Old Year's Night

"New Year's Eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights."

Quote Of The Week

"I see it all perfectly; there are two possible situations — one can either do this or that. My honest opinion and my friendly advice is this: do it or do not do it — you will regret both."

'Tis The Season

"A holiday is when you celebrate something that's all

finished up, that happened a long time ago and now

there's nothing left to celebrate but the dead."

ؠؠØ

A.I.T.A. Flashback: Don't Believe In Christmas

45 Revolutions: Ivy Green

"Ivy Green were a dutch rock band who recorded a number of now hard to find records during their fifteen year life-span (1975-1990 approximately). They are well known to punk-rock collectors for their 1978 debut LP on Pogo/WEA, one of the most sought after Euro punk records. Sales were disappointing enough for the band to be dropped by their label, after which they went into hibernation for a couple of years, re-emerging in 1982. Most sources will tell you that this later line-up recorded nothing of real value and cite the addition of a brass section as proof of the bands artistic decline. Nonsense!

By 1982 the band were no longer playing '77 style punk-rock. They had moved on. They added a brass section and developed a garage rock sound not that dissimilar to The Saints. They had became one of the very small number of rock groups to successfully integrate a horn section and still rock. The band had not lost any of the incredible energy and flair for melody that was their hallmark. These mid-'80s records are fantastic, including a string of superb singles and one fantastic album in 1984 called The Quest. By the late '80s they had run out of steam and the next couple of records are nothing special, until Real Slow Burn which was a late return to form." [taken from The Journal of Scientific Discographical Analysis]

Download: "Wap Shoo Wap (I'm Sure We're Gonna Make It)"
(One-sided single, Pogo Ltd Records, 1978)

Quote Of The Week

"The only rational patriotism is loyalty to the nation all the time, and loyalty to the government when it deserves it."

Dropout Boogie

Don Van Vliet

Rest In Peace

"Terrible news: Don Van Vliet, the stupendous avant-garde bluesman, surrealist painter, and world-class eccentric, has died, as confirmed to multiple outlets by a rep from the Michael Werner Gallery, which often showed his work. He would've turned 70 in January." ... Story continues here: Captain Beefheart, RIP (Village Voice)

Dig: "Here I Am, I Always Am" (video, features Vliet artwork)

Reggae Got Soul!

Download: "Ain't No Sunshine" by Ken Boothe
Download: "Gypsy Woman" by Milton Henry

Label scan via DanceCrasher

Heartbreak Hotel

The Shore Hotel

Rest In Peace

"Coney Island’s Shore Hotel was built circa 1903 and demolished by Thor Equities on December 10, 2010. It took only a couple of days for the demo men to take down the century-old wood frame building. There’s nothing left but a pile of sticks to be hauled away." ... Story continues here: R.I.P Coney Island’s Shore Hotel, Henderson Next On Hit List (Amusing The Zillion)

Photograph (circa 1932) from Save Coney Island site

Quote Of The Week

"Human Dignity has gleamed only now and then and here and there, in lonely splendor, throughout the ages, a hope of the better men, never an achievement of the majority."

Smile

Quote Of The Week

"Men decide far more problems by hate, love, lust, rage, sorrow, joy, hope, fear, illusion, or some other inward emotion, than by reality, authority, any legal standard, judicial precedent, or statute."

A Coney Island Of My Mind #3

Photograph by Lee Greenfeld © 2010