Foggy Toasted Town

British Humor — I can’t say I love or hate all of it, but there is one show I highly recommend. “Toast of London” stars Matt Berry as actor Steven Toast. Toast is a portly, middle-aged dude with a skunk stripe in his hair and a moustache. He’s normally dressed in all black…perhaps that’s to mourn is acting career woes. Many, if not all, of the episodes start with Toast supplementing his income while he does voiceover work. At the studio he has to deal with two hipsters. The main one goes by the moniker of “Clem Fandango”. As you might imagine, the show is set in London, England. The Byrds’ tune “Eight Miles High” was inspired by the band’s flight into said town.

The only show I can remotely compare to “Toast” might be “Seinfeld” in terms of its sheer zaniness. It’s off the wall. A few plot lines involve Toast trying to join the Freemasons, his manager Jane falling back into her L.S.D. addiction, and a homeopath performing an exorcism on one of Toast’s house guests. Toast is always auditioning for various roles and is always encountering his nemesis Ray “Bloody” Purchase. Toast’s affair with Mrs. Purchase probably doesn’t help either.

The show was created by Matt Berry and Arthur Matthews. It was directed by Matt Cumming. Currently, you can view “Toast of London” free of charge on The Roku Channel. By the way, Matt Berry also composed the show’s theme song and has released several of his own albums.

Here are some alternate titles for this blog post:

  1. A Post about Toast
  2. London Toast is Falling Down
  3. Toast is the Most (from coast to coast)
  4. Down by the Whipping Toast
  5. Toasted, Not Stirred

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Scorchin’ Summer Songs

It’s officially sum-sum-summertime and where I live it’s HOT! I feel like I hit the summer doldrums early this year — the warm weather has zapped some of my motivation. That said, I have some recommended listening to bring up my mood and yours. I would have sworn I already shared this one, but the first song which pops to mind is The Who’s take on “Heat Wave.”

I dig John Entwistle’s bass playing on this one and his backing vocals with Pete Townshend. The original version was by released by Martha & the Vandellas in 1963 and was written by the Motown songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland. You have about 80 or more other versions to choose from including Phil Collins, Linda Ronstadt, Joan Osborne, The Jam, and The Nighthawks to name a few.

In my opinion, one of the best musical lyrics written about summertime presumably came from songwriter extraordinaire John Sebastian. The line is, “Hot town, summer in the city Back of my neck gettin’ dirty and gritty” from “Summer in the City” by The Lovin’ Spoonful.

Sebastian shares the songwriting credits with his brother Mark Sebastian and bandmember Mark Boone. Apparently Boone and John Sebastian both contributed to keyboards on the recording along with Artie Schroeck. I like the traffic jam sound effects in the tune as well. Here’s hoping your staying cool.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Bandido Bear

During a recent round of channel surfing, I came across Billy Bob Thornton and Greg Kinnear acting in the 2005 version of “The Bad News Bears.” It got me thinking about the original one from 1976. I think I might have seen that in the theater with my cousins, but that was a lonnnggg time ago. I didn’t remember too much about it. There was Walter Matthau as the heavy drinking baseball coach Buttermaker and Tatum O’Neal as ace pitcher/tomboy Amanda. However, I had completely forgotten about the cigarette-smoking, motorcycle-riding, anti-hero athlete named Kelly Leak (played by Jackie Earle Haley). He really channeled his inner James Dean for this role.

I always loved the guitar on that Eagles song. The progression also reminds me a bit of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock” (another bad ass rebel in his own right.) One thing that jumped out at me about the original “Bad News Bears” was the appearance of so many then-popular chain restaurants like Pizza Hut, Denny’s, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. They’re still around, but not like they used to be. There’s also plenty of arcades, which I vividly remember from that time period.

What else? How about the loads of inappropriate humor in the film, which I found to be hilarious. Things were certainly different then. If you ever had the pleasure of playing team sports as a kid, you can probably remember the standout athletes who were very mature for their age, too. I can remember one who played for St. Sabina — they were like the Catholic Youth Council’s Oakland Raiders where I grew up.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

A Slicker Shade of Blue

Dear Color of Blue, How do I love thee…let me count the ways. You have so many shades and cool things associated with you…like blues music and St. Louis Blues Hockey. Recently, I came across a brilliant shade of blue featured by Slick Guitars. (Named after studio musician and guitarist Earl Slick. More in a moment.) Another cool thing is I found this guitar demo of the SL56 model by Blues Guitar Badass R.J. Ronquillo.

Such vivid color! Slick Guitars also has a Telecaster style guitar in a blue finish as well.

I wasn’t familiar with Earl Slick until the past few years when I cam across his guitar line. However, he has played with some big names as both a studio and touring musician. Names like David Bowie and John Lennon. He also partnered with Slim Jim Phantom and Lee Rocker when the Stray Cats disbanded. They even played on American Bandstand!

The video clip is an interesting time capsule of sorts. Very 80s in its own way. Plus, I think it’s the first time I’ve seen Lee Rocker playing an electric bass and not his usual standup. By the way, I haven’t played a Slick Guitar, but it sure looks like fun. They’re priced very affordably.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Jimi Hussar Experience?

An image of Jimi Hendrix popped into my mind today. It wasn’t really a certain song or a piece of concert footage. It was actually one of his iconic fashion “looks.” I started thinking about the dark colored military jacket you might have seen him wear. Apparently, this is associated with light cavalry units called “hussars“, which originated in Hungary. Give Jimi some credit, this is a pretty unique look. It’s almost as unique as the title cut from “Are You Experienced.”

You gotta love the fuzzy, psychedelic guitar on this track.! Hendrix devotee Eric Johnson also recorded this one and broke out his own hussar jacket for his performance.

While you can really out-Jimi, Jimi Hendrix, you can tell Johnson did his homework on this one. Getting back to the jacket, I guess a “dolman is either a military shirt, or a jacket decorated with braiding. ” The braiding is called “passementerie.” Thank God for Wikipedia!

You can actually purchase a Jimi Hendrix Funko Pop! figurine adorned with the aforementioned jacket — that is, unless you want to buy your own for trips to the grocery store.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Hold It, Mac

I had a Fleetwood Mac song pop into my head recently. This one is really more of a Christine McVie led song and not Stevie Nicks. The song I’m talking about is called “Hold Me” from 1982’s album “Mirage.” It’s a pretty generic song title, but it has a really catchy pop chorus on it and some good lyrics. This song came my way via MTV and featured an abstract, desert setting video. Mick Fleetwood was digging up drumsticks in the sand, etc. It was directed by Steve Baron.

McVie cowrote the song with songwriter Robbie Patton. The final version featured McVie sharing lead vocals with bandmate Lindsey Buckingham, but an earlier version without Buckingham’s lead vocals is an interesting listen. The chorus lyrics are slightly different, too.

I feel like this version has a more R & B vibe and you can hear the piano much more clearly. There’s also a distinct Stevie Nicks’ “yeah yeah” around the 1:50 mark. The chorus is a lot catchier on the final version. Thanks to YouTube, you can also check out the version with isolated vocals.

My favorite line in the song is “You hold the percentage, but I’m the fool payin’ the dues” which has a nice bit of vocal phrasing at the end. If I’m not mistaken, “Hold Me” even climbed higher in the charts than the Stevie Nicks penned tune “Gypsy.” By the way, you can also find a version of the cowboy song “Cool Water” from bassist John McVie around the same time period.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Riffin’ on Diddy

In case you missed it, Sean “Diddy” Combs is on trial for sex trafficking. What do I think? I say he’s innocent until proven guilty, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little fun with his numerous aliases. He is known as the aforementioned “Diddy”. He has also been known as “Puff Daddy”, AKA “Puffy.” Man, that’s almost as many aliases as John Cougar Mellencamp! Here are some of my immediate and hopefully comedic alternative suggestions on his name(s).

  1. Diddy or Didn’t He? I’ll be surprised if that hasn’t been a newspaper headline to date.
  2. Puff Doodie. What does Diddy’s dog do or is it dog doo? He could sell officially licensed pooper scoopers to offset his legal fees.
  3. Katydiddy. In case he ever wants to get his inner Kafka on and run around like a bug.
  4. H.R. Did-N-Stuff. When I was in 4th grade, I was out sick for a week or more. When I returned, I found my classmates had started playing this bizarre record “H.R. Pufnstuf” in art class. I wanted to do a double Van Gogh and cut off both ears.
  5. Maybe we should just call him “Manfred”?

6. In keeping with the musical theme, maybe “Diddie Wah” would be more appropriate?

7. How about a t-shirt with Mr. T on it? “I Pity the Diddy.”

8. Another t-shirt idea: Don’t tase me, Diddy! It’s a stretch, but thinking about that guy cracks me up.

9. Sean “Brushy” Combs. I wonder if he got called this on the playground?

10. Supercalifragilisticexpial DIDDY osous. This would only apply when it’s raining or he’s sweeping chimneys.

11. TAFKAD: The Artist Formerly Known As Diddy. I’m going to let him come up with his own non-verbal symbol for this one and hope it’s G-Rated. Or should it be TAFKADWFKAPD: The Artist Formerly Known As Diddy Who Was Formerly Known As Puff Daddy?

12. Cheesy Poof Daddy. He could advertise these snacks during South Park.

If I think of more, I’ll let you know.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

J.D. Who? — Word Search Included

I watched a film about J.D. Salinger…the author of “The Catcher in the Rye” today and it got me thinking about famous people who go by the moniker of “J.D.” In Salinger’s case, the letters actually stand for Jerome David, which is an interesting bit of trivia I most likely won’t remember. Friends of his in the film refer to him as “Jerry.” I thought about doing a series on him, but I don’t know that it will happen. Some considered him to be reclusive after the success of his aforementioned book. Apparently, people kept tracking him down and treating him like their own personal 8-ball fortune teller. “The Seeker” by The Who seems appropriate here.

Next on the list is J.D. Souther (pronounced SOUTH err). To me, he’s best known as a songwriter and an associate of The Eagles and penned “How Long”, which they recorded. The song was originally released on his album “John David Souther.”

Souther also co-wrote a number of other Eagles hits and worked with Linda Ronstadt. Apparently he did some acting a long the way and also grew up in Amarillo, TX.

Perhaps the best known “J.D.” of all time would be Jack Daniel, the Tennessee distiller whose name appears on the black and white label which bears his name. I don’t know if he people ever called him “J.D.”, but it would have been shorter than his actual name of Jasper Newton “Jack” Daniel.

As a Mother’s Day bonus, I have included a word search which includes the last names of the three famous dudes named “J.D.” My mom likes word puzzles.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

There’s a Place…

I’ve seen a couple episodes of the American TV show “Mysteries of the Abandoned” and I have to say… it’s my kind of party. I can’t tell you exactly how many episodes I’ve seen, but the one I happened to see today has a few freaky structures which really grabbed my attention. The first one is located in Nekoma, North Dakota and is officially known as the “Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex”, but I think of it as the “Nekoma Pyramid.”

Apparently, it was created for use as a missile launch site. I wonder if the Egyptians had the same vision with their pyramids or of this is purely a ‘Murican concept. Also, would it be considered a “Safe Space” nowadays? It has a couple of big circles on it, which I believe were some sort of radar devices.

The second set of structures is a really interesting looking leftover from World War II. The Maunsell Forts were built in England’s Thames and Mersey Rivers. and are also known as “Red Sands Sea Forts” .

In my opinion, they look like something out of a monster or sci-fi movie…maybe War of the Worlds? There are army and navy style forts. The army styled forts are the ones pictured here which look like they could walk off at any minute. Years later they were used by pirate radio stations in the U.K., which only added to their cool history. I wonder how much longer they will keep standing…

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!

Maschinenmensch

Are there certain films, books, TV shows, albums one should know? Yes, I think there are. If nothing else, it makes for great discussion when you meet someone who has different taste than your own. One film I’ve been meaning to watch for a while is Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”(1927). If you’re like me, you’ve probably seen clips of it or heard about it, but might not have watched the entire hour and 54 or minutes of it — that or maybe you’re just not into silent German sci-fi. The title of this blog is taken from a robotic character in the film so I’m including Bush’s “Machinehead” in its honor.

So what’s the deal with “Metropolis”? Even though it’s in black and white, it’s a visually striking film. (I don’t know if Ted Turner ever considered colorizing it.) Trying to describe some of the skyline buildings won’t do it justice. “Very artistic” is the best I can do. The storyline has elements of Frankenstein, upper vs. lower class, and man vs. machine. Apparently, it’s in the public domain so it’s ripe for the picking.

The film has been restored/re-released a few different times and with different music to boot. There’s a 1984 version with songs from Jon Anderson (Yes), Freddie Mercury, Loverboy, and more. “Metropolis” has had a lasting impact in popular culture. Apparently, Star Wars character C-3PO was inspired by the aforementioned “Maschinenmensch”. There are plenty of other works inspired by the film as well.

Till next time, keep your Mojo on the Horizon!