Roger’s year in music, 2024
The intro remains the same, because I'm lazy.
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Music does something to me, and I’ve never been able to explain exactly why. It just happens. My molecules...
Speaking of epitaphs, a wonderful song called “Get Out and Stay Out”
"Get Out and Stay Out" was recorded for the 1979 Quadrophenia film soundtrack and wasn't part of the original album in 1973. That's Kenney...
The Songs for a (P&u) Departure (1): “These cameras never lie”
We're told that Nov. 15 will be the last day for Pints&union in New Albany prior to the pub decamping for the Highlands: Here’s the...
The Songs for a (P&u) Departure (4): “Once upon a time I stood for...
We're told that Nov. 15 will be the last day for Pints&union in New Albany prior to the pub's inglorious "Hail Mary" flight to...
Absent Ian Gillan, it’s less of a Jesus Christ Superstar to me
Recounts the last days of Jesus Christ from the perspective of Judas Iscariot, his betrayer. As Jesus’ following increases, Judas begins to worry that...
Quadrophenia: “Ain’t it funny how we all seem to look the same?”
Emerging from the shadows of The Dolphin pub in Plymouth’s Barbican, we began walking toward the stunningly perfect natural harbor, the open sea a...
Big bands: A book about Bunny Berigan, his life and times
Originally this was an "ON THE AVENUES" column from July 25, 2017. It has been lightly updated.
I was born in 1960, and grew up...
On making the San Fernando Valley one’s home sweet home
I’ve been to California only twice, in 1978 and 2006, for no more than a few days each time.
Often it occurs to me that...
Black Friday ain’t nothing but a memorable song by Steely Dan
(This post originally appeared at NA Confidential in 2017. Photo credit: Library of Congress, via PBS.)
For the past four decades, any mention of "Black...
Van Morrison, “the only gazillionaire rock star to be a pandemic-denier besides Eric Clapton”
The pandemic seems to have deprived Van Morrison of his karma. Or maybe he already was running low.
Musically, the new album isn't unpleasant at...
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Diary: Cousteau the band (not the oceanographer)
Sometimes when you're engaged in a life-altering and transformational maelstrom, as I was a quarter-century ago, little bits and pieces of the soundtrack slip...
40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 89: A millennial upsurge with Cumberland Brews,...
Previously: 40 Years in Beer (Book III), Part 88: From Tokaj to Żywiec, and Achouffe to Poperinge (Travel 2002).
From 2000 through 2002/2003, a “third...
Remembering the Bastille Day “Bieres de Garde Dinner” at Bistro New Albany in June,...
Today is Bastille Day. Twenty years ago, I partnered with the embryonic Bistro New Albany to stage a Bastille Day "Bieres de Garde Dinner,"...
