Frank Gutch Jr: What Do You Say, Ray?— Music Anyone Can (and Should) Read… Plus Notes

 

The quote in the header is from Frank Secich‘s Circumstantial Evidence, a look back at a life which could easily have been one long stint at various penal institutions instead of sixties and seventies music venues.  Secich (pronounced SESS-ich, by the way) admits in his book that he was on the cusp but never really made the leap, thanks to music and the people involved with it.  One such person was Ray Chizmar, a musician and early idol to Secich who would always greet him with “What do you say, Ray?” to which Chizmar replied “Whatcha got in the bank, Frank?”

Frank Gutch Jr: And You Thought Purple Was Deep: Only the Vinylly Religious Caught These… Plus Notes…

I am going to send everyone a “He went to the computer shop and all I got was this lousy column” button because most of you will have little clue as to whom I am writing about and also because Bill Gates and his shit company has sent my other computer to the repair shop courtesy of their “this will be a snap and your files will be right where you left them” update hypocrisy.  I am only assuming that my files are where I left them because when I tried to get into my computer the day after the update all I got was this little circle of swirling dots on a pale blue screen and while I used to like pale blue, it fast became a color of doom.

JAIMIE VERNON – POP GOES THE WORLD

For the last 15 to 20 years the idea of pop music – like the good old guitar/piano driven stuff we grew up with on the CHUM Top 30 and Billboard Top40 charts – has been Verboten and buried like a forgotten dog bone in the backyard. Like some nerdist guilty pleasure there’s been a counter movement which has dubbed itself the keepers of Power Pop though its supporters can never agree on the definition of the term.