Hall & Oates - Private Eyes

Couple things. One: My mom claims to be a Beatlemaniac. But judging by the condition of her Beatles records and Private Eyes by good old Daryl Hall and John Oates, it's clear where her priorities are. This thing is fucking pristine. Flat as a pancake, not a scratch on it. The jacket's a little moldy but the LP looks like it's fresh off the shelves of Sam Goody.

And two: There are a lot of things that stand the test of time. This album is not one of those things. Man, wow, not good. I told myself I was gonna listen to every playable record all the way through at least once. But I'm listening to Philadelphia's finest right now and I don't know if I can make the long hard slog to the end. Back when I was a kid I loved Hall and Oates. But man, I don't know if the nostalgia is enough to help me soldier through this one. Woof.

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Willie Nelson - Somewhere Over The Rainbow

I only know one person my age who likes Willie Nelson, other than me I mean. I'm not a huge fan but he was part of the soundtrack of my youth and has a lot of really good songs. When I put this album on and he started singing Mona Lisa, Amy looked at me like I had lost my mind. By the third song she seemed to have gotten into it, and was surprised when I told her this album of old jazz standards was Willie Nelson.

And that's the fucking problem I have with new country music. This album of 1940s jazz standards acoustically arranged in an homage to Django Reinhardt is "country" and it's pretty god damned good. Country doesn't have to be some twangy racist asshole in designer boots and a cute hat who sings about cowboys and pickup trucks even though the only time he's ever seen the south end of a northbound horse is every morning when he looks in the mirror to tweeze his fucking eyebrows...

I'm doing old man rant. Sorry.

So, anyway, it's going to sound strange when I say that this is in pretty decent shape, and that it has a nasty looking scratch near the end of the second side and is noticeably warped. I could feel how warped it was when I was cleaning it but it didn't affect playability at all, and neither did the nasty looking scratch. Cleaned up pretty nice and plays great. After I played this one, even though I tried to clean it well, the needle was dusty. I cleaned the needle and reminded myself to check it after every one of these. A new needle is gonna cost me almost as much as I paid for the entire turntable.

[wikipedia]

Prince - Controversey

Hate to break it to you buddy, but the most controversial thing I see is that mustache.

[wikipedia]

Jane Fonda - Jane Fonda's Workout Record, NEW AND IMPROVED!

In my research I was able to determine that Jane Fonda released both Jane Fonda's Workout Record and Jane Fonda's Workout Record - NEW AND IMPROVED in 1981. That kind of marketing move doesn't happen by accident. I'm guessing a whole bunch of people got burned buying the first one. Then just a few months later, they had to drag their tired aerobe-sizing asses out to K-Mart to buy the new one. Not my mom though! She was smart enough to wait and buy the GOOD one.

[wikipedia]