Say "Goodnight" Dick !

Passing away today the iconic Dick Clark ... 82 years old.. ah well .... it was a good run.

Dick Clark passes away April 18, 2012

To be sure ... Dick was the man who made American Pop music the social phenomenon that it became.
American Bandstand was the vehicle for  this but Dick Clark was the driver and the talent ... I've never seen a better show host or MCee in any venue.

The show itself was never very good ... production values were barely adequate... lip synch performances laughable ... even insulting to performers and knowledgeable viewers.

But the the show quality was not the point .... it was the greatest marketing tool of the 20th century.
All they needed to do was attract enough viewers to pitch the products that ranged from the musicians to the pimple cream. Wrapped up in the excitement of  a first time ever (back in the 50s) opportunity to participate in a venue that made them so much a part of the happenings.... those viewer tuned in and bought in to the whole schtick.

The faces of pop celebrities right there in the living and rec rooms of the nation ... shiny faced kids dancing the latest (mostly not invented on the spot) moves and creating instant fads of fashion and taste. Powerful stuff.....

The power of TV realized and the largest and most easily manipulated demographic in history ... hungry and eager to lap it all up.

Well ... that was Dick's gift .... he was the guy with the special talent to see what was happening and make the most of it. Not that he was wrong at all to be doing it ... it was just that Dick was at the heart of that perfect storm. To be sure ... there were many other efforts to pull the same media magic .... but NONE of those other shows had Dick Clark.

Hats off to Dick .... he was really one of a kind.

OMMAG

R.I.P. Honey

Anne Francis ... one of my favorite actresses from the 60s

IMDB Bio

What a looker! Even though she was middle aged when I first noticed her ... that's a face that sticks with a guy.











On the same track a long time Brit character actor fell to the reaper today:

Pete Postlethwaite .......

A face you would always remember .... I can't recall the first time I saw his mug in a movie ... but that face sure did stick in the memory.

This guy was the quintessential character face ... a type ... the working class guy who brought a gritty sort of integrity into every character played.

The IMDB Record of Pete's Work

Peace to you as well Pete.

OMMAG

Remembering

To those of a revisionist bent who find the month of November to be ripe with opportunities to spin their warped perspectives....

As each year passes the connection to the terrible events of the 20th century becomes weaker and for many has already been lost. The number of those who put their lives on the line to defend our way of life is diminished and eventually there will remain none. Only those of us in succeeding generations will remain and this should not be taken as an excuse for failure to keep the facts and the reasons for these sacrifices alive and at the fore of our consciousness on at least this one day.

Having been divorced from the direct reality of two world wars and those numerous other events is no excuse for ignorance or willful disregard. Neither is hiding behind a facade of politically correct faux morality about the evil of war. Too bad if it makes you uncomfortable to think about such things. The very fact that you have the luxury of indulging in self gratifying and plainly selfish behaviours is in fact due to the sacrifices of people who went before you.
If you have no memory to sustain then educate yourself and learn to show some respect.


What I remember...

Mostly I remember the stern instructions from my parents prior to our walk to the memorial each November 11th morning. Be respectful they said. Show your friends and neighbours that you care about what they have lost and how they feel. Remember that many people gave up their own lives to ensure that you can stand here as a free person. Remember that you live in a country of hope and opportunity and that is so because of the sacrifice of others. Remember that by showing your public respect for the dignity and honour of those sacrifices that dignity and respect is reflected back on you.

I was not there in the horror of war. I did not experience the terror or the blood or the pain. I did not struggle in the filth and cold. But I do remember to respect that someone did.






















OMMAG

Another Friend Goes Down Hard

My friend of over 30 years Dan Achen has passed away.

Danny passed on Monday while playing hockey in Oakville. He apparently had a heart attack on the ice and the local paramedics were unable to revive him.

I first met him in May of 1977 when he was just out of high school in Regina and looking for a job. The construction company I was working for hired him and Danny came to work with us building the cable TV system. We hit it off right away and even though Dan was a real firecracker and could be a royal pain in the ass he was mostly a ton of fun to hang around with.

Dan was blessed with a great family a good head on his shoulders and wicked sense of humor. He was always enthusiastic about life and especially about the things he loved most.

We shared a common interest in music and motorcycles and Danny always had a good nose for a deal, wherever it might be found. The two of us were always buying and selling cars and trucks and bikes and usually ended up with the other's wheels at some point before they got traded off to some unsuspecting third party. We played pick up hockey on outdoor ice in Regina at 40 below... we hung out in the local clubs and we just had ball being young and single guys.

I helped Danny sort out the first real motorcycle he owned (little dirt bikes don't count). It was a blue 72 Norton Interstate with a soft engine and a ratty seat and paint. We got the thing running half decently and had a ball riding out to Fort Qu'Appelle just to tool around the curvy roads or often to hit parties around the lake. I ended up buying that lump from Danny a couple of years later and revived it with some new parts and paint. It was around that time that Danny bought the famous Suzuki GS1000-S. (Incorrectly remembered by Junkhouse Bandmate Tom Wilson as a Kawi Ninja)

In any case all those old rides we shared are now long gone and we both managed to survive them and ourselves.

The other main interest Danny and I shared was guitars. I remember the first electric he bought back in 77. It was a nice little Les Paul Junior that he found in a classified ad and bought for some ridiculous low dollar amount. I think it came with a clunky little Gibson amp that he should probably have kept.... but traded for a nice Fender Twin Reverb. As I recall ... both the Junior and the amps were subsequently traded for something else along the way, Danny being the young wheeler and dealer that he was.

At this time Danny was still pretty much learning how to play guitar and I didn't have much in the way of finger calluses either. I've still got the Mel Bay guitar method and Chet Atkins chord books books he gave me. There's a beat up Ibanez six string with the hummingbird motif that I've laid to rest from a terminal case of wood fatigue that warped the top into the shape of soup spoon and there is my prized custom Telecaster. I bought that guitar from him and the Toyota Corona his mom had given him .... then Danny used my money to help pay for that infamous Suzuki.

After 1980 when Danny headed out to Ontario and I relocated to Winnipeg we never saw much of each other. We got together a couple times in Ontario to head out to some of the old clubs. We got together a few times when Danny was on the road with the band and passing through Winnipeg.

In the years that I have know Dan Achen I have very few regrets. One of those regrets is that I never got to meet his wife and son. Another is that we never got a chance to play together again.
I regret that we never got together for a fast ride around the back roads of the Niagara Escarpment. I regret that my friend could not have had a long life.

Thanks for everything Danny ..... I'll treasure the Tele and the memory of our good times for as long as I live.

Your pal,

OMMAG

Never Forget

So long Soupy!

Pie in the Musharooni!

Lunch with Soupy ..... a highlight of my early school years .... Fondly Remembered.

God Speed Mr. Milton Supman!

An interesting thing .... my son seems to have inherited the same sense of humor.
And he's never even seen Soupy Sales.

OMMAG

Rock and Roll Heaven Just Got A Little Richer

Not that Les Paul was a rocker per se ......... but there is no one in the music business since 1950 or so that hasn't been affected by his genius.

Lover the genius of Les on the guitar and in the studio.

Farewell Les Paul:
Born June 9, 1915, in Waukesha, Wis. .............. gone to heaven aAugust 13, 2009.

Vaya Con Dios Sweet music.



OMMAG

BTW - This music was re-recorded to digital format from a record pressed in 1950.

Requiem for Cool Hand

The Long Hot Summer

Cat On a Hot Tin Roof

Exodus

The Hustler

Hud

Harper

Hombre

Cool Hand Luke

Slap Shot

Absence of Malice

The Verdict

A great actor with the ability to communicate drama without trying to be dramatic. Perhaps the best ever......... a great Car Guy ... a decent human being.

Goodbye to Paul Newman 1925 - 2008


OMMAG

Requiem - Bo Diddly!

Can't Judge a Book Baby ... By Lookin at the Cover!

A video from the past ... "Ho-Down" ....
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Check out the old vids at You Tube .....




Another ... " (Spot the Amy Winehouse lookalike)

Aztec .. played by Bo with a good photo montage !

OMMAG

Remembering!

November 11th 200? - Remember

What do you need to remember?
I have my list. It consists of my family and my friends. It also includes those faces and images from my past that mean tradition to me.
There are the images of the gatherings at our small town Cenotaph Memorial. The monument stood proudly on the main street of our town. It was built at the end of the first world war and was enscribed with the names of our own fallen neighbours. Set in middle of town the park that surrounded the memorial was treed with majestic elms and maples. There was a band stand in the middle of the park that provided shelter for musicians at summer brass concerts.

Mostly I remember the stern instructions from my parents prior to our walk to the memorial each November 11th morning. Be respectfull they said. Show your friends and neighbours that you care about what they have lost and how they feel. Remember that many people gave up their own lives to ensure that you can stand here as a free person. Remember that you live in a country of hope and opportunity and that is so because of the sacrifice of others. Remember that by showing your public respect for the diginity and honour of those sacrifices that diginity and respect is reflected back on you.

I was not there in the horror of war. I did not experience the terror or the blood or the pain. I did not struggle in the filth and cold. But I do remember to respect that someone did.

I hope you will stop today and remain silent and motionless with a thought of respect for these things.

OMMAG

The Wayback Machine - Last Year!

Set the controls to October 2006 Sherman!
Wayback Now!

Quote from Winston Churchill ....
"" ...How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.....""

Cheers!

OMMAG

Gut Shot !

Got the news on Saturday....








My lifelong friend .... taken by disease. After a lifetime of pain and struggle which began with a ruptured disk ... a sacrifice for a lousy factory job that did no more than provide some beer money... Led to botched operations .... which led to corrective operations .... which led to hepatitis infection .... which led to a shot liver ....which I'm sure led to the cancer ....

The KW Record Obituary

To some he was known as Jim ... to some "Big Hank" ... to some he was Moose ..... for a while Moose Bono .... the names we knew him by were reflections of our friendship and the times we shared discovering life and making ourselves known.

Always the one with humor and dignity .... the man with the large heart ... the gentle one of imposing physical stature ..... James Francis Fach ... My friend!

Goodbye

Peace Brother .... forever more.

OMMAG

Good-bye Fergy - You'll be Remembered Well !

Mark Fergusen ..... You have passed. You are missed.


You were a helpful friend that we would have liked to know better .... to go fishing with ... to share a drink .... a meal ... laugh! We had serious conversations, we joked a lot, we helped each other when we had the opportunity.

That must be enough although it should have lasted and grown it is now all that will be.

Except for these memories you left.

Thanks Mark, Good-bye


OMMAG

Anyone remember the Moonbats Howling About Bush Raising Oil Prices??

Com'on it was only 6 months ago.......

Well today Oil market prices are down to $50 a barrel....20 month cyclical low prices.
The President's magical ability to control world prices is being used to.....??


OMMAG

Soul Brother Number 1 - Gone to God!

In 1965 or so I was just a teenager. I had a keen interest in music and I was already sick to death of hearing the Beatles non-stop on commercial radio. My music was shaped by the late night AM skip that brought US based mega-stations north after about 11:00 pm. These stations had character and late night DJs that knew music. They were located in Detroit and Chicago and New York. They were Big and They were BAD.
They played all sorts of stuff that NEVER made the daytime playlists ( in Canada anyway ) and one of the most memorable was WABC from NewYork City.

The Swingin' Night Walker ... Ron Lundy ... came on at midnight Eastern time and brought the very best of R&B and Soul music. I will never forget the first time I heard him spin James Brown's version of Kansas City...Kaboom! With a one bar lead in from the horns The baseline hits on the one and the rest of rythm section picks it up .... a hard driving romp that ROCKs ... James Brown and the Famous Flames Kicking ASS with the BIG BEAT! This was no group of artsy little choirboys with teddy bear cuddle appeal for gum chomping little girls. This was hard edged, sweaty, sex music ..... all the stuff that those bible thumpin' Baptists and such were ranting about ...... bringing down the morals of society and taking impressionable youth onto the path of ruin. James Brown was called many things in the day but I know that what he was in reality was the MAN ...... the guy all the other music frontmen wanted to be or tried to be.


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Date of Birth: May 3, 1933
Place of Birth: Macon, GA, USA
Sign: Sun in Taurus, Moon in Leo
Education: Alto Reform School
Relations: Wife: Adrienne Brown (deceased); companion: Rolonda Watts; kids: Deanna, Terry, Daryl, Venisha,Yamma
James Brown dies : Dec 25, 2006
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*** http://www.dustmybroom.com/music/James_Brown_Kansas_City.mp3 *****

Absolute best release ever - James Brown Live at the Apollo Part1
Where ..... he takes Frank Sinatra to the mat with his cover of That's Life ...... destroys all innocence with Kansas City .... Builds the all time Killer King of R&B grooves with let Yourself Go \ There Was A Time / I feel All Right and hammerin' the nail home with Cold Sweat!

James Brown - Taking it down and bringin' it up to Heaven!

"If it's all night it's ALL right!"

Peace James


OMMAG