Frank Gutch Jr: For Vinyl Newbies: A Primer On Cutouts and Promos; 5 Seconds of Summer (Is 5 Seconds Too Long); Plus Aural and Visual Gems (Otherwise Known As Notes)

See what I did there? I made it seem like you might learn something. Jeez, the hoops we writers have to go through to make you pay attention. I was thinking I might have to revert go porn, but maybe explaining the fun side of the record biz might help. As Ron Davies wrote and Long John Baldry made famous, it ain’t easy.

Frank Gutch Jr: Can’t You Smell That Smell; Meet Bob Blackburn (and Bob Blackburn); the Annual John Rocker Report; and Notes… It’s All About Baseball, Sports Fans

That’s right, sports fans, I smell baseball.  When I was a kid, sports were seasonal.  When the seasons changed, so did the sport.  It’s hard for me to relate to sports these days.  Football goes all the way into February.  God knows when basketball ends (seems like it goes on forever— in the Pros, at least).  And baseball ends about when the snow flies.  But it always begins in Spring and  it’s Spring now.  Almost.

Frank Gutch Jr: Confessions of a (Reformed) Vinyl Junkie, Plus Notes…..

I used to have over 10,000 record albums.  That is really not that many when you really look at it.  More than you could listen to fairly in a year, I suppose.  Deep enough to impress vinyl junkies, too many to impress anyone sane.  Way more than enough to make my life desolate when it came to relationships.

Frank Gutch Jr: Jack Ely & the Accidental Louie; Jim Terr One-Ups a Major Label; The Personal Effects of Kent State; An Apology to Marca Cassity; Plus No Notes…..

Jack Ely‘s dead!  Long live the King(sman).  I hope that doesn’t come off as flippant for it is certainly not meant that way.  While Jack was not really a friend of mine, he was an acquaintance.  Sort of.  I knew him, though.  Here is how that came about.  (Those who already know the story can scroll down to “Jim Terr.”

Frank Gutch Jr: The Pac Northwest— Not Just The Raiders, Sonics, and Wailers; and Notes, Notes and More Notes

One thing about history.  Given enough time, it is a shadow of its former self.  No matter what happens, importance of virtually everything is either magnified or diminished depending upon a number of factors.  By the time it has been filtered over the years, it is not even remotely what it started out to be.  The Twenties obviously weren’t all Gatsby and The Thirties weren’t all dust bowl and depression.  There was so much more than the War (that would be of the Second World variety, sports fans) and recovery from to the Forties and if the US had lived the Fifties like Hollywood said, we would have fought like hell to stay there.  Of course, by the time it got to us, it was Cliff’s Notes all over again.

Frank Gutch Jr: Sonics Boom! Seattle’s Peter Blecha Writes (Not Rewrites) Pac NW Music History!, Pac NW Labels— In Fact, It’s the Great Pac NW Rundown, Part One! (plus Notes?)…..

You may not know or know of Peter Blecha, but I do.  Peter and I have been acquaintances if not friends for a number of years and I have watched his growth as a writer and music historian with great interest.  We share an intense interest in the Pacific Northwest music scene, past and present, and we both revered the music and the bands which inhabited the various periods in the Pac NW music saga.  We know that the rest of the world, if not for The Sonics and Paul Revere & The Raiders, would consider the music scene minor league at best, but have always considered the rest of the world ignorant of the music and artists who seemingly have and have had to struggle for respect beyond the borders of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.