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My War on LPs
My life took a swerve in the summer of 1974. Did I have an affair with an older woman whose husband was away in a war? Did I learn that...
Boogie Wonderland
A great man once wrote: “Once upon a time in New York City, when the city finally went to sleep, a magical place opened its doors and invited people in...
Holiday Songs You Should Be Spinning!
Most people who know me well are familiar with the fact that I’m not a big fan of holiday music. Sure, the classics still work. But year after year, big...
10 More Great Guitar Solos
As I wrote in Issue 117: I am not a musician – I play no instrument (I can whistle pretty well, though). I did play the drums (in high school and college),...
Five Weeks in Mongolia, Part One
It’s morning in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. I feel green, shaken and dehydrated from a rather spectacular night of diarrhea and vomiting. In matters of revenge, Montezuma has got nothing on...
Val and Eddie, Amy and Tom Revisited
Note: this article originally appeared in Copper Issue 74. In light of Eddie Van Halen’s passing, we felt it appropriate to run it again here in tribute, updated and with an added...
John, Paul, George, Ringo and Irving
Irving Bieler was one step away from joining the Swinging Sixties. He was standing in front of the Music Box on South Main Street in Fall River, Massachusetts. He had...
An Assortment of Favorite Demo Recordings
Many audiophile magazines and internet sites compile lists of what they consider definitive demonstration recordings that every audiophile should own, or at least use religiously when auditioning equipment. I rarely...
Birth of the Cool
Everyone wants to be cool. But what the heck is cool? “What is Hip?” Tower of Power asked us. “Tell me tell me, if you think ya know.” See, even...
Visión Musical: The Mavericks’ En Español
“That voice!” I had just posted the newly released video of “La Sitiera” from The Mavericks’ new album En Español on one of the forums I visited that day, and...
A Conversation with Technics’ Bill Voss
Technics is a brand that needs little introduction to most Copper readers. Technics was once a household name in consumer electronics but eventually faded to the point where the marque...
K-tel Records: Now That’s What We Call Music!
Since the late 1990s the Now That’s What I Call Music franchise has almost single-handedly kept compact disc sales from completely falling off the ledge. The concept is a simple one. Each...
Two Hands Clapping
It was a lot of money, even with the student discount. He had never been to the symphony, let alone invested in an eighth row center orchestra seat. He wasn’t...
The Next Voice You Hear
“So you had better do as you are told/you better listen to the radio.” (Elvis Costello, “Radio Radio”) Sanyo catalogued the MR2810 2-Band Radio Cassette Recorder in 1982 I received...
Ear Flaps Up
Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Brahms Back in the day, students were required to take music appreciation classes. The course generally included an introduction to...
Record Store Day – An Alternative Opinion
I never really gave much thought to Record Store Day, other than to see it mentioned on the internet here and there over the years, and eventually I would become...
When Dire Straits Made a Springsteen Record
There has been a lot said about the importance of Bruce Springsteen’s 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town. It was a transitional album for Bruce, taking him from beachside...
Often Snubbed, Punk Rock is Alive and Well!
In the spring of 2018, an historic event took place in Newark, New Jersey: the Misfits, a local and legendary punk band that disbanded in 1983, reunited for a single area show...
Unusual Musical Collaborations and Cameos (Part...
It often comes as a surprise to music fans when they hear that their favorite artists, in any category, are themselves fans of other musical genres. Even more surprising is...
Busking: All the World’s a Stage
Did you hear the one about violinist Joshua Bell? During part of an experiment conducted by The Washington Post in 2007, the Grammy nominee and best-selling recording artist played his Stradivarius violin...
Ten Great Guitar Solos
Full disclosure: I am not a musician – I play no instrument (I can whistle pretty well, though). I did play the drums (in high school and college), and I’ve...
Audio Shows 101: What to Expect As A First-Timer
A guide for newbies to make the most of the audio show experience. Since audio shows have been sidelined for the year, I felt it might be a good time...
The Earth's Heartbeat: Native American Music
All plants are our brothers and sisters,they talk to us and if we listen, we can hear them.If we wonder often, the gift of knowledge will come. – Arapaho nation literature[1]...
Songs of Praise from Unlikely Artists, Part Three
In Part One and Part Two of this series (Issues 112 and 113), I noted that throughout the history of American music, the influence of the Christian church has been...
Women Composers of Early Music
If you ask people to name a famous classical music composer they’ll probably say Bach, Beethoven, Brahms or Mozart – all men. If you ask people to name a famous...
Italian Progressive Rock, Part Four
In this final installment, I’ll introduce you to three more bands. Part one in this series focused on Premiata Forneria Marconi (“Award-Winning Marconi Bakery”), or PFM, the most well-known of the Italian rock...
Songs of Praise from Unlikely Artists, Part Two
In Part One of this series (Issue 112), I noted that throughout the history of American music, the influence of the Christian church has been well documented and apparent. While...
Songs of Praise From Unlikely Artists, Part One
Sex, drugs and rock and roll – the phrase is a catchall euphemism for the debauchery and revelry associated with the music industry. Tales of Dionysian excess, wild drunkenness, partying,...
Tales of an Audio Forum Administrator, Part Three
My last installment gave an in-depth look at what many forum moderators experience on a day-to-day basis. It isn’t the most glamorous job, but it’s ultimately rewarding enough that they...
White-Knuckling It: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Ban...
The 1970s dawned with a blistering hangover as the 1960s bled right into the new decade. On September 13, 1969, just before Abbey Road began dominating end-of-’60s radio, John Lennon sang at...
Being an Audio Forum Moderator, Part Two
This is the second in our series of articles giving a behind-the-scenes look at how a forum operates. I will start this installment out by being perfectly honest: A forum...
Italian Progressive Rock, Part Two: Le Orme
Le Orme (“The Footprints”) is one of the most successful and prolific of the Italian progressive rock bands. From their inception in 1966 through the last decade, they have continued to...
Camaraderie
We called him Brother Crawford because that was the protocol in the evangelical church in which I was raised. He was well into his eighties and moved very slowly, so...
Elitism in Audio and Its Implications
Audio and music are passions. They can be a hobby, a vocation, a lifestyle, a love, a way to live or all of these. They are very personal pursuits and...
Ryuichi Sakamoto: A Musical Career Overview, Pa...
Part One focused on Ryuichi Sakamoto’s work in the groundbreaking Yellow Magic Orchestra. In Part Two I look at his solo work, film scores, collaborations into different types of ethnic...
Italian Progressive Rock, Part One: PFM
The major British progressive rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s found receptive audiences throughout Europe, with perhaps none more enthusiastic than the Italians. Italy’s symphonic and operatic...
Terry Kath: Chicago's Guitarist Extraordinaire
In 1970 a dear friend, Hank Rau, introduced me to a new band, Chicago Transit Authority. I want to dedicate this column to Hank, who I’ve known since the first...
Ryuichi Sakamoto - A Musical Career Overview, P...
Meeting one’s musical heroes can often take place in unexpected circumstances. Back in the late 1980s, a particular music hero of mine had played a rare concert at the Beacon...
NAMM: An Audiophile’s Perspective
The National Association of Music Merchants has been around in one form or another since 1901. It started as an organization for piano merchants, but soon expanded to include other...
Lou Reed’s Berlin – Its Music from a Fresh Pers...
With the exception of Foley artists or people who collect sound effects, I think it’s safe to assume that the vast majority of audiophiles are also music aficionados. As such,...
Mythical Stature: Gentle Giant, Part Two
In the first installment of this two-parter, the three Shulman Brothers, along with Gary Green, Kerry Minnear, and John Weathers had completed recording their fourth album, Octopus, in 1972. They began...
BandLab: Reviving Iconic Brands for Musicians
When Gibson Guitars was descending into its eventual Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of October, 2017, one of the most demoralizing warning shots was the announcement months earlier that technical support...
Missing the Pazz and Jop Critics Poll
What’s Happening to Best Album of the Year Lists For many pop music critics, December was once the most joyous month, and it had nothing to do with holidays. Immediately...
Queen of the Salons
A Paris Salon, drawing by Adrien Moreau (1843-1906) She was considered to be the Queen of the Salons; a great beauty and the “unchallenged sovereign of sophisticated Paris…the most distinguished...
Mythical Stature: Gentle Giant, Part One
Gentle Giant, possibly the most musically and instrumentally diverse group in all of progressive rock, actually had its roots in rhythm and blues. Like so many UK youth in the...
Thoughts on Hi-Res Music and Audio – An Insider...
Let me start by saying I have deep respect for all music and audio lovers and their various points of view. There is nothing in my experience more personal or...
Celebrating Cartoon Bob
Our Bob D’Amico aka Cartoon Bob has been with Copper since the first issue was minted. He was profiled in Issue 27 and in addition to being a wonderful artist is, like most of...
New York Audio Show 2019 Report: Part Two
Part One of this report appeared in Issue 99. As noted in that installment: I don’t make definitive sonic judgments at shows; there are too many variables, the room being the...
New York Audio Show 2019 Report: Part 1
New York has been host to audio shows for a very long time – since the 1950s. The 1954 New York Audio Show marked the introduction of Henry Kloss’ landmark...
Pretentious! (No, Progressive)
(An Introduction to Progressive Rock – the Most Critically Maligned Genre of Pop Music This Side of Disco) In the late ‘60s, rock music experienced a period of experimentation unprecedented...