Greetings From the Class of '69

A certain very famous rock star on his prom night.

A coveted PowerPop No-Prize© will be awarded to the first reader who correctly identifies said star. Hint: If he was still alive, said star would conceivably have been a neighbor of mine.

Have a great weekend, everybody!!!

À la Recherche du Oldies Perdu

So on our first night in London, a certain Shady Dame and I made our way to the West End and took in a show called THE COMEDY ABOUT A BANK ROBBERY

We figured it might be a hoot given that it was from the same people responsible for THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, which we had seen twice and laughed ourselves silly both times.

Alas, the new one was pretty lame, and we left at intermission. But the evening was not a total waste -- the music played before the first act was a well chosen selection of 50s and early 60s rock and r&B -- mostly familiar, but still fun.

And there were two songs that made my ears stand up all Batman -- one I knew I had heard before but couldn't recall the artist, and one I had never heard at all and which became an instant earworm.

The intertubes being the wondrous thing they are, a little investigating turned them up, and please enjoy.

The one I knew.




And the one I didn't.



I had always assumed that Nappy Brown was a one hit wonder ("Don't Be Angry") so his song was a revelation. As for the Ruth Brown track, it goes to show you that not every Leiber and Stoller song stands the test of tine, although I think it's catchy as all get out and Ruth sings the very pants off of it.

Closed For (Got Out of London Just in Time to Miss Brexit) Monkey Business

Back from our excellent European adventure, but kinda jet-lagged.

Regular postings -- dressed, peppy and featuring actual music -- resume tomorrow.

PS: Note omission of Oxford comma above. If you know what I mean.

Steve and BG's Excellent European Adventure: Special "Feline Felicitations" Edition

Had a great time on the continent, but there's a certain oversized pussycat we need to see back at home.

Regular music posting resumes on the morrow.

London Calling: Special "Steve and BG's Excellent British Adventure" Edition

Yours truly yesterday at the entrance to the Museum of London.

And here's something that totally cracked me up -- a (one assumes) music biz magazine trade ad for one of the greatest albums of all time.

Which yours truly was unaware of it until it stopped me and a certain Shady Dame in our tracks at The Clash exhibit at the aforementioned museum.

And if you don't get why it's so brilliant and funny I can't imagine why you'd actually be reading this here blog in the first place. If you know what I mean.

In any case, we're spending one more day in London -- shopping, mostly -- and then its back to the USA on Tuesday.

“Cyrus, My Friend. What Has Happened to Your Nose?” “I’ve Just Returned From Rome.”

This is actually true -- I have just returned from Rome.

Also Pompeii and Herculaneum. And Herculaneum was unbelievable -- if you ever have a chance to go, I can't recommend it too highly.

And now off to a weekend in London...



...where, among other things, we're going to take in The Clash exhibit at the Museum of London before returning home on Tuesday.

Oh, and a coveted PowerPop No-Prize© to the first reader who identifies the source of the title of today's post.

Have a great weekend, everybody!!!

No, I'm Not Putting Up Something from Pink Floyd at Pompeii and You Can't Make Me!!!

So I've just spent two days in Pompeii, and am heading off to Herculaneum today (have I mentioned I'm on vacation in Italy?)

And it occurred to me that THIS is the only rock song I can think of, top of my head, that features the word "volcano" in the lyric.



A coveted PowerPop No-Prize© will be awarded to any reader who thinks of another example before I do.

Closed for (Italian) Monkey Business

So a certain Shady Dame and I finished an absolutely amazing, but ultimately exhausting, exploration of Pompeii yesterday (have I mentioned I'm on vacation in Italy?)

Interesting place, but as you can see, kind of annoyingly Americanized.

I mean, they have the Elks and Kiwanis too.

Music postings resume on the morrow.

Greetings From Rome: Special "Un Cane Salato" Edition

So I was having breakfast at our hotel in Rome yesterday morning -- have I mentioned I'm on vacation in Italy? -- and over the dining room sound system, they were playing nothing but Italian pop and rock. Which normally leaves me cold, but I was starting to have fun trying to figure which Brit and American pop/stars the various Italians were emulating.

And then the studio version of this (which I have not been able to find for free) came on, and -- to quote Cristina Applegate from Married With Children -- you could have knocked me over with the weather.



I'd vaguely heard of this Zucchero fella, who is considered "the father of Italian blues" in his homeland, however amusing a concept that may be. But in any case, I gotta say, he does a largely credible version of the Procol Harum classic.

Now if I could only figure out who was doing the sort of Italian knock-off of David Bowie's "Heroes" that played right before this while I was having my scrambled eggs.

Scenes From My Vacation: Ottorino Respighi to the White Courtesy Phone!

Yours truly yesterday. In front of some weird species of evergreen trees. In a certain unnamed Italian city.

Regular pop music posting resumes on the morrow. But gimme a break -- I'm on holiday.