PUSHING THE POLLS

Push- polling. Now there's a fun little political sport.

"Would you vote for George Papoon if you knew he liked to stomp on little baby ducks while he raises your taxes?"

Push-polls are telephone calls designed not to determine statistics about voter opinion but to spread negative information about a candidate in the form of questions.

"Would you vote for George Leroy Tirebiter if you knew that he shot a man in Reno just to watch him die?

The first push-poll of the season has been spotted in New Mexico according to a fund-raising e-mail from Tom Udall’s Senate campaign. Apparently it's from a national conservative group that emphasizes right-to-life issues.

“We’ve just received some disturbing news from one of our staff — the GOP ‘Swift Boat’ attacks on Tom Udall have begun here in New Mexico. She got an automated ‘push-poll’ phone call from an organization misleadingly calling itself ‘Common Sense Issues’ this weekend,” said the e-mail from Amanda Cooper, Udall’s stepdaughter and campaign manager.

Cooper couldn’t be reached for comment about details of the poll Monday.

Representatives of CSI couldn’t be reached for comment Monday night at the phone number listed on its Web site. So if the report is true, we still don't know what information was being passed in the phone calls or how true or false it was.

A Jan. 9 story in Newsweek said, “Common Sense Issues is a tax-exempt group registered in Delaware whose organizers have acknowledged the use of controversial telephone polling tactics to promote (Mike) Huckabee presidential bid — and allegedly to trash the campaigns of the former Arkansas governor’s rivals.” Huckabee’s campaign denied any connection with the group.
Common Sense Issues’ Web site lists “life issues” as its top priority. Among other issues listed are liberty, economics, national security, “natural family” and “confronting radical Islam.”

Udall is running unopposed in the Democratic Senate primary. Republicans Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce are duking it out in the Republican primary.

If you didn't get a call from this push poll, don't worry. There's bound to be more in the general election.

DOMENICI ENDORSES GONZALES

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici endorsed Marco Gonzales in the Republican primary for the Third Congressional District.

The endorsement isn't that surprising considering Gonzales -- who is running against Rio Rancho contractor Dan East -- worked for Domenici for 10 years. Then again, the retiring senator isn't endorsing in the Heather Wilson/Steve Pearce U.S. Senate primary, even though Wilson has long been considered his protégé .

Here's the text of a postcard sent to CD 3 Republicans:

Dear Friend:
I'm so pleased that Marco Gonzales is running for congress to represent northern New Mexico.
I have known and been friends with Marco for over 20 years. Marco started his public service career by serving as my legislative assistant while attending college and law school at night.
I have seen firsthand Marco's dedication and commitment to New Mexico and have confidence in his ability to effectively represent the third district--from day one.
I have enjoyed seeing Marco advance his professional career back
home in New Mexico and re-establish his northern roots. Because Marco understands our unique cultures and interests and is a man of principle and conviction, I know he will serve us well in Congress.
That's why I'm supporting his candidacy and wanted to take a moment to encourage you to do the same. But don't just take it from me. I encourage you to call Marco or join him at upcoming event.
Talk to Marco about the issues facing our nation and learn more about his views for the future of New Mexico. I am confident that after you do, you too, will see the same qualities, talents, and views that have me supporting his candidacy for congress.
In closing, I want to thank you again for you support as I have worked to represent you in the United States Senate. It has been my honor to serve you and the state of New Mexico for the past 37 years.

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, May 27, 2008
KSFR, Santa Fe, N.M.
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell
Webcasting!
email me during the show! terrell@ksfr.org

OPENING THEME: Let it Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres
Backstreet Girl by Social Distortion
Hey Grandma by Moby Grape
Mindblower by Link Wray
Wild About You Baby by Hounddog Taylor
Who You Driving Now by Mudhoney
Watching the Detectives by Elvis Costello
The Big Heat by Stan Ridgway

HAPPY MUMMIE'S DAY!
Teenage Mummy Radio Spot #1
I'm a Mummy by The Fall
The Ballad of Iron Eyes Cody by The Mummies
The Fez Man Walks by The A-Bones
Jenny is Feeling Bad by Mummy the Peep Show

Up Side by ? & The Mysterians
Howl by Iggy Pop
Hairball Alley by Rocket From the Crypt

This is My Life by Firewater
Sailor's Wife by Babylon Circus
Through the Roof 'n' Underground by Gogol Bordello
Romana by Kultur Shock
Twoj Moj Czas by Kult
200 Flying Girls by The Red Elvises
Sticky Little Girl by Zee Rok
Siki Siki Baba by Kocani Orkestar

Forks and Knives by Beirut
WPLJ by The Mothers of Invention
Wine-O Boogie by Don Ramon Sr.
Vikings by The Black Angels
She Lives (In a Time of Her Own) by The 13th Floor Elevators
Lightning's Girl by Nancy Sinatra
CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

R.I.P. EDDY ARNOLD

Country singer Eddy Arnold died last week at the age of 89. Read about him HERE .

I think my favorite Eddy Arnold hit was his version of Roger Miller's "The Last Word in Lonsesome is Me."

According to Jim Terr, this photo, by his friend music historian Tony Byworth, might be one of the last ever taken of Eddy. (Photo(c) 2008. Used by permission.)

eMusic MAY

*White Trash Girl by Candye Kane. Big beautiful Candye is a natural-born belter specializing in sexy blues "Work What You Got" is a song title on this 2005 album, but it's also Candye's guiding philosophy.

She does a tough, bluesy version of The Lovin' Spoonfuls' :What a Day for a Daydream"and a funny tune called "Estrogen Bomb." But my favorite here has to be a song that we used to sing in grade school "Let There Be Peace on Earth." (No, I didn't go to some hippie free school -- it was a regular public elementary school in Oklahoma in the '60s. Pretty hip, no?) Of course we didn't sing it with a fraction of Candye's soul.

Last month Candye underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer. She's recovering now and reportedly feeling better. Check out her Web site.


* Never Been Caught by The Mummies . They hailed from San Francisco, but they were a lot more Rice-a-Roni than Haight Ashbury. Spending more money on their Ace Bandage costumes, or so it would seem, than on their pawn-shop instruments, The Mummies called their sound "Budget Rock" (not to be confused with The Fleshtones' "Super Rock."). And it was a pretty apt description, as the production of their music did have a pronounced bargain-basement quality about it. This album, originally released in 1992, sounds like a lost cheap cassette bootleg of some teen dance at a VFW show in South Dakota in the mid '60s (Anybody remember Spider & The Crabs???!!!) When I hear The Mummies rip through The Young Rascals' "Come on Up" and The Righteous Brothers' "Justine" my first instinct is to scream out "Little Latin Lupe Lu!" And then there's "Mariconda's a Friend of Mine," the lyrics of which have been passed down generation to generation in elementary school boys' rooms.

* Memphis Sanctified Jug Bands 1928-1930. Jug band gospel music! What a concept! These tracks were recorded at a Church of God in Christ in Memphis. The album includes what has what has to be the greatest versions of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" I've ever heard. Unfortunately the individual artists aren't listed on the tracks, though the Document Records Web site indicates "Whole World" is performed by Brother Williams Memphis Sanctified Singers.

Not all the songs are jug tunes. There's also some good old fashioned Black preaching with a Holy Ghost-filled choir moaning the Word behind the minister, sometimes with a short jug-band interlude following.

(Memory Lane: In the late '70s I used to live a couple of doors down from a Church of God in Christ on Gallegos Lane right here in Santa Fe. Sometimes I'd hear some amazing gospel being sung there. The church, however, was sold by the early '80s. The building is still there though.)

* Daptone 7-Inch Singles Collection, Vol. 1 by Various Artists. How can you go wrong with Dap regulars like Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields? There's also worthwhile offerings by lesser-known singers like Charlie Bradley and the deep-voiced Naomi Davis, who does a funk-filled tune called "Promised Land" (not the Chuck Berry classic) And there's a couple of instrumental groups -- The Sugarman 3 and Company -- who sounds as if they're making soundtracks for a new crop of Cleopatra Jones movies.

This compilation just serves to show why Daptone has become synonymous with 21st Century soul. I just saw that Daptone is releasing a Volume 2 of this. Can't wait.


* Directions to See a Ghost by The Black Angels. This is the brand new album from Austin's psychedelic drone masters, released just a couple of months after I became aware of them. (I saw them at Roky Erikson's Ice Cream Social during SXSW). It's cool that eMusic had the album available a few weeks in advance of its release.

Virtually every track is a lengthy journey to the center of what's left of your mind, culminating in the 16-minute "Snake in the Grass," which features Oooga Boooga drums and layers of feedback.


* Trains and Boats and Planes by Laura Cantrell. This is a nine-song EP by this New York country gal. Most the songs are about modes of transportation. Her talent is only eclipsed by her great tastes. I knew it would be worth it alone for her covers of two of my favorite obscure country songs from the early '70s: Roger Miller's "Train of Life" (covered by Merle Haggard on his landmark Someday We'll Look Back album) and John Hartford's "Howard Hughes Blues" from his greatest Aereo-Plain. Plus there's versions of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and New Order's "Love Vigilantes," a sad soldier song that sounds like it was written as a country tune.