Monthly Archives: June 2013

Blog Etiquette

I’m just starting to get a feel for this, but I can already see what I DON’T want this blog to be.  I will post here when I have something to say, but not before.  I also will get the format down soon as well, i.e. putting the words by the pictures they belong with, etc.  Any helpful comments are appreciated.

I saw a sensitive artist’s blog post yesterday that exhausted me before the first sentence was done, and it was a million pages long.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but…

The Clams had a fantastic rehearsal last night, cos we got to do songs that have been on the periphery for a while.  We played 50 songs over the course of three gigs last weekend, so we got to see which songs haven’t been played in a while, if at all.  Good originals, and a couple groovy covers too.  As the guys were leaving it POURED down rain, and there was a fantastic lightning show too.  Is it ever gonna stop raining??

So if you’re “following” this blog, I hinted at some reviews of rock n roll books that I’ve read this year.  Gotta say, the most entertaining one was I AM OZZY.  Hilarious!  It was transcribed from tapes of Ozzy speaking, and so his English vernacular comes across very clearly- you can almost hear his accent!  And he is self deprecating and brutally honest about how stupid he can be, which is quite endearing.  Monika and I were both in tears reading parts of it.  I heard he’s back off the wagon…  I’d party with him.  Fun guy.  GREAT book.

As some of you may know, I tend to be a media magnet here in Wilmington.  Jude was on WHQR yesterday and when she mentioned to the host that she played with me Jemila was like “Oh, I know Jeff!”  Then this morning the Penguin played my desert island set- Peaches En Regalia, Changing of The Guards, and Walk On- a nice bunch of tunes to get up and go to work to.  So, I will toot my own horn here, I just won’t reach down into the depths of my soul, or whatever.

(How come there aren’t automatically tags for stuff??)

My own private Pandora.

Hulu?  Pandora?  Spotify?  They’re stealing my act.

I’ve been mixing music for my friends since the dinosaur days of low bias 45 minute cassette tapes.  Many of them STILL EXIST; some of them still play.  Nowadays my mixes come on a cd, but once I finish they are DONE- immovable, written in stone, complete.

Back in the old days of cassettes, one pass was all you got- I very rarely re-sequenced them.  Now a typical cd mix could take up to TEN passes before it’s straight- currently the one I’m working on is going on its eighth incarnation.

Music streaming sites are a cool idea, unless you already have a massive base of music from which to draw without leaving your desk.  They are somewhat personal, in that you can “pick” the genre or artists that you dig and discover some other stuff just like it, but if you were my friend and I made you a mix you’d get 18 to 20 hand-picked songs that would go all over the map while either trying to convey some sentiment, explore a theme, quietly push the boundaries of your musical tastes, all the while ensuring smooth transitions…  Hey, does that sound familiar? I don’t put commercials in mine, either… at least not yet.  🙂

So, for all of the folks around the globe who at one time or another were handed a cassette or a cd along with a list of songs, you can bet that each one took planning, time, and effort.  If you have one, dig it out, find a cassette player that works, and plug into your own private Pandora.

Welcome to Jeff Sanchez- Words and Music

Image

It’ll be words about music: reviews of music books, music films, reviews of books about music films, and the local Wilmington music scene. I’ve been listening to and collecting records for almost forty years, and since my lovely wife Monika has reached DEFCON 1 in her ability to listen to me anymore I have finally begun blogging. I play with at least two local bands here in Wilmington, and sometimes three- The Clams, Upstarts and Rogues, and the famous Allen Glaser Project.

I watched “Yellow Submarine” the other night after picking up “Inside the Yellow Submarine” by Dr. Robert Hieronimus.  I saw it with new eyes, because the book emphasizes the animators rather than the subjects. Finished in 11 months, the film represents work that usually takes 4-5 years, in the case of most Disney films. It was liberating to watch the film after reading this book, since I now saw it as an amazing piece of work by little known and under-appreciated animators and designers, rather than a silly kids movie by the Beatles.   And the remastered soundtrack is worth the price of admission alone.
The book itself seems to have had a limited publication, and boasts tons of new inside information and interviews with the people responsible, largely in their own words. Read the book and re-watch the movie- highly recommended. And has anybody noticed the “pair of Funky Boot Beasts” scene with Ringo?? Cyndi?? Harvey??
Since the beginning of this year I’ve read at least 15 rock n roll biographies or auto biographies- Cyndi Lauper, Jerry Garcia, Mama Cass, Howard Kaylan, Frank Zappa (Pauline Butcher Bird), OZZY, Mackenzie Phillips, etc., and in my next post I’ll give some synopses from my synapses. Just what the world needs- another rock n roll blog.