Zappa (2020)

* What better day to watch a documentary (THE documentary! ) about the Sheik Yerbouthi of music, mr. Frank Zappa, the father of the Mothers of Invention and so many other mismashes and musical anarchies, jokes and revolutions ?

Cos in 1993, on Dec. 4th mr Zappa died, at the a very early age of 53 :(, so it's a cool commemoration right here. 

The film is made by Alex Winter, none other than Bill in the cult movies series Bill and Tedd,  which had a third fun entry this year (Bill and Ted Face the Music), but a director and documentary fillmaker in its own right. The doc, entitled Zappa, done for Showtime, is (til now) the most comperhensive document on the life and music of FZ. Fascinating stuff, especially for those who don't know much about FZ and are willing to learn. 

Highly recommended to FZ fans, music buffs  & the rest to whom it may Con-cern  ! 

RIP Hugh Keays-Byrne

The Toe Cutter and Immortan Joe has gone to the Wastelands forever...

Hugh Keays-Byrne who played the parts in George Miller's Mad Max series died on Dec. 1st at 73.  As described in a post, an unsung hero of Australian Cinema. Keays wasn't Australian born, he moved there in 1973. Film debut as Toad in the cult film, Stone in 1974. 

Obit in The Guardian here.

Alice Cooper "Rock & Roll" (SOTD)

Just one week ago this new Alice Cooper song was released, "Rock & Roll" , from the upcoming album Detroit Stories, out on February 26th 2021.  For  week i'm struggling to post this but finally...

---The song sounded familliar , sure, why ? Its a cover of the Velvet Underground song  "Rock & Roll" , composed by Lou Reed in 1969 and out in 1970 in the album Loaded and a part of his later repertoire. So, investigating further, co s Alice changes New York station with Detroit station, surely, where Rock n roll was heard by Jenny, when she was 5 years old :) . There was a cover by Mitch Ryder with his band Detroit in 1972, with Detroit instead of NYC on the lyrics. So Alice's cover is more this one than Lou.  For completists, there's also a Runaways (The) cover of this song, with LA station instead of the mentioned above. Can't wait for more of Alice's Detroit Rock n roll stories...

Jenny said when she was just five years old
There was nothin' happ'nin' at all
Every time she puts on the radio
There was nothin' goin' down at all, not at all
Then one fine morning, she puts on a New York station
You know, she don't believe what she heard at all
She started shaking to that fine, fine music
You know, her life was saved by rock and roll.

Accidentally Like a Martyr (SOTD)

 This just in, The War on Drugs released a cover of a legendary song by Warren Zevon, Accidentally Like a Martyr, so I have to post this as the song of the day, To-Day.  Its from their new live album,  DRUGS LIVE which will be released on Nov. 20.  Article in Pitchfork about this, here. 

The Warren Zevon iconic song was first published on his 1978 album Excitable Boy. Here is the original version.  

 “A song so simple and so true, you should ever be lucky to write a song that simple.”                                                                                                                                 Adam Granduciel  of TWOD