Ken Robinson's UAW Tapes: 1969-1974

Okay, it's time to get serious about the UAW tapes. I made cassette backups 10 years ago, but now I own the originals. About 6 years ago, I digitized a few clips, but now it's time to get them all digitized and organized. I've just completed an inventory of them--they span 5 years: 1969-1974. There is a potential of 17.5 hours of recorded material here; my memory is that not all tapes are recorded until the end of side b.


The earliest tape has a wonderful speech from Walter Reuther. I am going to digitize these quickly, get them in the same place, and make multiple copies of the digital files.

The rest of the tapes are music (several are labeled "Dinner Music"). It's funny--there's a lot of the same music in Ken's collection, especially Guy Lombardo, as I found in my other grandfather's tapes. About 50% of the collection is work-related union stuff from meetings, rallies, conferences, etc. I really think I should digitize that stuff. I have done bits and pieces before, but this is everything. My guess is that the Reuther Library might like copies. I will start this tonight.

I will update the speadsheet with actual run times. Here's a quick plan:

• digitize tapes one at a time
• assign letters to each in order to distinguish
  
• save "master" copies to a single folder
• edit individual tapes in reasonable track intervals
• populate raw files with descriptions and tags in iTunes
• create a DVD with all files
• create a set of audio CDs of all files
• write a small set of liner notes

Technical details of the digitization:

• digitized in stereo
• mp3 format (128kbps)
• re-mixed to mono (original recordings almost certainly mono)

I want to do a nice job with this so that it might be useful to the Reuther or to a labor historian some day. I am fairly certain these events are not audio archived anywhere--my grandfather was kind of technology freak, and taping things was a hobby of his.

Below is a slideshow of scanned images of the tapes:





Update: I think a key to getting this done properly is to do it in a short period of time. Here's a plan. I have two working cassette decks. I am going to take one to work and digitize during the day as well. The machine really doesn't require any special attention. The fidelity differences between the decks are, I am sure, minimal. I will use the same device to digitize, so the files will all be in one place and the settings will all be the same.

As I write this, I am digitizing the 120 min tape from 1969 with Reuther (he's been speaking for about 45 minutes down in my basement--talking about Black Lake, workers' families, and now he's talking about the UAW members who worked on the Apollo 11 moon mission. He was a fantastic speaker. The speech has interesting points about leadership development.

So I will set a goal of digitizing about 3 hours of audio during the day in my office. I won't edit or anything--that all gets done at home on the computer. In fact, after tomorrow, I can use the digitizing time to do some of the editing on the files that are already digitized. Then I can shoot for about 90 minutes of digitizing per night as I edit. I should be done digitizing before Friday if I keep that pace. Then I can use Friday and the weekend to do editing and formatting. I can set Friday, December 5 as the date to have a finished product--the whole thing digitized, edited, and organized.

Another update: Because I've worked with long mp3 files before, I have made the decision to make each "master" track the length of one side of a tape. This will make the files easier to work with. It would be much easier to put two tapes in the dual well Yamaha and spit out 3 hour mp3s, but that would be a pain. Also, I'd have to split them before I even started editing.

Now I will have a predictable system. There are 11 tapes, which means 22 "master" files, the longest of which will be 1 hour. I will use the letters to organize. This tape I am doing now (the 1969 Reuther tape) will be tracks A1 and A2, each 1 hour long.

I also had another thought: I can get one of these going while I am getting ready in the morning. First thing, I'll go down and start one. I might be able to get an entire 90 minute cassette done before I leave for work. Do two of them at work, and one more at home during the evening. We'll crank this out!

Why am I writing all this down?

The Arrival of Victor Feldman

Back in 1986, my bass teacher introduced me to the work of bassist Scott LaFaro. I remember buying a vinyl copy of Sunday At The Village Vanguard while home for Thanksgiving break. I stared at the record as it spun on my turntable; it's not dramatic to say that the way I listened to music was changed forever.

Later that term, Peter loaned me a cassette copy of the then-out-of-print The Arrival of Victor Feldman. My copy is around here somewhere, but right now I am listening to it on Rhapsody.

Feldman came back to me in a funny way--he plays vibes and organ on some of my favorite Tom Waits records.

Scotty was about 21 when he made this record. Right now I am listening to his solo on "Waltz," and it's just impossible for me to comprehend that kind of genius. Given the timing, this must have been recorded on his old plywood bass--he purchased the Prescott a year later, I think.

Garbage Audio

Literally.

I have saved three pairs of absolutely awful loudspeakers from the garbage. One was a pair of lowest-grade Sony speakers that Kathy had in her condo when we met (I knew I was comfortable in our relationship when I was able to tell her that they sucked--I waited until she asked, though). Another is a pair of Realistic speakers that, while they were junk to begin with, dropped to the floor and crushed around the cabinet edges. Finally we have a pair of Fisher speakers (similar to Doc's 1963 500B in name only) that our next door neighbor was going to junk after they failed to sell at a garage sale for $25/pr. All these are powered by a JVC integrated amp I bought on eBay for $14 (my JVC cassette deck is hooked up for good measure--it was $9).

I mounted these between the floor joists using available materials: a broken broom handle, hooks and screw eyes, and computer network cable and cable mounts left behind by the Dish Network guy. To hook them all together, I literally grabbed 25 feet of computer networking cable out of the trash and jerryrigged it into speaker wire by stranding two threads together for each terminal: (Brown = Right +, Orange = Right -, etc.). For these crappy speakers, this is just fine.






Truth be told, the speakers sound even worse up in the ceiling. But, it's not a listening room--this is a work room, and you get what you pay for, right? I wouldn't want any decent speakers down there. One caveat: with numerous speakers in the ceiling, the sound is complex, which can be interesting as you move around. That and the fact that the floorboards really shake with bass when you are playing it loud (brings lyrics from "Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" to mind: "I got everybody's PA at my house... ah, my house!").

Doc's Audio

There's no question that my love of audio gear, and probably music itself for that matter, comes from my Grandfather Owen "Doc" Rice. The relationship between my grandfather and me revolved around music--my mother still tells the story that he teared up with joy when he heard me whistle and carry a tune. Over the years, he and I talked about music constantly.

This post will be about his audio gear.

I also remember helping him fix (twice) a really crappy Tascam cassette deck toward the end of his life. It was one of those dual-well decks, bottom grade. A motor kept failing, and the guy at the local repair shop refused to fix it for him (doing him a favor, really). But he insisted that I find the part the guy needed, and so I did.

All the good stuff was left at his Grand Rapids home on Elmwood (or sold). He had a mid-grade Technics receiver in Grand Haven--it was hooked into some old Bozak speakers that were built into the cabinetry (existed in the home when he purchased). They were nice. His receiver on Elmwood was a early 60s vintage Fisher (that thing was sweet).

I can't be certain this was the exact model, but this 500B from an eBay listing is the exact look. I remember that thing! The blue lettering "THE FISHER" would glow behind the radio dial, and I can still see that bird flying with a musical note in its beak (see above).

I can picture the speakers he had in the living room and basement, but I don't know makes or models. His reel to reel deck was a Sony; I was not allowed to touch the old cassette deck (a Sony also, I believe). The turntable was actually on a high shelf, so I can't recall it exactly. I think it had a wooden case; might have been a Dual or BSR.



So a few of the tapes in the burned cases have my handwriting; I took his reel-to-reel deck at one time and fixed it, then transferred things to cassette. I also borrowed a deck to do the same thing later on; a few of the reel-to-reel transfers are things I should really look at: he told the story that some of them were bootleg recordings he copied from the across-the-street neighbor, Glenn Ferry, who shared his love of music. I don't remember Mr. Ferry, but I remember his house, his wife Mrs. Ferry who used to play with me, their Scottie-dog "Corky," and their huge console organ. Playing at Mrs. Ferry's house is what gave me my desire to get a Scottish Terrier.



Looking at this faceplate, I am certain this is the model. I recognize the switches, the split pots, and the green strength meter. I'd know that deck anywhere (and I haven't seen it in 30 years).

As warm as those tubes sound, this must be a pain in the ass piece of audio gear to own today.

Dead Grandfathers

Man, that sounds bad. But dead they are.

My grandfather Owen A. Rice died in 1998 in a fire at his home in Grand Haven, MI. He was 82 years old; I was 30.

I called my Mom's father "Doc," and we were very close. I am also very fortunate that we became even closer before he died. I made a point of visiting him often in Grand Haven; when I became separated from my first wife, my dog Murphy and I would often make trips to see him. My mom saved a bunch of stuff from the fire, including his tapes. I just looked at them. The cases are all smoke and water damaged. I am surprised to see how many of the jackets are in my handwriting--I helped him transfer many reel-to-reel tapes in the late 80s and early 90s.

My grandfather Kenneth W. Robinson died in 1976 of his third heart attack in Naples, FL. He was 54 years old; I was 7.

Ken's cassettes are in two brown albums--they are mostly work-related union tapes of Fall School sessions, speeches, and conventions. There is a little music. These all date from the early 1970s; until recently they were at my grandmother's cottage on Lake Michigan. I've had duplicates of many of the union tapes for about 10 years--I made duplicates in 1998 during a visit to Punta Gorda (I was actually writing the prospectus for my dissertation; it was my first post-divorce Christmas; Renee and I visited Gram in her new home; I sat by the pool and wrote while the tapes duplicated). Now I have the originals. I should make digital copies of all of them.

Cleaning The Basement With My Dead Grandfather

Okay, it's not as weird as it sounds. I was crazy nuts about both my grandfathers, and both of them were into stereo equipment and making cassette tapes. I've got a bunch of tapes from both of them, and today I was cleaning the basement. I patched together a little rig to listen to the cassettes as I organized the basement; I also digitized a couple.

I started an 8tracks channel called "granddad" so I can post stuff there. That way I can share with my extended family.

I will code the mixes with their first names: Owen & Ken. The first mix is a funny one called "Variety Records & Radio." I'll post it tonight.

Update: Well, I ditched the old-school "hiss" of analog tape and switched to iPod. Just for fun, I ran the iPod through the old cassette deck. Sad discovery: the deck only records on the left channel (but it plays back on both and the meters work--which was the main reason I bought the thing.). So it's not a 100% functioning deck; what do you want for $9.95?

The thing is still useful to me: I can digitize old cassettes (could do that with my trusty Yamaha), and I can go down memory lane with the old LCD VU meters.

Been listening to Eno and Unholy Modal Rounders as I clean.

Black Postcards

You can listen to this mix as you read about it. Try it--you'll like it!

The Story of My First Mix CD

Almost exactly 4 years ago, I found myself at a crossroads. I had just poured my whole entire self into an 8-month campaign for the State Legislature. I knocked on 19,000 doors, raised $140,000, put my family through a whole bunch of crap and lost big. I had put together a campaign staff of five wonderful people, two of whom had relocated from other parts of the country to work on my race. I wasn't the only person who had gone all out... they worked--sometimes harder than I did--to get me elected. And we lost.

As I reflected on my life, I realized that one thing I had left behind me was my zealous passion for discovering new pop music. Jay, our field director, and Jon, our consultant, shared my love of great bands. But they had stayed involved. They played me bands I'd never heard of before. They inspired me to challenge myself to make a mix--something I hadn't done in years. The last time I had made a mix was with my cassette deck. For me, 2004 was pre-iPod, and I didn't even know how to burn a music CD. My challenge rules were simple: make a mix CD for the campaign staff with bands I had never heard before. I tried to keep all tracks newer than the year 2000, but ended up making exceptions for Simply Saucer and Guided By Voices. The result was my Black Postcards mix. Even Kathy likes this mix.

I've uploaded Black Postcards to 8tracks, and it's embedded below. I love every song on this mix. It always takes me back to that very confusing time when I got back up after a resounding defeat.

Jon and Christina had me over to the house after the loss; Luna was playing on the stereo. That's what made me start. The first song I found was "Black Postcards" from Romantica. I love this song for the lyrical ambiguity that so perfectly matched my psyche after the campaign:

If I had to do it all again, I wouldn't / Throw it all away.

This line is exquisite. You can hear it as a statement in the positive or negative. "If I had it all to do again, I wouldn't throw it all away," or "If I had to do it all again, I wouldn't. Throw it all away." This was absolutely perfect for me. More lyrics, such as "I'm tired of having no future / I'm tired of pushing my luck / I'm tired of waiting for the endgame / Watching the stars turn black." Jon, Greg (who also worked on the campaign) and I actually caught their second-to-last show in Detroit in 2005. The end of something.

I also love the two Pinback songs here; I broke my self-imposed rule by putting two songs by them on here. There's something magical about the refrain "Anything I say to you is gonna come out wrong anyway" on "Concrete Seconds." Simply Saucer is another wonderful find.

I learned about most of these bands on epitonic. A month or so later, I found even more bands and made a second mix called Pillow Mix. Maybe I'll upload that one next.

~G-Fab

P.S. I'm actually kind of proud of the cover art I created for the 8tracks mix here. I searched online for a 2004 postmark and found one; I used Photoshop to alter the image, change the background and the angle, and give it that mother of pearl kind of look. There is no significance to the postmark "Santa Clara CA." If anything, I should have found a San Diego postmark in honor of Pinback, the band that ties the mix together (although the CA bit could be an oblique reference to the Luna song "California All The Way").

Dmitri Shostakovich Preludes & Fugues

I love music that is about ideas, and the high calculus of music about ideas is music that is about musical ideas. J.S. Bach is probably the best source for this kind of music; listening to Bach manipulate, transpose, modulate, and reform his ideas in his various inventions, preludes, and fugues is great fun for me, and for some reason, it helps me work.

Lately, I've been transfixed by Keith Jarrett's recording of Shostakovich's series of preludes and fugues. It makes sense to learn that the Soviet composer modeled his series on Bach, whom he adored. The 20th century flavor of these pieces is a very nice change from the baroque patterning that epitomizes JSB--the modal scales in these works, which exhibit the same kind of mathematical interplay of musical ideas, give a Modern sensibility to these works that reminds me of jazz composers and performers. All the more reason that Jarrett's lyrical style is a delight when paired with these compositions.

In many ways, this has been the perfect working music for me during the past month in my new office. Not only does it keep the neighbors from knocking, it stimulates my brain in a way that keeps me fresh and moving.

"I have seen the future of Internet music, and it is 8tracks"

8tracks, I love you.

There are many reasons that 8tracks is better than Muxtape ever was; to enumerate them will require a full magazine of bullets (listed below).

• It's possible to upload more than one track at a time. Muxtape veterans will appreciate this; you don't have to wait until one track is done loading to load another. Cue them up and go take out the garbage, as I just did. Then you can write your blog while the list uploads, as I am doing now.
• You can embed your mix on your blog. Oooooooh. This is fantastic. That's the whole reason I want those mixes--so I can share them with the handful of pals who check in with me from time to time. I'm gonna re-load some of my favorite Muxtape mixes (not all of them, I had 23 of them at the time of Muxtape's demise).
• You can "follow" the mixes of other 8track mixerpeople. Hard to imagine, but there are scores of mix addicts like me out there, and now I can listen to their stuff.
• You can add cover art to your mix. Oh yes, it's true, with Muxtape you could specify an RGB color to go with your mix. But this is much cooler--I'm gonna make some customized square picture with Photoshop every time I make a mix. What fun!
• You can create multiple mixes. I mean, I did it anyway with Muxtape, but here it's built in and part of the fun. Related to the "following" feature above, you can tune into the mixes of folks who have taste you admire.
• They have the right philosophy: 70s freeform radio + 80s mixtapes + 90s DJ culture = INTERNET MUSIC HEAVEN.
• It's apparently (purportedly, at any rate) all legal! Some loopholes having to do with Internet radio make this joy possible.
  

I am so darn excited.

Very Well, Then...

Here's a Muxtape mix from May 2008 back on the scene. Click that link back there if you want all the original info on the mix and the challenge (it was MTC challenge #4 I think):

1. Teachers / Daft Punk
2. Campus / Vampire Weekend
3. Measuring Cups / Andrew Bird
4. Still In School / NRBQ
5. All Dressed Up For School / The Beach Boys
6. Education is the Key / Sweet Honey In The Rock
7. Education / Modest Mouse
8. Modern Education / Tokyo Sex Destruction
9. It's A Sin / Pet Shop Boys
10. Waitin' In School / Rick Nelson
11. In School / Die Kreuzen
12. Teachers / Soulwax

I've decided that 8tracks is better than Muxtape. By a lot. Blog entry on that coming soon (along with a few Muxtape mixes that need to be put back online).

Inexpensive Technology...

... may have caught up with my audio vision for the house.

Yes, Apple's had the AirPort express for a while, and there have been some really expensive and/or complicated systems for PC-based thru-home audio. But this might actually work:



My goals:

• The PC is my central sound source--iTunes, Rhapsody, and web-based streaming audio.
• The transfer is wireless and digital
• The ability to have multiple receivers for various audio systems in the house (living room, basement, family room, bathroom (yes, I have a receiver and in-ceiling speakers in the bathroom)

More on this later. But it looks like Creative's XMod Wireless is gonna be the ticket. Then I can get all those darn wires out of the crawlspace.

Aaron Found Us A Place To Play!

I just made a mix on 8tracks, a site that Aaron hipped us to this week (and that isn't the royal "us," because he told Joshua, too). I think you can embed them. Yes you can (below) but it's randomized and the embed doesn't show song titles.





Below is the playlist I uploaded, but it changes every time (I think it plays in order the first time). The mixes are really micromixes, as they need to be about 30 minutes long, or about 8 tracks (though mine is 10). Tune in and tell me what you think.



Some Thoughtless Thoughts On This Mix

Usually I put more thought into mixes, but I was so excited to get started with 8tracks that I just dove in. The first track is the eponymous "Mystery Party" by The Stickmen, an 80s Philly no-wave band that made me oh so very happy as a young driver. As a 16 year old, I had two of their tracks taped from the radio and I used to love driving my 1971 VW Beetle while cranking the herky jerky Stickmen. Next is something from the very underrated Songs of the Free record by Gang of Four; yes, Entertainment! is a much more important record. Gang of Four is one of those bands that had to exist. I love this LCD Soundsystem track, which really captures what they are like live (despite the fact that the studio stuff is just James Murphy all by himself). I was so happy when David Byrne played "Crosseyed and Painless" in Ann Arbor. LCD Soundsystem's "Daft Punk Is Playing..." is remixed here by pop geniuses Soulwax; I think this re-mix might be better than the orignial, especially when you listen for the Daft Punk samples. The first Devo record (produced by Brian Eno) was brilliant, and "Uncontrollable Urge" is as good a track as you'll find there. I literally fell on the floor when I heard "Dad I'm In Jail" for the first time at Sam's Jams in Ferndale (yes, I fell on the floor in public). I purchased the single for XTC's "Ball and Chain" back in 1982 or 1983 at Camelot Music, and it was backed with "Punch and Judy," a great little song; my mom drove me to the record store--on our previous visit, she purchased Fleetwood Mac's Rumors, and I bought KISS Alive II. My ears did some growing up between those two visits. "Constellations of My Vanity" is a great song with grad school-esque lyrics (how many pop songs have the word "modernity" in them, eh?). A recent re-encounter with Elvis Costello has me going through his back catalog, and this is a nice closing song.

An Endless Series of Playlists of Unrecognized Bands

But I've been unable to summon a response to the endless series of playlists, not recognizing more than a couple of bands. --Greg

Perhaps without knowing it, Greg came up with a great subtitle for this blog: "G-Fab's Analog Mix Blog: An Endless Series of Playlists of Unrecognized Bands."

Gotta drag out some of the few mixtapes I've made that have not been posted here. I got back into making mixes after I lost the 2004 campaign for the State House. I made two mixes for the campaign staff: Black Postcards and Pillow Mix. On each, I challenged myself to include bands I had never heard before--unrecognized! I still listen to both mixes.

The unknown (to me) bands on those mixes: Luna, Pinback, Bunkbed, AM/FM, American Analog Set, Capitol K, Earlimart, Film School, and others. These were all new to me in 2004. Some are big-time favs now.

My House In Motion

Here's a photo of me shakin' the junk in my trunk at the David Byrne show in Ann Arbor. Todd took it with his iPhone. Little did we know it, but my pals Greg and Jon were also there that night. We also saw Frank from the art department.

I can't not dance at concerts. I would love to see a Soulwax show.

It was a great show. Some pro pictures from the Milwaukee show here.

A Standing Joke

Readers of the AnalogMix will remember (readers? I have readers?) that I've been pining away for a standing desk solution. My pal Greg has a standing desk, and so does his hero Donald Rumsfeld. [That's a test to see if Greg reads this.]

TEST RESULTS: Greg does read this, and if anything, Rumsfeld is Greg's anti-hero; Greg is a researcher with my former union, the MEA, and one of the world's really, really good guys. Among other things, Greg works to unmask the Mackinac Center's anti-union, anti-teacher bull puckey. He does that here.

At any rate, I have about 95% of my standing desk solution put together. It started with an adjustable, ergonomic, gas-filled monitor arm. This thing is cool, and at $180 it's made me the envy of every geek that's entered my office. I use it a great deal while seated.

The other part of the solution is really funny. Marty, a researcher in our IR office, brought me a keyboard arm that had been pitched in the garbage (she also brought me stories of other things she'd picked from the garbage, all of which had the office in stitches). At any rate, I made a small stand for part of the keyboard tray; I used a $3.00 pine board from Home Depot. I laminated several sections of the board together and cut them to the right size--it's sturdy and heavy, just what I wanted. Coated them with some hammered-finish spray paint and put a felt liner on the bottom (all stuff I had lying around from previous projects). Et voila! An ergonomic keyboard stand at the custom height of 9.5 inches.

It works great. After I get used to it, I might construct something more attractive and permanent. But this is pretty cool.

P.S. Yes, that's me, and yes, that's my office, and yes the walls are purple.

Erik Satie

Finding the right kind of music for my new office is interesting. A few observations:

Neighborhood. My immediate neighbors are often home, which means that anything with bass drum/bass will probably weep through the walls and disturb them. This means that piano music is perfect.

Shostakovich. Keith Jarrett's recordings of the preludes and fugues have been great in the new office. Tried some string quartets today--nope. Gotta be keyboard. I guess this means I can't play the opera Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk, which is one of my favs.

Bach. I have more J.S. Bach recordings that you do. Whoever you are, this is true. I have a nice mix of modern piano (not period keyboard) performances that do nicely for office music. I adore the controversial Glenn Gould recordings, but they are not good for the office--they require [no, they DEMAND] your attention.

Satie. Spun the curious Frenchman for a while today. Perfect.

The Office Audiophile, Vol. 3

Studies indicate listening to music at work is good.

Of course I didn't look for any studies indicating that it wasn't. I also didn't investigate the possibility that people who see/hear you listening to music might think you are not dedicated to your job or serious about your performance. [But man, I hope that isn't true... I really do.]

So here are links to some of those studies that say what I want. Oh, and I have been listening to Shostakovich preludes and fugues at work--and I rediscovered The Beautiful South. And today I listened to my favorite post-war Sarah Vaughn recordings. Oh, and my recent mixes.

• Spherion Survey: Workers Say Listening to Music While Working Improves Job Satisfaction, Productivity
• Can Listening to Music Help Us Work Better?
• The effect of music listening on work performance
• Listen While You Work: Who Does, And Why?

The battery in my car is dead and I need to get a new one on my way to work; I wonder where I can do that.

Oh, and I've been listening to XTC's Skylarking, and there's no way it's better than English Settlement. I think 1982's English Settlement might officially be my favorite record from high school.

I was going to go to bed, but I stumbled on Kraftwerk's Minimum-Maximum, a live thing from 2004. Kraftwerk are amazing!!!!!!! The version of "Home Computer" is make-you-cry beautiful.

I Can Talk About It Now!!!

My Dad is on Obama's Transition Team!!!!!

It's been a secret until this afternoon, but now that the transition folks have moved into their office space at DOJ, I can speak. My Dad, former Asst. AG for the Criminal Division, is on President-Elect Obama's Department of Justice transition team. This has been a secret for quite a while, and I have slipped and hinted to a few pals. Funny that tonight someone should ask me point blank, and I lied and said "no." An hour later, I talked to my Dad and learned that as of this afternoon, it's now okay to talk about.

Last night, the President Elect told 60 Minutes that he's been reading briefing papers. My Dad wrote some of those briefing papers! In fact, I was in the car when he took the conference calls supervising their composition!

Here's a video of my dad speaking about DOJ's criminal function at a meeting of the American Constitution Society.

Keeping It Down

Okay, I'll admit it. I think of, care about, and fidget with some of the stupidest things you can imagine. For example, this evening I will be fiddling with two pairs of 1980s-vintage RadioShack headphones, both purchased on eBay for about $10. Why? Funny you should ask...

I just had an interesting insight about my entire life. Much of my life has been about "keeping it down." Specifically, I've struggled to keep the music that I play in a 12 x 12 room quiet enough so that I don't disturb others. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I struggle to play the music just loud enough to not disturb others. In fact, this photograph I took of my stereo when I was a teenager illustrates the point well.



You can see some marks by the volume knob--the red one represents when the volume was loud enough to cause my mother to come tell me to turn it down. For some reason my grandfather had little pices of tape on his volume knob when I was a kid; I did the same with my rig for a very crucial purpose.

Back to those RadioShack headphones. Well, another thing my mom did to help me keep it down was gift me with these headphones. I got these as a gift before my parents split up. They are Realistic NOVA-30s. Nothing special, but they hold a lot of memories. My pair are long gone, but I found some on eBay for $10. But one of the speakers was missing, so I bought a similar model and will get all Frankenstein on them tonight. They were pretty cool with volume knobs on each ear. You can see Jack Black wearing the same pair in High Fidelity during the "I Just Called To Say I Love You" scene in the record shop. [That funny-looking bellows thing in front of him, incidentally, is a harmonica tester; what it's doing there, I don't know--must have looked cool to the props guys.]

The New Yorker Cover...

... made me cry today.


The New Yorker subscription is a gift from Dad & Marti--we've had it for a few years, and it's great to have around. During the campaign, the covers were just fantastic. I even liked the cartoon of Barack and Michelle in the Oval Office. Then there was the tableau with Sarah Palin biting Obama's ankle as Joe Biden tried to hit her with a rolled up newspaper.

The Office Audiophile

Up in my faculty office, I could pretty much play the music as loud as I wanted. The offices to my immediate left and right were often empty; the hallway quieted down in the afternoon, and it was rare when I wanted to play the tunes louder than I felt was acceptable.

Down in the administrative wing, things are a little different. My neighbors have been really cool. But I don't want to bother them or become a nuisance. The cartoon above is funny--it even has my little green lamp!

My current office tune setup:

• Gateway office computer with crappy soundcard
• Headroom Total BitHead D/A converter (bypassed crappy soundcard)
• Denon PMA-300V integrated amplifier
• Baby Advent II bookshelf speakers
• Alessandro/Grado MS-1 headphones
  

Sounds pretty good. Wouldn't want anything better because you can't really enjoy it (and, who knows, it might get stolen or something). The amp and speakers were eBay specials.

The source of the cartoon above is Jerry King.

Mr. Monkey Suit

Mr. Monkey Suit

"I don't want your botheration... get away, leave me be!"
--Chuck Berry

1. Monkey Suit / Plastmatics
2. Monkey Man / The Specials
3. Monkey Cage / Felix da Housecat
4. Monkey Talk / Lene Lovich
5. Monkey Business / Sly & Robbie
6. One Monkey Don't Stop No Show / Big Maybelle
7. One Monkey / Goodie Mob
8. Monkey To Man / Elvis Costello & The Imposters
9. Monkey In Your Soul / Steely Dan
10. Monkey See-Monkey Do / Michael Franks
11. Too Much Monkey Business / Chuck Berry
12. Brass Monkey / Beastie Boys
13. Bad Monkey / Richard Thompson
14. Monkey Man* / David Byrne
15. Do The Monkey / King Curtis
16. Shock The Monkey / Don Ho
17. Brass Monkey (Original) / Wild Sugar
18. Can Your Monkey Do The Dog? / Rufus Thomas
19. Mickey's Monkey / Martha Reeves & The Marvelettes
20. Monkey Man* / Rolling Stones
21. I Ain't Gonna Be Your Monkey Man / Willie Dixon
22. The Monkey Speaks His Mind* / Dave Bartholomew

* added to the 8tracks version [Mr. Monkey Suit 2.0]

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Okay Michele and Joshua, here it is. The Plasmatics track was a perfect answer to Michele's monkey suit moniker. Lots of great stuff here. I've been looking to put this Chuck Berry track on a mix for about a year. The Don Ho cover of "Shock The Monkey" is oddly, strangely brilliant! Martha and the Marvelettes kick Smokey's ass on this cover of "Mickey's Monkey." Man, is Motown cool! I always laugh when I hear Michael Franks--how can someone so square-sounding be so funky? Too perfect that I get Chicago House and Sly & Robbie on one mix. The Beastie Boys cover and Wild Sugar original is a nice touch here. I love the Big Maybelle track--cool stuff. We close with Willie Dixon, American R&B bass hero songwriter genius. Oh, and the photo above is original photo art by G-Fab (chimp photo found online, Warholized by yours truly).

MORE RANDOM THOUGHTS: This mix is going to take the award for most vanity listens.* I just love this thing. In the office, in the car, here at home. Geez. So, more random thoughts. Love the transition from Big Maybelle to Goodie Mob. "One monkey don't stop no show," indeed! The Elvis Costello track is just fantastic. I tune him out for years at a time, but what a great band and a great song. Check out the video below: jugglers, bikini dancers, cops, funny subtitles, whew! "Verse Two: Wherein the Monkey Explains Evolution To The Lesser Species." Love the gorilla vacuuming at the end. The Plasmatics track is just perfect. That's Michael Rose, formerly of Black Uhuru singing on the Sly & Robbie track--fantastic vocal, reminds me of Cheb Khaled a little bit. I love that reggae thing where the singer catches you off guard by yelling "yeah" at just the right time. The Richard Thompson track is very recent (Sweet Warrior, 2007). Great guitar solos--that guy is amazing. "Bad Monkey" is great anthem to saying no to codependence. "He goes from joy to suicide about fifteen times a day / Here's the thing to scream aloud from a hundred miles away..." I'm not coming on the roller coaster with you! [insert brilliant guitar solo. ]





Years ago I would have thought that this Elvis Costello video was really, really, really sexist. I think I still do. That didn't stop me from posting it here, you notice. It's hysterically funny. I think Elvis actually gets hit in the face with a juggling pin. And the gold wallpaper... the gold wallpaper! Gotta dig the self-referential This Year's Model reference at the beginning.

In other news, I made a serious error with the "Shock the Monkey" cover. That isn't Praga Khan, it's Don Ho! That's right... Don *freakin'* Ho! Check it out:





* "Vanity Listen" is the term I coined for listening to your own mix. It's a variant of the term "Vanity Google," which is the practice of Googling yourself (which is not very gratifying if you have a common name like Steve Robinson).

Addicted to Bloxorz

All The Pretty Mixes

15 Playlists below. Gotta put them all on one data disc. But first, a movie I wanna see:





G-Fab's Headphone Mix
1. The Last Writes - Headphones and Love Notes
2. Beastie Boys - Professor Booty
3. Bob Dylan - Ballad of a Thin Man
4. G Love and Special Sauce - Blues Music
5. Joni Mitchell - This Flight Tonight
6. Modest Mouse - Sleepwalking
7. The Ropes - Water and Headphones
8. Ultravox - The New Europeans
9. Skating Club - Headphones And Distance
10. Massive Attack - Daydreaming
11. Björk - Headphones
12. Joshua Heath - My Headphones [420 re-rub]

Cement Mixer Mix
1. Frente! - Girl
2. Blind Melon - Three Is A Magic Number
3. Deee-Lite - I Had A Dream I Was Falling Through A Hole In The Ozone Layer
4. Björk - Immature
5. Virtual Consort - Gymnopedie #1
6. Sade - Nothing Can Come Between Us
7. Los Amigos Invisibles - Cha-Chaborro
8. Slim Gaillard - Cement Mixer
9. Stephane Grappelli - Alabamy Bound
10. Jimi Hendrix - Stone Free
11. David Lindley - Ain't No Way
12. Tei Towa - Technova (La em Copacabana)

1930s Old-Time Country 78s
1. The Skillet Lickers - Soldier's Joy
2. Wade Ward - Lost Indian
3. Dock Boggs - Country Blues
4. Uncle Dave Macon - Johnny Grey
5. Wade Mainer - Mitchell Blues
6. Woodie Brothers - Chased Old Satan
7. Charlie Poole and the North Carolina Ramblers - White House Blues
8. The Skillet Lickers - Rocky Pallet
9. The Carter Family - Keep On The Sunny Side Of Life
10. Clayton McMichen & Riley Puckett - Paddy Won't You Drink Some Good Old Cider?
11. Stripling Brothers - Lost Child
12. Earl Johnson and the Clodhoppers - Ain't Nobody's Business

The True Wheel
1. Third Uncle - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
2. No One Receiving - Before And After Science
3. St. Elmo's Fire - Another Green World
4. Blank Frank - Here Come The Warm Jets
5. I'll Come Running - Another Green World
6. The True Wheel - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
7. Golden Hours - Another Green World
8. Baby's On Fire - Here Come The Warm Jets
9. China My China - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
10. Cindy Tells Me - Here Come The Wam Jets
11. Put A Straw Under Baby - Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)
12. Some Of Them Are Old - Here Come The Warm Jets

Stockholm Syndrome
1. Shout Out Louds - The Comeback
2. Caesars - Jerk It Out
3. Wired for Mono - Radio Interrupt
4. Diamond Dogs - Down In The Alley Again
5. The Concretes - On The Radio
6. Peter Bjorn and John - The Chills
7. The Knife - Heartbeats
8. Tiger Lou - Until I'm There
9. Melody Club - Chrash
10. Lykke Li - Everybody But Me
11. Kamera - Fragile
12. The Hives - Well All Right

No More Riots
1. Killjoy - Rich Plastic People
2. Unaware - Race War
3. Millions of Dead Cops - The Only Good Cop...
4. Social Unrest - Their Mistakes
5. Karnage - The Few, The Proud, The Dead
6. Bent Nails - No More Riots
7. Impatient Youth - Praise The Lord & Pass The Ammunition
8. Dead Kennedys - A Child And His Lawnmower
9. Chruch Police - The Oven Is My Friend
10. Captiol Punishment - El Salvador
11. 7 Seconds - Fuck Your Amerika
12. Intensified Chaos - Intensified Chaos

World Up My Ass
1. Butthole Surfers - Suicide
2. Circle Jerks - World Up My Ass
3. Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
4. Misfits - Sculls
5. Minutemen - Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs
6. Dead Kennedys - Religious Vomit
7. The Birthday Party - Big Jesus Trash Can
8. D.O.A. - Fucked Up Baby
9. Meatmen - 1 Down 3 To Go
10. Minor Threat - I Don't Want To Hear It
11. Bad Brains - Joshua's Song
12. Black Flag - I Don't Care

A Mix For You
1. Luna - California All The Way
2. Prince Nico Mbarga & Rocofil Jazz - Sweet Mother
3. This Mortal Coil - Another Day
4. Aimee Mann - I've Had It
5. Gilberto Gil - Untitled
6. The Cramps - Garbage Man
7. Dresden Dolls - My Alcoholic Friends
8. Animal Collective - Grass
9. The Nectarine No. 9 - Untitled
10. Euros Childs - Outside My Window

The Name Game
1. The Marvelettes - Don't Mess With Bill
2. The Dukes of Stratosphear - Have You Seen Jackie?
3. Six Finger Satellite - Laughing Larry
4. Clan of Xymox - Michelle
5. Max Romeo - No Joshua No
6. Cletus - Big Eyed Kim
7. The Moaners - Oh Christy
8. Spookey Ruben - Glenn, Take Care
9. The Mighty Sparrow - Philip My Dear (Man in de Bedroom)
10. The American Analog Set - Aaron & Maria
11. Radio Birdman - Aloha Steve and Danno

MTC Covers
1. Johnny Cash - Personal Jesus [Depeche Mode]
2. The Monty Show - Enter Sandman [Metallica]
3. Leftover Salmon - Get Off This [Cracker]
4. Bauhaus - Ziggy Stardust [David Bowie]
5. XTC - All Along The Watchtower [Bob Dylan]
6. Phish - Cities [Talking Heads]
7. Richard Thompson - Oops, I Did It Again [Britney Spears]
8. Machine Head - Message In A Bottle [The Police]
9. The Cardigans - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath [Black Sabbath]
10. Low - Transmission [Joy Division]
11. Dwight Yokam - Train In Vain [The Clash]
12. The Bobs - You Can't Do That [The Beatles]

Who Taught You How To Do That?
1. Peter Gabriel - Du Bist Nicht Wie Wir
2. The Strokes - Barely Legal
3. Louvin Brothers - Sinner You'd Better Get Ready
4. Magic Sam - That's All I Need
5. Pizzicato Five - Baby Love Child [L.A. English Mix]
6. Tom Waits - Underground
7. Slavic Soul Party! - Shishko's Dance
8. Jerry Harrison - A Perfect Lie
9. Elastica - Line Up
10. Luna - Ride Into The Sun
11. The Fleetwoods - Come Softly To Me
12. Miles Davis - It Never Entered My Mind

Not Fade Away
1. Billie Holiday - Your Mother's Son In Law
2. Dorothy Love Coates and the New Gospel Harmonettes - Deliver Me
3. Ricki Lee Jones & Rob Wasserman - The Moon Is Made of Gold
4. Michael Hedges & Michael Manring - After The Gold Rush
5. Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away
6. Lene Lovich - You Can't Kill Me
7. Pinback - Concrete Seconds (Demo)
8. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - From Her To Eternity
9. David Lindley & El Rayo-X - Never Knew Her
10. PreFab Sprout - I Couldn't Bear To Be Special
11. Chares Mingus - Original Faubus Fables

G-Fab's Dark Side Mix
1. Imperial Theme (Short) / John Williams
2. We're Through Being Cool / DEVO
3. You Haven't Done Nothin' / Stevie Wonder
4. My Radio / Solvent
5. Take Our Test / Minutemen
6. Got Me Under Pressure / ZZ Top
7. I Go To Work / Kool Moe Dee
8. Blowing Bubbles / Call and Response
9. Happiness / Gorky's Zygotic Mynci
10. Just (You Do It To Yourself) / Radiohead
11. My Time Is Running Out / The Juan MacClean
12. Pull Up The Roots / Talking Heads
13. Happy Ending / Pizzicato Five

Two Parties Ending
1. Heavy Denim /Stereolab
2. 1970 / The Stooges
3. Colony / Joy Division
4. Cherub Rock / Smashing Pumpkins
5. (Rebellion) Lies / Arcade Fire
6. How To Disappear Completely / Radiohead
7. That Girl / Ethero
8. Numb / Portishead
9. Reuters / Wire
10. Miserable Girl / Soulwax
11. Elevation / Television
12. Last Day of Magic / The Kills

Pale Shelter
1. Don't Fall / Chameleons UK
2. Something's Gone Wrong Again / Buzzcocks
3. Rescue / Echo and the Bunnymen
4. That's Entertainment / The Jam
5. Points of View / Squeeze
6. Pale Shelter / Tears for Fears
7. Love On A Farmboy's Wages / XTC
8. Julie Ocean / The Undertones
9. I'm In Love With A German Film Star / The Passions
10. Golden Brown / The Stranglers
11. ...And The Fighting Takes Over / The Teardrop Explodes
12. Don't Sing / Prefab Sprout

DENON PMA-300V

This is the nice little integrated amp I have in my office at MCC. It powers a pair of Baby Advent II speakers--all of which I purchased on eBay for very little. Great gear for a low price. If somebody ripped it off, there'd be no call for tears.

It's a 55w amp that sounds really clean. Coupled with my new Total BitHead, the thing is a dream.

I found another one of these on eBay for $50 and couldn't pass it up. I knew it would get some good use. Todd treated me to the David Byrne concert the other day. Yesterday he made the mistake of letting me know he needed a new amp.

Enjoy, Todd!

Back to Making Mixes

Got my head into mix mode tonight. I'll make copies of this one for Philip, Kim, and Michele--not sure anybody else would really dig it (drop me a line if you want one, too). These are all pre-college UK tracks, stuff I really liked but didn't overplay. Unlike my last 80s mix, this one doesn't hold together as well historically. "Love On A Farmboy's Wages" has been running through my head for a couple of weeks. Funny--Mummer was never my favorite XTC record.

Pale Shelter
(another 80s mix)

"I'm jumbled up / Maybe I'm losing my touch"

1. Don't Fall / Chameleons UK
2. Something's Gone Wrong Again / Buzzcocks
3. Rescue / Echo and the Bunnymen
4. That's Entertainment / The Jam
5. Points of View / Squeeze
6. Pale Shelter / Tears for Fears
7. Love On A Farmboy's Wages / XTC
8. Julie Ocean / The Undertones
9. I'm In Love With A German Film Star / The Passions
10. Golden Brown / The Stranglers
11. ...And The Fighting Takes Over / The Teardrop Explodes
12. Don't Sing / Prefab Sprout

Some random thoughts about this mix:

I started and ended this mix with a frame of songs that have the word "Don't" in the title. Not sure why. There are more contractions than normal here. The Squeeze record Sweets From A Stranger has some really killer organ on it. It always seemed like such a "grown-up" record to me as a teenager. Still have that Passions EP on vinyl--what a great song! Crocodiles is my favorite Echo record. Julian Cope sounds so naked on that Teardrop Explodes track, which comes from the hard-to-find Wilder. I notice now that many of these tracks come from my pal Jimmy Goldberg's record collection. None of these tracks were super favorites of mine back then, but I think they all have staying power.

Gonna Take A While To Sink In

It's Finally Here

OMG, Rove really had it almost exactly right.


And Rove has it basically right (a very difficult sentence to type). I was going to post my own electoral map, but this one by Rove is basically what I was thinking:


I think there's a chance we take Missouri as well.

Eugene Robinson

...wrote a really moving article today.

The Story of the Wayback Machine

One of my favorite little metaphors is "The Wayback Machine," which is a Rocky & Bullwinkle reference. I found the following clip which shows the origin of the machine:

Sleep/Holiday

Freakin' brilliant GZM record. Love this record. It was their last, released just a short while before I heard them for the first time. Euros is still great. But this is a brilliant record.

It's part Highway 61, part Pet Sounds, part Here Come The Warm Jets, and something all its own.

If you're reading this and you don't have it, you need my GZM sampler with tunes from their last 3 records. I mean it--you NEED it!