Frank Gutch Jr: The Grammys: The Decline of the Major Labels (and Civilization) Continues; When Three Bands (Don’t) Collide; Michael Fennelly— On Vinyl; For the Tots at Christmas— Goodnight Songs; Plus N-n-n-notes…..

Every year I get my hopes up and every year the so called experts behind the Grammy’s dash them against the rocks like fishkill, blood and brain cells covering the entire music industry with fresh stench in the form of what they claim to be “the best”—  their words, not mine.

Frank Gutch Jr: From Goodnight Moon To Goodnight Songs and Beyond: Famed Children’s Author Still Alive In Prose and Song, or Are You Glad To See Me Or Is That a Grammy In Your Pocket?; Jeff Ellis: A Day Late and a Dollar Short … Plus Notes, as few as they are

Goodnight stars; Goodnight air; Goodnight noises everywhere.

So Margaret Wise Brown ended her classic childrens book Goodnight Moon, a bedtime book for the ages.  Until I received a message from Charlottesville musician, Keith Morris, he of The Crooked Numbers, I had never heard the name nor knew of the book, to my knowledge.  How I missed it I don’t know because not one person of the multitude I asked later was ignorant of its existence, though few recognized the name.

Frank Gutch Jr: Goodnight Songs: A Grammy Teaser?; Lavacado Clears a Room; Three Albums You Shouldn’t Miss; Plus Notes…..

Why am I the last to know about Margaret Wise Brown?  Chances are, if you don’t remember the name, you have heard her works, especially Goodnight Moon, a book written specifically for children and sandmen.  While I had not heard of it, everyone to whom I have mentioned it has, some making snide references to that rock I must live under.  Evidently my childhood was deprived— at least deprived of Ms. Brown and her wonderful works.  I am not taking it personally, though, thanks to Virginia musicians Emily Gary and Tom Proutt.  They contacted me awhile ago about a book they had recently been involved with, written by Ms. Brown, titled Goodnight Songs.

Frank Gutch Jr: New Albums: Lost Leaders, Zoe Muth, Chris & Gileah, Joseph LeMay, and Others; and Voluminarious Notes (there will be a quiz)!!!

If this was a real job, I would have been fired long ago.  I spent a whole day and night piecing together the research for this weeks column which was intended to be fun and games with radio charts because, man, when you get into them (especially the ones from the fifties and sixties), they are fun as hell and, boy, the tricks you have to know to understand them, but once again things came along to kick the idea to the curb.  It happens every week, swear to God, so I took a little trip down computer lane and counted the columns and column ideas I have started and not finished and it came to 27.  The good thing is that I still have 27 ideas set aside for future columns.  The bad news is that I haven’t worked on any one of them since. Sigh.