These two songs are forever linked in my head, cued up to a certain time and place.
“Pusherman,” done by Curtis Mayfield for the “Superfly” soundtrack in 1972, hid its tough message under Mayfield’s falsetto and a solid soul/funk groove. The fantastic percussion subtly added some street cred.
It was a song you could play anywhere in [...]
It’s been a while since we stopped by Ray’s Corner and checked out something from my dad’s collection.
Dad is 81. He has the apartment with the loud music.
Here at Ray’s Corner, the martinis are made of gin with the vermouth bottle held about a foot away.
So cool it, man, and enjoy …
“Sway,” Dean Martin, 1954, [...]
Slowly but surely, we’re getting out the word about Sleepy LaBeef, the Human Jukebox, national treasure.
My old pal Meat wrote last week to commiserate about missing Sleepy live at the Krypto Music Lounge in Rockford, Ill. Sleepy played there the night after I saw him here in Green Bay.
Not only did Meat miss Sleepy, but [...]
My old pal Doug is a hardcore Springsteen fan. He’s traveled all over the Midwest to see Springsteen. Less so these days, but he’s paid his dues.
Yet for all these years, it’s been tough to hang with Doug when he’s deep into Springsteen. To be honest, I’m not really much of a Springsteen fan.
But we [...]
Get to be old enough, and they start closing all of your old haunts.
Sneaky Pete’s, one of the clubs we frequented in Wausau, Wisconsin, in the mid-’70s, has long been this restaurant, Wausau Mine Company.
It’s so named because it looks like a cave inside, as it did when it was Sneaky Pete’s. But I’ll never [...]
