By The Beachwood Bad Motherfuckers Affairs Desk

“Isaac Hayes, 65, the Oscar-winning soul singer and songwriter whose swaggering ‘Theme From Shaft’ became a signature sound of the 1970s, died Aug. 10 at his home outside Memphis.”
Released: September 1971.
Length: 3:15 edited single; 4:34 album version.
Label: Enterprise.
Charts: Went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November 1971.
Wikipedia:
* In 2000, Hayes told National Public Radio that he had only agreed to write and record the Shaft score after Shaft producer Joel Freeman promised him an audition for the lead role. He never got the chance to audition, but kept his end of the deal anyway.

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Posted on August 11, 2008

By Don Jacobson

Love her or hate her, you have to admit Liz Phair knows her ’70s music. And she knows how to pick a good TV show. In fact, she’s kind of made a cottage industry out of both of those things with her involvement in CBS’ Swingtown, which, I’m thinking, would have ended up becoming a minor hit of the 2007-08 network TV season if it had debuted when it should have in January instead of being derailed by the writers’ strike.

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Posted on July 28, 2008

By The Beachwood Girl Kissing Affairs Desk

No, not this one. This one!
It seems to have gone forgotten in all the rage, but it’s a thousand times better.

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Posted on July 25, 2008

By Don Jacobson

Band: XSNRG
Song: “Lights Out”
YouTube Added Date: July 14, 2008
Shooter: Jamazz36
Locale: Berwyn Centennial Festival.
Video Quality: Excellent
Sound Quality: Excellent
Creativity: Better than average. Although members of XSNRG remain relatively stationary, Jamazz36 uses appropriate zooming action during smoking Michael Schenker sound-alike guitar solos.
Difficulty: Nil. Unfortunately, XSNRG didn’t draw much of a crowd so there was little jostling. The result is very steady camera work. Not Kubrick-steady, but definitely Beachwood-steady.
Overall Beachwood Shaky-Cam Rating: 9 (out of 10)

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Posted on July 21, 2008

By Don Jacobson

1. No truer cowpunk is there this side of the Waco Brothers than Mike Ness of sublime bashers Social Distortion. Ness’s revelatory excursions into the dark, dark recesses of honky-tonkabilly angst on 1999’s Cheating at Solitaire was an eye-opener. Unlike some folks who succeed at rock ‘n’ roll and take a right turn into Hanksville, Ness wasn’t kidding around.
Now he tells the Chico, Calif., entertainment weekly Synthesis that there are several new projects in the work for both Ness the hillbilly hellraiser and Social D, probably the only pure punk band that really mattered after 1984. Get ready: after a year of resting up, studio albums for both groups are in the works for early 2009 – and there is talk of another Social Distortion documentary film (watch the first one, Another State of Mind, here).

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Posted on July 14, 2008

By Julia Gray

Recently, on a return trip from Salt Lake City, I had to get my musical kicks from the Delta Tunes after my iPod crapped out at 29,000 feet somewhere above Kansas. Here is a sampling of what I had to endure.
*
Channel 5: Classical Masters and Cirque du Soliel Kooza
What was playing: La Boheme (Giacomo Puccini) Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Robert Spano, conductor. Also, Quando me’n vo’, Musetta: Georgia Jarman, among others.
The Cirque soundtrack explores “universal themes of fear, identity, recognition and power.”
What I heard: Since Salt Lake is a Delta hub, I am almost positive that both of these selections had added lines about the virtues of magic underwear in them to appease the LDS passengers. I’m not sure, however, since I don’t speak opera or Mormon.
*
Channel 6: Summer’s Greatest Hits and Party in the Sky
What was playing: Many summer classics from my youth, like Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park,” “Groovin'” by the Rascals, and a recent classic, “Soak Up the Sun,” by Sheryl Crow. Then, there were the not-so-classics performed by Miley Cyrus and Yves La Rock.
What I heard: Again, I swear I heard a few extra refrains about magic underwear and Mitt Romney, but then that could’ve been an after-affect of the Polygamy Porter I consumed over the weekend.

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Posted on July 10, 2008

By Don Jacobson

Band: Lady Tramaine Hawkins

Song: “Changed”
YouTube added date: July 6, 2008
Shooter: Ladyglen50
Locale: Gospel Fest, Millennium Park
Video quality: Good
Sound quality: Excellent. Very nice acoustics.
Creativity: Not bad. Ladyglen50 has to do some quick panning at one point to keep up with Lady Tramaine as she scoots stage right.
Difficulty: Medium. Outdoors park shots at crowded venues can present some challenges. The shakiness quotient is very good, probably only three of a possible 10 shakes. Also, nice framing.
Overall Beachwood Shaky-Cam Rating: 8 (of 10)

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Posted on July 7, 2008

By The Beachwood Inflight Music Affairs Desk

What United Airlines is currently offering, ripped from the pages of Hemispheres.
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Channel 2: 20 on 20
Description: What’s hot, right now.
Who You’ll Hear: Justin Timberlake, Fergie.
*
Channel 3: BPM
Description: Pure, mainstream dance music.
Who You’ll Hear: Madonna, Ferry Corsten.
*
Channel 4: Bluesville
Description: Blues music of the past and present.
Who You’ll Hear: B.B. King, Buddy Guy.

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Posted on July 2, 2008

By Don Jacobson

Band: Funhouse
Song: “Old Time Rock ‘n’ Roll”
Date Added: June 24, 2008
Shooter: Chicagolandband
Locale: Bradley Fireman’s Fish Fry, Bradley, Ill.
Video quality: Good
Sound quality: Good
Creativity: Strong. Serious panning action for crowd reax, zooming in on band members when they’re soloing.
Difficulty: None. Free concert at at Kankakee County fish fry.
Overall Beachwood Shaky-Cam Rating: 8 (out of 10)

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Posted on June 25, 2008

By Don Jacobson

Chicago music guy Perry Bax has a definite winner with his twice-monthly podcast, The Best Radio You Have Never Heard. It’s a very nice mixture of classic and punk rock rarities and remixes mingled with a heavy dose of ’90s alternative rock and some sparkling samples of the newest and coolest of that genre. It lives up to its title – you indeed have never heard this kind of great music on “radio,” by which I believe Bax means the commercial FM outlets in Chicago and elsewhere in this great land.

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Posted on June 20, 2008