The Last 10 Cds We've Listened To: The Go-Gos and The Replacements

This is our first post on this blog since the shooting tragedy which took the life of Alison Parker, 24, a WDBJ-7 (CBS, Roanoke, Va.) news reporter, and video-photographer Adam Ward, 27, in the Smith Mountain Lake town of Moneta, Va. The assailant took his own life later in the afternoon due east of Front Royal, Va., some four hours away from the early morning murders.

Former "Roanoke Times" reporter and respected author Beth Macy wrote in "The New York Times" that the incident had brought the community of Roanoke together as well as 'the Roanoke diaspora' of folks who have moved to other areas. Though the issue of gun violence (a Glock was used in the homicides) has fully surfaced especially given that a gun control activist was actually handcuffed outside the Roanoke Civic Center where a gun show was still held over the weekend.

Here are the last ten cds we've listened to. They include some hip, happening bands from previous decades, including The Replacements (pict. top), The Police (pict. center, well we went with a Czech police officer instead), and They Might Be Giants (pict. bottom).
 
Here is the list:

1. The Replacements. Don't Tell a Soul. 1989.

2. The Police. Regattade Blanc. 1979.

3. Matthew Sweet. Sunshine Lie. 2008.

4. They Might Be Giants. Apollo 18. 1992.

5. Tom Tom Club. Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom. 1989.

6. The Go-Gos. Beauty and the Beat. 1981.

7. Peter, Bjorn and John. Writer's Block. 2006.

8. Blur. 13. 1999.

9. REM. Out of Time. 1991.

10. Mates of State. Bring It Back. 2006.

http://www.theymightbegiants.com/

http://thereplacementsofficial.com/pages/home

http://www.thepolice.com/

http://www.wdbj7.com/

http://intrepidpapergirl.com/

Top Ten Sunday Comic Strips from May 24th Roanoke Times: A Trip Down the Yellow Brick Road....

Greetings to our blog readers in Japan, Brazil and Poland.....

This week, we select "Speed Bump" with an homage to "The Wizard of Oz" as our top pick. Second place goes to "Get Fuzzy," where Satchel the Dog and Bucky the Cat have a row. There is a mention of a cat in a Youtube video; hence we are using an image of a Van cat. Finally, "Pearls Before Swine" has a humorous take on a husband and wife having it out via messages in a bottle. This made us think of the famous song "Message in a Bottle" by The Police, a band with Sting which featured Stewart Copeland (pict. bottom) as its drummer.

Here is our top ten:

1) Speed Bump

2) Get Fuzzy

3) Pearls Before Swine

4) Dilbert

5) Doonesbury

6) Garfield

7) Zits

8) Jump Start

9) For Better or For Worse

10) Family Circus

http://www.roanoke.com/comics

Last Ten CDs We've Listened To: There's a Bob Dyland Album Here

Greetings to our visitors from Macedonia, Canada and Taiwan.........

Here are the last ten cds we've listened to:

1) Psychedelic Furs. "Mirror Man." 1984.

2) Peter, Bjorn and John. Writer's Block. 2006 (top image)

3) REM. Monster. 1994. (middle image)

4) Tom Waits. The Heart of Saturday Night. 1974.

5) The Replacements. Don't Tell a Soul. 1989.

6) Talking Heads. Speaking in Tongues. 1983. (bottom image)

7) Bob Dylan. Blood on the Tracks. 1975.

8) Serge Gainsbourg. Historie de Melody Nelson. 1971 (in French).

9) David Bowie. Heroes. 1977.

10) The Police. Regatta de Blanc. 1979.

Last Ten Songs We Heard on Simon-FM in Greensboro, NC

On Monday afternoon, between the hours of 4:00-5:00, perhaps when we should have been to "All Things Considered" on WFDD (88.5-FM, Winston-Salem, NC), http://www.wfdd.org
a local NPR affiliate, we were listening to 98.7-FM (Greensboro, NC) http://www.987simon.com/
and we have a list of ten songs in a row that were played on air during that hour.

The image of the jet plane from Bahrain is in reference to the band Jet, the poster for the 1987 film "Fatal Attraction" with Michael Douglas and Glenn Close is our image for the stalker anthem "Every Breath You Take" by The Police, and Cinderella is for the '80s pop metal band Cinderella.

Here are the ten songs:

1. All Right Now. Free. 1970

2. She Drives Me Crazy. Fine Young Cannibals. 1989.

3. Don't Know What You Got ('Til It's Gone). Cinderella. 1988.

4. Every Breath You Take. The Police. 1983.

5. Green-Eyed Lady. Sugarloaf. 1970.

6. Be Near Me. ABC. 1985.

7. Are You Gonna Be My Girl. Jet. 2003.

8. The Dock of the Bay. Otis Redding. 1968

9. 867-5309/Jenny. Tommy Tutone. 1981.

10. Black Water. The Doobie Brothers. 1974.

The Last 10 CDs I've Listened To....

Since Greensboro, NC, folk singer Bruce Piephoff is a personal friend, I thought it would be safer to go with an image of him, which I took from a Belgian web site_ of all places, than one for either David Bowie or Turkish psychedelic singer Erkin Koray, who turned 70 last year. All of these artists, along many bands that most of you will recognize, were in the last group of cds that I have listened to. Here they are in order:

1) Erkin Koray. "Erkin Koray" (1973) Key Tracks: "Kizlar Da Alin Askere" /("Let the Girls in the Army Too")

2. Bruce Piephoff. "The Chestnut Tree" (2008) Key Tracks: "Notes from Knoxville," "The Chestnut Tree," "The Ballad of Charlie Poole," "Jesse" and ""Jasper's World of no Return."

3. Coldplay. "A Rush of Blood to the Head" (2002). Key Tracks: "In My Place," "The Scientist" and "Clocks."

4. David Bowie. "Heroes." (1977) Key Tracks: "Beauty and the Beast," "Joe the Lion" and "Heroes."

5. The Rolling Stones. "Let It Bleed" (1969) Key Tracks: "Gimme Shelter" and "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

6. U2. "Boy" (1980; debut album) Key Tracks: "A Day Without Me" and "I Will Follow."

7. The Pretenders. "Learning to Crawl" (1983). Key Tracks: "Back on the Chain Gang," "Middle of the Road" and "Show Me."

8. The Police. "Synchronicity." (1983). Key Tracks: "Every Breath You Take," "King of Pain," and "Wrapped Around Your Finger."

9. The Cars. "Candy-O." (1979) Key Tracks: "Let's Go," "It's All I Can Do" and "Double Life."

10. Rush. "2112" (1976, considered to be the band's best record). Key Tracks: "A Passage to Bangkok" and "The Twilight Zone."

From the Record Collection (4 of 8) "Zenyatta Mandatta" from The Police

Our choice for today's album collection entry is "Zenyatta Mandatta," the third of five studio albums from the English band The Police, one of the earliest New Wave to achieve Billboard chart success.

"Zenyatta Mandatta" only consists of two singles: "Don't Stand So Close to Me," a tale about a female student overtly flirting with a male teacher. The song, written by lead singer Sting, is likely the first and only top 40 hit which makes a reference to Russian literature with the line: 'Just like the old man in that book by Nabakov,' referring to Vladamir Nabakov's classic novel "Lolita."

The record, which runs for 38:16, was produced by the band and Nigel Gray, who would later produce albums for Siouxsie and the Banshees. It was recorded at the Wiseloord Studio in the Netherlands. On the day after the record's completion, The Police headed to Belgium for the start of a large world tour. In the late '70s and early '80s, bands were forced by record companies to tour, which lead to the spectacular burn-out of popular bands, such as Men at Work (the Australian band only recorded three albums, with their final one being a complete dud).

"Zenyatta Mandatta" is also known for having two instrumental tracks, including the Grammy-winning "Behind My Camel," which was the brainchild of guitarist Andy Summers, who just recently ranked number 85 in a list by "Rolling Stone" of the top 100 guitar players in rock and roll history.

The band also consisted of drummer Stewart Copeland, who is now known for recording music for soundtracks to tv shows and films.

The album had mixed reviews, but it sold well, reaching number five in the United States and number one in the United Kingdom. The Police split up in 1984, but reunited for a massive tour in 2007, which sold out proving the band's popular allure remains even though the band is highly unlikely to record another album.