No flash in the pan

Long ago, it must be ... I have a photograph ...

We found this fuzzy image and it's easy to identify the fellow on the right.  But who were those other guys?

Must have been The Three Flashes.

Long before American Idol there was Ted Mack's Amateur Hour.  And before television there was Major Bowe's Amateur Hour on station WOR.  And on this day in 1935, at the Capitol Theatre in New York City, the Hoboken Four snagged the top prize: a six-month contract to appear on radio and stage.

They couldn't call him Ol' Blue Eyes yet (he was only 19), but Francis Albert Sinatra was on his way. Who WERE those other guys, and what happened to them?  As we look for help click here and listen to the group's recording from the Original Amateur Hour.

Don't lift a finger today

Except to click on this song...



Hey hey the working man, the working man like me
I ain't never been on welfare, that's the one place I won't be
Cause I'll be working long as my two hands are fit to use
I drink a little beer in the tavern
Sing a little bit of these working man blues

A fuzzy Sunday sermon

We're not preaching at the Sanctuary when we say you gotta have a friend in Jesus.  We're just repeating something Norman Greenbaum told us 40 years ago, and it's still the fuzz-bustin' truth today...

By Wayne Shelor

Open this link in another tab: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPPlGFh6OpQ

I've always loved the sound of distorted electric guitars, from Jimi Hendrix's angry and searing attack-mode signature to the "two slightly distorted guitars" on Michael Oldfield's album, “Tubular Bells.”

But for your Six String Sanctuary Sunday sermon, I bring to you this morning a fuzz-bustin' guitar riff that's as every bit as recognizable 40 years after its release as is the writer is anonymous.

“Spirit in the Sky” was released in 1970 by a guy named Norman Greenbaum, a 28-year-old Massachusetts singer-songwriter who'd been in a California jug band called Dr. West's Medicine Show. Maybe you recall that band’s mid-60's hit, “The Eggplant That Ate Chicago”?

Greenbaum, a Jewish lad, had seen a country crooner singing a gospel song on TV, and was moved to try his hand at writing his own song of praise; “Spirit in the Sky” was Greenbaum’s offering to the choirs of gospel.

In any case, “Spirit in the Sky” -- built on a backbone of a distorted lead guitar and fleshed out with jubilant vocals and handclaps -- was a real attention-getter on the radio since the fuzzed-up guitar begins in the right channel, is quickly joined by the bass in the middle and then the drums and handclaps jump in from the left channel. This construction created a rudimentary stereo soundstage, but it was the sonic production - and the church-like call-and-response singing from opposite channels – that helped this song reach out and lift listeners.

“Spirit in the Sky” sold over a million copies in America in the early 1970s, and reached the top of the British charts twice: once with Greenbaum's original version, and again in 1986 with a version done by the English group Doctor and the Medics; perhaps you recall their synoptic gospel remake?

A one-hit wonder whose song was featured prominently in the Tom Hanks '90s movie, Apollo 13, Norman Greenbaum eventually used the monies from “Spirit in the Sky” to purchase a California dairy farm, where he continues to milk royalties from a wonderful little song that became popular around the world. He lives there still.

Sanctuary special contributor Wayne Shelor knows how to milk these columns for all they're worth.

Sustain this!

It's coming and you won't want to miss it if you're in our neck of the woods:  The Full Moon Festival and Urban Sustainability Fair!

We're all about sustainability -- urban or otherwise -- so count us in.  Now, admittedly, the big draw for us will be the music of Those XCleavers.  These guys are known more for reverb and feedback than sustain, but if someone could figure out how to channel their energy we could pretty much power our next neighborhood block party.

The event is Sept. 24-25 with the Cleavers plugging in Friday at 6 p.m. We love the email that states "this event is FREE except for the band as you know how that goes."

We know how it goes, so we'll be there! It's $5 -- cheap! -- and BYOB to Weber's Greenhouses, 4215 N. Green Bay Ave. There will also be keggers from the Ale House.

R.I.P. Paste

We, um, 'borrowed' this cool graphic.

Paste is past. 

Music and entertainment mags are risky propositions these days.  Somehow Rolling Stone gathers no mas while other pubs bite the dust.  No Depression, now that one hurt more than the others.  It was the pipeline to, and the pulse of, alt-country music (whatever that is, as they put in their mast). 

Paste?  It was a good rag, although we never went as far as to take out a subscription. They had some excellent writer and designers, and they published helpful information, but in the end they probably tried to do too much.  When you attempt to broaden your audience (read: broaden your advertising base) you risk everything. And in the end for these publications to survive they have to stay within their niche.  And maybe that's impossible to do without capturing revenue outside of the niche.  A Catch-22.  Doomed to fail. 

We don't know, we just blog. We aren't beholden to anybody, and that helps us sleep at night.  It doesn't mean we don't mourn the loss of publications that promote music in any way, shape or form.  So goodbye Paste, we'll miss you. And good luck to the people who made it happen. But it's an old song by now to hear that you'll continue to be a presence online.  Many of us here at the Sanctuary are newspaper dinosaurs, man.  Love that ink on paper.

Their people (mostly), their list

John Lennon: Best of the Beatles.

The BBC being the respected broadcasting operation that it is, well, we expect a little bit more.  But this list of the 100 Greatest Britons is like so many other lists we come across. It stinks.  Yet flawed as it may be, we feel a responsibility to share the musical connections with devoted readers at the Sanctuary.  We apologize this took eight years. 

To give you a taste of the insanity we now share the Top 5:

1. Sir Winston Churchill
2. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
3. Princess Diana
4. Charles Darwin
5. William Shakespeare

Shakespeare ranking below Mr. Brunel, a 19th century civic engineer, tells us something is awry. But remember, it's just another stupid list. Armed with this information and 3 quid you could secure a pint of Guinness in any London pub.  And now on to music and, specifically, where the Fab Four can be found on the esteemed collection of greatest Britons:

8. John Lennon
19. Sir Paul McCartney
62. George Harrison

Ringo?  He was not as fortunate as David Bowie (29), Boy George (46), Freddy Mercury of Queen (58), Bob Geldof (75), Bono (86) and John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten (87).  Small point, but Geldof and Bono are much more Irish than dozens of noteworthy Brits who were left off the list, like Eric Clapton and Sir Elton John, to name just two.  Right-o, it's not a list of musicians.  Thank heavens for that.

Turning the beat around

It's time to reveal a dirty little secret here at the Sanctuary.  We like ... disco.  But it's not what you think.  Just as every movie, no matter how dreadful, has some redeeming qualities, so too does every musical genre.

Remember all those records they destroyed on Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in 1979? We were on board for that. Burn, baby, burn. The more the merrier.

We didn't care much at all for disco, except one song:  Vicki Sue Robinson's 1976 Grammy-nominated "Turn the Beat Around." And we didn't even like that until 1994 when it was immortalized by a mere mention in the movie Reservoir Dogs. 

Two years later Gloria Estefan shifted the song into another gear by adding some four-on-the-floor Latin flavor. And it was, well, pretty OK. And now here we are today on Estefan's 53rd birthday, turning that song upside down in her honor. Hey, it's not like we're running out to a resale shop to look for polyester flares. But they would look mighty nice on today's Birthday Band honorees:

Boxcar Willie (1931-1999): The Singing Hobo
Not the Man I Used to Be

Conway Twitty (1933-1993): Country singer
It’s Only Make Believe, Hello Darlin’, You’ve Never been this Far Before

Dave White (1940): Singer, Danny & the Juniors
At the Hop, Rock and Roll is Here to Stay

Barry Gibb (1946): Singer, Bee Gees
Stayin’ Alive, Night Fever, How Deep Is Your Love, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart

Greg Errico (1946): Drums, Sly and the Family Stone
Everyday People, (I Want to Take You) Higher, Dance to the Music, Hot Fun in the Summertime

Gloria Estefan (1957): Queen of Latin Pop
Abriendo Puertas, Don’t Want to Lose You, Turn the Beat Around