A post-YMCA stop at Goodwill and a crisp new dollar bill yielded:
* Harry Belafonte Sings the Blues. Great 1958 collection of bluesy nuggets sung by H.B. Highlights include a rendition of "God Bless the Child" as well as Ray Charles' "A Fool for You." Plus, on the sleeve a great essay by Nat Hentoff, later of the Village Voice, addressing how Belafonte draws aesthetically on Ray Charles.
* Oingo Boingo--Only a Lad. Ska-dance-pop-synth-novelty-punk band, led by Danny Elfman before he scored more movies than Randy Newman. From "Capitalism": "There's nothing wrong with making some profit / If you ask me I'll say it's just fine / There's nothing wrong with wanting to live nice / I'm so tired of hearing you whine / about the revolution."
* Bing Crosby--Hey Jude/Hey Bing! Horrible title, and a shaky concept (Crosby singing 60s pop songs) to boot, but worth it for his version of "Little Green Apples." I've got a record by Kate Smith--same exact concept--that's better. But Bing, as the liner notes indicate, is "a gas." A nice precursor to that creepy duet he later did with David Bowie.
2 comments:
Hey Bill! Did you hear that Dr. Ris left us for UC!? I mean, come on, UC?! No, I'm just kidding. I'm just pissed we don't have any creative writing professors left. What are we going to do now? Please come back. Soon...:(
I'm sure you have heard, but it was news to me--on Sept 24th will be an anti-war protest/march in D.C., I want to go!!
Courtney E Manning
Sorry that the campus is losing Dr. Ris. Lobby the department to keep creative writing on the proverbial radar as they think about new hires this year!
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