Issue 200

Our intrepid photographer/correspondent Harris Fogel was on the scene at T.H.E. Show 2023. As always, he took many photos of people and gear, and we present them here. For additional coverage, please see B. Jan Montana's show report in a previous issue at this link.

T.H.E. Show ambassador Maritte Green and violinist/composer Abigail Shelton.

Yu-Wei and Chien-Ni of Jamie Audio showed off their newest speakers.

The Furutech DeMaga promises to demagnetize vinyl LPs, and it was in use at the show in the Sunny Components room.

Audio Society groups had their own hospitality suite!

The Brinkmann Audio Taurus turntable spun some soulful tunes in the Sunny Components room.

Sunil Merchant (Sunny Components) and Kevin Wolff (CH Precision) exhibiting a bit of Switzerland. Equipment included Peak Consult Sinfonia speakers, and CH Precision M 1.1 dual monaural amplifiers, L1 Line Stage, P1 phono stage, D 1.5 SACD player, C 1.2 DAC and streamer card, plus the Brinkmann Audio Taurus turntable, and AudioQuest cabling and power conditioning.

Reel-to-reel tape guru Greg Beron of United Home Audio with Oz Turan of High End by Oz, and Dave Weintraub, greeting guests for their late night listening sessions.

John Minor and Ryan Blauvelt (Owner) of the popular Orange County Record Show were there with a solid selection of vinyl.

The speakers designed by the late Siegfried Linkwitz proved that baffle-less dipole speakers could create stunning sound.

You can’t have a bonafide audio show without the fine folks of Awedyo Audio, including Richard Zhang and his colleague.

Tony Thompson, President of  OC Autosource, with Brian and Maritte Green. Located next to the venue, they install high-end audio into classic cars, and opened their doors to attendees. Awaiting them was this lovely 1952 Buick Roadmaster.

Nicole and Lenny Mayeux of Mobile Fidelity, with Ed and Teresa Sudario from distributor The Audio Association.

Josh Meredith and Angela Cardas of Cardas Audio, and Daniel Cauley (T.H.E. Show) brought some style to the show, along with great-sounding cables. Despite strong competition, Josh was a winner of the Compelling Beard Award.

The Shelly's Stereo room featured Linn products.

Here's a look at the timeless Linn Sondek LP12 turntable.

Michael O’Neal of Beginner Audiophile, and Linda Ellis-Flint having a great time at the show.

The Audio Association room was stocked with wonderful gear including Evolution Acoustics loudspeakers and darTZeel electronics.

Bob Sattin of Bob’s Devices took the time to explain his theories and approaches to phono step-up transformers. He also had the coolest shirt in the show's Marketplace!

Ray Leung shows off the latest wares in the Von Gaylord Audio room.

Burbank, California lighting company Volt Lites added some eye-catching illumination to this exhibit.

Lonny Gould, Kimber Kable CFO, holds a Kimber Naked interconnect cable in the PBN Audio room.

Audio shows often feature live music, and this one was no exception. Pianist Daniel Vu, bassist Mike Selfridge, and Julia Sawtell wowed the crowd with a selection of jazz standards.

One beautiful assemblage of metal! The Gryphon Audio Apex amplifier was at the heart of the Gryphon room, which was so popular that reservations were needed.

Allen Taylor and Larry Stimac of the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society were all smiles.

One of Bob’s Devices on view in the Marketplace. They specialize in moving coil step-up transformers like this SKY 20.

Jeff Wells, owner of audio components manufacturer Wells Audio, had a variety of wares to show in the Marketplace.

The MC Audiotech room featured their new TL-12 Loudspeaker, along with David Berning Audio, Steven McCormack, EMM DAC2, and EnKlein Audio components and accessories.

A lot of audio companies like to say their systems are transparent, but the speakers from DIY products company VK Music truly are!

Here's a close-up of the driver in the VK Music speaker. 

Michael Leach and Daryl Sansevero (T.H.E. Ambassadors), Daniel Ross Thomas, and others enjoyed sampling Lismore single malt scotch, and COA Silver Tequila. Sansevero’s family business is Lismore and COA, so he made sure that everyone had an opportunity to try the company's wares.

Kit Perkins and Mark Hoover of vinyl specialists Audiophileusa.com in the Marketplace.

The family that makes music stays together. RSL Speakers was started by Howard Rogers, and now his son Joe and his wife Joey, along with grandson Benjamin are continuing the family tradition.

Mops Dayal (Quarter Note Acoustic), Scott Lylander (T.H.E. Show ambassador), Norman Varney (AV Room Service), J.R. Boisclair (analog accessories maker WallyTools), and an attendee enjoying themselves.

T.H.E. Show Ambassadors in the TAD room, enjoying a sip of fine Japanese whiskey while turning up the sound on those wonderful TAD speakers. Left to right, Scott Lylander, Maritte Green, Joe Parvey, Daryl Sansevero, Dave Malekpour, Daniel Barbour, Michael Leach, and Lilli Parvey in front.

T.H.E. Show Ambassador Maritte Green in the Women’s Lounge.

Greg Berron of United Home Audio with his UHA-Q reel-to-reel deck, in the High End by Oz room.

Header image: Dartzeel gear galore at The Audio Association and Evolution Acoustics room.

All images courtesy of Harris Fogel. 

With every ending comes a new beginning.

This cartoon originally appeared in Issue 153.

Octave Records has released The Art of Hi-Fi Volume 03: Percussion, created to test and showcase the ability of an audio system to reproduce the dynamic impact of percussion-based music in all of its power and depth. The album features a wide variety of music, instruments, and sounds, played by world-class musicians including composer Christian Teele, dueling drummers Michael Wooten and Billy Hoke, and more.

Paul McGowan, Octave Records CEO noted: “percussion is in many ways the most difficult type of instrument for an audio system to get right. The initial transients have to be cleanly reproduced, without smearing, and the electronics have to have enough headroom to deliver clean power without dynamic compression. Equally important, the ‘bloom’ and decay of instruments like bass drums and cymbals need to breathe and taper off naturally. The Art of Hi-Fi Volume 03: Percussion is designed to give your system a real workout – and showcase it to its fullest potential.”

Percussion instruments span the entire frequency range from deep bass to highs that go beyond the limits of human hearing, and Volume 03: Percussion captures instruments as varied as tympani to gongs with startling texture and presence. The album was recorded at Octave Records’ studio using the Pyramix-based Pure DSD 256 recording system. Volume 03: Percussion was recorded, mixed and produced by Paul McGowan, with Terri McGowan and Jessica Carson assisting in the recording and production duties, and mastered by Gus Skinas.

The Art of Hi-Fi Volume 03: Percussion encompasses a range of styles including Latin, world music, jazz, and much more. “Emergence” begins the album with a flourish, with Christian Teele striking an udu that rings on into space, before being joined by a Tibetan drum, shakers, chimes, talking drums, and other instruments. He reappears later in the album with “The Depth,” an aptly-named track with subterranean low-frequency drum strikes. Banda Guilha’s “Maracangalha” features guitar, vocals by Guilha Kroneberger, cowbell, and other instruments, in an upbeat toe-tapping track.

The Braxton Kahn Trio takes on the Thelonious Monk standard “Well You Needn’t” with a drum set intro that brings it right into the room, before being joined by acoustic bass and electric guitar. Two tracks, “Entre Tierra Y Mar” and “Selva,” feature instrumentalists Nico Owen, Daniel Lopez, Aaron Reedy, William Trask, and Mario Moreno playing a host of instruments in a pair of pure percussion workouts – see if you can name all the instruments!

“Drum Battle” is a centerpiece of Volume 03: Percussion, with Michael Wooten and Billy Hoke having a good-old-fashioned drum off. It’s easy to pick out each drummer occupying his own sonic space. Other highlights include Jessica Carson’s “Gongs” – they’re everywhere! – Alfredo Muro showcasing the acoustic guitar’s percussive as well as melodic capabilities on “Legen of Berimbau,” Mike Tetreault’s phalanx of tuned tympani in “Orchestra Tympani Shorts,” and an additional selection by Banda Guilha.

Volume 03: Percussion features Octave’s premium gold disc formulation, and the disc is playable on any SACD, CD, DVD, or Blu-ray player. It also has a high-resolution DSD layer that is accessible by using any SACD player or a PS Audio SACD transport. In addition, the master DSD and PCM files are available for purchase and download, including DSD 256, DSD 128, DSD 64, and DSDDirect Mastered 352.8 kHz/24-bit, 176.2 kHz/24-bit, 88.2 kHz/24-bit, and 44.1 kHz/24-bit PCM. (SRP: $19 – $39, depending on format.)

Composer/musician Steve Thompson and his band 1201_Alarm are about to make musical history. They will release a new album, Moonshot, on November 10 – and it was loaded onto the payload of NASA’s Peregrine Lander spacecraft, which will be launched later in 2023 on a mission to the Moon.

I spoke with Steve, who has written music for Sophie Ellis-Bextor, violinist/violist Nigel Kennedy, and Robert Smith (the Cure), about the inspiration for this landmark musical event.

Russ Welton: The album has a diverse range of instruments. What was your selection process in choosing them?

Steve Thompson: I have always been interested in sounds produced by electronic instruments, right from the early recordings made by Daphne Oram, Delia Derbyshire, Jean-Michel Jarre [and others], and have played around with various synths since I was about 11. At that age, I also started on the trombone, so naturally, I wanted to try to combine the two sounds of electronic and acoustic.

Recently I have thought that many electronic instruments have started to sound similar, so I started looking a little further outside the norm. For example, I commissioned a build of a 400,000-volt Tesla coil in the US. This machine manipulates huge arcs of electricity to produce sounds of specific pitches. I used this on the track, “Stuxnet” on [1201_Alarm’s first album] HelloWorld. I also looked to other interfaces to control electronic instruments to produce a greater range of expression. But it all depends on what the music is trying to say. Sometimes, I just need a solo piano, or a cello. To me, the timbre and texture of the music are just as important, if not, more so, than the notes.

RW: What were the seeds that sowed the development of your science-inspired project 1201_Alarm?

ST: About 12 or 13 years ago, I started working with the comedian Robin Ince on some of his shows [aimed at scientifically] curious people. These performances were kind of variety shows that included comedians, scientists, musicians and other acts. It really fed my passion for science and I decided that I wanted to create music that was inspired by science, as well as technology and endeavor. I really enjoyed a brief glimpse into the world of the scientist and a new perspective on the world that it gave me. The green room [for that show] was always an absolute delight and I found so much joy from trying to comprehend the universe and how it works.

1201_Alarm: Alastair “Titch” Walker, Tamar Osborn, Steve Thompson, Emma Bassett, Ben Handysides. Courtesy of Steve Thompson.

RW: Could you explain the significance of the album title as it relates to the Apollo 11 mission?

ST: The band name relates to an incident aboard Apollo 11, which carried the first humans to land on the Moon. Just before landing, the navigation computer crashed, returning a “1201 alarm.” Buzz Aldrin tried in vain to reboot the machine, but it continued to produce the same error message. So, Neil Armstrong just calmly decided to look out of the window and land that way.

Now, I have a panic attack when I can’t find my car keys, so this extreme coolness in such a precarious situation has always been something that has resonated with me. I have always wanted to be that calm and have that kind of control in difficult situations. Sadly, I am not even close! I really am in awe of those early pioneers.

A “Hello World” computer program is one of the first that a programmer learns. It is the first step that they take when entering a big new world of creating new technology. It seemed fitting that I was trying to do a similar thing by launching my first album with a brand-new group. It’s also a pretty nice greeting to the rest of the world!

RW: How does your working relationship with scientist Dr. Brian Cox, astronaut Chris Hadfield, and author Tim Peake translate into your music?

ST: I have been so fortunate to have worked with so many scientists. Each has a different way of getting across their enthusiasm of their subject. I find each one inspiring and absolutely fascinating in different ways. Brian is one of the most laid-back people I have ever worked with. Chris Hadfield is a fascinating guy. I’ve only met Tim twice, but he is incredibly modest and a very generous person. I had a long conversation with him and [British comedian and actor] Eddie Izzard – the two are good friends. I was listening to how Eddie was running 32 marathons, I think across Africa, while Tim was flying his spaceship above, trying to take photos of him. I think it was at that point that I realized that I might not be the most interesting person in the conversation!

1201_Alarm, Moonshot, album cover.

RW: How does this inform your approach to composition?

ST: The classic argument is that science is cold and passionless, so you can’t write a piece of music from the heart if it’s about science. I very much disagree and wanted to demonstrate this.

When I have written a piece of music after speaking to a scientist, I try to reflect on what makes them excited. In a practical sense, this helps me find the mood, tempo and general shape of the music. This tends to be why 1201_Alarm is multi-genre. I find it too limiting to say everything that I would like to say in just one style of music, and [it’s] also why I call upon different instruments outside of the band on occasion.

For example, I wanted to write a piece of music about when science goes wrong or lets us down. At the time, scientists were getting a lot of flak. A prominent politician had just said that we had all had enough of experts, and I thought about the incredible weight that is on the shoulders of scientists. I composed a piece called “Pripyat,” named after the ghost city just outside Chernobyl. I read Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich, a most harrowing, but brilliant book. This gave me the tempo, the mood and the style that I wanted, but I couldn’t find the sound. I ended up using a Hang drum which I found had an eerie quality yet the solid, metal, percussive tone that I needed.

RW: What is the laser harp that you invented, and how does it work?

ST: The laser harp is really just a bit of fun. It’s is infamously unreliable, lacking in expression, and possibly the most cumbersome way of producing a note that I can think of, yet it looks really cool on stage and sets a mood of “futuristic” music. I do love playing it.

It has gone through many incarnations. The first could only play a limited number of notes. I pushed this as far as I could in a silly video I did for YouTube. Someone had set a challenge to play a rock version of Pachelbel’s Canon in D on guitar, cramming as many notes into this 400-year-old piece as possible. I took up the challenge and made it a duel between the two instruments. I had never played the guitar before so I took a lesson and practiced solidly for three weeks. I had no idea how brutal it was on your fingers! It really hurt! But guitarists around the world have commented (not always positively) on my playing, and the video was a ton of fun to make, and I think received around 350,000 views.

For the latest incarnation, I have called on the programming skills of Dr. Niall Moroney, who is actually a quantum physicist. He has made the harp much easier to play and [given it the] potential for more expression, and I’m really looking forward to taking this version out to a gig.

The laser harp in action. Courtesy of Heather Thompson.

RW: What music project have you been working on with [British astronaut] Helen Sharman CMG OBE, and how did this come about?

ST: I only met Helen once, backstage at a gig at the Hammersmith Apollo a few years ago. She is an absolutely charming lady and so interesting to speak with. I e-mailed her to let her know that the music was going to the Moon and I was really surprised to get a reply from her and her manager, Diana. Diana mentioned that Helen was a pianist and that she had played a gig a few years ago that she was a little reluctant to do at first, but absolutely loved it. So, I asked if I could write a piece of music for her to play for this album and thankfully, Helen was really enthusiastic about the idea.

We started talking and I read her book. Again, I needed to go multi-genre to get the mood that I wanted for this track. I thought about a calm, tranquil piece as I imagined Helen looking down on the Earth from the MIR space station. Every astronaut that I have ever met has been utterly unflappable, and Helen was no exception. But of course, travelling in space is extremely dangerous, so I also wanted a hint of danger in the background. To represent the majesty of the view of Earth from 250 miles above, I needed a symphony orchestra, so I contacted the Cape Town Philharmonic that I had been working with on a separate project. They agreed and recorded the strings for me the day before Helen came to our floating studio on the Thames in London to record her part. Alastair “Titch” Walker, our band’s trumpeter, did an incredible job of improvising a fluid flugelhorn solo a few days after that to bring the whole thing together. I called the track “Ozone 3” as that was Helen’s call sign in her 1991 mission to the MIR space station.

RW: How did you come to work with [British physicist and oceanographer} Helen Czerski?

ST: Helen has a fierce curiosity, which is infectious. Where I am always attracted to the fireworks of cutting-edge science like quantum [physics] and theoretical stuff, she always brings me back down to Earth explaining how things that are happening right here, right now, are way more important. She is a great environmentalist and always speaks and writes so beautifully on her subject.

We met on a gig years and years ago. I wanted to ask a ridiculous schoolboy science question that I was a little embarrassed about, but she was glad to answer it for me. She is equally comfortable with “home” science and questions about everyday phenomena as well as cutting edge physics.

She is a superb general scientist, able to explain pretty much any difficult branch of science to anyone, including a complete amateur like me, but her specialist subject is actually bubbles, which are really important in explaining how the ocean works, and an incredibly important part of our ecosystem.

I wrote a fun piece inspired by her called “Bubbles.” It features a rare Japanese electronic instrument called a tenori-on.

We are currently exploring a new musical instrument that she has discovered in the US. It is kind of like a harmonica but has no reeds or moving parts. I believe that only two exist in the world. I can’t wait to dig deeper and find out more.

RW: How did the album find its way to the Peregrine Lander?

ST: Purely by chance really. Somebody reached out on social media saying that they had purchased space onboard the Peregrine Lander’s payload and had some spare capacity. They were looking for Moon-themed items and various other things, and one thing led to another. Astrobotic Technology, the company that built the lander, confirmed that is had been loaded on board and seems very excited by the idea of having the Moon’s first album [on board]. The team seem absolutely lovely people and I really hope that this mission, I believe the company’s first for NASA, will be a great success. The mission is slated for December 2023, but it turns out that space travel is a tough nut to crack! There have already been quite a few delays, so it is possible that it may be pushed back again. The CEO of Astrobotic, the company that built the Peregrine Lander, is very keen to do it right, rather than rush it and [have] the mission end in failure. Hopefully, if it’s not December, we should see it blast off soon in 2024.

RW: What instruments do you aspire to learn in the future and why so?

Acoustic instruments are really fascinating me at the moment. I would really like to learn the hurdy gurdy if I could find one at a reasonable price. Strings have always fascinated me, but are notoriously difficult to master, particularly if you start later in life. The hurdy gurdy has such a wonderfully unique sound and given its rather unusual way that you play it, I think I could achieve some interesting results even at my time of life!

RW: How do you incorporate a 400,000-volt Tesla coil in your music?

ST: I have to say, it’s an excruciating sound, so it doesn’t feature much. My wife absolutely hates it! It has also tried to kill me on more than one occasion.

I wrote a track about the Stuxnet virus, which demonstrated how deadly these things could be, and I wanted to represent total chaos. For this, I decided to include about 30 seconds of dubstep, in an otherwise mainly dance track with a repeating hook. I rigged up the coil in a local hall, as I can’t use traditional recording studios for this machine as it can wipe hard drives, affect anyone with biological implants like a pacemaker, and cause all sorts of chaos. The risk assessment terrifies most regular venues.

RW: What is your newest project and what can we expect from you in the coming months?

ST: I became interested in theatre after working at the Globe Theatre back in 2019. At the end of the run, I realized how much I didn’t know about literature and did a course about medieval poetry with Oxford University. There, I discovered the first poems in the English language, including “Beowulf.”

I enlisted the help of an award-winning dramaturge, Dr Emma Whipday, to coach me, and created a five-act audio play based on the poem. I have written and recorded the music with the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and am currently looking for funding to record the play.

I also have a solo trombone project, Wild Swans, featuring the music of Soviet-Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, and several audio documentaries with my production company Gullwing Arts. (The name comes from the doors of my DeLorean!).

I’m also keen to explore my chamber group, Flow, which is an acoustic quartet featuring piano, trombone, harmonica and percussion. It’s a really odd combination, so I hope can produce some interesting results. We have only had a single test rehearsal and I’d like to do more.

There will be a third, and final 1201_Alarm album, but I haven’t got a date for that yet.

A room with a view: Helen Sharman shares her perspectives as the UK’s first astronaut.

Astronaut Helen Sharman noted: “I still appreciate not having the sound of fans behind music I listen to. In orbit, fans circulate the air around the spacecraft because there is no convection (you could suffocate in your own breath were it not for the fans), so unless something goes wrong, there is no chance to listen to music or even chat to a crewmate without hearing the fans as well. You don't want to block out all the cabin noise because you wouldn't hear alarms, so noise-cancelling headphones are not always ideal!”

Ollie Weston, Steve Thompson, Helen Sharman and Luke Christie. Courtesy of Steve Thompson.

“Music attracts me most when there is a wide range of pitch, so if I am listening to recorded music, I like speakers that are capable of good-quality sound from deep bass to the high notes. But I think the combination of music and where it is heard can pull at the emotions more than good-quality sound can on its own. I took some pop, jazz and classical music into space, selected with my crewmates in mind. When it came time to leave the [International] Space Station, the commander played a couple of the tracks over the radio to us in the departing spacecraft. Although he didn't understand the words, he liked the sound, and the last I heard from the Station was Tanita Tikaram's track “World Outside Your Window.” I am thrilled to think that 1201-Alarm's Moonshot will be on the Moon; maybe even a future astronaut will hear it while pondering their view of the Earth from that different perspective."

Header image: Steve Thompson and the Tesla coil. Courtesy of Steve Thompson.

When “audiophile” Ethernet switches arrived on the scene a number of years ago, they were met with great skepticism. At the time, only a few manufacturers offered such a product. However, some audiophiles and manufacturers feel like a well-designed dedicated switch can improve a stereo system’s performance. As night follows day, a seemingly endless number of companies jumped on the bandwagon by introducing switches of their own.

It should not be surprising then that the next historically utilitarian network product to be given the audiophile treatment is the router.  So far, the category is still small, but it’s growing. Shown here is Synergistic Research’s version, the Network Router UEF ($2,995 for the 110-volt version, $3,295 for the 230-volt model), which incorporates technologies you can read about here, includes the company’s Foundation AC power cord and Purple Fuse, and has a black carbon-fiber-topped chassis that’s not easy to photograph. The company offers a money-back guarantee.

 
The Network Router UEF has an understated look.

Multiple Ethernet ports are provided, as well as a jack for connecting to an SR Grounding Block.

The unit comes with a Synergistic Research Foundation power cord.

All images courtesy of Howard Kneller. Howard’s audiophile adventures are documented on his YouTube channel (The Listening Chair with Howard Kneller) and on Instagram (@howardkneller). His art and photography can also be found on Instagram (@howardkneller.photog). Finally, he posts a bit of everything on Facebook (@howardkneller).

In 1944, as a teen trumpeter in St. Louis, Miles Davis was tapped to fill in for Art Blakey at a Billy Eckstine concert, and the pros encouraged him. So, that same year he headed to New York to study at the Juilliard School. But Charlie Parker liked his style enough to hire him, and he quickly left school for a real-life education.

Davis’ innovations spread across the sub-genres of cool jazz and outgrowths of bebop. He influenced a couple of generations of players, and – just as important – he allowed himself to be influenced by younger musicians, even outside of jazz. He was an outspoken fan of Jimi Hendrix, for example, and later he championed Michael Jackson’s music.

It was tougher than usual to choose which cuts to feature here. Davis made over 50 studio records. All I could do was cherry-pick from among this impressive harvest. Enjoy these eight great tracks from Miles Davis.

1. Track: “Bluing”
   Album: Bluing
   Label: Prestige
   Year: 1951

It had been a long wait. The ninth annual California Audio Show took place in 2019, but COVID concerns forced the postponement of the 10^th. While the rest of the country was treated to AXPONAs, Capitol Audio Fests, T.H.E. Shows, and the new Seattle-based Pacific Audio Fest over the last year or two, audiophiles in the San Francisco Bay Area were without a show until now.

 
Constantine Soo, producer of the California Audio Show.

Constantine Soo, editor/publisher of the Dagogo audio review website is the man behind the show. Anticipation was at a high level when the return of the California Audio Show (CAS) was announced in the spring as a Friday through Sunday event. However, many of the biggest names in high-end audio chose to sit this one out. Contributing factors may have included recent participation in the Southern California and Washington State shows. Where the 2019 CAS featured over 20 rooms, now there were just six rooms featuring systems from a good mix of companies. Although this year’s event was scaled down from the previous ones, there was no shortage of enthusiasm from both exhibitors and attendees alike. Post-show feedback from exhibitors reflected a desire to return.

The Hilton Garden Inn, Emeryville, California.

The 10th Annual CAS was held from September 22 – 24 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Emeryville, near the east end of the Bay Bridge that connects Oakland with San Francisco. The registration room was on the ground floor, as were two of the exhibit rooms. Constantine and his wife, Vivian, greeted the attendees warmly. Also in the room was recording engineer/producer/composer Cookie Marenco, the driving force behind OTR Studios and high-quality recording company Blue Coast Music. Cookie was a delight to talk to. She had a display set up in the room, and was generously giving out tote bags containing a double LP and two CDs from recording artist Fiona Joy Hawkins, who was attending all the way from Australia. Fiona was in the country for another recording session and had hoped to do a live performance at the show. Sadly, logistical problems with obtaining a suitable piano for her made that impossible. Instead, Fiona and fellow musician, violinist Rebecca Daniel, sat behind a table with merchandise and engaged with the showgoers.

Cookie Marenco of Blue Coast Music.

Most of the exhibitors relied on streaming for source material, although there were a few turntables and disc players. Wi-Fi issues did interrupt the occasional demo, but not for long.

The imposing Bricasti/Sound Lab system.

The Bricasti system.

The largest room of the show featured Bricasti Design electronics with Sound Lab nine-foot-tall full-range electrostatic speakers. Damon Gramont of Bricasti played a wide range of pieces. The sound was impressive and, despite the size of the speakers, presented with realistically sized images. The Bricasti complement of an M19 SACD Transport, M1 Series II Argento Edition and M21 Platinum Edition DACs, M20 Argento Edition Preamplifier, and M28 Special Edition Monoblock amps clocked in at just shy of $85,000. The speakers (which are one down from the top of the Sound Lab line) retail for about $45,000 per pair. Cost was not specified for the ASC Tube Traps and A.R.T. cabling.

Damon Gramont in the Bricasti demo room.

Sound Lab dealer Tom Bourret of Ultimate Audio is dwarfed by the mighty Majestic 945 electrostats.

The other exhibitor on the first floor was Aaudio Imports, distributors for Wilson Benesch, Thales, Ypsilon, and more. Their system, far and away the priciest of the show, featured the new Wilson Benesch A.C.T. 3zero speakers ($54,000) with a $34,000 WB IGx Infrasonic Generator (read: subwoofer). Ypsilon provided the electronics with a DAC 1000 SE valve dac ($52,000) and Phaeton SE integrated amp ($54,000). Music was streamed through a Pink Faun 2.16 Ultra Music Server Streamer ($36,000). Cabling from Stage III (power cords/interconnects/speaker cables) totaled a staggering $100,900. Miscellaneous accessories and treatments added another $45,080. All told, the room held just over $375,000 worth of high-end toys! Yes, the sound was exceptional, but good golly…

The most expensive collection of gear was in the Aaudio Imports room.

Brian Ackerman with the Wilson Benesch A.C.T. 3zero speakers.

The rest of the exhibitors were on the 12^th floor, so it was elevator time. There was a cool graphic on the wall opposite the elevators – was it done especially for the show, or was it simply serendipitous? I forgot to ask.

Artwork on the wall opposite the elevators.

Audio Note UK had unique systems in separate rooms on the floor, each from a different one of their two SF Bay Area dealers (True Sound and Audio Federation). The True Sound room featured the TT Two Deluxe turntable with Arm 3/II and IQ3 cartridge (total $8,063), R Zero/II phono stage ($2,036), CD 1.1X disc player ($3,771), and Cobra tube (excuse me, “valve”) integrated amplifier ($5,458) powering a set of AX Two/II stand-mounted speakers ($3,995). All cabling was from Audio Note as well, but pricing was not provided. A PS Audio PerfectWave Power Plant 12 was utilized to compensate for the poor AC quality. This was the smaller of the two systems – to my ears, the better-sounding one – but both were noteworthy (pardon the pun). It was also one of the least expensive systems at the show.

The Audio Note UK system from True Sound.

The Cobra integrated amp with eight valves and understated styling.

Nick Gowan of True Sound.

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the True Sound room was the music that was played. Leonard Norwitz presented the most wide-ranging samples of demo material imaginable, from classical, jazz, and even hip-hop (if my categorization is correct). He shared his musical knowledge freely and became quite animated when playing some of the pieces.

Leonard Norwitz – a true music (and sound) lover.

The Audio Federation Audio Note room featured the USA premiere of their new AN-E SPx LTD field coil loudspeakers (approx. $65,000, including power supplies for each speaker) on low stands. Field-coil speakers do not use permanent magnets like the vast majority of modern drivers. Instead, a separate power supply energizes electromagnets. The concept dates back to a time when permanent magnets were insufficiently powerful for use in speakers. The turntable system was the TT Three w/PSU3 motor controller, Arm 3/II, IO1 cartridge, and S4l step-up transformer for a cool $31,566. The CD4.1X player ($14,331) had a built-in DAC and a pair of 6DJ8 tubes in the output section. Amplification was provided by their Meishu Phono Tonmeister Silver 300B SET integrated amp ($19,300) pumping out eight watts. HRS stands and isolation bases added nearly another $20,000 to the overall cost of the system.

The more expensive of the two Audio Note UK systems.

Audio Note UK makes every component in their systems (including speakers).

The room inhabited by San Francisco audio retailer Audio Vision featured an all-Technics system (except for speakers). They had chosen to exhibit for only the first two of the three days. A Technics SL-1200G table and arm was fitted with a Clearaudio Virtuoso V2 moving-magnet cartridge at a total price of $5,499. The $3,499 SL-G700M2 combination unit (CD/SACD/DAC/Streamer) was the other source equipment. Power and control came via the $9,999 SU-R1000 integrated amp w/phono stage and DAC.

Bookshelf speakers were either Rogers LS 3/5a ($6,890/pair including dedicated stands) or Harbeth P3ESR XD at $2,990/pair. They were supplemented by an REL Acoustics T/7x active subwoofer ($1,099). Cabling (power/interconnects/speakers wire) was all Nordost, coming to about $7,000. The rack and accessories added another $4,000 or so.

In all, the setup came to $35,000 – $38,000. I didn’t get to hear the Harbeths in the system, but for my ears, this was the least-compelling sound of the show – not bad, but not impressive, either.

The all-Technics system from Audio Vision.

A Rogers LS 3/5a on its stand with an REL subwoofer.

The system that I found most compelling featured equipment from manufacturers that were all new to me. Gestalt Audio, a Nashville-based dealer, and The Lotus Group, from Novato, California, teamed up to inhabit a room with SW1X Audio Design electronics, PranaWire cabling and grounding components, and Wolf von Langa London field-coil speakers. The Amp V Titan Special integrated amp is a tubed model with directly heated 300B valves and a complement of driver/input valves, selling for $21,495. Source material came via the VDT IV Valve Digital Transport Player and Streamer ($27,725). Despite the name, no disc drive is present in the unit. A DAC IV Special D/A converter conveyed the music to the amp for $27,725. PranaWire cabling was imposing in its physical presence (the speaker cables reminded me of the shed skin of an anaconda – see the photo of the grounding units below), and total pricing was in the high five figures. The two Interceptor ground treatment units were connected to separate components at a cost of $3,250 and $5,250.

The $60,000 Wolf von Langa speakers are an open-back dipole design with two 15-inch woofers in the three-sided lower enclosure and a full-range speaker with a glass or plexiglass baffle on top. Other baffle materials are apparently available for this 95 dB/watt/meter model. The look of the speakers being demonstrated was a bit prototype/”work in progress” to my eyes. For that kind of money, I would expect more attention paid to aesthetics, but, again, the website images lead one to believe that prettier veneers are available for the lower cabinet as well. There was no complaining about the sound – it was smooth and clean with a very wide, deep soundstage.

The SW1X/Wolf von Langa system.

The SW1X components.

PranaWire Interceptor Level III and Level II ground treatment system.

Wolf von Langa speaker, front view.

Wolf von Langa speaker, rear view.

The power supply for the field-coil speakers.

All in all, the 10^th California Audio Show, despite its scaled-down nature, was a successful event. I had attended many of the previous shows, but this was the first time I had gone as a correspondent. It was a perfect introduction to reporting on this sort of expo. I learned a lot – such as how to force the flash on my new phone (a little too late for some of the pics, I’m sorry to say). I’m looking forward to the next one.

Header image: Blue Coast recording artists Fiona Joy Hawkins and Rebecca Daniel.

All images courtesy of the author.

This is an original Fillmore East program from 1971, from my personal collection.

 There's a reason this is special to me...

...it was the first time I'd seen Frank Zappa. Portions of that June 5, 1971 concert appeared on the Mothers of Invention's Fillmore East – June 1971 album. I attended the show with my friend and former Stereophile writer Bob Reina. We completely flipped out.

 

One of the best explanations of stereophonic sound I've ever seen, courtesy of this circa late-1950s/early-1960s Audio Fidelity brochure. Scanned at high-res to make it as readable as possible.

Here's a thank you note that Harry Pearson, founder of The Absolute Sound, sent to attendees after his fifth Friendship Party, which was in 1984 or maybe 1985. I didn't remember I'd saved this until I found a box of stuff in my attic a couple of weeks ago.

And we thought wireless mics were a new idea! Electronics Illustrated, March 1961. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/public domain.

The telephone rings. “We have a few pallets for you, can we deliver tomorrow morning?”

The next morning, an 18-ton truck with a hydraulic tail lift arrives. It is July and hot enough to fry an egg with no additional heat source. Several pallets are unloaded into the yard, each full of several stacked boxes, all wrapped up together. Each box contains several smaller boxes and each one of these contains 20 vinyl records. People race back and forth bringing the boxes into a climate-controlled warehouse before they get too hot. The last pallet is short, only a single row of boxes. One box in the corner looks like someone dropped a washing machine on it, which they probably did. The damage is noted. Some destroyed record sleeves are visible through the torn cardboard. Some quick photographs are shot for reference, documents are signed, the truck leaves.

This is a lot of several thousand, hopefully identical records, which have just arrived from the pressing plant, shrink wrapped and almost ready to sell. The test pressings were already approved a few weeks ago. Everything sounded great. So what could possibly go wrong now?

I could write an entire book detailing all the things that could still go wrong. In fact, I am in the process of doing just that, but this is another story. First and all too common, shipping damage. That little washing machine (or was it elevator motors?) incident…phew, it only hit the edge here! Only two of the smaller boxes had visible damage. That’s just 40 records to write off, if we are lucky.

Then we start unpacking. Is this actually the correct artwork? Usually it is, but every now and again…Is it properly printed? This is a can of worms for the graphics design department to deal with. Just like the audio people and the test pressings they approved, the designers received a print proof, weeks in advance of the actual printing. Printing, cutting, folding and gluing record sleeves is full of technical challenges. It does happen occasionally that records are rejected solely because of sleeve defects. These may even originate prior to printing, such as missing or incorrect information on the original recording.

Time to dig deeper. We have several thousand shrink-wrapped records. For obvious reasons, it would be extremely impractical to open, inspect and listen to each and every one of them. Could we just open one and assume all the others would be the same?

As we saw in the two previous columns in Copper 198 and 199, if the mastering and plating have been successful and the test pressings were satisfactory, then we are fortunate to have a set of good mothers and at least one set of good stampers. However, for a run of several thousand records, several sets of stampers will be needed. These need to be grown on the mothers, centered, sanded, formed and mounted on the press molds accurately. With each new set of stampers, major issues could appear. But, even within the span of a single set of stampers, they may get worn or damaged through repeated heating/cooling cycles and high compressive stresses. Defects could still exist in only a small number of records out of 1,000 or more, pressed with a single set of stampers. How do we weed them out?

My approach is that the first and foremost course of action is preventative. The better pressing plants are capable of manufacturing a very consistent product and have internal quality control procedures, which in the vast majority of cases, effectively weed out defective records and recycle them long before anything is shipped out. The potentially higher cost of a serious pressing plant is certainly money well-spent, as it prevents much higher and unforeseen expenses down the line and ensures you will receive a product you can actually sell.

But, still, there is no way around proper quality-control procedures, carried out by suitably qualified engineers, at the receiving end. Several records will have to be opened and inspected. These cannot be sold. So how many records do we need to sacrifice?

The way to go is a statistical selection of samples, initially only a small number, which will indicate if further samples need to be taken. To begin with, we would take a few samples per pallet, randomly selected, from different boxes on each pallet. It is vital to note down which records came from which box, for our statistical analysis.

These records are our initial samples. They are opened and carefully inspected. Are these actually the correct records? Are the inscriptions on the lead-out area matching the ones on the lacquer masters? This indicates that the correct lacquer disks, mothers and stampers have been used. Are the labels correct and on the correct side? Are they in good shape? Are the edges properly trimmed? Are the center holes well-formed and correctly dimensioned? Are all samples identical in these respects?

Are any marks, craters, scratches, blisters, fingerprints, dust, hair, insects, plastic or paper residues, or bubble gum visible on the record surfaces?

The next step is to inspect the records on a special turntable with a measurement microscope fitted, for proper centering, flatness and groove structure integrity.

After that comes the critical listening session. The records are placed on a reference turntable, tonearm and cartridge system, which is calibrated for level and frequency response. The reproducing system must be able to resolve detail and must not introduce any noises of its own. Ideally, the listening session will take place in an acoustically-treated room with a very low noise floor of its own, using high-quality amplification and accurate full-range monitor loudspeakers. This description is close to the ideal mastering environment and indeed, this part of the quality control assessment often takes place in the mastering facility which cut the masters for that record. This environment does not really resemble the average home listening conditions. It is meant to be far more resolving and revealing to the extent of not necessarily being pleasant to listen to.

The reference turntable system.

It is meant to bring out every little noise and defect, exposing a much “uglier” side of the recording, which would normally remain well concealed on the average home system. If a recording can be made to really sound good on such a revealing system, it will also sound good on any less-revealing system as well. Perhaps different, but still free from technical defects. A mastering engineer needs to be able to hear everything a home listener is going to hear, plus a lot more that the home listener may not get to hear. For accurate loudspeakers to really perform, they need an acoustically accurate room to work in. For a low-noise signal path to make sense, it needs a low-noise room to not mask it with extraneous noises. The mastering environment is a laboratory, not an entertainment space.

It is, in effect, an audio microscope.

In this audio microscope, the records are compared to the test pressings and archived reference cuts, to establish whether any audible differences exist. The same is then repeated through headphones, which provide an entirely different listening perspective. While most world-class mastering engineers only trust their loudspeakers for making decisions regarding dynamics, frequency balance and overall sound character, headphones certainly have their place in quality control assessment. No changes are made to the sound at this stage; we are simply checking if there could be anything there that shouldn’t be there.

Clicks and pops, for instance, shouldn’t be there and are not there on high-quality pressings. They are a defect, not an inherent feature of the medium. If such noises are heard, then something needs to be fixed.

While on the calibrated reproducer, the records are also measured objectively by means of laboratory instruments, such as level meters and spectrum analyzers.

If all sample records prove near-identical to each other and to the test pressings, all is good and the records can be sold. If all sample records are near-identical to each other but vastly different from the test pressings and defective, then most likely all records have the same defect and that 18-ton truck comes back to collect them, to be returned as rejects, along with a proper engineering report detailing and justifying the reasons for rejecting.

Sometimes, however, life is not that simple.

While most sample records will be near-identical to each other and to the test pressings, one or two may have a strange defect. In that case, more samples are taken from the same pallet. The aim is to locate the extent of the defect occurrence. It may prove to only affect three or four records, usually the ones right next to the original defective sample. These are weeded out and destroyed.

Special attention is required when signs of shipping damage exist. In the case of that washing machine incident (true story), although only about 40 records had obvious damage, another 20 next to them were badly warped, which could only be noticed after opening them one by one and removing the records from the seemingly intact sleeves. This was probably because the washing machine (or submarine parts) which fell on the records when the truck swerved to avoid a suicidal driver, actually stayed there, leaning against the records for another three days of bumpy roads, diesel hum, and country music, bending the neighboring records out of shape…!

Both record and sleeve are scrutinized for defects—all the more painstaking when they are as elaborate as this release!

Do all record labels take the quality control of their products as seriously? Considering the stories of major label, high-profile artist releases, which made it all the way to the retail stores with one side by an entirely different artist and album, or with songs appearing twice in a row, it is clear that some will not even bother checking the test pressings, let alone do any further quality control on the final product. These are usually the ones who keep the mediocre pressing plants in business.

In the last few years, I have been observing a consistent trend towards significantly higher sales figures for high-quality recordings, properly mastered, plated and pressed, with decent quality control procedures throughout, compared to many mediocre products which sit unsold, taking up shelf space.

This is encouraging, as it suggests that it is the record buying public ultimately having the final say on product quality. By choosing to purchase the high-quality product instead of the mediocre one and developing a preference towards record labels and artists consistently offering higher-quality products, not only are you keeping them in business, but you are making a statement regarding quality standards for commercial releases. This has been a good incentive for record labels and artists to starting to pay more attention to recording and manufacturing quality, seeking out the qualified professionals and producing better records, with all it takes to do so.

To conclude our “How Records are Made” series: it is not easy to make a really good record. It takes skill, experience and patience. But, it can be done and the result can provide a most rewarding listening experience. Seek out some outstanding examples and discover for yourself just how good this 130-year old format can sound!

All images courtesy of Magnetic Fidelity.

This article was first published in Issue 94.

Previous installments in this series appeared in Issues 196, 197, 198 and 199.

I feel like a rabbi talking a non-Jew out of converting to Judaism. It’s incumbent on him or her to try to discourage any would-be Member of the Tribe, in preparation for the hardships and challenges that lay ahead. That’s how I approach those who would embrace open-reel tape, if they don’t already own legacy machines and tapes, because rediscovering open-reel tape has none of the benefits of the return to vinyl (or even cassettes): there’s never been a time when you couldn’t buy a turntable or new vinyl, and the format has been revived beyond even Mikey Fremer’s wildest dreams.

Everything about open-reel seems to be a cautionary tale. As has been discussed before, aside from Ballfinger and a few restorers of vintage decks, there are precious few new machines to consider, let alone afford. You have to buy second-hand, and hope you bought a deck that needs little work, or at least is the sort for which spares exist. Copper has gone into depth on the topic of the hardware; this article is about the caveats of which you should be aware when buying used pre-recorded tapes.

Brand-new pre-recorded tapes, from companies I call The Open Reel Revivalists, aren’t enough of an inducement to get into open-reel unless you are loaded, and have catholic tastes when it comes to music. Admirable as they are, the brand-new 1/2-track, 15 ips tapes cost a bundle and don’t necessarily address most people’s musical preferences. I suppose the trap for those who only want brand-new machines and tapes is not unlike having a Bugatti Chiron while living in Monaco: nowhere to go, and nothing to do other than admire your purchase while hardly enjoying it.

As I have stated before, my obsession has resulted in the acquisition of eight machines and 2,300 pre-recorded tapes from the time frame I categorize as The Original Open Reel Era, which ended in the mid-1980s. This immediately sets a cutoff point regarding repertoire. Anyone who wants any material recorded after, say, 1985, regardless of the artists, is sh*t-out-of-luck. So, Caveat No. 1 is: Don’t Buy Into Open-Reel Tape If You Hate Easy-Listening, Middle-of-the-Road Pop, Classical or Soundtracks and Show Scores.

As drastic as that sounds, that’s pretty much what’s available out there. I’m saving my observations about the dearth of rock music and other genres for a future column, but suffice it to say that the available repertoire is limited to whatever genres appealed to the stereotypical (pun intended) audiophile of the era. This, of course, is no issue for those who do prefer classical, soundtracks, etc., but for Baby Boomers partial to rock, soul, country, funk and other post-1960s genres, the pickings are slim. Again, I will discuss the low survival rate of rock tapes in an upcoming column.

Caveat No. 2 is about condition. Sorry to repeat myself, but 2,200 of my 2,300 purchases came from eBay and without exception, all were offered as seen, with the vendors noting that the tapes are untested, as they had no access to tape decks. What this tells you is that the tapes sold on eBay are probably collections found in an attic, garage or basement after a parent or grandparent has passed on, or other situations in which the vendor has found a pile of tapes with no interest in them for his or her own use.

Again, a future column with discuss how I have dealt with this, and how I have thrown out around one in every 30 tapes – but that ain’t bad when you consider what’s worth keeping from every pile of 30 or so used LPs you might acquire. Indeed, one of the upsides to this adventure is the unbelievably high survival rate of Original Open Reel Era pre-recorded tapes (rock notwithstanding). I can only attribute this to the likelihood that most were owned by audio enthusiasts who knew how to handle and store them. Oh, and who respected them because they have always cost twice that of contemporary LPs.

As for Caveat No. 3, it’s about prices. If this was 2018 or even 2019, I wouldn’t be telling you about what inflation has done to the prices of used tapes. If I keep referring to eBay, that’s because it is the most omnipresent source, and is a yardstick for values in most categories, e.g. what the going price is for a pair of vintage Stax headphones or Montblanc fountain pens. What’s happened is that interest in open-reel tape is enjoying a near-vertical trajectory, even if it is only within a tiny community (or minuscule cult). The number of devotees may be negligible when compared to vinyl returnees or newcomers, but they tend to be fervent, seasoned audiophiles.

A result of the renewed interest in open-reel tape is 100-to-200 percent inflation in the price of old tapes. Even dreck that couldn’t command $5 two years ago (which is the value of a decent empty plastic spool) is now $10-$25 plus postage. I won’t identify this “dreck,” only to say that there are dentists’ offices that wouldn’t touch this stuff as background music. If you do decide to test the eBay waters, expect to pay $20-$30 for tapes described as in good condition, irrespective of any genre except rock. Add another zero to that for the top rock artists.

Caveat No. 4 will only affect you if you go global, but it addresses something that infuriates me, and wish I desperately want to save you from suffering: the utter swill issued in the UK. From what I can tell, the USA, the UK and Japan were the only territories which manufactured pre-recorded open-reel tapes in any numbers, with the USA by far the most prolific. My guess is in excess of 10,000 titles were produced in the USA over the roughly 30-year lifespan of the pre-recorded reel-to-reel format. What I can tell you is that out of my 2.300 tapes, only six are not from the USA.

Those six include two Japanese tapes – a Percy Faith album and the soundtrack to South Pacific­ – but I am at a loss to tell you how many titles were issued in Japan, and the one source I should have asked was the dear, departed Tim de Paravicini. Suffice it to say, he had dozens of Japanese open-reel tapes, for which he paid gigantic sums, and he confirmed, before I even acquired my two, that they are without peer. I heard his Miles Davis and Ramsey Lewis tapes, and demo tapes from TEAC, and sat there slack-jawed. Yes, they’re that memorable.

The late Tim de Paravicini and some of his Japanese pre-recorded tapes.

Before getting to the actual target of Caveat No. 4, I should pass on what Tim did tell me. He was certain that the Japanese tapes sounded so good because the tape stock was absolutely first-rate, while duplicating was undertaken in real time. As for the US-sourced tapes, he said the reason they sound as good as they do, despite certain economies and some labels taking liberties with track playing order, was that the duplicators such as Ampex were scrupulous in maintaining their recording “slaves,” even if the copying was at high speeds. Most of the tapes I have are on decent stock, Ampex or Scotch, and I have not come across one tape which needed baking.

(Brief aside: Another authority confirmed to me that the tapes which do suffer from gumming up or shedding, thus needing baking, were specific stocks of studio-bound professional blank tape, not the stocks used for commercial pre-recorded tapes.)

Note that the Japanese tapes I have seen are 7-1/2-inch ips 1/4-track tapes, while Tim had some real gems on 10-inch spools that played at 15 ips 1/2-track. US tapes began as 1/2-track 7-1/2 ips, then 1/4-track was introduced, and ultimately the speed was cut to 3-3/4 ips for cost savings. It also seems that the loftier the artist, e.g. Leonard Bernstein, the more likely the tape was of the higher speed. Rock was treated like a leprous scab, so most are 3-3/4 ips.

Oliva de Paravicini and a box of Japanese pre-recorded tapes.

More of Tim de Paravicini’s Japanese open-reel tapes.

Now the caveat. The third market, the UK, issued a smattering of 7-1/2 ips tapes, both 1/2 and 1/4-track. The four I own are classical and only so-so sonically, and I have no reason to believe that there were too many other titles. Instead, we get to the target of my loathing: the “twin-track mono” 3-3/4 ips atrocities issued by EMI and an affiliate budget label.

A history lesson is in order here. In the 1950s and 1960s, the British were relatively impoverished compared to Americans. Audio separates were the province of well-paid professionals. If you study Hi-Fi Yearbooks, however, you will see a plethora of cheap open-reel tape recorders, dozens of them. Why? Because the cost of LPs was so high that British music lovers of average means taped off-air, e.g. BBC concerts, or copied friends’ LPs. As a blank tape that would hold two LPs cost half the price of one album, you can see the instant savings.

Despite this, EMI issued a slew of tapes, from Frank Ifield to Nat King Cole, Shirley Bassey to the Yardbirds, Cliff Richard to Johnny Mathis, Manfred Mann to P.J. Proby. These came on 4-inch spools in 5-inch boxes, the irony being that the packaging was better than most of the US offerings while – unlike the USA – every tape had dedicated, printed leader-and-tail, showing some respect for the end-user. But that is not unlike putting lipstick on a pig because the sound was truly, inescapably execrable.

An EMI open-reel tape of the Beatles’ Rubber Soul showing the pre-printed leader.

Why do I mention them at all? Unfortunately, for me living in the UK and logging on eBay.co.uk, the algorithm daily bombards me with these, which fill screen after screen after screen. And they don’t shift. People aren’t stupid. But there’s a wrinkle to this: the Beatles tapes fetch as much as the decent ones from the USA on Capitol and in stereo. Why? Because they are sold as artifacts and memorabilia to hard-core Beatles fans. They have no worth at all beyond mere objects.

Then comes another twist: it has been pointed out that these are the only means of getting the Beatles’ mono mixes is on open-reel tape. Despite the sound being muddy and unpleasant, there’s a cadre of enthusiasts prepared to shell out big money for these. Wrap your head around that one, and then believe me when I tell you that open-reel tape enthusiasts are as zealous as vegans.

Good packaging, bad sound: EMI open-reel tapes.

 

All images courtesy of the author.

This article first appeared in Issue 152.

Part One and Part Two of this interview appeared in Issue 198 and Issue 199.

Before the Runaways, before the Go-Go’s, before the Bangles – there was Fanny. David Bowie was quoted in a 1999 Rolling Stone interview about Fanny: “They’re as important as anyone who’s ever been, ever.” Fanny was led by the sisters June and Jean Millington, on guitar and bass, respectively. They defied gender stereotypes with sophisticated musical virtuosity, great songwriting, passionate singing, and a ferocious, kick ass, no-holds-barred attitude on stage.

June Millington in the IMA barn with her T5 guitar. Courtesy of Per Grandin.

 

June’s sister, bassist and singer Jean Millington, suffered a stroke in January 2018. With the help of family and friends, she has been recovering, and the recuperation is ongoing, with the goal of getting back to playing bass. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to assist in medical bills and additional modalities of therapy, which are proving to be useful. Anyone who wishes to make a donation can do so here. You can also write to June Millington at junemillington@gmail.com if you’d like to host a benefit for Jean. June is happy to come to your community (previous benefits include Sacramento, Salt Lake City, Pasadena, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Greenfield, MA, with one upcoming in Florida) — all that needs to happen is that her expenses are covered; everything over that goes to Jean.

 

Photo taken in Honolulu upon getting ready for the 1993 release of Millington's solo album Ticket to Wonderful. Courtesy of Neal Izumi.

Jean and June Millington at IMAWest in Bodega, CA in preparation for the release of their album Melting Pot. Courtesy of Jean’s daughter Marita Madeloni.

June Millington’s autobiography, Land of a Thousand Bridges, can be obtained from IMA’s website.

 

June Millington with her Les Paul TV model sitting in with Sonya Kitchell. Courtesy of Ann Hackler.

For more information about June Millington and Fanny, please visit the following websites:

https://www.facebook.com/june.millington.1
https://www.facebook.com/June-Millington-48343226295/
http://www.ima.org
http://www.fannyrocks.com
https://www.fannywalkedtheearth.com/home/
https://www.facebook.com/FannyWalkedTheEarth/

Header image courtesy of Marita Madeloni.

This article first appeared in Issue 81.

What's the most important musical year of your life? The one year you can look back on right now with the fondest of recollections? For me, it's always been 1976. 

I was only 12 years old. Many things happened that birthed my love of music in 1976. What was the source? Good old terrestrial radio. Remember AM radio? We had two AM Top 40 radio stations in our area. Every week both published a Top 40 singles weekly chart. There wasn't much difference between the two, but I picked them up whenever I had a chance. These charts proved handy because I still hadn't read a copy of Billboard. Interesting note: one of those stations would give away the weekly Top 10 singles if you were the lucky caller and could name them. I happened to win twice.

At this stage, I knew all about the Billboard charts because I listened to Casey Kasem's American Top 40. We moved to California in 1975. Before that I listened to Kasem’s program on the Armed Forces Network in Germany every weekend. But when we got to the US, finding AT40 became more of a chore. The only station that played the show was in San Francisco, two hours away, and my radio had problems picking up its signal. Still, I did the best I could. I'd often catch the show at different points, but I always listened as long as I could. And I kept a journal where I wrote down as many of the hits I would hear every week. But it wouldn't be until the summer of 1977 when I got my hands on a copy of Billboard that I became an avid chart-watcher. It was the first magazine I subscribed to (until Rolling Stone in 1978). What a revelation Billboard was to read! All those charts! All that music biz info! Pretty mind-blowing for a 14-year-old.

But back to 1976. For most of that year AM radio was the only frequency I visited, although I knew of FM radio. We had a local gospel and R&B/soul channel on the top of the FM dial. It would play R&B hits that you would never hear on the pop charts, and it was an ear-opener. I began to explore this new frequency on the dial, but I was still stuck on AM for the majority of my listening time.

I should also point out how important American Bandstand and Soul Train were to my musical upbringing. Both came on back-to-back on Saturday mornings. I would catch them often when I wasn't playing sports or doing something else. Soul Train was the bigger revelation since they showed and played records that didn't always cross over to the pop charts.

One fall night I was flipping through the AM dial and came upon an album countdown show. The only way I knew of the best-selling albums in 1976 was through my local paper, which published the weekly Billboard Top 20 albums and singles. The show was called the National Album Countdown, a weekly Top 30, and it had just launched in 1976 (and ran until 1985). Because of my paper's Top Albums list, I knew of these albums, and most had singles in the Top 40. But there were others. Names I didn't know, like Bob Marley, Jeff Beck, a Bob Seger live album, Led Zeppelin's Presence.

What was all this and why hadn't I heard of any of it? I still hung on to AM radio even after this revelation, but I finally figured out how FM radio could be different than AM. Album Oriented Rock (AOR) stations played songs that you would never hear on American Top 40. It would be a few years before I started listening to AOR regularly, but that barely-remembered Countdown show from '76 started it all. And little did I know then, but I was hearing the future of classic rock radio.

In 1976 radio was filled with what would become classic singles and albums by Peter Frampton, Boston, Thin Lizzy, Blue Öyster Cult, Boz Scaggs, Steve Miller, Heart, ELO, Abba, Thelma Houston, the Bee Gees, Stevie Wonder, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Hall and Oates, Bob Seger, Queen, Spinners, KC and the Sunshine Band, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Manhattans, and Aerosmith. The list goes on and on.

Everything that happened during that year had a bearing on how I became a music junkie: winning the Top 10 weekly singles, the AM radio countdown sheets, that lone R&B station in my town, my continued pursuit of American Top 40, and the National Album Countdown. It all shaped the eclectic listening tastes that I still have today.

1976 was a glorious year for music. It changed my life.

Just some of my favorite recordings of 1976:

Abba – "Dancing Queen"
Aerosmith – Rocks
Al Stewart – "Year of the Cat"
Bee Gees – Children of the World
Bellamy Brothers – "Let Your Love Flow"
Billy Ocean – "Love Really Hurts Without You"
Blue Öyster Cult – Agents of Fortune
Bob Marley & the Wailers – Rastaman Vibration
Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band – Night Moves
Boston – Boston
Boz Scaggs – Silk Degrees
Brothers Johnson – "I'll Be Good To You"
Candi Staton – "Young Hearts Run Free"
Car Wash – Soundtrack
Commodores – "Sweet Love"
Daryl Hall and John Oates – "Sara Smile"
David Bowie – "Golden Years"
Deniece Williams – "Free"
Diana Ross – "Love Hangover"
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band – Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band
Doobie Brothers – "Takin' It To The Streets"
Eagles – Hotel California
Eagles – "Take It To The Limit"
Earth, Wind & Fire – "Can't Hide Love"
Earth, Wind & Fire – "Getaway"
ELO – A New World Record
ELO – "Strange Magic"
ELO – "Evil Woman"
Elvis Presley – "Hurt"
Elton John and Kiki Dee – "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"
Elvin Bishop – "Fooled Around and Fell In Love"
England Dan and John Ford Coley – "I'd Really Love To See You Tonight"
Flamin' Groovies – Shake Some Action
Fleetwood Mac – "Rhiannon"
Foghat – "Slow Ride"
Four Seasons – "December 1963 (Oh What A Night)”
George Benson – Breezin'
George Jones and Tammy Wynette – "Golden Ring"
Graham Parker and the Rumour – Howlin' Wind
Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes – "Wake Up Everybody"
Heart – "Crazy On You"
Hot Chocolate – "You Sexy Thing"
Isley Brothers – Harvest For The World
Jackson Browne – The Pretender
Johnny Cash – "One Piece At A Time"
Joni Mitchell – Hejira

Kansas – "Carry On Wayward Son"
Kate and Anna McGarrigle – Kate and Anna McGarrigle
KC and the Sunshine Band – Part 3
L.T.D. – "Love Ballad"
Lou Rawls – "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine"
Manhattans – "Kiss and Say Goodbye"
Marvin Gaye – "I Want You"
Maxine Nightingale – Right Back Where We Started From"
Mighty Clouds Of Joy – "Mighty High"
Miracles – "Love Machine"
Modern Lovers – Modern Lovers
Nazareth – "Love Hurts"
Norman Connors – "You Are My Starship"
Ohio Players – "Love Rollercoaster"
O'Jays – "I Love Music"
Parliament – Mothership Connection
Paul Simon – "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"
Peter Frampton – Frampton Comes Alive
Queen – "You're My Best Friend"
Ramones – Ramones
Roxy Music – "Love Is The Drug"
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan – "Sweet Thing"
Runaways – "Cherry Bomb"
Seals and Crofts – "Get Closer"
Spinners – "The Rubberband Man"
Steve Miller Band – Fly Like An Eagle
Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life
Tammy Wynette – "'Til I Can Make It On My Own"
Thelma Houston – "Don't Leave Me This Way"
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – "American Girl"
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – "Breakdown"
Thin Lizzy – Jailbreak
Warren Zevon – Warren Zevon
Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson – "Good Hearted Woman"
Wild Cherry – "Play That Funky Music"

One of the first Spotify playlists I made was on the music of 1976.

Here's a link to it: Music of 1976

Tom Lane's article, "What if Elvis Had Lived?" appeared in Copper Issue 174.

Header image: Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life, album cover.

"Mr. Steely Dan" and his Cohorts, In Words and Paintings

Quantum Criminals is the first book I've seen that really captures the galactic picture and microscopic fussiness, the words and music, and the unsettling but intoxicating vibe of Steely Dan. Written by Alex Pappademas with paintings by Joan LeMay, it is published by the University of Texas Press in Austin.

Unlike previous books, such as Brian Sweet's The Complete Guide to the Music of Steely Dan, Pappademas creates inventive stories about almost-always louche, cryptic characters invented by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The subtitle, less elegant than the perfect title, sets the scene: Ramblers, Wild Gamblers, and Other Sole Survivors from the Songs of Steely Dan.

The book is a full words-and-art collaboration. LeMay, a New York-based artist, provides more than 100 vivid "portraits" of until-now unseen of Steely Dan characters, her eye and hand guided by an imagination of names we could only hear before: The El Supremo, Buzz, Pepe, The Babylon Sisters, Mr. Whatever, Babs and Clean Willie, the Fella in the White Tuxedo, character actors and occasional stars and hired extras who appear in Steely Dan's mind-movies. She also draws portraits of the numerous musicians in Steely Dan songs: In portraits of Fagen and Becker, her easter egg is adding their birth flowers to the background.

These "people" are the secret sauce of the songs of Steely Dan, beginning with "Jack" of their first hit, "Do It Again," to "Gaslighting Abbie" and "Cousin Dupree" on the 2000 release, Two Against Nature. Pappademas even conflates a fusion of Fagen and Becker, known as "Mr. Steely Dan," which rolls off the tongue, and the page, like the antihero in a Cowboy Bebop spinoff.

Donald Fagen (left) birth flower carnation, Walter Becker, birth flower violet. Painting by Joan LeMay, from her book with Alex Pappademas, Quantum Criminals. Courtesy of Joan LeMay.

Many Steely Dan characters can be boiled down to three types: drug users, both recreational and bottoming out; old guys who have inappropriate obsessions with younger women; and degenerates along a wide spectrum, from unlucky schmucks to predatory pedophiles. I had forgotten the menacing figure of the child abuser "Mr. LaPage" in the superficially lovely "Everyone's Gone to the Movies," from The Royal Scam (1974). He shows the kids porn movies, exhorts them to play a new game, and not tell their parents.

Some of the characters are historical figures. Napoleon, for example, from the title song of Pretzel Logic, though LeMay resists the temptation to depict "Napoleon in rags." "King Richard/King John" from the song "Kings" from the debut album Can't Buy a Thrill features a LeMay portrait on the facing page of Richard Nixon wearing a kind of Mardi Gras crown, almost a joker. Turn the page, and there is a similar "posed" portrait of John F. Kennedy, more regal. They could be, Pappademas suggests, references to Richard the Lionheart (died, 1199 CE), succeeded by his brother, John, of Robin Hood legend. Or 20th century American politics and fate and the butterfly effect. The author concludes: "But really it's about some guys from the past drinking in a bar and also how it maybe doesn't matter who the president is, in what might be Steely Dan's opinion." And he is probably right, as he often is, with broad knowledge and excellent instincts about the cryptic kickers these songs may be about.

The chapter "Chino and Daddy Gee" introduces the reader to the foundational people and places of Steely Dan's Bard College and its characters, appearing on songs such as "My Old School," "Reelin' in the Years," and "Razor Boy," aka, "the Bard College Cinematic Universe." Pappademas arrests our attention when he writes about the sneering, asshole-ish protagonist in "Reelin' in the Years" when he drops the notion that "Bob Dylan wrote his version of this song and called it "'Like a Rolling Stone'." Of course, "Like a Rolling Stone" preceded Steely Dan by a number of years...it came out in 1965, when Fagen and Becker would have been freshmen...but it's much more interesting to write it the way Alex does, because time travel is one of Mr. Steely Dan's talents. His interest in science-fiction is such that he takes a concept from pulp sci-fi magazines called "hang-ups" (such a perfect word for hung-up Mr. Dan!), which are words that are made up but sound good and advance the plot without much explication. I wish that Pappademas gave a nod to the joke within a joke of calling future Nixon henchman G. Gordon Liddy "Daddy Gee"; hippie-hating Liddy led the infamous drug raid on the Bard campus in May 1969. "Daddy Gee" was also the name of the hip R&B saxman heard and name-checked on Gary "U.S." Bonds' "A Quarter to Three."

The song "Bad Sneakers" gets a long, knowing exposition, which it deserves. "As exiles making art in Los Angeles, Donald and Walter have joined a club that includes Igor Stravinsky, Fritz Lang, Thomas Mann, and Billy Wilder, and also the Beastie Boys, who like Steely Dan are great New Yorkers who enjoy supplying snappy answers to stupid questions . . ." Pappademas does a very slight detour into the greatness of the Beasties' exile on Sunset album, Paul's Boutique, which doesn't come out until 1989, whereas "Bad Sneakers" was released in 1975 on Mr. Steely Dan album 004, Katy Lied. But that's OK, because Pappademas understands that Señor Steely was about time travel. It's my theory that they collapsed after the torments of making Gaucho because all those mixes were ripping a hole in the time/space continuum and Fagen was beginning to morph into another dimension.

"Bad Sneakers" is an early admission of how much they miss New York "stompin' down the avenue by Radio City," which they will return to after album 007 to record Aja. Alex writes, "By the time they return to New York, they will know L.A. well enough to capture what is seductive and ridiculous about it mercilessly and accurately in songs like "Aja" and "Glamour Profession."

But in "Bad Sneakers," they sneer at an L.A. type in a white tuxedo, but know the joke is on psychic bums like them: "Do you think I don't see/The ditch out in the valley that they're digging just for me." Pappademas describes it as: "An inescapable doom . . . like the Grim Reaper smiling and leaning on a luggage cart at baggage claim with MR. DAN scribbled on a shirt cardboard. To Encino, my good man."

There is a great chapter about the avant-garde mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian, featured real-person in "Your Gold Teeth," wonderfully painted by LeMay, wearing a shawl of many colors. LeMay is not too literal though. She resists painting Berberian with gold teeth. Pappademas goes deep into this Massachusetts' native's history as "the tenth oscillator" of Radio Milan, Italy's electronic music facility in 1955, because she can make sounds with her voice beyond the capability of the nine other state-of-the-art machines. That she became a frequent collaborator with John Cage seems destined. “Your Gold Teeth” is a cool but lesser-known pop song, in which "even Cathy Berberian knows there's one roulade she can't sing," one of the lasting enigmas of their catalog, but which Pappademas explains, as far as anyone could, with credibility and brio.

There is a very short chapter about Lady Bayside, the heroine/heroin of "The Boston Rag." Pappademas, who lives in Los Angeles, takes Walter's word for it about the peculiar character of Bayside, not far at all from Becker’s native Forest Hills, Queens. But he gets great mileage from writing about New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser, a Bayside native Pappademas describes as "the most exciting writer in the Post's reactionary Electric Mayhem Band, in the sense that you never knew when she'd come out swinging at some generally uncontroversial person like Tilda Swinton in print, or call Christine Amanpour a 'CNN war slut.'"

Lady Bayside, by Joan LeMay. I knew this girl. She had a pack of Marlboro filled with joints and cigarettes. She had a pill case with seconal, tuinal, placidyl. Courtesy of Joan LeMay.

Since the last time I wrote about Countdown to Ecstasy, I got some unexpected deep throat stuff from a personal source very close to Walter Becker, who told me I was wrong when I made what was to me the obvious connection of the line in "The Boston Rag," "so I pointed my car down Seventh Avenue." I thought was related to the large number of Baysiders who worked in the city's garment district. The Seventh Avenue in the song is actually about obscure, barely used even by locals because there's not much there, Seventh Avenue in Whitestone, adjacent to Bayside, where there was an after-hours drug pad called The Playroom: "Lonnie swept the playroom" for stray pills, "and swallowed up all he found." (I always heard it as "swallowed a lot of downs," and I wouldn't be too wrong. Whitestone, in those days home to cops, firemen, teachers and other civil servants then required to live in the city limits, was also where the electric kool-aid garage band the Fleshtones were formed in 1976, and where the frenetic, stuck-in-a-labyrinth, drug-addled nature of its teenage denizens made Bayside's messed up teens seem like Quakers. The "oldtimers" I see at Whitestone, Bayside, and Ozarks-like College Point 12-step meetings seem to have known each other from local basement dive bars from 50 years ago, and some of them are barely older than 60.

Through the prism of these characters, Pappademas places the songs in context in which these persons of interest, imagined unindicted co-conspiractors appear. He does so with extraordinary courage and leaps of faith. Pappademas writes with the free-associative velocity of Lester Bangs, the curiosity of John Jeremiah Sullivan, and the authority of David Foster Wallace, exploring and interpreting worlds we did not know we were welcome to.

The shrewd portrait of "Doctor Wu" contains a giveaway that Pappademas may have overlooked. The references to Biscayne Bay and the south Florida of the time, which was the promised land for Jews from Queens and Long Island, Cuban emigres, CIA agents, and gangsters, would soon be filled with so many cocaine criminals that Miami would render Port-Au-Prince, where one would get a "Haitian Divorce," placid by comparison. Our character seeking "Doctor Wu" needs drugs, of course, but there is a line early in the song about having "spent the last piastre I could borrow." The piastre was a currency used in the Middle East in the Ottoman Empire, but was also the currency of Vietnam under French Colonial rule. I always tagged Dr. Wu as the guy who gave or sold smack to American GIs during the Vietnam War, which was ongoing during the first three Steely Dan albums. US troops left Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) ending the Vietnam War April 30, 1975, just two months after the release of Katy Lied on March 1, 1975. BTW, referenced twice in the book, the lyricist Jerry Leiber of the songwriting team Leiber and Stoller is spelled Lieber both times.

In addition to his Cinerama vision of Steely Dan's world, Pappademas is such a close listener that he can find momentous happenings in five-second bites or less. He cites Victor Feldman's five-second marimba riff as a key propellant under the line "they don't give a f*ck about anybody else" in "Show Biz Kids."

He also cites the precise deployment of Michael McDonald's voice in later Steely Dan songs. McDonald had left no-longer-touring Steely Dan in 1974 (with guitarist Jeff Baxter) to become the new voice of the hard-touring Doobie Brothers and establish a solo career. But, Pappademas writes, "he also comes back for Steely Dan sessions any time they need a voice that sounds like crushed diamonds mixed with silt." On "Peg" (from Aja), it's McDonald who sings that one syllable (my ital) title in "stacked harmony." On another lesser-known track from that album, "I Got the News," McDonald sings two words: "Broadway Duchess." But to the author, they are essential, for that is "when the clavinets kick in and the drums step up in the mix and the whole song becomes a moving sidewalk for McDonald's voice to dance across." But only those two words: "Donald sings everything up to that point, but "'Broadway duchess' is a part of the melody that requires a pinch-hitter."

What of the line between inspiration and madness that defines all we love and yet sometimes feel uneasy about Steely Dan's relentless search for the perfect sound? That would probably be the case with Gaucho. The opening track, "Babylon Sisters," earned Fagen and producer Gary Katz a plaque from the studio engineers for having mixed that song 250 times, and it didn't end there. "Donald proceeded to mix the song 28 more times."

Pappademas gets a surfeit of information about Aja from the long-running Making of...Classic Albums series. There is the now (in)famous story of the guitar solo in "Peg" that Jay Graydon nailed after so many other quite brilliant and famous guitarists did not: Robben Ford, Rick Derringer, even their frequent guitar man Elliott Randall, who performed Mr. Steely Dan's career-making solo in "Reelin' in the Years." Listening to the playbacks of the failed solos in the documentary, Fagen and Becker are merciless. But, Pappademas writes:

"The solos are the most famously overdetermined parts of Steely Dan's songs, but they also tend to be the emotional crux of each song. They are the one moment in a Steely Dan song where the deeper feeling of the song is allowed to break free of its tightly composed and arranged frame, the one time a player is permitted to step outside the contraints of the track, breaking through the conceit of anonymized slickness this band used to such brilliant rhetorical effect . . . They liked articulation, an eloquence derived from speech – they wanted soloists who could create that sense of a moment of abandon while still turning a phrase. . .There are artists who don't work this way, but none of them have made 'Peg.'"

Many others might write books about Steely Dan, some flippant, some dry, some scholarly, some with razzle but no dazzle, or vice versa. But none of them will have created Quantum Criminals, which literally paints the most vivid, gorgeous portrait, in words and pictures, that I have seen.

This article originally appeared in Wayne Robins’ Substack and is used here by permission. Wayne’s Words columnist Wayne Robins teaches at St. John’s University in Queens, and writes the Critical Conditions Substack, https://waynerobins.substack.com/.

Lately, just about every audiophile I know has three systems: a reference system, an all-around house system, and a desktop computer system.

The Vanatoo Transparent One Encore Plus is a “high-end solution for your desktop” system.

Lately high-end audio enthusiasts seem to be traveling in two distinct paths.

Path one consists of ever more elaborate (and expensive) separates meant to maximize every possible aspect of the technological reproduction chain. This obsession not only involves the latest hardware but gets into such specificity as going all the way down into the materials used in the design and manufacture of not just the regular items such as preamps, power amps and various playback sources, but add to that exotic external power supplies; exorbitant speaker, interconnect, HDMI, Ethernet and digital cables; power conditioners, isolation platforms, record stabilizers, AC plug and outlet metallurgy, and so on.

I doubt any long-time audiophile could have predicted the level of possible refinement in the audio chain that has it has reached today.

On path two we have gear consolidation, due to the desire to shrink down the space that all of these boxes take up.

Maybe it’s because of the so-called WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor), the expense of high-end separates and accessories, or just the plain old desire to make our lives less complicated (read: uncluttered).

This of course doesn't mean that integrated amps and integrated preamp/streamer/D/A converters are a bargain.

Well. yes, some are, but at the extremes, all of this can be very expensive.

So, what are the alternatives?

Sonos does a great job in the “I need background music with super-easy access” category. Yes, I have a Sonos system and it serves a very useful service, but is not high-end in any sense of the word.

Can one get high quality (read: high-end) sound from a very compact and very affordable computer-based alternative?

The answer is: absolutely!

As more and more of us sit in front of our computers most days, the solution to my audio desires centers around my desktop.

Powered speakers can be used anywhere, of course, not just as part of a desktop computer audio setup. Just hook up a source and, given the level of technology, (which seems to change daily) it makes life very uncomplicated. The question, however, seems to be price/performance expectations. I have had very expensive powered speakers for studio use. They were also very large, didn't have all the latest input options, and were not practical for being placed on a desk.

About four years ago I was attending an audio show and walked into a showroom with several speakers, including full-range floorstanding ones and a number of small speakers on stands. The presenter then played music and asked us which speaker was playing. This was a trick question because the speakers playing were the smallest: a Vanatoo Transparent Zero Plus. I was so blown away I ordered a pair and they became my desktop computer speakers from then on.

The price was $399.00 and the sound was very good.

During the last year I added Qobuz, a subwoofer, and a mini AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt high-res USB D/A converter to my computer audio setup. The Cobalt takes the output directly from my Mac Book and connects to an input of the Vanatoo speaker system.

Now I was getting some serious high-end audio.

Recently I was made aware of the latest addition to the Vanatoo line, a larger powered speaker: the Transparent One Encore Plus.

I ordered a pair.

Compared to the Zero Plus, the larger box (10 inches high by 6-1/2 inches wide by 7 inches deep) contains larger drivers (the diameters are not specified and the speaker includes a rear-firing passive radiator) powered by (in each box), 100-watt amplifiers for the woofers and 20-watt amplifiers for the tweeters, running in Class D. The Encore Plus includes separate bass and treble tone controls, Bluetooth connectivity, and a 3.5mm analog input (a 3.5 to RCA adapter cable is provided) plus optical and coax digital inputs, and a USB input for direct computer connection. The Encore Plus also offers a subwoofer out.

The connection options cover just about any kind of source you might have, and the system also comes with a very   good remote control.

The setup took about five minutes!

While I expected that the sound now would be much bigger, deeper and with greater resolution than the smaller model I had previously, I wasn't prepared for the huge difference.

The system now can fill a room!

I have always had a fascination with speakers and their designers. No other product in the audio chain can have as much of an influence on the sound of a system than speakers. Size, room acoustics, and theory all come into play, and having owned dozens of them as well as selling them while working at Lyric HiFi in New York City, I always built a system from the speakers backward. Get the room right and the speakers right and you can create audio magic.

Better speakers can always show the differences with using different associated gear in the chain, and over the years the quality of the speaker enclosures, drivers, and crossovers has improved immensely. Powered speakers bring in yet another design element, but they also make having to match speakers and amplifiers a non-issue.

Using speakers as near-field monitors near-field plays into the quality of the reproduction, and I don't want to minimize this consideration, but the Transparent One Encore Plus speakers have the ability to reach past this and become a true hi-fi reproducer. They’re not just for desktop near-field use.

My studio room has all three systems: My $150,000 reference, a Sonos for the TV, and my computer system. As I have frequent visitors, I am often asked to demonstrate both my reference system and my computer system.

While the excellence and extraordinary ability to bring reality into my room through my reference system is undeniable, my computer system with my new Vanatoo Transparent Encore Plus speakers more than holds its own, and I listen to it much more frequently than my reference system. The clarity and overall design allow the Vanatoo speakers to just plain disappear and let you get lost in the music just like the big boys can.

The center fill is excellent.

I have friends with Wilson TuneTot speakers on their desktop, outboard D-to-A units, and high-quality integrated amps. Hey, if you have the room (and the cash) and want to spend 20K on your computer desktop system, be my guest.

Me? I like my computer system, thank you. (See below.)

While playing Spotify-quality audio sounds fine, when fed real hi-res streaming like Qobuz or TIDAL, the speakers deliver the goods and are of high-enough quality to show off the better source material.

Going from Spotify to hi-res streaming through the Vanatoo Transparent Encore Plus system is like a goldfish turning into Jaws!

If this was the only system I could own, I would be quite happy with it and I would have saved about $148,000 as well!

Highly recommended.

The Vanatoo Transparent Encore Plus Speakers are available from $579 – $699 (depending on finish), direct from Vanatoo (see note below).

The system comes with a USB-A to USB-B cord, power cord, 3.5mm-to-RCA “Y” and 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm cables, plus a speaker-to-speaker connector.

My desktop system also includes an REL T/5x subwoofer ($699.00), AudioQuest Dragonfly Cobalt USB D/A converter ($239), and IsoAcoustics desktop speaker stands ($99.00).

Vanatoo products are sold only online on Amazon, and on the Vanatoo website: www.vanatoo.com. The speakers have a 30-day audition period and come with a three-year warranty.

Vanatoo LLC
1600 Dash Point Road #51
Federal Way, WA 98023
www.vanatoo.com

When Gene Simmons of the band KISS said that “Rock is dead” in 2014, it sent shock waves throughout the industry. He later clarified his comments by saying that new bands “haven’t taken the time to create glamour, excitement and epic stuff” and that they lacked the ability to develop a real legacy. Recently, he added to these thoughts by commenting on how the current music business model is really stacked against the artist.

The team at Deko Entertainment would probably agree with most of what Simmons has said. That in part is why they founded their label. Deko was launched with the intent of providing a home to legacy rock artists who were continuing to make great music but couldn’t capture the attention of any major label. These are artists that they felt continue to have a vision and a story to tell.

Partners Bruce Pucciarello and Charlie Calv have focused on traditional artist development and a more evolved approach to marketing and promotion, helping Deko quickly grow into an enterprise that very well might be the model for music moving forward. Their business has quickly grown from a handful of vinyl projects to full-on representation of existing and emerging acts, with a variety of offerings. Their roster includes bands and artists like Ten Years After, The Guess Who, Albert Bouchard and Joe Bouchard (formerly of Blue Õyster Cult), Sass Jordan, legendary drummer Carmine Appice, and now Tiffany among others.

Charlie Calv. Courtesy of Deko Entertainment.

New platforms have been launched which promise to take things to another level. In the process, Deko Entertainment might not only change the label business, but it just might transform radio, streaming and every other outlet designed to help you discover great music.

We caught up with the team and talked about the label’s origins and where they see things going forward. The energy they bring to the conversation was simply infectious.

Ray Chelstowski: How did Deko get its start?

Bruce Pucciarello: Deko really started about 25 years ago when the amazing mastering engineer, Alan Douches created it to help some of the artists that he worked with.  Unfortunately, he was so busy with other projects it wasn’t often used. About four and half years ago, Alan brought Charlie Calv aboard to relaunch Deko. Charlie had it growing quickly the first year and asked me to join, at which time we reincorporated as Deko Entertainment. Since then, Charlie and the team have done an amazing job assembling and managing over 80 artists and over 140 releases in four years. 

Bruce Pucciarello. Courtesy of Deko Entertainment.

Charlie Calv: Alan was an old friend and gave me the wonderful opportunity to help resurrect Deko and it was pretty amazing how quickly it took off. We were first just looking at doing a couple of vinyl-only releases and next thing you know the phone just kept ringing – actually e-mail; not many people pick up a phone anymore. Anyway, it just has not stopped. We have yet to [actively] look for an artist; they just keep coming to us. I would like to think we are doing something right, and that is probably because the artist always comes first to us. We work hard in helping new artists find their audience, and help older artists reinvigorate their existing audience and grow it by trying new things and introducing new ways to deliver their music.

RC: Indie labels like Wicked Records seem to be focused on a specific kind of sound. Deko seems more open to variety. How do you determine who belongs on the label?

Bruce Pucciarello: Deko is an entertainment community, and our commitment is to be open-minded and supportive of all music and art. The “institutional” approach is fine for some, but we aren’t looking to corner a market or focus our artists to leverage a specific fan base. Maybe it sounds antithetical to the typical business model, but we are just building a positive artistic community, and in our community, we love all different kinds of music. We want to [put] our artists [in a place] to create, and then it is our job to get [them] out to the public in a fair and equitable way and make enough money to invest in their next project. We meet with our artists constantly and we are available to all of our artists whenever they need us. We are not a record company. We are a partner for our artists.

Tiffany. Courtesy of Erika Wagner.

RC: Have you found that there is a sweet spot for pricing a bundle?

CC: We try to keep everything under $100. Then there’s shipping costs as well, which can become expensive. We did a 25^th anniversary [edition] of the Guitar Zeus [album] with Carmine Appice. That’s a heavy-ticket item. It’s four LPs, three CDs, a booklet, and a piece of jewelry that has Carmine’s logo on it. And the quality of this stuff is really good. Most stuff is around $55 – $65 and we try to make it unique to the band and something that the fans will enjoy.

RC: Can classic rock radio become part of your future?

BP: When we saw this question, both Charlie and I thought, “we need to ask [veteran music executive] Lee Abrams if he would answer it for all of us.” We are lucky enough to count him as an associate and friend and this was Lee’s answer: 

“Possibly, but not counting on it since Classic Rock [radio] rarely plays new releases and the format will eventually age out. The better plan is to focus [on] online rather than terrestrial radio, though airplay on more eclectic formats is possible. In the big picture everything is headed online rather than terrestrial radio.”

RC: With so much music being consumed through new channels, how are you looking at technology as a tool to drive the business forward?

BP: The best businesses come up with smaller pieces of effective technology to accentuate their specific business model. That leads to a flexibility they have that the larger companies can’t duplicate. I don’t think anyone else is doing that as much as we are.

CC: We are starting to integrate more digital media components with our releases, such as the interactive comic books we will be releasing. This will start with the first installment of Imaginos, bringing to light the story first created by [writer/producer] Sandy Pearlman coupled with the album trilogy recently completed by Albert Bouchard, founding member of Blue Öyster Cult. We are also planning on releasing our first multi-media project, Maze Landing (www.mazelanding.com) in 2024. This is something folks will want to check out, our own twisted dystopian tale.  

RC: Which artists in your portfolio are you most excited about?

BP: I would have to name them all. We don’t sign any agreement unless we believe the artist needs to be heard. This month I am particularly stoked about the Jelusick release, Follow the Blind Man. This is Dino Jelusick and an amazing band pushing kick-ass rock to its limits, so I’m super-excited about that. And this may be the first we are going public with this, but I am really excited about Albert Bouchard’s Imaginos comic book. I can’t share the new artists we are talking to, but they will be my favorites next month. It’s like being asked to pick a favorite child. Can’t do it.

CC: So much great new stuff coming up and so much cool stuff we have already put out. I really enjoyed the new Plein D’amour release from The Guess Who, and the live Sass Jordan album, [which] really captured her in the heyday on the “Rats” tour. Coming up, I think everyone is going to dig the new Dictators album and the new band Supafly fronted by Ray West of Spread Eagle; that is one heavy kicking album!

RC: Record stores seem to be reimagining their spaces. How can a label help music get back to a place where the connection to the fan is more intimate?

BP: “Farm-to-table” aptly describes a future vision and repurposing for the “record store.” I think labels need to take ownership and build community for each of their artists locally, with the record stores and the local independent [musical] instrument and [music] lesson centers. There is a natural synergy here that is often underutilized.  One of the greatest record stores, Factory Records in Dover, NJ, has that kind of total synergy with Deko.  They have a stage in a lounge in the middle of a massive record store in a picture frame factory building.  We held a concert series titled “Up Close and Personal” there and fans were thrilled. 

CC: We were able to put some of our acts like Kasim Sulton (Utopia), Carmine Appice, and Tiffany in this intimate setting where they would literally just hang with the fans, play music, sign stuff, take pictures. It was like having a concert in your living room. People loved it!

RC: In addition to the new technology and broadening the artist roster, what’s next?

BP: Five or six comic books in production, two documentaries, one full blown live multi-media dystopian adventure being finalized for next year, the [new] Deko Black Box record player we just brought into stock, and we’ll typically add three to five artists to the roster each month.

CC:  We are ever expanding our reach with new partnerships in distribution, on-line delivery systems, and working on coming up with new creative ways to deliver music and the use of new media as it becomes available.  We even now have our own turntable that we have recently grown here at Deko, and we are bringing it to you “farm to turntable”; yes Deko is housed in the middle of a farm in rural New Jersey. You never know what crop we will be harvesting next.

Header image of Ten Years After courtesy of Rob Blackham. 

This article has been substantially updated since being first published in Issue 135.

Happy Halloween from all of us at Copper!

The photograph was made through an abandoned storefront window in Bisbee, Arizona. It's part of James's “Icons and Totems” series which explores the culture and history of the USA/Mexico border region.

Copper has an exchange program with selected magazines, where we share articles, including this one, between publications. This one's from PMA Magazine: the Power of Music and Audio.

By including tuba, French horn, and baritone sax to the typical instrumental fare, the album is infused with a European-classical influence, not only with the more traditional pillars of blues and swing that people came to expect. This was probably my first foray into Miles’ music but far from the last. Contrary to the Parker LPs above, I was not as lucky with Birth of the Cool when it came to being at the right place at the right time. I just missed my shot at snatching an original “turquoise” pressing, when, back in the '90s or so, a vinyl-hunting competitor beat me to the chase by a few minutes at Montreal’s Primitive record store on rue Saint-Denis. My nemesis dared dangle his prize in front of my eyes, so I punched him. (Of course I didn’t, but I wanted to.) In 2003, I got the Classic Records reissue cut by Bernie Grundman' which varies from good to excellent, and tends towards a warm tonality.

 

 

In my view, and that of many others, The Duke is one of the all time greatest music – not just jazz – composers ever. A jazz pianist and band leader as well, in a career that spanned roughly 50 years, The Duke’s music went beyond traditional boundaries, often defying stereotypes, with pioneering music structures and arrangements, the latter brilliantly done by longtime collaborator Billy Strayhorn. From acoustical 78 rpms to stereo LPs, The Duke’s pieces run the gamut from three-minute singles to elaborately complex masterpieces like those found on the three selections above.

From as early as 1951, Columbia Records knew how to capture the band at its finest. The musical sophistication of the first release, Masterpieces by Ellington, as well as the driving energy of the second, Ellington Uptown, make these two Columbia recordings among the very best examples of mono tape transfers to vinyl LP, with Masterpieces benefiting from the technical advantage of having been cut on four sides at 45 rpm by Ryan K. Smith. My vinyl co-conspiring friend was lucky enough, in 2021, to have grabbed the last sealed copy at Montreal’s famous Aux 33 Tours for its original price, just before prices nearly doubled. The third LP on Capitol, The Duke Plays Ellington, recorded in 1953 and originally released as a 10-inch, focuses on Duke’s piano skills in a simple trio setting with Wendell Marshall on bass and Butch Ballard on drums. It shows how great Duke was at tickling the ivories. Capitol’s studio sound is very good.

 

Combining country, rhythm and blues, and western swing, Bill Haley – with and without his Comets – brought rockabilly and rock and roll to the forefront of the music charts and jukeboxes, where years earlier Louis Jordan, Big Joe Turner, and Ike Turner laid the groundwork for this new popular music style. On these two compilation LPs, recorded between 1952 and September 1955, you get all of Haley’s biggest hits. The sound is mostly straight orward and quite good.

*I would be remiss not to mention that some of those 12,000 records I share with a fellow vinyl hunter, co-conspirator, and lifelong friend.

For the 200^th issue of Copper, here are 200 of my favorite songs. These aren’t all of my most-liked – that would take up a decent chunk of an iPod Classic’s hard drive. But these are songs I never get tired of listening to, and that always give me a rush, get me moving, or move me. 

I made a few arbitrary rules: only one song from any band or artist, otherwise this list would be dominated by Blue Öyster Cult, Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, Love, Roxy Music, Gary Wilson, Genesis, the Kinks, Roy Orbison, and a few others. (Exceptions: if a band member released a song as a solo artist, or when an artist is part of a duet.) I allowed myself one or two sentences of commentary per song. An asterisk indicates outstanding sound quality. These aren’t in any kind of order other than connected by free association.

Links for listening to the songs are included at the end of each listing. Copper’s house style is to put song titles in quotes, but I’m breaking that rule here to avoid typographical clutter. If this list is skewed toward the 1960s through 1980s, well, I’m a baby boomer. I’m sure I’ve forgotten to include some favorites.

This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)* – Talking Heads (link)
It was almost impossible to pick just one song from the band, but this one’s combination of memorable melody, drummer Chris Frantz' unmistakable groove, and David Byrne’s yearningly hopeful lyrics make this one a standout.

Misery and Gin – Merle Haggard (link)
No one writes a better "drown your sorrows" song than Merle. “But here I am again/mixing misery and gin/sitting with all my friends and talking to myself.”

The Red and the Black – Blue Öyster Cult (link)
How do you pick one song from your favorite band? You pick the one that combines breakneck speed, tongue-in-cheek lyrics about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police always getting their man, savage bass and guitars, runaway drums, and Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser’s incandescent guitar solo. Although, don't miss "Astronomy," a masterpiece.

You’re Much Too Soon – Hall and Oates (link)
Not one of their hits, but that fade-out section just soars….

I’ll Be Around* – Spinners (link)
But at the end of the day and the love affair, you won’t be, will you?

Mother of Pearl – Roxy Music (link)
Perhaps Bryan Ferry and Co.’s greatest epic, and why am I even qualifying that? The Meaning of Life in a song.

Peaches En Regalia – Frank Zappa (link)
Are people really still debating whether Zappa was a genius or not?

Too Late to Turn Back Now – Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose (link)
Ah, sweet memories of a not-so-sweet and mostly-innocent youth.

A Dream Goes On Forever – Todd Rundgren (link)
Well, it does, no matter how screwed up life might get.

Oh No/Orange County Lumber Truck – The Mothers of Invention (link) (link)
One of Frank Zappa’s most compelling melodies, matched with lyrics for which “scathing” is too weak an adjective. And that guitar playing! (It's a medley on the Weasels Ripped My Flesh album, but you have to listen to both songs separately on YouTube.)

Dreaming Of Me* – Depeche Mode (link)
Their first single and in my mind, still the best, though it didn’t break out of the clubs.

Bizarre Love Triangle* – New Order (link)
There are a zillion mixes of this song – you want the one from the Substance 1985 album, which is incredibly powerful, in demonstration-quality sound.

I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times – the Beach Boys (link)
Sadness never sounded so beautiful.

So Far Away – Carole King (link)
Tapestry is a great album, and this is one of its greatest songs.

City Song/Simple Song* – Jim Dawson (link)
This song explains everything, as far as I’m concerned. “La la la la, la la la, la la la, sing a simple song/We all belong/Only to time." (The two songs are a medley on the Songman album, but only the latter is available online.)

Child’s Song – Tom Rush (link)
A song by Canadian singer Murray McLauchlan about your children finding their wings and leaving the nest, and it chokes me up every time.

Take Me As I Am* – Rumer (link)
Heartbreaking advice to a lover who's not going to work out.

Walk On By* – Dionne Warwick (link)
What can you say about a musical goddess? Burt Bacharach, Hal David and Dionne Warwick – does it get any better?

Watcher of the Skies – Genesis (link)
Maybe the greatest intro to any progressive rock song, ever, and it gets better from there.

Ballad of a Thin Man – Bob Dylan (link)
“Because something’s happening here and you don’t know what it is/Do you, Mr. Jones?” Sometimes I feel like the older I get, the less I understand.

Time Waits for No One – the Rolling Stones (link)
A magnificent mid-tempo song with a wonderful outro courtesy of Mick Taylor, Nicky Hopkins, and the band, all channeling magic. And yeah, ain't it the truth.

Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience (link)
A musical shock to the system when I first heard it as a teen. I don’t think I was the only one who was flabbergasted.

Fields of Sun – Iron Butterfly (link)
Pre-In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, this song is just as weird, with its angular piano intro, bizarre falsetto breakdown, Doug Ingle’s ponderous voice, and churning fuzz guitar. Actually, maybe this song sucks, but I love it every time I hear it.

Give Me Just A Little More Time – The Chairmen of the Board (link)
General Johnson sings it like he means it, all right. Every writer’s theme song.

About A Girl – The Academy Is… (link)
Simply a perfect pop song in every respect.

Bear Up Bison – Shonen Knife (link)
How can you not love three Japanese women who sing about Barbie dolls, candy, green tangerines, rock and roll T-shirts, banana chips, cats, jellybeans, and giving encouragement to endangered species?

Got My Mojo Working – Muddy Waters (link)
I’ll give this a vote for the greatest blues song of all time, and I know that’s saying a lot.

In Dreams* – Roy Orbison (link)
Roy at his most magnificent (I'm talking the original Monument version, not the 1980s remake), with a soaring, almost operatic melody, signature poignant lyrics, and sumptuous sound courtesy of the great Bill Porter. Spoiler: he doesn’t get the girl of his dreams.

Computer Love/Computer Liebe* – Kraftwerk (link)
Yes, they did predict the future of computers, dating, modern-day feelings of isolation, and well, pop music, in 1981. And they did it with an elegant melodic sense and a sound that’s still ahead of its time more than 40 years later.

I Am The One You Warned Me Of – Albert Bouchard (link)
From the Byzantine Imaginos project, in which Albert, along with BÖC auteur Sandy Pearlman, had a huge hand. This is a recent remake, part of Albert’s Re-Imaginos trilogy, and is moodier and deeper than the original.

Tears Dry on Their Own – Amy Winehouse (link)
She could have been one of the all-time greats. Check that – she is.

In Memory of Elizabeth Reed – the Allman Brothers Band (link)
While the Idlewild South version is wonderful, the live At Fillmore East album is iconic. Dickey Betts, Duane Allman, and the band are telepathic here.

Thumbnail Screwdriver – Quill (link)
A bizarre slice of Woodstock-era psychedelia. Quill actually played the festival; they were the lowest-paid band there for $450.

Sad Song* – Lou Reed (link)
How can such a depressing song sound so uplifting?

God If I Saw Her Now* – Anthony Phillips (link)
From The Geese and the Ghost, the first solo album by ex-Genesis guitarist Phillips, this is a song of innocence and regret, beautifully sung by Phil Collins and Vivienne McAuliffe.

Lawnchairs* – Our Daughter’s Wedding (link)
This irresistible 1981 off the wall club hit is sort of incomprehensible, but who cares when something’s this catchy? Warning – the original single is the one to listen to; the album remake is a dud by comparison.

It’s Obvious – Au Pairs (link)
Another song where the single is the one to have and the album version, while better-recorded, loses the spirit. In my 20s I spent a lot of time in clubs listening to music like this, and loved every minute of it.

Die Matrosen – Lilliput (link)
Raw, out of tune, and as punk as it gets, whether you want to call it that or not. Hey, the Sex Pistols never whistled a refrain!

Time For Livin’ – the Association (link)
This wasn’t a big hit for a band that had many, but it encapsulates their breezy harmonies, and a Sixties optimism that was on the wane in 1968, but still in the air.

Groovy Girls Make Love at the Beach – Gary Wilson (link)
They certainly do in what must be considered an indie/outsider music classic at this point, and it sounds like nothing else. Call it weird, hysterically funny, warped or whatever – I’ve loved his You Think You Really Know Me album from the moment I heard it, whoo!

Marilyn Dreams* – B-Movie (link)
The new wave band asks and answers the question: “Who killed Norma Jean/It was Marilyn.”

Crying to the Sky – Be-Bop Deluxe (link)
I don’t remember which rock critic called Bill Nelson’s guitar solo the greatest ever recorded, but that was in 1976, and it might still be true today.

For No One – the Beatles (link)
How does one choose from well over 100 Beatles songs? I picked this for its spellbinding melody and poignant lyrics about a love that could have been.

Waterloo Sunset – the Kinks (link)
My pick for the single greatest pop song of all time. No one captured the human condition like Ray Davies, and here, melody, lyrics and performance all meet in perfect harmony.

Who Do You Think You Are – Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods (link)
The Seventies had a lot of throwaway pop confections like this radio-friendly...gem? We can forgive them for “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero” after hearing this song. 

Kentucky Rain – Elvis Presley (link)
And how does one choose just one Elvis song? When it’s a sheer masterpiece in every respect.

African and White* – China Crisis (link)
This is their first single, unmatched in impact, though the group would go on to tremendous success later on with a string of excellent songs.

Lost in the Supermarket* – the Clash (link)
I’m of two minds about the Clash. I don’t know if they were the great punk-pop band almost everyone says they were, but you can’t just dismiss out of hand a group that wrote songs as great as this one.

I Don’t Have A Tie – Crack the Sky (link)
This rocking band with progressive flavors should have made it a lot bigger than they did (they’re still touring), perhaps because they never had a breakthrough hit, though this could have been it. But those in the know, know.

I Dig You – Cult Hero (link)
This is the B-side of “I’m a Cult Hero,” and if it wasn’t for Discogs, the 45 would probably be impossible to find...I had a tough time finding it in 1980. More evidence of my sometimes-misspent youth.

Starman – David Bowie (link)
The first time I heard this on WNEW-FM (those were the good old days), I called EJ Korvette, asked if they had the new Bowie album, had the guy look in the back room as it wasn’t even on display yet, and bought it as soon as I could. Legend has it that Bowie’s performance of this on the UK’s “Top of the Pops” catapulted him into stardom.

St. Elmo’s Fire – Eno (link)
One of Eno’s more poppy melodies, mated with an astounding guitar solo from Robert Fripp. Eno asked Fripp to imitate an electrical charge…and he rose to the challenge.

Honaloochie Boogie – Mott the Hoople (link)
I was torn between this and “Violence,” “All the Young Dudes,” All the Way From Memphis” and “Sweet Jane,” but I had to go with the irresistible groove and Mick Ralphs’ elegant make-every-note-count outro solo.

Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect – the Decemberists (link)
You can write a literary and poetic song without sounding pretentious, especially when you’ve got as great a melody as this one.

Hey There Lonely Girl – Eddie Holman (link)
The falsetto of the gods. The modulation at about 2:30 catapults it into the stratosphere, and that impossible high note at about 3:00 sends it into another galaxy.

In The Rain – the Dramatics (link)
Soul so heavy it hurts, but what a good kind of hurt.

Rescue – Echo and the Bunnymen (link)
Much of early British new wave and the gone-before-it's here New Romantic music doesn’t age well, and was too clever by half. This isn't.

I Can't Wait – Shelby Lynne (link)
I could have listed so many great songs and covers by her: "Leavin," "Killing Kind," "Just a Little Lovin," "Bend"...but I went with this heartfelt plea for love.

Ganga Smuggling* – Eek-a-Mouse (link)
Mouse literally invented his style of singing in nonsense syllables, an effect that’s strangely compelling. The reggae groove is as deep as it gets.

Love Come Down – Evelyn “Champagne” King (link)
Come down, get up, and dance!

8^th Wonder* – Sugarhill Gang (link)
Old-school 1982 hip-hop groove, and today it’s hard to imagine how startlingly new this stuff sounded when it first hit. Like all these dance club songs, the 12-inch single is the one to get.

Totally Wired – The Fall (link)
This ode to getting trashed out of your mind sounds exactly as out of control as you’d imagine.

I Love a Man In Uniform* – Gang of Four (link)
I was tempted to list a barbed-wire-slashing track like “Damaged Goods,” but this dance cut from their later period when bassist Sara Lee joined the band is just too infectious. “To have ambition, was my ambition…”

A Hundred Pounds of Clay – Gene McDaniels (link)
A 1961 smash from one of the greatest soul and R&B singers. He later wrote “Compared to What” and “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” and don’t miss “Tower of Strength.”

Sorry* – Grace Jones (link)
If Grace Jones wants to see another guy while she’s going out with you, well, she’s going to see another guy.

Songwriter – the Good Rats (link)
One of Long Island’s finest bands who could rock as hard as anyone – anyone – yet who were criminally under-recognized. Front man Peppi Marchello had something to say about that.

Eyes of the World* – Grateful Dead (link)
There was a time when I couldn’t stand the Dead; I’ve come to appreciate them (I’d have to be a fool not to). This was one of the songs that sparked my awakening.

Playing the Game* – Gentle Giant (link)
Songs like these make the argument that perhaps Gentle Giant was in fact the greatest, or at least the most musically accomplished, progressive rock band of them all. The organ solo is almost beyond belief.

Tongue Tied – Grouplove (link)
When it comes to catchy pop songs, I know what I like.

Hearts Are Gonna Roll – Hal Ketchum (link)
Now this is how country rockin’ should be done.

Busted – Ray Charles (link)
It doesn’t get any better than this, does it? Only Ray Charles could find humor in being broke and out of luck.

Let Me Go* – Heaven 17 (link)
Though the band made its rep with titanic dance floor numbers like “Penthouse and Pavement” and "We Don't Need This Fascist Groove Thing," I’ve always favored this more pensive song about the “hopeless fantasy” of love gone wrong. I should note that the sound quality is incredible.

Search and Destroy – Iggy and the Stooges (link)
As raw, vicious, and unrelenting as the title would indicate, and James Williamson’s guitar playing is savage. Both the original and David Bowie mixes are pretty mediocre, but play it loud until it makes your ears hurt, which it will.

Theme for an Imaginary Western – Jack Bruce (link)
Tough choice between this and the exceptional Mountain cover, but I’ll go with the pensiveness and delicacy of the original.

I’ll Be Satisfied – Jackie Wilson (link)
He was called “Mr. Excitement.” This is why.

When Love Comes Knocking Around* – James Lee Stanley (link)
A beautiful song from an under-recognized master songwriter, singer, and guitarist. Get with it, world!

Take A Look Around – James Gang (link)
The first song off the first James Gang album (well, I’m not counting the oddball intro, “Wrapcity in English”), this track announced everything great about the band, from the haunting melody to Joe Walsh’s unmistakable vocals, and oh, that mind-numbing guitar solo!

I Wanna Be a Lifeguard – Blotto (link)
An early MTV classic (the song played on MTV's first day on the air in 1981), this beachtime fun's bold protagonist confidently boasts,"summer blondes revealing tan lines/I'll make more moves than Allied Van Lines!" True fact: for a few years, Blotto's drummer and I played in a band together in college.

All Hashed Out – the Guess Who (link)
The band had many hits, but they had an even bigger number of great songs that never made the charts, many fueled by Burton Cummings’ sardonic wit. This one has a memorable melody, impassioned singing, and terrific guitar and piano solos, though it was hard not to pick “Sour Suite,” “Proper Stranger,” “Hang on To Your Life,” “Hand Me Down World,” “Guns, Guns, Guns,” “The Watcher,” “Glamour Boy,” “Those Show Biz Shoes,” or…well, you get the picture.

There’s Always Tomorrow* – Keith (link)
Sometimes you just gotta love a little Sixties pop-schlock, complete with shallow lyrics and even a gratuitous modulation. From the guy who brought you "98.6" and "Ain't Gonna Lie."

First We Take Manhattan* – Leonard Cohen (link)
I still don’t know what that bit about the monkey and the plywood violin means, but like all his lyrics, it doesn’t have to make literal sense to be gripping.

Just One Look – Doris Troy (link)
For me, just one listen was all it took. One of the heaviest grooves ever.

Into the Groove – Madonna (link)
Sometimes you just have to let go and let it all hang out.

I Should Have Known – McKendree Spring (link)
Fran McKendree (who sadly passed away in 2021) must have had the strongest, most propulsive right hand in the acoustic guitar playing world, so you don’t miss the fact that there’s no drummer, especially when the songs are as great as this one.

En Que Momento? – Moenia (link)
Fuse used to have a Spanish-language rock program (wish I could remember the name of it), which is where I first was turned onto this excellent electro-pop song.

Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough* – Michael Jackson (link)
Jackson had many musical peaks, and this was one of the highest.

Apron Strings – John Entwistle (link)
The Who’s bassist released a number of solo albums and this track from Whistle Rhymes blames all of John’s failings on his mother. If the utterly fantastic guitar solo reminds you of someone, it’s because it’s Peter Frampton.

Remember the Future, Part One – Nektar (link)
A prog-rock classic, spanning two album sides with Part One and Part Two. If you’re a prog rock fan, this is epic; it not, you might find this interminable nonsense. I’m a prog rock fan.

Sugar Mountain – Neil Young (link)
I was tempted to go with “Powderfinger” but in the end, went with this sweet coming of age tale.

Straight Lines – New Musik (link)
Another new wave dance floor classic. Sometimes music just doesn’t have to have Deep Meaning to be really cool.

Novocaine Heart* – Kandace Springs (link)
If you’ve never heard her, you need to. She’s an amazing singer, writer, and piano player, and I don’t use the word “amazing” lightly.

Forget Me Nots* – Patrice Rushen (link)
The great jazz pianist/singer went pop in 1982, and crushed it. Will Smith sampled it for “Men In Black,” which gave the song revived popularity.

Enola Gay* – Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (link)
This anti-war song is quite simply one of the greatest synth-pop tracks of all time.

America – Simon and Garfunkel (link)
Few songs are as evocative of an era as this 1968 masterpiece.

Mersey* – Pavlov’s Dog (link)
This little-known group was once the subject of an intense bidding war between ABC and Columbia Records – maybe hard to believe considering leader David Surkamp’s high-pitched voice is an acquired taste. There’s no denying the quality of the music, though, especially this wonderful love song.

Solsbury Hill – Peter Gabriel (link)
I was skeptical about Gabriel’s ability to maintain a solo career post-Genesis. I shouldn’t have been.

Diamond Head – Phil Manzanera (link)
Roxy Music’s Manzanera is one of the most underrated guitar players on the planet, and this track is proof. The studio and 801 Live versions are equally magnificent.

Outside of a Small Circle of Friends – Phil Ochs (link)
This 1967 song should have been a hit, but some radio stations wouldn’t play it because it had the word “marijuana” in the lyrics. The jaunty piano playing is courtesy of one Lincoln Mayorga.

Make It Easy On Yourself – the Walker Brothers (link)
I could have made it easy on myself and listed dozens of Bacharach/David songs to fill out this list, but I particularly like this one, and this version.

I Just Want to Have Something to Do – Ramones (link)
As kids growing up in the cultural blankness of suburban Long Island in the 1970s, we could really empathize with this one, the vibrant club scene being a notable exception.

The Messiah Will Come Again – Roy Buchanan (link)
One of the most emotionally gripping guitar performances ever recorded. No one played a Fender Telecaster better than Buchanan.

Sonic Reducer – Dead Boys (link)
You want punk? Here it is.

Too Much Pressure – the Selecter (link)
This British ska classic goes through my head whenever a deadline approaches. Why hasn’t this song been used in a TV show or movie yet, for crying out loud?

Mas Que Nada – Sergio Mendes and Brazil '66 (link)
My mom loved this song, and so do I.

Mind Up Tonight* – Melba Moore (link)
I really like these late 1970s and early 1980s dance club 12-inch songs (this one's from 1982), especially when they’re sung as devastatingly as this one, and have such a killer bass line.

Corcovado* – Stan Getz (with Astrud Gilberto) (link)
Words fail. The live version from the Getz au Go Go will melt your heart.

I Cannot Let You Go – Sondre Lerche (link)
Another excellent pop song, with some unexpected chord changes and musical elements. The instrumental break meanders a little bit, but that's OK.

I Got A Line On You – Spirit (link)
This got some airplay in 1968 but should have been a major hit. No one got such a thick, sustaining fuzzy sound out of a guitar than Randy California, except for Leslie West.

Gil Blanco County – Stalk-Forrest Group (link)
I’m cheating here – this was Blue Öyster Cult before they became known as BÖC. The band’s album was shelved by Elektra Records and appeared decades later, and it’s a really good record, more psychedelic jam band-ish than what the band would later become.

Doctor Wu* – Steely Dan (link)
It’s impossible to pick a “best” Steely Dan song, but I’ll go with this one for its unforgettable melody and chorus, impeccable arrangement, and lyrics about a bizarre love triangle.

Where Does It Go? – La Honda Featuring Rumer (link)
Before becoming a solo artist, British singer Rumer sang for the bands La Honda and Stereo Venus. Her voice fits this neo-retro song perfectly, but you can say that about any of her songs.

Looking For Another Pure Love – Stevie Wonder (link)
One of the few people in pop music truly deserving to be called a genius. Jeff Beck plays one of the best guitar solos of his life.

Always the Sun* – the Stranglers (link)
They could be abrasively punk, or create pop gems like this one. “Who gets the job/of pushing the knob?”

Midnight Sun* – the Strawbs (link)
Hero and Heroine is one of the Strawbs’ best albums, and this is one of the best songs on it.

Someday Soon – Suzy Bogguss (link)
She does a wonderful cover of this song written in 1963 by Ian Tyson of Ian and Sylvia, later covered by Judy Collins and others.

Marquee Moon – Television (link)
There’s a reason this track by proto-alternative rockers Television with it's soaring guitars by Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd is considered a masterpiece. Because it is.

Little Blu House – Unknown Mortal Orchestra (link)
Just a really fun song from this Portland, Oregon band, with an intense off-the-wall guitar break.

Yours Is No Disgrace – Yes (link)
Progressive rock doesn’t get any better than this.

Eminence Front – the Who (link)
Maybe not the Who’s most iconic or even best song, but I like it, especially because of John Entwistle’s bass playing.

Science Is Religion – The William Blakes (link)
And religion is science, according to these guys. After all, “It’s a particle and wave at the same time.”

Life Begins at the Hop – XTC (link)
One of the first singles from the British new wave/pop icons, who would later go on to something like fame if not quite fortune with a string of masterful albums and singles.

Workin’ On a Groovy Thing – the 5^th Dimension (link)
This only made Number 20 on the US charts, maybe because of its disjointed, half-realized production, but that doesn’t make it any less great a song.

Get Rhythm – Johnny Cash (link)
This early Cash single is required listening. Luther Perkins shows why he's the master of one-string rhythm.

My Name Is John – Methuselah (link; the song starts at 11:00)
This Elektra Records act might be be of the label’s most obscure (a copy of their self-titled debut album was going for $100 at a record show), but not because of this slashing rock track featuring some of the best Fender Stratocaster guitar ever recorded. The group eventually evolved into Amazing Blondel.

Let’s Stay Together – Al Green (link)
Sing it like you mean it!

Once In a Very Blue Moon – Nanci Griffith (link)
One of the best country songs ever. Nanci owns it.

Let’s Be Adult* – Arto Lindsay and the Ambitious Lovers (link)
A surprisingly poppy electro-funky song from the former member of noise-rock band DNA.

Round Midnight* – Ella Fitzgerald (link)
Music by Thelonious Monk, vocals by Ella Fitzgerald? This is as fantastic as you’d think it would be, from the Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie album.

Johnny and Mary* – Robert Palmer (link)
He broke out with the MTV smash “Addicted to Love,” but I’ll take this hypnotic track any day. On a good system, the bass synth is subterranean.

Mandolay* – La Flavour (link)
Let’s party! I recently attended my 50^th high school reunion, and this still brought everyone out onto the dance floor.

Homosapien* – Pete Shelley (link)
His first post-Buzzcocks single, and what a single.

Every Day is Just a Holiday* – the Members (link)
This circa-1980 party-until-you-drop song isn’t even the A-side of this UK band’s import 12-inch single featuring “Working Girl.” The band is still together!

Try Jah Love – Third World (link)
Reggae meets pop in a perfect marriage.

Stolen Moments* – Oliver Nelson (link)
The album is titled The Blues and the Abstract Truth, this is the first song, and it lives up to the album’s name within 10 seconds.

My Favorite Things – John Coltrane (link)
One of the most popular jazz cuts of all time, and with good reason, as Coltrane takes this song far higher than Rodgers and Hammerstein might ever dreamed it could go.

Straight, No Chaser* – Thelonious Monk (link)
Some people use “So What?” as the ultimate example of the word “jazz.” I pick “Straight, No Chaser.”

You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To – Tal Farlow (link)
Guitarist Farlow and band play a swinging, propulsive take on this standard.

So What* – Miles Davis (link)
The modal jazz landmark from Kind of Blue. Is there anyone reading this who hasn’t heard it?

Spaces (Infinite) – Larry Coryell (link)
Prepare to have your mind blown by this 1970 precursor to fusion. Coryell and John McLaughlin on guitars, Miroslav Vitous on bass and Billy Cobham on drums, all playing at lightning speed after a couple of minutes of buildup – I mean, come on.

Love Cares – Endgames (link)
Fluffy new wave pop, but irresistibly catchy.

You Keep Me Hangin’ On – Supremes (link)
Diana Ross, Florence Ballard and Mary Wilson at their finest, propelled by those amazing Motown players fueling yet another incredible Holland-Dozier-Holland composition.

Halifax – Hampton Grease Band (link)
I must warn you, this oddball band featuring alt/jam-band legend Col. Bruce Hampton is a very acquired taste. That said, guitarists Harold Kelling and Glenn Phillips are off-kilter brilliant.

Gypsy Lights – Quicksilver Messenger Service (link)
This was the band's last single, released in 1975. I don't know how high it charted – not very, I would guess – and it sounds very unlike the band, poppy and breezy, but there's no mistaking John Cipollina's guitar playing for anyone else.

Love Song – The Cure (link)
A good song is a good song regardless of whether it's the original version by gloom-rockers the Cure, or whether Adele sings it in a completely different style.

You Set the Scene – Love (link)
If it wasn’t for the Kinks' “Waterloo Sunset,” this would be my pick for the greatest rock song of all time. “And for everyone who thinks that life is just a game/Do you like the part you’re playing?”

Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You – Wilson Pickett (link)
When Wilson Pickett speaks, we should listen.

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell (link)
Monumental.

What’s Going On* – Marvin Gaye (link)
Like Stevie Wonder and the Temptations, Marvin Gaye helped usher in a new breed of socially-conscious, more personally expressive Motown music. And of course, this is a titanic classic.

You Got Me Going in Circles – Friends of Distinction (link)
They hit it big with their cover of Young-Holt Unlimited’s “Grazing in the Grass,” and then got down with this one.

Ooh, Baby Baby – Smokey Robinson and the Miracles (link)
Close your eyes and be transported.

Nowhere to Run – Martha and the Vandellas (link)
"My love reaches so high/I can't get over it."

Show and Tell – Al Wilson (link)
If ever a song deserved to reach Number One, it was this soul smash. It has everything.

La La Means I Love You – The Delfonics (link)
A glittering example of Philly Soul. Man was that stuff great!

O’Jays – Backstabbers (link)
Did I mention that I love Philly Soul?

You Make Me Feel Brand New – Stylistics (link)
I could listen to Philly Soul forever, and this song is perhaps the best example of why.

Stop That Girl – Barbara Lewis (link)
This non-hit album cut was written by Jackie “Put A Little Love In Your Heart” DeShannon. A little too meandering to be a hit, but I like it for that very reason.

Personality – Lloyd Price (link)
This 1959 swingin’ hit is one of the first songs I remember hearing, on my parents’ kitchen radio. It left an impression.

I Got You (I Feel Good) – James Brown (link)
I don't need to explain why this is here.

What Do I Get? – Buzzcocks (link)
No one could do melodic punk/pop like the Buzzcocks, maybe not even the Ramones.

Definitely Maybe – Jeff Beck (link)
An absolutely devastating guitar ballad, and Max Middleton's Rhodes piano fadeout is the icing on the cake.

Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division (link)
Maybe the best example of depression-as-music ever put on vinyl. After the suicide of singer Ian Curtis, they became New Order.

Genius of Love* – Tom Tom Club (link)
This Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz Talking Heads offshoot sounds nothing like that band – it's a fun, mid-tempo dance track featuring Tina’s vocals and some very cool drum and percussion work. The "I'm in heaven" bit can be heard on that Home Goods TV commercial.

Where It’s At – Beck (link)
“I got two turntables and a microphone.” What more do you need?

Kevin Ayers – May I? (link)
Would it be OK to someone to stare at you longingly if they asked as politely as this? The original studio version is cool in a laid back sort of way, but the version from the June 1, 1974 live album featuring Ayers, Eno, John Cale and Nico is the one to have, not the least because of Ollie Halsall’s astonishing guitar solo.

I Travel* – Simple Minds (link)
This early track bears no resemblance whatsoever to their big hit, “Don’t You Forget About Me,” which is fine by me, as I’d rather listen to the relentless synth-beat of this one.

Fast Car* – Tracy Chapman (link)
I’m sure almost everyone knows this great song. But most don’t know that some time ago, the Harman listening lab in Northridge, California found this to be one of the most useful tracks for enabling listeners to tell the differences between loudspeakers.

I Only Want to Be With You – Dusty Springfield (link)
Now this is what a pop song should be! The gloriously out-of-tune string section during the instrumental break only adds to the charm.

This Charming Man – the Smiths (link)
Their second single, and maybe their best (I haven't heard everything they've done, and this song blows "Girlfriend in a Coma" away). What on Earth are those riffs that guitarist Johnny Marr is playing?

The Creator Has a Master Plan – Pharoah Sanders (link)
It goes on for more than 30 minutes, and you want it to go on longer. Maybe the most gripping intro in all of jazz, and Leon Thomas’ vocals are hair-raising.

Maiden Voyage – Herbie Hancock (link)
And what a voyage it is; and what a brilliant use of polytonal chords.

How High the Moon – Les Paul and Mary Ford (link)
The Wizard of Waukesha and Mary Ford pull out all the stops in this dazzling display of multi-tracked vocals and guitars.

Misty – Johnny Mathis (link)
Erroll Garner wrote it and played it, but this is probably the definitive version.

A Summer Samba* – Walter Wanderley (link)
Is this over-the-top organ-playing cheesiness, or pop instrumental perfection?

Sex Bomb – Flipper (link)
Out of control noise-as-music, which is what makes it so great.

A Thousand Miles From Nowhere – Dwight Yoakam (link)
“I’m a thousand miles from nowhere, and there’s no place I want to be.” We’ve all been down that road.

The White Tent the Raft – Jane Siberry (link)
Angular, offbeat art-rock from an artist I adore.

Hora Decubitus – Charles Mingus (link)
Here’s an upbeat blues-progression-based track from the master.

The Girl From Ipanema – Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto (link)
The everyone-knows-it standard featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim and Astrud Gilberto. Sublime.

Lightning Strikes – Lou Christie (link)
The guy really wants the girl, doesn’t he?

Magnet and Steel – Walter Egan (link)
The guy really thinks he and the girl are made for each other, doesn’t he? And, like "Summer Breeze," you gotta love a song with a toy piano in it (almost impossible to hear in the YouTube clip).

Snow Queen – Blood, Sweat and Tears (link)
They might have (might have?) ventured into schlock at times, but they absolutely rip on this Carole King cover.

The Circle Game – Joni Mitchell (link)
Maybe the best coming of age song ever.

Prove It All Night – Bruce Springsteen (link)
I’m not a Springsteen fanatic, though I respect his talent immensely, but how can you not be dazzled by this track?

Be My Baby – the Ronettes (link)
It’s been called the greatest single ever. I won’t argue.

I Wanna Rock – Twisted Sister (link)
Jay Jay’s a friend and I want to tip my hat to him, and I grew up on Long Island, and the band was a huge influence on all us kids, and who doesn't remember the MTV video? And hey, who doesn’t wanna rock?

Summer, Highland Falls – Billy Joel (link)
A song about manic depression and the disappointment of a relationship not working out, one of Joel’s most compelling.

James Blake – Voyeur (link)
The guy has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard – check out his version of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” – and is a master of electronic pop production.

Dust My Broom – Elmore James (link)
As every guitar player knows (or should), this is the definitive blues guitar riff.

Born Under a Bad Sign – Albert King (link)
If you want to go to blues school, you can start here. Just ask Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and countless others.

Your Cheatin’ Heart – Hank Williams (link)
How did he get so much feeling from a few simple chords and such direct, unadorned lyrics? And, talk about a voice made for singing country music.

Hurts So Bad – Little Anthony and the Imperials (link)
It sure does – he’s restrained at first, and then it all pours out.

NIB – Black Sabbath (link)
Guitarist Tony Iommi is the king of the heavy guitar riff, and here’s one of the best. Very cool bass intro by Geezer Butler too.

Tighten Up – Archie Bell and the Drells (link)
The seemingly ad-libbed vocals and sloppy production (listen to how out-of-time those handclaps are at the end!) only add to the feel, and of course, this has one of the greatest bass lines of all time.

The Cure – Tegan and Sara (link)
Another utterly perfect pop song. I’m not completely stuck in the 1960s and 1970s.

Deserted Cities of the Heart – Cream (link)
A compelling song by the band, with fantastic bass playing by Jack Bruce, what sounds like a speeded-up guitar solo by Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker absolutely pounding the drums (too bad they sound like cardboard boxes here) and typically inscrutable lyrics by Pete Brown.

Cybernaut – Tonto’s Expanding Head Band* (link)
The brainchild of Robert Margouleff and Malcolm Cecil, the two of them to later become key in producing Stevie Wonder’s classic synthesizer-driven albums (and haven't gotten the recognition they deserve as far as I'm concerned). This electronic blues was done the hard way – one wall-of-synth sound at a time, painstakingly layered, not "produced" by clicking on a mouse to assemble soulless tracks into digital audio workstation software.

Stacy’s Mom – Fountains of Wayne (link)
A witty song about a generation gap. RIP Adam Schlesinger.

Wedding Bell Blues – Laura Nyro (link)
How could you not fall in love with this song, and her, after hearing it? The 5^th Dimension had the hit, but I like the raw feeling of the original better.

Girlfriend – Matthew Sweet (link)
He came blasting out of the gate with this one. That’s Robert Quine on the senses-shattering guitar.

And my latest favorite for Number 200:

Get to You – Jung Seung Hwan (link)
Here's an unabashedly romantic love song. I don't understand Korean, but don't need to for the feeling of this song to reach me.

Isn't it astounding how the emotion and power of music can be transcendent?

How wonderful to know that for all of us, there's a world of music out there that's yet to be explored.

My earliest memories of listening to recorded music go back to when I was a child living in what seemed like an enormous house on an even more enormous farm in Western Nebraska. It would be fun to talk about all the adventures I had on that farm. But the truth is that, like most small children on most working farms, I was simply underfoot much of the time, reminded firmly to stay out of harm’s way, far from tractors, irrigation canals, varmints, and various dusty roads. There were butterflies, which I liked. And snakes, which I didn’t.