Bingo! Technology is bitchen, but I prefer to have fellow humanoids pointing the way to good music. Grrtch said:

... I dunno about you guys, but I thrive on that... I like to know the context from where that the song came. Pandora lacks that human touch... and folkses, thass sumptin the podcasts got in abundance! cha . . .

no podcasts on Pandora, but for those of who do podcast, it's a good source to learn about stuff new to us. that is -- as long as the artists and/or label bother to send them their releases. Norton does. I hope more labels follow their lead.

but unlike our podcasts, Pandora doesn't at all talk about what you're listening to... say if you download an episode of Hanging On For Mercy (some of y'all just don't know what yer missin'!) I dish up something like record talk at a party. I dunno about you guys, but I thrive on that... I like to know the context from where that the song came. Pandora lacks that human touch... and folkses, thass sumptin the podcasts got in abundance! cha . . .

I saw that when I updated to the latest version of iTunes, but I didn't enable it... hadn't had enough time to look into what it actually does.

So some of you are singin' the praises of Pandora, but does it play PODCASTS???

"Genius" is worthless. Just tried it on the song that was playing on my iTunes (Charlie Feathers' "Dig Myself a Hole" ) and it said it didn't recognize the track. If it doesn't recognize Charlie Feathers, I don't recognize Genius.

I do love shuffle mode though. Use it on my iPod and iTunes all the time. The Cramps goes into Fela Kuti, goes into Johnny Paycheck goes into Miles Davis. Only way to fly.

I agree! I listen to my pandora radio station in my car and it's awesome. I even got to hear some records that I don't own and want to buy in the future. I gave my friends the Don't Press Your Luck LP and didn't get a chance to listen to it. I heard it in Pandora :)

sounds like Pandora pulls it off better, even dishes up tunes you don't have and may not already know, a much more swell feature...

now they have Pandora for iphones... what more could ya ask fer? cool surprises on a totally commercial free radio station tweaked up just the way you like it... now THAT's genuis!

What does the JSBX,The Teen Kings, The Yardbirds, and Rosemary Clooney have in common?

iTunes "Genius"!

Yes. They are are included in a "personalized" playlist that that little Steven Hawking of iTunes built just for me!!

I honestly don't know why I authorized the little Einstein to pillage through my collection - being the highly paranoid guy I am... But, I did. Now I'm getting my kicks (no pun intended... Oh wait, yes it was) with these goofy playlists it makes.

Luckily, my music collection rules so I don't care what it plays... I'm guaranteed to dig it. But this "genius" don't know diddly abooot playlists.

Have you used it?
What do ya think; true genius, or lamebrain?

I am proud to be one of the youngest people at every doo-wop show I attend. And I do every chance I get. They are always lots of fun! Kenny Vance (& the Planotones -- check out their "Looking For An Echo") is tops for me, Dion, the Marvellettes, too, but there's so many greats. Shep & the Limelights, Larry Chance & the Earls, etc. Vocals. When you don't really need anything else. At their finest. Telling stories. Anywhere. Like this... (even on Shindig!) So yeah, I digs it.

with doo wop it's really a case of I gotta hear it for myself... too many geezer collectors out there willing to pony up big money for total schlock, more impressed by rarity than the quality of the song...

despite that, here's one rarity that I wouldn't mind dishin' a little dinero to have - Sun Ra's "Papa's Gonna Tell You No Lie"

One of the best comps I've ever bought was "Cruisin' The Drag" on Relic... It's a bunch of Oklahoma City vocal/doo wop groups that were on Wheel records. (One of the bands was named "The Sonics" which is why I bought it at the time, not paying much attention to the liner notes explaining how it was an entirely different group.)

the Checkmates "White Cliffs of Dover" -- it swings!

I LOVE doo-wop! I heartily recommend the Rhino Doo-wop box, four discs worth of greasy goodness.

I'd have to say that my favorite doo-wop tune has to be The Flamingos' "I Only Have Eyes For You." That brings back some pretty intense memories of early childhood from the 1950s (yes, kiddies, I'm an old fuck). I always see myself as 3 years old or so looking out the window on a rainy day, with that song coming over the radio like a voodoo chant.

Dion - Lovers who wander
Lou Reed - So Blue

Doo-what?

So I go through phases were I just can't get enuf of the vocal blasts ...croon or growl...swing or howl...I needs to get hip to mo' of thee dop-wop boppers! I made a MixWit fer my chick to give her an intro to the stuff (all favs of mine)...check it out here ...now I know all the cuts ain't strict doo-wop, but all are heavy on the vocal group sound...dig it? So what doo-wop gets y'all goin'?

Mournful news. A really great musician is gone. He will be missed.

This is very sad. I thought his keyboards added so much to the band's sound. Guess I'll put Piper At The Gates of Dawn on again.

Sad, I got this link this morning; http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/sep/15/pink.floyd.member.dies

Certainly Help Me by The Primitives & Ain't Got No Feelin' by Derek's Accent would be another two to add to the list.

Playlist Sep 14th:

18.00-18.45:

Ultravox - Young Savage

-70s kiwi punk-
Scavengers - Routine
Primmers - Funny Stories
Toy Love - Squeeze
Swingers - Baby
Suburban Reptiles - Saturday Night Stay At Home
Proud Scum - Suicide 2
Terrorways - Short Haired Rock'n'Roll
Features - City Scenes
Spelling Mistakes - Hate Me Hate Me
Marching Girls - True Love

Spider Babies - Jailbait
Mott The Hoople - Crash Street Kidds
Bauhaus - Stigmata Martyr
Reiko Ike - Koi No Dorei

19.30-20.30:

The Immortal Lee County Killers - Killer 45
Hiroshima Rocks - Raw Aids
Blowtops - Megalomonkey
Jacuzzi Boys - Ghost Ghost
A-Frames - Police 1000
Karate Party - Qaulity
Crash Normal - Yea Yea Yea
The Branded - Black Gold
The Omens - Make It Last
Menstruation Sisters - Untilted
MoHa! - It Burns Twice
King James and the Idiots - Asshole
Cheap Time - Permanent Damage
Cola Freaks - Nej
Psychedelic Horseshit - These Days
Jay Reatard - Night Of Broken Glass
Aron - Død Mand
Ear and Dark - California
The Snipers - Ud Og Bløde Med De Døde
Midlife Crisis - Raggare
Mark Sultan - Mortal Man
Gunslingers - Into The Garage
_________________

Hey, thanks! We agree!! ;)

Here's what I did for what it's worth ... email all your family & friends and pester them until they check it out. Get a Myspace site (I know, YUK! But it's free) and bulletin everybody and put your blog address all over your site. Put it in when you add comments to your friends until they get sick of it. I'm sure there's more ways than this, but it's a start!

ps - trade links with blogs you dig ... this actually works better than expected ....

Hey, my old band might reunite, so I made some new recordings. http://www.myspace.com/thesubatomics hope yall dig them rene

I found the doc touching, arty, and interesting, and without the pointed, cheesy feeling *mythologizing* of an era that infiltrates some punk rock docs. Joe Strummer and his politics are influenced by a certain time and place, but not necessarily bound by it. By the way, did anyone see the article on the Pop Rivets in the last Ugly Things, and Bruce Brand describes meeting the Clash in 1976, and how he felt kind of foppy in his long hair and flares? The influence they must have had, speaking at least of fashion, shows in the two pictures of Brand, one from 1976 and one marked "early 1978", with a totally different aesthetic going on. I love it!

I used to be a big metal fan. I liked a lot of the classic bands, i.e. Zeppelin, Sabbath, Deep Purple, Uriah Heep, Grand Funk Railroad, Mountain, KISS. I also liked the first wave of bands that came out of the 80s LA scene, i.e. Van Halen, Quiet Riot, Motley Crue, Ratt, Guns & Roses, along with bands that started in the 70s but didn't hit it big until the 80s, i.e. Twisted Sister, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden.

Nowadays I rarely if ever listen to metal, for several reasons. First off, many of those first wave bands get played to death on classic rock radio nowadays (Zeppelin in particular), so I've gotten sick of hearing them. Hair metal has been assimilated into that format too, which makes me like it even less. Second, I liked many of those LA bands back when I really didn't know any better. It's a little embarrassing for me to have to admit that I used to like such mediocre bands as Quiet Riot, Motley Crue and Ratt. Now I find them ridiculous. Third, I've grown to like stuff that's either poppy or rootsy, hence my current obsession with garage rock and power pop. I really wish I had gotten into the Ramones back when I was in high school, because they are a band that truly speaks to me.

However, I do have a few exceptions...I like UFO, because they're more of a cult band, and I still think "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns & Roses is a masterpiece. I also still like Aerosmith, Cheap Trick and Hanoi Rocks. All three bands tend to get lumped in with heavy metal, but I disagree with that. Aerosmith was a traditional rock'n'roll band rooted in blues; they were slightly heavier than the Stones, but not nearly as edgy as the New York Dolls. Cheap Trick was a power pop band that did sound heavier live, but I still don't think of them as metal. Hanoi Rocks almost defies classification, so I just think of them as a very cool rock'n'roll band, nothing else.