Saint Etienne - Nothing Can Stop Us (original video)

this is the best, this is the record the past decade has tried to catch up with i love saint etienne!

lily allen - littlest things

one of my most most favorites, keep making music lily

happy holidays!!!!

happy holidays!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxxooxoxoxoxox from your friend anthony campuzano/tc/bubbles inc.

ABBA Lay All Your Love On Me

congrats to abba on getting into the rock and roll hall of fame well deserved , also props to the stooges, jimmy cliff and the hollies.

alizee

thanks goes to justin to letting me know about alizee. last time i was checking out current french pop i was into yelle and ludivine saginer, dont know how i missed alizee.

FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS EVER FALLEN IN LOVE

reading this http://pitchfork.com/news/37442-5-10-15-20-kurt-vile/ made me remember how i also liked the fine young cannibals for a spell, then i discovered this great buzzcocks cover they did for the film 'something wild' so great. thanks kurt!

Jarvis Cocker - Songbook Part 4

sorted for e's and wizz

Mariah Carey - Fantasy (Pop Jam 95)

i have to feel that chris smith really has not been paying attention to about 15 years of american music when he sends me this clip saying 'hey man have you heard this song, it's great' yeah i know that already man and pop music has been remaking this for a decade. but yeah it still is really great and i would like to thank chris for reminding me how much i dig this song.

Thinking of the Mighty Jack Rose

The first snowfall of this winter.

I was coming from my studio in kensington on the el towards 69th street and the train exited the tunnel at 46th street. My recently acquired cell phone rang and it was my best friend Chris. He said I have bad news and literally as he told me the snow began to fall. Big, fluffy, beautiful flakes around 3 pm on the 5th of december, the first snowfall this winter and Jack Rose is gone. Chris and I only spoke for a stop or two and then I rode the rest of the way looking out the window thinking of Jack. The snowfall held fast while I transferred to a trolley and even when I walked the few blocks to the house. I was in a trance really absolutely stunned that the Mighty Jack Rose was gone.

I often joke that i have the musical taste of a 15 year old girl (from the valley circa 1982, manchester/glasgow 1985-89, or even new jersey circa 1997-2007) yet that is only partially true. I do have a wider fondness for music due in part to my close friends Chris Smith, Jack Sloss, Steve Gunn, Dan Murphy and many others whose own musical obsessions have tipped me to varying corners of sound. That is how I got to know the music of Jack Rose. I went to see him play numerous times, at first because friends were appearing on bills with him, yet quickly realized he was the main draw. I remember fondly sitting on a floor in a bookshop just watching his nimble fingers so effortlessly coaxing the most beautiful music.

This summer I got to hang out with Jack and eat his delicious pizza at a real record head party. Chris set his tube amp system up and everyone gathered around to hear the great sounds. There were alot friends their so even I got to play three songs like everyone else. I started with Marianne Faithfull's 'Easy in the City' and Harmonica Dan remarked that he had bought an autographed copy for super cheap that very morning and I told him I had bought this exact record from record exchange years ago. This was days after Michael Jackson died so I of course went next to 'Billie Jean' (also Thriller is an amazing sounding record) and Jack Rose immediately left the room. He was so mad I played Michael Jackson, but it was funny. It was totally cool, it was just that he had his standards and Thriller was not under consideration. Jack would probably hate for me to be talking about him alongside Michael jackson but I am going to anyway. They both were immensely talented, driven, complex and yes, kind people taken from the Earth far far too soon. Jack Rose was the coolest dude, a tough yet tender comrade. I was able to talk to him about my work and he sought me out at shows to say hi. I saw him last a week or so ago when he was DJing and he seemed so great. It is so terrible that he is gone, he was an inspiration and friend to so many and a dear dear husband to Laurie. I am so shocked and saddened that I won't get to see him again.

The Silvertones - True confession (live)

these are the kind of dudes i want to hang out with

Diane Lane - Nowhere Fast

breathtaking

Television Personalities live bootleg

if you are under 30 you probably won't understand this clip yet. if you are over 30 or under and you hang on thru the 5 minutes and ten seconds it really is the only tvp's you need. however if you ever now or in the future or even the past find yourself falling asleep with a beer on your chest you may want to check dan treacy's back catalog.

THE PARACHUTE MEN - SOMETIMES IN VAIN

in 1988 this was my favorite song totally via andy bisconti from an nme comp i loved this song so much. total soundtrack to summer stage for me. this is the sound i hear when i think of those great times.

Elton John - Bitter Fingers

towards the end of my la trip i was working on drawings while justin was at work and he doesnt have much vinyl so i just played a warsaw bootleg, the first bikini kill, two songs off mott the hoople and this elton john song over and over. i think i played bitter fingers about 25 times in a row at one point. this is one of my favs of his lesser known songs along with the cage and grimsby. the hook with the piano and the guitar at the end are so great. also what a great line, 'its hard to write a song with bitter fingers . . .' words from and for the wise.

kustom kar kommandos

the greatest music video ever made. followed i believe by diana ross 'upside down', michael jackson 'billie jean' , the bangles 'going down to liverpool' and the happy mondays 'wrote for luck' the version with the kids in it. that's my top 5.

New Order - Touched By The Hand Of God

last nite hanging with chris and constance somehow a tangent went from c thomas howell to finding sarah jessica parker cute in only square pegs or la story to talk concerning kathryn bigelow and discovering this great new order video she directed. oh also switching the channel between cops and the lost boys and watching roger ebert review battlefield earth and pondering the demise of barry pepper's acting career.

Lena Zavaroni - Hi! Summer 1977 - 'I had a Brontosaurus'

we miss you lena. great great song such a sad story

Misfits - Hybrid Moments

i wonder what glen danzig is being for halloween . . .

Elton John - Your song

sir elton john is one of the best entertainers ever.

Twiggy - In my life (Muppet Show)

Noise Addict - Back In Your Life (Modern Lovers cover)

R.E.M. - Nightswimming

my favorite beatles song is hey jude, my favorite stones song is jumping jack flash, my favorite song turning 34 with a broken leg thinking of the summer and youth through pain killers and ice cream is this one.

Happy Mondays - 24 Hour Party People (Live in Barcelona )

Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out) it is gonna be a mess it is gonna be great i'm gonna be there and i can't wait happy mondays tonite in philly at the troc!

For Fans of Bubbles Inc*

For Fans of Bubbles Inc.*

1. Theme de Camille - Georges Delerue
2. Love is the Drug (Long Version) - Grace Jones
3. Geto Boys/Iko (Demo) - Glass Candy
4. Everything I Own - Boy George
5. Cinq Minutes d'Amour - France Gall
6. Kiss and Make Up (original Donna Savage vocal)-Saint Etienne
7. Working On It Night and Day - Richard Hewson Orchestra
8. I Got the Music In Me - Kiki Dee
9. Just a Little - Beau Brummels
10. Love Goes On - Go-Betweens
11. Love Without Lies - Comet Gain
12. Fists in Pockets - Comet Gain
13. Another Weekend - Comet Gain
14. She's Real - Kicking Giant
15. Live and Let Die - Daniel Johnston
16. Words of Love - Paul McCartney
17. Perfidia - Carola Standertskjold
18. Every Little Bit Hurts - Small Faces
19. No One - Alicia Keys
20. Waiting For A Star To Fall - Boy Meets GIrl

*1. from Godard's Contempt 2. Roxy Music cover 3. ad hoc Iko cover tour only demo, includes sample of the Geto Boy's sampling of Issac Hayes' "Hung Up On My Baby" on their classic track "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" 4. from Top of the Pops performance, Bread cover heavily inspired by Ken Boothe's own cover 5. rumored to contain partially swiped melody from the aforementioned Bread track 6. Field Mice cover, another early Saint Etienne track like "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" that features a vocalist other than Sarah Cracknell, this time Donna Savage 7. from Waris Hussein's film Melody the only song on the soundtrack other than "Teach Your Children by CSNY that isn't by the Bee Gees 8. live television performance from the very cute Kiki Dee 14. seven inch version, one of my favorite songs the spring and summer of 1994 throughout my freshman year in college. when the record finally came out they had to drop the Ronette's sample and the recording never worked as well as this version 15. Wings cover live in Germany, I saw Daniel Johnston sing this at the Khyber same tour, same brilliance 16. Buddy Holly cover, Paul McCartney owns the rights to Buddy Holly's music, Michael Jackson's estate owns the rights to Macca's music 18. Brenda Hollaway cover 19. i used to talk shit about Alicia Keys then i really fell for this tune, play this really really loud 20. probably the ideal Bubbles Inc. tune here, Boy Meets Girl songwriting duo of George Merrill and Shannon Rubicam they wrote "How Will I Know", "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" and "Waiting For A Star To Fall" for Whitney Houston. she had great success with the first two and then turned down the third! what was she thinking?! so they made this great version themselves and had a hit.

download here:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/eezjzt

The beach boys -good vibrations

the beach etc (or i am about to turn 34)

The Beach Boys - Keepin' The Summer Alive

ocean city was so much fun. many thanks to justin, justin's grandmom and nate.

Kiki Dee - I've got the music in me 1975

so great.

Enjoy The Silence (HQ) - Depeche Mode - Original Video (WTC Tribute !!!)

thinking of this so long ago when i took the early morning off from work so i could vote for mark green and then shortly after on the bus enroute to dumbo as the police and fire trucks flew by us and after we passed the naval yard cell phone rumors came horribly true. i will always love nyc.

On this first day of September I thought I'd post these mixes of the songs I enjoyed most this summer. If you regularly exchange emails with me you will remember the agony I endured when I realized one of my favorite songs on the radio was in fact a Black Eyed Peas song. However I shouldn't have been surprised, this was the most top 40 summer for me since 1997 when both 'MMMbop' by Hanson and 'Say You Will Be There' by the Spice Girls were among my favorite songs. In a way the combo of Lily Allen, Taylor Swift, Pink, and Miley Cyrus could perhaps be this summer's Spice Girls for me, of course the Belle Stars were in fact an inspiration for the Spice Girls, and Taylor Hanson makes an appearance as the lead singer of the super group Tinted Windows. This summer I went to see Tinted Windows and throughly enjoyed it. The concert was mobbed with grown up Hanson fans and I went by myself yet luckily spied a few friends in the audience who were there to support the newly DFA signed and hyped band from Philadelphia, Free Energy. Also don't be afraid of the Philadelphia born Pink she is one of the best to come out of this landmark girl pop era. Her song 'Please Don't Leave Me' sounds like she is fronting New Order and is better than anything they had on their disappointing 'final' album 'Waiting for the Sirens' Call'. If I could I would love to produce a record of Pink covering Shocking Blue classics, I feel she not only could be up to the task but is the only contemporary vocalist that could approach the levels of Mariska Veres' greatness.

My favorite things this past summer do include: Fonthill, Anissa Mack's show at Small A Projects, random encounters in NYC with friends near and far, walking through the park to visit the Met and the Whitney, Brooke Shields remembering the King of Pop, rapping with the Michael Jackson T shirt vendor on Allegheny Avenue in Kenzo, watching the Goonies in the afternoon, Karen Kilimnik saying she liked my drawing, karaoke at Winnie's, sharing a wall with Andy Warhol, Irene Molloy singing Ave Maria during my beloved grandmom's funeral at Saint Phil's followed by my father's phenomenal eulogy, leading the fourth of July parade in Lansdowne, various birthday parties, Joe Biden talking about Teddy, followed days later by the dusk burial at Arlington, getting directions from Will Oldham's mother Joanne, visiting Knoebel's Grove with Mark and Gretchen, putting together a feast in Austin, Barton Springs, and waiting for the bats to come out with Kate, taking it easy at Harry's Roadhouse and befriending a museum employee in Sante Fe via Alexander Girard, waiting out the rain at Anthony's Cafe in Fishtown, Andrea Fraser at Fredrick Petzel/Dorthoy Iannone at Anton Kern and the New Museum, Mocha Dick at the Fabric Workshop, Cezanne and Beyond at the PMA, Jack Rose's pizza, Clubb O, Club 650, le Basket onward - laughing, dancing, talking shit and taking names. In addition to all of this are the following songs that made me really happy this summer:

A Bubbles Inc. Summer

(brought to you by Bubbles Incorporated)*

Disc 1

1 - Lily Allen - The Fear
2 - The Beatles - Sexy Sadie (take 6, 19 july 1968)
3 - Dwight Twilley - Looking For The Magic
4 - Dexy's Midnight Runners - I Love You (Listen To This)
5 - Camera Obscura - French Navy
6 - Sheena Easton - Telephone
7 - Cyndi Lauper - The Goonies R Good Enough
8 - Dexy's Midnight Runners - This Is What She's Like
9 - Lily Allen - Not Fair
10 - Taylor Swift - Love Story
11 - Taylor Swift - You Belong To Me
12 - Pink - Please Don't Leave Me
13 - Shoes - Nowhere Fast
14 - Shoes - Fatal
15 - Tinted Windows - Messing With My Head
16 - Pink - So What
17 - Miley Cyrus - Party In The USA
18 - Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling
19 - Whitney Houston - Million Dollar Bill

Disc 2

1 - Ace Of Base - Cruel Summer (Acapella)
2 - Stacey Ferguson/Fergie (Kids Inc.) - I Get Weak
3 - Strawberry Switchblade - Vicious
4 - Big Audio Dynamite - E=MC2
5 - Paul McCartney - Frozen Jap (Rough-Mix/Acetate)
6 - Anna Domino - Land Of My Dreams
7 - Steve Winwood - While You See A Chance
8 - Super Furry Animals - Inaugural Trams
9 - Eddy Grant - Romancing The Stone
10 - Lime - Your Love
11 - Lime - Please Say You Will
12 - Gloria/Martika (Kids Inc.) - Glamorous Life
13 - Belle Stars - Sign Of The Times
14 - Alex Mix - Everybody's Going Do The Lovin'
15 - The Equals - Baby Come Back
16 - Lemonheads - Different Drum
17 - Saint Etienne - I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend
18 - Shop Assistants - Something To Do
19 - Adult Net - Where You When I Needed You?
20 - Andy Kim - Rock Me Gently
21 - Brighter - Poppy Day

*Meg Baird played Dwight Twilley for me/Robert Botto sent me the Shoes record/The Mellow Legend sent me the new Whitney track/I stole the Ace of Base track off of Franny Arnold's computer/Rubens Ghenov told me how to make mp3's of my favorite Kid's Incorporated songs/Bones gave me the Macca track/Jason Killinger introduced me to little green lemons/Brendan Greaves included the Alex Mix track on the mix that accompanied his great essay on beach music/enjoy all of this music xo anthony campuzano/tc/bubbles inc.

disc one: http://www.sendspace.com/file/wubwzg

disc two: http://www.sendspace.com/file/9rj4wv

Robert Kennedy Funeral- Eulogy delivered by Senator Edward Kennedy

Rest in peace teddy.

I have RFK's funeral on vinyl (Andy Williams version of Ava Maria is the best i have ever heard other than Irene Molloy at my grandmother catherine's funeral) teddy's eulogy is so powerful. he was offered RFK's nomination for president and declined. he had his faults yet teddy was in my opinion the best senator and helped our nation in that role in ways we truly needed and continue to need (ie: health care bill)

Randy Newman - Sail Away

i love this song.

The Beatles - The Long And Winding Road 1970

i posted billy ocean's version of this great song of paul mccartney's on the willow house blog. here is the great original minus all of the treacley strings spector draped it with. this was the beatles last #1 single in the usa, 23 may 1970.

Perfidia - Carola Standertskjöld 1965

LE MEPRIS (CONTEMPT) - Theme De Camille

Dexys Midnight Runners THIS IS WHAT SHE'S LIKE

perfect song. belle and sebastian and comet gain owe so much to dexy's midnight runners.

Pretty In Pink, 1986 (Molly Ringwald)

RIP John Hughes and thank you for bringing to the screen my #1 1980's dream girl the beautiful Molly Ringwald.

Dwight Twilley Looking for the magic

the day after meg and steven ran into me at the tinted windows show they let me know about this killer song.

Lindsey Buckingham Trouble

yeah yeah i'm in trouble . . .

Television Personalities - A Picture of Dorian Gray

from the desk of pop genius dan treacy.

Madonna- Ray of Light.

i love pop music and this song is among the best. thanks to amelia and her friend for reminding me at winnie's about how much i love this song. also thanks to michael for introducing me to his friend who used to program 120 minutes on MTV.

The Pretenders - Kid

i feel like this video today.

Stars!

if you are in nyc july 23rd thru aug 28 do check out this group show i am in. and if you happen to be there on july 23rd from 6-8 come to the opening and we can hang out. details follow:

Stars!

“…to be a star is to be a blank screen…a blank screen for the projection of spectators’ phantasmas, dreams, and desires.” -Thierry de Duve


Salon 94 Freemans is pleased to present Stars!, a group exhibition featuring work by Anonymous, Anthony Campuzano, Carter, Jennifer Cohen, Katy Grannan, Ryan McNamara, Lucas Michael, Marilyn Minter, Niagara, Jack Pierson, William Scott, RJ Supa, and Donald Urquhart. The exhibition seeks to explore stardom as a sublime desire to escape one's self and become someone else. The work on view demonstrates a need on the part of the artist – or the subject – to be seen, to perform, to escape obscurity. Approximate versions of icons such as Liza Minnelli and Marilyn Monroe appear alongside more idiosyncratic figures such as Libby Holman, Amy Winehouse, and Big and Little Edie Beale.

Jack Pierson’s empty stage sets the tone for the show, invoking phantom performers and failed acts. Jennifer Cohen’s jazz hands and tapping feet betray the masochism of performance through their rigid choreography. A funereal shrine by Anonymous pays homage to fallen stars and questions whether stars’ very DNA is more beautiful than that of the rest of us.

The photographs of Katy Grannan and Marilyn Minter depict, respectively, strangers on the sidewalk in contemporary Los Angeles and the artist’s own reclusive mother, all of whom confront the viewer with their own versions of the Hollywood Dream. Grannan’s “Marilyn” impersonator appears far older than the original, every imperfection harshly illuminated in the spotlight of the Los Angeles sun, while Minter’s mother painstakingly does her makeup at her vanity but never leaves the house. Lucas Michael’s Still Life (LM Squared) depicts the artist re-enacting Liza Minnelli as she sat for her Warhol portrait. The doubled, blurred image undermines the impossible glamour of the Warhol 1970’s society portrait, while it also reveals the slippery space of a star’s identity; an impersonator, an interloper, can break in and steal a bit of the shine or revel in the famous pain and dysfunction.

Anthony Campuzano’s text-based drawing Treetops focuses on Libby Holman, 1930’s torch singer, Broadway stage actress, and R.J. Reynold’s tobacco heiress, and her obsessive relationship with the troubled actor Montgomery Clift, who frequently stayed at Treetops, her Connecticut estate. RJ Supa’s text paintings on mirrors implicate the viewer in both the desire for and the exploitation of fame. Paintings by Niagara and drawings by Donald Urquhart revel in a faux-naïve desire to be beautiful, to be glamorous and untouchable, while simultaneously evoking the distance between fantasy and reality. William Scott’s painting of Diana Ross depicts the star as a vehicle to another world. Videos by Carter, Lucas Michael, and Ryan McNamara, along with live performance by McNamara, show the artists enacting various tropes of stardom.

Stars! was curated by David Fierman and Amie Scally.

Salon 94 Freemans
1 Freeman Alley
New York, NY 10002

Monday - Friday
11: 30 am - 5:30 pm

Nothing Left - The Primitives

i am sad - i am relaxed - i love sante fe - i am feeling ambitious - i am missing my grandmother - i am looking to the future - a lot is going on.

I'll Be There Acapella

earlier tonite i could only think about the nba draft. i was on the internet checking the trades the buzz etc. one eye on the computer and the other on cable i heard the breaking news about the king of pop, michael jackson. i am so so sad about his passing. michael jackson is the definition of pop music. he is the very very best, singularly the best. the only ones who come close (the beatles, abba) are groups. i remember the moment when i learned john lennon died, when i learned river phoenix died, when i learned kurt cobain died, when i learned joey ramone died, and now sadly when michael jackson died. earlier today i was contemplating farrah fawcet's death which is also a profound passing, arguably the biggest stars of both the 1980's and 1970's passing within hours of each other. later tonight on nightline they replayed part of an interview with michael where he recounted details of his very first girlfriend, tatum o'neal. he talked about how she frightened him with her frank sexual talk and their date at her parent's beverly hills mansion. tatum's father ryan o'neal is mourning his long time love farrah but one thinks of the troubled tatum also tonite and what is running through her head this improbable night where she spans both epic passings. i will say this in regards to myself that in 1983 in particular december of 1983 the three people i was most in awe of were my grandfather, dr. j, and michael jackson. dr. j of course was a member of the reigning world champions of bastketball, my hometown philadelphia 76ers. my grandfather along with my grandmother had been my babysitters up until i had gone to school and he had passed earlier that year. michael jackson was the biggest music thing i had ever experienced. my dad liked rock and roll but i liked pop. i went as a village person for halloween in kindergarten - i liked barry manilow, i liked abba, i liked the fifth dimension, i liked christopher cross, i liked blondie, i liked men at work, i liked hall and oates, and i loved michael jackson. thriller is the greatest pop record ever it will always be. my dad made me and my brother a fake glove using a painter's glove and glitter. oh and back to december 1983 - we spent christmas break at my grandmother's house and the cable tv which we didn't have at home and everytime every hour when the thriller video came on we dropped whatever we were doing and ran to the tv. rest in peace king of pop michael jackson, gone far far too soon, there will never be another. love, anthony campuzano/tc/bubbles inc.

Mary Hopkin 1968

cover of the bee gee's 'in the morning of my life'
(bee gees never released their version it only appears in the beginning of the film melody from 1970)

CCS - I Want You Back ( Jackson 5 )

yeah summer!

Lime - babe we're gonna love tonight

also my friend jason let me know about this song russ and lea told him about it so great.

Lime - Your love

i think this video and song is so great.

HIS NAME IS ALIVE "COUNTRY GIRL" live 1996

the velvet underground of the 1990's

Strawberry Switchblade compilation video

unreleased strawberry switchblade song 'vicious'.

Cristina - "Ticket to the Tropics" (1984)

The Pointer Sisters - He's So Shy

Pointer Sisters-I'm So Excited! (Live)

i'm so excited!!

ABBA : "Why Did It Have To Be Me"

the best pop group at 3/4ths full. live in 1976

ABBA - So Long (Made in Sweden)

the best pop group.

Suzi Quatro - Another Heart of Stone

i can't help but dance when suzie quatro is playing.

Rolling stones - jumping jack flash

the greatest the best song ever.

Velvet Underground - New Age [69 live version]

Jonathan King - Satisfaction

bubblerock. 1974. mick jagger's favorite version after the stones, no word on what he thinks about the devo and britney spears versions.

Catherine Deneuve - Chanel No. 5

perfect commercial.

Heaven Knows-Donna Summer/Brooklyn Dreams

million plus seller.

Beat Happening - Tiger Trap

i still don't know how to drive.

Bee Gees - Lonely Days (Original Music Video)

the plight of the brilliant and successful songwriters.

The Fall - White Lightning - 1991

1st Madonna La Isla Bonita 1987 Mitsubishi Advert (HQ)

this is a very effective commercial. i want to go out right now and buy a mitsubishi hi fidelity vhs player.

betty boo - where are you baby

1990

Pandoras News Clip - With Paula Pierce

international ramifications.

The Go-Betweens - Streets Of Your Town Version 2

just got back from north and south carolina, canoed the great pee dee river , camped and made bonfires on the beach. later shared an easter feast with friends new and old. we played many records at the house - the ones i picked included little anthony and the imperials and the go betweens sixteen lovers lane.

Super Furry Animals - Run-Away

single from 1997 the beginning of this video definitely quotes jean christope averty's melody film of gainsbourg's histore de melody nelson that i screened at the ica

the fall - hit the north

hit the north hit the charts etc so great and the blackpool flume ride at the end so funny.

Kinks - Hot Potatoes

this is my favorite kinks song.

Saint Etienne - Kiss and Make Up

was listening to the new camera obscura single french navy i like it but it could use a downbeat remix similar to this great original mix of kiss and make up from 1990. donna savage on vocals. also this video is better than the camera obscura video. and this version is better than the sarah cracknell version. and finally this is a field mice cover.

Commentary: Peggy Sue and a love so rare and true

By Bob Greene
CNN Contributor

Editor's note: CNN Contributor Bob Greene is a bestselling author whose current book is "When We Get to Surf City: A Journey Through America in Pursuit of Rock and Roll, Friendship, and Dreams."

(CNN) -- After days on end of grim and dreary news, the first weekend of spring is with us, and with its arrival comes, to many people, the yearly promise of new romance and a chance for lasting love.

But if figuring out the secrets of how to revive a battered economy is something that is complicated and elusive, that quandary is simple in comparison to matters of the heart. The legendary experts on romance, star-crossed and otherwise, are generally not available for comment. Romeo and Juliet have left the building.

However, there is one person I know who has a better feel for the vagaries of love than most, and I sought her out the other day.

"Spring is the time when you allow yourself to hope that love will come around again," said Peggy Sue Gerron.

You may not recognize her full name, but you sure do recognize the first part of it.

Yep -- she's that Peggy Sue. The Peggy Sue of Buddy Holly's unforgettable 1957 hit, a song of longing and heartbreak that is instantly familiar today even to people who weren't born until decades after it came out. "If you knew Peggy Sue, then you'd know why I feel blue ..."

Juliet, that other symbol of the glory of love, may have been a fictional creation of William Shakespeare's imagination, but Peggy Sue was, and is, real. She lives in West Texas, just as she did when Buddy Holly recorded the song. She was actually not even his girlfriend, although she sensed a certain yearning on his part. She was the girlfriend of Jerry Allison, the drummer for the Crickets, Holly's band.

"I think the reason people think about finding love in the spring is that the season represents new beginnings," she said. "The flowers are blooming. The air smells good. You feel that you have a chance."

In the song, Peggy Sue, implicitly, was the one who did the dumping, not the one who got dumped. But time has made her understand:

"I think, I really believe, that on a rare occasion, two people in life run across each other in a path like two comets. And when it happens, I think that feeling lasts forever."

Which is to say: With a love so rare and true.

And that, she said, is what makes people keep looking for love regardless of how many times they may have tried and failed. She has a theory of what being in love does to a person:

"Your eyes are a little bit shinier and your skin is a little bit clearer when you're in love. When you meet that person, you think: Whatever you're doing, I want to be right beside you when you're doing it. I want to be near you just because I like to see your smile."

Not that being Peggy Sue means she has all the answers. "I don't," she said. She is 68 now; she has been married twice, divorced twice. When she introduces herself to new people, they often say, "Oh -- like the Peggy Sue in the song!"

Sometimes she tells them she is in fact that Peggy Sue; sometimes she lets it go. It's an uphill battle to convince them she's not kidding.

And as the woman who eternally will be a symbol of true love's ways, she thinks she understands why people never give up on hoping to find the right person. "You have a tendency to put the walls up after you've been hurt," she said. "You think it's not worth trying again. But then you do it anyway. It's like it's not even up to you. It's stronger than your intellect."

For those who, as spring arrives, have just lost a great love, her advice for dealing with the sadness is to remember that some people never find love in their whole lives. "Even if you're the one to get left, you've been lucky to have the feeling. And the feeling, unlike the person, will never leave you."

Somewhere this spring -- many somewheres, undoubtedly -- the words, sung for the first time more than 50 years ago, will come blasting once again out of a car dashboard's speakers:

"Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty Peggy Sue."

And people in 2009, hearing it, will remember anew just how much happiness the right person can bring.

"When I first heard the song," Peggy Sue said, "I just thought the drums and the lyrics and the melody were so great, it made me want to get up and dance. As I grew older, it began to seem like more of a love song to me. It began to seem more like a song about not giving up."

Living in Lubbock, Texas, a ham radio enthusiast in an age of Twitter and text messages, she said she is currently not dating anyone.

And with the arrival of spring, and its universal promise of life's best possibilities, she acknowledges that there is hope in her own heart, too.

"Always," said Peggy Sue.

The Would be Goods Emmanuelle Beart

london june 2008

14 - The Wedding Present - You Should Always Keep In Touch..

everybody everybody wants to be this band write these songs but they can't. even the dog even the video wants to join this band.

Lisa Lisa Cult Jam Lost In Emotion

welcome spring - hit the beat now!

Dazz Band - Let It Whip

bubbles inc. approved. this might be my theme music.

Ellen Foley - What's the Matter Baby/Stupid Girl Medley

another clip from the very very underrated ellen foley. i need to get her records.

The Beatles - Hey Jude

last week i posted on the willow house blog how jumping jack flash is my favorite rolling stones song . . . well this is my favorite beatles song. mick is my favorite stone and paul is my favorite beatle. so there you have it.

Psychic TV — Good Vibrations

Strange Powers

the magnetic fields, coney island circa 1992.

Laura Nyro - He's a Runner (Jan. 15, 1969)

save the country is my favorite song of hers but i already posted it so here is the great great laura nyro from the same appearance.

Sex Pistols - Submission

one of the greatest songs ever. love this blank video.

THE ROLLING STONES - UNDER MY THUMB (LIVE 1981)

the great great late hal ashby.

Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out !

here's to long and beautifully random weekends.

Rest In Peace Philip Jose Farmer

As a young person - or to put it better a young reader, I devoured Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld series. I loved loved those books. I can remember very well the day I got word that my inter library loan came through from Ohio to my local library of the final book in the series. Very visceral visual writing. I am really not a science fiction buff but the books that Philip Jose Farmer wrote are beyond genre they are just great great books. Rest in peace brother.


Philip Jose Farmer 1918-2009


Philip Jose Farmer, 1918-2009: Acclaimed science fiction writer inspired Robert Heinlein, others
Longtime Peoria resident wrote more than 75 novels, was known for dealing frankly with sexual matters in his work

Associated Press
February 27, 2009
Associated Press



PEORIA — Philip Jose Farmer, one of the most celebrated science fiction, fantasy and short story writers of the 1960s and '70s, died Wednesday. He was 91.

Mr. Farmer died "peacefully" in his sleep, according to a message posted on his official Web site.

The longtime Peoria resident wrote more than 75 novels, including the Riverworld and World of Tiers series. He won the Hugo Award three times and the Grand Master Award for Science Fiction in 2001.



Mr. Farmer was "one of the great ones," according to a statement on the Web site of Subterranean Press, which published his later novels.

"He was always a joy to work with, and we will dearly miss his intelligence and good nature," the statement said.

Mr. Farmer's first published story, "The Lovers," caught the attention of the science fiction world in 1952 with one of the genre's first serious treatments of sexuality. At the time, he was working full time at a Peoria steel mill and writing on the side.

"The Lovers" was based on a love affair between an Earth man and an alien woman, and Mr. Farmer rocked the science fiction community by dealing frankly with sex. The story inspired some of the greatest science fiction writers, including Robert Heinlein, whose classic "Stranger in a Strange Land" was dedicated to Mr. Farmer.

Mr. Farmer tried to survive as a full-time freelance writer, but finances forced him back to work as a technical writer in the defense industry in 1956. He bounced from New York to Arizona and California before finally moving back to Illinois in 1969 to concentrate all his energies on his science fiction writing.

Mr. Farmer's celebrity in the science fiction world did not translate to Peoria, where he grew up and attended college.

"I am obscure in Peoria," he said in 1988. "I guess they don't read much around here."

Mr. Farmer's last novel, "The City Beyond Play," was published in 2007.

He is survived by his wife, Bette, a son and a daughter, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Dandy- Reggae In You Jeggae- Trojan Records

Is an Oscar Overdue for Kate Winslet?

congrats to kate winslet! the part with her and marion together (my two favorites and 2008 / 2009 best actresses) so lovely last night.

Meg Baird

the video above is meg baird covering 'all i ever wanted' by new riders of the purple sage'. join me wednesday night february 18th to see her sing as well two screenings. info follows:

Melody, Melody and Meg

Please join me at the ICA at 6:30 for a screening of Jean Christophe Averty's Melody from 1971 starring Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin. Then at 7 pm there will be a gallery talk with me and Kate Kraczon. Then at 8 pm we will walk about two blocks over to the International House for Waris Hussein's Melody also from 1971 starring Jack Wild, Mark Lester, and introducing Tracy Hyde. We will end the night with a set of wonderful music by Meg Baird who will be backed up by a band comprised of Kurt Vile, Steve Gunn, Jesse Trbovich, Chris Smith, and Chris Wilson. hope to see you there it is gonna be great!

Institute of Contemporary Art | University of Pennsylvania
118 S. 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104 | 215 898-7108
http://www.icaphila.org/exhibitions/campuzano.php

international house
Tel: 215-387-5125 • Fax: 215-895-6535
3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, USA
http://www.ihousephilly.org/soundonscreenwinter09.htm

Serge Gainsbourg - Ballade de Melody Nelson

version video

great article by jane birkin

What I know about men
Jane Birkin actress and singer, 62, three daughters
Eva Wiseman
Sunday February 8 2009
The Observer


My father was my hero, which was easy because he was a hero anyway. He worked for the French resistance and was a James Bond sort during the war. He worked with spies in complete secrecy, on beaches in the dead of night, in the dead of winter. He had TB and a patch on his eye, which made him seem unbelievably romantic. He used to take cocaine for his frontal sinus. Once, aged about 16, he went off on a fire escape with a nurse after a sinus operation, and when he came back he had a frightful temperature, but to avoid getting the nurse into trouble he allowed the surgeon to presume they'd left something in his head and cut him open again. And by accident they sliced all his optic nerves, which left him with double vision for the rest of his life. I would often read to him - PG Wodehouse. When he was ill, coughing blood, it made my love for him even stronger. No other men could live up to my pa, but Serge [Gainsbourg] managed to make him laugh. They used to take their sleeping pills at the same time. They were like two owls on Mandrax. In one silly Italian film I did, Serge played a rather unconvincing detective and my father played Villagers One, Two and Three. He was just divine. People envied me him.

As a child in London I always tried to pass for a boy, and I succeeded quite successfully, even as a 16-year-old. I even made it into my brother's prep school, by cutting off my hair with kitchen scissors. I knew when I turned into a girl I'd lose my brother Andrew's affection, so I made sure I ran as fast as him, and I was as good at Chinese burns as him, but I was always just his lieutenant. He used to look like Hamlet in a sports car.

Growing up I had posters of Yul Brynner and Cliff Richard on my wall, including one where Cliff wore a pair of little bathing trunks. I wasn't very daring. I remember first being excited by boys when I shared an apple with a lifeguard on a black- sand beach, but I first fell in love with my brother's best friend Sam. I was also crazy about a fellow who lived opposite my parents. I could only see his house in winter, when the trees were no longer blooming, and I'd do ballet poses with a parrot on my shoulder in the window to attract his attention. My mother twigged eventually and called me a tart. He followed me down to the embankment one day - he was about 40, and I was around 15 - and after that I'd go and visit him, and snog in the hallway.

I've sung in prisons where there are no men, only women, which does feel strange. I've sung to male prisoners, too, killers sometimes, who have wept like babies. I think I am loved as much by women as men, maybe because I have no bosoms, maybe I'm an ambiguous comfort. I have been loved by the three most attractive men in the world. John Barry was as close to Gustav Mahler as one can get. I couldn't believe, at 17, that he had chosen me. When I lost him I was devastated, but I was a disaster in bed. I must have been the last virgin in Chelsea. My men have been kindly. After John I fell in love with the divine Serge, who bought me a diamond the day before he died. He loved the things about me that nobody noticed. He said he used to draw girls like me, half girl, half boy. He was 20 years older, and taught me everything. And then there was Jacques [Doillon], a dashing Red Indian, who turned up and said he wanted me. To have him in my life, and also Serge, who wanted to be my daughter's second papa, who wrote me another 45 songs after our affair had ended, was wonderful. I realise I am an extremely lucky woman.

Copyright Guardian Newspapers Limited 2009

Kids Incorporated - Don't Give Up

jennifer love hewitt 1989. love the greek chorus in this video.

Saint Etienne - Sylvie

perfect pop

never marry a railroadman shocking blue mariska veres live 1980

mariska . . .

Fleetwood Mac - Christine Mcvie - Songbird

los angeles mirage tour 1982

Christine McVie Rumours Interview 1976

best legs in london and one of the most beautiful women in the world talks about songbird and second news

NEW ORDER - Everything's Gone Green (Live 1981)

the ukranian national home nyc 1981

Buddy Holly on the Arthur Murray Dance Party 12/29/57

50 years gone today. we miss you buddy and your rock and roll expertise.

Connie Francis - Heartbeat

John lennon Sings Buddy Holly Tunes 1972 Yoko Ono

rock island line followed by buddy holly's maybe baby and peggy sue.

Paul McCartney - Words of Love [1985]

I'm Touched By Your Presence -- Blondie -- Live 1978

dear

Mott The Hoople - All The Way From Memphis - 1973

Ellen Foley - The shuttered Palace 1981

Happy Mondays: Wrote for Luck

legends dance club, manchester 1988

# 118) Talulah Gosh: Bringing up Baby

xoxoxoxoxxoxoxo

Stevie Nicks - Original Stand Back US Fest 1983

Olivia Newton-John -

take me home country roads in japan in 1976
how could anyone abandon the lovely olivia newton john?
fascinating tale in the telegraph today :http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/4365293/Olivia-Newton-Johns-missing-ex-boyfriend-Patrick-McDermott-found-via-internet.html

John Hoyer Updike (March 18, 1932 - January 27, 2009)

john updike was a fellow pennsylvanian and an inspiration for me from a young age. i first read a short story of his in an english class at st joe's prep. it was called A&P and it was perfect. the story has such clarity and awareness for detail it should come as no surprise that john updike studied as a painter at the ruskin school of art at oxford before he turned his talents to literature. my early studies were primarily in creative writing before i became a painter. i always looked up to john updike as an example of how to use both practices in service of each other. in fact right now a drawing of mine called 'the storm #2' is on view at the ICA in philadelphia that includes a quote by john updike that reads:

"Why write? As soon ask, why rivet? Because a number of personal accidenss drift us toward the occupation of the riveter, which pre-exists, and most importantly, the riveting gun exists, and we love it.

Think of the pencil. What a quiet, nimble, slender and then stubby wonder-worker he is!"

-john updike

Patrick McGoohan Interview, 1985

the other day finishing up a project i found out about the passing of ricardo montalban and patrick mcgoohan. when i was in high school i used to use ricardo montablon as an alias whenever i met someone i didnt particularly care for. in regards to patrick mcgoohan he was and is so cool. amc has the entire Prisoner series posted online and you can watch it for free here: http://www.amctv.com/originals/the-prisoner-1960s-series/
also i noted before that the name of my blog comes from howard hughes favorite film Ice Station Zebra which of course patrick mcgoohan stars in. in this clip the winsome jane pauley interviews patrick in 1985. he conducts his part of the interview cooly reading from the back of an envelope. making one know for sure that chat shows are terribly unimportant to him, he is only interested in acting and the story and he is so very good at being and telling each.

ghosts of American Astronauts - Mekons

so so beautiful. i bought a t shirt and some cds from the wonderful sally timms about ten years ago in philadelphia. she was wearing a t shirt with a softly painted american flag on it.

Baby come back

og eddy grant from 1968 when he was in the equals. this is great.

I Can't Let Go/ The Hollies (1966)

Evie Sands - I Can't Let Go

1965

Brix Smith interview, 1989.

Shocking Blue - Shocking You

mariska veres voice is so so close to the top. killer band.

Let Her Go -- Strawberry Switchblade

great pop!

plastic bertrand

'tout petit la planete' 1979

The Cure

fire in cairo live in boston 1980