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)

From the Record Collection (7 of 8) Devo "Freedom of Choice"

Today, we feature the third studio album from the Akron, Ohio-based punk band Devo, which is "Freedom of Choice."

The record features the band's signature song "Whip It," which features a video with the band wearing hats that look like flower pots. Amazingly enough, Devo, a band known for covering songs of other bands ("I Can't Get No Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones; "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan), were covered by Pearl Jam when they performed "Whip It" on stage complete with the flower pot hats and the yellow raincoats, that Devo is known for.

They Might Be Giants also covered the song "Through Being Cool," which is not on "Freedom of Choice."

The members of Devo are two sets of brothers, Mark and Bob Mothersbaugh, and Gerald and Bob Casale. It may seem startling today, but the industrial city of Akron, Ohio, was a thriving place for New Wave punk bands, including Devo, in the 1980s.

One of the other famous bands from the area during this era was The Waitresses, which is best-known for the holiday punk classic "Christmas Wrapping."

Chrissie Hynde, the lead singer of The Pretenders, is also from Akron and has even lived there in recent years though her band actually formed in London where Hynde was living abroad in the late '70s.

The name Devo comes from the term 'de-evolution,' which states that man is regressing back to the caveman years rather than moving forward.

Among the catchy tunes on "Freedom of Choice" are "Girl U Want," which is about how difficult it is to really be with the girl you want and the title track which is about the contradiction between rigid American conformity and the possibilities one should have in a free society. The song is made more ironic because it came out the same year that Ronald Reagan, arguably the poster boy for modern political conservatism in America, was elected president.

The album was recorded at Record Plant in Los Angeles, and produced by Robert Margouleff, who had produced many Stevie Wonder records.

In 2009, Devo re-released both "The Freedom of Choice" and their debut record "Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo" and toured performing both albums in their respective entirety.

From the Record Collection (2 of 8)_ The Pretenders II

It may come as a shock to folks who were born "The Smurfs" were no longer on tv that Akron, Ohio, was actually the hotbed of emerging New Wave punk scene in the late
'70s, thanks to band like Devo, The Dead Boys and The Waitresses, a band which is popular this time of the year because their song "Christmas Wrapping" gets played a lot around Christmas time on fm radio stations.

Though technically not a part of the Akron scene, The Pretenders have a definitive link with the northwest Ohio city because it's the hometown of lead singer Chrissie Hynde, who opened up a vegan restaurant called The Vegiterranean, which alas folded in October because of the bad American economy.

Recorded in 1981, an amazing year for rock and pop music with acclaimed records coming out from bands as diverse as Rush and The Go-Gos, "The Pretenders II" would be very last time that the four original members recorded together. Sadly, between the release of the band's second and third record "Learning to Crawl" two members would die, including Peter Farndon (1952-1983) and James Honeymoon Scott (1956-1982).

This just left Hynde and drummer Martin Chambers in the band, which has stayed together since they formed in 1978, with various lineup changes over the years.

"The Pretenders II" was produced by veteran Chris Thomas, who had worked with The Beatles and Pink Floyd. It the follow-up from their highly succesful first record and expectations were very high.

This is perhaps why the second record is not as highly regarded as it should be. Among the noted tracks on "Pretenders II" are two covers of songs by The Kinks in "Stop Your Sobbing" and "I Go to Sleep." Hynde would become romantically involved with Ray Davies, the lead singer of The Kinks in later years.

Sexual themes figure prominently in this record with suggestive tracks like "Baby Gets Spanked" in the mix; the record also features the following stellar songs: "Message of Love," "Talk of the Town" and "Day After Day."

20 years after its initial release, "Pretenders II" was finally certified gold.

Happy Oscar Hangover Day

In case you were wondering, especially those of you who might still be behind a desk in Portland, Oregon, at this hour, we are featuring the Hindu love goddess Parvati because a short film called "God of Love" won the Oscar last night. Parvati happens to be the wife of Shiva, but this is not World Religions 101 (though I did get a 'B' in that class at Radford University in Virginia).

This deity should not be confused with Parvati Melton, the extremely gorgeous 22-year-old Bollywood star (who grew up in California!) who may very well have her very own Uma Thurman stalker from Mumbai (well, for her sake, we certainly hope that's not the case!).

Another very attractive young woman Natalie Portman, who is alas engaged to be married to a man who impregnated her (insert whinning here), won a well-deserved Best Actress last night for her amazing performance in "The Black Swan." The dark movie about a struggling ballet dancer was the subject of a recent nasty piece in "The New Republic" which almost made me cancel my subcription. But, we love their columnist Jonathan Chait, who always puts right-wingers in their place (give that man a raise!).

As for some other winners, we mentioned the short live action film "Gods of Love" which won last night. The film by Luke Matheny is about a love-struck lounge-sining teenage boy. It was one of the ten picks we missed last night though we did choose 13 right, including our pick for Portman.

"Strangers No More," a film about a school in Tel Aviv, Israel, with children from 48 countries, won a Best Documentary Short Oscar.

And, finally, "The Lost Thing" a short animated film about a boy who finds a strange creature on the beach and adopts it for himself was the winner in its category.

The very last thing I want to mention is that I thought one dress worn by Anne Hathaway (it should be pointed I know nothing about fashion and if I were to even have a Starbucks frappucino with Hathaway, I would get down on my knees and thank
Shiva) actually looked like something that the '80s punk band Devo would wear. Ok, well, I wasn't going to have a frap with Anne Hathaway anyway!

Things We Learned on Twitter Today- Someone is Even More Unhip Than I Am!

I must profess that when it comes to the current music scene, yours truly is not one who is hip to 'the happening bands of the moment' though we make an effort.

In fact, I have only recently 'discovered' the '90s English band Blur even though the band broke up (well, they've now apparently reunited) some ten years ago!

So, it gives me great pleasure that according to a tweet from "TimeOut Chicago," there is at least one Lolapalooza Festival-goer who has no idea where Gogol Bordello, one of my favorite bands 'of the moment' is from.

According to the tweet, a staff reporter for the journal overheard someone ask if the New York-based Russian-emigre punk band was Australian?

Perhaps, they got them mixed up with Men at Work?!

As for Gogol Bordello, after their festival stint in Chicago, the band will perform with Primus in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Monday. Why is Iowa (where Devo also performed recently) getting all the hip shows?

Top Ten College Albums of the Week (According to 'Rolling Stone')

We were pleasantly surprised to see one of our favorite '80s New Wave bands Devo is actually listed in the current College Radio Top Ten Albums list in the current "Rolling Stone."

Another band from Akron, Ohio, The Black Keys have the top album of the week.

Devo will be performing in Des Moines, Iowa, tonight before heading for shows in Indianapolis and Atlanta next week (why doesn't anyone come to North Carolina any more?!).

I will admit I haven't heard of many of these acts. Tame Impala?! But, the band Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse has a really, really cool name, don't they?

Here is the complete list:

1. The Black Keys "Brothers"

2. Wolf Parade "Expo 86"

3. Tokyo Police Club "Champ"

4. Deer Tick "The Black Dirt Sessions"

5. Tame Impala "Innerspeak"

6. Blitzen Trapper "Destroyer of the Void"

7. Devo "Something for Everybody" (pictured)

8. Stars "The Five Ghosts"

9. Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse "Dark Night of the Soul."

10. Sleigh Bells "Treats"

SIDEBAR: Because everything in the world is closed here in King, NC, (not really where I'm at), we will be posting our new 50 Beers from Around the World entry on Monday.

SIDEBAR TWO: WUAG-103.1 FM, the college radio station for UNC-Greensboro has ranked Wolf Parade's "Expo 86," which was number two on the RS list as their top album of the week. The station (wuag.net) also features an all-vinyl show between 7-9 p.m. on Wednesdays with host James Wert. You can actually listen to the show in both Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Provo, Utah, because the station is available for streaming around the world.

Silly Photo to Fill Space- Orbit

Ay Karamba!

I have like five minutes to post this entry dedicated to Orbit, the mascot of the Akron Aeros in Akron, Ohio.

Akron is also the hometown of the '80s New Wave band Devo, which is actually performing in Ann Arbor, Mich., tonight before playing concerts in Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Louisville later in the week. I guess they will play "Whip It."

As for the Aeros, they beat the visiting Trenton thunder 9-3 last night in Canal Park. Tonight, they face the same team at 7:00 p.m. with Aeros pitcher Scott Barnes taking the mound.

Gazooks!

We better get moving.........