I wrote this article about 25 years ago for the music magazine Goldmine, and felt like dusting it off this morning for all of you. In recent weeks, the collectible value of “God Bless America” has risen. The original 78 (Victor 26198-A), which previously had a near-mint collectible value of $4, has risen to nearly…
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Hip Pocket Records: Lighter than Air
I wrote this article for a 1999 edition of Goldmine magazine, and am reprinting it here. It was almost like finding a prize in a box of cereal. You bought a music magazine, and inside was an honest-to-goodness record. Not a vinyl or styrene record, mind you – a flexi-disc that could bend or twist…
Read MoreSo those horns aren’t sung to the lyrics of “John Cena Sucks” after all??
So apparently wrestler John Cena is on his farewell tour. He’s scheduled to wrestle one more match – against a top WWE star named Gunther – and then Cena will hang up his wrestling sneakers and put away his jorts. And we won’t hear that classic John Cena intro song ever again. Yeah, that one.…
Read MoreAI has the worst take on Ace Frehley’s passing
One of my Facebook friends posted this on his page, and it caught me. One of the original core members of the band Kiss – guitarist Ace Frehley – passed away at the age of 74. And if you’ve ever attended a Kiss concert – and I mean with the original core members of Ace,…
Read MoreDr. Demento is retiring? NOOOOOOO!!!!!
Dr. Demento is a certified legend. An award-winning musicologist and historian, the man born Barry Hansen has championed the wild, the weird and the wonderful in alternative music for nearly 55 years. I listened to him on Sunday nights on WPYX in Albany, and later in life I met and interviewed Dr. Demento for various…
Read MoreHello, My Name is Blotto – The Movie – what an amazing night!
It’s Saturday night and I’m navigating my way through the Cohoes Music Hall for the world premiere of a documentary on Albany’s greatest party rock band – Blotto. Hello! My Name is Blotto – The Movie is a retrospective of the rock band whose songs “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard” and “Metal Head” broke through…
Read MoreA documentary on the history of Blotto?? Yes, please!
Yes, I was – and still am – a fan of the Albany-based party-rock band Blotto. I bought their records when I was a teenager in high school; I played their records when I was an undergraduate at college; and I saw them perform on stage at various concerts in the Albany area. If I…
Read MoreIt’s EVERYBODY and the Sunshine Band!!
Okay. I need a major pick-me-up. I need some music that actually rocks me from my toes to my nose. And this morning, I found the track. As performed by an all-star group. Well, an all-star group assembled by online remixer DJ Cummerbund. See, DJ Cummerbund took the classic 1970’s K.C. and the Sunshine Band…
Read MoreThat time Midnight Oil stopped traffic in New York City
There’s a fantastic documentary airing on Australian television about the legacy and history of the rock band Midnight Oil. Midnight Oil brought their social message to nearly every song in their repertoire, and brought it with conviction and passion and strength. Even though the documentary hasn’t arrived in the United States – yet – here’s…
Read MoreIt’s “Subways Of Your Mind” by FEX? Well, that explains EVERYTHING.
You have to love those Internet mysteries. The ones where someone uncovers some mysterious fragment of a historic artifact, and the Internet’s hive mind tries to uncover the mystery. Well, such a mystery was revealed last weekend. Follow along with me. In 1983, a German radio station played its usual mix of new wave and…
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Chuck The Writer 
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