nonamedufus

Did you ever encounter a song that just blew you away? It wasn't necessarily your favourite song and it didn't change your life. But the first time you heard it you were left virtually breathless. I have several. Back in the mid-sixties, local radio pretty much sucked. There was something called The Campus Club on the most popular station in Ottawa, and they were starting to get into rock and roll. But they only played it in the evenings. The rest of the day the radio station featured Montovani and his ilk. I was in my early teens and every night while I was doing my homework and after when I went to bed I'd listen to the American stations I could pull in on my tiny transistor radio. They were so far ahead of Canadian stations. WABC in New York and WBZ in Boston. Now they played rock and roll…long before FM radio. And so I was introduced to rock and roll in my early teens. And I've been a fan ever since. Now, as I said, there were several songs that upon ...

Well tramps anyway, to say the least. At 64, Cher, you can not turn back time. The one-named former singer and gay icon showed up at last weekend's MTV Awards having left half her clothes at home. Her costume was a throwback to a controversial 1989 video. I'm not so sure Cher's aging gracefully. And there's quite a bit of her exposed there for me to make that assertion. I'll bet she was cold. I know I got the shivers just looking at her. I wonder if she's bankrupt...spending what she did on all that plastic surgery. I wouldn't get too close to her. She may go at any minute. When that tightly stretched skin starts to give you had better stand back! You know things just haven't been the same since she split with Sonny. And we know how long ago that was. Cher made a reference to her age at the MTV ceremony, telling the audience she had shoes older than most of the nominees. Well, all I can say is she must have been well-heeled to dress up like that. ...

In a worldwide exclusive, our intrepid reporter nonamedufus has learned just how British Petroleum intends to successfully plug it's leaking oil well on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. BP, which most people believe stands for Big Problem Oil and Gas, has tried stemming the flow of oil with mud, cement and now golf balls.  WTF?  Yes, you read right - golf balls, even though there are many who feel the CEO of BP's balls should be used. But now an outsider has stepped forward to offer up a solution.  John Travolta, well-known American philanthropist, scientologist and thespian - and star of the oddly successful movie  Saturday Night Fever  - has offered to donate his dianetic disco dance record collection. "Disco saved my life," said Travolta, "not to mention my career.  Once I convinced the church to allow disco into their dianetic philosophy, my life was never the same.   I guess you could say it really is responsible for me stayin'...

I won an award - two actually.  Frank Lee MieDere at I Don't Give A Damn gave me a Sunshine Award May 10th in his post  Is this irony? Or What?    (I guess Frank gives a damn after all!) Then on May 17 00dozo at When I Reach also gave me a Sunshine Award in her post    But, Why Me?? I'm Just a Lowly Rookie! Both of these blogger buddies said they admired me for keeping my sense of humour throughout my recent medical malady (that cancer treatment thingy).   You may have noticed I was away for close to a month.  Yep.  But I'm back and things are getting better everyday.  I'm writing a couple of posts a week down, certainly, from my post a day.  So in the coming months my output will be down from what it used to be and I may cut back on the number of blogs I maintain.  We'll see. I want to thank everyone for their e-mails, Tweets, Facebook messages and comments on my blog both before my procedure and after. ...

Oh man. Imagine this guy. Do you remember Daniel Powter? Name sound famiiar? He's a Canadian. (sorry) He calls Vernon, British Columbia home. He had a huge hit record in 2006. He made the rounds of all the talk shows performing his song. It was used to bid adieu to departing American Idol contestants. And that golden yardstick of success known as Alvin and the Chipmunks performed his song in their movie. You know what it was called? "Bad Day" . Yep, and now like a self-fulfilling prophecy Daniel Powter's having a bad day. Turns out, Billboard has named Powter as their one hit wonder...of the decade. Yeah. Not of the year. Of the freakin' decade! What a downer. Well he only has himself to blame. Take a look at the song's chorus: Because you had a bad day You're taking one down You sing a sad song just to turn it around You say you don't know You tell me don't lie You work at a smile and you go for a ride You had a bad day The camera don...

One of the funniest bloggers in all of blogdom has got to be Quirky Loon . She writes about zombies and other meaningful musings and sometimes she and I trade obscure rock and roll lyrics. Late last week she did a hilarious take off on Ice Ice Baby called Zom - bie Baby. I figured the best way to let her know what I thought of it was to return the favour. So, with apologies to Rick James, here's my homage to Super Quirk ... Super Quirk She's a very Quirky girl And a very funny blogger She will never let your spirits down Once she comments on your blog, ow girl She likes the boys on the blogs She says that I'm her all-time favorite When I make my move to her blog it's the right time She's always friggin ' funny That girl is pretty wild now The girl's a super Quirk The kind of girl you you read about On Musing's blogazine That girl is pretty Quirky The girl's a super Quirk I really love to read her Every zombie tale She's alright, she's ...

Here's a story to take our minds off the 24-7 media preoccupation with all things Michael Jackson and it has all the elements of wackiness necessary to hold our attention. No it's not the weird story of the brief thief I shared with you last week. And no, it's not about the last day in office of Sarah Palin - yes, she's wacky but I suspect her best, or worst depending on your perspective, is yet to come thus adding immeasurably to Tina Fey's popularity and income. No, the story I'm talking about was found in the New York Post and it reports on Charles Manson's Overture to Phil Spector . Spector, the famous music producer known for his so-called "wall of sound" approach to recording was recently transferred to Corcoran State Prison in central California, where Manson -- who masterminded the savage Tate/LaBianca killings 40 years ago -- is housed in a separate wing. Manson , who had a mad on for getting into the music business in the mid-60s before ...

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...

Garage rockin' one-hit wonders Music Explosion issued a great song in 1967 and quickly faded from sight. While, branded one of the early bubblegum musical groups, A Little Bit O' Soul was a catchy tune that hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Music Explosion a gold record. Highlights of this lip-synced performance include the drum-kit and the invisible organist... Note to readers/listeners This is the last 60s music post on nonamedufus . Tomorrow will be the final 70s post. But don't fear, I've created a music blog, accessible from the sidebar on this page called dufusdownbeat where I've moved all the musical content to. dufusdownbeat is where you'll find my 60s and 70s weekly features as well as articles and clips from artists celebrating birthdays and other milestones and links to interesting music sites. While humour and music remain my passions, I've merely decided to hive one off from the other and make each blog cleaner and more focused. I...

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...

"Cue the Tape" With those words Mama Cass broke the not-so best kept secret of the 60s. Most musical groups lip-synced their performances on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Mamas and the Papas certainly lip-synced this performance of Creeque Alley. Nevertheless it's a great performance of the group's 1967 #5 autobiographical hit. Thinking back to 67, a certain 15 year-old boy was totally smitten with Michelle Phillips. Oh, and the music wasn't bad either.

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.

I've been singing the refrain to this week's 60s tune all week, so I figured why not feature it. A famous example of the Phil Spector "wall of sound" Da Doo Ron Ron by The Crystals was a 1963 smash hit, reaching #3 on Billbaord's hot 100. The song's been covered by everyone from The Carpenter's to Bob Dylan and a version by teen heart-throb Shaun Cassidy hit #1 in 1977 (hey, there's just no explaining some things). The Crystals , a defining example of the "girl group" movement in popular music, have a fascinating history which includes Spector-produced hits in the early 60s featuring different lead singers. Da Do Ron Ron features Dolores "LaLa" Brooks . A close listen (or look) at the lyrics makes you realize "Da Doo Ron Ron" could well be a euphamism much like Sienfeld's "yadda-yadda-yadda"! I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still Da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron Somebody told me that his name was ...

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...

Well, it's Friday folks. Time for a walk down musical memory lane. In the 60s a musical genre emerged almost as insipid as it's successor - disco. The popularity of Bubblegum Pop ran from 1967 to 1972. And no group better epitomized this style (and I use the word advisedly) of music as The Ohio Express . Sit back and enjoy this 1968 performance in all it's lip-synched glory...

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...

Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien had a hell of a voice. She was a 60s singing sensation, a British bombshell and she went by the name of Dusty Springfield - and I loved her. When Elton John inducted her into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, just 10 days after her death, he said, "I think she is the greatest white singer that there ever has been." I'm inclined to agree.

Today a look at two very funny movies in the "musical mockumentary" genre - if such a genre exists! This Is Spinal Tap was a 1984 "mockumentary" chronicling the musical adventures of the fictitious heavy metal band Spinal Tap. The movie, co-written and directed by Rob Reiner who also played the part of film maker/director Marti DiBergi a parody of Martin Scorcese, was hilarious. The film starred and was co-written by Michael McKean, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer. Here's a hilarious send-up of a heavy metal tune called Big Bottom where, on one level the meaning is very clear and on a more subtle level the "bottom" is underlined by the fact the main band members all play bass guitars, including the bass player who playes a double base! McKean, Guest and Shearer reunited in 2003's A Mighty Wind another mockumentary, this time around about folk music. This film was co-written and directed by Guest and starred many of the actors who had sta...