tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post3731348331876184050..comments2023-03-02T08:55:30.607-08:00Comments on tribal media: MY FIRST RECORDKEVIN STEINhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15892175125026429406noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-32265333520883978312009-06-14T11:56:37.143-07:002009-06-14T11:56:37.143-07:00Thanks for your comment, Brian. Based on your pers...Thanks for your comment, Brian. Based on your personal tale of following a musicological genealogical path Capt. Beefheart and Ornette Coleman, we will need to revise our theory from my "first" record to first RECORDS--admittedly, I didn't really know where buying "The Twist" put me on any track at 7 years old when I couldn't drink martinis at the Copa Cabana. <br /><br />As far as "Love Is Blue" goes, I think that it's safe to say that we all can confess to guilty pleasures--after all, that's the beauty of music to begin with--it's subjectivity is uniquely based on how vibration interacts with personal frequency. I guess where it gets interesting is when it starts to manipulate genetic structure and creates new forms like Polka, Punk, and "Progressive Rock"...<br /><br />And I kind of like "Classical Gas", myself...KEVIN STEINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15892175125026429406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-25651256817080439692009-06-10T11:18:25.766-07:002009-06-10T11:18:25.766-07:00Hey Kevin,
First record: Bus Stop - The Hollies. ...Hey Kevin,<br /><br />First record: Bus Stop - The Hollies. Which I still think is a pretty good song.<br /><br />Can't say it was formative, though. Up to a certain point, it's difficult to really pin down things that pointed toward future interests and obsessions though I've always felt that pop instrumentals like Classical Gas and (gulp) Love Is Blue (a guilty pleasure of mine, if ever there was one) helped get the idea through my brain that music needn't have words, a concept that still seems to baffle many a young person today.<br /><br />Hendrix, Cream, Crimson, Soft Machine etc., sure, gradually opening up one's ears, exposing me to jazz ideas before I had any notion of the form.<br /><br />But if I had to pick one, it was the fateful day I walked into that record store (Recordland?)on Main and Market and pulled the trigger on Beefheart's "Lick My Decals Off, Baby" (followed quickly by Trout Mask Replica) This one broke down the walls, and not just for Van Vliet's own amazing music.<br /><br />Shortly thereafter, I read an interview with him in Rolling Stone where, when asked his favorite musician, he named Ornette Coleman. I dutifully went and purchased Ornette's "Science Fiction" and nothing was the same ever after. The range of jazz, Armstrong through Braxton and beyond, opened up along with contemporary classical, African, Asian, eventually on up through AMM, post-AMM electro-acoustic improvisation, noise, field recordings, found objects, you name it.<br /><br />The funny thing is, the Beefheart purchase had been delayed by a couple of weeks. I'd gone in there before, thinking about getting it (big decision!) and opted instead for....Mott the Hoople's "Mad Shadows". To this day I shudder to think what course my music-listening life might have taken had this grievous error gone unrectified.Brian Olewnickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08567239067604835372noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-66875455670774809022009-05-27T11:22:58.253-07:002009-05-27T11:22:58.253-07:00frightened to take on the subject, are we? ;)frightened to take on the subject, are we? ;)thepicklebarrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00257806661675722436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-15792288120823204462009-05-26T17:13:25.108-07:002009-05-26T17:13:25.108-07:00Jordan, thank you so much for taking the time in s...Jordan, thank you so much for taking the time in sharing your first record story as well as your various insights. As always, extremely articulate and worthy of its own home--you need to get a blog of your own at this point, pal. I for one would love to hear your perspectives on popular culture, animation, and world events. How can I encourage you to build the Pickle Platform?<br /><br />As regards your discussion of Michael Jackson, it is beyond my professional expertise and clinical training to comment further!KEVIN STEINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15892175125026429406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-34848018161476545712009-05-26T17:09:34.844-07:002009-05-26T17:09:34.844-07:00Liz, thanks also for your suggestion about future ...Liz, thanks also for your suggestion about future post on form vs. function. I'm still trying to figure out what is form and function on my blog!KEVIN STEINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15892175125026429406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-60997312071407486832009-05-26T17:02:12.418-07:002009-05-26T17:02:12.418-07:00Thank, Liz, for sharing. Curious if you recall you...Thank, Liz, for sharing. Curious if you recall your first classical record?KEVIN STEINhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15892175125026429406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-67852040592167117202009-05-25T11:49:52.257-07:002009-05-25T11:49:52.257-07:00It was “A-B-C” song by the Jackson 5. For obvious...It was “A-B-C” song by the Jackson 5. For obvious reasons, a youngster would gravitate towards a song that repeats the daily mantra of one preparing for lift-off into the skies of society. I was repeating “A-B-C, 1-2-3”, pretty much every day in early education. <br /><br />The great part about music, or any art form for that matter, is the meaning changes with age. The music itself was absolutely incredible. The Jacksons were an amazingly talented group. But, it was the performance of the lyrics that captured my attention when I was a young pup. An excerpt:<br /><br />“Reading, writing, arithmetic <br />are the branches of the learning tree.<br />But without the roots of love everyday girl,<br />your education ain’t complete.<br />Teacher’s gonna show you (hes gonna show you).<br />How to get an A! (na,na,na,na,na,na)<br />How to spell me? You? Add the two<br />Listen to me baby that’s all you got to do!”<br /><br />All I can say is, wow. That song is one hellava raunchy ditty wrapped in a sugar coated package. And I still love it to this day.<br /><br />On a side note, I find Michael Jackson one of the most fascinating of characters . Without opening that messy Pandora’s Box, let’s just say a lot of his ‘issues’ sprang from this very song.<br /><br />Here’s a ten year old kid, performing some fairly intense stuff, with a sexual gusto that, well, one wouldn’t expect from a ten year old. I mean, shit, watch his performance of this tune on the Ed Sullivan Show via You Tube sometime. Whoa!<br /><br />It is possible that Michael exhausted a lifetime of sexual/emotional normalcy in just a few years as a performing child? A child that was selling a simulated sexual dynamic that catapulted him to heights unimaginable?<br /><br />It’s interesting to note how Michael’s phenomenal solo career as an adult continued to market his faux sexual aggressiveness since then…it sorta served him well, but to a point.<br /><br />We see now where that path has lead him. No amount of money, bleach, scalpel-wielding or fantasy indulgence can reverse the spent formative budget that was the childhood of Michael Jackson. Peter Pan’s getting’ older and well, members of the Peanut Gallery, it ain’t gonna be pretty. <br /><br />That class, is the story of my first record! I gotta go pee now….thepicklebarrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00257806661675722436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-84190097944155346342009-05-25T11:49:25.857-07:002009-05-25T11:49:25.857-07:00Neat topic, Professor Stein!
First, I enjoy the m...Neat topic, Professor Stein!<br /><br />First, I enjoy the many doors opened by the following, quoted situation; “…“Where does the CD go?” It made me smile, but also feel better because he hadn’t asked where you would click to get downloads.”<br /><br />Very upsetting that CD’s too are now an archaic format that will soon be euthanized. Even more so in that I have many contemporaries that welcome the demise of the CD… and the DVD for that matter. <br /><br />The tactile experience of thumbing through a library (be it book, record, cd, dvd, etc) is one that I believe will hurt the art forms that these formats offer. It’s almost as if social ‘word-of-mouth’ will completely replace one’s ability to explore for one’s self. If for no other reason, how will one know what or where to look for unknowns? The only way I see the word being spread on a massive level is 100% BS marketing on a grand scale. It’s almost as if this scenario dares consumers (especially youths) to venture beyond the beaten path in a very negative way.<br /><br />I will concede that Amazon has created an exceptional forum in the “Listmania” area of their site that allows the consumer to ‘thumb’ through the opinions of like minded individuals for suggestions and related explorations. I suppose that other collaborative filter, the iTunes Genius Bar simulates that forum, however, it’s less organic.<br /><br />As you point out from the 1960s, the packaging was an extension of the artists themselves and was an incredible conduit for their work and it’s consumer. It helped not only to get your attention, but it gave you perspective on what the material was about. I agree in the assessment that album packaging can be deceiving, especially in this corporately helmed era of music. However, I also believe this only goes to show once again how the creative decisions have been stripped from the artist and hijacked by the executive.<br /><br />This leads to my first records…..FINALLY!<br /><br /><br />(CONTINUED ON NEXT COMMENT POST)thepicklebarrelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00257806661675722436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9212988006155188259.post-60517287905297381842009-05-24T21:13:57.937-07:002009-05-24T21:13:57.937-07:00cant remember first song, but first non-classical ...cant remember first song, but first non-classical records purchased were from Moody Blues, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Doobie BrothersLiz Gebhardthttp://www.thinkingoutloud.comnoreply@blogger.com