Not sure if the pups have a problem with Moz’s latest material, his increasingly Batty Old Uncle utterances, or his preference for cats but it all still makes for a sweet snap.
Month: October 2017
Lou Donaldson, Midnight Creeper
I try to teach my son that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover.
The problem is, of course, is that sometimes you can. Take Lou Donaldson’s Midnight Creeper, for instance. I didn’t know Lou Donaldson from Lou Grant when I first picked this album up on CD but just take a quick look at that cover…you know this is going to be a tasty release. I now have a number of Donaldson’s Blue Note LP’s in my collection and I recently scooped up a mint vinyl copy of Midnight Creeper at a can’t-pass-up price.
Canine Covers: Pat Connell, School Book For Dogs
I got nothing to say about this one other than “Sign me up for that class!”
Giorgio Moroder, Cat People
Its funny how certain things can go from cool to corny to cool again.
Take Giorgio Moroder, who would still be a revolutionary figure in music if all he ever did was mastermind Donna Summer’s brilliant “I Feel Love.”
Moroder was on top during the Disco and New wave years, with a look that was as much a cartoon riff on that era’s Continental Europe esthetic as his throbbing synth sound was. The Italian composer went from Euro-disco titan to Pop Lord to award-winning film composer. Then… just as the ’90s came into view every single thing about Giorgio Moroder was painfully passé, a hangover from another, more embarrassing time.
But right around the time that alt-country was making a last gasp effort for (pseudo??) authenticity in rock, people slowly started getting back into synths. Today, the kids are crazy for them, finding the old stuff, creating new stuff that sounds like the old stuff, and digging the endlessly hilarious Live at the Necropolis: Lords of Synth short film which illustrates the epic power of Moroder, Vangelis, and Wendy Carlos better than a real documentary could. Seriously, this video is one of the greatest things EVER.
If that alone doesn’t make Giorgio Moroder’s Cat People score the coolest thing around then an able assist from David Bowie helps push it over the the top.
Rock Star Dogs: Keith Richards
For our first Rock Star Dogs we are going with Keith Richards hanging out with his pup Ratbag in London’s Hyde Park on or around Banner Pop Music Year 1966.
Some crazed, misguided fan gave Richards a puppy on a Rolling Stones tour of The States in 1965. To Keith’s eternal credit he was instantly smitten, snuck the puppy through the virulently anti-canine U.K. customs, and made the brilliantly named Ratbag perhaps the only sane part of his inadvisable lifestyle.
Robert Palmer, Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley
There has been a nice uptick in dog/record photo submissions in the past couple of weeks. We still have a bunch cooling on ice so if you don’t see your own pooch up here in lights please be patient as it will go up one of these days/weeks. In case you are new to the NVP scene:
If you have a pup, a favorite record, and a camera-phone, just snap a photo and send it in to nicksvinylpicks@gmail.com. I will publish the photo and review the album. Everybody wins! Find out more here.
This submission, sent in by Nick Tangborn, is why we do this, people!!!
The record in question is Robert Palmer’s Sneakin’ Sally Through The Alley, a personal favorite.
Canine Covers: Johnny Cash, American Recordings
Here at Nick’s Vinyl Picks I photograph my pup with beloved records and publish guest pups with other people’s dogs nestled with their favorite slices of hot wax.
But, there is an entire world of great records that already come with dogs on them.
American Recordings, Johnny Cash’s brilliant 1994 comeback album recast him as an Americana outlaw on a different spiritual and philosophical plane then his Nashville peers. The next record in the series would feature Johnny backed by a simpatico Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Its a truly great album too but it doesn’t feature any (oddly, likeable) hell hounds on it’s front cover.
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