nonamedufus

In the mid 60s "Freak Out", a double album, snuck onto the charts. It was the debut of Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention . The band has gone through considerable changes throughout the years and included such muscians as jazz violinist Jean-Luc Ponty and singers Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan from the Turtles who used the stage names "The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie". Dancin Fool is from yet another incarnation of the Mothers and off 1979's Sheik Yerbouti . The song is Zappa's commentary on the-then disco scene Dont know much about dancin Thats why I got this song One of my legs is shorter than the other and both my feets too long course now right along with em I got no natural rhythm But I go dancin every night Hopin one day I might get it right Im a dancin fool, Im aDancin fool I hear that beat; I jump outa my seat, But I can't compete, cause Im aDancin fool, Im aDancin fool The disco folks all dressed up Like theys fit t...

Today "70s Saturday" takes a look at Tex-Mex. No, not burritos and enchilladas but the cantina-rock that really took hold in the 70s. One of the most famous figures of Tex-Mex was Doug Sahm who, in the 60s, founded the Sir Douglas Quintet. Many thought with a name like that the group was from Britian and while the name was chosen to cash in on the British invasion the group's members were from Texas and Mexico, including organist Augie Myers. Their memorable hit was She's About A Mover. This 60s clip is a hoot. Sahm sings and plays guitar. The Quintet continued into the early 70s when they broke up. But in 1990 Doug and Augie formed what many refer to as a Tex-Mex Super group with Freddie Fender and Flaco Jimenez, the Texas Tornados . While this group began in the 90s, Doug Sahm had released albums as the Texas Tornados since the 70s. Here's a performace from the 1990s of one of my favourites: What Were You Thinking Of (When We Were Making Love)? Sadly, Doug...

This week's "70s Saturday" showcases a group that owned the 70s - Fleetwood Mac . Originally a struggling British blues group experiencing moderate success, this incarnation with former duo Buckingham/Nicks (Lindsey and Stevie) took off into the stratosphere. So many Fleetwood Mac songs feature Stevie Nicks on vocals but You Make Lovin' Fun features the other woman of the group, Christine McVie. She also wrote the song which was the fourth single issued from 1977's immensely popular album Rumours.

This week's 70s Saturday recalls one of the greatest "make-out" songs of that decade - "Samba Pa Ti". The song was included on Carlos Santana 's second album, 1970's Abraxas . A certain 18 year old found the music was pretty cool, and the album cover art wasn't bad either. Here's a live version of the song from a 1998 concert in Zagreb Croatia.

He is, perhaps, the greatest living songwriter. Bob Dylan turns 68 today and with the recent release of his latest album and his ongoing "Never Ending Tour" he shows no sign of slowing down. Here's a classic from one of my favourite Dylan periods - the mid 70s - with the enchanting Scarlet Rivera on violin...

This week's 70s Saturday showcased artist is the Ozark Mountain Daredevils . One look at all that hair and those beards give you a good idea where the group got it's name. One of their most popular tunes came off their first album, released in 1973...

The focus of this blog is humour. But from time to time we hearken back several decades to revisit fashion and fads (funny in itself) through music, while celebrating birthdays and other events in rock and roll. As well, Fridays on this blog are usually given over to musical groups from the 60s. But today we implement a new feature: Seventies Saturdays. In the early 70s I discovered a progressive rock group from Britain called Gentle Giant . What attracted me to them wasn't the musical instrumentation so much but rather the vocals. It was a complex madrigal type of singing and the 1972 album "Octopus" caught my ear immediately. Here's a live medley from that album which I consider to be one of their best...

Today is Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks ' 62nd birthday. Butch was actually one of a duo of drummers in the band. And Butch's nephew is the incredibley accomplished guitarist Derek Trucks who plays with the modern-day Allmans. I saw him in concert touring with Eric Clapton. He also fronts his own band, the Derek Trucks Band and is married to blues singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi. Uncle Butch, happy birthday. Here's the Allman Brothers classic Ramblin' Man , featurung Dicky Betts on lead guitar and surviving Allman brother Gregg on organ. Duane Allman, who played with Eric Clapton in Derek and the Dominos(Layla, etc.), died in a motorcycle accident in 1971.

Today we wish Happy 64th Birthday to Robert Clark Seger . Better known as "Bob", Seger had a string of hits throughout the 70s and beyond. "Old Time Rock and Roll" is one of Seger's most recognizable songs, long associated with Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear in the 1983 film Risky Business. "Still the Same" is the first single off his 1978 album Stranger in Town.

Happy Birthday to Gerry Rafferty . He's 62 today. Rafferty's best known for this song from the 1978 album "City to City": Baker Street ...

It's Steve Howe's birthday today. Lead guitarist for British prog-rock group band Yes, Howe helped define their distinctive sound. His guitar is instrumental (no pun intended) in making Roundabout from the group's 1973 release "Fragile" the hit it was... (btw, I think they must have sold one helleva bunch of shampoo to rock groups in the early 70s!)

Damn, I hate investing all that time in a TV show only for it to be cancelled. The greatest show on TV (in my humble opinon) came to a screeching halt last night after only one season. A knock-off of a British series, ABC's Life On Mars was nevertheless an excellent show with an exceptional cast. The premise involved a cop hit by a car in 2008 who wakes up in 1973. So he felt like he was living on Mars. Indeed he met himself, as a kid, and both his parents. Last night in the season/series finale we learned he really was living on Mars - he , and the cast of characters, were astronauts waking up from a deep space sleep and about to touch down on the red planet. That's right, it was all a dream! The show was a mix of police drama meets science-fiction. It was quirky enough to draw me in week after week. It had a great soundtrack - from the 70s, natch - and the main character's awareness of the future led to some comical plot developments. And now it's gone. And without i...

David Gilmour is 63 today. Now pretty much a solo artist Gilmour is best known as guitartist for Pink Floyd , a group he said of in 2006 - even prior to Richard Wright's death - I think enough is enough. I am 60 years old. I don't have the will to work as much anymore. Pink Floyd was an important part in my life, I have had a wonderful time, but it's over. For me it's much less complicated to work alone. Here's a brief profile from back in the day... And this song, from the album of the same name and written by Gilmour and Roger Waters pays tribute to Syd Barrett, a founding member of Pink Floyd...

Okay, here's an obscure musical fact. Jance Garfat, was the bass player for Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show . He met an untimely end in 2007 in a motorcycle accident when he swerved to miss a dead dog in the road way. Today would have been his birthday; he was born in 1944. Dr. Hook, of course, sang the song On The Cover of the Rolling Stone ...and guess what? Following the popularity of that song they got their picture on the cover of Rolling Stone...

Today is Lou Reed 's birthday. He's 67. Today the coloured girls sing Happy Birthday...