the original cover. It has since been changed back on some re-releases.

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Best


32. The Stone Roses: ‘The Stone Roses’ Why this is among the 'best' covers is anyone's guess, I'm not overly impressed. I'm still thinking about the duck from yesterday to be impressed by this (plus I hate lemons).

The Stone Roses were an English alternative rock band formed in Manchester in 1984. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement that was active during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's original lineup consisted of Ian Brown (vocals), John Squire (guitar), Andy Couzens (guitar), Pete Garner (bass) and Alan "Reni" Wren (drums). Couzens and Garner left in 1987. Couzens' position was left vacant and Garner was replaced by Gary "Mani" Mounfield in 1987, and this completed the band's most visible lineup. Reni would depart in 1995 and was replaced by Robbie Maddix, and a year later Squire departed and was replaced by Aziz Ibrahim. Nigel Ippinson joined the band in 1995.

Their 1989 debut album The Stone Roses quickly achieved the status of a classic in the UK, and topped NME's list of the Greatest British Albums of All Time.[1] The band decided to capitalise on their success by signing to a major label, but Silvertone would not let them out of their contract, which led to a long legal battle. The band signed with Geffen Records in 1991, but it wouldn't be until 1994 that they released another album, Second Coming. The album had a heavier sound to it, which was not well received by the press. After experiencing several lineup changes throughout the supporting tour, the band decided to disband after its completion and associated touring.

Vinyl is making a comeback

I would liike to thank the author of this article Kathy Rem and her publication (The State Journal-Register) for allowing me to reprint this great material. I love the stories about the resurgence in vinyl record sales, here is just another example. Hail Vinyl!

Vinyl is making a comeback

written by Kathy Rem


Crackle, crackle, pop, hiss.

That’s the sound of vinyl records making a comeback.

Fueled by nostalgic baby boomers, young people drawn to the obscurity of the technology, scratch-happy dance DJs and music aficionados seeking a richer sound than compact discs and downloads can provide, LPs — using technology dating back to the 1800s and Thomas Edison’s first phonograph — are taking the music industry for a spin.

“Vinyl has slowed down, but it’s never stopped,” said Mark Kessler, who sells both new and used albums at his Springfield business, Recycled Records. “It’s definitely making a comeback.”

Manufacturers shipped 1.3 million albums in 2007, a 36 percent jump over 2006, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, a trade group for the recording industry. Shipments of CDs during the same period were 511 million, a drop of 17 percent.

Kessler, who also sells CDs, tapes, turntables, comic books, furniture, cameras and all things quirky at his downtown store at 625 E. Adams St., estimates 20 percent of his sales come from vinyl records.

Sturdy wooden bins on the upper level hold 35,000 vintage 33s by performers such as Judy Garland, the Beatles and Marvin Gaye, while new recordings by groups like Metallica, Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead arrive shortly after they are pressed.

The old albums at Recycled Records are what got Tom Huber of Springfield into record collecting.

“When I was in high school, there was a ton of music I wanted but couldn’t afford to buy. I went down there and Mark had records for 2 bucks. My God, I could afford 2 bucks. I kept buying all the music I wanted,” said Huber, 46, host of the eclectic music show “Crop Circles” on WQNA-FM 88.3 and map librarian at the Illinois State Library. He owns about 3,000 LPs.

“The one thing vinyl has going for it is that it’s permanent. A lot of folks say they don’t know how long CDs will last. The coating that contains the data can come off,” said Huber.

But those with an ear for nuance in recorded music say the main benefit is the sound, described as rich, warm and rounded.

“Vinyl uses analog sound which is different than the digital on CDs. It has a higher signal-to-noise ratio. It’s not that you’re hearing better sound, you’re hearing more of it,” said music collector Greg Michaud of Springfield, who has all forms of music, including 5,000 albums.

With analog, a physical groove is etched into the record, which mimics a sound wave. CDs transform sound into digital bundles of information.

But playing vinyl on an inferior turntable, Michaud warned, won’t sound better than digital.

“If you compare very good sound systems, you’ll find in many cases the analog is superior. I listen to music as background when my wife and I are making dinner together and digital is fine. But when we’re really serious about enjoying a piece of music, we’ll revert to vinyl when we can,” said Huber, 54.

Kessler said some artists, such as Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, are meant to sound a little raw, a shading best captured on vinyl.

“When you remaster that, then you lose that rawness. It may sound cleaner, but it doesn’t sound the same,” he said.

Another benefit of vinyl is the sensory pleasure of putting the needle on the record, admiring the often distinctive cover art and lingering over the liner notes.

“When you pick up a 12-inch vinyl LP, usually it has a photograph or graphic art on the cover. Open it up and there are elaborate notes about the musicians and who wrote the songs. Part of the vinyl experience is you get more information about the music. It’s hard to reproduce that with a CD,” said Michaud, an environmental consultant.

“Holding a record for the first time is exciting,” Huber said. “What will it sound like? Who wrote the songs? Who is playing? I think this is one of the reasons why it’s made a comeback.”

Added Kessler: “The cover art of the ’50s and ’60s is wonderful. You can actually read the liner notes without a microscope.”

For those who want to display cover art, retailers sell frames specifically sized for albums.

Kessler noticed an uptick in LP sales 12 to 18 months ago and predicts they will continue to grow in popularity for the next few years.

“It’s not cheap for the record industry to put vinyl out, and those guys aren’t idiots. They wouldn’t be pressing stuff if people weren’t buying it,” he said. Independent labels, he added, have never stopped pressing vinyl. The major labels now are offering more of it.

Last fall, online powerhouse Amazon.com — which has sold vinyl records for most of its 13 years — launched a special vinyl-only section. There are more than 202,000 items for sale.

And vinyl marketing is getting more sophisticated. Some artists offer free digital downloads to customers who buy their vinyl albums, a nod to buyers who want the sound of vinyl and the portability of an MP3 player.

New LPs sell for about $14 to $30. Vinyl 45s aren’t nearly as popular, but some new songs are pressed for collectors and for use in jukeboxes.

Vinyl, of course, isn’t all nirvana.

The sound can be marred by scratching and popping. A turntable is necessary, ruling out tunes for jogging and car rides. It usually is more expensive than other formats. And a big collection of albums can be cumbersome and weighty.
“If you have a lot of records in your house,” Huber said, “it’s not fun when you have to move.”

SOURCE: http://www.sj-r.com/features/x1366184043/Vinyl-is-making-a-comeback

Classic Rock Videos

From one of the all-time great vocal groups:

Bob Dylan to release more rarities in October

By Dean Goodman, Reuters

LOS ANGELES -- Bob Dylan is opening up his vaults for the first time in three years, with his label announcing that it will issue a multi-disc album consisting of late-era outtakes, previously unreleased recordings and live tracks in October.

"Tell Tale Signs," the eighth instalment in Dylan's "Bootleg Series," focuses on albums from the last two decades, ranging from 1989's "Oh Mercy" to 2006's "Modern Times."

Columbia Records will release "Tell Tale Signs" in three configurations on October 7: a standard two-disc package with 27 songs, a "limited edition" set with a bonus disc containing 12 songs; and a four-LP vinyl version including all the elements of the two-CD set.

Most of the tracks come from sessions for "Oh Mercy" and his 1997 comeback of sorts "Time Out of Mind." Selections from the former include a piano demo of "Dignity" and two alternate versions of "Most of the Time"; and from the latter, a live version of "Cold Irons Bound" recorded during Dylan's set at the 2004 Bonnaroo festival in Tennessee.

The sessions for his 1993 folk covers album "World Gone Wrong" have yielded "32-20 Blues," a tune billed as Dylan's first release of a Robert Johnson song.

Dylan's "Bootleg Series" launched in 1991 with a three-disc boxed set collecting rare and unreleased tracks spanning 27 years. The most recent release was the 2005 soundtrack to the documentary "No Direction Home."

While there have been some reports that Dylan is working on a follow-up to "Modern Times," a Columbia spokesman said "Tell Tale Signs" is the focus for now.


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The MÖTLEY CRÜE vinyl albums are back and Swagrox.com has them first! These amazing reissues are scheduled to be released on November 25, 2008 but you can pre-order them at Swagrox.com today for a special pre-order price. These reissues are for the first five studio albums only. Also available for the first time on vinyl is the brand new MÖTLEY CRÜE album "Saints of Los Angeles".

Fans can pre-order their copies of these vinyl records at this location.

MÖTLEY CRÜE will reissue its complete studio catalog on September 30, 2008 on Mötley Records/Eleven Seven Music (RED Distribution). The catalog includes eight chart-topping studio albums originally released between 1981 and 2000:

* "Too Fast For Love" (1981)
* "Shout at the Devil" (1983)
* "Theatre of Pain" (1985)
* "Girls, Girls, Girls" (1987)
* "Dr. Feelgood" (1989)
* "Mötley Crüe" (1994)
* "Generation Swine" (1997)
* "New Tattoo" (2000)

The band has sold over 80 million albums, 25 million in the U.S. alone, with six singles reaching the top 20 on the U.S. Billboard chart.

Also released on the same day will be 17 of the band's classic music videos which will be available for download online via all digital music stores.

MÖTLEY CRÜE's new album, "Saints of Los Angeles", has sold 223,000 copies in the United States since its June 24 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The CD is MÖTLEY CRÜE's first studio album since 2000's "New Tattoo", which has sold a little over 200,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band's last studio effort with all of its original members was 1997's "Generation Swine", which debuted and peaked at No. 4 on The Billboard 200, and has sold more than 300,000 units.

SOURCE: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com

Album Cover Art

Let's continue our look at controversial, weird, the worst and the best album cover art as compiled by the crack staff at Gigwise.com:

Controversial


33. The Black Crowes: ‘Amorica’ Oh, no..is that really pubic hair? Never mind that we all have it, it just can't been seen on an album cover- have they no shame?

Amorica is the third album by The Black Crowes. It was released in late 1994 on American Recordings and re-issued in the USA and UK in 1998, with two added bonus tracks. The album cover's depiction of pubic hair, from a 1976 United States Bicentennial issue of Hustler magazine, caused controversy. The record company ended up putting out an alternative cover that blacked out the offending image.

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Weird


33. Little Feat: 'Down On The Farm' Wow, what a great looking duck, probably be better roasted, although the tiger in the background may have the same idea.

Down on the Farm is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Little Feat, released in 1979. It was also their last original work for nine years. The band announced their break-up in June 1979 during the making of the album, and a fortnight later the band's founder and guiding light Lowell George died from a heart attack brought on by years of overindulgence. Feat would reform in 1988.

The cover shows one of Neon Park's several duck-girls - an allusion to "The Finishing Touch" by painter Gil Elvgren. Neon Park was an American artist and illustrator, best known for the images that have strongly defined covers for nearly every Little Feat album. He is also known for the infamous cover of Weasels Ripped My Flesh for Frank Zappa, as well as covers and graphics for David Bowie, Dr. John, and the Beach Boys. Illustrations for Playboy, National Lampoon, Glass Eye, and Dreamworks are also among his claims to fame.

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Worst


33. Michael Jackson – ‘Bad’ Bad is what I think about the Manchild, but millions adored him and still do. With the industry expecting another major hit, Jackson's first album in five years, Bad (1987), was highly anticipated. Bad had lower sales than the previous blockbuster Thriller, but was still a significant commercial success. In the US, it spawned seven hit singles, five of which ("I Just Can't Stop Loving You", "Bad", "The Way You Make Me Feel", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana") went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, more than any other album. The album sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and shipped eight million units in the US.

I'll let Michael explain a bit about himself:

"Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, "I'm an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight", people would say, "Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up. You can't believe a damn word that comes out of his mouth".

—Michael Jackson

Thanks Michael, that explains it all.

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Best


33. Pink Floyd: ‘The Division Bell’ Nice artwork, but not on my list of top 50. The Division Bell is the final studio album by Pink Floyd, released in 1994 (30 March in the United Kingdom and 5 April in the United States), and the second album without original bassist Roger Waters. It was recorded at a number of studios, including guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour's houseboat studio called The Astoria. It went to #1 in the UK and debuted at the top of the U.S. Billboard 200 album charts in April 1994, spending four weeks as the top album in the country. By contrast, Pink Floyd's previous album, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, had peaked at #3. The Division Bell was certified Gold, Platinum, and Double Platinum in the U.S. in June 1994 and Triple Platinum in January 1999. Its release was accompanied by an extremely successful tour documented in the P•U•L•S•E album released the following year.

The cover artwork, by long-time Pink Floyd collaborator Storm Thorgerson, shows two metal head sculptures sculpted by John Robertson, each over three metres tall and weighing 1500 kilograms. They were placed in a field in Cambridgeshire and photographed under all weather and lighting conditions over a two-week period, sometimes with visual effects such as lights between them. Ely Cathedral is visible in the background, as are lights (actually car headlights on poles), shown through the sculptures' mouths. Rumours circulated at the time of the photography that they were in excess of 20 metres high; this was not true. The sculptures are now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

The cover photograph is slightly different on each format, and between the United States Columbia and British EMI releases. The Braille writing on the EMI CD jewel case spells Pink Floyd.

Additional album artwork. Two additional 7.5 metres tall stone head sculptures were made by Aden Hynes and photographed in the same manner; although they do not appear in the CD artwork, they appeared on the cassette cover, and can be seen in the tour brochure and elsewhere.

The artwork inside the lyric booklet revolves around a similar theme, except the heads are made up of various other objects, such as newspapers ("A Great Day for Freedom"), coloured glass ("Poles Apart"), and boxing gloves ("Lost for Words"). Pages two and three portray a picture from La Silla observatory.

This Date In Music History-September 26

Birthdays:

Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry (1945).

Stuart Tosh of the Alan Parsons Project (1951).

Los Lobos guitarist/singer/songwriter Cesar Rosas was born in Hermosillo, Mexico in 1954.

Olivia Newton-John is 60.

Lynn Anderson ("Rose Garden") turns 61.

History:

In 1887, Emile Berliner, a 36 year old German immigrant living in Washington DC, applied for a patent on his invention, the gramophone. The machine was the first to play flat discs as opposed to Thomas Edison's wax cylinder apparatus. The patent would be granted in November.

In 1960, Connie Francis became the first female singer in the Rock and Roll era to have two consecutive number one singles when "My Heart Has a Mind Of Its Own" went to the top of the Billboard chart. It followed "Everybody's Somebody's Fool.”

The Beatles released their 13th album in the UK, "Abbey Road" in 1969. It’s issued in the US a week later and is the last album they will ever make together as a group. Within a month, the LP begins an eleven week run on Billboard's Hot 200 album chart.

Today in 1964, the song "Oh, Pretty Woman" by Roy Orbison topped the charts and stayed there for 3 weeks.

Robert Palmer ("Bad Case Of Loving You") died of a heart attack in 2003.

Bessie Smith died in a car crash in 1937. One of the first great blues and jazz singers, she became known as "the Empress of the Blues."

In 1964, the Kinks released their single "You Really Got Me." It becomes their first American hit, peaking at No. 7.

Promoter Bill Graham opened the Fillmore West in San Francisco in 1969. It quickly becomes the epicenter of the city's psychedelic-band boom.

According to Tamla-Motown, label act the Jackson 5 sold 10 million singles in the space of nine months in 1970. The feat becomes a world record.

John Lennon released his solo album Walls and Bridge in 1974. Featuring the Elton John-assisted single "Whatever Gets You Thru the Night," it becomes his last album of original material for six years. It will reach #1 in the US and #6 in the UK.

The late, great George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1898. His works include "Swanee" and "Rhapsody in Blue."

The Clash released their first U.S. single in 1979. It was their remake of Bobby Fuller Four's "I Fought The Law."

The initial 300,000-unit shipment of Elton John's "Candle In The Wind 1997" sold out in Japan on its first day of release in 1997.

The late Marty Robbins ("A White Sport Coat") was born in 1925.

Dusty Springfield entered a recording studio in Memphis in 1968 to lay down tracks for what will prove to be the critically acclaimed LP "Dusty In Memphis", which will include her US #10 hit, "Son Of A Preacher Man".

In 2007, following five months of testimony, a mistrial was declared in the murder case of music producer Phil Spector. After deliberating for twelve days, the jury told Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler that they were deadlocked 10 to 2 on whether Spector murdered actress Lana Clarkson more than 4½ years ago.

It had been nearly a decade but Paul McCartney was back on the road in 1989. The world tour, with over 100 shows, started in Drammen, Norway. McCartney played his solo material and tossed in some Beatles ("Got To Get You Into My Life") and Wings ("Band On The Run") songs.

Vinyl Collective Additions

This from my vinyl friend Virgil, over at www.vinylcollective.com. Stop on by, the vinyl selection is the best you can find!

"We just got a load of really really really great records in. That Dr. Dog record is probably my favorite of the year. If it sells out quick which it might since we kept a few for staff, I will get more. If you have not heard them, this new album is phenomenal. Fans of Kay Kay will love them. I am stoked to see them on Saturday."

DR. DOG “Fate” LP
DR. DRE “Dre. Dre 2001″ dbl LP
THE GAME “Lax” LP
THE MARS VOLTA “Bedlam In Golia” dbl LP
NINE INCH NAILS “Slip” LP
PIETASTERS “Awesome Mix Tape #6″ LP
SILVERSUN PICKUPS “Carnavas” LP
THIN LIZZY “Black Boys On The Corner: Best of 1970-1974″ LP
BRIAN WILSON “That Lucky Old Sun” LP
WU-TANG CLAN “Enter The Wu-Tang” LP
WATCHFIRE “The Triumph of Death” 7″ red w/ green vinyl
BORIS THE SPRINKLER “Drugs & Masturbation” 7″ full sleeve pink vinyl
BORIS THE SPRINKLER “Drugs & Masturbation” 7″ copied single insert pink vinyl

"We recently did a trade with our new friends at Robotic Empire. Trading with other labels is a great way to buck the traditional distribution system. Since Robotic Empire has such a strong mailorder network and we have a decent one ourselves, it works out really well. So take a look down the list and get some records from this really great label."

CANNABIS CORPSE “Tube Of The Resinated” LP
CAPSULE “Blue” LP
Cursive “Recluse/Art Is Hard” 10″ picture disc
GHASTLY CITY SLEEP “S/T” LP vanilla vinyl
ISIS “In The Absence Of Truth” dbl LP red/yellow vinyl
ISIS “Live IV” dbl LP honey brown vinyl
KAYO DOT “Dowsing Anemone” dbl LP
MANEQUIN/ TRANSISTOR TRANSISTOR split LP bloodclot vinyl
MELT BANANA “666″ 6″ sky blue vinyl
MENEGUAR “The In Hour” LP
PAGENINETYNINE “Document #8″ deluxe reissue LP
PYGMY LUSH “Bitter River” LP
RED SPAROWES “At The Soundless Dawn” dbl LP white/blue vinyl
RIDDLE OF STEEL “Got This Feelin” red vinyl
TORCHE “In Return” 10″ + CD flower vinyl
VERSE EN COMA “Rialto” 10″ + CD tan vinyl
VERSOMA “Life During Wartime” LP confetti vinyl

Other new arrivals:

A TRIBE CALLED QUEST “Beats Rhymes & Life” dbl LP
A TRIBE CALLED QUEST “Mignight Marauders” LP
BAND OF HORES “Everything All The Time” LP
BAND OF HORSES “Cease to Begin ” LP
BAND OF HORSES “No One’s Gonna Love You” UK single 7″
BEATLES “ABBEY ROAD” LP
BLITZEN TRAPPER “Furr” LP w/ digital download coupon
Chixdiggit “S/T” LP
CONSTANTINES “S/T” LP
CONSTANTINES “Tournament of Hearts” LP
FLEET FOXES “S/T” dbl LP
FOALS “Antidote” LP + 7″
FRIENDLY FIRES “S/T” LP
FRUIT BATS “Spelled In Bones” LP
FUCKED UP “Crooked Head” 7″
Iron and Wine “Creek Drank” LP
IRON AND WINE “The shepherd’s dog” LP
Iron and Wine “Woman King:” LP
IRON AND WINE ìTHE SEA & THE RHYTHMî LP
Jimmy Eat World “Chase the Light” LP
JIMMY EAT WORLD “Futures” LP
JUNO SOUNDTRACK LP color vinyl
MILES DAVIS “In A Silent Way” LP import
MISFITS “EARTH A.D.” LP
MISFITS “LEGACY OF BRUTALITY” LP
MOGWAI “The Hawk Is Howling” dbl LP
MUDHONEY “Touch Me I’m Sick” 7″
MY MORNING JACKET “Evil Urges” LP
Nirvana “Silver” 7″
NO AGE “Eraser” 7″
NO AGE “Nouns” LP
PARAMORE “Riot!” LP
PIETASTERS “Willis” LP
PINK FLOYD “Dark Side Of The Moon” LP 30th Anniversary Edition import
Pissed Jeans ìHope For Menî LP
PORTISHEAD “S/T” dbl LP
Postal Service ” We Will Become” LP
RADIOHEAD “In Rainbows” LP
Radiohead “Kid A” double 10″
RATATAT “Shempi” LP
Rise Against “Sufferer & The Witness” LP
Rogue Wave “Descended Like Vultures” LP
Shins “Chutes Too Narrow” LP
Shins “Oh Inverted World” LP
SMASHING PUMPKINS “Siamese Dream” dbl LP
Smashing Pumpkins- Gish LP
The Album Leaf “In A Safe Place” LP
THE ALBUM LEAF ìINTO THE BLUE AGAINî LP
The Shins ìWincing The Night Awayî LP
THE THERMALS “The Body, The Blood, The Machine” LP
THE THERMALS ìA PILLAR OF SALTî 7î
TOM WAITS ìALICEî LP
TOM WAITS ìBLOOD MONEYî LP
TOM WAITS ìMULE VARIATIONSî LP
TOM WAITS ìREAL GONEî LP
VELOCITY GIRL “Copacetic” LP
VELOCITY GIRL “Gilded Stars” LP
VELOCITY GIRL “Simpatico!” LP
Weakerthans “Reunion Tour” LP 180 gram w/ free download
WILCO “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” dbl LP
Wolf Parade “S/T” LP

Vinyl Art - A New Canvas

This is a new video and an article I wrote about this amazing vinyl record artist. Take a few minutes today and marvel at the images that Daniel creates right before your eyes in his 'time-lapse' YouTube videos. Did you know that via special arrangement with collectingvinylrecords.com- you can get 15% off one of these masterpieces? Email me for the code and you can own a piece of rock & roll pop art!





Vinyl Art - A New Canvas

written by Robert Benson

Album cover art has a long and fascinating history. From the days of Alex Steinweiss to pop artists like Andy Warhol and Roger Dean, album cover art has evolved; with some highly praised covers (i.e. the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper LP) to the controversial, including Jimi Hendrix’s “Electric Ladyland” that featured nude women.

But using old, generally unplayable vinyl records (LP’s) as a canvas, artist Daniel Edlen is creating one-of-a-kind ‘Vinyl Art’ masterpieces, adding a new dimension to the art of vinyl albums.

I spoke with Daniel about his love of art and music and how he is able to merge the two on the unique canvas of a vinyl record.

“My Dad introduced me to records with the Beatles’ “Revolver” album,” explained Daniel. “My Mom volunteered for the local library, running the used book sales. They would get records as donations and I got first crack at them because they were usually too beat up and they didn't sell well. Then I had an art project in my teens with white pencil on black paper and I thought, why not try to paint on some of these old records.”

But as a record collector yourself, isn’t this almost blasphemy, using a vinyl record as a canvas?


“I have struggled with that question, especially after the reaction I've gotten from some collectors. My answer is that I do try use albums that would practically ruin a good phonograph needle, and also, I'm turning something that likely would sit in a box in someone's garage into something they can hang on their wall to celebrate their musical culture. It's something unique and creative that is a great ice-breaker, starting conversations about music, art, and all things retro.”

When asked about the process, Daniel detailed:

“The actual painting part of the process verges on meditation for me, it just flows. I'm always listening to music while I work, often whom I'm painting. It's a joy to do what I do, and when I write my blog posts, I often end up adding how lucky I feel that my passion allows me to touch people. The tricky part is finding and sizing the right image of the musician. I place the portrait so the label becomes part of the composition, sometimes highlighting specific information, like the title of the album or certain tracks that make that particular record special or important. I use just white acrylic paint, using the density to create the shading. The whole process takes about a day."


Recently, Daniel has also begun creating time-lapse videos that he's uploaded to YouTube http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=dedlen. These show the development of the paintings, using about twenty-five pictures taken as the painting goes through its stages, and are backed by music recorded by the subject of the piece.



So, just who is Daniel Edlen? Obviously a very talented artist, he would draw and paint for fun and enjoyment throughout his formative years and after experimenting with other art media (such as sculpture), he did a few pieces of what he now calls ‘Vinyl Art’ for friends and family as gifts.

His audience not only loved his work, they encouraged him to try selling them. So with the support of his wife, family and friends, Daniel decided to utilize his talent and passion to, not only make something new from something old, but to create a whole new way for music-lovers to share that passion. For Daniel, the payoff is peoples' reaction when they see the pieces for the first time.

Daniel has opened up a web site and online gallery http://www.vinylart.info/why.htm so the public can see just what he does. Framed simply in a black metal LP frame with the album sleeve behind, the focus is on the original painting.

As a vinyl record collector and enthusiast, I am excited and just marvel at the ‘Vinyl Art’ history and one-of-a-kind paintings that Daniel Edlen creates everyday. Daniel keeps his audiences craving more, and as an artist, that is all you could ever wish for.

Road Records Won’t Fade Away

I love the stories about the small, independent record stores- this is a just as much a part of our musical heritage as the records they sell. Here's a nice story from Ireland:


The owner of Road Records on Dublin’s Fade Street tells Niall Bourke about the changes he has seen from behind the counter of Ireland’s smallest record shop.

ROAD Records on Fade Street, off George’s Street, celebrated 11 years in the record business recently. It hasn’t always been easy. Dave Kennedy and his partner Julie have had to be very flexible and open to change in order to survive as the record market and music industry in general took a hammering from both the legal and illegal downloading of music.

“These days we steer clear of nearly everything in the Top 50,” reveals Dave. “It just wouldn’t be of interest to our customer base. It’s strange but most of our customers tend to be over 30. We don’t see that many really young people in the shop. It’s like they don’t see the reason or the need for a record shop as such, when they can order whatever they like online."

“In fact, some young customers would find the idea of an album hard to understand as they’re so used to ordering a track here and a track there online.”

One interesting aspect of the shop’s business is the revival of interest in vinyl records.

According to Dave it’s not unusual to have a customer in possession of an Ipod who is still looking to purchase a vinyl record.

“There’s a steady trade in vinyl and it’s getting bigger,” says Dave. “And you’ll always get customers who are looking for classic albums like ‘Sgt Peppers’ on vinyl. We’re also getting people who have down­-loaded a new album and now they’re in the shop looking for the vinyl version as well.”

Dave also points out that some of the smaller record companies have taken to issuing special codes with vinyl releases so that when the customer buys a record he or she can use the code to download a version as well.

“I also believe that people actually miss having the physical product available to them at home,” adds Dave. “For some people a little white box just isn’t the same.”

Providing local bands with an outlet for their product is also part of the general philosophy at Road Records.

“We try and help out as many local bands as we can here,” explains Dave. “There’s a great DIY attitude among some bands - you may get a band who record a record themselves and print up maybe 500 copies. Then they try and shift them through local stores around the country, or we get some groups who do only 50 or 60 CDs and just leave them in the shop with us.”

Dave also provides a space for local bands to perform in the shop, albeit acoustically, mostly on Saturday afternoons.

But how did Dave himself originally get into the business of selling records?

“Well I used to work in Borderline Records, that’s where I met my partner Julie, and knowing something of the business we just decided that we’d give it a go,” he relates.

Dublin has a tradition of having some great record stores over the years, like Pat Egan’s Sound Cellar on Nassau Street, Freebird Records and who can forget Advance Records on King Street, home to Dublin’s original punks. Does Dave see Road Records as continuing in this tradition?

“Well I believe people actually appreciate it if the person behind the counter in a record shop actually knows something about the music they are attempting to sell you,” he suggests.

"This is a wonderful job,” he adds. “I love coming to work, maybe I’ll never make a load of money from it but I really enjoy my job and Record Records is here for the long haul.”


SOURCE: http://www.dublinpeople.com/

Classic Rock Videos

More of the 'Fat Man' some of the best pure rock and soul that can be heard!

Top 5 eBay Vinyl Record Sales

Week Ending 08/23/2008

1) LP - Bruce Springsteen "Born To Run" Test Pressing Script jacket - $3050.00

2) LP - Bent Jaedig "Jazzman 67" Danish Debut - $2,901.00

3) LP - Elvis Presley "Christmas Album" Sealed LOC-1035 - $2,650.00

4) LP - Elvis Presley "Aloha" Chicken Of The Sea Promo - $2,639.00

5) 45rpm - The Nothing "Scream 'N' Cry" / "Uniformz" Wide Awak Musik - $2,503.00

SOURCE: http://ccdiscoveries.blogspot.com/