40 YEARS OF MADCAP LAUGHS

Shine on, Sydney!

Whether you consider the late Roger Barrett better known as Syd to be an artistic genius, or an acid-toasted, mentally ill several hit-wonder hype really doesn't matter.
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What does matter is that the Barrett brand is still strong some 44 years after he formed the Pink Floyd, unleashing progressive "art rock" to the masses and securing a place in pop lore.
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And if you have any curiosity about a man whose shining was a very brief 5 years or so, and who quit the music business in 1972 and died at age 60 in 2006, you need to pick up the current MOJO mag, which has a terrific feature on Syd the "crazy diamond."

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Specifically, Barrett's first solo LP, 1970's, The Madcap Laughs, is

given the forensic treatment, with an accompanying bonus CD of
newly recorded songs from the album. A first-class package.

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And Barrett's complex/trippy word-play and melodies seem to have been given a welcoming by contemporary artists like REM, Captain Sensible and Robyn Hitchcock which make them-dare we say-more listenable and/or like-able than the originals.

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The word "genius" is bandied about a lot in the MOJO piece in regards to Syd's talents. Whether he was or was not is purely subjective.

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But surely not subjective is the sad truth that the level of Barrett's talents were certainly diminished by his uber-copious use of LSD25, the heavy-duty hypnotic, Mandrax, and clouds of strong hash and weed.

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And, as per the MOJO story, Barrett's personal conduct was certainly of the non-genius level, as he is alleged to have once taken a dump on a friends front porch, as well as after having sex with his current girlfriend in 1969, put out a cigarette on the poor girl's naked hide.

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Perhaps like that other "genius," Brian Wilson, Syd just wasn't made for his times.

MICK & KEEF DO, DO MAIN ST. SATISFACTION, SATISFACTORILY!

Jolly good, lads!




When we last left Main St., we had been exiled with only early info on the upcoming May 18 reissue of the Rolling Stones "best" recording, Exile On Main Street.
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Rolling Stone mag had listed only 3 bonus tracks, which we here at the PCC thought bollocks.
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But then last week, the website Allmusic broke the new news that the '10 Exile would have a "whopping 10" extra, unissued tracks from the Exile sessions.
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And now, it's official, plus more: Stones' music label Universal told the NYTimes that not only
will there be the 10 unreleased songs, but also alternatives of Loving Cup and Soul Survivor.
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Regarding the outtakes, the Times' story uses the word, "like," in its description which may mean-we said may- or indicate that there will be more than two alts and outs on this, now 38 year old anniversary.
(Well, we can dream.)
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Unfortunately-always one with music releases-it looks like we will just
have to wait for another day, er, year, decade, etc., for those fabulous
live recordings of Exile tracks from the 1972 tour.
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But at least we appear to be getting a top-shelf reissue of Exile, to round out the Rolling Stones Records latest batch of do-overs. So, we're happy.
www.rollingstones.com

30th ANNY DOUBLE FANTASY MAYBE A SINGULAR ONE, FANTASY, THAT IS

ENCORE, Yoko! Encore.




A report surfaced this week that engineer/producer Jack Douglas was working on a project to commemorate the 30th anniversary of John Lennon's October 1980 "comeback" record, Double Fantasy.
"Unplugged," was the descriptive word thrown around.

Now, with obvious understanding that we are dealing with a rumour at this point-to say nothing of the fooked-up fickleness of Apple/EMI-it would seem to moi that a DF acoustic CD would be a long shot.

Yoko Ono has already been there, done that one a few years ago, with a Lennon acoustic demo offering that has long since been forgotten.

Furthermore, have Her Nibs and Douglas kiss, kiss, kissed and made up after their legal spat over DF royalties that Douglas claimed he was owed?
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Overheard Chinese whispers say that at least at this time, Apple/EMI are only entertaining proposals on possible 2010 Lennon projects, although at least one such TBD, is pretty much a lock.
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In any event, I'd rather put my lot in with another box set, Lennon Anthology Part Deux, rather than a specific DF release.
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The Anthology, now going on 12, was pretty damn fine, although anything can be improved on, and here's Yoko's chance.
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She's got TONS of unreleased-and even un-booted-material from the span of Lennon's career, and since the true fans would want outtakes from all era's, then another career-spanner should be the way to go.
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That way, if Ono wants to devote an entire disc to DF stuff-including work by Cheap Trick and other notables that got left off-she could easily do it.
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Finally, of course chronologically it is totally real that thirty years have passed since John's death but I just still can't seem to emotionally register it, or that so much time has passed.
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Let's hope that whatever is released this year does JL's legacy justice.

ONE CUSSIN' KICK-ASS HIT-GIRL

GOOD GRIEF, Charlie Brown!!!


Get ready to get acquainted shortly with "Hit-Girl," a 10 year old assassin from the upcoming movie "Kick Ass," due for an April release.
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A Feb. 24 front page story in the New York Times Arts section will see to it that you will be suitably intrigued, or advocating the calling out of the National Guard cultural wars division to slay the evil, mind-warping Hollywood independent film-making moguls.
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The R-rated movie, a fantasy/dark comedy taken from the pages of a similarly twisted comic book features 13 year old Chloe Moretz playing the pre-teen cutie, good with a gun, and other.
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And all this is at issue due to what they call a "red branded" movie trailer, which since late last year has gone viral on the Net, and also gone koo-koo for cocoa-puffs on some parental groups who see the film as yet more proof we are all going to hell on a rotting, risque rail.
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In the trailer, Hit-Girl tells her father, played by Nicholas Cage that she is, "only fucking with him," calls some impending victims of her gun-play, "cunts," blows several heads off, severs a few legs, and, well, you get the idea. Yes, kids still say-and do-the darnedest things.
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Of course having young girls in raunchy movies is nothing really very new, with perhaps the most salient example being Jodie Foster as the 13 year old prostitute in Taxi Driver, released in 1976, also to a few howls of self-righteous indignation.
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However, one may argue that Foster's role was that of a groundbreaking
nature, conceived by a genuine auteur in director Marty Scorsese, and certainly not played for loquacious laughs and pr-teen titillation like Hit-Girl obviously is. (Apparently, this teen thing is to be the rage.)
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And which side you may come down on for this movie may also depend on if you have children about the same age as Hit-Girl, who doubtless will become the kiddies new(est) hero, simply because she is driving the poor harried parents bunny-boiling mad.
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If you are not presently supervising brats, then you can go to the move and be suitably dumbed-down with nary a care.
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But Lionsgate, who will release the film and are expecting it to be a smash, may suffer a backlash when it hits the mainstream media blender, or God Forbid, the US Congress gets sour wind of it.
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With this eventuality,things could get very interesting...
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Thee, hoo-ha: http://www.slashfilm.com/2009/kick-ass-red-band-hit-girl-trailer/

BEATLES and BOXING:BOFFO!

Inspired by Harry Benson!




One of me fave things to do besides bollixing around with this Blog, is to wander around book stores trying to see if I can find remainders of the day, or for those not in the publishing know, books heavily discounted due to slow sales and such.

But just because a book does not sell does not mean it is rubbish.

Case in point is The Icons Of Our Time series, featuring Muhammad Ali, with text by Jane Benn.

Lots of superbly shot, gorgeous b&w pic of Ali from 1963 to 1974 with one taken by photographer Harry Benson, which will likely interest Beatle fans.

When I interviewed Benson for the National Post in 1999, he told me about the circumstances leading up to the famous Feb. 9, 1964 Miami Beach gym photos of the Fabs while they were in town to appear on Ed Sullivan, and where Ali was preparing for his heavyweight championship fight with Sonny Liston.

Harry, who travelling with the lads, told me that John Lennon in particular did not care much for Ali, and thought that the brash young fighter would be destroyed by Liston.

Benson said that Lennon wanted the photo session to be with Sonny. Hard to imagine that one, I'm afraid as Liston was a beast who suffered no fools, Beatle or otherwise.
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In any event, the Beatles did play the fool with Ali, and some of Harry's pics became all-time iconic images.
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The other shots featured here are of Ali in London just before his May, 1963 fight at Wembley with Henry Cooper, who possessed a thundering left hook, known as "'enry's 'ammer," which actually dumped Ali on his arse, before he rallied and stopped olde Henry on cuts.
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Ah yes; wot a glorious time.

SOON TO BE EXILED NO LONGER

HURRY, April 13!





Some call it the "greatest rock and roll record ever made."
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And when you put that salutation in quotations, who can argue?
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But regardless, many can say quite rightly I'd reckon, that 1972's Exile On Main Street, the Rolling Stones only non-compilation/live double album ever released , may certainly be the group's finest hour.
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A brilliant and sprawling smorgasbord of rock, blues, country and blaring horns all concocted with the aid of a continental cornucopia of inebriating substances, this was/is the true spirit of rock. Yet we have been stuck with a CD transfer of the great Exile that is now 16 years old, and surely showing its age.
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Yes, the rest of Rolling Stones' catalogue of Sticky Fingers onward was given the 21st century digital upgrade last summer, but Exile, which was originally skedded for an October 2009 release, has been maddeningly held up 'till this coming April.
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Keith Richards recently told Rolling Stone mag that Exile would get the full "coffee-table" offering, but the article listed only 3 unreleased tracks for the remastered CD.
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If there are only a measly three tunes included for such an iconic reissue, what a wasted opportunity that would be.
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Because what better chance would there be for the Stones-who recorded over 10 shows with their 16 track mobile during the legendary summer '72 tour-to offer some of those Exile live renditions which heretofore have only surfaced occasionally on bootlegs.
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Original LP packaging of this release is all well and good, but it has already been done in 1994 with a series of "Collector's Edition" CDs, of which some of that visual material is featured here.
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Of course there is bound to be extra, unseen pics and such from the era, but only hard-core Stones' fans give a damn for that.
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Most buyers want a fantastic remaster and LOTS of GOOD bonus material, otherwise the whole thing could fall flat.
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Here's hoping Mick and Keef do the right thing and we fans don't end up scrapping shit right off our shoes.

YET EVEN MORE PEACE: THIS TIME LIVE IN NEW YORK SANS THE WALRUS & BAG!

I'm (sort of) sorry to say...but bloody 'ell and all!

And so we see that Mummy Yoko Ono is still searching for her hand in the snow, 40 1/2 years

after the Live Peace In Toronto thing was done "all over you," and from which your ears and other such

sensibilities may still be recovering.
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Yes, the New York Times felt the 2010 version of (in)famous pick-up band that John Lennon threw together whilst whacked on smack to help him break free of his other group, deserved not only two colour pics-many bigger, real bands get much less-but a nice and respectful write-up by Jon Pareles.
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Yoko and Sean Lennon, joined by original POB members Eric Clapton, Klaus Voorman, and Jim Keltner-along with a few other music celebs like Ono's Dakota neighbour Paul Simon and sireen Bette Midler-appeared all together now at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Feb. 16, under the banner, "We Are Plastic Ono Band."

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Yoko wailed songs from her latest recording, "Between My Head and the Sky," played her one listenable tune, "Walking On Thin Ice," and of course closed with "Give Peace A Chance," which the Times reported had some lyrical amendments. (My Lord!)
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Listen, I once interviewed Mz. Ono, and she was very nice, and actually seemed interested when I quizzed her about the Toronto gig.

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And I can see how Clapton et al would be there for her to honour John's memory.

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But please, don't get me to try to force down the Kool-Aid that sez YO invented, or even as Parles writes, "inspired," avant or even savant rockers.

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And let's be even more brutally honest; without the Lennon name and legacy, neither the Times, nor you or I would give a bleedin' toss.