Transmissions

Westerville, Ohio

Billy Idol - Hot In The City

Sun

Inniswood Gardens
Westerville, Ohio

Beach Boys - Surfin' Safari

I sure hope you like the Beach Boys. It ain't summer without them, and it's nothing but summer music of one sort or another through at least the end of this month, so you'll be seeing plenty of them.

Windmill

Inniswood Gardens
Columbus, Ohio

Here's the last part of Monkees week. The hit is Heart and Soul from their 1986 reunion album Pool It and the "unhit" is Circle Sky from the soundtrack to their 1969 movie, Head.

"Heart & Soul," though a hit, (and one that really takes me back to my senior year of high school) has not aged gracefully. The tinny '80s production values that I was so used to at the time are horrendous now, and the song (I feel so bad saying this, like I'm throwing my favorite old teddy bear in a bonfire) really is not good on its own. It's cute enough though, and they are, as always, charming.

"Circle Sky" is almost indescribable. It's a Mike song, but rock and roll, not country. It's got some pretty fuzzy production values, at least regarding the vocals, but despite that, it is very good and really stays with you. And I've got to say, for once? Davy's maracas are utterly necessary to the song.

Girl

Inniswood Gardens
Columbus, Ohio

Today's hit is (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone; the nonhit is I Can't Get Her Off My Mind. It's one of Davy's "Tin Pan Alley" songs. It's also an earworm; most of their songs were.

I slacked on posting one day last week, so I'll carry the Monkees over tomorrow as well. Friday's post will of course, be patriotic music, and then I will spend the rest of July posting summery music.

Fleurs

Inniswood Gardens
Westerville, Ohio

Today's Monkee hit is a Davy song; A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You and the more obscure song is Love Is Only Sleeping, from their fourth album, 1967's Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd.. Neither this album nor Headquarters hold quite as many hits as the first two, studio-controlled albums do, but they are infinitely better work. "Love Is Only Sleeping" is a Mike song, and despite that, there is barely a country tinge to be heard. There is, however, a maturity in the choice of material - and the execution of it - that wasn't there on even the last album.

One of the things I like so much about these guys is that the studio picked out four guys who were supposed to play a rock and roll band on a tv show who were supposed to be cute and nonthreatening and go along with whatever the studio wanted them to do, including act when told to and sing when told to, and pretty much make money and shut up about it. But what they got when they chose these four particular guys were two actors & two musicians who got along well enough - and had enough talent - to rebel and demand to be able to create their own music. The two actors learned what to do musically well enough, and the two musicians handled the acting well enough that they were charming and fun in front of either cameras or mikes. In other words, they could have just gone along with the gig as it was presented, gotten famous and made a ton of money, but instead they cared very much about what they were doing and wanted to take a hands-on approach, learn and succeed on their own merits. I have to admire that.

Inniswood Gardens
Westerville, Ohio

I am a longtime squeeing fangirl of the Monkees, and lately, for the first time in maybe 20 years, I've been getting my Monkee on again. So welcome to Monkees week. From now through next Wednesday, I will put up one of their more well-known hits accompanied by one of their lesser known gems.

Today's hit is I'm a Believer and the lesser known song is Sunny Girlfriend. Each Monkee had their own musical personality, and this is one of Mike's earlier songs, from the Headquarters album (the first one on which they were able to play their own instruments and choose their own songs); as the years went on, Mike's sound became more country-tinged. This is a cross between upbeat pop and a mild country sound.

Looking Up

Inniswood Metro Park
Westerville, Ohio


Parliament - Give Up The Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)

Westerville Florist

Westerville, Ohio

Warrant - Cherry Pie

United States Post Office

Westerville, Ohio

Favorite: Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra - One Mint Julep

Dave's

Westerville, Ohio

Motown: Rare Earth - I Just Want to Celebrate

Gifts Toys Hardware

Westerville, Ohio

Leonard Nimoy - If I Had a Hammer

Fall on the floor funny when it gets to the part where the patriotic music swells and he starts with the spoken word stuff. Well, funny and cringeworthy.