We're Back: The Last Ten Albums We've Listened To

Yes, we have been away for a while, but it's good to be back from our Buddhist pilgrimage to Bhutan (yes, that's a joke). But, we have listened to lots of records lately; here are the last ten:

1. Richard Pryor. "That ***ger's Crazy" 1974

2. Herbie Hancock. "Mr. Hands" 1980

3. Tim Buckley. "Blue Afternoon" 1969

4. Jefferson Starship "Red Octopus" 1975 (top image)

5. Jan Hammer Group "Oh Yeah?" 1976

6. The Tubes "Young and Rich" 1976 (center image)

7. Genesis "Abacab" 1981

8. Devo "Freedom of Choice" 1980 (bottom image)

9. Elvis Costello "This Year's Model" 1978

10. Phil Collins "Face Value" 1980


http://www.jerrysrecords.com (record store in Pittsburgh)

http://www.schoolkidsrecords.com (record store in Raleigh)

http://www.indycdandvinyl.com (record store in Indianapolis)

http://www.nuggetrecords.com  (record store in Boston)

http://www.waterloorecords.com (record store in Austin, Tex.)

http://www.easystreetrecords.com (record store in Seattle)

Presdiential Quotes (11 of 16): John F. Kennedy

To answer your question, especially those of you who read this blog in Kazakhstan (we're not making that up!): "Yes, it was our intention to have this series of quotes from American presidents overlap with the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination, which occurred on Nov. 22nd.

This is also the 20th anniversary of the release of Oliver Stone's controversial film about the Kennedy assassination "JFK." The year before, then-independent filmmaker Richard Linklater poked fun of Kennedy assassination  conspiracy theorists in a segment for his film "Slacker," filmed in Austin, Tex. JFK was killed in Dallas, Tex.

President Kennedy who hailed from Massachusetts is perennially ranked as the most popular 20th Century president, eclipsing both Franklin D. Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan.

Ironically, he has even been praised by conservatives who generally opposed the Democratic Party, which all of the Kennedys (also Sens. Robert and Teddy) were a member of. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who died in 2009, was the last remaining Kennedy brother.

The right-wing spoof film "An American Carol," which generally got bad reviews, from the makers of "Airplane" actually included a positive representation of Kennedy, who was played by character actor Chriss Anglin.

Along with Robert Kennedy, JFK is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Va., just outside of Washington, D.C. and the JFK Presidential Library is located in Boston, Mass.

Here is JFK's quote:

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolutions inevitable."

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org

http://www.jfklibrary.org

Google/Bing Question of the Day: How Many Top 40 Hits Did Pat Benatar Have?

The answer as it turns out is 14. Though Pat Benatar never topped the Billboard charts, she had four top ten singles, including "Hit Me with Your Best Shot," "Love is a Battlefield," "We Belong" and "Invincible."

Benatar is now on tour and she will be playing a number of east coast venues, including Wolf Trap in Vienna, Va., near Washington, DC, on Aug. 20th. She then plays at the House of Blues in Boston on Aug. 21 and the State Theatre in Portland, Maine, on Aug. 25.

She returns to her hometown of Richmond when she plays at the Innsbrook Pavilion (in the Richmond 'burb of Glen Allen, Va.) on Aug. 28.

For info on the tour of another '80s music entity, go to our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" at: http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com


http://www.benatargirlado.com

http://www.wolftrap.org

Record Store Day is Saturday

It may seem odd to have albums from rock singer Peter Gabriel, Turkish jazz instrumentalist Okay Temiz and the late comedian Redd Foxx, but all of these are hidden gems that one may find at an independent record store. Saturday is Record Store Day.

Among the stores likely to be participating in the event are The Last Record Store in Santa Rosa, Calif., Jackpot Records in Portland, Ore., Cheap Records in Cambridge (Boston). Mass., and CFBG in Greensboro, NC.

http://www.petergabriel.com

http://www.recordstoreday.com

www.thelastrecordstore.com

www.jackpotrecords.com

PSA- Save NPR

Since we posted a "Save PBS" entry for our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" just now, we figured that we'd post one here to "Save NPR."

And, to illustrate irony we will devote this entry to one of the VERY few NPR shows I don't listen to very much at all (along with "Prarie Home Companion").

This is not so much because I have anything against the popular NPR show "Car Talk" or the host Tom and Ray Magliozzi, also known as "Click and Clack," (pictured here) but I am really not much of a car person at all---even though I'm a heterosexual male who is 40 years old!

According to the "Car Talk" web site, the show will air a tribute to the late puzzle master Martin Gardner (I have no idea who he was). "Car Talk" first aired on WBUR out of Boston in 1977. It was picked up nationally by NPR in 1987. The show now boasts more than two million listeners and apparently you can even hear it on the radio in some places overseas, but we are not sure if there are any NPR stations in Turkmenistan (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

Know Your Mayors (Entry 9)_ Tom Menino of Boston

A recent issue of "The New Republic" said that Boston's Democratic Mayor Tom Menino, now in his fourth term, faces challenges from two members of city council, including Michael Falherty and Sam Yoon.

Here are some other fun facts about the mayor.

_Born in Boston on Dec. 27, 1942.

-Mayor since 1993. Menino inherited post from Ray Flynn, who was appointed to be the ambassador to the Vatican by Bill Clinton.

_57 percent of Bostonians claimed to have met the mayor.

-First Italian-American mayor of Boston.

-Formed Mayors Against Illegal Guns with Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York.

-Brought Democratic National Convention to Boston in 2004 when Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) was the presidential candidate.

-Hospitalized several times since taking office, mainly for kidney stones.

_Goals have included better education, affordable housing and lowering crime.

_Helped make Boston the third greenest city in America.