February 13, 2010

  Mad Marchness returns the The Bus on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th.

During my show on Friday, I suggested that listeners nominate Ace of Spades by Motorhead for this year's competition. TJ was the first to go to the website and submit that song for consideration, and I know we got at least one Motorhead suggestion from the E-quest Capitol of the World. A few other people kindly nominated that song, too. Well done, and my thanks to all of you. Oh, and by the way, on Friday afternoon, Tony announced that Ace of Spades is in for this year. Nice when things work out like that.

Of course, to me, Mad Marchness is completely unnecessary. The greatest song ever is Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who, and nobody will ever convince me otherwise. There will be 63 other awesome songs rounding out the brackets, but to my ears, that one wins every time.

At this point, we still need to fill 54 more berths, but despite that many open spots, I'll go out on a limb now and give you my guess as to which four will make it to the finals. Remember, this year, it will be American artists taking on artists from the rest of the world. From the American side, I'm guessing the last two left standing will be Lynyrd Skynyrd's Freebird and Hotel California by the Eagles. On the world side, setting my biases aside, I'm thinking it will be Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody and Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin. Of course, you can't go by what I say; I was only about 30% accurate with my picks last year.

In the meantime, I wonder which band I should encourage listeners to nominate now that Motorhead is in. Hmmm....

February 8, 2010

Hope you're all dug out from this weekend's snowstorm, and ready for whatever Mother Nature throws our way next.

At least this storm came on a Friday night. It was a nice feeling knowing that I didn't have to go anywhere, or even rush to clean off my car, on Saturday. By the time the snow started falling Friday night, I was in my favorite chair with a mug of  boilo and a Netflix DVD of The Rocky & Bullwinkle show on TV. I'm not much for winter weather, but that made the storm almost enjoyable.

Today was the first time this year I had to deal with announcing school closings. It was strange to be reading that information while looking out my studio window to nothing but cloudy skies. Is it my imagination, or did it actually have to be snowing before they closed the schools?

Not to long ago, I did a mystery track from The Badlees. That prompted Aaron to send me an e-quest suggesting a week of Pennsylvania Mystery Tracks. I did a little research, combed through my collection, and came up with a week's worth of tunes to try to stump you. Starting next week, (2/15) all of the Mystery Tracks will be home grown. And while I'm disappointed that I couldn't dig up Robert Hazard & The Heroes doing Escalator of Life, I am pleased to report that we'll be able to get through a week of PA tracks without resorting to The Hooters or some deep cut from Poison. 

February 1, 2010

            The other day, I was in the jock-a-teria pouring myself a cup of coffee.  I spilled a little on the countertop, but since there were other people within earshot, I refrained from swearing.  Instead, I just muttered, “Oh, fiddle-faddle” under my breath. 

            As I was returning to the studio with my fresh cup of coffee, I started to wonder where on earth it was that I picked up the expression “Oh, fiddle-faddle” to express displeasure or frustration.  First, I though of my Grandfather, but it wasn’t him, though sometimes, when I’d get under his skin, he’s say, “Ahh, you farmer, you!”  In retrospect, I think he has another F-word in mind.

            And then, the revelation came.  It was from Mr. Wilson on the old Dennis the Menace show where I first heard “Oh, fiddle-faddle.”   

Now, why I was thinking about Dennis the Menace, Fiddle-Faddle, and old TV shows, I can’t say, but since I was already wasting time, I stayed with it.  Do you recall that there were two Mr. Wilsons? 

Joseph Kearns played George Wilson.  He also, who also provided the voice for both Ed, the vault security guard, on Jack Benny’s radio show, and the Doorknob in Alice in Wonderland.  But Kearns died in 1962, right in the middle of the 3rd season of Dennis the Menace.    

            His replacement was Gale Gordon, who later played Mr. Mooney on The Lucy Show.    

            Gordon played George’s brother John Wilson, who was house-sitting for George and Martha while they were way on a cruise.  But, the first set of Wilsons never returned from that cruise and John Wilson never left their house.  In fact, he later brought his wife, Eloise, to his brother’s home,  yet no one ever got suspicious or asked questions.  That always bothered me.

            Everyone remembers that Dick Sargent replaced Dick York as Darren Stevens on Bewitched, but no one I asked remembered the two Mr. Wilsons.  Why such a fascination with Dicks?  

January 25, 2010

I hope you enjoyed last week's Mystery Cover Songs from the 90s. I really wanted to use Korn's cover of the Cheech & Chong classic Earache My Eye, but Mgmt. balked at that one. I also kicked around the idea of using Baker Street or Darling Nikki covered by the Foo Fighters. Maybe next time.

If you missed any from last week, here are the answers

Monday-Everclear doing Thin Lizzy's The Boys Are Back in Town. That was from the Detroit Rock City soundtrack and Tony from Phillipsburg named it.

Tuesday-Stone Temple Pilots covering Led Zeppelin's Dancin' Days off the tribute album Encomium. Irene from Julian got that one.

Wednesday-Metallica's cover of Tuesday's Gone by Lynyrd Skynyrd from Garage, Inc. Sorry, but I forgot to write down the winner's name on my notes for that days winner before I put the contest card and prize at the front desk. Well done, though, whoever you were.

Thursday-Great White's take on Led Zeppelin's The Rover. Carol from State College knew that one from the live tribute album Great Zeppelin.

Friday-Ted Nugent's Cat Scratch Fever covered by Pantera. That's another one from the Detroit Rock City soundtrack, and Ray from Bellefonte named it. 

 January 18, 2010

Our week of CoverTunes from the 90s starts with today's mystery track.  If you become a Tenured Professor in the Bus'sKollege of Musical Knowledge any day this week, I'll let you choose your prize(while supplies last).

 You can have eitherthe Tom Petty Live Anthology, The R&R Hall of Fame 3 DVD set, A Bigger Bangby the Rolling Stones on Blu-Ray.  The earlier in the week you win, the better the selection.

January 14, 2010 

By now, we’ve all seen, read and heard about the devastation and massive loss of life in Haiti after Tuesday’s 7.0 earthquake. 

If you’d like to help, follow this link.  It will take you to an article detailing some of the groups involved in the relief effort with information on what they are doing, and further links that will allow you to make a donation.  And these are all legitimate, established organizations.  I would hate to think of anyone getting scammed for simply opening their heart to help their fellow man. 

Whatever you can give would greatly appreciated.  Thanks. 

January 11, 2010

            There are a couple of prizes in the closet we’ve been holding on to for a bit now.  I pushed them to the back, out of sight and reach, just waiting for a special occasion.  Well, it’s time to bring them out.

            Next week (1/18-1/22), we’ll have another theme week for out Mystery Tracks.  We’ve done cover songs, Canadian Mystery Tracks, and even Scottish Mystery Tracks.  This time, get ready for—more cover songs.   The difference, however, is that they’ll all be cover versions that were recorded during the 1990s.  Now that it’s 2010, we’re ready to go back TWO WHOLE DECADES for another week of cover songs for you to name.

            Like before, you should have no trouble coming up with the titles, but it might be a little tricky coming up with some of the artists.  Still, the prizes are worth a more than our usual fare, and I think it will be fun.  I’m looking forward to it, and I hope you are too. 

            Catch the Mystery Tracks weekdays around 11:15.

January 4, 2010

Happy New Year!  Glad you’re still with us.  Last week, I posted nothing but pleasantries.  Now back to the stuff that gets under my skin.  Here now…

Even More things I’d be happier without…

• Bands that find their singers on youtube.

• People who are either too stupid or too lazy to completely remove ALL the snow and ice from their car before they hit the road.  They are obstructing their view, and anyone driving behind them has to contend with blowing snow and chunks of ice.

• When media outlets hang “gate” onto other words to denote scandal.  Iran/Contra- gate, Monica-gate, Tiger-gate, Holy-crap-the-VP-just-shot-an-old-man-in-the face-gate.  Look, Watergate was called that because of a break in at the Watergate Hotel.  If the scandal of the week didn’t happen there, drop the suffix.  It’s just lazy writing and lazy thinking. 

• The fact that there still isn’t an “Arrested Development” movie.

• People who can’t like complete a like sentence without like you know like using the word like like 20 times. Like-like-like-like. 

• When my girlfriend reads this blog, then gives me the stink-eye because of that crack about helping her pick shoes by holding them behind her ears.

• Supertramp.  Except for School—I still like that song.

• The women in line in front of me at the grocery store who got into an argument with the cashier over an expired 25-cent coupon.  If I had any change in my pocket at the time, I would have just given her a damn quarter, just to keep things moving.

• Anyone who likens a political opponent to Hitler.  As Bill Maher pointed out, the only person that should be compared to Hitler is Charlie Chaplin, but that’s really more of a facial hair thing.

December 28, 2009

 

            For the past couple of weeks, I’ve posted things that I’d rather do without.  But just so you don’t think I’m a total curmudgeon, I thought I’d change it up and blog about some of the little things that make my life a little better.

 

• A Good cup of coffee.

 

• Netflix.  I especially like that I can catch up on shows I missed, like Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Californication.

 

• Max, Oliver and Gilbert, our ani-pals.  Also, their departed brothers, Damien and Ginger.

 

• Tivo.  It’s great to be able to watch shows when I want, and I love that by zapping the commercials, I can watch an hour-long program in about 45 minutes.  The subject search and wishlists are wonderful features, and Tivo Suggestions turned me on to a number of programs I would have otherwise missed.

 

• Itmademyday.com, and its sister site, fmylife.com.

 

• Letterman and Stewart, a great late-night combo.

 

• The sound of a video poker machine paying off inside a Vegas casino.

 

• The Sunday night cartoon block on Fox.

 

• Online banking.

 

• The Sicilian pizza from Home Delivery Pizza Pub.

 

• When I get feedback from one of my blogs.  I don’t care if anyone agrees with me or likes what I wrote, I’m just happy to know someone took the time to read the thing, and that I’m not just spinning my wheels here.

 

• Boilo.  But for as much as I like it, it’s an even bigger thrill when I turn someone else onto it and they enjoy it.

 

• Commercials with monkeys in them.

 

• Hearing Pierre Robert on WMMR in Philadelphia.

 

• Eating breakfast for dinner.

 

• LOL cats and Epic Fails.

 

• The Stanley Cup Playoffs, especially when the Penguins are in it.

 

• When a bartender knows my “usual” and serves it to me unasked.

 

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.  Just a great big bucket of wrong, and hysterically funny.

 

• The new headphones I got for Christmas.  They Rock!