Sometimes I forget how weird the culture of the Seventies was...

...and then things like this bring it all back.

Happy Friday!

The Joker is Me!

After doing karaoke for the second time, I've found that channeling Anthony Newley is one of my areas of strength...

Disc-shoppin'

Check out this old 60s French EP I found--looks like a fun record, but I don't have a turntable right now, so I can't listen to it.

Time to Rock Out, Swedish Pop Style

Happy three-day weekend!

Feel the Quality, Part 2

If it's too loud, you're too old!

BeatleToys for adults

Check out this cute little flash drive:

It's got super-high quality audio of all the Beatles original LPs on it, plus all the artwork etc.   Of course, you  could get your own little USB drive for 10 bucks and fill it up with all the albums yourself, but this is pretty cute!  List price $298--yowsa!

On a related note, most people don't know that John Lennon invented the original iPod (or 'beatleBox'):

Worlds Collide

The new season of Mad Men premieres this Sunday, and the season opens at Thanksgiving 1964 (so I have read). That means the reality of the show is now in the era of full-on Beatlemania (they hit the US in the winter of that year, and their first movie came out in August).
Who will be the first Beatle fan among the show's characters? Keep in mind, most adults of the time didn't concede any talent to the group until later, after "Yesterday" and albums like Rubber Soul were released.

I think we can rule out any of the real "grown ups", like Don, Betty, and Joan. Peggy is likely to want to be seen as being a serious career woman, so I don't think she's going to reveal herself as a fan, and she probably doesn't care.

Last seen dancing in Season One

Obviously, Roger Sterling's taste runs toward minstrelsy, though maybe his child bride Jane will tell him not to change the channel when they're on the radio.

Paul Kinsey might have an inclination toward the fab four later, but now I see him as a Coltrane and Dylan guy.

Pete and Trudy Campbell could be the dark horses of the group--they can be surprising.

Maybe gay German Kurt--he could have seen them in Hamburg in the early days, when he was friends with Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus Voorman (speculation).

But the one character who I will bet will be the show's representative Beatlemaniac is:

Sally Draper!

Two Albums; One Dance Party

Dig it!

Take THAT, Colin Hay!

You got away with it for 27 years, but the vengeance of the late Marion Sinclair is harsh, if exceedingly slow!

Band penalized for copied riff in 'Down Under' hit

By KRISTEN GELINEAU, Associated Press Writer

SYDNEY – A judge ordered Australian band Men at Work on Tuesday to hand over a portion of the royalties from their 1980s hit "Down Under," after previously ruling its distinctive flute riff was copied from a children's campfire song.

But the penalty — 5 percent of the song's royalties — was far less than the 60 percent sought by publishing company Larrikin Music, which holds the copyright for the song "Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree."

"Kookaburra" was written more than 70 years ago by Australian teacher Marion Sinclair for a Girl Guides competition, and the song about the native Australian bird has been a favorite around campfires from New Zealand to Canada.

Sinclair died in 1988, but Larrikin filed a copyright lawsuit last year. In February, Federal Court Justice Peter Jacobson ruled Men at Work had copied their song's signature flute melody from "Kookaburra."

On Tuesday, Jacobson ordered Men at Work's recording company, EMI Songs Australia, and "Down Under" songwriters Colin Hay and Ron Strykert, to pay 5 percent of royalties earned from the song since 2002 and from its future earnings. A statute of limitations restricted Larrikin from seeking royalties earned before 2002.

The court didn't specify what the 5 percent penalty translates to in dollars.
"I consider the figures put forward by Larrikin to be excessive, overreaching and unrealistic," Jacobson wrote in his judgment.

Mark Bamford, a lawyer for EMI, said the company plans to continue with its appeal of the February ruling.

"The ruling today on quantum is a good result in light of Larrikin's 'excessive, overreaching and unrealistic' claim" for a higher cut of the profits, Bamford said in a statement. "EMI Songs will now focus on its appeal against the broader decision."

Adam Simpson, Larrikin Music's lawyer, said the company had no comment on the ruling, due to the pending appeal. Hay and Strykert were not in court for the decision and couldn't immediately be reached.

"Down Under" and the album it was on, "Business As Usual," topped the Australian, American and British charts in early 1983. The song remains an unofficial anthem for Australia and was ranked fourth in a 2001 music industry survey of the best Australian songs. Men at Work won the 1983 Grammy Award for Best New Artist.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Whoo-ee!  Beebo and Foulard have been very busy now, what with moving and Beebo's new job.  But here's a song for you to enjoy! 

Trivia note:  This song includes several quotes from William Wyler's The Big Country, as originally spoken by Burl Ives (and the whole song is done in Burl's voice).  I first saw the movie years after hearing the song, which gave me a weird reverse-recognition effect.

Stingray theme

This is the theme to my favorite Supermarionation show, with added lyrics. Beebo has often been subjected treated to seeing me do a dynamic lipsync performance of the middle part.

Foulard's Funky Friday

Are you ready to rock?

4.20

On a suggestion by Beebo, I'm honoring the "dopey" holiday of 4.20 with one of my favorite songs from Hair:



...and here's a counter-argument from Joe Friday. Listen to his advice, kids!

Song for back to work

Song for the end of the day

Awesome album alert!

This great out-of-print album is available for download here now. Get it while you can!

Side 1
01 Games People Play
02 Take A Letter Maria
03 Traces
04 Sunshine Superman
05 Hung Up Being Free
06 Spinning Wheel
07 She's Leaving Home

Side 2
08 Happy Together
09 The Windmills Of Your Mind
10 Requiem: 820 Latham
11 Into Something
12 Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head
13 You've Made Me So Very Happy
14 A Time For Us (Love Theme From Romeo And Juliet)

Bonus track from US edition
15 Catch A Robber By The Toe

Feel the Quality