A Tear for Paul Mawhinney

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

I previously covered this saga here and here, but this video is making the rounds, so I feel the need to comment again. I guess the thing is, if you look into the whole story, get past the gee-wow factor of the number of records and the money claimed as value, things just don't add up.

First off, the issue of where this alleged value for this collection comes from is again glossed over. Can you take the word of someone who has authored price guides (a fact left out of the video) in a hobby where price guide authors have been known to bump up the book values of their own specialties? And surely I'm not the only one who is a little suspicious about someone selling something so expensive so reluctant to share details of what's exactly in it. Supposedly it's documented. Why not post it at the website?

Well, one thing is shown as again he trots out this Rolling Stones LP as the crown jewel of the collection. While it's a nice piece, if you're into the Stones, it isn't exactly a holy grail. Back in February, when he brought this out on publicity for the eBay auctions of this collection, a copy of the same album was up for $4k buy it now and no takers. Sure, you aren't just going to stumble across a copy at your local vinyl emporium, but I'd really expect a collection that large to have something much rarer as the centerpiece. Certainly something that wouldn't be up on eBay for less than you claimed it was worth and still no one wanting it.

There's also the at the least misleading, though more likely completely dishonest statement that 83% of his collection prior to 1963 isn't available at any price. The only way I can see that to be accurate would be if he owns every copy of 83% of the records produced in that time frame and they were never reissued. Not bloody likely.

And while he's going on and on about how the world just doesn't care, he fails to mention the Library of Congress bid he turned down in 2003, which was more than $3million but less than the $25million he was still expecting to get at the time. He also fails to mention the stipulations that the collection had to remain intact and only duplicates could be sold which accompanied each attempt at a sale.

And while he's painting this as his life's work, he fails to mention that he was in the business of buying cut-outs and remainders by the trailer load. He does tip his hand when he refers to the collection as "merchandise." Of course, I also noticed in researching Mawhinney that one common comment among people who visited his shop was that if he'd actually sold people records instead of insisting the dozens of copies of a title they had on the shelf were too precious to part with and offering a $50 CD-R instead, he probably wouldn't be sitting on millions of records he can't move now.

And the more I've looked at this story, the more it seems to me that this really is dead stock that he hoarded or couldn't sell than any kind of really valuable collection. Again, I feel sorry for the guy as his health is failing and this looks like it was his retirement plan. However, I'm finding the coverage of this to be very dishonest and it's probably only encouraging Mawhinney's unrealistic expectations for his collection.

What's more, this whole "well, they won't have Paul Mawhinney to kick around anymore" tone the video gives off really bugs me. I had trouble buying the "preserving culture" talk before, but after seeing this video I find it out right laughable. Instead of talking about donating all this precious cultural heritage, he's sounds like he'd rather destroy it than give it away for anything less than $3mil.

We're not talking about some lost Shakespeare works here or the legendary Buddy Bolden recording or something of that stature. We're talking about a record dealer who hoarded a ton of cut-outs. No one forced you into it and it's not like you were doing this for any reasons other than your own and your own commercial interests.

So, as always, best of luck to you and your family, Paul. But I really think you need to get real about this. How many more years are you going to keep schlepping this around, fishing for sympathy among people who don't have the resources to buy your "life's work" even if they wanted?

All This and World War II, Part II

Did I mention I finally saw All This and World War II, a film I'd been obsessing about a little over two years ago? Let me refresh your memory on this one with a (currently live) YouTube version of the trailer:



I remember reading about this one during my Beatlemaniac days and always being intrigued. The soundtrack album is never difficult to find as it was a perennial cut-out bin favorite and isn't exactly worth much more today. The movie however, seemed to have fallen off the face of the Earth. From what I understand, it was yanked a week after it's debut and more or less buried until a copy showed up on the bootleg DVD market a few years ago.

I have a genuine affection for bad taste and bad ideas in cinema and the idea of marrying Beatles covers with World War II footage seemed like a classic. But, the more I read about this film (and since the appearance of the DVD, much has come out about it like this excellent article right here) and the more I put it into context, it just seemed like an excuse to release the soundtrack album, a deluxe box set, I might add.

Watching the film does little to change that opinion. The whole concept is so shaky and so half heartedly executed, you just can't help but feel the producers of this film felt a Beatles revival in the air and wanted to cash in before it passed. (Keep in mind, this film predated the Beatlemania musical and the infamous Sgt. Pepper's movie with the Bee Gees.)

Once the thoughts of "Wow, they really did make this movie" and "I can't believe I'm actually watching this" wear off, you will find yourself repeating the last statement not as a reference to the film's rarity, but to the gawking at a car crash quality of the film. Beyond the novelty of a jawdroppingly bizarre concept poorly executed, the film itself is pretty dull. It's a bit like watching the History Channel while listening to some Beatles covers. Try it yourself and see how long you last.

I'm glad I resisted the impulse to actually pay for a copy of this. All This and World War II is like so many other obscure relics of junk cinema: so much more interesting on paper than on the screen. Still, it's nice to have my curiosity satiated and, if nothing else, I can check another film off my to seek and see list.

Are You Trying to Break My Heart?

I remember when I first saw the concept drawings of what would be the Lasonic i931. Basically, it looked like someone took the million dollar idea I had right out of my head. Yeah, I thought of the whole "make an iPod dock that looks like an 80s gettoblaster" thing. That was all me. Deal with it.

Now, my idea was more like the Conion C-100F, which is kind of the quintessential 'box. Quick, picture a boom box. I'll bet you have a mental image of the Conion. Gaudy, a little chintzy, but loud and slightly better sound than you might expect.

I wasn't shocked Lasonic would be the ones to run with this. They'd produced a legit getto classic with the TRC-931 and apparently had reissued it (slightly updated) a few years ago. The TRC-931 had that iconic look and sound, so if someone was going to make an iPod boom box, this is a pretty good place to start.



Their iPod version, cleverly called the i931, was announced ages ago with a cheesy looking render that just screamed vaporware. Truth be told, I kinda put it out of my mind as I assumed this would never see market. So, imagine my shock when I'm in Fry's today and there it is, the Lasonic i931 in the flesh!



That shock quickly turned to disappointment when I actually started tinkering with the thing. First off, though it's been ages since I last saw a TRC-931, I'm pretty sure that while it tipped it's hand as a cheap piece of gear, it didn't feel like it would fall apart in your hands. The i931 does. While the original was quite a hulking slab of plastic, this new one feels like it was made from recycled soda bottles. I'm pretty sure the TRCs could take a bit of a beating while the i931 feels like a slight drop would crack it in half.

Plus it's kinda rounded. Gettoblasters are supposed to be boxy and squared off, not aerodynamic. What is up with that?



Next, the details are all wrong. While they put in a fake analog tuner scale, the actual radio tuning is digital. The original's five band EQ has been traded for five EQ presets. The buttons all feel cheap, and there's a ton of them. The simplicity of the original has given way to the confusing menus of the remake.

And speaking of, the display is pretty crummy, as I'm sure you've guessed. It looks like a knockoff Indiglo watch and I'm sure would be unreadable in direct sunlight. The USB and card readers are a nice touch, but between the display and the menus, I couldn't imagine trying to play music off a card or thumb drive.

So, what about the sound? Pretty crappy. Like a $30 iPod dock, but louder. To be fair, I had problems tuning in a radio station, which probably says more about the cavernous Fry's than the Lasonic, and I didn't have my iPod with me. My wife handed me her iPhone, which was a bit too tall to fit in the dock, but I was able to play a bit of LL Cool J. I couldn't manage to make this 'box sound anything but cheap.

And speaking of, it isn't exactly cheap. Fry's wants a cool $200 for the i931. I think list is $219, but I've seen anywhere between $159-$230. The lower end of that is closer to the end where I'd say if you're really really in love with the idea of an old school getto blaster iPod dock, you might consider it, but even then, I think you're going to feel like you overpaid.

Rhapsody in DRM-free mp3.

Last week was the debut of Real Networks' Rhapsody MP3 store. To celebrate, they offered a $10 credit to the first 100,000 people to sign up. Yours truly was among the people who ended up downloading an album (and then some) on Real.

I didn't even know Real was entering the DRM-free mp3 sales arena until I heard about the sign up offer. And, I'll admit, the $10 credit offer struck me as either ballsy or desperate, I still haven't quite decided, though I'm leaning towards the latter.

The question is, who is Rhapsody trying to reach? At this point, they are the fourth of the five biggest major label download music sellers to go the mp3 route. Their site, which, to be fair, is listed as a beta, isn't all that user friendly. Trying to search for a specific album title may or may not net you what you're looking for, though the artist search seems a bit more fleshed out. The keyword search is just about useless though.

One thing that shouldn't be in beta is their customer support, which needs some serious work. Unfortunately, I've already needed it and clicking through the customer support pages is a frustrating maze which leads you to help for every service Real offers except the mp3 store. I was able to get on the live chat through a page for their subscription service and my issue was resolved. However, it took about a half hour in the chat to get a simple matter cleared up which, if there had been a email address like everyone else has, I wouldn't have had to hang on and re-explain the issue to who or whatever I was talking to over and over.

And then there's the issue of what they are offering. Their selection leaves quite a bit to be desired. At times the albums available almost seemed like a random assortment of an artist's catalog. While they are offering all four major labels and a smattering of indies, Amazon's selection is much better.

Their prices are pretty standard. .99 cents songs and $9.99 albums, which would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that a lot of their content can be purchased cheaper through Amazon. Oddly, there is an apparent mis-pricing of a bunch of box sets, mostly from the Rhino catalog. While it's possible that these prices could be correct (and I would certainly welcome that,) I find it a bit unlikely that a set retailing at Amazon for $97 is correct for $9.99 at Rhapsody.

So, other than a free $10 credit and fishing for cheap, but sure to be price corrected, box sets, what exactly does Rhapsody have to offer in this crowded market? As best I can tell, nothing. I can't really find a single reason to continue using this service. The site is clunky, the normal prices aren't anything special and the selection is smaller than Amazon.

While I'm all in favor of competition, there needs to be something different going on to make it happen. Competition is more than just a different name on your billing statement. It's surely not offering a lesser version of what the market leader is doing. But, unless they have some drastic changes in store, that's exactly what Rhapsody's mp3 store is, at the moment. Time will tell if Real can come up with something to make their store stand out, but personally, I'm doubtful they will.

DVD Review: Phase IV (1974)

I can't believe I haven't done a review of Phase IV prior to now. I was first exposed to this obscurity via the infamous "season zero" of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Upon tracking down the old VHS, Phase IV has become one of my favorite movies. Now, thanks to Legend Films (who have other DVDs with a Mike Nelson commentary, coincidentally) Phase IV is finally out on DVD.

Phase IV is a movie about ants. Not gigantic ants like a Bert I. Gordon or Corman flick. These are small, regular sized ants. But ants that become highly intelligent and attempt to take over.

So, we have two scientists out in the desert investigating strange occurrences caused by the ants. They've killed livestock, run people off their land and built a bunch of Stonehenge like monoliths. Michael Murphy plays James, the "good cop" scientist, trying to learn their language and figure out what they're after while Nigel Davenport as Dr. Hubbs becomes more and more engrossed in defeating the ants, regardless of the cost.

Hubbs takes delight in shaking the ant farm, so to speak, which always results in disaster and the ants evolving. Because of Hubbs' recklessness, they pick up Kendra (Lynne Frederick,) a wide eyed farm girl who is now orphaned and in shock. Meanwhile, James is trying to decipher the ants messages and get Kendra to safety before Hubbs gets them all killed.

This 1974 film was a directorial debut for Saul Bass, who was an Academy Award winner for his animated title sequences. Phase IV is a post-2001 sci-fi flick, unspooling at a leisurely pace, with heavy philosophical overtones and a trippy, ambiguous ending.

At it's heart, it is another man vs. creature movie. But, because it gets into issues of evolution, the possibilities of communicating with other species and the idea that we might not be the smartest animals on Earth, it becomes more. OK, it's not the greatest movie ever, but it handles a lot of interesting ideas in an intelligent way and, if you can appreciate slow, cerebral sci0fi, I think there's a lot here to enjoy.

The stunning thing about it is the miniature photography. I know it sounds silly to say, but the ants really are the best actors in the film. The way Bass manages to capture them on film and get them to do things that actually advance the plot (we see many of the evolutionary steps) is pretty remarkable. Plus, Bass throws in some style from time to time, so if nothing else, this movie is pretty interesting to watch.

Unfortunately, this DVD is about as bare bones as it gets. No extras, not even a trailer. Just the film itself. While I understand this is a pretty obscure film, I'd have loved even a simple "how they did it" featurette, as from a technical standpoint, there's some interesting stuff going on here.

The ants have more detail than the old VHS I had, this transfer is pretty flat and the print used has quite a bunch of specks and is pretty bland to look at. I'd love to see this film in a good HD transfer, to say nothing of a Blu-Ray release.

This is to say nothing of the fact that the original theatrical release was rumored to be longer with more of an ending. Apparently it was cut down a pinch for home video and this disc runs the same length as my old tape. (Though a little longer than the french TV rip my friend Kevin sent me. I think that had a couple of brief cuts for violence.)

Honestly, I wasn't expecting Phase IV to get a DVD release at all, so just having this is better than nothing. And considering I paid the same amount ($10) for an age old ex-rental VHS, I'm not too disappointed. Still, I feel this movie deserves better than what we got. Hopefully, some day we will, but until then, fans of intelligent sci-fi should feel pretty safe picking this up.

General Cinemas Eastgate

Shot some pictures at what is left of Eastgate Consumer Mall today. The six screen GC still stands in the out lot and one of the emergency exits was open so I managed to get a couple of shots in one of the auditoriums. However, not feeling like stumbling around in a pitch black abandoned movie theater with air so dusty it set off my allergies almost instantly, there's just a couple of quick shots. Maybe some other day I'll brave the elements and go back with a flashlight (and risk getting pinched for trespassing, I guess.)

Anyway, the shots are here. They're not fantastic and they're all pretty self explanatory. You can see all the dust that got on my lens just from opening the door. For the good of the order, here's shots around Eastgate itself. There's some demo work going on and sadly everything is boarded up. I wish I could have gotten up the main stairs, but I was too late for that.

A little more on the Esquire Theater

I was doing a little research in to the theaters of my youth and found out a little info about the Esquire. It was part of the Jerry Lewis (yes, that Jerry Lewis) chain, which was designed as a family friendly franchise. From what I've read, the idea was to create a turnkey chain showing G rated movies that all someone had to do was pony up the money and open the doors.

Well, it didn't quite work like that. The chain started in the early 70s, which wasn't exactly a good time for G rated pictures. Additionally, the idea that you didn't need to know anything about running a movie theater to get in this turned out to be fatally incorrect. A lot of people lost their investments as they had no idea how to run a movie theater and set up shop in poor locations.

Rumor has it, many of the theaters tuned into adult houses as a reaction against the strict rules on what type of movies could be shown. I don't think the Esquire ever showed porn, but I think it became a second run house as I'm pretty sure the last thing I saw there was Return of the Jedi in the mid80s, after it had it's first run.

The Esquire was at the end of the Esquire Plaza strip mall on Pendelton Pike. As such, it was sandwiched between two other theaters, the Eastwood, which was a really nice place, and the Pendelton Pike Drive-In. I don't know for sure when it stopped showing movies. My guess is it didn't make it to the 90s as neither of the other theaters on Pendelton Pike did. The building still stands and today houses a Pip Printing.

(Sidenote, the anchor store for the strip was a Zaires, another long gone relic. I'm pretty sure it became an Ames, like most of the Zaires in the area, and then closed up for good. Currently it houses a cut rate furniture store.)

The reason I mention all this is I found a pretty interesting YouTube video of a Jerry Lewis in Frankfort prior to being demolished. This one was a standalone, so the building itself isn't much like the Eastwood, but the inside and auditorium are a lot like what I remember.



I know of at least two other Jerry Lewis Cinemas in and around Indianapolis. Both of them still show movies, which seems to be kind of a rarity for this former chain. One is the Greenbriar Cinema Grill on 86th st. The other is now Key Cinemas on west Keystone.

Addendum to my Theaters post.

First off, I got so swept up in my General Cinemas love, that I totally forgot the last theater I was going to talk about. That would be the Loews Cherry Tree Plaza theater. Here's a picture of what it looked like before it got flattened:



Not my pic, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I really can't remember how many screens this had, I'm pretty sure it was six just like the General Cinemas Eastgate theater that opened a little later, if I'm remembering correctly. There wasn't a whole lot special about this one. It looked pretty much like every other Loews in the area, with the kind of olde timey paintings of famous movie people at the top of the entrance. To me, this had less character than the mall General Cinemas I remember so vividly.

Anyway, I think it closed for a while, reopened as a Sony theater then went back to being Loews. Now it's just a lot next to a strip mall that itself is decaying on a side of town that has some pretty bad rot itself. There's a nearly identical theater to this one on the northwest side that is still operating, I think. I used to work up there, but I only paid passing attention.

I only mention the Loews as I saw a ton of films there as a youth, though I don't have the affection for it that I do for the ones I mentioned in my last post.

I snagged the picture from a site called Cinema Tour. Another one I've used for some nostalgia tripping is Cinema Treasures. Both of the sites are kind of light on the information about theaters I was looking for. Treasures had more than Tours, but Treasures doesn't even list the Washington Square GC or the Cherry Tree Loews. Still, I'm throwing these out there as I know Koven mentioned in the comments a place he used to see some movies and maybe it's listed at one of those sites.

And, in case anyone was wondering if I was going to do a follow up post on the theaters of my driving years, the answer is no. Really, there's the Cinemark Movies 8, which was manna for a poor high school student, the Loews and the Eastgate GC, which I may touch on if I do another GC post, and the random mall GCs that were left. That's about it. Movies 8 isn't quite interesting to devote a post to, but I will leave you with this, which if you were there will bring back some memories:

MST3K does General Cinemas

One of my favorite MST3K host skits, for obvious reasons.



(PS- I'm using this clip for non-commercial purposes under what I believe to be Fair Use. Thanks.)

Theaters I have known and loved

I haven't done a DVD review in forever, and I'm not quite ready to kick one out there, but I wanted to write about a bit of a nostalgia trip I've been on as of late. For some reason, I've really been interested in the places I used to see movies, especially in my pre-driving days. The kicker of it is, I just realized that none of them show movies anymore. Most don't even exist today.

Let's take the Pendelton Pike Drive-In. This was the first place I ever remember seeing a movie. For my folks, this must have been a godsend as it was five minutes from where we lived and, being as it was a drive-in, they could bring me along with no problems. I remember laying in the back of their Monza station wagon with my sleeping bag usually watching a bit of the movie but falling asleep before the second feature. (Though I distinctly remember seeing Stripes there. And I'm pretty sure I saw Star Wars there, not on the first run, more on that in a moment.)

As I recall, the Pendelton Pike was a very old school drive-in. One screen, speaker boxes, rusty playground, kind of scary concession stand. I can't remember if they had double or triple bills. I suppose it may have varied. Strangely enough, I seem to remember the intermission clocks more than anything else.

We still went there occasional after we moved from that side of town. I don't remember how often though. I'm sure we went to some of the other drive-ins around town, none of which, except for the Tibbs are still running. The Pendelton Pike shut down in 1993 and all that stands is the screen.



There are two other places on Pendelton Pike I remember seeing movies. One was the Esquire Cinema in Esquire Plaza. Another single screen relic, the building still stands, but I don't know what is in there these days. I really don't remember too much about this place except going there once for someone's birthday to see Return of the Jedi and we all were kind of nonplussed as we'd each seen it about a dozen times by then.

The other is the mighty Eastwood Theater and this place I have vivid memories of. I mentioned Stars Wars earlier and there's a good chance I may have seen Star Wars there as it had the exclusive on the first run. In fact, Star Wars seems to be one of the only reasons anyone mentions the Eastwood on-line.

OK, let me tell you what I remember of this place. It was located in kind of a sketchy part of Pendelton Pike, adult bookstores and whatnot. It looked like a barn on the outside, but inside it was totally cool. Again, this was a single screen, but it was a huge curved Cinerama screen! There were mechanized curtains that opened up and the whole nine yards. In fact, the place reminded me a little of the Seattle Cinerama, though I may be imagining things.

Mostly what I remember seeing at the Eastwood were Disney flicks. Pretty much all of them came around in the early 80s and we went to them. Specifically, I remember Fantasia making a huge impact in that theater with the surrounds (back when not all theaters were even stereo, let alone Dolby,) and that massive curved screen. I might have seen Star Wars there, but I'm not going to lie and say I remember it. (I'm still convinced I saw it at the drive-in, somewhere.)

The Eastwood went downhill in the late 80s. If I recall correctly, it may have been showing porn for a while before converting to a music venue and then folding entirely. Now there's a Menards where it used to be. Shame, as that was a movie theater with soul.

So, to the opposite end of the spectrum, I have a huge amount of nostalgia for the old General Cinemas. Specifically, the twin at Washington Square, though I know I saw stuff at Glendale, Eastgate and Castleton Square. Those old GC theaters in the mall were pretty funky and soulless, but I still have some nostalgia for them. I remember them being kind of squatty and ugly. In fact, I know one of them had a screen split into two very long and narrow rooms, which always kind of freaked me out when we saw a movie in one of those.

Still, I have a lot of stupid good feelings for those ugly things. And aside from a lot of red and orange carpet, what do I remember most about General Cinema? The intro bumpers!!! w00T!



I know I've had that one on the blog before, but you know, for years that thing was impossible to see and it was driving me crazy. Then there was this later one which, for some reason, I don't remember liking as well:



Then there's this one, which I remember very fondly:



And then there's this popular one, though now we're well into the multiplex era:



I still dig the psychedelic projector one the best. The fact that the music (which I believe is from an Optigan) is all jacked and out of time just adds to the charm and funky feel I remember those little shopping mall theaters had.

So that's what I've been thinking about as we prepare ourselves for drive-in season (though daylight savings time plays hell with that.) Even though I don't get out to see movies as much these days, I still miss the old theaters I used to visit, back when there weren't a dozen screens and the sound systems didn't move your bowels. I wish I had more pictures to go with this, but there just isn't a lot out there. If anyone know of anything, or wants to share some memories of these theaters, leave a comment.

The Score, So Far.

Well, the Man Moat is not a moat any longer, but it sure feels naked without anything in it. We decided to toss all the carpet in there and the fancy title stuff didn't seem worth putting back down as it would need to get pulled again if we had another flood.

I have about 80 some odd records with covers that are in various states of disarray. I think the actual records are going to be ok, but the covers are pretty trashed. Among the losses were titles by James Brown, John Coltrane, Sunn0))), Jesu, Albert Alyer and Ornette Coleman.

Because I needed to pull some files off my laptop and decided I had nothing to lose, I just checked out one of my drives. This one was a little USB drive that was completely submerged and discovered on the other side of the room from where I left it. It worked fine. This gives me hope for the other drives, though my backup drive that didn't get flooded decided to work finally and I have early April images if need be.

The computers themselves are still untested. I'm not feeling that brave yet. I'm also unsure about a handful of power supplies and a fancy schmancy Monster power strip which were completely submerged.

My Grestch bass drum seems to have dried out fine and obviously the Vistalites are ok.

That's pretty much it right now.

Dogzilla vs. Ultramonkey

I love Japan.

Man Lair, Flooded.

I am a very sad panda this morning. After valiantly fighting torrents of rain on several occasions, the elements finally caught up with us last night while we were sleeping. Ironically, I'd been checking the flood situation all through the day and was lulled into thinking everything was ok.

When I went into the basement this morning (ironically to try and coax a backup image out of my submerged Windows XP machine that was giving me headaches yesterday,) the carpet squished. I looked over at a copy of Gato Barberi's Chapeter One I'd just bought two days prior and noticed the bottom corner of the gatefold was sticking out at a 90 degree angle, throughly saturated. The entire basement had flooded.

Before when we'd had problems, it was just isolated to a small area. Judging by the waterline on my PC, we got about three inches all the way to the back wall last night. Several things floated away from where they were, waiting to be found in corners were I hadn't put them.

The good news/bad news is that most of what I had was off the floor. The bad news is that I now have a crate of records throughly waterlogged.

So far, that seems to be the biggest loss, though I have two computers whose conditions are as yet unknown. The bass drum from my vintage Grestch kit got a bit damp as did the amber Vistalite bass drum, which is at least the second time that poor drum went in the drink.

Anyway, I'm a bit numb at the moment. It could have been much worse, and it still might be. I guess I'm hoping at least I can salvage the drives from the computer and maybe insurance will cover some of the records. I hope.

UPDATED: Fire at Universal Studios

UPDATE: False alarm. Nevermind. Thanks to Idolator for the tip.

However, reports of Bo Diddly's death are sadly accurate.

It's kind of old news now, but in case you didn't hear, there was a fire at Universal Studios over the weekend. This wouldn't be news except this wasn't just a small fire somewhere on the property, this was a big one which, apparently, started on the back lot and ended up in the vault.

What got damaged? Well, they aren't exactly saying yet, but the reports I'm seeing look as is music masters stored in rented space in the video vault. (Uni Records is a separate organization from the film and TV Universal but were renting vault space from them. Confused yet?) According to this report, they managed to save the video backups but lost the music masters, which, apparently hadn't been backed up.

I know it's popular to pile on Uni and Doug Morris, I've done it here, and they usually deserve it. But, depending on how forward thinking they were about making safety copies, this could be a devastating loss for music lovers.

Anyway, I'll be curious to hear what the official statement is on this and what was lost.

Usborne Guide To Computer And Video Games

Found this via Game, Set, Watch. Talk about something I hadn't thought about in years, this was my favorite book as a youngster. It's still pretty cool today as a piece of retrofuturism. (Speaking of, I had a dream about Disney's Space Mountain last night, back when RCA was still sponsoring it.)

http://www.pointlessmuseum.com/museum/usbornecomputergamesindex.php

Looking at this book now, the interesting thing to me is all the handheld and tabletop games in it. At the time, I assumed many of these were made up as I'd never seen them. Well, in the time since then, I think I've seen every one of those somewhere.

I also still love the diagram of how a computer works with all the little robots running information around. Way cool.

Cheap eMusic, Acid and Green's Leak

First off, I should mention that if anyone out there is an eMusic subscriber, it might be worth your while to swing by Circuit City some time soon. They have starter subscription packs that work like booster packs for the blow out price of $4.98 for 65 tracks. A really good deal, considering the usual eMusic booster price is something like $19.95 for 50.

Unfortunately, you can't still get Ray Baretto's Acid through eMusic (though a bunch of other Fania titles are available, seems they switched distributors and not everything is through the new one yet) but it's an album worth checking out. I'm no expert, but I think it's considered a high point of boogaloo music and it's one of those albums I come back to often.

About the only track on there you might know is "Deeper Shade of Soul" which, of course, was sampled by Urban Dance Squad ages ago. There's also "The Soul Drummers," which has appeared on a comp or two. Really though, it's all killer Latin soul which kind of makes you glad to be alive.

I also wanted to mention the new Al Green. Yeah, I was naughty and downloaded a leak. I've been a big fan of his for ages and was pretty impressed with his two previous comeback albums. (I think I did a review of one for Nuvo. I really can't remember.) I'm also a big fan of ?uestlove, so when I found out he was producing this time around, I couldn't wait to hear the results.

It's kind of ironic that this album nails the whole mid 70s vibe better than "I Can't Stop" and "Everything's OK" considering those two albums were produced by Green's old producer (Willie Mitchell) at the old Royal Studios with as many of the old musicians as are still around. "Lay It Down" features younger cats such as the Dap-Tone horns and a younger producer but really sounds like someone dug up some old tapes and put them out. Just roll the treble off a big and compress it a hair to get the sound of those old 45s and you'd think it was some mid-70s Hi release that fell through the cracks.

The problem is, while "Lay It Down" may have vibe to spare, the material is weaker this time around. Green's two previous Blue Note albums each had a single or two worth of classic stuff (and, after all, Green is a singles artist at heart.) This time around, there just isn't anything that gets under your skin like an Al Green classic should.

Add to that a few completely unnecessary guest shots. John Legend and especially Anthony Hamilton at least hold their own but Corinne Bailey Rae (who?) is totally outclassed. An interview with ?uestlove in Wax Poetics implies the record company would have like more guests and he talked them down to three. I feel it was three too many. Granted, I'm not a big fan of these appearances anyway as they always feel shoehorned in, no exception here. But I really think on an Al Green record, when the man is still in fine form, why do I want to hear someone else?

And that is the bottom line. Green still has it. I think his voice has a little more "air" on top than it did on "Everything's OK" but he's still got the fire and is still pretty much nailing it. The problem is, despite Green and all the talent surrounding him on "Lay It Down," the lack of any memorable songs makes this one a pretty big disappointment.

To be fair, I'm judging a leaked copy I picked up about a month ago. As far as I know, the album drops next week, so I don't know how much different the release will be from the advance. Maybe they have a tune or two that they held back. Somehow I kinda doubt it.

I Smell Like an Exhaust Pipe

IMG_0042.JPG
Originally uploaded by CaptainWrong

because I went to the auto auction at the state fairgrounds today. This wasn't my favorite car, but it was close. I dig the late 60s Mopar. I got better pics coming soon.

Speed Racer Goes Crazy

From the blog Catroon Brew:



I only hope the upcoming movie is this good.

Got my first YouTube takedown notice.

Kind of surprised I hadn't received one of these before. About two (maybe it was three?) years ago, I uploaded a bunch of clips to YouTube from this random pile of VHS tapes I thrifted. One of which was SCTV's Michael McDonald parody. (This was before yacht rock, I think.) Well, that was the one pulled.

It's kind of a shame as it's a funny clip and due to the use of Christopher Cross' "Ride Like The Wind," I doubt its going to get a video release. I know there have been a couple of SCTV collections, but they were low budget and, judging by the number I've seen at Big Lots and Half Price Books, I'm guessing didn't sell too well.

Oh well, that's life, I guess.

UPDATE: looks like they torched my entire account over that one clip. Thank SCTV.

Got my Pinball Machine.

A little over two years ago, I acquired a pinball machine. This morning, it finally arrived at my house.



I always wanted a pinball machine with the image of a bigoted actor and that plays C&C Music Factory.



Mel sez: I got a bad reputation.

You sure do, pal.



This may not be my dream machine (that would probably be Gotleib's 1982 Haunted House or Bally's Fireball) but this is still a lot of fun. Good table, lots of action, slightly odd license, but ok. Kind of an obscure table, but who cares? It's fun!