Leaving Syracuse

Allied moving lorry

 I have decided to leave Syracuse. I've explained this more on the sister blog. No one wants me around anymore, and it's not just one person. I've outgrown the area, and it's gone downhill. I might go to south Florida, since I've had the idea for several years, and would even try just wintering there like pensioners do, even though I would have to work and outlive them to actually do that. Remote work is above my pay grade unless I can get something in AI. I'm just unhappy here now, and I'm ready to fill up boxes and get my cat and hope to meet new people, which may be easier where you have no track record. I think this is the straw that broke the camels back. Much of the area is a state these days, and people vote with their feet by buggering off to where they don't have income tax, even if they watch Fox News.

lavcd.ru

Screenshot of banner from Wayback Machine

 It appears that lavcd.ru has gone offline. I even tried the online detector to see if it was just on my end or if it had server issues. The detector claimed that it was business as usual, but I couldn't put down that it wasn't. This is where Boris has been getting most of the pirate CDs for me. Because there has been little to go on from either end lately, as well as events of the past several years, we're lucky to do this once a year now. Even though some new releases have come up that I know are in there, it's just finding enough older material to maximise the cost of P&P, especially because I have to go through a third-party service via the post or FedEx, which is a bit more expensive, along with finding all of these rare CDs in person, trying to avoid getting them all online, despite even the simplest things becoming harder to find at brick and mortar stores these days since they can't all compete with the internet. I wonder if the site is blocked outside of Russia or if the authorities even took it off, which wouldn't surprise me at all. Also having to go back to the site each week and downloading each file just became too much, and I have a life and schedule now. I hate to see this come to an end, yet I would rather get more official CDs locally in person, but not even the better known artists are on every corner, let alone ones who hardly if ever touched the US or any chart for that matter. I'm just not aware of other resources there one can turn to now. I will have to look into this some more when I have the time. It could just be either technical difficulties or they are no more. More as I can find anything, but until then, it's just indefinite hiatus.

Maplewood Bar & Grill

AI of Maplewood Bar & Grill in Mattydale Plaza

  Maplewood Inn started as an indie hotel on 7th North St in Liverpool after Days Inn had moved a mile away, in a part of town with lodging off of I-81 and the Thruway with proximity to the airport. Then it became a franchise of Holiday Inn Express after the full-fledged one had left the once-again Randolph House on Electronics Pkwy (previously Sheraton, later Ramada, and now sister chain Wyndham) and the later original Comfort Inn on Buckley Road (previously covered). Either corporate or the franchise shut down the restaurant section over a year ago. Not too far away in Mattydale, the flagship Zebb's in the former kmart Plaza on Brewerton Road (US 11) had closed, so the owners bought it and we're still waiting for it to open. Mattydale, Hinsdale, Pitcher Hill and Northern Lights Plaza have all fallen into decline in recent years like many part of the country as far as business goes. The ongoing I-81 Project has also caused concern for the hotel owners. The economy overall worries everyone these days.

 I went to the original Maplewood once for Halloween a few years ago when looking for somewhere to go on the night (we'll cover that later before then). I've eaten at Zebb's on occasion over the years. That chain once stretched from Rochester to the Mohawk Valley. There isn't much left in that plaza, even with their neighbor across the street making an effort to prove presenter Dave Portnoy wrong. He must have slated Mattydale Plaza as well if he bothered to look at that, but much of these places were nice once. As for Maplewood, their menu is quite good, and they focus more on local artists like Ronnie Leigh, John McConnell, Little Queen (tribute band to Heart, not Queen), and Tom Chick (seen a couple of them at other places, not sure if two have played the old guard, I know about the tribute band being regulars, and I don't typically or specifically see area performers like I would for national artists). My idea is when they have events for specific holidays and annual traditions. After three recent  attempts at Mardi Gras, only to find it's not like the other holiday as in the South with a Cajun twist, maybe the end of Carnival could have some resemblance to Orleans Parish next year, and a Zydeco, Dr John type (he did OCC for Jazz Fest once), or other band could play (I'm not the Bill Graham of CNY, mind, so it's up to them who it is). I'll have to go through the year like Stevie Wonder to determine which ones would work. St Valentines Day, then Fat Tuesday if not the same day, St Patricks Day (perfect for the local), also an Easter Sunday buffet and community-focused get-together for those of us with nowhere else to go and/or no one to go with), Adult Prom (that was inevitable, but it's big enough from what I remember as Zebb's), Fourth of July with this years milestone, even my birthday next year if I'm in town since some people hold a public birthday bash, Labor Day if that's a thing for a show, the H-word, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve. Getting there by bus at nights and weekends may be an issue. Open Jam and something else are going to be a regular occurrence. It's still early days just finishing up everything. I really would like some small-time yet international names to come here once in a while without pushing out CNY ones like Jess Novak, Mark Zane (OCC professor by day), and Paul Davie (seen them too). I love supporting small and local business, even if I go to see hometown people per se to a lesser extent. I'm looking forward to the new Maplewood Bar & Grill and their continued success in future. Not to be confused with any other place called Maplewood, given the generic nature of the name (you know how it is). Nothing new on their Facebook page since June, and it still looks a state there.

Copied from our sister blog with a few edits. Dedicated to the memory of Steve Schad (Childhoods End [Pink Floyd tribute band covered earlier]/Beatlecuse [Davies tribute show]).

The Rowboat Syndicate: Cover Art Down Under

Courtesy Apple Corps, Ltd./Universal Music Group

The Rowboat Syndicate: Cover Art Down Under: Australia generally replicated The Beatles' UK album releases during the '60s, although there were a couple of oddities along the way. T...

Bluetooth at home and on the go: Now in its 30th year

Leto Bluetooth speaker (no relation to Jared and Shannon Leto)

MC SeonWoo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 While Bluetooth has been around for some time now, it's not like me or other people to catch on late, often times because of the cost. Some even got telly decades after most of western civilisation to put it that way. When I switched phones, I couldn't use the classic cord that I grew up with anymore. A few years ago, I managed to find a pair of JBL headphones at the charity shop for $7. They work with my Android and I don't think I had them yet for my ageing iPhone. Only today at the chaz, did I finally find a standalone Bluetooth speaker that I could afford. I do have it in my record machine in another part of the house, but it's more inconvenient than playing good old vinyl since I just don't have that much room. On the same token, I have dozens of CDs stored in the attic, and it can be too cold in winter and hot in the summer to rummage through a large moving box in cramped quarters, especially if I need to play something at a moments notice or on a certain day. While I still want to go to shops and get real LPs and CDs when I can afford it, subscribing to Amazon and sometimes even going to YouTube or even a pirate site saves time and money, which is why streaming is mega these days. Netflix is more suited for the sister TV blog, and I don't watch much TV either way anymore. However, I wonder if it's actual stereo or just a glorified mono folddown. One brand sold at Dollar Tree with $5-10 items says to buy two speakers for true stereo, but I'm lucky to get this used one, since it takes time for newer tech to cost less and reach the second hand and even the thrift store, which doesn't happen everyday, but that can be explored at the retail blog. There's no need to spend hundreds more on hi-fi for your wi-fi. It was a right fortune as it is just to get the phone fixed after it broke more than once, mind. As for getting a good deal on Bluetooth at a place that is usually just full of junk, sometimes on a good day, you win the pools.
UPDATE (5/4/26): I brought my 5 CD carousel changer up from the basement and plugged it into the AUX jack in the back. I had the adapter for the RCA cables which I used for my old stereo that has since been recycled. Now I have a nice little system upstairs while the record machine downstairs has Bluetooth itself. At least I have both since streaming can get cut off, especially with several different apps running on a slightly older phone and on public wi-fi when I'm not at home between numerous people using it and the inherent risks unless you have VPN and antivirus software installed because you just can't be too careful these days with all the scams out there. Not to be Dale Gribble, mind, but you know how it is now. I also don't want to use up battery or data when an outlet and wi-fi are unavailable.

Arena

Arena, 2020. L-R: Kylan Amos, John Mitchell, Mick Pointer, Paul Manzi, and Clive Nolan.

Kajamera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Courtesy Verglas Music/Wikipedia.

 Arena are a band that I have been dabbling with for some time, but unlike some of the related bands, I may not be getting all of the CDs since it gets expensive to go after all these every time I bring someone new into my collection. Mick Pointer, late of Marillion, and Clive Nolan, also of Pendragon, started the band in 1994, and there have been several different lineups ever since, which have included John Jowitt, late of IQ and Jadis; John Mitchell of Frost*, It Bites, Fish, Lonely Planet, and now Asia; and former Landmarq and Threshold frontman, as well Headspace and Rick Wakeman band member Damian Wilson (his joining is what got me to buy their most recent studio album, The Theory of Molecular Inheritance). Unfortunately, other commitments will have him moving on by years end. Paul Manzi left in 2020 to join the Sweet of all people, which some may consider selling out, by going from a complex prog band to a latter day lineup of a glam band from the '70s. However, he will be back for good by next year. Now I know why I used an old photo (Manzi was originally supposed to be on the last album before the split was announced). Pointer still plays his old bands music on occasion in a side project with original bass player Cliff Orsi, proving that he's no Pete Best. Mitchell and Nolan have also worked the late John Wetton of Asia on his 2003 solo album Rock of Faith, and the former on the Wetton (Geoff) Downes Icon series.
 Arenas sometimes dark lyrics and layered sound design resonate with me and many listeners. The band have been independent from the start, managing themselves and running their own label. They have built up a cult following spanning over three decades. Like other artists with simplistic names, they get confused with obscure artists of the same name on Amazon, where I stream them, Spotify and maybe even indie specialists emusic. Look for the Verglas label, or at least what you know is the real Arena on these services, given the generic nature of the name. No word yet on the next studio album now that Manzi is poised to return in one years time. At least I can easily stream the band at home as I can on the go and at home, but that will be the next post, this being the first in 2026. I guess it comes from getting bored of the other bands and despising current mainstream rubbish. I may have even designed the next albums sleeve for them out of sigils, which current bass player and art director Kylan Amos could adapt, even though AI even knows his style. I drew them for something else while playing the band the other week..
    One more live album would be nice from the current lineup. Tracks like "Valley of the Kings" from the latest tour have not been officially recorded or filmed live with Wilson (or even original singer John Carson [no relation to Johnny Carson] for that matter from the first album and tour, if any, since there was little live activity with him, and he imitated Pointers former colleague Fish at times to where they had to play the old guard just to fill the set and seats at the same time). Bootlegs don't even seem to exist of Arena (pirates do, but we've been over that with other people), while shows of different lineups are on YouTube, including some of the oldest from early guitarist and seasoned session player Keith More, who is terminally ill and once worked with Paul and Linda McCartney, sharing an interest in animal rights and the environment. Increasing security at most venues these days make it much harder to film or record most shows, yet one survives from this past year on video (it wouldn't be worth it to try to copy the audio and spend all day trying to split up the tracks, which is why there should just be official soundboard recordings fans can buy, or even what the Grateful Dead allowed when they were still together with a taper section and trading recordings, yet Arena are indie and are more cult than the Bay Area icons by comparison, so it may not be feasible in the current climate).
    I hope to get more from Arena as I can afford. They have been upstaging everyone else, even those I know and love. I know I can build on this as I have for much of the collection I've accumulated.

AI of original album design for next album

Universal Records: The Return

Orsolyavirág at hu.wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 Universal Music Group have revived their former US flagship label Universal Records. While a few unrelated labels have come up in the Philippines, Belgium and Brasil, this Universals roots go back to 1988 when started by country trailblazer Jimmy Bowen as part of MCA Nashville, but in 1990, he moved to Capitol Nashville and took his artists with him, ending that Universal label (yet Capitol would become part of UMG in 2013). There had also been UNI Records (Universal City Records) in the late '60s until 1972 when absorbed into MCA, along with Kapp and Decca US (spun off of the UK one just  before WWII and came full circle once UMG bought PolyGram in 1999 after the latter bought UK label in 1979, but that's for another day). UNI signed Elton John in the US and Canada, and I explained several years earlier how he touched nearly every pop division of Universal Music Group in one way or another, which continues to this day.
 Universal Records' second chapter began when they absorbed Rising Tide Records, and Seagram bought MCA from Matsushita (Panasonic). After getting PolyGram from Philips by the end of the millennium, Universal Records had absorbed Polydor US and took over The Moody Blues and Bee Gees' contracts here for what would be their final all-original studio releases. Universal Records would later be combined with the perennial Motown and current chartmakers Republic each. While the Detroit label would go back to their old name and is now under the Interscope Capitol arm, Universal Republic would just be Republic and have hits with Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande. Now, with little to go on, Universal Records returns after nearly two decades when Rob Thomas signs a new solo deal just after leaving Atlantic Records after thirty years' time, including Matchbox Twenty proper. He's lucky for an older artist to get a new home, let alone another major label, straight away and at this point in time. All Night Days is available now and a tour is underway to support. I saw it in the shop and found he moved to a label I thought was retired. Republic had brought back Mercury US for non-country, signing our own Post Malone, and I wrote about sister label A&M earlier, which only Sting has kept alive in recent years. New talent could come to Universal Records, as changes have been made under UMG brass Sir Lucian Grange, who is the modern day Sir Edward Lewis (Decca UK) or even Sir Joseph Lockwood (EMI), if you like. His son is now at Thomas's old label however.

Ozzy Osbourne 1948 - 2025

AI of Ozzy Osbourne with Notsky and ThinkPawsome

 As we get on in years, we lose more people in our lives, both personally and in the public eye. 2025 so far is another one of those years where we go through stars like water, but it's as inevitable as my taxes. Ozzy Osbourne passed on 22 July with his wife and manager Sharon by his side. He had suffered from Parkinsons disease, and had a history of addiction. His funeral procession through his native Birmingham brought out crowds sizeable to state funerals. Just a couple weeks before, he had what would be his final performance, including the last reunion of Black Sabbath and an all-star lineup. Osbournes influence is widespread, and we're still reeling from the loss. I can take solace that I got to see him in 2018 in my area. Couldn't stay the whole time, but at least I had the chance, as there are so many others in my lifetime that I never would see. I first heard of him when I was young, but got into him a bit late, like I have most others. I have seen The Osbournes, but not the other reality shows since I don't really care for those anymore. Now it's just too soon. We'll always have the music and the memories to keep his spirit alive like everyone else that has left us before. I know Halloween and his birthday later in the year won't be the same anymore. Shops may mark up and/or run out of his albums. New copies and streams put him back in the charts, which is usual when this happens. I just know his legacy will always be there. Long live Ozzy Osbourne.

FloofAid

 

AI group drawing. Website is just as fake, so don't go to it yet.

    I have launched FloofAid, a unique charity to help those in the furry community afford fursuits and furry conventions. This may not be quite what I usually put here, but I haven't had anything in a period and I have the worst luck with these. This is described more on our sister blog, along with sister project Furacuse, which would be a con based right here in Syracuse, so people in the region wouldn't have to go as far for it, being between Albanys Eufuria, Buffalos Fluffalo, as well as far between Ottawas Canfur, Philadelphias Furrydelphia, and the Tri-States Furpocalypse. It would seem counterintuitive to have one thing that gets you to cons around North America (we'll throw in the boys' turf too, despite recent events) tied to one in my area. FloofAid would also help furs connect to each other. It was going to be called FurAid, but the name was already used by a rescue centre, which cons usually raise money for. Furacuse would be split between the local SPCA and FloofAid. If you don't care for GoFundMe, you can send me money directly through PayPal, CashApp, Venmo, or even Zelle (by request). This is not a scam. Just say that it's for FloofAid so I can put it aside. I would put that money specifically aside for either the three or four state regions event if I can't do both, since I'll be lucky to get to one ever, or even get another suit since the ones I have now may not be appropriate or accepted by the diehards, despite basing a lie around my main one, and the other was a cheapie I can't even bring to the charity shop. Once more money comes in, I can pay it forward, reach out to others, and file the paperwork.

    Having a benefit show would just not be feasible. This is too much of a niche market to even get small time artists on board. Maybe my prom deal would work, since people would go for the event more than for the cause in some of these cases. Even established non-profits are struggling right now. The one mainstream current artist that came even close to knowing floof is Lil Nas X with a knockoff Rivolo suit (mine is of Kevon, even though I add to him to make him my own). The Beatles with Magical Mystery Tour in the "I Am the Walrus" segment of the film and the album sleeve may be considered a precedent, yet the fandoms roots may go back as far as Victorian and Edwardian times if not even further.

Second Chance Homecoming

Notsky is dressed for the homecoming dance!

 You've seen how frustrated I've been about finding an adult prom or the like in CNY lately, and I'll be lucky to get one by autumn, when schools have homecoming. I never did that either, nor have millions of other people. One may call it Prom Lite, or even a precursor to prom if you like. Second Chance Homecoming is also held, but is even more elusive than its better known counterpart. Granted that someone does have Prom locally this fall, I would try to hold Homecoming before that not to compete, but rather to compliment, if it happens. I don't think anyone here has ever done a Second Chance Homecoming before. Maybe the S-word could do it, but if they won't do the P-word, what would make them have this instead? I would go through the same list of places on our sister blog. I've even considered having it for my birthday if I don't out to dinner for reasons I won't put here, even though it can't be on the day because it's in the middle of the week (although the latest adult prom in the region in New Hartford is on a Tuesday, which is unorthodox for this sort, yet I won't go now after plans around the Pride one in Rome fell through), and it has to be towards the weekend when people are generally up to a night out. I wasn't going to combine them in the middle of summer or make it a public event, yet I don't know too many people, and I haven't had a party in decades (she won't say how she'll be, mind). Salt City Collectives prom in October has been the one closest to homecoming season, which I put in last years post, yet when it was first held, it was when the pandemic was easing up and I gave up finding anything that year, never mind in spring. That one is still up in the air this year, as waiting is in two parts; waiting for a decision and date, and for the event itself (you know how it is, as John Lennon would say). I would look around for a registered charity, NGO, or someone in need looking for a fundraiser idea and suggest this, hoping they'll take this up, whether they use the homecoming or prom label, as this is all hands on deck, requiring a committee to organise everything as one person can't do it all. I'm not the Bob Geldof, Bill Graham or Harvey Goldsmith of homecoming or prom. Gala sounds more posh, and Met Gala downstate pulls out all the stops every year, but that's different. Bishop Ludden (+ Grimes) use that term instead of prom or ball. I want the event to use the homecoming or prom label because anyone can have a black tie event for charity or whatever. I want it to resemble what it was like in school to a degree (no pun intended) if not in films or on TV (even though I don't watch much of either anymore). We can bring in the drinks, and I'm teetotal. I've been putting floofs in tuxedos on AI as you can see with our mascot. It's been ages since I was in school. I didn't graduate in this area, and the one I did is another animal and has no such ceremony if they ever had in the old days (they did have prom before I went, and the current version does now). However, that place is too far for me, and the only reunion is mostly alums who went before I was even born, but that's for another day. I may be too old to attend either schools homecoming, but like prom, at least we can have something of our own for everyone who missed out, got it wrong then, or just wants to have another go at it to a lesser extent than its older sister, if you like. No AI whatsoever was used to write this post (she did it all on her own).

JULIO: George Harrison - Behind That Locked Door

AI of George Harrison courtesy xAi Grok

JULIO: George Harrison - Behind That Locked Door

Jolly Jokers Ohrenbalsam: HARD RAIN, HARD RAIN, CD, 1997

Courtesy Semaphore GmbH/Magnum Music Productions

Jolly Jokers Ohrenbalsam: HARD RAIN, HARD RAIN, CD, 1997: Als die Band MAGNUM nach ihrem gefloppten "Rock Art" (1994) Album, Ende 1995 ihr letztes Tourkonzert in Wolverhampton gegeben hatt...

When the band Magnum played their last tour concert in Wolverhampton at the end of 1995 after their flopped Rock Art (1994) album...

Going Ghibli

Jadis jump in on Ghibli-mania. Courtesy xAi/Grok.

 I don't know too much about anime, let alone Studio Ghibli, but I do know a good trend when I see one, and I became intrigued by the latest AI flavour of the month of turning any given photo into the Japanese animation powerhouses distinct style. Several bands I know don't have freely licenced images I can use on Wikipedia as I have pointed out before, and now there's this legal loophole that is questionable, but allowed for now. ChatGPTs Open AI initially just had it for paid subscribers, but I can't afford that, so I went to xAi/Grok after they bought X, if that makes sense and they did a poor mans version for me of Jadis. I wonder if Martin Orford (far right in drawing above, late of IQ) would slate AI the way he did illegal downloading since there may be some parallels. Would make interesting discussion. Then ChatGPT got it to work for everybody and the floodgates opened. I had a go with Pallas and It Bites original lineup (later one with John Mitchell of Arena, Asia, and so much more), and now I will do Savoy and even Magnum spinoff Hard Rain. I did the cover of Magnum propers 1983 album The Eleventh Hour!, which a bootleg label stole for a 1985 Marillion concert released as Childhood Mysteries from their Misplaced Childhood tour, which I covered last year, so I Ghibli-ed it to make it a new scene not from Rodney Matthews himself. I could even do this with the kid from the other cover. I can go on all day. Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki however is no fan of AI.
    I've been using AI this past year. Initially, it was for the sister blog, so go over there for more. As for here, I'm not as good at drawing people. Doing a whole person isn't a strong point with me as I can with other species. Some of the Status Quo can't even draw "Pictures of Matchstick Men", but AI can let you create "Whatever You Want" (even Francis Rossi et al are getting the Gene Shallit treatment here). We'll see how long this one sticks around before the next craze comes along just like everything else.

Pallas in colour since this was done from black and white.

It Bites. Courtesy ChatGPT Open AI.

With apologies to Rodney Matthews and Magnum.

Doggy also joins in on the fun!

Magnum take back their sleeve once again.

Savoys Ghibli-savvy is now tunnel vision!

xAi Groks version of Savoy didn't work out as well.

    Turns out I can't use these on Wikipedia if they're derived from copyrighted works, so that's it for this new sensation. I would have to go see these bands in person and sneak in photos to get my own free images or wait for them to break up or have press photos old enough to qualify, even from within my lifetime, whichever comes first. I did draw Savoy and the 2010-24 lineup of Pallas, but that just won't work on Wikipedia as they're too incomplete, crude and amateurish to be on there, and much of my work has disappeared over the years anyway. There are ways I could get permission to licence photos, but it's too much red tape. I just want something I can use straight away. If I could have AI make an original photo of any of these people, that would be great, but it's just they're not as well known as when I could even get last minute ones of Trevor Horn or Elton John for Facebook memories or Bluesky. I wind up with people who don't even exist, even when I submit a source photo. This is why AI gets slated on a daily basis, even though it's only going to get bigger like sci-fi had predicted.

An Overdose Of Fingal Cocoa: Denny Laine

Denny Laine in December 2016 (moved from later post)

An Overdose Of Fingal Cocoa: Denny Laine

Denny Laine revised

I have separated the tracks for peoples convenience. If you like each side of the LPs as one track, click the tag for the other versions. Limited time only.

Anyone Can Fly
Wings on My Feet

Mirror of Anyone Can Fly
Mirror of Wings on My Feet

Natalie Cole

Natalie Cole at the Java Jazz Festival in 2014, one of her last performances.

 On a Facebook group I help run, we had a request for Natalie Coles 1985 album Dangerous, released on Stevie Nicks's solo label Modern Records. It was overlooked at the time, and both ladies were dealing with addiction at the time. While the label is still a legal entity for its founders own work, it's unclear if the album is owned by the label, Warner Music Group (who would later sign Cole at Elektra), or her estate. There are other albums that have yet to be reissued, even though they sold more copies and had hit singles in the charts like "Pink Cadillac" and "Miss You Like Crazy". While the albums predecessor I'm Ready was reissued before she passed, its successors Everlasting and Good to Be Back haven't since the original Elektra releases were acquired by Craft Recordings at indie powerhouse Concord, which took over other former Warner masters, which I mentioned in the post on Coles former Elektra stablemate Anita Baker. That label bought those two late '80s albums, which were from a brief return to Coles fathers old label Capitol through subsidiaries Manhattan and EMI USA respectively. It may have been because of the parent companies purchase of Chrysalis and Virgin that Elektra got those. They were included in the 5 CD budget boxed set collection Original Album Series with Unforgettable with Love, Take a Look and Stardust, which is now out of print. However, I did look on Amazon Music, and Craft have those two albums from 1987-89, while Dangerous is an anomaly they could look into. Natalie Cole is missed dearly by fans around the world.

Hefiorels eclectic music: Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

AI photo of Trevor Horn in recent memory.

Hefiorels eclectic music: Buggles - Video Killed The Radio Star

A&M Records

Sting in Alachua County on his first solo tour in October 1985

 After writing about Dark Horse Records, I went to Wikipedia and clicked on their original distributor A&M Records and found that the label would be relaunched. However, no sources such as Billboard, Rolling Stone, NME, Variety or the like were cited, making this a mere rumour, as Wikipedia can be unreliable if anyone can just put something up, making Fleet Street look like Utne Reader. A&M has been largely dormant in recent years, especially since the late '90s when PolyGram were sold to Universal. The former bought A&M, Island and Polar a decade earlier. In the US, A&M were clustered with Interscope and Geffen. The split between Universal Studios and Music Group in 2003 changed things further. Octone moved from J/BMG to A&M after the old BMG launched their JV with Sony in 2004 and Maroon 5 would eventually appear on Interscope. Sting has been carrying the torch of A&M since he was in the Police in the late '70s and only a few classical releases are on sister label Deutsche Grammophone (he'll be in Syracuse again in April 2026 with Billy Joel, which was postponed). Rick Wakeman had a solo deal with A&M coming out of the Strawbs, but it complicated what he could do in Yes at first, and A&M didn't always support his decisions, and he left the label and Yes in 1980, despite personal issues at the time.

Polydor UK did relaunch A&M on their end once and signed Duffy (on an equally brief reboot of Mercury [not counting Nashville like with MCA] across the pond). Jim Diamond released his first two solo albums on A&M, yet put out his fourth on Polydor, which could either have been to complete the old deal because an A&R left, or was an unrelated new one. His widow would have to answer that.

Supertramp would work their way up to become of the biggest successes for A&M. Roger Hodgson would stay on his own after leaving in 1983 for the first couple solo LPs before a long hiatus. The Carpenters safe as houses sound brought gold and platinum despite their Karens eating disorder. Amy Grant blazed a trail for the Lord being between A&M and Christian label Myrrh making her catalogue more available and becoming the cross-over queen. The Canadian branch had Bryan Adams, Gino Vannelli, Andy Kim, Susan Jacks, Terry Jacks, Bruce Cockburn, Véronique Béliveau, Jann Arden; Sharon, Lois & Bram; Fred Penner, and Raffi (even the Cancon kiddie scene counts). The boys tried to sign with A&M, but were turned down (their loss). Styx and Supertramp were the biggest international acts at the Toronto arm and overall in Canada since the Beatles and Elvis Presley, I would suppose.

I gave you the Cliffs Notes version of A&Ms history, yet we need something that confirms a new one is about to start. The label has a rich legacy and you'd never think it was technically indie in the old days.

Dedicated to the memory of Jerry Moss, who would have been proud to see the label return, despite the two legal rows he and his former colleague Herb Alpert have had with the two subsequent owners over its corporate culture (Alpert moved his lot to a new vanity label since then).

George Harrison remasters and Dark Horse Records: 50 Years On

George Harrison at the Princes Trust appeal, 1987.

 George Harrisons family signed a deal last year with BMG to move distribution of his solo label Dark Horse Records and administration of his publishing. His old friend Bob Dylan started the trend (even though he outright sold his work). A few reissues have already come out, primarily on vinyl, such as the first two solo releases Wonderwall Music and Electronic Sound on limited edition picture disc, to straight reissues of the last couple Cloud Nine and Brainwashed. The newest is Living in the Material World 50th Anniversary (albeit a year and a half too late, but it can only "Be Here Now" [where oasis got the names of both that and "Wonderwall"]). Getting more praise now like his former colleague John Lennons solo album from 1973 Mind Games, expanded last year by their Sean, which was underrated when the elder Lennon and Harrison were both still alive ("You know how it is," the former would say).

One reviewer said that All Things Must Pass had been done enough. However, because of the new contract, one must consider that like Paul McCartneys solo and Wings output prior to 1975, it is no longer on Apple (although his first two had licenced it for new LP reissues for old times' sake). Back to Harrison, his triple smash could either do the same thing, or it would be like in 2001 less than a year before his passing when it was remastered with a new design and was neither on Apple or Dark Horse, but on a one-off vanity label called GnOM (you'd have to look it up, and it was the last solo reissue in his lifetime). The more recent edition would be out again with the new information, but Apple could be loaned out just like Parlophone is with Beatles proper reissues for up to 1967 since EMIs sale in 2013.

Late 1974s Dark Horse album may be next. Named to fill the void since Harrisons old deal wouldn't be done until January 1976. Rolling Stone slated the tour and he never lived it down. His voice was a state. I wonder if Peter Jacksons MAL AI technology could be used to do up a live show if a recording made by Harrison himself exists, coming after Get Back and "Now and Then", or if a decent bootleg is available since it technically can be claimed. Live albums used to have studio overdubs in those days, but this is something Live at the Star Club is reportedly getting (that'll be considered for a future post).

1981s Somewhere in England could have an expanded edition because a number of songs were declined by then-distributor Warner Bros./WEA (Warner Music Group), which were only available later as B-sides, remaster bonus tracks, on Sothebys-rare limited edition CD EPs that came with a book, or on bootlegs (the diehards get it). Their Dhani has his work cut out. There may be even more in the vaults.

Then there's the complication of compilations. The Best of George Harrison was supposed to be the best of both worlds (largely the old guard), but was just a sendoff by EMI to compete with Thirty-Three and a Third in November 1976. The Best of Dark Horse: 1976-1989 is the only one he approved of and is long out-of-print and has no Beatles tracks whatsoever. Let It Roll was a posthumous release. It would be having to licence Beatles tracks from Universal, Apple or Sony (Concert for Bangladesh versions outside North America because of Dylans [on Columbia US/then-CBS, yet on sister label Epic] return to the stage and industry policies at the time, as well as for pre-1968 publishing). Even a new collection could be considered.

Dark Horse in recent years returned to its original vision of signing other people. Joe Strummers estate (The Clash) and Billy Idol are two of the latest to join the fray. Reissues of past artists like Splinter, Henry McCullough (Wings), Keni Burke and Stairsteps, Attitudes and Ravi Shankar (we can't forget him, of course) should be explored, although some already are reissued, so I'm just catching up here.

Absolutely no ChatGPT was used. George would be very concerned about AI if he were still with us, I'm quite sure. He probably would have approved of it being to used to clean up the audio, but not to replicate voices and instruments, because that's what people are afraid of, and Ringo had to assure everyone that John wasn't being imitated by a bot, because it's not like the "new" Steve Marriott album (which is a mockery at a level even Yoko wouldn't stoop to, but we won't go there today). I just know that Harrisons legacy is in capable hands and will continue to bring in new generations of fans.

REO Speedwagon: REO-gate

REO Speedwagon in happier times (cliché, I know!) at Red Rocks, CO Capital Region, 2010

Sjgkfe, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

 Seems that it's never too late for a band to have problems. Just as oasis come back, other bands fall apart, particularly ones from before thirty years ago I grew up seeing in the charts and on MTV & VH1. It's like a marriage that ran its course, A trite comparison but it's true. REO Speedwagon are no stranger to this, and now they're on the way out because of a row over bass player Bruce Halls medical recovery and frontman Kevin Cronin. A similar situation occurred twice in the late '90s with their friends Styx and contemporaries Journey, as well as Yes less than a decade later, so it's not uncommon, especially as one gets on in age. The jury are out on this one. We've just seen Hall & Oates and Janes Addiction become Behind the Music material (now on Paramount+, sister streamer to MTV and VH1).

 Remaining founding member Neal Doughty stopped touring in 2022 and I saw the band for the last time and without him last year, and it wasn't the same. I also learned co-founder and original drummer Alan Gratzer is originally from Syracuse. I didn't go the year before because I couldn't afford to go to that and Elton John, who was wrapping up his life on the road, and his bass guitarist Matt Bissonette (Greggs brother) has just taken over for Hall to boot. I just didn't go this year also because I had to cut back on shows like a lot of people are on less essential activities in this economy. Perhaps the spirits of Gary Richrath and the more recently departed Gregg Philbin told me not to go this time as they turn in their graves over this. I might have even skipped Cronins birthday this year because of how he allegedly stabbed his longtime colleague in the back or I'm focussed on other bands and priorities right now. We're riding a real (two in the south at the time of this writing) and proverbial storm out here. It'd be too easy to throw in some Gene Shalit-style puns to what is a sad end to a nearly six decade legacy that started in the Champaign-Urbana area at uni in the bar scene and became an AOR-corporate rock punchline to many. We're all experienced at being human and life is one big Pandoras box. Terry Luttrell from the 1971 début (later of Starcastle) and would-be vocalist Greg X. Volz (who joined Petra instead, who I once liked, while Cronin returned after the Mike Murphy period in 1976) found the Lord.

  It's a right shame to see a band I've known for over forty years' time since I was very young get to this stage so far along, but let's hope they can sort out their differences so they can end the band with some integrity and dignity for the sake of the fans.

UPDATE: The final lineup will now tour under Cronins name. They will tour with Styx and Don Felder (late of Eagles) in summer 2025, including Syracuse (Styx were in the same boat on a river, while Felder had left, but says never checked out of his old band).

The last REO proper show I attended at the NYS Fair