Columbo Actor Peter Falk Dead at 83 - Just One More Thing...

I grew up watching Lieutenant Columbo.

I remember getting frustrated at how long it would take him to actually bust the bad guy even though he knew who it was from the very beginning.

With his dirty old raincoat, beat up old car, floppy eared dog, and wife that we never got to meet - Lt. Columbo always knew how to outsmart the crooks.

And here is a little bit of trivia – during the entire Columbo series the viewer was never told what his first name was, and it remains a mystery to this day.

His Shtick was to ask very basic, and sometimes annoying questions, and just as he was walking toward the door to leave he would stop, turn, and say, “Just one more thing…”

And it was always THAT question that got the criminal busted.

But it was entertaining, and little did I know that Peter Falk and Columbo would become an American Icon.



Falk died yesterday at the age of 83 from complications from dementia at his home in Beverly Hills.

Friends say Falk was involved in a bad car accident in 2008 and suffered a bad head injury and was never the same man.

But Falk did much much more than just play Lt. Columbo.

His career started back in 1957 and by the time he retired had been in over 100 movies and TV shows.

Some of the greats included Murder, Inc., The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, Murder by Death, The Cheap Detective, The Princess Bride, and others.

Peter Falk was one of the greats - and I expect to see his dirty old raincoat in the Smithsonian’s American History Museum next time I’m in Washington D.C.

Hey, don’t laugh – they have the same “Fonzie” lunchbox there that I had when I was in school.

Feel old yet?

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Elijah Wood to Star in “Tron: Uprising” Television Series

We all know Elijah Wood from the Lord of the Rings movies.

This summer he is also filming the “Hobbit” spin offs reprising his role as Frodo Baggins.

But now it has been announced that Elijah will play the role of Beck in the upcoming “Tron Uprising” animated TV series due to premier in 2012 on Disney XD.

The series will star Bruce Boxleitner as the voice of Tron and Many Moore will provide the voice for Mara.

The television series will follow the plot of the successful Tron movie franchise where a master control program (MCP) sucks people inside a computer game.



As for a third Tron movie, insiders say a lot of that has to do with the success of the television spinoff,

“If there is sufficient interest in the TV series we may use that to launch a third Tron movie. It all depends on what kind of following we can get for the series. If Disney puts its muscle behind it then the legacy will most likely continue – but kids are more familiar with today’s high impact interactive games and high graphic role playing. Motorcycles that ride a beam of light are just not as exciting to kids as they were 20 years ago.”

But even if Tron doesn’t do well on the small screen, Elijah Wood won’t have to worry because he is busy with other projects.

In addition to “The Hobbit” films, Wood will be appearing in “Happy Feet 2 in 3D” later this year.

Reprising his voice role as Mumble, Elijah will return to the Happy Feet franchise along with veterans Elizabeth Daily, Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and Hank Azaria.

Happy Feet 2 in 3D will pick up where the last one ended, and Elijah’s character, Mumble the penguin, has a problem.



His son Erik, who is reluctant to dance, encounters The Mighty Sven, a penguin who can fly! Things get worse for Mumble when the world is shaken by powerful forces, causing him to bring together the penguin nations and their allies to set things right.

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Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation

Where did it go? Why isn't this in print anymore? Why did they change the version of Down At The Rock and Roll Club on the CD? Why the revised album cover? I don't have any answers, but I do have this on vinyl and it's just as important as Television's Marquee Moon, albeit from a completely different world.

The story goes that Hell, as a member of Television, left after every one of his contributions was removed from their set list, except for Blank Generation, and when that went there was no reason to stay. With that said, it's easy to understand the familial lineage between these songs and Television's, although it seems less likely that Hell's ousting was due to a rivalry and more because his songs were far poppier than what Verlaine and company were creating. Live and learn, for better or worse. In Hell's favor, he got Bob Quine and the future Marky Ramone, as well as the song that made him famous.

This is punk when it wasn't a catch-all buzzword, this is when it was rock and roll with an edge. Tom Petty said punk was rock without the sex, though I'd imagine he might not have been paying that close of attention, or maybe he simply didn't listen to Richard Hell.

This is a rip of an original US Sire Records pressing of Blank Generation. It's been declicked but I'm picky about my settings so I'm sure you'll be satisfied. Enjoy!


Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Blank Generation

01 Love Comes In Spurts
02 Liars Beware
03 New Pleasure
04 Betrayal Takes Two
05 Down At The Rock and Roll Club
06 Who Says?
07 Blank Generation
08 Walking On The Water
09 The Plan
10 Another World



Anyone else think Betrayal Takes Two sounds like it could have been a Television song?

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Hollywood Career is Over – Three Projects Cancelled

Things just keep getting worse for Arnold.

First, he announced his 25 year marriage with Maria Shriver was over.

Next he admitted to an affair with an ex-housekeeper and fathering a love child that is now 13-years-old.

And now Hollywood is putting the brakes on his future movie career.

Arnold’s damage control firm released a statement yesterday saying,

“At the request of Arnold Schwarzenegger we asked Creative Artists Agency to inform all his motion picture projects currently underway or being negotiated to stop planning until further notice. Mr. Schwarzenegger is focusing on personal matters and is not willing to commit to any production schedules or timelines. We will resume discussions when Governor Schwarzenegger decides.”

From what we hear it was not as much a matter of Arnold bowing out, but rather the studios pulling the plug on the actor because of his current “personal matters”.

In fact, Arnold had several big deals in the works including a return to his role in a “Terminator” sequel. It was a sure thing and studios were lining up to make it happen. Not anymore.

Arnold had also entered into a deal with comic book legend Stan Lee to produce a television series called “The Governator” lending his voice talents to the lead crime fighting character. Unfortunately, the series was to show Arnold fighting crime with the help of his wife Maria and their four children. Awkward.

A rep says,

"In light of recent events, A Squared Entertainment, POW, Stan Lee Comics, and Archie Comics, have chosen to not go forward with the Governator project."

Another project that has now been taken off the table is “Cry Macho”, about a retired horse trainer who gets caught up in an international kidnapping scheme.

The film was written by Richard Nash, and was to be directed by Brad Furman, and produced by Bill Block and Albert Ruddy - but not anymore.

The other movie deal in the works was “The Last Stand”, where Arnold would have played a sheriff chasing a drug cartel leader who busts out of a courthouse and runs for the Mexico border.

This film was written by Andrew Knauer and scheduled to be directed by Jee-woon Kim.

Both movie projects were in pre-production with filming to start in 2011-2012 with a release date of late 2012 or early 2013.

Nobody is saying for sure that these projects will NEVER happen, just that they have been taken off the table “until sometime in the future”.

If things blow over for Arnold I suspect we could see him wiggle back in to the movie biz, but if the public (and Hollywood) turn on him then it’s over.

Hasta la vista, baby

Arnold explains the real reason he split from Maria Shriver.


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‘Two and a Half Men’ has 50/50 Chance of Returning Says CBS - Decision Soon.

CBS Network brass is still contemplating what to do with “Two and a Half Men”.

With television sweeps starting next month (May), and up-fronts looming, CBS has to make a decision on what to do with season 9 of the once golden sitcom – and fast.

Ever since Charlie Sheen was fired from the show there has been speculation it might return for another season – with or without Uncle Charlie Harper.

Since his firing, Sheen has been on the road with his “Violent Torpedo of Truth” tour and has been telling his audiences that he desperately wants back on the show.

Not so fast says the show’s production staff.

One insider says that there is a 50/50 chance the show will return for another season. And if it does return – there will be changes.

Here is what we know for sure:

- Charlie Sheen is not welcome back on the show.
- Executive producer Chuck Lorre has a plot workaround to either replace Sheen or write him out of the series.
- No official offers have been made to any new actors.
- A decision has to be made before May 18, 2011.
- CBS really does want to try and salvage the show

Chuck Lorre has been telling the media that he has several ideas on how to continue the show – one that increases Jon Cryer’s role, and another puts Ryan Stile’s “Herb Melnick” character in a lead role.

We have also heard a couple unofficial “plot” ideas, sans Charlie Sheen, that all include using the existing actors, sets, writers, and facilities. Seems like a smart idea to us.

Our favorite has Rose downsizing and buying Charlie’s house after he gets thrown in jail in Bangkok. She then allows recently thrown to the curb Herb Melnick to move in with her, Allen, and Jake. Even Berta likes the idea and agrees to stay on.

One insider told reporters,

“The idea would be Rose buys the house and lets Alan, Herb, and Jake live there. We call it ‘Two and a Half Men – and Rose’. There have been lots of variations but it always comes back to the same fundamental movement of actors and their roles. It would be easy – and funny.”

It does sound like a nice clean, and believable, transition that could actually propel the sitcom into a whole new direction – both retaining the old fans and creating new ones.

We say bring us “Two and a Half Men & Rose”

China Tells Television and Film Producers – ‘Don’t Go Back In Time Please’

In case you were every wondering why the United States is the greatest nation on earth – here is one reason.

While the U.S. has laws that regulate certain “words” or “situations” of broadcast television, we don’t generally try to censor the plot.

China, on the other hand, has in no uncertain terms just laid down the law for film and TV producers in their country. And when the “State” owns all the networks and newspapers, well – whatever they say goes.

New guidelines issued last month discourage plot lines that contain elements of fantasy, time-travel, random compilations of mythical stories, bizarre plots, absurd techniques, even propagating feudal superstitions, fatalism and reincarnation, ambiguous moral lessons, and a lack of positive thinking.

The government thinks the media shouldn’t have characters that travel back in time and rewrite history. They say this goes against Chinese heritage, they also say that myth, superstitions and reincarnation are all questionable.

Yea, like this is the biggest problem they have in China.

Oh well, guess I won’t be able to watch “Star Trek” reruns during my next visit. That's okay - I couldn't understand then anyway.

World’s Greatest Movie Extra – Jesse Heiman – Do You Recognize Him? You Should - Video

Ever heard of Jesse Heiman? I bet you don’t know his name but have seen him in a movie.

Heiman, 33, has made a career out appearing in movies and television shows as an extra, and so far has appeared in over fifty productions.

He was born in Boston and moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to follow his dream of being in showbiz. And what a strange road it has been.

Jesse is a card carrying member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and continually adds his name to the list of actors interested in being an extra. A lot of producers know him by name and he even has a YouTube video that has gone viral.

Just look at some of the big budget productions this guy has been in:

American Pie, American Pie 2, Van Wilder, Spider Man, Catch Me If You Can, The Rules of Attraction, Old School, The Battle of Shaker Heights, Grounded For Life, The O.C., Reno 911, NCIS, Entourage, My Name is Earl, Bones, Arrested Development, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Heroes, 17 Again, Chuck, The Social Network, The Jay Leno Show, and Transformers - Dark of the Moon.

As an extra, Jesse may only appear on screen for one or two seconds, but has rubbed shoulders with the likes of Zac Efron, Jack Black, Leonardo DeCaprio, Tobey McGuire, and Shia LaBeouf.

He makes about $150 per day, every day that he is on the set, and says some shots have taken a week to shoot. He spends most of his time waiting to be called to perform and eating from the Crafts Food Service table.

The really amazing part of this story, besides a guy making a living from being a movie extra, is that some guy in Sweden made a YouTube video with every one of his momentary screen appearances.

Heiman has told reporters that he had no idea who this person was and had never met him before in his life. Jesse only got to know him after the video went viral and received almost 2 million hits.

This is a great video. Enjoy!

Watch Jesse Heiman Movie Extra Viral Video

Ohio Man Gets $16 Million Cable Bill from Time Warner

Everybody these days is trying to trim their budgets and live within their means.

But for one Beavercreek Ohio man, his expenses took a turn for the worse when he received a cable bill for $16 million dollars.

Daniel DeVirgilio, an engineer, told his local newspaper,

“All I want to do is watch March Madness…had I known this I would have bought Showtime.”

DeVirgilio calculated he would have to order almost half a million pay-per-view movies in a thirty day period to even come close to racking up the charges that appeared on his bill. His normal bill usually runs about $80 per month and all he wanted to do is add a NCAA package.

His cable provider, Time Warner, admitted there was a “glitch” in their billing software, combined with a little human error, which incorrectly charged Daniel the high fee.

Time Warner says they are working to correct the problem and will even waive any late fees.

Betty White to Host New Hidden Camera 'Prank' Show for NBC

Move over Ashton Kutcher. Our favorite comedic senior citizen has just signed on to a new comedy reality show gig!

NBC announced Thursday that they have ordered twelve episodes of the new “Betty White Off Their Rockers” show starring, of course, Betty.

The hidden camera prankster reality show will follow seven other senior citizens, led by 89-year-old White, as they play hidden camera pranks on the “unsuspecting youth and younger generation”.

White said,

“People have been telling me that I’m ‘off my rocker’ for years — now I can prove it.”

Betty has had a resurgence of popularity since hosting a Saturday Night Live episode last year, and her hit sitcom “Hot in Cleveland” has just been picked up for its third year on NBC, and she has a book coming out in May.

Boy, this gal really makes me feel old – and lazy.

“Off Their Rockers” is being licensed to the U.S. markets by a Belgian company where the show first originated with huge success.

No air date has been released.

Tom Verlaine - Verlaine's Original Self Titled Mixes

After Television's initial break-up, Tom Verlaine decided to go the solo route and started recording his self-titled debut album. It's generally noted that his first album doesn't sound like Television, but that's not to say it doesn't not sound like Television. A lot of the songs started life as Television leftovers and you can't avoid the comparison when Fred Smith and Jay Dee Daugherty, Television's rhythm section, reprise their role on that band's leader's debut. The whole thing is a little messy and a little meta, but a lot of post-break-up records bear a considerable resemblance to pre-break-up status so there is no real shock there. What is surprising though is that Verlaine's then label, Elektra Records, decided to pass on the his initial mix of the album, choosing instead to have Bob Clearmountain remix it. The label complained that Verlaine's mix was too rough and unpolished, similar to Television's debut, Marquee Moon. A little surprising when you consider how much of a success that album was compared to Television's follow-up, Adventure, which has a more polished sound. Clearmountain, expectantly, brought that polished sound to Verlaine's debut and that was mostly the end of it until 2002. Verlaine's original mix had been circulating between private collectors and on bootlegs prior to it's brief but accidental release Collectors' Choice Music. They used the wrong master for initial pressings of the reissue CD and most of those copies were shipped to early mail order purchases. It was corrected by the time the disc made it to retail.

This isn't a rip of one of the accidental pressings, rather it's from one of the bootlegs CDs that were floating around years prior. All things considered, the sound here is quite good, but it's not an easy call between Verlaine's mixes and Clearmountain's. Both have their perks and questionable points, easily making both worth having. In retrospect, it's rather amazing that they didn't reissue this original mix via Rhino Handmade or another platform, though that probably means someone with some clout would prefer this version to remain somewhat forgotten. After all, this is a transitional album that doesn't necessarily find Verlaine in top form, though his follow-up, 1981's Dreamtime, is a firm reminder of how powerful he is and Television were.

A lot of people stop at Marquee Moon as it's such an incredible record. They should give Adventure a chance, but they should also give Verlaine's first few solo records that same opportunity to shine. It's easy to expect too much after the brilliance of Marquee but you'll find plenty to absorb on Verlaine's solo records, especially Dreamland and this, his solo debut. All the better to have his original draft of the album to compare against the final product. After all, which should be considered the final product, the artist's work or the label's approved version?


Tom Verlaine - Tom Verlaine: Original Verlaine Mix

01 The Grip Of Love
02 Souvenir From A Dream
03 Kingdom Come
04 Mr. Bingo
05 Yonki Time
06 Flash Lightning
07 Red Leaves
08 Last Night
09 Breakin' In My Heart

October 2010 Mixtape: DO I HAVE TO WORK AT WALMART?

About two weeks ago I lost the job I've been doing for most of the last eight years. I knew trouble was brewing but I really didn't think I would be considered the responsible party for the events in question. Out of the blue I get a list of complaints with my name highlighted, although upon further inspection it turns out I'm not the main reason for the complaints, and when I am involved it's primarily one person who I didn't get along with and attempted to avoid in the first place. Overall, I'm thinking that if I talk to my boss, someone I've known and respected and considered a friend, that everything is going to be alright, but he doesn't talk to me, he just fires me. Through the grapevine I heard that this was just business and that he wanted to make things right, but when he finally calls he complains that my version of the events doesn't match what he's heard, and all I can say to that is do you want my story or not? He knows what happened, and he decided to remove me to save his company's position, which I fully understand, but he did it in the worst way possible. To make matters worse yet, when we finally met he told me in a rather roundabout way that he thought I was cheating him and he didn't care about me any longer. Almost eight years and this is the way it ends, after a fantastic history with practically no issues whatsoever, and when complaints come up and I'm not even the reason for the complaints I'm fired because my name appeared in close proximity. It makes one feel pretty faithless.

All of this said, I'm not out of faith and totally believe in myself, but I can't say that I'm fully over feeling upset. My girlfriend initially thought I must have royally screwed up and couldn't accept it, but after learning the facts she's fully on my side, although she really always was, as are the rest of my family and friends, so I've still got my support system. What's crazy is looking for a new job. I've filled out applications online but I'm surprised to see most businesses don't even accept paper copies any longer. It's taking a rough and soulless part of the process and making it worse. I've got management experience, great customer service abilities, I'm very good with technology and have worked in fields where I've handled merchandise and money safely and regularly without shrinkage, but trying to fill all of this into a cookie cutter digital application feels impossible. Data will get in, but will it be interpreted correctly? Will the minutiae of my experience be read for as dynamic as it really is? Will my unique and useful traits be visible to those who should see them? DO I HAVE A CHANCE?

So, last night, after much prodding from my girlfriend as well as some friends and family and filling out applications all over the place, I went online and applied to Walmart, assuming there is a good chance I could find employment there. I've been largely skeptical about applying to Walmart despite knowing they have a high hire rate, mostly because I doubt I'll be working in a position that I feel I'd be suited to (raging ego trip right there!) and everyone knows how "interesting" the Walmart clientele can be. Don't get me wrong, most average people shopping at Walmart are perfectly fine, but I'm sure you've all seen a few subhumans lurking the isles from time to time. If you stuck me in the entertainment and electronics section I'd shine but how likely would it be that I would be so lucky? In an organization that big I'm sure I'd end up stocking the freezers. I'd even be happy standing at the customer service desk and answering questions, no matter what they are, as I've basically been doing that in one way or another for years, but sincerely, what are my chances?

So far, the only nibbles I've gotten was an e-mail from AFLAC, offering what sounded like an office position, only to find out they wanted me to get my insurance license and sell their product on the road, and Family Video, with whom I had a great interview about a possible managerial position but there were no openings locally at the time, and having just moved I can't pack up and go to Alabama. I've had friends ask me why I can't write for a living and my answer is I honestly don't know how to get started in that field or whom I should talk to. My girlfriend said "if only I got paid for my website", to which I could only respond "if only". So the quest continues. Don't worry, just in case you might be, I'm sure I'll find a new position shortly and everything will be just fine, and more so, I don't want to sound hopeless, it's just hard to put an amazing spin on such a murky situation.

Anyway, for my own entertainment, I made this months mixtape a soundtrack to my dilemma. I hope you find it entertaining as there is some really good stuff on it, much of which really gets me moving. Thanks for letting me bitch and moan a little. Enjoy!


The Unheard Music - October 2010 Mixtape: DO I HAVE TO WORK AT WALMART?

01 David Bowie - Beauty and The Beast
The sound of a drunken Bowie getting it together. I always think of it as the theme to someone getting back on their feet.

02 The Bird and The Bee - Heard It On The Radio
Missing my job, for which all jobs are relationships. Also realizing it might not have been as good as I always thought is was.

03 Television - Little Johnny Jewel
Verlaine's guitar is so out there. This makes me think of punk rock as jazz. Abstract tunes always seem to lock my mind into place so I can get heavy thinking done.

04 No Age - Glitter (Long Version)
A few weeks ago I was driving around to this summer jam feeling like it would keep summer from ever ending. It kinda works. The extended feedback loops at the end are just dreamy.

05 Junior Senior - Shake Your Coconuts (DFA Remix)
This feels like it's mining the same area as No Age's Glitter. The cheesy nature of the original version is ditched for what is basically LCD Soundsystem making a bunch of noise and having a funky party in a loft somewhere in New York. Love the guitar feedback. It's like James Murphy, who I'm assuming is playing guitar here, doesn't even care about playing notes, just making some wild textures.

06 Astrud Gilberto - Once I Loved
Again, loss of job, loss of security, feeling of betrayal. Beautiful song from the beautiful Ms. Gilberto.

07 Lowell George - 20 Million Things
Sometimes it feels like I can do anything anyone needs, but other times I feel like I can't get anywhere myself. I guess that's what this song is kind of about, but it's what I get out of it.

08 Devo - S.I.B. (Swelling Itching Brain)
Who hasn't been here? Terror, paranoia, gloom and misery? This song sums up all those feelings perfectly. I don't feel this way often, but when I have this is the soundtrack.

09 Fripp & Eno - Later On
This is Eno's remix of Swastika Girls from he and Fripp's No Pussyfooting. It was only released as the b-side to Eno's Seven Deadly Finns single. The day I got fired I must have played No Pussyfooting three or four times. It totally kept me grounded and calm. Love that album and love this track.

10 Los Saicos - Demolición
Rom turned me on to these guys recently. Actually, he called while I was at my first interview with Family Video and my interviewer had to attend to some things so she told me I could return my call if I wanted to. He compared them to Iggy and The Stooges, which I don't really agree with, but they've got the punk attitude and garage rock rawness down perfect. These guys are from Peru and are something of a best kept secret. I might do a post about them in the near future but I believe their discography is now available legally here in the US so I won't be posting it for download if that's the case. Otherwise, this is fueling my engine.

11 Me'Shell Ndegéocello - If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)
Trust me, I CANNOT relate to this song, but I love the F@#K YOU attitude of it! When you get knocked down sometimes you need to do more than just get back up. You need to put a little swagger back in your step. This is overflowing with swagger and it's funky as hell, so it's been on my mind. And anyway, Me'Shell is seriously badass!

12 Jeff Simmons - I'm In The Music Business
While I've never done a porn shoot and am certain I never will, I understand the misery Mr. Simmons is conveying. That said, it's not like a song like this could really help the financial prospects of an ex-Mother Of Invention. Not saying it isn't a good song as it is, and I love the humor of it and everything from it's parent album, Lucille Has Messed Up My Mind, but one listen and you'll understand that there couldn't have been, or at least shouldn't have been, any illusions of a blockbuster hit record.

13 Adrian Belew - Naive Guitar
A beautiful, mournful melody. For the bummier moments, although I loved this piece before my current predicament was even a possibility.

14 Dizzy Gillespie - Manteca
How can you not get up and dance to this? How can you not be filled with exuberant joy when this comes on? Dizzy was/is the man! Afro Cuban jazz forever!

15 Brian Eno - King's Lead Hat
Just in case you didn't know, King's Lead Hat is an anagram for Talking Heads, the band Eno had just decided to produce when he wrote this song. Not really about anything, it's simply filled with frantic energy and makes me wanna move. Not dance, not party, but make things happen. LIKE GETTING A JOB.

16 Deftones - Rocket Skates (M83 Remix)
Rocket Skates? Really? Well, it's still a good Deftones song and a fine remix from M83. For some reason this was making me think of the Inception soundtrack last night.

17 Nine Inch Nails - Theme For Tetsuo The Bullet Man
Bold, heavy, noisy, all together maddening. This makes me wanna rip my skin off and use it like a weapon. Sounds like a sick video game, or a really sick Robbie Williams video.

18 Liz Phair - In Love With Yourself
One of Liz's Girly-Sound demos, this is an honest reminder not to kiss your own ass. Generally I'm very serious about not believing my own hype, but sometimes you've gotta remind yourself not to let your head get too big.


PS - The Prince post, which has been happening on Mondays for a while, will either be tomorrow or Wednesday. I've got a ton of really cool stuff ready to be shared that might get in the way of his purpleness, but don't worry, I won't forget.

PS2 - Hopefully no one working at Walmart will take offense to this post. Not trying to knock you guys. And to anyone that wants to complain that I shouldn't be working at Walmart, a job is a job guys. Would you rather not be able to pay your bills? Anyway, they have to hire me first, but I'd work there. That is unless someone wants to pay me 30k a year to write for their publication. I'd always take more than 30k but that would certainly pay my bills. So, who wants to hire me to write stuff for them? PLEASE?

PS3 - That part where I mentioned how if only I got paid for running this site, don't worry, I'm not going to start putting ads or anything up here. I don't believe in doing that and while I'd love to get paid for doing something I love, I don't run this place to get paid, I run it to share information, be it music, musical, historical, visual or what not. Though again, someone wanna pay me to do this thing I love?

Television - Demos 74-75

I've been on a Television kick lately, playing Marquee Moon a lot. If you've never heard it, I'd suggest PBthal's incredible rip of an original vinyl pressing, although the 2003 reissue, which comes with some very nice bonus tracks, is worth grabbing as well. That said, PBthal's rule is not to share his web address so you'll have to google him yourself. Hell, I'd put him in my blog list to the right but again, he likes to remain as invisible as possible.

Anyway, wanting to learn more about the earlier line-up of Television, which Richard Hell was a member of, I went looking for goodies and found the Richard Williams and Brian Eno produced demos from 1974 for Island Records. Interestingly, six songs were recorded during these sessions, one of which was Blank Generation, but Hell left the band, by his own statement about a month after making these recordings, so I guess it makes sense as to why that track wouldn't have appeared on copies of the demo that were passed around. Really unfortunate as, in retrospect, who wouldn't want to hear that version of the song?

I also found some demos from 1975 which may have been self-produced by the band and recorded at Patti Smith's place. The wonderful Hard On Love is a standout of immense proportions, making everyone wonder why the hell it didn't get re-recorded. As for Little Johnny Jewel, it's the same version released as a single and probably taken from a vinyl rip as it's a lot cleaner sounding than the rest of the demos, but it is from these sessions so it deserves inclusion.

I've gotta give credit to some fellas known as the Wacko Brothers who compiled these tracks from various bootlegs and assembled a torrent with the eleven tracks presented here and another rip of the Eno demos from a vinyl source. I decided to leave the vinyl rips off because they're the same tracks but sound quite bad due to their lo-fi bootleg nature. The vinyl tracks were also playing at the wrong speed and I pitch corrected them, but what's the point in listening to them when you've got the superior versions? The only potential reason is a slightly longer version of Marquee Moon, but it's the same take so I have no idea where the roughly twenty additional seconds come from. So again, thanks Wacko Bros, I don't take credit from those who did the work before me and you fellas, assuming you are more than one person, did a great job!


Television - Demos 74-75

01 Prove It (12/74 Eno Demo)
02 Friction (12/74 Eno Demo)
03 Venus (12/74 Eno Demo)
04 Double Exposure (12/74 Eno Demo)
05 Marquee Moon (12/74 Eno Demo)
06 Hard On Love (8/75 Demo)
07 Friction (8/75 Demo)
08 Careful (8/75 Demo)
09 Prove It (8/75 Demo)
10 Fire Engine (8/75 Demo)
11 Little Johnny Jewel (8/75 Demo)

Parenthood Renewed For Second Season

Good news for "Parenthood" fans! The hit television series has been renewed for a second season.

In addition to the first seasons twenty-two episode deal, the show will now be seen through the 2010-2011 season.

And the fans have spoken. They love the show and are falling in love with the Braverman family.

Parenthood follows the joys and challenges of the Braverman family from Northern California. The huge cast includes Lauren Graham, Peter Krause, Craig T. Nelson, Bonnie Bedelia, Mae Whitman, Miles Heizer, Erika Christensen, Sam Jaeger, Dax Shepard, Joy Bryant, Monica Potter, Sarah Ramos, and Max Burkholder.

Expect young Drew, played by Miles Heizer, to have more face time next season as the teen faces more mature life challenges and issues while trying to integrate into his new surroundings.

Congrats on a hit show!
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