pierre

I'm going to this event in two weeks' time - 3 days of Beatles tributes (group and solo), British invasion type bands and even Terry Sylvester of the Hollies. It will be held nearby in Belleville, Ontario. Here's the link to the website. http://www.abbeyroadontherivercanada.com/ Any comments?

By 1990, radio wasn't really interested in Paul Simon anymore. "The Obvious Child" was the first single and is almost entirely percussion. It's a bit like "Late in the Evening", but with the chords de-emphasized. "Proof" was also a single in some places - it reminds a bit of "You Can Call Me Al", with its prominent horn arrangement. While those songs were the obivous choices for singles, the rest of the album is relatively low-key and I think that's what affected the media coverage. If you liked Graceland, "Saints" is definitely worth a listen.

In my previous post, I suggested that the live version of "Cool Cool River" was one of my favourites. Actually, pretty much any Paul Simon song live (since he released Graceland) is a treat. It may be hell at times to be in his band (he appears to be very demanding of his musicians), but it really pays off in sterling performances. I saw a couple of shows on the "Saints" tour and they were by far the most professional "rock" (if you can call it that) performances I've ever seen. Songs like "Proof" really shine with a big, diverse collection of musicians. One of the interesting things about Paul Simon is the wide range of opinions about what is his best work. I would hazard a guess that most people in this forum (and most casual fans) would select his S&G/70s stuff. But there are also quite a few people like myself who, perhaps due to overplay of the earlier material, swear by the later stuff. It hasn't all been good ("You're the One" was kind of turgid after the first few tracks), but I think it is much more interesting. If I had been 14 when "Bridge" was released, my take might well be different!

While I enjoy most of Paul's work after leaving Simon & Garfunkel, I really think his best stuff started in the 1980s. 1. The Boy In The Bubble 2. Rene & Georgitte Magritte With Their Dog After The War 3. The Late Great Johnny Ace But this list would change every day. Even now, I'm thinking about "Late In the Evening", the terrifc live version of "Cool, Cool River", the simple joy of "You Can Call Me Al", the great music (but terrible lyrics) of "The Vampires"...and, going way back, the great melody (although I think he "borrowed" it) from "American Tune".

60%, although I thought I was going to score higher. Those were some pretty obscure questions.

or maybe it's a combination of both. My understanding was that they had some kind of contractual obligation to play covers by Arista songwriters (rather than do too much of their own material). And, given the sound on "Elevator", I'm not convinced that the MOR sound on "It's A Game" or "Strangers in the Wind" (or whatever it was called) was really what they wanted to play.

I saw Ringo at Casino Rama a few years ago, the first time Colin Hay was in the band. I remember thinking how the songs of the others were pretty good, but Ringo's were mostly lame (especially the Beatles-era stuff). Not surprising - he hardly got the best material when he was with the Beatles...but he takes the approach that people want to hear those songs. Yellow Submarine, in particular, was a travesty. It's a dodgy song to begin with, but without the overdubs, it really is exposed as a soggy blanket. He had a good album out then (Ringo Rama); it's too bad he didn't play more from it. Ah well, at least I can say that I saw Ringo live. He did put on a good show, notwithstanding the limitations of some of his material.

I just acquired a CD copy of "Elevator", as I remembered the title track being a cracking cut when I heard it on vinyl at my radio station. It's still good - and the rest of the album is pretty good too. Ironically, it's far better than any of their million-sellers. Yet another artist mismanaged by Arista?

I was watching Euro 2008 with interest, as I am half-Swiss, half-Dutch. The Swiss, as usual, played well but didn't get the wins that counted. The Dutch were dominant in the opening round, but they too have a history (save for Euro 1988) of not winning the truly big games. Having said that, Russia looked awesome and they deserved to win against the Dutch. As for the rest of the tourney, I'd like to see the Russians win now. I like to see attacking soccer, so I'm glad that the cynical, defensive style of the Italians has resulted in their elimination.

Heard of all of them but "Aesop Rock"...own one of them. I saw Captain Beefheart on The Old Grey Whistle Test once...a truly demented sound. Yet intriguing at the same time. I was surprised not to see "The Modern Lovers" on there, which has been cited by several music snobs as a great album. But when I listened to it, it just sounded juvenile.

This is spooky. I posted that on Monday at 2 minutes after midnight. And now I just found out that Al Wilson died that day. I hope the others are all OK!

1. "When Will I See You Again" - The Three Degrees...love that Philly Sound! 2. "I Wish" - Stevie Wonder 3. "100 Days, 100 Nights" - Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings 4. "The Snake" - Al Wilson 5. "Theme for The Five Fingers of Death" - Bunny Sigler If you haven't heard the last track, it is UNBELIEVABLE! Maybe not because it's so great, but because it is so "unique"...

Ozomatli is great - a potent stew of all kinds of music. But I also enjoy bands like The Eels, Fountains of Wayne (although their last album was kind of weak), The Shazam, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and songs here and there like "Everything is Alright" by Tomi Swick. Following music these days just takes a little more work than it used to.

Bob Dylan has a few nasty ones. When I was DJing shortly after an unexpected break-up 16 years ago, I played "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" on my radio show. That felt better. The song is especially effective because it doesn't have an angry sound to it. Paul McCartney did a song called "Angry", on the "Press to Play" album. But sounded like forced anger. More convincing were the B-Sides to Hope of Deliverance: "Long Leather Coat" and "Big Boys Bickering". Speaking of angry songs by former Beatles, how about John Lennon's "God", "Gimme Some Truth", "Working Class Hero" and "How Do You Sleep?"...? Mostly genuine, although he was certainly not working class. Closer to home, Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had a Rocket Launcher", "Call it Democracy" and "Stolen Land" all have quite a bit of genuine anger. As do a lot of his 1980s songs.

I've just started reading "Comrade Rockstar", a biography of Dean Reed. Anybody familiar with this? I've only read the first couple of chapters, but the story (and it's for real) goes like this: Reed travels to Chile to escape Hollywood and his Capitol Records contract. He becomes a big star there, then gets spotted in Helsinki and becomes the Elvis of the Eastern Bloc. Absolutely huge - movies, records, you name it - in East Germany and the Soviet Union. He keeps his American passport, mind you. Then he is found drowned in East Berlin in 1986. The verdict is "accidental drowning", which is a surprise to all. Apparently, the East German police said "it's either a crime, a suicide, or an accident. There is no crime in East Germany...Dean Reed was happy, so it's not suicide...therefore, it was an accident." It's bizarre already. I can't imagine what else is coming in the book.