The Banana Splits Theme Song

I have a wonderful memory of this song, drinking cheap wine and listening to this song over and over again with my friend John. Singing along, each time more boisterous than the last (could it have been the TJ Swann loosening us up?). Yes, we were (around) drinking age, sometimes being silly is a liberating feeling. The Banana Splits was a live-action Hanna Barbera show from 1968-1969, one that missed me until my friend transfered his scratchy 45 to cassette and turned me on to them. . I was more into Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. This one is for John:


EDIT: Man, I thought that Sigmund and the Sea Monsters show was cool:

Hello, Hooray!

"Hello, Hooray
Let the lights go dim
I've been ready..."

Did I tell you that Alice Cooper is playing the Pageant tonight? I did? Good.




Here's a great song, but man Alice was messed up looking in 1981:

Alice Cooper- Serious

Don't forget Alice at the Pageant tomorrow night.

"From the Inside" (1978) was written after Alice spent his first major stint in rehab, which was basically an asylum. If you have read the previous post, you know that it didn't stick and he really started to spiral out of control in the early eighties. The album is semi-autobiographical and features some strong songwriting, especially in the lyrics department, as he was co-writing with Bernie Taupin.

Loved by many Alice Cooper fans, myself included, the album didn't do as well as expected. I remember seeing it in the cut-out bins all the time, and being bewilder why every household didn't have one of these works of genius (hey, I was 15, I didn't know any better). The song "Serious" featured Rick Nielson on guitar. Here's a live version, with Alice looking lean and hungry:

Alice Cooper Week Continues: Clones

In the early 80's Alice really wasn't doing well with alcohol. He really doesn't talk much about the music for this era, which included "Flush The Fashion", "Special Forces", and "Zipper Catches Skin". The albums aren't necessarily heavy and have a good dose of humor and some new wave feel to some of the songs. Since he's basically disowned them and they are hard to find, it should come as no surprise that I consider them lost classics for Alice fans.

Here's the French video for Clones (We're All), from "Flush The Fashion". Alice isn't looking too healthy in this one:

The Morning Benders Sing Some Of Their Favorite Covers

The Morning Benders are a great little band from the Bay Area, one that has a fun lo-fi feel. They've just released a digital album of covers. Here's an MP3 link of their cover of Roy Orbison's "Crying".

If you like what you hear, you can go to their blog and download the rest of the album. It includes covers of Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, the Smiths, and many more. Here's an except of what they have to say about the recording:

"these songs sound the way they do, because we recorded them with a laptop and one mic. we used mainly acoustic guitars and shakers because that's what we had lying around, and we couldn't make much noise in our apartment anyway. we didn't spend time arranging any of these either. we learned the chords and the lyrics (which was pretty easy because we've heard all these songs hundreds of times), and we played 'em. what you hear at the basis of the recording is generally a first take. sometimes we added some background vocals or another guitar part here or there, because the songs we were covering had a lot more going on than us, and we were feeling a bit inadequate…

but hey, you're always fighting a losing battle when you're recording covers, because 99.99% of the time the cover isn't going to be as good the original. well, for the record, let it be known that none of our covers are as good as the originals. that's part of why we wanted to give all these tracks away for free. if you haven't heard one of these songs before, you should go out and buy it from the original artist, RIGHT NOW. disclaimer aside: if you want to hear some kids having a lot of fun playing some of their favorite songs ever, check these out.

love,
the morning benders"

Alice Cooper This Thursday

Here's some Alice on the Muppet Show singing "School's Out" to get you ready for Thursday's show at the Pageant:


And here's Mr. Cooper for president. Monkeys that smoke are always funny:


And one more, shilling for Staples:

Andy McKee plays the guitar like ringing a bell

So it seems that Andy is a Youtube sensation, with over 15 MILLION hits to this video, but I've been under an old skool rock and have never heard of him until now. Watching him play in his unique style is captivating:


I like that his influences range from Metallica, Iron Maiden, Michael Hedges, Bjork, to Tchaikovsky, to Toto(?) and the Mothers of Invention. His Myspace page can be found here.

How many other musicians are out there that are off-the-charts talented that we've never heard of? It's amazing how the internet becomes the great leveler, but also ends up overwhelming us with so much choice.

It's awesome that a guy from Topeka, Kansas can be such a sensation. It seems that the internet has not only taken a chunk of the big music label power away and given it back to the people, but it has also taken some of the power away from the big cities like New York, or LA. Used to be you practically HAD to move to a big market to be "discovered", but now you can send out the electronic call, and end up playing for fans as far away as Hamburg. Cool.

A Little Something For All The Ladies Of The World

For your Friday. How about that 'stache? Epic. Enjoy, you sexy ladies: