ALBUMS
- THE CLASH: THE CLASH: 1977: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: One of the handful of greatest punk albums ever. The songs on The Clash’s debut are short and to the point- except for Police And Thieves which is over 6 minutes. This is the most punk album The Clash released in their short time together as a band. Their second album would have a slicker production feel to it. Fourteen great songs- be sure to get the UK edition and not the US edition of the album.
- KRIS KRISTOFFERSON: PLEASE DON’T TELL ME HOW THE STORY ENDS: THE PUBLISHING DEMOS: 1968-72: 2010: 5 STARS OUT OF 5 STARS: Many of these songs would find their way onto Kris’s albums after he got a record contract- but these were demos he made back in his early days while he was working as a janitor at Columbia Records. Finally released in 2010. Great stuff.
listened to the replay of American Top 40 from the week of December 11, 1976- a good week of music on the pop charts.
also watched a documentary on XTC called This Is Pop–good stuff I just wish it had been longer than it was. I’ve always liked the group but now I have a feeling I am going to be getting into them even more so. I have there better known later music and a 2 volume best of which is great but I need to dig deeper. I don’t know why over the years I haven’t.
slicethelife 
I was going to ask you this the other day but forgot: why do you have so many UK versions of albums? Did you used to live in the UK?
In the late 80s the UK editions were finally released in the US- I already had the US versions- just bought the UK editions which were how they should have been released in the US but weren’t. up until Sgt. Pepper. With Sgt. Pepper onward Capital in the US got on board and released the records as they were supposed to be released.
good to know. on another subject but not really, did you know that they left the last chapter out of “A Clockwork Orange” when it was published in the US — by intent?
I did not know that.. I have seen the movie but have never read the book. Censuring?
well remember how he ends up in a hospital bed being fed and the government agents kowtowing to him because they screwed up? well in the last chapter, the guy turns his life around and becomes a productive member of society. the US refused to publish with that last chapter so yes, it was censuring and in a very devious way. i just happened to get a new edition copy of the book from the library and in the preface it talked about it. unbelievable.
That is very odd. I think I have the book somewhere will have to get it out- I am sure i probably have an older censured edition.
the 50th anniversary edition, published in 2012, has restored that last chapter. if your edition is prior to 2012 it will be missing that chapter
My edition-I’d bet is from the 70’s- I bought it as a booksale years ago. If I get to it- will try and get a copy of the updated restored edition. Thanks for passing that along! I didn’t know about that.
i wouldn’t have known if i hadn’t read the preface to the 50th anniv edition! i’d seen the movie years ago but i wanted to read it in the author’s words, which are really a trip getting used to, but i know he does that intentionally to show just how foreign a subculture within the mainstream is. sorry to ramble on about it but it’s an important book.
Note to self- always read the preface! Did you like the book? Ramble on all you want!!
I loved the book, even though it is difficult to get used to the special language he uses. It’s a very violent book that’s pretty much the daily journal of a sociopath. I’m guessing that profilers read it as part of their training. lol
OK got to ask- the book or the movie? which did you like better?
oh dear. i can’t decide. each has its merits. you can see the violence in the movie which makes it more real, but you get his rationale (or a better term would be rationalization) for why he does it in the book. the two together make a complete story, imo.
I always thought the movie was great- glad to hear the book matches it- I figured it did.