Sound and the Fury: Instrumentals- No Lyrics Please, Just Music...

Redartz:   Ah, music. It's great to just sit and listen, it's a vast improvement over silence as background to whatever you're doing. But sometimes, the lyrics to that music can be a bit distracting. Sometimes, it's nice to simply enjoy the instruments and the notes they produce. Hence today's look at instrumental music. 

Now obviously some genres lend themselves to instrumental performance more than others. Classical and jazz are two that come immediately to mind. And for our discussion this week, I don't intend to limit things; but for my contribution today, I'll stick to popular music. 

And that limitation still leaves a lot to cover. Our beloved Bronze age alone has produced quite a few memorable instrumental hits (and many great wordless tunes that don't classify as 'hits'). In fact, I referenced one of my favorites just last week: MFSB's "T.S.O.P."; also known as the theme to Soul Train. And yes, I know that the Three Degrees supply some fine singing towards the end, but the main focus of that incredible song is the rythem, the beat, the jazzy instrumentation. It's impossible to stay still while that song is playing. 

Another favorite of mine is "Rise" by Herb Alpert. Now that truly qualifies as a hit, as it topped the Billboard Hot 100 in the US in 1979. I'd liked Herb (and his Tijuana Brass) for years by then, as their records were some of the few contemporary artists my parents played when I was a kid. So hearing this auditory gem was like revisiting an old friend....

Several years earlier, another instrumental song made the top ten, and even higher on my personal playlist. Mike Oldfields' "Tubular Bells", aka the theme from the Exorcist. If you play the full album cut it eventually segues into Mr. Oldfield verbal introduction to a progression of instruments, but the 'single' version everyone recognizes has no words. It sure packs a punch...

Next up: a great album cut from the incredible Alan Parsons Project (from the lp "The Turn of a Friendly Card"). The APP have a number of instrumental songs amongst their repertoire, and this one is phenomenal; a highlight from that lp: "The Gold Bug"...

Finally, here's one more favorite of mine; one that may be a bit more obscure. A friend in college introduced me to both the artist and this song; a favor for which I'm eternally grateful. Gary Numan, and "I Nearly Married a Human"...

All right, the turntable is set. I started the playlist, the rest is up to you. Do like to skip the lyrics occasionally, and if so, what instrumental tunes make your list? Do you have any 'less well known' suggestions of some fine instrumentals? This week, let's let the music speak for itself, while we speak about it...

Rank and File: My Favorite Year...

Redartz:  Greetings all! For this week's discussion; we're going to update / expand upon a post I did several years ago at Doug and Karen's fondly remembered Bronze Age Babies. That post was dedicated to choosing a favorite summer, and sharing the reasons why. Here's a link to that original post (with thanks again to Doug and Karen):  http://bronzeagebabies.blogspot.com/2016/06/open-forum-your-favorite-summer.html#links

As our title above indicates, today we are tweaking that subject to select a favorite year. The characteristics of your favorite year will, of course, be subjective; it's your year, you pick the reasons why. Maybe it was the comics, maybe the television, perhaps it was something more personal. Whatever your reasons, what year do you look back upon with the most warmth?

In that previous BAB post, I named 1975 as my favorite summer. For favorite year, I'm sliding back a year to 1974. My reasons: 

Primarily, that was the year I 'returned' to comics.  I say 'returned' because in one sense, I never left- but 1974 was when my junior high pal convinced me to pick up some Marvel (and later DC) books after several years of Archie and Charlton reading. And that reunion with comics lasted, in one form or another, to this very day. 

But 1974 has more to offer than just that personal milestone. Man, what a year to start reading:

 


Marvel brought out the Giant-Size books, and the Treasury Editions,DC had the 100 page giants.  Gerry Conway and Ross Andru had Spidey fighting Molten Man, Jackal and Mysterio. Thomas and Buckler had the Fantastic Four tackling Sub-Mariner, Dr. Doom, Frightful Four and the Silver Surfer. The Avengers were dealing with the Celestial Madonna and Kang (repeatedly). Steve Gerber and Mike Ploog were doing Man-Thing. There were Marvel Value Stamps (yes, I was one of those who clipped them out; mea culpa). Just so much comics fun; it was mind-shattering. 










Ah, but 1974 also knocked me out musically. That was also the year I started following pop music, specifically Casey Kasem and American Top 40; and learned there was something called a "Billboard Hot 100". Some of my all-time favorite singles emanated from that halcyon year. Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown". 

Hues Corporation's "Rock the Boat". Wings' "Band on the Run". MFSB's "TSOP".

 Ray Steven's "The Streak". Steely Dan's "Rikki Don't Lose That Number". Carole King's "Jazzman". 

And that merely scratches the surface. Every week tuning in to AT40 was like magic that year.

So there it is, my testament to 1974. What year gets your vote?

Chew the Fat: The Ups and Downs of Comic Book Romance...

Redartz:  Greetings, gang! It's Valentine's week, and the thoughts of many are turning to romance (or

at least where to buy an affordable bouquet of roses). Accordingly, it seemed appropriate to consider some aspect of romance in comics . 

Specifically, which comic book couples are most interesting/convincing to you? Which seemed mismatched from the start? There are many examples to work from: Lois and Clark, Archie and Betty / Archie and Veronica, Barry and Iris.  No doubt you all will bring up others. But for me, the iconic relationship is that of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.

Much has been written about them and their relationship. Indeed, the comic site CBR has been running a series tracing the evolution of Pete and MJ, from the beginning onward: it's a fascinating read, and here's a link:  https://www.cbr.com/tag/if-her-hair-was-still-red/

Although some prefer Peter's relationship with Gwen Stacy , and some may prefer the Black Cat (and some may hearken back to Betty Brant), I found the Pete/MJ merry-go-round engaging (pun intended) , and nicely developed over many years. Indeed, the lengthy time I spent reading about them perhaps explains why I feel most disposed towards them as a couple. I followed them from the uneasy period following Gwen's death through their wedding, and pretty much all the way up to Amazing Spider-man 700, when "Superior Spider-man" kicked in (Doc Ock took over Peter's body; don't ask, you'd have to have been there). Pete and MJ had many ups and downs, separations , fights, and misunderstandings (both during courtships and wedded years), but

there were many truly touching scenes. Their first kiss at the airport in ASM 143; their awkwardness in the wedding (annual 21), MJ's support and empathy during Aunt May's apparent death  (ASM 400, an excellent tale shamefully undercut by later retconning). 


 And that's just the tiniest tip of a very large iceberg. For brevity's sake, let's just say that Peter and MJ are my comic couple of choice. So who are yours?

Sound and the Fury: New Music, Then and Now...

Redartz:  Well, here is another post inspired by a flea market excursion. You might guess by now, correctly, that I haunt these things with some frequency. What can I say? It keeps me out of the pool halls (a good thing, as I'm a lousy pool player).

In this instance, the 'big find' wasn't a comic or collectible. It was a box full of compact discs; about 200 of them. Completely unsorted; this box was stuffed full, sitting on the floor of one particular booth, and marked for the whopping sum of 12 dollars. Most folks would pass over such a box; cds suffering in popularity from the availability of streaming services and the resurgence of vinyl. But not me; I took a brief look over the top of the stacks (one could realistically only access a couple dozen without emptying the box all over the floor). Yes, there was junk, but several discs of interest- enough interest to justify the purchase. 

So an hour later I was hunched over a card table in the living room, sorting and stacking piles of jewel cases. There weren't any 'big guns'; i.e. no Beatles, Stones, Duran Duran, Hendrix. But there were many I chose to keep: a Simpsons disc, Basia, Enya, Modest Mouse, Harry Connick Jr., and more. There were quite a number of classical discs, many not already among my collection. But providing the fun (and today's subject) were the many discs totally unfamiliar to me. Soundtracks to films I'd not heard of, cds by acts from all over. World music, Jazz, Big Bands, and so on. And how can you beat the fun of auditioning all this new (new to me, anyway) music? Right off the bat there was a great discovery; a disc by an act called Groove Armada. Now you UK residents may know of them, but I did not. Popped it in for a listen and was quite pleased, googled them and found out they have had some success 'over your way'. Now I will have to search out more of their work. 

The 'moral' of this tale is that it is still a pleasure today to discover good music. Maybe it's easier in today's world to explore different musical outlets. Back in the 70's and 80's, learning about new music meant having either a friend with a great lp collection or access to a record store with knowledgeable staff (and preferably a good imports section). In college we had a terrific used record store, called Second Time Around. They had a big selection of old and new lps, but the big attraction was that they kept receiving many of the hot new sounds from all around the world during those heady days of the Punk/New Wave era. Nobody else in our area could have introduced me to, for instance, Gruppo Sportivo. Every week, our little gang visited that store to see what was in (after a stop at the nearby comic shop, of course). And we rarely left empty handed.

So for our discussion: expanding your musical horizons. How did you do it 'back then'? How do you do it now? How important is it for you to 'stay current', and do you enjoy finding great music from the past that speaks to you now? What acts were you stoked upon first hearing? Go ahead, we're all listening...