I'm heading out on vacation until July 14 -- I may blog on the road, but I may not. I'm travelling with my wife to coastal British Columbia by way of Revelstoke, Kamloops, and Whistler. I've posted a lot of photos below to hold everyone over.
Last night, there was a large male Whitetail Deer leaping around the low rock wall surrounding the popular Conrad Mansion. It looks like a pair of Ravens are nesting in a tall tree on the edge of the bluff across the street from that same mansion.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from NYC, New York; Kaysville, Utah; Edmonton, Alberta; Mesa, Arizona; Coquitlam, British Columbia; Boston, Massachusetts; Sestri Levante, Italy; Detroit, Michigan; Sharon, Wisconsin; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Reading, Pennsylvania; Flowood, Mississippi and San Marcos, Texas.

ROCK against Reaganomics at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's first illustrator of the 21st, for his recommendations -- HERE!

Charity Alert: Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art's has Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, formally starts TONIGHT! The whole Hockaday staff have been bustin' their tails to make this one of our best shows EVER!
There is another party tonight at the McDonald Lodge in the Park itself substituting for their formal commemoration at Logan Pass, which is still buried under many feet of snow. The Continuing Education Dept. at FVCC has a presenter going around the region speaking about Going-To-The-Sun Road with multi-media material co-created my yours truly.

Click to see a larger image
Where's Mama? by Mark Ogle -- a new acquisition at the Hockaday Museum.
Check out Fall for Glacier -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Photos from The Road:

West Montana -- green hills blending into the black moonscape of an old Anaconda smelter site.

West Montana -- Copper Village Museum, in downtown Anaconda with Nancy Cawdrey's American Silk Road neatly loaded and ready to travel!

East Montana, on the North Dakota border -- The Mon Dak Art Museum in Sydney, with Nancy's paintings all unloaded, 24 hours later. Ready to roll back westward!

Almost home in West Montana -- a ruefully humorous sign in Swan River Valley. The weather was warm and beautiful, with every inch of ground along the way green and growing from the persistent moisture this Spring.

Theater/Theatre: Footsbarn Theatre checks in!

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Footsbarn Theatre's Shakespeare Party at the Globe Theatre in London, May, 2008

Regular blog visitor Eavan Brennan -- on tour with Footsbarn, working backstage.

What are those wild & crazee Bindlestiffs doing?
Circus Skills Summer Camp in Hudson, NY
July 28-August 1, 2008 At Time and Space Limited, 434 Columbia Street in Hudson
Summer camp will run 10 am to 1 pm daily Tuition: $200 Register with Maija Reed by calling 518-822-8448 Tuesday thru Friday or email: maija@timeandspace.org
Time and Space Limited and The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus are pleased to partner on our second Circus Skills Workshop for youth! Your child will explore a multitude of magnificent Circus Skills including: 3 object Juggling with balls, scarves, rings and clubs; Funambulistic follies with stilts, rolling globe, rolla bolla and low tightwire; exciting Equilibristics with feather and cane balancing; Manipulative Miscellanea with diabolo, devil sticks, poi and hat tricks; astounding Acrobatics with partner assisted poses and group pyramids.
Recommended for ages 8 and up (may be 7 if child has prior Circus or gymnastic experience) Sign up now, enrollment is limited to 24 participants!

One Day Introductory to Circus Arts Workshop
July 22, 2008, Tuesday At the Hudson Opera House 327 Warren Street, Hudson, NY
One Day Introductory Class: Bindlestiff Family Cirkus co-founder Stephanie Monseu offers a FREE introductory workshop for youth in basic juggling and other fun Circus Skills. This is a perfect program to get a taste of what we will be offering at the summer camp.
Sessions are as follows: youth ages 8-12 from 10 am - 11:30 youth ages 13-18 from 1pm - 2:30pm Register with Joe Herwick at 518-822-1438 or email joe@hudsonoperahouse.org



Bindlestiff Family Cirkus returns to the Spiegeltent --
August 15 - 17, 2008 At the Spiegeltent (in conjunction with the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Bard College, Annandale-on-the Hudson, NY -- As part of the 2008 Summerscape, Bindlestiff Famiy Cirkus returns to the magnificent Spiegeltent to present two types of performances:
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Evening Cabaret Performances
Bindlestiff presents a louche Cabaret informed by passionate embraces, a hair's breadth, silken acrobatics, unequivocal equipoise, sophisticated manipulation and physical poetry. Our galaxy of luminaries includes Ariele Ebacher, Adam Kuchler, Ringmistress Philomena and Mr. Pennygaff... with special guest stars, including a visit from the dark horse Presidential Candidate. August 15 and 16 at 8:30 pm (rated PG13), $25
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus Family Fare
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus presents a frolicsome folly for families and children of all ages... join your Ringmistress Philomena in the marvelous spiegelent and witness the balletic beauty of Miss Ariele as she dances upon the tightwire... marvel at the dazzling dexterity of Adam Kuchler and his Cigar Box manipulations... guffaw a Kinko's sadsack misadventures...gasp at Mr. Pennygaff swallows blades of steel... and shimmy in your seats to toe tapping Live circus tunes. August 16 at 3:30 pm (rated G), $15 ($5 children) August 17 at 1 and 3:30 pm (rated G), $15 ($5 children)
For more details and tickets: http://www. bard. edu/pac/summerscape/

Upcoming Bindlestiff Events
* Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at Peekskill Celeberation, Peekskill, NY 8/2/08
* Bindlestiff Family Cirkus at Snug Harbor, Staten Island, NY 8/3/08
* Bindlestiffs at Virgin Fest, Baltimore, MD 8/9-10/08
* Bindllestiff Family Cirksu on Hudson Waterfront, Hudson, NY 8/24/08
* Bindlestiff Family Cirkus' "Kinko for President Campaign" show on tour Sept. 08
* Next Cavalcade of Youth Programs in NYC are 9/28/08 and 11/16/08

Bindlestiff Web Site has a new look!
If you have not visited the web site in the last month, please do.
Many updates still coming, but to get your taste of Bindle, stop by http://www. bindlestiff. org.

Kinko the Clown wins "Clown of the Year Award

Kinko the clown is Clown of the Year!
On May 19th at an all star event, New York Downtown Clown presented Kinko the Clown the top honor at the ONLY Clown Awards Show in North America- The New York Downtown Clown Golden Nose Awards -- Visit http://www. newyorkdowntownclown. com/awards. htm for more information

Visit Kinko For President Dot Com -- The Campaign is in full swing. See news releases, Kinko's platform, schedule updates, contests, and see how you can join the campaign at http://www. kinkoforpresident. com



Electoral Madness: John McCain 's chief lobbyist invites terrorist attacks on our country, while Congress, including Barack Obama, CAVE to Bu$hCo on the un-needed, un-wanted, and un-ethical TelCo Amnesty Bill.

Insights into THE CAVE --
Ya' sold it all that cheap, huh?

A little rain last night here in NW Montana. Skunks and Raccoons at Dry Bridge Slough.

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Helena, Montana; Manorville, New York; Ancona, Italy; Hong Kong, China; Jamaica, New York; Wallingford, Connecticut; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Cartersville, Georgia; Los Angeles, California; Zevenaar, Holland; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Smithville, Ontario; Grays, Thurrock U.K; Bothell, Washington; Tempe, Arizona; Dublin, Ireland; City of London, U.K; Mesquite, Nevada and Toronto, Canada.

ROCK against Reaganomics at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's first illustrator of the 21st, for his recommendations -- HERE!

Charity Alert: Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day.

Ch-ch-ch CHANGES: Amerika lost one of its truest voices when George Carlin died at 71 a few days ago.


I remember when his routine Wonderful WINO was played on AM radio in the mid-60's, even though he poked fun at those selfsame commercial radio stations. I first heard Seven Dirty Words while I was a media volunteer at my old high school in 1973 -- it was played by a student for his fellow students! The Supreme Court upheld the FCC's ban of that cut a few years later:
From George Carlin dot Com

The following is a verbatim transcript of "Filthy Words" prepared by the Federal Communications Commission:
Aruba-du, ruba-tu, ruba-tu. I was thinking about the curse words and the swear words, the cuss words and the words that you can't say, that you're not supposed to say all the time, [']cause words or people into words want to hear your words. Some guys like to record your words and sell them back to you if they can, (laughter) listen in on the telephone, write down what words you say. A guy who used to be in Washington, knew that his phone was tapped, used to answer, Fuck Hoover, yes, go ahead. (laughter) Okay, I was thinking one night about the words you couldn't say on the public, ah, airwaves, um, the ones you definitely wouldn't say, ever, [']cause I heard a lady say bitch one night on television, and it was cool like she was talking about, you know, ah, well, the bitch is the first one to notice that in the litter Johnie right (murmur) Right. And, uh, bastard you can say, and hell and damn so I have to figure out which ones you couldn't and ever and it came down to seven but the list is open to amendment, and in fact, has been changed, uh, by now, ha, a lot of people pointed things out to me, and I noticed some myself. The original seven words were, shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. Those are the ones that will curve your spine, grow hair on your hands and (laughter) maybe, even bring us, God help us, peace without honor (laughter) um, and a bourbon. (laughter) And now the first thing that we noticed was that word fuck was really repeated in there because the word motherfucker is a compound word and it's another form of the word fuck. (laughter) You want to be a purist it doesn't really--it can't be on the list of basic words. Also, cocksucker is a compound word and neither half of that is really dirty. The word--the half sucker that's merely suggestive (laughter) and the word cock is a half-way dirty word, 50% dirty--dirty half the time, depending on what you mean by it. (laughter) Uh, remember when you first heard it, like in 6th grade, you used to giggle. And the cock crowed three times, heh (laughter) the cock--three times. It's in the Bible, cock in the Bible. (laughter) And the first time you heard about a cock-fight, remember--What? Huh? naw. It ain't that, are you stupid? man. (laughter, clapping) It's chickens, you know, (laughter) Then you have the four letter words from the old Angle-Saxon fame. Uh, shit and fuck. The word shit, uh, is an interesting kind of word in that the middle class has never really accepted it and approved it. They use it like, crazy but it's not really okay. It's still a rude, dirty, old kind of gushy word. (laughter) They don't like that, but they say it, like, they say it like, a lady now in a middle-class home, you'll hear most of the time she says it as an expletive, you know, it's out of her mouth before she knows. She says, Oh shit oh shit, (laughter) oh shit. If she drops something, Oh, the shit hurt the broccoli. Shit. Thank you. (footsteps fading away) (papers ruffling)


Read it! (from audience)
Shit! (laughter) I won the Grammy, man, for the comedy album. Isn't that groovy? (clapping, whistling) (murmur) That's true. Thank you. Thank you man. Yeah. (murmer) (continuous clapping) Thank you man. Thank you. Thank you very much, man. Thank, no, (end of continuous clapping) for that and for the Grammy, man, [']cause (laughter) that's based on people liking it man, yeh, that's ah, that's okay man. (laughter) Let's let that go, man. I got my Grammy. I can let my hair hang down now, shit. (laughter) Ha! So! Now the word shit is okay for the man. At work you can say it like crazy. Mostly figuratively, Get that shit out of here, will ya? I don't want to see that shit anymore. I can't cut that shit, buddy. I've had that shit up to here. I think you're full of shit myself. (laughter) He don't know shit from Shinola. (laughter) you know that? (laughter) Always wondered how the Shinola people felt about that (laughter) Hi, I'm the new man from Shinola, (laughter) Hi, how are ya? Nice to see ya. (laughter) How are ya? (laughter) Boy, I don't know whether to shit or wind my watch. (laughter) Guess, I'll shit on my watch. (laughter) Oh, the shit is going to hit de fan. (laughter). Built like a brick shit-house. (laughter) Up, he's up shit's creek. (laughter) He's had it. (laughter) He hit me, I'm sorry. (laughter) Hot shit, holy shit, tough shit, eat shit. (laughter) shit-eating grin. Uh, whoever thought of that was ill. (murmur laughter) He had a shit - eating grin! He had a what? (laughter) Shit on a stick. (laughter) Shit in a handbag. I always like that. He ain't worth shit in a handbag. (laughter) Shitty. He acted real shitty. (laughter) You know what I mean? (laughter) I got the money back, but a real shitty attitude. Heh, he had a shit-fit. (laughter) Wow! Shit-fit. Whew! Glad I wasn't there. (murmur, laughter) All the animals--Bull shit, horseshit, cow shit, rat shit, bat shit. (laughter) First time I heard bat shit, I really came apart. A guy in Oklahoma, Boggs, said it, man. Aw! Bat shit. (laughter) Vera reminded me of that last night, ah (murmur). Snake shit, slicker than owl shit. (laughter) Get your shit together. Shit or get off the pot. (laughter) I got a shit - load full of them. (laughter) I got a shit-pot full, all right. Shit-head, shit-heel, shit in your heart, shit for brains, (laughter) shit-face, heh (laughter) I always try to think how that could have originated; the first guy that said that. Somebody got drunk and fell in some shit, you know. (laughter) Hey, I'm shit-face. (laughter) Shit-face, today. (laughter) Anyway, enough of that shit. (laughter) The big one, the word fuck that's the one that hangs them up the most. [']Cause in a lot of cases that's the very act that hangs them up the most. So, it's natural that the word would, uh, have the same effect. It's a great word, fuck, nice word, easy word, cute word, kind of. Easy word to say. One syllable, short u. (laughter) Fuck. (Murmur) You know, it's easy. Starts with a nice soft sound fuh ends with akuh. Right? (laughter) A little something for everyone. Fuck (laughter) Good word. Kind of a proud word, too. Who are you? I am FUCK, (laughter) FUCK OF THE MOUNTAIN. (laughter) Tune in again next week to FUCK OF THE MOUNTAIN. (laughter) It's an interesting word too, [']cause it's got a double kind of a life--personality--dual, you know, whatever the right phrase is. It leads a double life, the word fuck. First of all, it means, sometimes, most of the time, fuck. What does it mean? It means to make love. Right? We're going to make love, yeh, we're going to fuck, yeh, we're going to fuck, yeh, we're going to make love. (laughter) we're really going to fuck, yeh, we're going to make love. Right? And it also means the beginning of life, it's the act that begins life, so there's the word hanging around with words like love, and life, and yet on the other hand, it's also a word that we really use to hurt each other with, man. It's a heavy. It's one that you have toward the end of the argument. (laughter) Right? (laughter) You finally can't make out. Oh, fuck you man. I said, fuck you. (laughter, murmur) Stupid fuck. (laughter) Fuck you and everybody that looks like you. (laughter) man. It would be nice to change the movies that we already have and substitute the word fuck for the word kill, wherever we could, and some of those movie cliches would change a little bit. Madfuckers still on the loose. Stop me before I fuck again. Fuck the ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump, fuck the ump. Easy on the clutch Bill, you'll fuck that engine again. (laughter) The other shit one was, I don't give a shit. Like it's worth something, you know? (laughter) I don't give a shit. Hey, well, I don't take no shit, (laughter) you know what I mean? You know why I don't take no shit? (laughter) [']Cause I don't give a shit. (laughter) If I give a shit, I would have to pack shit. (laughter) But I don't pack no shit cause I don't give a shit. (laughter) You wouldn't shit me, would you? (laughter) That's a joke when you're a kid with a worm looking out the bird's ass. You wouldn't shit me, would you? (laughter) It's an eight-year-old joke but a good one. (laughter) The additions to the list. I found three more words that had to be put on the list of words you could never say on television, and they were fart, turd and twat, those three. (laughter) Fart, we talked about, it's harmless. It's like tits, it's a cutie word, no problem. Turd, you can't say but who wants to, you know? (laughter) The subject never comes up on the panel so I'm not worried about that one. Now the word twat is an interesting word. Twat! Yeh, right in the twat. (laughter) Twat is an interesting word because it's the only one I know of, the only slang word applying to the, a part of the sexual anatomy that doesn't have another meaning to it. Like, ah, snatch, box and pussy all have other meanings, man. Even in a Walt Disney movie, you can say, We're going to snatch that pussy and put him in a box and bring him on the airplane. (murmer, laughter) Everybody loves it. The twat stands alone, man, as it should. And two-way words. Ah, ass is okay providing you're riding into town on a religious feast day. (laughter) You can't say, up your ass. (laughter) You can say, stuff it! (murmur) There are certain things you can say its weird but you can just come so close. Before I cut, I, uh, want to, ah, thank you for listening to my words, man, fellow, uh space travelers. Thank you man for tonight and thank you also.
(clapping whistling)

A number of smug, mean-spirited postings on the Internet were purported to be written by Carlin, but they are ALL fake. Carlin could be cynical, and even wrong, but he was never deliberately smug or mean-spirited. From his site:

DON'T BLAME ME
Floating around the Internet these days, posted and e-mailed back and forth, are a number of writings attributed to me, and I want people to know they're not mine. Don't blame me.
Some are essay-length, some are just short lists of one and two-line jokes, but if they're flyin' around the Internet, they're probably not mine. Occasionally, a couple of jokes on a long list might have come from me, but not often. And because most of this stuff is really lame, it's embarrassing to see my name on it.
And that's the problem. I want people to know that I take care with my writing, and try to keep my standards high. But most of this "humor" on the Internet is just plain stupid. I guess hard-core fans who follow my stuff closely would be able to spot the fake stuff, because the tone of voice is so different. But a casual fan has no way of knowing, and it bothers me that some people might believe I'd actually be capable of writing some of this stuff.

"Nothing you see on the Internet is mine unless it came from one of my albums, books, HBO shows, or appeared on my website."

R.I.P Mr. Carlin

I'm back -- the weather was great the whole time, but the drives were long every day, and I chose to SLEEP rather than BLOG when I got to the motel! (More below)

Sitemeter Sez: Visitors from Mississauga, Ontario; Springfield, Virginia; ?? United Kingdom; Metz, France (Where my friend Jack Kirby fought in WWII); Amherst, Massachusetts (No, Emily Dickinson has been dead for over a hundred years); ?? Italy; City of London, UK; Greeley, Colorado; Tulsa, Oklahoma; NYC, New York; Lake Alfred, Florida; Cambridge, Canada; San Jose, Costa Rica; Winsford, UK; Baltimore, Maryland; Fresh Meadows, New York; Louth, Ireland (Hearts and Flowers to 'ya, Eavan!); Rochester, New York; Maynard, Massachusetts; San Diego, California (Hollah, Justin!); Lod, Israel, and Atlanta, Georgia

ROCK against Reaganomics at: Theater X-Net

Starring: Ida Rubinstein Belle Epoch Russian/Parisian beauty.
Ida's Places in Paris -- from my first jet-lagged day by the Seine.
Read more about Ida in Sisters of Salome by Toni Bentley

Visit: Michael's Montana Web Archive
Theater, Art, Flash Gordon, Funky Music and MORE!
NEW --Launching NOW! Outre Space Cinema -- Featuring: 1930's Rocketry, Spitfires of the Spaceways and Cellulose to Celluloid, Flash Gordon in the Saturday Matinees and Sunday Comics.





Many thanks to Jim Keefe (Visit his Website) -- the LAST Flash Gordon illustrator of the 20th Century, and Flash's first illustrator of the 21st, for his recommendations -- HERE!

Charity Alert: Check into Terra Sigilata blog -- donate $$$ to cancer patients just by clicking onto the site. Keep that Resolution to click on The Hunger Site every day.

In The Community: The Hockaday Museum of Art has Rails, Trails, and A Road -- honoring the 75th Anniversary of Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park, almost ready to -- er, ROLL.
I took Nancy Cawdrey's American Silk Road exhibit from the Copper Village Museum and Arts Center in Anaconda to the MonDak Heritage Center in Sidney, Montana over the weekend. On the way, I also delivered a small, but valuable, item to the Yellowstone Art Museum in Billings for their upcoming Gifts to Montana: The Legacy of Miriam Sample from July 3 to October 15, 2008. Thanks to Carol, Jeff, and Leanne for all their help.


Check out Fall for Glacier -- a fundraiser for several programs that make Glacier National Park even better!

Media Watch: Right now -- Mahler's 9th Symphony on the New York Philharmonic's FM broadcast, and Yoko Ono's 100 Acorns kept it's eyes on the skies while I was gone. (See my list of "Friendly Sites") The former was a favorite of the late Maestro Maurice Abravanel when he conducted the Utah Symphony in my original hometown.
I will describe my travels later, but for now I am going to summarize my thoughts about all that satellite radio I heard while driving the last 72 hours. First of all, it kept me awake and alert. Second, I couldn't get a sense of everything the service presented without risking too much distraction -- high-speed driving is actually a very hazardous activity, and requires concentration. I gave the Jam Band channel a try, but there was music that suited my task better elsewhere. The kitschy All-Elvis channel is still there, and my joke about a Rat Pack station has unfortunately turned into reality.


Early in the day, when I felt charged-up and energetic, I tended to tune-in to Jazz, Blues, and Reggae. Jazz bandleader James Burton, and Bruce Lundvall, current president of Blue Note Records hosted my favorite Jazz blocs -- playing extened pieces by Thelonious Monk, Charlie Mingus, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, and other hard-hitting or leading-edge composer/players. Ellington/Strayhorn's Take the A-Train was welcome -- it once introduced a famous syndicated Jazz program I used to hear as a youth. The piece itself is mighty on its own, and has been around since my parents were little kids.
Reggae's heartbeat bass and rhythm still move me, but I found myself turning the dial back to an earlier musical love of mine -- THE BLUES! Distinctive voices and loud guitars predominated in every bloc of time, but that's what I stuck around to hear. One or two segments had hosts, but most of the time I was treated to segues of new and timeless songs, performed for the old and young, by the young and old. White and black artists make this music, and Blues exist in Jazz, Folk, Gospel, Country and Rock, as well as their own genre.

Nina Blackwood and Martha Quinn were two of MTV's first five VJs. They are both professional announcers, but have very contrasting personalities and backgrounds.
For awhile I bounced between Channel 6 (Sixties), Channel 7 (Seventies), and Channel 8 (Eighties). Pioneering MTV personalities Martha Quinn and Nina Blackwood have packaged shows on Channel 8. I enjoyed 80's New Wave when it was fresh and new, but I thought that other genres declined in creativity (overall) during that decade. Channel 7 played a lot of Funk, more than the Soul channels higher on the dial, but I tuned out when I started hearing those over-played standards from Styx and Kansas (et al) that calcified FM radio, and contributed to a near-fatal collapse of a music industry that had out-performed movies for a number of years.
Channel 5 was a lot more Fifties-oriented than it was during my last encounter with Satellite Radio. They tend to stick with Rock & Roll, which is fine with me, but I grew up in those times, and remember that there was a lot more competing music coming out of Radio and TV in that decade. One thing EVERYBODY wanted in the 50's was original vocal stylists, with onomonopoeic vocal groups backing them. Although there were some major instrumental successes, they were exceptions that emphasized the rule: Sleepwalk by Johnny & Santo; Honky Tonk by Bill Doggett; Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and Rebel Rouser by Duane Eddy. Another example, Tequila by The Champs, featured Hal Blaine and his Los Angeles 'Wrecking Crew,' which would dominate popular music in the next decade.

Women of the 50's
TV personality Dagmar (L) and cult star Jayne Mansfield (R)
I only heard a few instrumentals on Channel 6, and almost none on Channel 5, but the latter played a lot of obscure vocal groups.
On my LONG second day (I drove for a full 16 hours) I found myself alternating between the 50's and the 60's as I drove back towards my hotel into the setting sun -- I think the loud beats, short, punchy songs, and brash dynamics kept my attention.
There was a character calling himself "Cousin Brucie" (C.B.) who did a retro-styled DJ show featuring 50's, 60's, and 70's tunes on Channel 6 -- he was loud and self-promoting, dropping famous names, reading requests, with drums and guitar noise thundering behind his announcements for almost two minutes, between records which lasted little more than two minutes themselves.
He introduced his program with a song called The Cousin Brucie Show, sung by the Four Seasons, which might have cost him some serious money -- it's real Pop Corn, but works as this guy's theme.



I remember when Pop/Rock took a progressive turn around 1965 -- the record-buying public discovered Bob Dylan, while the excellent English music scene kept dominating Top Forty radio in the wake of The Beatles. Motown and James Brown also broke out of the R&B ghetto with big-sounding singles. The Four Seasons had been making hits for a couple of years, and put out the well-crafted 45RPM called Girl Come Running, which didn't do as well as it deserved. A studio group calling themselves The Newbeats had a hit with the somewhat lewd Bread and Butter a few months earlier, which mimiced the Four Seasons' sound, or at least made fun of it. During August of '65, Dylan wrote 17 of the Top 100 songs on the charts -- one of them was Don't Think Twice (It's Alright) by The Wonder Who. It WAS a novelty version of what had become a Folk standard. In fact, it sounded like The Newbeats again, only it was the Four Seasons, making fun of themselves. The Cousin Brucie song comes out of this particular mold.
The Four Seasons immediately followed-up that self-parody with the superb Let's Hang On, and Working My Way Back To You, staying firmly in the charts until 1968, and coming back during the 70's. As Dick Clark mused on American Bandstand in 1967: "What an string of unbroken hits they've had!" I'm sure he meant to say those words in another order, but that's what he said!

1950's icon Mamie Van Doren, who became notorious playing the kind of "Girl Next Door" who drove everybody CRAY-ZEE!
Having mentioned all that stuff, I had time to muse between Channels 5 and 6 about how Rock & Roll, as vocal music, tied in with other popular forms. There were certain styles which were imitated widely -- The Modernaires and Four Freshman come to mind. There was also the sound of The Ink Spots, with their percussive bass singer, sonorous ooo's and ah's, and plaintive leads 'way up high -- this style was adopted in barbershops all over America, especially in black communities, and was later called Doo Wop. Gospel was the foundation for Nashville's Anita Kerr Singers and Billy Ward & The Dominos, featuring first Sam Cook and then Jackie Wilson. Mitch Miller at CBS had a stable of vocalists who backed up his stars.
As Rock got more slick and formulized over time, there were gains in sophistication, but losses in originality. I noticed how the idiosyncratic vibes of various male and female vocal groups energized jaded studio bands -- Phil Spector's recruitment of enthusiastic kids like the Ronettes and Crystals set even higher standards for excellent professional singers like Darlene Love. His compatriot "Shadow" Morton created a sonic niche with the Shangri-Las from a high school in Queens, New York. Unique talents like The Dells or The Jive Five were never outdone by even the best British vocal groups like The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Hollies, or The Fortunes.

The VERY theatrical Shangri-Las circa 1966. (L to R) Betty Weiss, Marge & Mary Ann Ganser, and lead singer Mary Weiss.
DJ Cousin Brucie might be cloying, but he's aware of the interactions within the cultural crucibles which forged Pop and Rock. He played examples of East Coast Beach Music -- an uptempo form of R&B which involved black and white singers, like Doo Wop had done. Patsy Cline beautifully expressive voice crossed over into all genres. C.B. warned us ahead of time, and then played the McGuire Sisters' Sugar In The Morning -- THAT was big-time music in the 50's. Back then, Rock & Roll was treated like a disease, and Tin Pan Alley almost succeeded in eradicating it by inoculating Amerika's youth with broken-voiced ear candy by actors like Annette and Fabian. They co-opted talents like Ricky Nelson, or Paul Anka to try and maintain their old monopoly from the 30's and 40's, but there were too many Baby Boomers who wanted to ROCK, and bought records, unlike their parents. C.B. played Percy Faith's Theme From A Summer Place as he was finishing his show -- the Number 1 record of 1960, which reminded me how close our generation came to losing its musical identity. Although Berry Gordy, Phil Spector, Doc Pomus, and Brian Wilson helped keep Rock alive, it took the success of The Beatles to restore it to full strength!

Electoral Madness: A bad week in politics. Barak Obama draws scorn from Corporate Media suck-ups while John McCain violates the McCain/Feingold Act. Reid and Pelosi CAVE so much to Bu$hCo, they could be Batman and Batwoman.
Support our troops -- bring them home!