Friday, January 27, 2012

FFB rewind: Zeppelins West By Joe R. Landsale


 I recall reading Zeppelins west while sititng in the tempory home fo the Minneapolis library around 2003. I was working downtown and my brother would drop me off early in the day on his way to work, and I would hang out read, write, wander the sky way and drink coffee before heading off to work. Zeppelins West was one of those mash ups with characters from all kinds of fiction hanging out as a part of a Bill Cody steampunk show. I have to admit that the book was better in theory and concept than execution, but I swear you’ll never read anything else like it. 

read the original FFB post HERE

Friday, January 20, 2012

FFB rewind: THE LIST OF 7 by Mark Frost

THE LIST OF 7 by Mark Frost reviewed by Barna William Donovan caught my attention and lodged in my brain after Patti posted the review. I haven’t checked it out yet, but it’s on the list. I have to admit I am a sucker for books that reference other pop culture and draw them into a mix of history. I think it was the description of the book as a “genre mash-up mixing paranormal and occult horror with conspiracy thriller elements, all wrapped up in a historical mystery starring Arthur Conan Doyle that hooked me.  It’s one of those books that I swear I am going to make time for this year.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Radio: Rock 103 WIQB

Back in the bad old days of the 80s and 90s, before Clinton killed radio and Telecom by selling it out to Clean Channel (see the Telecom Act of 1996), we had a local Top 40 radio station that was my gate way to pop music. It was thee station that I listened to when I was a teen, at least in the morning on the way to school.

WIQB was an ubiquitous presence in town. There were bill boards, a ad that played before films at Fox Village Theater, and sponsored and participated in local events. I recall every winter that they would participate in Rocking for the Hungry, a food drive for those on the bottom of the social ladder. They also at least in a couple of cases were more than willing to play local artists and promote local musical events.

Their morning crew were a pre-Shock Jock set cast with a main DJ, Rob Reinhardt as I recall, and a couple of co-hostes. They played music, talked about traffic, weather, and local news. At some point in the 80s they started taking listeners calls about movies they had seen over the weekend and what they thought of them.

For a while they had an oldies show on Sunday mornings and played Dr Demento on Sunday Nights. Sure they were a Top 40 station and they played the hits of the day, it should be noted that they also did play older tunes that had fallen off the charts as well. They were kinda a JACK FM kinda deal before that format reached the airwaves. They also were operating in a radio environment where the way to gain market share was to take chances on stuff that others were not playing. I vividly recall hearing them say, The only station where you are going to hear.... and then play something that was new, that was unproven and that had yet to reach the charts.

WIQB vanished somewhere along the way, I fell off listening at some point and last I checked their 102.9 location on the dial was occupied by WWWW W4 Country ...  A quick google search confirms that right now W4 is still there, they are owned by Cumulus Media Inc, at leas that's what their web page indicates.... however I have found this....


from: http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/WWWW
WWWW - "W4 Country" - is a country music radio station based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, broadcasting on 102.9 MHz. The WWWW calls were originally used for 106.7 FM in Detroit, Michigan, first with easy listening and later an oldies format. Throughout most of the 1970s, it was an album-oriented rock station. During the heyday of the short-lived quadraphonic sound fad, it featured quad broadcasts and was known locally by fans as "W4 Quad." In 1980, WWWW changed its format to country, and was then known as "W4 Country" for almost two decades until switching to adult rock as WLLC-FM "Alice 106.7" in 1999. After a switch to classic rock as WDTW-FM "106.7 The Drive" in 2002, country music made a return to 106.7 FM on May 19,2006 as "106.7 The Fox". The "W4 Country" brand name and WWWW calls were revived for 102.9 FM in Ann Arbor in October 2000 and continued even after WDTW relaunched as "The Fox," which disappointed many fans of the original "W4 Country" who had hoped that the brand name would make a return at 106.7.
The 102.9 frequency began operations in March 1962 as WOIA and was (and still is) co-owned with WOIB-AM 1290 in Saline, Michigan. In 1970, the stations became WNRS-AM/WNRZ-FM, "Ann Arbor's Winners." WNRZ-FM changed its format from country to album rock in March 1975 and became known as WIQB, with a call sign which designated the number "103" (AM 1290 has since been through a multitude of format changes and is now WLBY, an affiliate of Air America). Like the original WWWW-FM, WIQB broadcasted in quadraphonic sound for a time in the 1970s as "QuadRock 103." WIQB's rock format went through several metamorphoses during the 1990s, including adult alternative during the late 1990s and then active rock by the end of the decade. As an active rock station, "Rock 103 IQB," then owned by Cumulus Broadcasting, was low-rated, continuously losing to Detroit's WRIF in the Ann Arbor Arbitron reports. "W4 Country" has proven much more popular in Ann Arbor, and is now often the top-rated music station in the market. Its signal into metropolitan Detroit is impeded by WHTD(102.7 MHz) in Mount Clemens in Macomb County, but WWWW still frequently shows up toward the bottom of the Detroit ratings. WWWW's signal is much stronger toward the west and north of Ann Arbor, and the station gets a listenable signal as far away as Flint and Lansing.
Both the former (106.7) and the current (102.9) WWWW are now owned by Clear Channel Communications.

WWWW - "W4 Country" - is a country music radio station based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, broadcasting on 102.9 MHz. The WWWW calls were originally used for 106.7 FM in Detroit, Michigan, first with easy listening and later an oldies format. Throughout most of the 1970s, it was an album-oriented rock station. During the heyday of the short-lived quadraphonic sound fad, it featured quad broadcasts and was known locally by fans as "W4 Quad." In 1980, WWWW changed its format to country, and was then known as "W4 Country" for almost two decades until switching to adult rock as WLLC-FM "Alice 106.7" in 1999. After a switch to classic rock as WDTW-FM "106.7 The Drive" in 2002, country music made a return to 106.7 FM on May 19,2006 as "106.7 The Fox". The "W4 Country" brand name and WWWW calls were revived for 102.9 FM in Ann Arbor in October 2000 and continued even after WDTW relaunched as "The Fox," which disappointed many fans of the original "W4 Country" who had hoped that the brand name would make a return at 106.7.
The 102.9 frequency began operations in March 1962 as WOIA and was (and still is) co-owned with WOIB-AM 1290 in Saline, Michigan. In 1970, the stations became WNRS-AM/WNRZ-FM, "Ann Arbor's Winners." WNRZ-FM changed its format from country to album rock in March 1975 and became known as WIQB, with a call sign which designated the number "103" (AM 1290 has since been through a multitude of format changes and is now WLBY, an affiliate of Air America). Like the original WWWW-FM, WIQB broadcasted in quadraphonic sound for a time in the 1970s as "QuadRock 103." WIQB's rock format went through several metamorphoses during the 1990s, including adult alternative during the late 1990s and then active rock by the end of the decade. As an active rock station, "Rock 103 IQB," then owned by Cumulus Broadcasting, was low-rated, continuously losing to Detroit's WRIF in the Ann Arbor Arbitron reports. "W4 Country" has proven much more popular in Ann Arbor, and is now often the top-rated music station in the market. Its signal into metropolitan Detroit is impeded by WHTD(102.7 MHz) in Mount Clemens in Macomb County, but WWWW still frequently shows up toward the bottom of the Detroit ratings. WWWW's signal is much stronger toward the west and north of Ann Arbor, and the station gets a listenable signal as far away as Flint and Lansing.
Both the former (106.7) and the current (102.9) WWWW are now owned by Clear Channel Communications.

Thoughts, comments, remembrances of your fave High School radio station?

Fixed call letter mix up.

Friday, January 13, 2012

FFB rewind: Shoot by Douglas Fairbairn


 Shoot is a fast, short meditation on the lives of warriors after the battles are over. It looks at middle age men who have won their wars and become successful in the domestic world. A simple plot wherein a group of hunters are shot at by another group of hunters, their opposite numbers from down the road, and what happens afterward.

I checked out the book after reading a FFB post on it by Mike Dennis, and enjoyed it and hop that others will check it out.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

2001: Music that has endured? My top 10 looking back

Doo Doo Doo
Bom Bom Bom

Laasssstttt Niigghhhttt I tried to listen to the strokes again
After a decade of ignoring them
And they bored me to tears, and I fear that the White Stripes will continue to do the same to me.

For the longest time I have been feeling like just looking back at the past year really doesn’t tell the story of what was good and bad beyond initial reactions.  Especially when it comes to music I think that’s it’s more and more important to see what is still listenable a decade later. For that reason I present the top ten albums of 2001 as culled from my memory banks by me.
 

Adam West: Right On!
The Billy Nayer Show: The American Astronaut STK
The Damned Grave Disorder
The Faint: Dance Marcrba
The Flaming Sideburns: Hallelujah Rock 'N' Rollah
The Groovie Ghoulies: Freaks on Parade
Monster Magnet: God Says No
The Soundtrack of our lives: Behind the music
Hemi Cuda- Music for Lovers
Manic Hispanic: The Recline Of Mexican Civilization

I look at this list and think, really? Did I miss something along the way? There are a couple of album here that I really like and find that I still listen to plenty, and then there are some that I don’t love so much and some that I can’t imagine being my fave from 2001. Was that year in music really that bad? I am not sure that I can even point to a number 1 album from the bunch. If there was one that I had to pick for your average rock fan it would easily be the Soundtrack of Our Lives albums and after that, either the Damned album or the Flaming Sideburns. The Ghoulies provided another solid fun pop garage punk record that contains some of their best songs ever.

And honestly if there is one record from that year that I can recommend it’s a box set and I have left it off the list as all of the music was from the 60s. Nuggets II: Original Artyfacts From The British Empire And Beyond 1964-1969 was the real find of the year, and while not as classic as the first Nuggets Box it is a must for any real rock fan.

What haven’t I talked about? Adam West and Hemi Cuda, a pair of high-energy rock and roll groups from the good old USA. Adam West was fronted by Jake Starr a true gent and a man that I have been happy to have known and spent some time with in the late 90s and early 2000s.  Hemi Cuda appears to have been a one shot wonder from somewhere out west. They were a Fistful of Rock type bands, and speaking of the Fistful of Rock comps, they launched in 1990 and faltered pretty quickly. What was proposed as a one year project took several years and morphed along the way. It was an interesting attempt to get the Hi Energy Garage Punk underground into people ears, and maybe someday will be rediscovered…. But alas too many people were too busy listening to the Strokes or the White Stripes and thinking that was Rock and Roll.

2001 wasn’t a great year for much and to me the music of the time wasn’t much better. There were a few gems and a lot of hums. Just looking at my 2002 list (Tune next year for that one) I am more impressed and excited.


FYI
The 2001 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll
1. Bob Dylan: "Love and Theft" (Columbia)
2. The Strokes: Is This It (RCA)
3. Bjork: Vespertine (Elektra)
4. The White Stripes: White Blood Cells (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
5. Radiohead: Amnesiac (Capitol)
6. Ryan Adams: Gold (Lost Highway)
7. Jay-Z: The Blueprint (Roc-A-Fella)
8. The Coup: Party Music (75 Ark)
9. Lucinda Williams: Essence (Lost Highway)
10. Rufus Wainwright: Poses (DreamWorks)


Pitchfork Top 20 of 2001
20 Fugazi  The Argument  
 19 Dntel  Life is Full of Possibilities
18 Beta Band  Hot Shots II 
17 Cannibal Ox  The Cold Vein
16 Jim O'Rourke  Insignificance
15 Strokes  Is This It
14 Dismemberment Plan Change
13 Les Savy Fav  Go Forth
12 Mouse on Mars Idiology
11 Autechre  Confield
10 Prefuse 73  Vocal Studies + Uprock Narratives
09 New Pornographers  Mass Romantic
08 White Stripes  White Blood Cells  
07 Múm  Yesterday Was Dramatic, Today Is OK
06 Radiohead  Amnesiac
05 Circulatory System Circulatory System
04 Unwound Leaves Turn Inside You
03 Avalanches  Since I Left You
02 Fennesz  Endless Summer
01 Microphones  The Glow, Pt. 2


Thoughts, comments, your faves of 2001?



Friday, January 6, 2012

FFB rewind: Murder Among Children by Tucker Coe (Donald Westlake)


1/6
In the past I did a couple of FFB entries that were inspired by others entries. I read some of the recommended books and gave them my own review. I only managed to write two of those, but I want to make sure that in 2012 I spend more time writing fiction and less blogging… to that end I plan to high light the FFBs post that others have written. I am going to try and keep them short and sweet and to the point…. And our first second look is…..

Murder Among Children by Tucker Coe (Donald Westlake) covered by Ed Gorman

I had already read the first of the Westlake Tucker Coe books when Ed covered the second one, Murder Among Children, which prompted me to check out the book for myself. I liked it a lot and especially think that there is a cultural element to the book that has only deepened as time has passed. As a member of the silent generation Westlake explores the generational conflict between the silents and the boomers.

Ed’s review here and my follow up here


http://restlesskind.blogspot.com/2010/08/ffb-echo-murder-among-children-by.html

Thursday, January 5, 2012

R.I.P. Sean Bonniewell and Jennifer Miro


Saints and Sinners


I was sadden to hear recently about the passing of two little known musicians who have held a place in my juke box soul.

Saint?
The first was Sean Bonniewell of the Music Machine (also known as the Bonniewell Music Machine) a 60s Garage Punk band that has been cited by some as one of thee bands that really inspired punk a decade later. Talk Talk, the bands big hit is a thundering pure rock tune that clocks in at a Ramones like 2:00 Minutes. It’s a powerful howl that is echoed in other Music Machine tunes like Double Yellow Line and The People in Me.  That said, Bonniewell was also an early chronicler of the damage of the drug culture (King Mixer), nuclear proliferation  (point of no Return) and the degradation of the Environment. After the Music Machine he became a DJ and found a career as well as becoming a Christian. Reports are that he was 71 when he passed.


Sinner?
Jennifer “Miro” Anderson was a fetish model, actress (having a small part in the sublime Dr. Caligari) but more importantly to me, she was a singer and keyboard player and songwriter in the great SF group The Nuns. The band was part of the first wave of punk groups in SF and opened for The Sex Pistols at their legendary final show at Winterland. Miro was a platinum Goddess who was one of the constant members of The Nuns, taking the band from punk to industrial. I like the original era of the band the best; their first LP is one of the great overlooked albums of the 1st wave of punk. Their early 90s records had great moments that seemed to have fallen though the cracks and are well worth checking out.  Her voice could reach from the lower reaches of folk singer breathiness to the, wild, savage urgency of the better punk howlers.  I wonder what she could have done if she had gone more country than industrial in the 90s? Original Nun Alejandro Escovedo has paid tribute to The Nuns in song over the last couple of years with Sacramento and Polk and more obviously with Nuns Song… during which he sang, “You got so much to live for…. It’s not too late!” Now the time has passed, Miro was 54 and died of cancer in NYC.



Saints, Sinners, few of us are completely one or the other and often times the clothes of one is worn by the other. I don’t know where Bonniewell or Miro really fell on that scale, only that they are gone and left something for future generations to discover and enjoy.


It seems that the last couple of years have started off with news of punk heroes passing, Bonniewell and Miro now join with Lux Interior and Ron Asheton as gone but not forgotten.  

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

2012: A starker Restless Kind.

2011 is over and done and I think I managed to make most of my planned blogging.... but it was a huge time suck. For that reason readers you can expect a much more stripped down Restless Kind in 2012. I am going to have weekly FFB entries, but they are going to be on the short side and, well you will see...

anyway, here's to a productive 2012 writing fiction and I will see you all over the web!
Eric