October 6, 2014

“The birds sing a pretty song, and there’s always music in the air.”

The Analog Kid Blog is back! I was down for about two weeks after a nasty hard-drive crash, but thankfully my backup is restored and all of my music is back where it belongs. I was feeling pretty good about my comeback this morning, and then I found out about another epic comeback that was announced today. No, it’s not The Smiths. It’s not the Talking Heads. It’s even bigger than that.

It’s Twin Peaks.

It’s been 23 long years since David Lynch’s masterpiece kept this college student glued to his television set– on a Saturday night, no less! I’ve seen every episode of Twin Peaks at least twenty times, and today’s news that David Lynch will personally direct and co-write a nine-episode revival on Showtime has me dancing around my living room like this guy:

dancing

No details on the cast have been announced yet, but co-creator Mark Frost says that it will be a continuation of the original story and will be set in the present day– 25 years after the events of the original series. Yes,  it appears that we will finally find out exactly what happened to Agent Dale Cooper after he became possessed by Bob in the show’s final episode!

Frost doesn’t know yet if composer Angelo Badalamenti will be back in the fold– he says Lynch will have to confirm that– but I will be shocked if Badalamenti isn’t involved. His atmospheric music was as important to the show as Agent Cooper and cherry pie, and I can’t imagine the show without him. Of course, I can’t imagine the show without Madchen Amick either! (For entirely different reasons, of course)

mädchen-amick-2

I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange…

 

Soundtrack From Twin Peaks

Angelo Badalamenti: Soundtrack From Twin Peaks

Warner Brothers Records, 1990

 

1. “Twin Peaks Theme” (Angelo Badalamenti/David Lynch)

Twin Peaks Theme

2. “Laura Palmer’s Theme” (Angelo Badalamenti)

Laura Palmer’s Theme

3. “Audrey’s Theme” (Angelo Badalamenti)

Audrey’s Dance

4. “The Nightingale” [Vocal By Julee Cruise] (Angelo Badalamenti/David Lynch)

The Nightingale [Vocal By Julee Cruise]

5. “Freshly Squeezed” (Angelo Badalamenti)

Freshly Squeezed

6. “The Bookhouse Boys” (Angelo Badalamenti)

The Bookhouse Boys

7. “Into The Night” [Vocal By Julee Cruise] (Angelo Badalamenti/David Lynch)

Into The Night [Vocal By Julee Cruise]

8. “Night Life In Twin Peaks” (Angelo Badalamenti)

Night Life In Twin Peaks

9. “Dance Of The Dream Man” (Angelo Badalamenti)

Dance Of The Dream Man

10. “Love Theme From Twin Peaks” (Angelo Badalamenti)

Love Theme From “Twin Peaks”

11. “Falling” [Vocal By Julee Cruise] (Angelo Badalamenti/David Lynch)

Falling [Vocal By Julee Cruise]

 

Posted by on October 6, 2014 in Alternative, Soundtrack, TV Theme Songs and tagged , , , , .

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September 29, 2014

Update: The Great Hard Drive Crash Of 2014

Good news: the laptop is fixed, and I am currently in the process of getting my music library back in shape. All of the music was safely stored on an external drive, but the laptop crash wiped out my iTunes install. I had a backup of my library files from a couple months back so I was able to restore, but I lost the link to about 10,000 songs in the process– the music is there, but iTunes just doesn’t KNOW that it’s there. So long story short, I am re-importing the music to my laptop’s new giant C: drive. I won’t lose any music, and it should run a heck of a lot faster! (Note: should you ever attempt to add a folder with 100,000 mp3s to iTunes, please allow about fifteen hours for the task to complete)

I should be back up and running shortly, and that means new blog posts are just around the corner. But not tomorrow, as I am off to Minneapolis to attend the opening concert of Fleetwood Mac’s “On With The Show” tour. I am beyond excited! Of course, I will provide a full report upon my return.

Thanks to all of my readers for your patience and understanding!

–gary

 

Posted by on September 29, 2014 in Rock and tagged , .

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September 22, 2014

“Lions and tigers and hard drive crashes…oh my!”

I woke up this morning to find the screen of death on my laptop– not good, my friends. Thankfully, all of my music is safe and sound on an external drive (and a secondary backup as well).  There may not be any new blog entries for a while as I deal with this unexpected surprise, so I thank you in advance for your patience!

Posted by on September 22, 2014 in Rock.

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September 19, 2014

Holy 100,000 Songs, Batman!

100000 Songs!

It finally happened earlier today: I imported the 100,000th song into my iTunes library. That’s a lot of music. Some random stats about my library that you might enjoy:

-If I let it play continuously, it would take 281.3 days to listen to all of the songs.

-16,890 songs were released between 1970 and 1979.

-Elvis Costello is the leader in the clubhouse with a whopping 1,401 songs. I blame the multiple Columbia, Rhino, and Ryko reissues for this stunningly large number. I suppose that my obsessive compulsive behavior about music might also be a minor factor.

-35,687 songs are from the ’80s. Duh.

-Considering the fact that I acknowledge checking out on new music somewhere around 1996, I still have 28,857 songs from the ’90s. Who knew?

-The lucky 100,000th song was the “Urban Mix” of Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants To Rule The World.” I saw Tears For Fears for the first time on Wednesday night in Austin, and it was absolutely incredible. Roland and Curt played “EWTRTW” about halfway through the show, and the applause was deafening when they finished. IT WOULD NOT STOP.

Roland was beaming and finally said, “Thank you! Goodnight!” But they were just getting going, and the show will always have a place on my Top 10 concerts list. So yeah, I stacked the deck to give Tears For Fears the honor of slot number 100,000. They earned it.

TFF Austin

You may have noticed that there have been a few days without blog posts lately, but I don’t want anyone to think that I am tiring of this. The truth is that I’m almost out of disc space, and my renewal doesn’t take place until early October. I don’t want to shell out the big bucks for a space upgrade for just that two week period, so I am simply pacing myself for the next few weeks. However, I promise that Year 2 of the Analog Kid blog will be bigger & badder & better than ever! Thanks for reading and listening, and here’s to the next 100,000 songs!

–gary

Everybody Wants To Rule The World [U.K. 12_]

Tears For Fears: “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” [Urban Mix] (Roland Orzabal/Ian Stanley/Chris Hughes)

From the U.K. 12″ Everybody Wants To Rule The World

Phonogram Records, 1985

Everybody Wants To Rule The World [Urban Mix]

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Bonus Tracks!

The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.

Ready Steady Who

The Who: “Batman” (Altfielder/Weider/Berry)

From the U.K. EP Ready Steady Who

Reaction, 1966

Batman

 

 

Posted by on September 19, 2014 in Alternative, Rock and tagged , , , , , , , .

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September 15, 2014

45 RPM: Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” [German 7″]

Here’s your ticket to some of the best (or, perhaps, most infamous) 7″ singles ever released! No adapter is required, although in my opinion the device pictured below is right up there with Nutter Butters as one of the best inventions of the 20th century.

45_adapter

 

Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” peaked at #16 the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970, making it one of only four Zep songs to reach the top 20 in the United States. 45 sales simply weren’t very important to Led Zeppelin, a band that made their fortune by selling millions of LPs and packing football stadiums across the country. The group’s ambivalence towards the 7″ format is exactly what made the “Immigrant Song” 45 so special: the b-side was “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do,” the only non-album track released by Led Zeppelin during its twelve year existence.

I didn’t really become a big Zeppelin fan until the mid-’80s, but I had always enjoyed hearing “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” on the radio. The song was a staple on the classic rock stations in the DFW area, and I had no idea that it was a b-side until I started buying Zeppelin CDs in 1986 and couldn’t find it on any of the discs. I searched and searched for a copy of the “Immigrant Song” 45 at used record shops, but copies of the rare single were harder to find in Texas than someone who actually voted for Walter Mondale in the 1984 election.

Thankfully, my long-futile search for the elusive track finally ended when “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” was included on the 4-disc Led Zeppelin box set in 1990. I still haven’t found anyone in Texas who voted for Mondale, but I did manage to find a “Fritz & Tits” t-shirt at a thrift store a few years ago.

 

Immigrant Song [German 7_]

Led Zeppelin: Immigrant Song [German 7″]

Atlantic Records, 1970

 

A-side: “Immigrant Song” (Robert Plant/Jimmy Page)

Immigrant Song

B-side: “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” (Jimmy Page/Robert Plant/John Paul Jones/John Bonham)

Hey Hey What Can I Do

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Bonus Tracks!

The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.

Coda

Led Zeppelin: “Walter’s Walk” (Jimmy Page/Robert Plant)

From the album Coda

Swan Song Records, 1982

Walter’s Walk

 

 

Posted by on September 15, 2014 in Rock and tagged , , , , , , , , .

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