To Lynch or not to Lynch

As I was driving home last night, a local theater had “RIP David Lynch” posted on the marquee. That sucks. However, the bright side is the distinct director’s legacy of films is still out there for all of us to experience. I say experience (as opposed to enjoy) because David Lynch films are definitely not the choice of the mainstream. Personally, I love some of his films, but not everyone does.

Surreal, disturbing, bizarre, and dreamlike are words used to describe his films or define the term “Lynchian”. The bottom line is you really have to watch and experience his films to really appreciate it.

Here are some other random thoughts on Lynch:

  1. If you’re pressed for time and want to dip your toe into the Lynchian world, I recommend watching “What Did Jack Do?” (2017). It’s your basic black and white film noir involving a talking monkey. It’s also a short film. After all, “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey”.

2. My introduction to David Lynch was via a college friend known as “King Couch Potato”. He mentioned how wild or off-the-wall the film “Blue Velvet” (1986) was so I had to check it out. I had never seen anything quite like it. This one is probably my favorite David Lynch film. This is a wild ride — even by Dennis Hopper standards.

3. During college I had an extended Christmas break. As I was filling up my car at a gas station, a stream of liquid started spraying the side of the vehicle. I was extremely puzzled because it wasn’t raining and I wasn’t near a faucet or any type of water source. Then, the gas pump started spinning around! What happened was the guy on the other side of the pump tried to drive off with the pump handle in his gas tank. That feeling of bewilderment I had was how I might describe watching a David Lynch film.

4. One thing I find interesting is both David Lynch and other notable film director Akira Kurosawa both had training as painters. I think that may explain the tremendous visual appeal to what I would call their film genius.

There is a whole lot more to David Lynch’s wild world of film so there may be more in the future.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Lightning Rod Conductor?

When you think about Rod Stewart, what is the first thing that pops to mind? Is it…one of his numerous hit songs …the spiky bedhead hairdo… his supermodel ex Rachel Hunter…guitar collaborators like Ronnie Wood and Jeff Beck? What about…model trains????

I recently learned Stewart is not only a model train enthusiast, but has a major project he’s been working on for years — it’s apparently an American cityscape from the 1940s. Not only that, but he has also brought the project on his concert tours with him and rents a second suite so he can work on it.

Is that why Stewart covered a song like “People Get Ready” by Curtis Mayfield?

And, yes, Jeff Beck is on the video and recording. (Stewart also recorded “Downtown Train”, which was written by Tom Waits. ) I read an article about the 80-year-old Stewart’s model train hobby when it came across a random news feed. There are plenty of articles about it if you’d like to learn more.

Because this is a shorter blog entry I’m including Rod Stewart’s cover of “Sweet Little Rock n Roller” by Chuck Berry. That, and I just really dig Chuck Berry.

Here’s hoping you get a chance to blast some rock music while pursuing your favorite hobby.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Thicket-tallica?

When you hear the name James Hetfield you probably think of the band Metallica, right? He’s the lead singer-guitarist who is usually angrily barking out the lyrics. However, Hetfield has actually acted in a couple of movies in recent years. Case in point is the TUBI original movie called “The Thicket”. Hetfield rounds out a cast which also includes Peter Dinklage (the little dude from “Game of Thrones”) and Juliette Lewis who plays a gender bending gunslinger named Cutthroat Bill. Since the film is a pretty wild ride, I’m sharing Metallica’s “FUEL”.

If you watch “The Thicket”, you’ll see in the first 5 minutes it’s pretty bizarre. There’s a love story, an inheritance story, a kidnapping story, and a random motorcycle in the Old West. The film isn’t as trippy as Jim Jarmusch’s “Dead Man”, but it’s definitely as weird. “The Thicket” was directed by Elliott Lester and is based on the book of the same name by Joe R. Landsdale.

As for James Hetfield, he has a few lines in “The Thicket”, but in an interview I read, he seemed to indicate he doesn’t really enjoy acting all that much. He plays a deputy in this film and previously played a lawman in “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”, which is a bio-pic about serial killer Ted Bundy.

Here are my alternate titles for this blog entry:

-Thicket to Ride

-Yeah, that’s the Thicket

-I’ve got a Golden Thicket

-Two Thickets to Paradise

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Prison Facial Follicles

As I wait out the winter weather in my area, I find myself searching for something interesting to stream on one of the free networks. Recently, I re-watched “Shot Caller” (2017) which is basically a prison movie. More specifically, it’s about a regular guy (played by Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) with a wife, house, and a son who keeps moving up the prison status food chain. He proves to be what REO Speedwagon called one of the “Tough Guys”.

Since it’s set in prison, there is no shortage of tattoos, violence, nicknames, and facial hair. Starting with the nicknames you have characters named Bottles, Money, Chopper, Howie, Redwood, The Beast, and even Ripper. (Ripper is played by former UFC fighter Keith Jardine who has been announced as “The Dean of Mean.”)

There are some other familiar faces in the film including Jon Bernthal who plays a hyperactive, annoying suck-up, Holt McCallany (“Mindhunter”), and Benjamin Bratt (“Law & Order”). I don’t want to say Bratt’s moustache is bad, but it looks like a tarantula decided to take a nap on his upper lip. If you can get past that, it’s an interesting watch with some great drama. “Shot Caller” was written and directed by Ric Roman Waugh.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Snow Panic, No Panic

It’s officially 2025, so let me be the first to congratulate you on surviving 2024. I’ve spent most of the morning of New Year’s Day procrastinating on my resolutions of fitness and cleaning house, but that’s life. One small distraction for the time being is the weather. The first snow of the year for the Kansas City metro is on the radar for this weekend. Do you know what that means for some of us? Panic.

I don’t really get it, but the TV news folks want us to run amok based on the POSSIBILITY of snowfall and accumulation. Here’s a news flash for you. It’s January and we’re in the Midwest. Snowfall comes with the territory. It may look like nuclear fallout, but it’s just a little snow, okay? One resolution I can definitely achieve this year is this one. “I resolve not to panic about snowfall or the potential for snowfall during the year 2025.” Take it away, Twisted Sister.

I wonder if lead singer Dee Snider agrees with me? By the way, I also found this punk cover of the same tune by a group called Anti-Nowhere League. It speeds up around the 1:20 mark.

The song “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” was written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. One interesting thing about it is there’s no mention of Christmas, Jesus, dreidels, or panic. I think we should just go with that thought.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Schoolin’ the Fish

Once in awhile a song comes along that has mass appeal to a wide audience, and sometimes that song crosses genres. The song of which I’m speaking is “3 Strange Days” by School of Fish. I suppose some would label it “alternative rock”, but it also has a psychedelic feel to it as well. I was in college in 1991 when this song was getting airplay on MTV. I can’t remember if I bought the cassette tape or dubbed it off one of my buddies, but I always loved this song.

The version posted here is the album version with the longer intro, which I’ve always enjoyed. However you want to classify this song… it IS a ROCK song with a steady drum beat and driving electric guitars. There’s also the main guitar riff, which adds to the trippy feel of the song. (For guitar nerds: I watched a guitar instruction video on how it’s played. It’s in dropped D tuning and there is also tapping and string muting involved.)

By the way, this is the only song I know with the lyric “simulated wood grain” in it. It was written by School of Fish band members Michael Ward & Josh Clayton-Felt. The band put out a second album which didn’t fare as well as the first. Sadly, Clayton-Felt died of cancer while still in his 30s.

I suppose the song gets the “one hit wonder” label put on it as well, but what a song!

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Lost in the Frost

I’ve been debating on when to stop blogging about the Christmas holidays. You never want to go a bridge too far, right? I’m not quite there yet, but once it’s over, I’ll have to think of something topical for New Year’s. (I’ve already used “Ding Dong, Ding Dong” by George Harrison in the past.)

Recently, I scrolled through some holiday viewing options and stopped on the 1979 TV special called “Jack Frost”. Buddy Hackett voiced the Groundhog character, but my favorite character on the show is Kubla Kraus.

Paul Frees handled the voice of Kubla Kraus and also Father Winter. As you might imagine, the story and the show don’t have the staying power of say Rankin/Bass Production stablemate Rudolph, but it still features that same amazing world of stop motion animation. What really swayed my decision to mention this TV special is it gave me an excuse to include Albert Collins’ blues instrumental “Frosty.”

So if you’re seeking another dose of holiday viewing cheer, you have another choice…but be warned Kubla Kraus has some sort of metallic mini-me puppet as well…so it’s not only Frosty, it’s Freaky!

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Ol’Jingle Eyes

I feel like I’m behind on listening to Christmas music this year. I’ve been turning on the all- Christmas-all-the-time station, but not too much has grabbed me. However, one tune is stuck in my head. I feel like I heard it on a movie soundtrack, but can’t place which one. In any event, I’m talking about Frank Sinatra’s version of “Jingle Bells.”

I immediately knew this song was recorded during the 1940s when I heard the peppy arrangement. The prominent background vocals reminded me of The Andrew Sisters, but it’s actually a group called The Ken Lane Singers. Lane was the pianist on The Dean Martin show. (The Andrews Sisters were in some Abbott & Costello films I watched as a kid.) For some added holiday cheer, I’m including “The Sinatra Group” SNL skit featuring Phil Hartman as Sinatra.

Getting back to the song, it makes me wonder who did the arrangement on this one. Was it Ken Lane? It’s only a two minute recording, but there’s plenty of production on it. That “j-i-n-g-l-e bells” line really gets stuck in your head. The only thing left to say is, hopefully P. Diddy wasn’t involved.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Blue-Nosed Reindeer

Christmas 2024 is fast approaching so that means extra…shopping…socializing…and stress. I guess the silver lining for me is Christmas music — especially, what I would consider the classic songs. Today I was shopping for cold medicine and Chinese food when I heard a couple of interesting Christmas tunes on the grocery store’s overhead speakers. I heard a slide guitar and a familiar vocal on Train’s version of “Blue Christmas.”

I have to say I like their take on it. I believe this track is only available on the Deluxe Edition of their “Christmas in Tahoe” album. By the way, Pat Monahan is the guy handling lead vocals. I don’t know if any recording will ever surpass the Elvis version, but the bluesy slide guitar is a nice touch.

Speaking of bluesy, there are two Fender guitars that have me salivating this year. If I had my way, Santa would bring both the “Limited Edition Paranormal Esquire® Deluxe” in blue sparkle finish and the “Limited Edition Paranormal Strat-O-Sonic™” in sapphire blue down the chimney with him. Naturally, his sleigh would be pulled by a blue nosed reindeer. I’m sure he’d be listening to something like “Christmas Blues” by Canned Heat.

There’s also an extended eight minute version of this one out there. I can only hope some creative individual will create a Blue-Nosed Reindeer stop motion animation special to go along with the bluesy soundtrack.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Chuddy Dolenz Thanksgiving

I was searching for an appropriately “thankful” song or theme for Thanksgiving this year, then it came it to me via an 80s cult film. Maybe this is a stretch, but stay with me…

I turned on the 1984 film “C.H.U.D.” which is about Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers living in the New York City underground sewer system. I saw a guy in one scene (an actor named Gene O’Neill) and thought he looked a lot like Micky Dolenz from The Monkees.

What do you think? In any event, I searched through Micky Dolenz’s solo recording catalog and found a version of “My Favorite Things” from “The Sound of Music”.

I’m not big into musicals, but I enjoyed listening to his take on this song. It’s a grateful/thankful song, right? Dolenz also has an album of all R.E.M. covers.

As for the movie, “C.H.U.D.” has a lot of familiar faces in it including a brief scene with John Goodman and Jay Thomas. Another of the actors is Daniel Stern who plays what I will call Skinny Sleeveless 1980s Dude. (Ralph Macchio rocked this phenomenon to much bigger success.) The film’s storyline involves nuclear waste and fighting off those cannibalistic humanoids, etc. It was directed by Douglas Cheek.

In conclusion, this movie made realize how thankful I am for my own world of movies, music, and turkey. Who knows what next year will bring?

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!