There should be a class on how not to make films based solely on the existance of this thing!

Have you got time to kill this holiday season? Are you currently at home from school or whatever with nothing to do? Are you sick of watching the same holiday specials over and over again? If yes, visit Vinnie Rattolle's page RIGHT NOW! I've got one more holiday themed post coming up but nothing competes with the Star Wars Holiday Special! To note, you'll probably never want to watch this again after you've seen it once and please, whatever you do, don't take any mind-altering substances while watching this, it will likely ruin you forever! I don't know which cut of this he's uploaded as there are two versions circulating, but either way it's worth your time.

Just in case you're wondering about the two versions, a bootleg tape with commercials from whatever channel it was aired on is probably the most common version. The commercials are almost more entertaining than the special, although it should be noted the special itself is entertaining for all the wrong reasons. That version looks like it was sourced from an over thirty year old video cassette, which it was, although there is another version floating around that purportedly comes from an unused (or at least not destroyed) tape sent to a television network to be aired. It's quality is ridiculously improved, but in all honesty, I don't know if anyone other than the die-hardest of Star Wars fans were hoping for an improved quality copy of this train wreck. Hell, it's got Bea Arthur (RIP) singing in Greedo's bar!

Due to time limitations, there will be one more holiday themed post this week and that's gonna be it until after Christmas. Sorry guys, simply too much crap going on right now for me to give you proper posts, so I'll wait 'til after the holiday to get back to business, which includes an end-of-year mixtape.


SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? GO TO VINNIE'S SITE NOW!!!



PS - In case you really wanna know more about the monstrosity that is the Star Wars Holiday Special, go here, here or here. It's actually more interesting than the film itself. Oh yeah, crazy bloated overweight needing gastric bypass surgery props (that's not intended to offend anyone by the way) going out to Vinnie Rattolle for posting the video! Yeah, it's awful, but everyone should see it at least once in their lifetime. For better or worse, it's unforgettable!

Talking Heads - 1975 CBS Records Demos

The original Talking Heads lineup consisted of David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. Jerry Harrison didn't join until 1976, partly due to his experience in the original Modern Lovers with Jonathan Richman. They secured the opportunity to record some demos for CBS Records in 1975 but it didn't get them a contract. Just growing pains, because Seymour Stein signed them up to Sire Records shortly thereafter and the band released their first album, '77, in 1977 (what an inventive title for an album!).

These demos started circulating a few years ago, probably after having been dug out of the vaults while the TH catalog was being remastered. There are a few other interesting finds available, but most everything circulating has been released. Thirteen of these tracks are exceptions, never having been released officially in any form and showing a young but very developed band. There are some differences between these and the final versions, like the tempos of Psycho Killer and I Wish You Wouldn't Say That, but these are minor. The most notable differences are the less hearty arrangements which would come when the band's lineup was finalized and they went into the studio. It's also interesting to hear songs like Love --> Building On Fire without Toni Bongiovi's production excesses like horns or Psycho Killer without strings.

This isn't my favorite period of Talking Heads' work, but I still love these songs and it's great to study their early work closer. If you dig the Heads, give this a listen, I'm sure you'll find it interesting.


Talking Heads - 1975 CBS Records Demos

01 Psycho Killer
02 Sugar On My Tongue
03 Thank You For Sending Me An Angel
04 I Want To Live
05 I Wish You Wouldn't Say That
06 The Girls Want To Be With The Girls
07 Who Is It
08 With Our Love
09 Stay Hungry
10 Tentative Decisions
11 Warning Sign
12 I'm Not In Love
13 The Book I Read
14 Love --> Building On Fire
15 No Compassion


PS - The two tracks from these sessions which were released are Sugar On My Tongue and I Want To Live, both initially available on the two disc Sand In The Vaseline retrospective compilation. Also, for those wondering, yeah, Tony Bongiovi is Jon Bon Jovi's cousin. And yeah, while I said he brought some unnecessary elements to the '77 album, he's still a great producer and is also responsible for several of the Ramones early records. He's also responsible for getting Jon his first professional singing gig on R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas from the Star Wars Christmas album, Christmas In The Stars. There is also a Meco connection there for anyone so enamored with that man's weird-ass productions. Okay, none of that has anything to do with Talking Heads but I thought you'd find it interesting nonetheless.