Hollywood, D.C. (No Recall)

to share some of the music I have recorded over the years in my little studio, which went from four to sixteen tracks. Now, don’t laugh. I am still using two 8-track ADAT machines mixed through a Mackie board to a CD mastering deck.

Yesterday, I finally took time out to listen to ALL the tracks you guys been uploading here, and got inspired to look for something appropriate to upload from my archives, because before I became an academic, I was a musician. Actually still am, but between my job and this 9/11 research project I am working on, there is little time for music now. :( Hopefully that will change in the near future, for someday (perhaps by August) my lengthy article on 9/11 will be completed.

Gretavo, I must say that your Gathering Rosebuds/Gyrl song is a really strong piece compositionally. I liked it a lot, and have played it several times. Pretty sad though. I think we have all been there at one time or another. I can hear Lennon and McCartney coming through. Those guys were absolutely monster songwriters and have pretty much influenced everybody, and they are excellent influences indeed. Their interesting chordal changes and little compositional surprises were always great. I still feel a great sadness at Johnny being shot. I think I cried for like 12 hours straight. If he were alive today, he would be a fierce voice for 9/11 truth.

This Hollywood, D.C. (No Recall) song here, with hammered dulcimer, bass, and drum machine, could have really used a guitar solo bridge or something in the middle to break it up a bit. Too bad Tahooey wasn’t living in my ‘hood back then in ’87. Oh well. Good version of “Ripple” from the classic “American Beauty” album, T. Nice.

FYI, those voices in the background fading in and out are all from recordings I made of the Iran-Contra hearings with Ollie North and the boys. And that Eliot Abrams guy, who was convicted of a felony at the end of the Iran-Contra investigations, somehow wormed his way back into the U.S. government to commit even further crimes on behalf of his home country of Israel. Is it necessary to have a felony on your record in order to be considered for a government job nowadays? Jeez.

As my dad would say, I have multiple talents except for the one to make money. It’s the artist-scholar curse, I suppose. Well I would always rather hang out down at the bars on the docks with musicians, revolutionaries, and the regular workin’ folks than hang out up at the palace anyways. Ancient Egyptian wisdom literature says that those who think that they are better than another simply because they possess more riches than another are fools, and that the gods truly pity their ignorant consciousness.

Yes, that is me singing, and although captured on tape 20 short years ago, I still haven’t lost my voice. It was also really good that I gave up smoking cigs about 5 years ago. Cigarettes - That’s why Sinatra sounded like shit at the end and Tony Bennett still sounds great.

And yeah, David Byrne. I saw Talking Heads during their “Stop Making Sense” tour. Completely great band. Great artists, all of ‘em. New York. CBGBs. I am so glad that Jonathan Demme captured that tour on film. I’m also a big fan of Brian Eno and Bill Laswell. So much good music out there. It is insane.