Fusion 45

It’s been a rough couple of days. Business ain’t so great and the politics at the local Little League where my kid plays is wearing me down. The perfect excuse to walk away from the ulcer provoking tasks of the day and show propers to the kats and kitties who have welcomed me into this music community I’m enjoying so much.

A hearty congratulations to Ben over at A Deeper Shade Of Soul. The folks at WNEW have recognized his terrific writing and unparalleled expertise by offering him a weekly spot on their newly launched blog. You can find his first post here. He was one of the first to link back to my site, I’m guessing is the one who arranged the link on the WNEW site (which completely blows my mind) and, most important, has not banned me from commenting on his site for pestering him about Ruthie Foster.

Over at AM Then FM, one of my favorite music writers, Jeff Ash, continues to do great stuff. There’s a straight-forward, heartfelt simplicity to his writing that I really enjoy. He covers some great topics (Great Story, Then And Now) and takes time to write about my other passion: baseball. We have different alliances (Him: Brewers / Me: Mets) but I think we can get over that…until playoff time! A great Dave Edmunds series is under way…get your RSS going!

What can I say about Any Major Dude that hasn’t been said already? I thought I had a handle on pop music until I started reading his stuff. His latest series on Perfect Pop is quite brilliant: he hits all the obvious targets (ABBA, Donna Summer) and then throws a curve into the mix (Steve Harley, Strawberry Switchblade).

I’m honored that Bitter Andrew over Armagideon Time has welcomed me into the fold. Clearly there are no comparative IQ requirements. If there were, I’d have to change my name to Fusion 4.

As I said in my response to the comment from IB, I was thinking about how the photos on Art Decade do such a great job of illuminating their words and music (not to mention how much I love the diversity of their collective tastes. Variete and Hot Chocolate on the same page! Do tell!). Then he drops in with a comment that, in itself, paints such a great picture in my mind. (My sister used to own a Plymouth Fury with an 8-track…in stereo! The Doobie Brothers’ “Rockin’ Down The Highway,’ noshes from “Dog and Burger” and the open road).

I’ve made it a tradition to bring some mix CD’s to my monthly poker group to play during the game and then leave behind for the host. I’ve recently been on the Soul tip and my friends think I’m some sort of brilliant musicologist. Little do they know I’m actually following along in the giant foot steps of Vincent The Soul Chef at FuFu Stew. Visit him today, visit him tomorrow, visit him next week. Here’s a place where the expression “it’s all good” is actually accurate.

I haven’t spent a lot of time with Chris over at Local Vertical but I truly dig the design of his site: great pictures, great use of the courier font. And he works at NASA, which my kids totally dig.

One of the reasons why I started publishing this site was to light a fire under my own lazy arse and start listening to my own collection. The result has been a trip into the collections of others. I love checking in with Mick over at Raiding The Vinyl Archive because it’s so, well, British. (I have no idea what’s considered politically appropriate: British? English? UKish?). One day it’s Mari Wilson, the next it’s Genocide. I used to be fascinated reading the Brit pop charts because you’d see The Kids From “Fame” and Jethro Tull in the Top 10 at the same time. Raiding The Vinyl Archive is kinda like that.

Record Robot writes about Myren Floren and The Nashville Country Singers covering Glen Campbell. If the coolness of that isn’t self-evident, then it’s time to go back to school.

I’m not a “hard-core” blues guy. I’m not likely to listen to it for hours on end and, given a choice, I’m more likely to listen to “blues rock” (like Eric Clapton) than I would listen to “pure blues” (like Leadbelly). There are plenty of places to find the blues but Squeeze My Lemon is one of my favorites. Simple, unadorned, like the music itself. For what it’s worth, I think Ian Siegal and Ruthie Foster are terrif. Have I mentioned her yet today?

I like Dave Edney’s blog over at The Great Unknown because he confesses to being a “rapidly-approaching-old-fartdom individual who is simply trying to spread the music gospel”. Plus, he has the discipline to post once a month and it’s always really good.

I grew up listening to Street Stryder on the all-night show at WENY (1230AM) in Elmira, New York. He’d bring records back from The Bronx and play them on the radio when the honchos were asleep. That was the beginning of my education in soul music. At The Hook And The Sling I keep getting schooled.

My man over at Gooder’n Bad Vinyl has given me so many nice propers, I have to give back in return. He posts some great obscure records, educated me on who Leah Kunkel really is and will be my first source of information when I decide to do a Great Session Bass Players series.

OK, so now it’s time to go back to the slings and arrows of real life. But, alas, I have good music to help me through. MJ@F45.

Dig:

Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale - Dangerous (Makes me want to get in the car and go somewhere…and I hate driving!)

Lone Justice - Sweet Sweet Baby (I’m Falling) (I had a major crush on Maria McKee at one time. What’s that? You, too?)

Jamie Lidell - Little Bit Of Feel Good (I like this record more and more every time I hear it.)

Ruthie Foster - Beaver Creek Blues (For God sakes, go buy the record, make her a star and I’ll leave you alone!)

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Props and Missives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.