2024 Review + Beck Cash Cake Dire Straits

[Editor’s Note:  This is the latest edition of Tick’s Notes and Tunes. It is a transcript of a fictional radio broadcast with direct links to the tunes being played.  The transcript is in 3 parts.

(1.)The first is the first half of a transcript of the radio broadcast with tune links; (2.) The Editorial: (which normally deals with the subject in the title of this post). Comments on the Ominous Power of Elon Musk  ; 3.) The second half of the radio broadcast with tune links.

The purpose of this blog is to discuss, enlighten and educate the reader about relevant political, economic and business matters and to help maintain both a record and an appreciation for good old man-made music before AI makes man and real music a mere afterthought. ]

 

Hey folks

Stony Riva here

Along with

Buck

Suzi

And Rufus, who is still undecided

As to whether he wants to do

An editorial tonight…we’ll just

Have to wait and see..

 

GURU was

On tour in Katmandu

Last we heard

I guess they’ve already had

Their New Year there.

He’s probably OD’ed

Or hungover

On that spiked

goats milk concoction

he was mumbling about

 

Oh well to each his own

I guess it

Sounded deeeellllisssh….

And if Yinz believe that

I got some rather marshy

Real estate on the market

You may be interested in

….

In any event

Yes…

Another one is behind us

Gosh it’s amazing.

I actually sat down yesterday

And figured

That, if I live as long as my parents

That I have about 4600 days left

To do whatever I’m gonna do

On this planet

 

 

So with that in mind

Time is a wastin’

Let’s get started

 

First up is a live radio performance

We’ve played before

And frankly I find it to be

Just amazing

 

This guy and his band are so talented.

I love the look on his face.

It’s a very interesting combination of

Concentration and what appears to be

Terror.

 

But trust me

This group and this guy

Have everything under control

 

According to the Oracle of Wiki

He’s from Los Angeles and was

Born Bek (no c)  David Campbell

Also known as Beck David Hanson

But more commonly

As simply Beck

His musical compositions are influenced by

many different genre’s including

Folk, funk, soul, hip hop, alt rock, country

Electronica and psychedelia.

 

He counts Tom Petty and Johnny Cash

As fans.

 

Enough said

Here’s Beck with a tune I really like

Up All Night

https://youtu.be/5zCqceoC99s?si=nrD3twv_1FWdjR_Q

 

 

 

now that we got the juices flowin’

Next up is video that I would play

Just to hear/see the reaction of

the Gentleman of color

in the ball cap

Who says he’ll take two

 

But don’t get me wrong

it is a great tune.

 

This is an alt-rock band

From Sacremento probably best known

For the tune “The Distance”

 

Here’s another entertaining

And somewhat amusing tune by

 

Cake

With their hit  Short Skirt Long Jacket

https://youtu.be/X5KmB8Laemg?si=QWcZ_R4_r7kM1-lJ

 

The German guy who misses the “rising action” must be

a  musician.  He’s probably referring to dynamics

varying the sound between soft and loud

which is a technique composers use to

make the music more dramatic and/or interesting.

 

What worries me is that

I’m getting to be just like the gray bearded guy

Who didn’t want to hear any more

Because everything according to him

was better in

In some long gone decade of the past

….in his case the 40s

As in 1940s !!!

(Now remember this video was probably recorded

At least 20 years ago…..so guess what

That equates to the 60’s today..

Does that remind anybody of

Anyone?

….Gulp

 

Next up is yet another group

That I marveled at

 

This group is headed by

John Gourley

 

And I for one have consistently

Nominated their tune

Feel It Still in 2017

For song of the decade.

 

they are originally from Alaska

And all pretty much went to

The same High School

 

This is another great tune by them.

Here’s….

 

Portugal the Man  with  Atomic Man

https://youtu.be/RmUzdNLDLmI?si=sDHpP-kLUra9thG2

 

yeah that’s a good tune.

 

Okay…movin’on

As GURU tells it

He remembers sitting in the student union

At a moderately famous

Mid-Atlantic University

That apparently worships Spiders

Studying for the most important exam of his life

When the leadoff tune of the

This next group’s first album

Came on.

 

GURU says

That he thought it was Bob Dylan

And was amazed at how well he was singin’

And how great his geeetttar guy was

 

But as he found out later

He was listenin’ to

this next great British band

Who needs no introduction

 

Yeah and I have to concur

their first album was just great

From top to bottom.

In fact, there’s very little fluff

Or filler in

any of this next group’s albums.

You simply can’t go wrong

Buying one.

 

And if Chet Atkins gives ya

His nod of approval

You must be pretty darned good

At playin’ your six string.

 

…which Mark Knopfler definitely is…

 

Anyway this is one of my favorite tracks off

Of that very first Dire Straits album

Way back in the late 70s.

 

Enough said

It’s time to enjoy

 

Six Blade Knife

https://youtu.be/_gFFluvlMrM?si=91kyoD2LHhBSdY7w

 

Alright that brings us to half-time

And everyone knows what that means.

 

Yep

It’s time for our station manager Rufus

As in Coldwater

To lecture us about things

We’d rather not hear.

 

But the sooner we get on with it

The sooner we can come back

And listen to more great tunes

 

Take it away Rufus….

 

————————–

 

Thanks Stony

 

Just a word here. I’ll keep it short.

 

Let’s all get down on our knees and pray to the Almighty that when he’s sworn in Trump takes a more conciliatory tone towards folks who did not vote for him and that he stays true to the Constitution. Let’s also pray that a man who’s personal wealth exceeds the gross domestic product of all but 34 countries, who owns controls or runs everything from companies involved in the development artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, outer-space  (both its exploration and in deploying communication and other satellites),  brain-computer interfacing, tunnelling,  highspeed rail. And social-media communication to name just a few, remains loyal to our Constitution and is not a closet dictator.  Heaven help us.  Musk scares the devil out of me.  His vast business interests are above us, below us, in our brains and in artificial intelligence.

 

And, get this.  Musk is currently appealing a Delaware judge ruling voiding Tesla shareholder approval of a bonus…yes a bonus worth anywhere from $50 billion (with a B) to $100 billion all depending on stock values on the distribution date.  Only three countries have a defense budget in excess of $100 billion. The U.S. China and Russia.  Only 10 countries have defense budgets exceeding $50 billion.  And according to the Independent, citing in part Musk’s business connections with China and his alleged communications/meetings with Putin, Retired  Lieutenant General Russel L. Honoré has stated that Musk is a national security threat.

 

And has anyone out there noted that Musk contributed $270 million (with an M) to Trump’s campaign.  How can Musk not be owed some huge political favors by Trump and heaven knows how many other Republicans?   What does it take to wake Americans up?   Even if you are a MAGA supporter, the sheer power Musk has can be turned on you in one nanosecond.  And you should realize this, just like every American should.

 

That this is happening in our country is, to my way of thinking, absolutely our worst national nightmare.  What do I mean by “this”.  I mean the Oligopoly that has, seemingly overnight, grabbed hold of our nation via Trump and/or the obliviousness of it to ….. Well, I’ll just spare everyone from hearing what I’m really thinking.

 

And where was Fox News while all of this was happening?

 

I’ll leave it there.  It’s beyond shocking.  I can’t sleep at night.

I can’t even bring myself to say it, but in the spirit of soldiering on, I’ll just say.  Happy New Year Everyone and may God save America because apparently we can’t.

 

This is Rufus Coldwater.

 

————————–      ————————————

Whoeeeeee.

Rufus you never disappoint.

And you’re definitely a hard act to follow

 

But okay folks

As my dad used to say

Shake it off….

Let’s get back in the grove

 

And boy so we do….

 

We kick off the second half with

a man who needs no introduction.

This is off of the second album produced by Rick Rubin

Who we all owe a huge debt of gratitude to,

if for no other reason than the album

from which this next tune was taken, and the album

that preceded it… they both resurrected the career

of one of country music’s greatest legends

right when it looked like his career was over.

.

This is a cover of a Soundgarden tune that

Rubin insisted that Cash do.

If you’ve ever heard the Soundgarden version

you’d understand why Cash thought Rubin

was absolutely crazy for suggesting this tune.

 

The other thing one notices about this rendition

Is that Cash is backed by

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

And yes they were in the studio with Cash for this.

 

And once again Mr. J.R. Cash makes yet another tune

All his own.

Here’s …

Johnny Cash singin’ Rusty Cage

https://youtu.be/9CrBqRb3VGM?si=K4H9Tyaj1mbaCTSY

 

 

Next up we have a tune

That our Assistant Executive Producer of Everything

Suzi

Brung us about a year ago

Up from the deepest

Darkest dungeon

…I’m talkin’ about

Our garage.

And it’s one of my favorites.

 

When we played this tune last time

I couldn’t find anything on them.

 

Well, I must confess

I got weak

And resorted to AI.

The Chat version

And by dingies

If it didn’t find some good info

 

Very interestingly this group

Who have played under various names

Are/were from Salem Ohio

Recorded 4 tunes

One of which was…..drum roll

A cover of The Who’s

“I Can’t Explain”

 

Now anyone who knows anything

About me and GURU

Knows that we idolize The Whosters.

 

So these guys obviously have good taste…

 

With that said

This next tune was recorded

By them under

their nom de guerre

At the time Sound Barrier

back in 1966

 

In any event

Here they are doin’ a great tune called

Hey Hey

https://youtu.be/9D_JkLJvlTM?si=Gm6pLNGDlvwqg-VG

 

 

Well folks, Buck is in the control booth just a windin’

And crankin’ his arms

And Yinz all know what that means

 

Yep….it’s time to wrap things up

And get onto 2025.

 

We dedicate this last tune

To one of our biggest fans out there

Good ole Red Dog.

RD is a soul and motown man and loves our clean up artist.

 

And I think it’s appropriate here because

Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. that’s his real name

Was a Midwest musician before he was discovered

By one of the very first movers and shakers

In Motown.  Harvey Fuqua

 

Anyway after hearin’ Rufus

I just wanna hear somethin’ that let’s my spirit free

I wanna fly

 

And Autry   who is

More famously known as Junior Walker

Along with his Allstars will definitely

Hit the spot

With tonight’s great

Legendary Cleanup tune.

Here, to conclude 2024 and put us on the path

To a brighter 2025 is….

 

Junior Walker & the Allstars doin’   Roadrunner

https://youtu.be/SSosQRiXiPw?si=MiJIBqOVePXez6u7

 

Well folks that’s it for tonight

I hope everyone stays safe

Don’t drink and drive

Hand the keys to that designated driver.

 

For Suzi

Buck

Rufus….and GURU

Who’s probably out drinkin’ with some Gurkha

In downtown Katmandu

 

I’m Stony Riva sayin’

Don’t’ let the bed bugs bite

And, of course,

Happy New Year

—————————————————————————-

END NOTES

 

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