Monastic mode

Me. Alone in lab. At the scope. Collecting/sorting/scoring flies.  Notebook to my right.  How I best like to do science.  Doing it a little bit these days.  Not enough though...

My Favorite Led Zeppelin album

Houses of the Holy, from 1973.  Amazing from start to finish.

The Song Remains the Same
The Rain Song
Over the Hills and Far Away
The Crunge
Dancing Days
D'yer Mak'er (pronounced 'Jamaica' BTW)
No Quarter
The Ocean

One of the best album covers of all time, as well.

The lab

The lab still needs a lot of cleaning up.  There are a lot of things from when things came to a halt in 2010 that need to be cleared out, including most of the material in the freezers.  I am slowly getting around to things, mostly clearing out the space that we use the most: the fly and computer benches and the bench where we video behavior and one molecular bench.  We are doing a lot of phenotype work on two projects, the elegans/gunungcola project and the melanogaster project; myself, Rocio, and a group of undergraduates working with me.  They are both huge projects and everything we are doing is working well.  I just need more time there.  When summer runs out, my lab time largely runs out...

Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

The grand daddy of all hard rock songs (ballad and otherwise).  Learning it and should be able to come up with a passable derivation.  Not simple but not as complicated as I thought.

No technician

Other than Shian-Ren on a part-time, volunteer basis, I've never employed a lab technician.  These days I manage everything with my own hands (we are not doing cloning any more or much molecular stuff these days other than fly DNA preps).  I've never wanted to worry about keeping a tech supported.  It's pretty impractical in terms of my own schedule.  But I like being in the lab and I have things streamlined enough (am gradually cleaning up the lab from the remnants of the way things were during the first eight or so years) that things go OK.

Some people meditate

My substitute for that is to do repetitive manual labor.  Mostly in the lab but elsewhere too (dishwashing, lawnmowing).  It lets me think.  I'm sort of notorious about this around the department.  It's also because I've never hired a technician (don't want to without long term support, which doesn't exist).  Good for the soul and good for the mind...

Favorite Band Names

Microdisney
Telefauna
Killdozer
Bikini Kill
Swervedriver

(I'll post others as I remember them)
I like hybridizations of concepts that can have multiple connotations.

A Girl Like Jesus

My version of the 1998 Right as Rain song.
Starring Ru-Jun.

lawns

Lawns have a very interesting community ecology, if they aren't sprayed and watered into a monoculture, that is.  Ours has been maintained as what I call "natural" since we moved in in 2002.  It was maintained by a lawn care company before that (and there is an in-ground sprinkler system put in by the previous owner).  We don't water, and whatever can grow we let grow, including probably dozens of different kinds of weeds.  Many of the weeds flower in interesting and beautiful ways.  Overall, I think it regulates itself better than a monoculture lawn and generally needs less mowing, even in wet years.  It doesn't look like a manicured lawn, but that is a matter of aesthetics.  I like the look of our lawn better than high maintenance (which are also high carbon and water footprint) lawns.

On the Road Again

My version of the Willie Nelson classic.

19 - Paul Hardcastle

This track, esoteric for top 40 in any era but a pretty big hit in 1985, was part of the post-Vietnam recovery culture of the early 1980s.  This period included movies like the Rambo films, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket, and informed US culture and foreign policy into the 90s (e.g. the Powell Doctrine in the Gulf War, which reflected an existential fear of committing ground troops to a conflict without 110% assured victory and low likelihood of casualties).  The rehabilitation of the images of veterans and US enlisted troops also began during this era resulting in their exalted status in the popular culture (even if not exactly in government policy) today.
Musically, I like the haunting narration from a TV documentary.  Wikipedia lists the genre of the song as "New Wave, freestyle, post-disco".  But I hear a lot of house in it.  It's truly excellent as a mid-tempo dance track, although not often usable as that because of the sampled narration.

White Hot - Red Rider

Red Rider's first single, from 1980.  Poppy with progressivity around the edges.  And it is inflected with the band's apparent obsession with Vietnam-era arms smugglers.

Living on the Ceiling - Blancmange

Blancmange is another 80s UK band that was well represented on US alternative radio and that I need to explore more.  They have a sound that has kind of grown on me.  Here is Living on the Ceiling, from 1982.

Cross The Border - Icehouse

From 1986.  Seems fairly poppy in retrospect, and I think in their native Australia and in Europe they were.  In the US they were played on alternative radio.  I first heard it on WBER, an alternative radio station in Rochester, which was truly amazing in the late 80s and 90s (and probably still exists).  At the time I was just getting my feet wet in alternative rock.  Loved this song...

Not much playing lately

Things too crazy both at home and work. I managed to get Lola memorized over the weekend, however.

Escapism

It's why I watch most of the movies/TV I watch.  Possibly sports as well.  I'd rather watch a movie I like with a known good ending for the 30th time than take a chance on something that might not be a good escape.  I hate being manipulated by movies.  I avoid entire genres, like horror and psychological horror, and depressing subject matter.  Why waste precious time on something so negative.

Worlock - Skinny Puppy

From 1989.  Didn't get into much industrial.  This is one of its high points to my (not well studied) ears.  The chord progression of the chorus does it.  The samples are good as well.  My late high school friend Keith (a different story for a different day perhaps) introduced me to this band.

Love Will Find a Way - Yes

A bit later.  Qutie a bit poppier.  It's got my chord progression (variations on 4-5 with the relative minor).  Exquisitely produced, in a good way (which is not usual; there is way too much overproduced stuff out there since the mid 80s).

Changes - Yes

90125 is as progressive a rock statement as ever hits the mainstream.  The whole album is really good.  Changes got a lot of airplay but continually rewards relistening.

And then there's Space Disco

Ganymed - Music Drives Me Crazy (1978)

Just one of many fun and interesting things going on in the late 70s.  Europe never trashed disco.  And that's a good thing for most of the pop music that came after that.

Reckoning - R.E.M.

From 1984. Tremendous album. Harborcoat is just the beginning. Had this on vinyl but not on CD. Until a few days ago.

Miss Gradenko - the Police

One of the sleeper tunes on Synchronicity (1983).  According to Wikipedia, it's "a song about a romance in the middle of a communist bureaucracy."  Interesting in that it is not listed as one of the singles of that album but it got airplay on rock stations in the US.  As I recall it was announced that the Police were breaking up as that album was being released.  I was very sad at that news, but given how bands tend to go stale, in retrospect it's a great thing that they stopped there.  Just about everything they every produced is superb.

White Hot Day - Simple Minds

Another good track from Sparkle in the Rain.  Pretty unconventional - harking back to their earlier, more experimental work.  I especially like the drum track.

Something to Grab For - Ric Ocasek

From what I've heard of Ric Ocasek's solo career (first three albums; i.e. about half of his stuff), it sort of exposes the parts of his songwriting that the Cars' virtuousity and the stellar production they always had covered up.  But the songs are always really good a affecting the atmosphere and imagery that Ocasek was about, and there are some real gems.  The best was the first single, Something to Grab For, off Beatitude (1982).

Book of Brilliant Things - Simple Minds

Every Simple Minds album up to and including Once Upon a Time (didn't follow them after that) is different.  Sparkle in the Rain, from (1984), was a transition to their shimmering danceable pop of New Gold Dream 81-82-83-84 and their harder but inferior Once Upon a Time material, which launched them to worldwide fame (following Don't You (Forget About Me), which was not on any of their album and which they did not like and was not written by them.
This is a great song.  Very simple chord progression, driven by rhythm and keyboard figures and the vocal.

In development

New Years Day.  Fun to play.  Also in development: R.E.M.'s Disturbance at the Heron House and Lola by the Kinks.  Need to practice these every night.

New Year's Day - U2

None of the stuff U2 did after their early hits approached the power of this simple, powerful, punk-inflenced rock.  Heard this working out today.  I think I can do a version of it.

Wind Him Up - Saga

It was 1981.  They were progressive and used lots of synthesizers. I was pretty into them. This song was the beginning for me.  They have a lot of other good ones.
They are apparently still going.  Good for them.

More on Lola

Thanks to the Al Yankovic take off Yoda, Ru-Jun now loves that Lola video.  She even recognize that Ray and Dave Davies look similar.  My friend Scott and I used to listen to taps of Dr. Demento (which was on the radio way too late for me to stay up) and Yoda was among our favorite (and one of the most clean) songs. I have huge respect for Yankovic.  He is a hugely talented and funny musician.

Jingle jangle jingle

Simple cowboy song, but the lyrics have resisted memorization.  I actually attempted it at the Earthstock gig but was only good for a couple of stanzas.  So I decided to sort of make the stanzas up as I go along.  It doesn't matter if they are exactly like the song was played before.  Just needs to be something like

(1) Oh Sally Jane, Oh Sally Jane,
Though I'd love to stay forever this is why I can't remain

(2) Oh Betty Lou, Oh Betty Lou,
Though we've done a heap of dreamin' this is why they can't come true

(3) Oh  Lily Bell, Oh Lily Bell,
Though we've shared some special secrets, this is why I never tell

(4) Oh Mary Ann, Oh Mary Ann,
Though you tell a pretty story this is why I never can

etc.

There are a lot of possibilities.  Just have to come up with them on the fly...

Southern Cross - Crosby, Stills, and Nash

I learned this song (a pretty derived and faster version, as I play it) a while back.  The song gets massive play on classic rock radio.  Very hard to do justice to the vocal.  I'll try to record it when I get a chance.  No time to do that kind of thing this past week.  Crazy schedule with not much relief in sight.

Lola - the Kinks

As I may have said before, I never really appreciated this song musically until I started to learn it.  Fairly complex for a pop song.  The thing I really like about this video is that the band members are really having a good time lip syncing it.  Probably aided by some substances, but nonetheless...

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love - Van Halen

The original Van Halen incarnation with David Lee Roth was a pretty good hard rock band. This song is so simple, but one of the best ever hard rock song.  It has two just chords.

Pat Benatar

It's hard to overstate what a breath of fresh air Pat Banatar was in hard rock in the late 70s-early 80s.  Brilliant, straight ahead rock.  Very clean.  Her vocal range was very wide but strong everywhere, especially on the high end.  My favorite two songs of her many great ones are "Treat Me Right" and "Heartbreaker", both from the 1980 Crimes of Passion album.  Scintillating rock.

Harden My Heart - Quarterflash

I really like the sound of Quarterflash.  They were contemporary (maybe slghtly following) with Pat Benetar but seemed to get a pop label as opposed to the hard rock labeling Benetar's early hits got.  1981's Harden My Heart was their first and biggest hit, achieving massive overplay.  It never got old with me.  Very simple chord progression.  Mid tempo bouncing beat. The vocal is very pure and the song is a rare case of a sax lead that really augments the song as opposed to detracts from it.

The Warrior - Patty Smyth and Scandal

[link]
I guess I have a soft spot for this kind of pop from the 80s. This has a nice chord progression in the chorus. And the B part between the verse and chorus works quite nicely.  I even like the brief instrumental part; it's quite atmospheric.

Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA - Devo

[link]
Devo is known for a lot of things. They constantly innovated and are still going. As a musician, I respect them a lot. They rocked hard in the traditional rock and punk senses, which formed the bedrock of their ideas that went beyond the music. They have a LOT of great songs. I hope there is a complete works box CD set available someday. (There was one released in Japan that can be had on Amazon for ca. $250).

Roads Go Ever On

This is a song with words written by J.R.R. Tolkein.  It appeared in the Hobbit and a couple of times in the Lord of the Rings.  The version sung by Glenn Yarbrough was in the 1977 Rankin Bass cartoon version of the Hobbit.  That cartoon was very dear to me, even though it is for kids and greatly truncated from the original story.  I have been learning the song but have not had time to do a recording yet. Parenting and work have been impinging on music this week.

Mulu The Rain Forest - Thomas Dolby

Beautiful song on one of my all time favorite albums, The Flat Earth. The main keyboard figure over the shifting bassline in the instrumental section (starting at 2:42) seals the deal for this song. Also the descent just before the rallying chorus (3:39).

Imagination - Belouis Some

From 1985. Not much productivity from this guy; but his few singles were of high quality.  Tightly produced pop, strongly rhythm-driven. Like a lot of stuff - derives from Bryan Ferry.  Phrasing of the chorus is very nice.  There was a bunch of British pop that sounded like this but I think this was toward the front end of that sound.

only a little

time to practice these days.  But I think most of the songs are staying fresh in my brain.  No gigs on the horizon.  But still having fun with it when I can at home...

Emotion in Motion - Naked Eyes

[link]
Less well known then their major hits and the chorus is a bit weak on ideas.  But the lofty melody line of the verse makes the whole thing scintillating.

Promises, Promises - Naked Eyes

[link] (gotta wait through an ad - sorry)
Brilliant pop.  The verse has an absolutely on mid tempo groove.  And the verse is pure genius - nothing like it in pop, from what I've heard.

Dixie Storms - Lone Justice

Beautiful song that I used to play on piano.  Not sure if I could develop it for the uke.  May give it a try.

Athena - the Who

This song was played incessantly in the summer of 1982. Never figured out what it was about and never really studied the lyrics, which are:
***
Athena, I had no idea how much I'd need her
In peaceful times I hold her close and I feed her
My heart starts palpitating when I think my guess was wrong
But I think I'll get along
She's just a girl - she's a bomb

Athena, all I ever want to do is please her
My life has been so settled and she's the reason
Just one word from her and my troubles are long gone
But I think I'll get along
She's just a girl - she's a bomb

Just a girl just a girl
Just a girl just a girl
Just a girl just a girl
She's just a girl

Athena, my heart felt like a shattered glass in an acid bath
I felt like one of those flattened ants you find on a crazy path
I'd of topped myself to give her time she didn't need to ask
Was I a suicidal psychopath?
She's just a girl - she's a bomb

Consumed, there was a beautiful white horse I saw on a dream stage
He had a snake the size of a sewer pipe living in his rib cage
I felt like a pickled priest who was being flambed
You were requisitioned blondie
She's just a girl - she's a bomb

I'm happy, I'm ecstatic
Just a girl just a girl
Just a girl just a girl
Just a girl just a girl
She's just a girl

Look into the face of a child
Measure how long you smiled
Before the memory claimed
How long would children remain
How long would children remain

Athena, you picked me up by my lapels and screamed "leave her"
It felt like waking up in heaven on an empty meter
And now you're stuck with a castrated leader
And I hate the creep, I didn't mean that
She's a bomb
I just said it
She's a bomb
I didn't mean it, please
She's a bomb

Athena, I had no idea how much I need her
My life has been so settled and she's the reason
Just one word from her and my troubles are long gone
But I get along
She's just a girl, she's a bomb
She's just a girl, she's a bomb
***
According to Wikipedia, Pete Townshend wrote this song about his frustration about being rejected by the actress Theresa Russell.  And they have only played this live about 10 times, and not since the 1982 tour.  I knew it would somehow be interesting.  You don't have lyrics like that without some kind of backstory...

Face Dances Pt. 2 - Pete Townshend

From 1983. [link is the studio version of the song as the soundtrack to a compendium of pics from Ru-Jun's first year, which always amazes us when we look back on it]
This was one of the first videos I ever saw on MTV and the song immediately infected me. Most of it is in 5/4 time, which is pretty rare but works amazingly.  This is a truly progressive song, and yet has all the pop and hard rock instincts that characterize Townshend's entire career.

You Belong to Me - Carly Simon

From 1978. A very formative year for my musical brain. This song is ahead if its time yet also right in one of the grooves that was hitting in the late 70s. The jazz/rock thread that Steely Dan was farming is here. Yet elements also anticipate post disco pop trends (e.g. Sade, house music).

Too Late For Love

My version.  Had to get rid of a lot of the middle. Simplification is good, though...

Charlotte Anne

my cover
Far from perfect.  Was using the Oscar Schmidt acoustic-electric in the office.  Still not 100% comfortable with the feel of the instrument.

Screen Kiss - Thomas Dolby

[link]
My favorite Thomas Dolby song.  I don't think I would ever be able to do a version  of this.
It's hugely layered and almost doesn't rely on rhythm.  How he fits the lyrics in without compromising him is a major part of his brilliance here.

Treason - The Teardrop Explodes

Never really studied Julian Cope's early band The Teardrop Explodes back in the day.  Can definitely see where some of his smooth, angular, pop instincts came from.  Here's Treason from 1980.

One Red Rose

Here's my version.  Couple of small mistakes.  The end of the chorus actually goes lower than I can sing, so I did my best with that.

Earworms aid song learning

If a song you are trying to learn can be an earworm for some significant part of the day, it really aids learning.  Going through the words and arrangement over and over in your head is almost as good as playing it over and over.

Against the Wind - Bob Seger

Got overplayed, but still a very listenable song.  A classic. In starting to learn the song, I have a new appreciation for the subtlety of its chord progressions, and for Bob Seger's songwriting.

Lovedust - Luna

[link]
Luna was known as an American Dream Pop band but the flavor here is different from the UK's Shoegaze version of the genre. You can hear some of the same hard-edged rock experimentation that the Pixies had, as well as influences going back to Lou Reed, among others.

Take It Easy - Jackson Browne/Eagles

[link]
One of my wife's favorites and mine too, despite heavy radio overplay that continues today. The newest learn, thanks to an online lyrics/chords site.

Terra Nova Cain - the Church

[link]
In grad school in the early 90s, the Church formed a significant portion of the soundtrack to my down and out existence. The studio track of this is much better of course. I like the hybrid title. The landscape of the sound is bleak and sort of post psychological apocalyptic, like a lot of their stuff. It definitely spoke to me.

Front Porch

Had a chance to play a little this week on the newly renovated front porch at the Palmyra house where I grew up.  Very enjoyable. Front porches are the best places for my uke music.
In other news: Southern Cross and Scarlet Begonias are good enough to move up to the main set.

Stages of getting a song down

1 listen to it closely and decide to try it
2 play along to it 5-10 times
3 grab the lyrics off the web
4 play and sing along with it 5-10 times
5 try playing while looking at lyrics only
6 if 5 is successful, play it that way 15-50 times
7 work on memorizing lyics in head during work days
8 start playing it without looking at lyrics
9 play regularly and polish

Save a Prayer - Duran Duran

Just one of many amazing pop songs from the early Duran Duran work.

Evangeline - Icicle Works

From 1987. One of the sweetest pop songs of its time.

Proposition - Duran Duran

In the early 80s, during the Duranie craze, Duran Duran did not get enough credit for being the superb crafters of pop songs that they were and are. When the Notorious album came out in 1986, the craze had faded and they had the space to continue honing the craft to its next level. The entire album is really good. Proposition is my favorite song on it. It's mid tempo, atmospheric, with strong narrative content even absent the lyrics.

Kiss Them For Me - Siouxsie and the Banshees

[link]
This band had come a long way by 1991 from its goth-punk roots of the late 70s. But they were still honing a pop sound that really effectively harnessed the hard sweetness of the gothic aura and texture. Very nice song.

Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

This song was ubiquitous on American pop radio in 1978 and the ensuing years. I've always thought of it as an American song but Rafferty (who died last year) was Scottish and the song was written when he and former bandmates were dealing with the band's (Stealer's Wheel) breakup and it appears to be sonewhat about that angst. The feeling of the song nevertheless coincides with a general angst that was strongly present in 70s rock and which I've long been interested in. This was a time when my developing musical brain was forming strong impressions and preferences. This is one of the songs that transports me back to that time.

The Scholar's Life

There is a traditional meme in China about the solitary scholar, working far away from the center of events, perhaps in exile from the current political order. I find this image deeply attractive. Things are so messed up in the US right now and the people in charge are too stupid or evil to fix them. I just want to ignore the politics and the press and concentrate on my family life, my work, my music, and my ideas.

Layla

Here's my version of the classic Eric Clapton/Derek and the Dominos song.

Urgent - Foreigner

[link]
The studio version of this 1981 song is one of a few songs that I bought the vinyl 45 of upon hearing it for the first time in a record store. It made a huge instant impression on me. Much later I found out that Thomas Dolby played keyboards on this album.
The studio version is not on youtube. This recent live version lacks a lot, including Lou Gramm. But I highly recommend the original.

My 1st Singapore Rice Noodles

I was introduced to Singapore Rice Noodles by my Ph.D. advisor, at the Hong Kong restaurant in Durham, NC. which apparently still exists (or a restaurant by that name), but appears to have changed locations. On edit: the Hong Kong on Guess Road is still there on Guess Road.  There are two other restaurants with that name in the Durham area.  Somewhat apropos, the first Chinese food I had in my adult life was while I was in college at the Hong Kong restaurant in Rochester, which at the time I recall being on Alexander St.  It may not be the same business as the Hong Kong House on S. Clinton.

Charlotte Anne - Julian Cope

From 1988.  Another great alt pop gem from my college radio listening days.  Pretty simple song but it's all about the nuance.  And the sweet, high, declarative chorus.

Going Down to Liverpool - the Bangles

This 1984 song is a (better known) cover of a Katrina and the Waves song. Very simple. Relaxed to the point of almost being laconic. Wistful. Thinking about covering it myself. Classic, curious, understated for what it is, video.

One Red Rose - John Prine

A singer songwriter with whom I should probably become more familiar with. An online acqaintance suggested I try this song. It's got a really nice late 70's feel to it. One Red Rose (1980) (cover by Step - Prine version not available on youtube for mobile)

State of the Set

Songs ready to play just about at any time:

Country Roads
Sunshine on my Shoulders
the Gambler
Smoke on the Water
Roxanne
Ring of Fire
Folsom Prison Blues
Last of the Famous International Playboys
Alsatian Cousin
Happy Birthday
the Zoo
Homeward Bound
Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard
Here Come Cowboys
Thousands are Sailing
Layla
American Girl

Songs that are only some lyrics memorization away from being in the set:
Southern Cross
Scarlet Begonias
After the Gold Rush
Sundown

Still need work learning the song
Too Late for Love
Charlotte Anne
Kiss an Angel Good Morning
On the Road Again

This is the rock/country/pop set.  I'll probably develop a folk/traditional set at some point.  Then there's the kid's set and the holiday set.

Fortress Around Your Heart - Sting

When the Police broke up ca. 1985, I was pretty bummed.  Sting's first solo album, Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985), eased the pain a bit.  Sting's later work is far inferior, in my opinion.  Fortress Around Your Heart, is one of the more conventional rock songs on the album, and my favorite.

Bringin' on the Heartbreak - Def Leppard

The 1983 album Pyromania was overplayed yet under-appreciated as a pop masterpiece. This song was one of several high points. None in the hair band coterie that came later ever achived anything like what Def Leppard and producer Mutt Lange achived multiple times on this album.

Happy Boy - the Bolshoi

link
A very good and underappreciated (in the State) band from the 80s. Kind of combines the goth-ness of the Cure with the techno-ness of Depeche Mode and their ilk.
This song is bass-driven with a cure-esque held augmented minor guitar chord in the verse.  Song structure pretty effectively builds from verse to B part and then back down. Very atmospheric.

After the Gold Rush

Here's my cover, recorded in a free moment this morning.

Goodbye To You - Scandal

A fun, chord driven song I've always liked. Call it a guilty pleasure.

Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot

Recorded this tonight.  With special appearance by Baby T.

Scarlet Begonias - Grateful Dead

Really nice song.  Never got into the Dead, but never really tried to. The few songs I heard all sounded a bit the same.  Didn't really like the jam form, and frankly I wasn't attracted to the stereotypical deadheads.  But their songs are well written, especially the lyrics.  They are well suited to the folk-rock form.

Fast Car - Tracy Chapman

From 1988. always loved this song. Tight coupling between verse chords and lyrics. Powerful rallying chorus. Hooks throughout. A poignant slice of life if there ever was one. Probably couldn't pull it off solo on the uke because of the lead in the verse and the chorus being driven by the rhythm section.

De Luxe - Lush

link
My favorite band from the 90s, as I've discussed previously.  A wall of sound but in a controlled range of frequencies, not the whole board like so much of today's stuff.  The product with the vocals is a carefully cultivated sound and feel.

Baritone Banjo Ukulele

Thinking about buying one of these.  It's a beautiful instrument and it would be fun to have this sound.

I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses

From 1989.  Simple, throbbing, a song to lose oneself in, as the video seems to illustrate.

A Girl Like Jesus - Right as Rain

link to video
Possibly the most perfect pop song ever. This was from 1998, the band being from the Atlanta scene, which along with Athens ruled the college/alternative pop sound at that time. I got exposed to this song when I was a grad student at Duke from 1989-1995, when I listened avidly to WXDU and WXYC. I might pick this up for my rapidly expanding uke set.

Mental song jamming

I was working on Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush" and then Ru-Jun asked me to play "Sundown", which I haven't played in a while. The first line of the verse is similar to "After the Gold Rush", so I couldn't do "Sundown" without listening to it. As a solo performer, it's sometimes hard to get a song clearly into my head enough to start playing it. This happens more often with particular songs than with others.

Subterranean - The Fixx

This band was in popular decline in 1988 when the underappreciated album "Calm Animals" came out. Subterranean is one of my favorites on this very listenable album. I listened to this album as a habit whenever I drove home to Palmyra from the University of Rochester and the song still gives me strong recollections of that time.

Hunter and the Hunted (Live) - Simple Minds

Not quite sure how they pulled this off live so well.  Best song on my favorite album of all time - New Gold Dream 81/82/83/84 (1982).  Saw them live in 85.  I don't think they played this song in that show.

Folson Prison Blues

Here's my cover of the Johnny Cash classic, Folsom Prison Blues.  I have to credit my old bandmate Eric, from Seed Pod 17 and U-Pump, in the Madison days, for my knowledge and appreciation of this song.  He does Johnny much better than I can.

She's Lost Control - Joy Division

A classic, very bass driven.  Probably can't work this up for the uke, though.

Working on learning...

a couple of classics

Clapton's Layla and CSN's Southern Cross

don't know if they'll turn out yet...

Indian Summer - Dream Academy

Thought of these guys for some reason while in the grocery store today.  Very wistful sound from the mid/late 80s.  Here's Indian Summer from 1987.  I remember listening to this while home from college on vacation.

Illegan Alien - Genesis

Some songs are really good despite what their lyrics are about.  Case in point: Illegal Alien, by Genesis.  This was on their eponymous 1983 album, which was extremely good and for represents the high point of the Genesis brand of (by then very poppy, but still original and idiosyncratic) art rock.  It was meant as a lampoon of peoples' stereotypes, and the video really goes over the top with the concept.  This was all OK in the early 80s in both the US and the UK. But I imagine they could not put this out, at least as a band as prominent as they were in the charts back then (a totally different time in pop with totally different chart dynamics, of course).  And the song probably does not get very much air play these days because of the political correctness angle.  Which is too bad, because musically it is a really excellent and inventive piece of pop.

Alsatian Cousin

Here's my cover of this song - one of my favorites from Morrissey.  Voice is still rough; getting over a cold.

Earthstock 2012 gig - links

Here's the complete list of song videos from the 2012 SBU Earthstock performance

opening jam

smoke on the water

Roxanne

Unhappy Birthday

The Gambler

Ring of Fire

Homeward Bound

Country Roads

The Zoo

Unhappy Birthday - Earthstock 2012

Here's my version of the Smiths' Unhappy Birthday from SBU Earthstock 2012.  Screwed up the transition from the first verse into the chorus, but it otherwise turned out OK.

My cover of Here Come Cowboys

link
By the Psychedelic Furs.
Messed up one of the transitions into the chorus.  And Ru-Jun was running around.
This song is probably a keeper for the next gig.

Smoke on the Water - Earthstock 2012

The opening song in the Tralfaz Wizard Experience Earthstock 2012 set.

We Will Not Be Lovers - the Waterboys

Love this song. Simple chord progression, rather loosely played. But the raggedness is a critical part of the delivery with these guys. The guitar arpeggios that come in during the chorus are awesome. A rare occasion when a jam concept works in a song.

Thousands are Sailing

My favorite Pogues song. Fairly straight foreward but has a couple of challenging progressions. Of several of their best known songs I looked at, it's the only one without a completely dark lyrical passage in it.

no chance yet

To go through the video from Earth Day. So I don't know how it turned out. It was windy, so the mic on the camcorder might have been noisy (no wind screen). Hopefully some time in the next few days.