Beach House "Bloom" album...2012 is half-over and this is easily one of my top 10 albums of the year so far. Beach House is from Baltimore and features Victoria Legrand(niece of the great French composer Michel Legrand) on vocals. Very reminiscent of Cocteau Twins, Pale Saints and all those great 4AD bands. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb0Rs_-Hsjo&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jThBApMDYRo

Pictures at Eleven turns 30, eh? Always will have a sentimental attachment to that album alone among his 1980s releases. Thanks to my being in the Army at the time, I didn't have a chance to get the album until the 4th of July holiday. I recall being excited by the prospect of hearing Robert Plant again but apart from a couple tracks, my main initial impression was a sense of being underwhelmed. But if you asked me why, I probably couldn't have told you. There wasn't anything I really could put a finger on...in fact, I'm not even sure what my expectations were for Plant's first post-Zeppelin album. Naturally, I assumed it would continue in a hard rock vein. It wasn't as if I thought he would sound like Sparks or Orange Juice. After a few listens, I think I got over my expectations and learned to appreciate the record for what it was and not what it wasn't. Although I could never escape the feeling I had that it lacked 'balls'.

^^^ The only thing I saw was a graphic you posted about the colour schemes of Wes Anderson's movies. It's hard to tell from that your thoughts about "Moonrise Kingdom", or even if you saw the movie at all. Which your latest post clarifies. Most young people don't realize that it wasn't until the blockbuster successes of "Jaws" and "Star Wars" in the '70s that wide releases became the norm for movies. Until then, all movies were released in limited fashion like "Moonrise Kingdom" today. First a film would open in LA and NY...possibly Chicago, SF and other major cities, too, and as buzz built, then it would make it's way to the midwrst and the Bible Belt and the small towns. This way, a studio could save on the costs of making prints. And for movies deemed too complex for an easy sell, it allowed critical consensus and word-of-mouth to build to help sell the film to middle-America. That's one reason I waited so long before posting my response to "Moonrise Kingdom". I saw it a month ago, but if I had written my thoughts then, it would have been pointless as most of the people on this forum wouldn't have been able to find a theatre in their town that was screening it. Now that it's been a month, it should be more available for people to see...although it still is shown on a fraction of the screens that a movie like "Rock of Ages" or "That's My Boy" gets...which is why I waited until now to urge people to see "Moonrise Kingdom". I've seen it twice...it was even better the second time. P.S. I got my Wes Anderson timeline screwed up. I actually liked "Fantastic Mr. Fox"...it was "Darjeeling Limited" and "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" that I was more ambivalent about.

The image isn't showing up, so I have no idea what movie you're talking about. As for "Django Unchained", HELL YEAH, I can't wait for this movie, too! In fact, "Django Unchained", "Dark Knight Rises" and "Savages" are the three big summer movies I'm most looking forward to seeing. Saw "Rock of Ages"...it was even worse than I thought it would be. Like an unholy nightmare mishmash of "Glee", "Coyote Ugly", "Footloose", and Brett Michaels "Rock of Love". Tom Cruise is easily the best thing about the movie. Russell Brand, Alec Baldwin, and Paul Giamatti each have a few amusing moments, but not enough to save this Broadway white-wash. Poor Catherine Zeta Jones...the director, screenwriter and choreographer did her no favours. I almost felt sorry for her. The two dopey love-bird leads were flatout awful with zero nada chemistry. The girl in particular, Julianne Hough, had enough makeup on to deplete an entire Max Factor store...does she apply her makeup with a trowel? I'd say something about the guy but he was such a complete blank, a waste of screen space, that I have no memory of him. He'll be appearing in cheesy roadshow versions of "Rent" in Dubuque and Tulsa shortly. Now, in an entirely different direction than the cinematic-hell that is "Rock of Ages" is the sublime slice of movie-heaven that is "Moonrise Kingdom"!!! I didn't really care for Wes Anderson's last two films, but "Moonrise Kingdom" restores my faith in his talent. It is almost flawless...even the ending. I can't tell you how many good movies I've seen that mishandled their endings, but "Moonrise Kingdom" nails it. Great cast, including the two unknown kids at the heart of the story, great set design and locations, great score and use of songs. Pure magic! This is one film you need to make time for and see in a theatre...great, whimsical movies like this need to make money or else the studios get reluctant to greenlight more in the future. We'll just get more tired remakes and sequels. Drop what you are doing and RUN to see "Moonrise Kingdom"!!! If you have any kids 12 and over, take them along...they'll thank you for it later.

Here's the book by Matty Simmons that he's signing tonight...GREAT TITLE! Surely everybody remembers the FIRST TIME they saw "Animal House"?

You really liked "Prometheus" that much, TypeO? Guess you'll love the news that Ridley Scott is doing another "Blade Runner" movie. An interesting film that got very little distribution...disturbing and Tilda Swinton is always amazing to watch in just about anything. I'm just not sure how I felt about the film's theme as a whole. I only got to see it once before it was out of the theatres, and am unsure about a couple things. Some movies you only need to see once before making up your mind...and some you don't need to see at all; just the ad or trailer will suffice...but others require a couple viewings to form an opinion. "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is one of those films. Last night I was in THUNDERBIRDS heaven, as I took my nephew to see "Thunderbirds Are Go!" and "Thunderbird 6" at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood last night. It is part of the American Cinematheque's weekend celebration of the Thunderbirds TV series, including giveaways of the massive 40th anniversary DVD box set. http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/thunderbirds-are-go-thunderbird-six I don't know anybody who was a kid in the 60s-early 70s who doesn't have a soft spot in their heart for the Thunderbirds show. Trey Parker and Matt Stone(South Park) obviously did, as it was the inspiration for "Team America". Tonight is the perennial classic "Animal House". The producer and founder of National Lampoon has a book out about the making of the movie, and we're doing the event along with the Cinematheque. And Flounder and Babs will be there, too! http://www.americancinemathequecalendar.com/content/national-lampoon%E2%80%99s-animal-house-0

Aye, that was the plan, Sue; to post a separate review on the anniversary of each of the days I attended: the 21, 23, 25, 26, and 27 of June. Alas, life has a way of disrupting your plans. I'll still write them...just not in the timely manner I had envisioned. I suppose it would have been more prudent if I had worked on them in advance. It takes me at least three hours of continuous uninterrupted free time for me to write one of these babies.

Dudes wearing Led Zeppelin 1977 tour t-shirts(obviously repros) at two different art events on consecutive days. The first photo was taken last Friday night, June 22, at La Luz de Jesus. The second was at the Hammer Museum's Yearbook Party Saturday June 25.

Haha...I believe this makes us even after my 'vadgeholder' typo. I had thought you were at the June 23 show I was at, but wasn't 100% certain. Frankly, I consider anyone who was at those 6 Forum shows a Badgeholder. Had the same reaction to Keith Moon as you...why isn't Cole or Bindon tackling this guy? Took me a while to recognize it was Keith the Looney. The concert was already epic enough but at that point when Moon showed up, the EPIC AURA of the show shot up into the stratosphere and beyond.

Well, I am sorry to report that work and other things have intruded and I just don't have the time to post my reviews of the Forum concerts like I had hoped. Unfortunately I don't write my posts beforehand...I like to write on the fly, at the moment, in a stream-of-conscious manner...so it's not a matter of me logging on and cut and pasting an already written piece to here. Maybe next week, on the 26th or 27th, I can do a post entailing all the Forum shows in one fell swoop. Of course, if things change at the last minute and I do find myself with some time, I'll still try to post a timely review here. In the meantime, please feel free to add your own thoughts and memories. There were 108,000 people that went to the 6 Forum concerts; certainly I can't be the only one here that went? Where's Badgeholder? I know he went to at least one of the Forum shows. And I have a feeling there's plenty more lurking about...come on folks, join in! Don't be shy! Ok, I do have time to address this question. The 'Billy Squier Move' refers to something also colloquially known as 'the video that killed Billy Squier's career'...or when Billy Squier 'jumped the shark'. One minute Billy Squier is doing great...his early-80s albums "Don't Say No" and "Emotions in Motion" put him on the map with rock fans and radio is playing "Everybody Wants You", "Lonely is the Night", "In the Dark", and "The Stroke" non-stop. His concerts are selling well and it looks like he's got it made. Then, in 1984 he releases "Signs of Life", and for reasons known only to him, he makes this video for the song "Rock Me Tonite"...and THAT is the end of Billy! It was amazing the swiftness with which his career collapsed after this video aired on MTV. Have a gander yourself:

Post #19: LED ZEPPELIN LANDS AT THE FORUM- THE FIRST NIGHT! DATE: Tuesday night, June 21, 1977 As Robert Plant will say during the show, no beating around the bush, tonight we're here to play. So in that spirit, no long setup to this post...I'm going to cut right to the chase and get to the concert. Since I fucked up the previous post, some of the themes and segues I planned on developing had to be abandoned anyway. Ok, you already should know the particulars, but for anyone who doesn't: Tonight is the 35th anniversary of the first of six concerts Led Zeppelin played at the Forum of Inglewood(in Los Angeles) on their 1977 tour. This is the famous "Listen to this, Eddie" show. Ok, here we go. We(my school buddy and his older brother and his friends) are in the Forum. Me and my friend are in the Loge section...at about the midway point between the stage and the rear of the floor and on the right side of the arena looking towards the stage: JIMMY'S SIDE!!! 7:30pm was the advertised start time, but everyone knows that that is never the case with Led Zeppelin...and rock concerts in general. So after the usual waiting and various food fights and paper cup battles and frisbees and beach balls or whatnot being tossed about through the thick cloud of marijuana (and who knows what else) smoke, the house lights finally go down sometime between 8:30 and 9pm and several things happen that confirm that you were at a Led Zeppelin concert...just in case you had Led Zeppelin confused with Foreigner or Boston. 1. An EPIC ROAR issued forth from the packed Forum in anticipation of OUR BOYS taking the stage. One hundred and forty-one days...nay, SEVEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX DAYS of pent-up waiting and anticipation and desire EXPLODED out of us and rained down upon the darkened stage, to hail our heroes return! 2. Something else exploded...cherry bombs and firecrackers were lit from various parts of the crowd. I was never a fan of this type of concert ritual, especially if one went off near your ear, affecting your ability to hear the concert. But it was a fact of life at concerts in the 70s, one you had to endure...particularly at Led Zeppelin shows. 3. As you begin to detect the band's figures making their way on stage, one figure announces his PRESENCE in an unmistakable way. With a rat-a-tat-tat of his snare, John Bonham metaphorically says "Hello L.A.!" From just a few seconds of those loud whacks as Bonham tests his drums, you can tell Bonzo is going to pound us good tonight! Jimmy Page then enters the conversation, giving a few test strums on his guitar...the now-iconic red double-neck. Before you know it, Jimmy strikes the opening bell, and they are off!!! Even though I knew in advance what most of the setlist was going to be and that "The Song Remains the Same" was going to be the first song, it still took my breath away once the concert started. With the lights(the lights for the 1977 tour were light years beyond when I first saw them in 1972, and even 1973) going off in a flash and the band attacking the song with such ferocity and power(oh my god Bonzo is SLAYING his drums!), the opening packed such a wallop that I literally was in a dazed trance for the first couple of songs. Just standing there with my mouth ajar trying to take it all in. The band, what they were wearing, and getting my ears and body adjusted to the LOUD SONIC ASSAULT Led Zeppelin was unleashing. The first two songs(TSRTS/Rover intro/Sick Again) whooshed by in a blur. Seriously. Thank god for Mike Millard or I would have very little recollection of them. I didn't even noticed Jimmy's guitar problems at the start of Sick Again, as Jones and Bonzo were loud enough on their own(something the bootlegs don't adequately capture) to mask a few seconds of lost guitar. Robert Plant says hello to us after the end of "Sick Again", and as the band has stopped playing as Jimmy gets his guitar ready for the next song, I can finally catch my breath and take stock of the situation. I am already starting to get a contact high from all the blazing going on inside the arena. People are even tossing joints on stage as well as other talismans for the lads. It is here that Plant mentions the Bad Company show that he and Jimmy appeared at and those of us that were at that show scream our acknowledgment. You can sense Robert Plant is raring to go, itching to get going, but Jimmy and Raymond seem to be having trouble with the guitar effect needed for the next song, "Nobody's Fault but Mine". So there's a brief moment of "dead air" so-to-speak until all systems are go. Now, before the tour started I had already made a mental wish list of what I wanted the setlist to entail: 1. No more Dazed and Confused. No more Moby Dick. 2. Yes to Kashmir, No Quarter, OTHAFA, Trampled, TSRTS and Rain Song returning. 3. As many new songs as possible...whether that meant new songs from Presence and Physical Graffiti or songs from the older albums that they hadn't ever played or rarely: When the Levee Breaks, Thank You, Four Sticks. So while I obviously didn't get all of my wishes, I was very enthused to see two of my favourite Presence tracks on the setlist for Dallas in the LA Times review of the opening night of the tour. "Nobody's Fault but Mine" is a powerful, rhythmic song and it has the kind of starts and stops that only a well-oiled band can pull off convincingly...EVERYBODY in the band has to hit their mark at the same time or the song loses its attack. I would be very curious to know how Led Zeppelin sounded on this song on the early shows of the tour, considering the word is they didn't rehearse at all for those four months while the gear was here in the U.S. while they waited for Plant to get better. The earliest 77 show I have is the Cleveland "Destroyer" show. Has anyone heard any of the first few shows from Dallas and Oklahoma? Do they hit the marks in "Nobody's Fault but Mine"? Well, whatever...they sure NAIL the song at the Forum!!! Jimmy's playing the riff thru his wah-wah pedal and some other delay effect that seems to split the riff into a high and low register, making it seem like Jimmy's playing two guitars at once. But then, one of the cosmic things about a Led Zeppelin concert was the way it frequently seemed as if Jimmy was playing two guitars simultaneously...or more. Sloppy or not, the man had a way with sonic architecture that few of his peers could conceive, let alone execute. And along with the bloozy thrust and pull of "Nobody's Fault but Mine", you got not only Percy blowing a harmonica solo(something I hadn't seen him do since 1972) but also the humorous bit with Robert referencing Steve Martin when he exclaims before the guitar solo, "Oh Jimmy? Oh Jimmy? Well, excuuuuse me!" It was probably during this song that I first noticed how much stronger Plant's voice was from the 1975 tour...and even the 1973 tour. While maybe the top range wasn't all the way back to 1970-71 range, the sandpaper rasp he struggled with before was gone and the power was back. The return to form of his voice seemed to lend him a renewed confidence and it showed in his stage manner. Plant really appeared loose and in good spirits during the Forum shows. Not that he wasn't in the past, but I've always thought some of his stage banter on the 75 tour betrayed a certain nervousness and his demeanor could be curt at times. But you probably would be too if you had the flu and was touring through snowstorms. Now we get a surprise...a switch in the program. Instead of "In My Time of Dying" after NFBM, as Dallas and other early dates got, the Forum is treated to "Over the Hills and Far Away", and if the band has been clicking on all cylinders from the beginning of the show, it is at this point they really start cooking. And while OTHAFA has been part of the setlist since 1972, it has never been played like THIS!!! For it is on the 1977 OTHAFAs that Jimmy at last has a clearly defined idea of how he wants the solo to progress and to sound. On previous tours, sometimes it would be great and other times it would sound haphazard and the ending would be random and awkward. In 1977 there was no pussyfooting around. If the opening blast of "The Song Remains the Same" provided the night's first peel-your-face-back moment, the next occurred when Jimmy launched into the solo on OTHAFA. Holy fucking shit. Oh, I'm sorry...I mean HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!! Jimmy is on Mount Zeus hurling thunderbolts every which way while Bonzo is savagely firing off clusterbombs from his drumkit and Jones just coolly lopes along setting the groove. The fuzz and delay on Jimmy's guitar is outrageous...it's a perfect mindfuck of a solo. It's spacey and SAVAGE at the same time. Like someone married Steve Hillage or David Gilmore with Johnny Ramone/Johnny Thunders. It's so good, I want it to go on forever. It's so good, in fact, that after the song is over I turn to my friend and say "no matter what happens the rest of the show, it was worth the days waiting in line and the $9.75 just to hear THAT!!!" Whether it was the lasting effect of that solo or the ever constant smell of marijuana and/or hash wafting by...or a combination of the two..."Since I've Been Loving You" was nearly half-over before I snapped out of this dazed trance I was in. I couldn't quite remember if they had played SIBLY in 1975...I didn't think so. And with the film "The Song Remains the Same" and its awesome SIBLY fresh in everybody's mind, it was a welcome return to the setlist. Since I was spacing out for much of the song, it's only because of the bootleg that I was able to learn that Jimmy incorporated bits of "Tea for One" in the solo. Or the way Plant was "down on my knees...I'm begging you please". What I didn't need the bootleg to help me remember is what I always remember from all the SIBLYs I've seen: the way Jimmy caresses his guitar, particularly when it's one of his Les Pauls. A mother holding a baby couldn't be more loving. A man holding his lover couldn't be more sensual. SIBLY earns a rapturous response from the crowd, as it has always been a concert favourite with fans. Plant chats some more...yeah, he's cooking, or something. To tell you the truth, with the noise of everyone around you and the reverberation of the sound, not to mention Plant's accent, it could sometimes be difficult to understand what he was saying between songs. Did he just mention Jimmy? Not difficult to understand was the dry ice/smoke machine flooding the stage in a bank of fog: it was time for "No Quarter". Hell yeah! This was one of my favourite moments of the 1975 tour and I was looking forward to hearing it performed in 1977. I knew from the '75 tour that it would most likely be a long journey...those '75 NQs were around 20 minutes or more. But I was willing to settle back and place myself in the band's hands and take the journey with them. In Jones, Bonham and Page I had pilots I could trust. Blue. An absolutely beautiful shade of blue. That's the colour I will always associate with "No Quarter", thanks to the blue light bathing the stage during the opening to "No Quarter". Blue lights. Fog. Oh, and the laser light show. Which I almost missed because my focus was so intent on what was happening on stage, I didn't even bother to look up at the laser lights oscillating until my buddy tapped me and pointed upward. After which, he left to get a coke or something as Jones played his piano solo. Now, I know there is much debate about which No Quarters are the best: '73, '75, or '77. And from a position of hindsight, I now believe the '75 NQs to be the best versions. But hot damn if at the time I sat and watched this performance of NQ that evening of June 21, that I wasn't flabbergasted at what I witnessed and thought that I had just saw the greatest, weirdest No Quarter ever! Talk about your long and winding road! The band had certainly eaten their Wheaties before the show; all of them were fired up and ready to go off on any tangent they desired. This was the kind of kinetic, savage jam that separated Led Zeppelin from the bloodless prog types like ELP and Pink Floyd or the groovy boogie groups such as the Doobies or Grateful Dead or their fading metal contemporaries Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. There simply wasn't another band out there in 1977, in my opinion, that could pull off something like "No Quarter" in concert. Frank Zappa? Maybe...but I often found his approach too academic in the late-70s. 30 minutes later and it was over...and between the light and fog show and watching Jimmy do his thing, I was held in rapture the entire time. This was also another time where you could appreciate the power of Plant's vocals...especially at the end when he and Page get into a duel between his "dogs of doom" howling and Pagey's wicked wah wah. 30 minutes. I had seen the Ramones play an entire set at the Roxy in 30 minutes, but there was just as much intense music and savage grace in No Quarter as in the Ramones whole show. My buddy got back with drinks just in time for me to tell him he'd missed a hell of a jam. He said he heard it even if he didn't see it. "No Quarter" was another one of those moments of the concert that alone was worth the cost of the ticket. In fact, so was the next song...another fresh newbie to the set: "Ten Years Gone"! Whoa...a triple-neck! As some weisenheimer in the crowd shouts on the bootleg. I am deeply sorry for this but I am completely exhausted. It's been a long work week and I have gotten very little sleep. I can barely keep my eyes open now, and I need to rest up as tomorrow I have to get up early and I won't get off of work until midnight. I'll try to finish this post tomorrow at lunch. Again, my apologies for stopping in the middle like this.

Curses...drats...and everything else. Well, shoot...it looks like I screwed up the above post. A large chunk, including the part dealing with punk rock, is missing. I was trying to write it at work, which uses Windows system, which apparently the Zeppelin site doesn't like, as I always seem to have difficulty with it. It's too late to try and rectify it now, as I'm getting ready to leave work and meet up with friends for dinner. Then it will be time to write the actual concert post. The wait has been long enough and it's time I delivered. So, I'll have to leave the above post as it is for now and resuscitate it another day. Until later tonight, then...

Post #18: If it's Summer, it must be Led Zeppelin! DATE: Tuesday June 21, 1977 It was the usual "June Gloom" morning as I woke up after a fitful night of sleep...I kept waking up wondering when the night would end and June 21 would finally arrive, and with it, my appointment with my favourite band, Led Zeppelin. The weather forecast was for highs of 88°F in Riverside, but a more pleasant 76°F in the Inglewood area, where the Forum was located. Either way, once the morning marine layer burned off, there would be plenty of sunshine. No worries of getting soggy in the rain like the 1975 Long Beach show. I thought there might be a review of Sunday's San Diego concert of the 19th in the L.A. Times, but there wasn't. Guess ole Bob Hilburn didn't want to make the drive down the 405 on a weekend...but then, who does? It had now been 141 days since the tickets to these concerts went on sale...141 days of making sure they weren't lost, stolen or otherwise rendered unusable for the shows. It had been 786 days since the last time Led Zeppelin played in L.A., March 27, 1975. People and groups that had barely been thought of back in early-1975(Peter Frampton, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac) were now considered "superstars". The Eagles in 1975 were considered just an easy-going-country-rock-Gram Parsons/Flying Burrito Brothers-wannabe band. By 1977, they had released both the best-selling "Greatest Hits" collection and "Hotel California" to much success and were played everywhere on the radio. They didn't tour much, so the jury was still out for many on whether they were a good live band. Fleetwood Mac in 1975, if they were thought of at all, were most likely remembered for the Peter Green/Jeremy Spencer years as a good British Blues-rock band. Maybe some even heard "Hypnotised" on the radio from the Bob Welch era. But nobody considered them world-beaters in any respect. Next thing you know, in comes Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks and they release the "Fleetwood Mac" album(the one with "Rhiannon") the summer of 1975, which starts slowly but by 1976 is getting heavy airplay and steady sales. Then, in February 1977 comes "Rumours" and just like that, you can't escape them...everywhere you go, you hear "Dreams", "Go Your Own Way", "The Chain", "Don't Stop", "You Make Loving Fun", "Second Hand News" and just about every other song on the album. "Rumours" is Number 1 for weeks and girls are affecting the Stevie Nicks-look. Once again, though, there hasn't been much chance to check them out live. They played a poorly-reviewed show in 1976 and so far in 1977, have only scheduled one concert in the area...in Santa Barbara, which they had to cancel after it rained. So while you could say that Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles were on Led Zeppelin's level record-sales-wise, it was still too early to say if they had the live prowess and drawing power of Led Zeppelin on the concert stage. Then, there was Peter Frampton. Talk about coming alive! Out of nowhere Peter Frampton EXPLODED into the public's consciousness with his live album "Frampton Comes Alive!", released in early 1976 and played at parties and bedrooms the entire year. By the end of the year, I don't know anyone who wasn't sick of the album and sick of that mouthbox guitar gimick. Oh, but people would tell you he was soooo personable, soooo good-looking, soooo genuine in concert...how could he not get bigger and better? How? I'll tell you...this is how: I would call it the Billy Squire move, EXCEPT Peter Frampton pre-dated Billy Squire's fiasco by 6 or 7 years. Of course, he didn't stop with this flacid piece of wax; next up was the "Sgt. Pepper's" movie fiasco and as quickly as Frampton came alive, his career just as quickly petered out. Other bands had also come along since Led Zeppelin was last on our shores in 1975. Hordes of guys with bad hair and shiny satin, many of them from the midwest, it seemed, all of a sudden were flooding the airwaves: Boston, Journey, Styx, Kansas, Foreigner, and many many more. They had just enough guitar to make you think they rocked like Led Zeppelin, but most of their music seemed hollow, soulless...flacid. It was "Flacid Rock"...or "Placid Rock", if you will. These bands, along with the aforementioned Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and Peter Frampton(I am tempted to throw in Steely Dan with this bunch, too, but their music had just enough edge, especially lyrically, to give them a pass) formed the base of pretty much all of FM rock radio from 1976 onwards. It was the dawn of the "Classic Rock" era of rock radio, even though the term wouldn't be invented yet for almost a decade. The freewheeling days of FM rock radio were now replaced by corporate marketing and test-researched playlists and scripted DJs. Nothing was left to chance, and the playlists got narrower and tighter and more and more conservative. The radio guys loved these bands because their music was perfect to sell hi-fis and cars to the burgeoning Baby-Boomer-Yuppie demographic. The music was smooth and shiny because bands would spend hours...days...weeks...months in the studio polishing their songs to a platinum gleam. Even songs about heartbreak and pain sounded sweet and nice in the hands of these bands. And it was all so placid. I would always want to scream when listening to the Eagles or whomever, "Hit the muthafucking drums fer chrissakes!" Even a supposed rocking song like "Life in the Fast Lane" lacks vim-and-vigor, get-up-and-go, to my ears. Then, there was all that satin, especially white satin...shiny clothes to go with the shiny music. I mean, look at Angel:

I'm not through. Don't worry, punk will get its due.

Post #17: Twas the Night Before Zeppelin DATE: Monday June 20, 1977 At long last the wait was almost over. The June 19, 1977 Sunday Calendar of the L.A. Times had the Led Zeppelin Forum shows listed in the Events of the Week. The June 20, 1977 issue of Newsweek magazine had a review of Led Zeppelin's New York concert(written by Janet Maslin), which shows you how much things had changed and how enormous Led Zeppelin had become by 1977. Now, it wasn't just the music press and newspapers writing about the band, but the staid mainstream newsweekly mags like Time and Newsweek had taken notice, too. It's one thing to write about Bruce Springsteen or the Rolling Stones, who had the approval of Rolling Stone magazine and the other rock scribes, and therefore were deemed "safe" for mainstream readers. But Led Zeppelin were still scoundrels to the media horde, were still looked upon as hairy heavy-metal beasts...definitely NOT for polite society. So after over two years away from touring, what sort of world awaited Led Zeppelin since they last toured in 1975? A lot could change in a couple of years back then. What follows then, is sort of a thumbnail sketch of what was happening that week of June 1977 as Led Zeppelin was ensconced in the Continental Hyatt(aka the Riot House) on Sunset Blvd., resting up beween the San Diego concert of June 19 and the first of the 6 Forum gigs on June 21. The Carter family was in the White House, Jimmy Carter having beaten Gerald Ford in the 1976 Presidential election and only taken office that January 1977. This was pre-killer rabbit attack, and his brother Billy Carter hadn't quite embarrassed the President yet..."Billy Beer" was still a month away. We knew Led Zeppelin was the Ford children's favourite band, but I don't think anyone knew who the Carter kids liked. Bland Walter Mondale was the Vice President. Former White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman was about to enter prison for his part in the Watergate scandal during Richard Nixon's Presidency. President of Egypt Anwar Sadat was still alive, while Menachem Begin would take office as Prime Minister of Israel on June 21. James Callaghan from the Labour Party was Prime Minister of the U.K. You-Know-Who was Queen. In a rare occurance of Canada overshadowing Britain, Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was more famous than Callaghan, mainly due to the hijinks of Pierre's wife Margaret Trudeau...or "Maggie" to her fans and the tabloids. In the U.S., the median income was $13,572 and the average cost of a new house was $54,200. Gas was 0.62¢ a gallon for regular and 0.66¢ a gallon for unleaded. Milk was $1.68 a gallon. It cost 0.13¢ to mail a letter. Unemployment rate was 7.7% and inflation ran at 11%. The DOW's high in 1977 was 999 and the low was 800. Jerry Brown was in his first term as Governor of California...and hanging out with singer Linda Ronstadt. On June 10, 1977 James Earl Ray, the man who assasinated Martin Luther King, Jr., escaped with others from the Brushy Mountain State Prison in Tennessee. He was captured two days later. The Son of Sam was terrorizing New York City and the Yorkshire Ripper was doing the same in England. There was hubbub over "school busing", federal funding for abortions, an attempt on Uganda dictator Idi Amin's life, and the trans-Alaska oil pipeline began operation on June 20, 1977. Oh, and in a decision which would have repercussions for decades, the California State Surpreme Court ruled unconstitutional the state's practice of using local property taxes to fund the public school system. Named the Serrano Case after one of the plaintiffs, John Serrano, Jr., the U.S. Supreme Court on June 20 refused to hear a challenge to the original ruling. The California public school system, at the time one of the best and the envy of many, would from this point on begin its long downward spiral, with additional help by Prop. 13 a year later. The cost of record albums and tapes were anywhere from $5.99 to $7.99 list retail, although most record stores(Tower, Licorice Pizza, the Wherehouse) would discount them to $3.99 to $5...slightly more for double albums. In sports, I was ecstatic as the Oakland Raiders were the reigning Super Bowl Champions, having finally reached the promised land after years of heartbreak by demolishing the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl, January 9, 1977. My other favourite teams weren't faring so well that year...both the LA Lakers and the LA Kings were knocked out in the playoffs that Spring of 1977. The Kings were beaten in the Quarterfinals by the bane of their existence, the Boston Bruins. Yes, this was back in the days of the Prince of Wales Conference and the Campbell Conference. The Kings resided in the Prince of Wales Conference, Norris Division along with the Montreal Canadians, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, and Washington Capitols. The other Division in the Wales Conference was the Adams Division: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Cleveland Barons(formerly the California Golden Seals). In the Clarence Campbell Conference, you had the Patrick Division: Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Atlantic Flames, and New York Rangers; and the Smythe Division: St. Louis Blues, Minnesota North Stars, Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, and Colorado Rockies. Montreal dominated the NHL racking up 132 points during the season, 20 more than the next best team, the Philadelphia Flyers, and sweeping the Boston Bruins to win their second consecutive Stanley Cup. As for the Lakers, they got swept by Bill Walton and the Portland Trailblazers in the Western Conference Finals. Portland then fell behind 2-0 to the high-flying Dr. J(Julius Erving) and the favoured Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Finals, only to storm back and win the next 4 games, shocking the 76ers and most everyone else. I know I was rooting for Philly, as, after the Lakers, I was a Dr. J fan from his days in the ABA. This was a landmark season in the NBA, as it was the first season post-ABA/NBA merger. Like the NHL, the conferences and divisions often didn't make geographical sense: the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons were in the Western Conference and the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs in the Eastern Conference. Oh, the Stanley Cup Finals were over on May 14, and the NBA Finals completed by June 5. In baseball, the California Angels were mediocre and Reggie Jackson was the straw stirring the Yankee-drink in New York. The Cincinnati Reds were the back-to-back World Series champions and Reds outfielder George Foster was jacking home runs at an astounding rate(pre-steroid era), eventually finishing with 52 home runs. But it was a new era dawning in the NL West, as after 23 years of Walter Alston, the LA Dodgers had a new manager for the 1977 season: Tommy Lasorda. No one knew it at the time, but the days of the Big Red Machine were about to end. In May-June, Seattle Slew became the second horse of the 70s to win the Triple Crown of horse racing, 4 years after Secretariat. Wimbledon began on June 20. Björn Borg and the pride and hope of England, Virginia Wade, eventually winning the Men's and Women's Singles Titles respectively. In England, check out this wacky sequence of events: May 15: Liverpool FC wins the English Football League. May 21: Manchester United then beats Liverpool to win the FA Cup. May 25: But then Liverpool squash Borussia Mönchengladbach to win their first European Cup. Colleen McCullough's "The Thorn Birds" is dominating the bestselling book charts, along with Richard Bach's "Illusions", Dr. Wayne Dyer's "Your Erroneous Zones", Gail Sheehy's "Passages" and Alex Haley's "Roots". "Charlie's Angels" is the top-rated television show in the Nielsen Ratings this week in 1977. The rest of the Top 10 is as follows: 2. "The War Between the Tates" 3. "Laverne & Shirley" 4. "Happy Days" 5. "Kojak" 6. "McCloud" 7. "MASH" 8. "Shields & Yarnell" (don't ask, haha) 9. "Rms Riv Vu" 10. "Quincy" Somehow ABC had 3 of the top 4 programs for the week and STILL finished behind NBC and CBS in the ratings. Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours" has been the Number One album in the Billboard charts for weeks. "Rocky" and "Network" were the big winners at the Academy Awards in March, "Rocky" winning Best Picture and Best Director, and "Network" scoring Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Original Screenplay. "All the President's Men" also won multiple awards..."Taxi Driver" was shut out, beginning a long stretch of Martin Scorsese being denied at the Oscars. Fims opening the week Led Zeppelin were in town included Scorsese's new one "New York, New York", William("The Exorcist", "French Connection") Friedkin's "Sorcerer", and two from Disney, "The Boatnicks" and "Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo". Other movies that were out in theatres: "Star Wars", "Annie Hall", "The Deep", "Slap Shot", "Black Sunday", "A Bridge Too Far", "Cross of Iron", "Aguirre-The Wrath of God", "Welcome to L.A.", "3 Women", "Freaky Friday", "A Star is Born", "The Other Side of Midnight", and "Rollercoaster". Also, in 1977, newspapers (well, at least the Los Angeles Times did) still ran ads for porn movies like "Deep Throat" and "Beyond the Green Door" in the movie section.

20 June 2007 - John Paul Jones guest appearance at the Watkins Family Hour @ Cafe Largo, Hollywood, CA

^^^ Very wise, indeed, Rick! And how fortunate you were to catch one of the good Landover shows! The only Landover I've heard from the 1977 tour is the "Bringing the House Down" soundboard, which is the May 26 show, and it is dreadful. I've heard people say bad things about the 28th concert as well, but apparently everyone agrees the May 30th was the best of the four Landover nights. Not only had I heard about the Tampa riot, but others as well. Just like in 1975, there would be periodic reports about violence at a Led Zeppelin concert as the tour marched across the country. There was violence in Miami on April 17 when tickets went on sale...the article blurb didn't say if these tickets were for a Miami show that then got cancelled, or if they were selling tickets for Tampa at Miami's Orange Bowl, too. Then came word about the trouble in Cincinnati. So yes, you can imagine the worries I was having about whether the band would make it to L.A. in one piece or if too much fan violence would cause the rest of the tour to be scrapped. On the other hand, there was some good news..."The Song Remains the Same" was brought back to selected theatres in Southern California to help us pass the time waiting for the Zeppelin tour to arrive at the Forum.

You are spot on with this...maybe more so than you even realize. And prescient, too. For, a few days after you posted this, the L.A. Times printed a story about Ice T's new rap documentary "The Art of Rap". Here is an inreresting quote from Ice T: "I think Lady Gaga is dope, but she’s Madonna. I think Madonna is dope, but she’s Alice Cooper,” Ice-T says.

Before I get to "Prometheus", a few words about "The Hunger Games", which I finally saw last night with Doug Benson and his merry gang of baked comedian friends. What a pile of shit "The Hunger Games" was; it's appalling such a poor film can make so much money. Poorly conceived, poorly written, poorly executed. I wanted to strangle the cinematographer within the first 5 minutes of the film...STOP jiggling the camera around! Would it kill you to have an establishing wide shot, or even a two-shot once in a while? The fight scene at the end between the two boy morons qualifies as one of the lamest of all-time. What boggles the mind is how such a great actor as Stanley Tucci and Jennifer Lawrence, who was so good in "Winter's Bone", got roped into this garbage? Donald Sutherland I can understand, because when you're old as dirt, you take any part that comes your way as they are few and far between. Unless you're Christopher Plummer or Betty White. Then there was that doofus with the preposterous beard...I kept waiting for him to snicker "Bwahahaha!" In fact, that's another fatal flaw to this film...the misguided costumes and hair and makeup. It's as if "The Wizard of Oz" was this society's only influence and only thing available to watch. Worst of all, it's a blatant rip-off of the far better "Battle Royale" movie by the late Kinji Fukasaku. Avoid "The Hunger Games" at all costs...I don't care how much your tween kids throw a hissy fit. It ain't worth a damn. An instant contender for worst movie of the year. Now, as for "Prometheus", it was okay. Not great. Not terrible. It could have been better but hearing reports that Ridley Scott was forced to cut 27 minutes leaves me with the feeling that perhaps the Director's Cut of the DVD will be an improvement. I promise not to give away any spoilers to the film...nothing at least you can't see in the trailer. First some questions you may have. Do I have to know the "Alien" series to understand or enjoy "Prometheus"? No, I don't think so. Even though the idea of "Prometheus" germinated from the question of "Who was that dead spaceman in the ship that the crew of Nostromo investigates in the first "Alien" movie, "Prometheus" can be seen as a stand-alone film. Its pleasures don't require a knowledge of Alien-lore, nor do its flaws have anything to do with the previous Alien movies. I myself have only seen the first three Alien films...loved the first two, ambivalent about the third and just didn't care enough anymore about seeing the others, as any trace of Ridley Scott was long gone. Do I need to know about Prometheus and Greek Mythology? No. Do I need to see it in 3D?" No. Save your money. I did see it in 3D at the Dome, but to be honest, there was only one or two instances where I noticed the 3D and thought "wow"...and it was brief. Seeing "Prometheus" in regular 2D is not going to lessen the visuals for you. Of course, as is usually the case with a Ridley Scott film, the visuals are one of the best features of "Prometheus". As a summer action sci-fi movie, it's moderately entertaining enough and has its share of suspense and downright creepy scenes. It's definitely bloodier than the original "Alien", the only one of the Alien film series that Ridley Scott directed. It's better than "Battleship", "Transformers", "Cloverfield", and some of the other recent summer blockbusters. The problem starts when you begin to notice gaping holes in the plot...holes that have nothing to do with inconsistencies with the other Alien movies; I'm talking inconsistencies with normal character development and behaviour. First off, we've got scientists that don't act and behave much like actual scientists...especially the male scientist. In fact, he's such an idiot asshole that...oh, nevermind. Just as in the other Alien movie, the most interesting and defined character is the Android David, played by Michael Fassbender...he's easily the best part of the film. One of the things I liked was how he quoted lines from"Lawrence of Arabia" throughout the movie. Actually, as noted by the film critic in the clip posted above by MM, David reminds one of Rutger Hauer's Replicant in "Blade Runner". Which shouldn't be surprising given the news that after revisiting his "Alien" world after all these years, Ridley Scott is now set to do another "Blade Runner" film. Anyway, apart from David, the rest of the cast is given nothing much to distinguish itself...Noomi Rapace tries, and she does have one incredibly intense and freakish scene...but I cannot explain some of the problems I had with her character without giving away spoilers, so I'll wait until someone asks specifically. Guy Pearce's appearance is so ludicrous and late-hour as to be comical. Idris Elba(so awesome in "The Wire" and "Luther") and Charlize Theron try...but they're not given much to work with. Put simply, there is no equivalent to the character of Ripley(Sigourney Weaver) in "Prometheus", no human to really care about and root for. While "Alien" and "Aliens" also had their own interesting androids(Ian Holme in the first, Lance Henrickson in the second), those movies also had intetesting human crews that you could identify with. The crew in "Prometheus" is forgettable...and sometimes hard to differentiate...except for the Scottish woman. There are inconsistencies in the plot, flawed logic, etc. And I think the ending is kind of cheap...it sort of blatently advertises a sequel. Oh, there is one thing that may be of note to some forum members here. Some of you have discussed in the supernatural or paranormal threads the idea that aliens visited this planet millions of years ago and started homo sapiens on his path to advancement...sort of like what happens in "2001: A Space Odyssey". Well, that is the central idea that "Prometheus" wrestles with: that it was aliens that created us and gave us the DNA and intelligence that separates us from all other animals. That is all I'm going to say about "Prometheus". Any more would reveal too much.

Happy birthday to one cool dude: Evster! I don't care if he doesn't come here anymore(and I don't hear from his liaison Aquamarine anymore...or is it Nine Lives?), I will never stop wishing him a happy birthday. It was Evster who set me on my path; he's the instigator of my posting here. He's the one you can thank...or blame, haha. Evan, wherever you are, I hope you are: "Singing in the sunshine, laughing in the rain Hitting on the moonshine, rocking in the grain!" May you be back to health! Cheers mate!

Surely you jest, Cecil. Why should you care what I think over a professional film critic? Just because I post my thoughts here from time to time doesn't mean I actually think anyone else should care. But, if you really want my thoughts about "Prometheus", you'll have to wait at least until I see the bloody thing...which as luck would have it, will be in about half an hour. I'm seeing the late show at the Cinerama Dome tonight.

I find that there's usually a rational and/or scientific explanation to many "ufo" sightings. Like the supposed ufo sighting the other day...turns out it was a Drone. http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-x47b-drone-ufo-20120615,0,4884116.story