Five solid items in a somewhat liquid year
This has been a tough year with some friends suffering hardships, some governments (*cough* United States *cough*) out of control, some old-school throw-back worries like the threat of nuclear war and whatnot…but do not despair. I still managed to find a few positives for my highly acclaimed Annual List. Let’s try to take a moment to celebrate some happier things, shall we?
BEST TWITTER INTERACTION: George Clinton
I wrote something early this year (which you’ll find here) about George Clinton’s recent book and something I found in the Trapezoid archives from one of the Parliament/Funkadelic concerts I attended back in the day (“back in the day” meaning before we all had computers and my personal high tech device was an electric typewriter…don’t be jealous all you manual typewriter owners out there). It’s always nice when I get a reaction to something I post, but it’s really nice when I get a perfect crazy one like this:
Please don’t take it personally that I selected a Twitter reaction that wasn’t yours; I do love you all dearly and cherish our conversations. But c’mon…this is George Clinton we’re talking about! It couldn’t have been more perfect.
BEST INEXPLICABLE INFATUATION: Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant created the type of music of which a friend of mine used to say “This is why they invented punk rock.” I know I heard Gentle Giant back when they were active, and I know they didn’t do anything for me then. And that logo/character they often used – my God I hated that thing.
Flash forward to a few years ago when I downloaded a free 4 song sampler. Don’t ask me to defend why, but let me just say I had two large Ipods that weren’t going to fill themselves. But a funny thing started to happen when any of those four tracks would pop up – I kinda got to like them (he said nervously, looking to make sure none of his punk rock friends overheard). So this year, armed with my Spotify account, I decided to dig deeper. The result is a higher appreciation for them than in the past; they did some (at times) interesting and complex music. While I won’t be curating that extensive playlist I envisioned, I still like my four song sampler and may dip my toe into their catalogue on occasion in the future. Still despise that logo, though.
And my related question on this topic is: Could Gentle Giant have been (at least one) inspiration for the band Queen? Maybe a stretch, but check out this track from 1970, the year Queen formed:
BEST I THOUGHT I MISSED MY CHANCE TO SEE HIM LIVE, BUT NO: Joe Jackson
Actually, I did see Joe Jackson live in New York City back in the 80’s, but that was while I was in the midst of arguing with the manager of a movie theater and Joe was waiting in line to see a flick, but that’s a story for another day. I’ll just say while technically I saw him live then, no music performance was involved so it didn’t count in my personal record book.
My nice sister Alberta gifted me tickets to see Joe’s tour this year and it was, in a word, fantastic. He had a tight band and played things from throughout his varied career. There was lots of nice interaction with the crowd. Oh, and there was long-serving bass man Graham Maby too, who received much well-deserved recognition from the audience. And finally, I was reminded what a really great revenge song “On your Radio” is:
BEST WEIRD COINCIDENCE: Olga Wojciechowska
I finally started my Wire Tapper series this year (more soon). While I was working on it I followed Olga on Facebook since she was one of the artists that stood out to me. After I did, I received a note from her informing me that I happened to be her 500th follower and she offered me a copy her latest music since I was a “milestone” follower. I already had it, but thought it was great of her to offer and just an overall nice interaction.
You should follow (and listen to) Olga too. Here’s part of what I said previously: “I was immediately captivated by… “I’m Never Not Thinking About You”…It’s featured on her album “Maps and Mazes” which is full of amazing compositions that you need to submerge yourself into.” Go get it.
BEST MUSICIAN WEBSITE: Neil Young
This may be one to explore deeper in 2018, but the Neil Young Archives recently went live and it is something to behold. If you’re a diehard Neil fan, you absolutely have got to check it out, but probably already have. I’m a casual fan but I was pulled in exploring one day. It will keep you occupied for sure.
This topic gives me the opportunity to pre-celebrate the upcoming 35th anniversary of the Neil Young and The Shocking Pinks album which almost everyone seemed to hate, but I loved “Wonderin’” and it’s delightfully odd video:
That’s it for 2017. Good riddance and here’s hoping your world is looking up in 2018. I know I’m going to see Lee “Scratch” Perry soon and my son Rhombus now has a jazz quartet, so who knows what other good crazy things might happen. Stay tuned.