The Adventurers Club

Davy Jones

To say the Monkees had a huge influence on my musical tastes is an understatement. In the early 70's I inherited an almost complete collection of Monkees albums from my older sister. She had moved on to other things, but in 1970 I was just getting interested in music.

Though conceived as nothing other than a television pop band, the Monkees revolt against their creators to create the music they wanted to record was a revelation to me as a kid.

These albums were pop, rock, country, psychedelic, broadway, folk, and a little of everything else. It was a great introduction to music for anyone, but it was perfect for me. Almost everything I've listened to in the decades since has been judged against those albums.

Everyone from my high school will tell you I was a huge Beatles fan, but almost no one gets the fact that I only became a Beatles fan because in 1976 I'd run out of Monkees records to listen too. Sure, there was the yearly Nesmith album, and there was Dolenz, Jones, Boyce and Hart, but new music from the guys was pretty hard to come by.

The Beatles gave me a whole new listening experience, and a lot of new music to discover.

Yep, I'm a huge Beatles fan, but anyone that really knows me will tell you that the Monkees are the heart of my musical core.

Needless to say I was stunned at Davy's death. I knew at some point a Monkee would die, but I guess it never occured to me that it would be David, and I never expected it to be sudden. 

 

iTunes Salutes Davy Jones

It took me a while to write this, because I didn't know what to write, but a couple of days ago I was out of town and I stumbled across a small record shop. It was about 95% vinyl and they had a lot of great stuff.

I casually strolled to the section for Monkees records and flipped through the stack. All the normal stuff was there, the hits collections, and the Rhino reissues, but then something magical occurred.

The only Colgems album I didn't inherit from my sister sat right there in front of me, the hard to find, The Monkees Present.

The Monkees Present - Micky, David, Michael

I have both of the Rhino reissues, but I had never managed to grab an original Colgems copy of this album. Not only that, but it was in perfect condition.

Somewhere out there David Thomas Jones is smiling that this kid is still listening to his records, and still manages to get excited when he finds a "new" one.

Thanks David, Peter, Micky, and Nez. I'm sure you don't understand it either, but you made a really big difference in the life of this kid.

'til Jann Wenner puts the Monkees in the Hall of Fame

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

John Carter - Warlord of Mars

I loved the John Carter books as a teenager. Once I had been given the first book (A Princess of Mars) I quickly found and purchased the rest of them. It still remains my favorite science fiction series of all time, and I think it's Edgar Rice Burroughs best work, not Tarzan.

A Princess of Mars - Cover painting by  Michael Whelan

I was thrilled to hear Disney was making a feature film version of "A Princess of Mars", and even more thrilled when I found that the director of WALL-E and Finding Nemo, Andrew Stanton, was behind it.

John Carter - Marvel Comics Series

Much of my enthusiasm vanished when I saw Disney's marketing campaign.

Wow, the trailers released by Disney suck. Who are they marketing this film too?

I don't know if it's enough, but a group of fans have organized a campaign to save the film, and they've even created a trailer. This fan-made trailer is what Disney should have released.

Watch it. Share it. See the movie. See it twice.

'til Tars Tarkas is more famous than Han Solo

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Sheena Easton - The Lover in Me

Another Love Month Record of the Week and we go back to Sheena Easton.

After the failure of "Do You" to generate any big hits Sheena went back to her relaltionship with Prince, and it worked. "The Lover in Me" soared to number two on the single charts. It didn't last. None of the other singles from the LP had much impact and this was the last top ten single Sheena has had to date.

Too bad, two albums later, No Strings, might have been the best record she ever made.

My favorite part of the singles issued from this album? The B-Sides are instrumentals of the A-Sides. Instant Karaoke years before Karaoke was even created. Awesome. 

Sheena Easton - The Lover in Me - Picture Sleeve

 

Sheena Easton - The Lover in Me - Picture Sleeve Back

 

Sheena Easton - The Lover in Me - Vinyl Single

Sheena Easton - The Lover in Me - Instrumental

 

The "Lover in Me" live on Late Night.

 

'til Sheena makes another record like No Strings.

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Sheena Easton - Magic of Love

Love month continues and this Record of the Week is an obscure Sheena Easton single produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic fame.

From her Do You album, "Magic of Love" charted nowhere. It was pretty much a bomb in every country it was released.

I actually like this Nile Rodgers produced album, but unlike the Prince influenced material from a couple of years earlier, this record had little impact on the charts.

Sheena Easton - Magic of Love - Picture Sleeve

 

Sheena Easton - Magic of Love 

 

Sheena Easton - Magic of Love 

'til Sheena is Leaving Las Vegas

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

Shoot to Thrill - The All Female AC/DC Tribute Band

Friday night I took my youngest son to see Shoot to Thrill, an all-female AC/DC tribute band.

Going to the show was initially his idea. He definitely has my taste in music, and he's taken a particular shining to female rockers.

I had no idea what to expect, I haven't seen a lot of tribute bands, so it left me wondering? Were they going to try to look like AC/DC? Was one of them going to bounce around the stage like Angus in his schoolboy shorts?

The answer to both questions is no. These women definitely had their own style. The music was a note for note re-creation of AC/DC, but the rest of the show was a reflection of their own personality.

It wasn't a great crowd at Amos' Southend, but these women played with the enthusiasm of a headlining gig at Madison Square Garden, and they're good, very good.

If I have to pick out member of the band that particularly impressed me it would be Mags on lead guitar or Pamela on bass. These women could play with anyone. That's no slight to Wendy's vocals, or Susan's rhythm guitar, they too lit up the stage.

For this show they had a fill-in drumer from another tribute band, Appetite for Destruction. I give him lots of credit for just hanging with these ladies.

Currently Shoot to Thrill is touring in the southeast, and they are based out of Raleigh NC. If you're a fan of AC/DC, or women in rock, follow them on Facebook and check them out if they come your way.

Here's some video of the show. It's just phone video, Amos' Southend tends to freak if you bring in a good camera, so this was the best I could do. Personally I think bands would prefer higher quality videos of their shows instead of the multitude of phone videos, but maybe that's just me. Anyway, it's pretty decent video, so take a look.

Shoot to Thrill Performs "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap"

 

Mags on guitar

 

 'til Shoot to Thrill comes back to town

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom

KISS - Beth

This February Record of the Week is from KISS, and since we're attempting to tie all the songs  in to love month we went with "Beth", Peter's love song to his wife Lydia. 

Of course as the story goes the song was written long before KISS even existed, and the original title was "Beck" which wasn't about Lydia at all, but hey, the story sounds better if it's about Peter's former wife.

 

KISS - Beth - 45

 

KISS - Detroit Rock City - 45

 

KISS - Beth - Vinyl Single

 

KISS - Beth

 

Peter sings Beth live

 

'til Lydia gets a song with her name in the title

Keep the Adventure Alive,

@Adventuretom