Winter

Here in Western Mass it's been the best, warmest winter anyone could've hoped for. Really, the only real snow we got was on Saturday, October 29 when we got a big snowstorm before the leaves had fallen from the trees and all kinds of branches broke off and left everybody without power- me for two days, some towns for over a week.

This morning I was out having a smoke and waiting for my dad to pick me up and these hard round snowballs started falling. They made a sound when they hit the ground. We drove 20 miles south to my parents' house and they had about an inch of snow. When I got back home around 1pm it was just raining here and it's raining still.

This is great. We made it through January- the worst month. I always think that if you can survive January then you're all set for the rest of the year; everything else will be easy. Now there's less than a month of winter left.

My only regret for this winter is that I didn't read more. I don't know what I did with the last two months; I just know that I have nothing to show for it.

Anyway, I hope that whereever you are you're having a good winter and if you aren't, hold on, spring will be here soon.

How was your Valentine's Day?

Yeah, mine too.

I'm glad that I posted all those pictures the other night, because I got busy and I haven't been able to come here since that night.

I just showered, shaved, and popped a couple TylPMs and I figured I had a couple minutes before they started to kick in so I'm writing this while YouTube is playing "Saving All My Love For You". I didn't really like that song at the time- I was a kid and it was too slow for me- but now it's one of my favorites.

"I Wanna Dance With Somebody" (and the B-side "Moment Of Truth)
"I'm You Baby Tonight"
"We Didn't Know" (duet with Stevie Wonder)
I Will Always Love You"
and probably my favorite:
"My Love Is Your Love"

I got The Bodyguard soundtrack for Christmas that year and I liked the movie a lot. It always reminds we of Christmastime during my high school years. Thinking back, it's not that great of an album. Aside from "I'm Every Woman", Whitney doesn't have any really good songs on it; Side Two is various artists and the only song I like there is a cover of "It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day".

Alright, I'm going to bed now. Good night.

Belly "King"

Belly's second album King came out on February 14, 1995. They released a special edition in a hard cover book form and I've never seen it in a store but I've always wanted it. If anyone has it and feels like giving me an early birthday present send me a message. Here are some images.

Madonna "Keep It Together"

"Keep It Together" was the fifth single from Like A Prayer. If my memory is right, "Like A Prayer" came out right before the albim was released, "Express Yourself" came out around April or May of 1989, "Cherish" in August, and "Oh Father" was out just before Christmas. The time of the releases seemed to fit their seasons well. "Cherish" was a great summertime song, and "Oh Father" had a wintery sound plus a snowy video.

"Keep It Together" came out sometime at the middle of winter 1990. I don't remember if it was out at Valentine's Day, but the sleeve definitely has a Valentine's day look to it: color, black and white, red and pink. One maxi-single just had remixes of the song, another opened with an extended remix of "Cherish".

I read that originally Madonna wanted the B-side to a song that she had made after the release of Prayer, a dance song called "Vogue", but once Sire Records heard it they convinced her to wait and release it as a single. It went on to be a big hit, and one of the only good songs on her next record, I'm Breathless- Music From and Inspired by Dick Tracy.

Pixies "Debaser"

"Debaser" is a special song for me as it's the first Pixies song I ever heard. As I probably wrote here before, February 14, 1994 I went to a record store the next town over one night after school and I had read that Kim Deal had bean in a band called The Pixies before she started The Breeders and I was curious to hear what they sounded like.

There were two or three Pixies tapes in the racks on the wall. I don't remember what else they had there, but the sleeve for Doolittle seemed pretty cool to me: it was all gold and brown and black and white. I popped it in my tape player and before I had left the parking lot I loved it.

I'm not crazy about the sleeve design for most of the Pixies's post- breakup releases (I especially can't stand Pixies At The BBC) but I like the different sleeves for "Debaser".

Anyway, on Valentine's Eve I'sd like to post about some sleeves that I identify with the 14th of February.

Belly "King"

When I saw Belly play at Lupo's in April 1995 I remember seeing the poster at the bottom on sale. I didn't really like it but I probably would've bought the one on top if it was there. I would've bought the King flat too.

Belly "Star"

One thing that I've always wanted to own- and have never seen in a store- is the Belly album Star on vinyl. Before today I'd only seen one side of the inner sleeve (white with the Belly logo in grey and white and a long color photo on top. Tonight I saw the other side: it's the green brunette giant lady.

I love the Star cover photo. I'd love to have a giant poster with that image.

Madonna "Like A Prayer"

Until tonight, I'd never seen the top image.

Madonna "Express Yourself"

Then there's "Express Yourself", the second single from Like A Prayer, and the second song on the album. The original version of the song was good, but the remix they did for the video improved it- my favorite part is still the record scratch at the very beginning.

I like the Madonna photo and the way that the front cover connects to the back cover. Here are some cool pictures from the same photo shoot. Until tonight, I'd never seen the second image.

Madonna "Cherish"

My favorite Madonna era was the time of Like A Prayer. I love her music during that time, and the videos, the record sleeves, and all the photo shoots. I know the record sleeves very well, so I'm always excited when I come across alternate pictures from those photo shoots. Here's an example- the second image was taken at the same time as the "Cherish" sleeve front cover (and I love the "Cherish" single because it contains Madonna's only real B-side: "Supernatural").


Note: I love the top image- i think it's cool that they just slapped those labels onto the record sleeve. I can imagine the factory where they put those together; there must've been a pile of records and a pile of those labels, waiting to be stuck on.

Prince, 10 Track Promo

I bought a few of the later albums before I gave up for good, and I consider the time of The Hits/ The B-sides to be the end of Prince's period of making good music.

The Hits/ The B-sides isn't perfect- it's missing songs, has too many older tracks, and the way that it's sequenced makes no sense- but it's still a great product. It's worth it for the 3rd disc alone, but I'm also a big fan of the lettering. I love the print and the way that they put the song titles in boxes.

Here's a 10 track collection promoting The Hits/ The B-sides.

Prince "Pink Cashmere"

It's sad to say, but, as far as I know, this might be Prince's last good song.

Prince "1999"

(I love the second image and the way that it uses the same text from the 1999 album cover and shrinks it and places it on a purple background with all the lyrics in normal print.)

Prince "When Doves Cry"

Prince "Let's Pretend We're Married"

STAR WARS

I'm trying to get my brother to with me to the movies Friday night to see STAR WARS: EPISODE ONE in 3D. All I've ever seen is the first one, probably when I was 4, and I don't remember any of it. A guy my age should've seen them all dozens of times. What can I say? I missed a lot.

This winter has been weird so far: usually it's cold and snowy and I waste a lot of time indoors reading and watching TV shows I've already seen. Instead I've been working overtime and entertaining friends on weeknights. I'm not complaining, it just feels like something's missing. I'd like to take the whole weekend and watch the season two DVD set of The West Wing. First I've gotta buy it, though.

By the way, this past fall I was very broke- and I still kinda am- so I never got Throwing Muses: Anthology, but I still want it badly. The problem is: I don't know if the 2 disc set is still even available. If you have a copy and wanna give it too me send me a message and we'll work it out. Thank you.

WILD AT HEART

WILD AT HEART (1990) David Lynch

When WILD AT HEART came out I was already obsessed with Twin Peaks. I loved WILD AT HEART, with reservations. I've seen it one other time since first seeing it all those years ago. I was very young then, so I missed a lot of things.

Around 1989, 1990, 1991, I was very interested in art, especially visual art. I didn't care about the story as much as I cared about how things looked. I was into the Madonna videos that were dirceted by David Fincher and Mary Lambert and I was hearing Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Sugarcubes for the first time (I wish that The Pixies and Throwing Muses were on my radar back then but I didn't find out about them until a couple years later).

Anyway, after all these years, I still apprceiate the visual aspect of WILD AT HEART. And I love Harry Dean Stanton and Diane Ladd- the scene where she's got lipstick all over her face and the music that goes along are still amazing. And the things that bothered me the first time around still make me uncomfortable. I hate when they come across Sherlyn Fenn (it's unbelievably sad) and I hate when the clerk at the feed store gets his hand shot off and the dog runs away with it. It's meant to be funny and it's light-years from funny.

Can we talk about Chris Isaak for a minute? He's had an amazing career. By the way, I think he's great. My favorites are his San Francisco Days and Forever Blue. Anyway, the list of directors that he's worked with, or been associated with, is pretty neat. He had songs in Blue Velvet and WILD AT HEART (plus David Lynch directed one of the videos for "Wicked Game"; Herb Ritts directed the second, better-known one) and he had a role in Fire Walk With Me. Jonathan Demme game him small roles in Married To The Mob and Silence Of The Lambs and Isaak was on the Married soundtrack. His song "Two Hearts" was on the soundtrack for True Romance and Stanley Kubrick choose his "Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing" for the film and trailers for Eyes Wide Shut. Then he had a starring role in John Waters's A Dirty Shame.