WACKY WEDNESDAY: Happy Birthday, Mr. Mothersbaugh!

 I guess he's Devolved into an old man now, (happens to the best of us), but today Mark Mothersbaugh, the voice of Devo, turns 73 tomorrow.

Happy birthday, Spud Boy!

Mothersbaugh was born May 18, 1950 in Akron, Ohio. Attending Kent State University, he fell in with future Devos Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis.

Casale was at the May 4, 1970 where he saw two people he knew -- Allison Krause and Jeffrey Miller -- right after they'd been shot by Ohio National Guardsmen. That was impetus for creating Devo -- a band based on the concept of the "devolution" of the human race -- as Casale explained in The Washington Post in 2018.

Mothersbaugh, Casale and various other Devos (including at various points Mark's brothers Bob and Jim) performed around the area for several years. In 1976, they filmed the 9-minute The Truth About De-Evolution, which won a prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival. It featured two Devo songs and an appearance by Mothersbaugh's dad, Robert Mothersbaugh, Sr. as "General Boy."

Here's a clip featuring the the original version of "Joko Homo," the first Devo song that asked the age-old musical question, "Are we not men?":

The film stirred the interest of David Bowie, who along with Brian Eno, produced the first Devo album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!  

The group's second album includes this bit of madness. I wonder whether Spud Boy ever found his "real tomato":

The only time I got to see Devo was at the 1996 Lollapalooza in Chandler, Ariz. Devo was great, but many of the macho mosh-pit metal heads, didn't appreciate them. This came following an awful Arizona dust storm that caused The Ramones to cut their set short and postponed the rest of the show for a couple of hours. 

Between that and the regular July heat, anger was rising But Mothersbaugh and crew seemed to feed off the foul energy. Following Devo's set, Soundgarden came on, with singer Chris Cornell (RIP) scolding the dumbfucks who's booed such a great band.  (A not-very good-quality video of Devo's entire set is up on Youtube. Nearly gave me PTSD just watching it.)

Here's "Uncontrollable Urge" from another '96 Lollapalooza show:

Getting back to the show I saw, what really got the metalhead mob angry was when Mothersbaugh assumed his identity of Booji Boy. He ended that set with some confrontational humor, pulling what some said was bacon out of his diaper (and some assume was worse) and throwing it into the crowd. 

So to close this birthday tribute, here's Mothersbaugh as Booji Boy in a movie, Neil Young's Human Highway:

Happy birthday, Mark Mothersbaugh!

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

 

Sunday, May 14, 2023
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Livin' For The Weekend by The Dirtbombs

Chantilly Lace by Jerry Lee Lewis

Crazy Mixed Up World by Nick Curran & The Nitelifes

The Crusher by The Cramps 

No Fun by Nick Shoulders

Om Baby Om  by Robbie Quine

So Tuff by Jack Mack & The Heart Attack

Valentine  by Concrete Blonde

The Gypsy by The Cornell Hurd Band 

Magic Touch by Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs 

Glad You're Mine by The Mullens

So Glad You're Mine by Elvis Presley

Big Black Hole by The Oblivians 

Witch Doctor by Churchwood

Papa Legba by Pops Staples & Talking Heads

ARHOOLIE SET 

RIP CHRIS STRACHWITZ

Willie Poor Boy by Mance Lipscomb

Brown Skin Woman by Clifton Chenier 

Contrabando De El Paso by Luis Hernández y Leonardo Sifuentes

Big Mama's Bumble Bee Blues by Big Mama Thornton with the Muddy Waters Band

She Brought Life Back To The Dead by Sonny Boy Williamson   

Get Ready, I'm Gonna Move in the Room Upstairs by Rev. Louis Overstreet 

I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag by Country Joe & The Fish

Wine-O-Boogie by Don Tosti’s Pachuco Boogie Boys

Coming In On A Wing And A Prayer by Joseph Spence

(Here's an old Tune-Up about Arhoolie: CLICK HERE)

Dying Breed by Lonesome Bob

That's Life by James Chance & The Contortions

Right Next Door (Because Of Me) by Robert Cray 

God Fearing Heathen by Dan Tyminski 

If I Could Only Fly by Blaze Foley

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

THROWBACK THURSDAY: In a Quaint Caravan ...

 

She was a gypsy woman ...

No, that's another song.

Today I'm talking about a tune about another gypsy woman, a lady operating out of a "quaint caravan" who "can look in the future and drive away all your fears.

"I see your bike ... it's someplace far away ... it's in the Alamo ...  in the basement!"

No, that's another fortune teller ...

This is about the best-known work of British songwriter Billy Reid, "The Gypsy."

Basically it's a song about about an old fraud preying on desperate people. (Well, that's my framng.) The narrator here goes to see The Gypsy because he or she is worried about his or her lover.

The Gypsy pounces! 

... she looked in my hand and told me

That my lover would always be true

But the mark was rightly skeptical:

And yet in my heart I knew, dear

That somebody else was kissing you ...

And yet even so, the reassuring words along, (probably  with the usual psychic mumbo jumbo), has gotten our lovelorn narrator hooked:

But I'll go there again 'cause I want to believe the Gypsy ...

There's one born every minute.

But don't get me wrong, I've loved this song ever since I heard the version by Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs nearly 60 years ago. 

Here's the original 1945 recording, performed by Welsh singer (and future wife of James Bond actor Roger Moore) Dorothy Squires. She was Billy Reid's man musical partner from the 30s through the early 50s. 

Squire's version -- was titled "The Gipsy" -- has a minute-long introductory verse not included in takes by other singers. 

I sit alone and dream, dear

Dream of you night and day

Once you were here beside me

Now you are far away

I've had my fortune told me

Can I believe it's true?

Soon we shall be together

Living our life anew

Listen yourself:

 But the song didn't make much of an impact on American ears until The Ink Spots changed the "i" to a "y" and gave it their Ink Spot sheen:

Years before she saw the USA in her Chevrolet, Dinah Shore also wanted to believe The Gypsy:

Louis Armstrong took The Gypsy to New Orleans (even though this was from a concert in Chicago):

At least one doo-wop group, The Five Keys, ventured into that quaint caravan for spiritual and romantic advice:

Here's that doo-wop colored Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs version I mentioned above. This was on their second album, which I still like even more than their first album with "Wooly Bully.":

For the past 20-plus years, my favorite version of "The Gypsy" is the one by Austin honky-tonker Cornell Hurd, which was on his album A Stagecoach Named Desire. Unfortunately it's apparently not on Youtube or any other place from which I can embed. 

So instead,  I'll go out with this honky-stomp version by another Texan, Doug Sahm with the Sir Douglas, from their 1971 album The Return Of Doug Saldaña:

For more deep dives into songs, check out The Stephen W. Terrell Web Log Songbook

TERRELL'S SOUND WORLD PLAYLIST

Sunday, May 7, 2023
KSFR, Santa Fe, NM
Webcasting!
10 p.m. to midnight Sundays Mountain Time
Host: Steve Terrell 101.1 FM
Email me during the show! terrell(at)ksfr.org

Here's my playlist :

OPENING THEME: Let It Out (Let it All Hang Out) by The Hombres

Threat Landscape by Robert Shredford

Get Off The Air by Angry Samoans

Fighting the Good Fight by Råttanson

Life's Not Like The Movies by The Jackets

Ding Dong Daddy by Nick Shoulders

Backstage at the Boneyard by Waco Brothers

The Devil's Chasing Me by Reverend Horton Heat

Girls are Dancing on the Highway by Weird Omen

Guru by Loudon Wainwright III

Tonight by MC5

Sharkskin Suit by Wayne Kramer 

Heed The Warning by The Thanes

Umbrella Man by Churchwood

This Is Hi-Fi by Mission of Burma

Bird Brain by Kevin Coyne

You Lied To Us by The Mekons 77

I Want What Holly's Got by The Manxx

Ode To Billy Joe by Joe Tex

Sally Go Round the Roses by Question Mark & The Mysterians

Wrecking Ball by Angry Johnny & The Killbillies 

Voodoo Mirror by Iguana Death Cult

Route 90 by Clarence Garlow

A Better Mousetrap by Mucca Pazza

Love Grows Where Rosemary Goes by Edison Lighthouse

I Can't Refuse by The Orchids

Standard White Jesus by Timbuk 3

Too Many Rivers by Willie Nelson

I'll Walk Out by Miss Leslie

I Do Believe by Waylon Jennings

If Oh I Could Be With You by Nolan Strong & The Diablos

This One's From The Heart Tom Waits & Crystal Gayle

CLOSING THEME: Over the Rainbow by Jerry Lee Lewis

WACKY WEDNESDAY: My Life in AI

 

Just about everywhere you look in 2023 you see overstuffed think pieces and sometimes dire and paranoid warnings about the dangers of artificial intelligence or "AI." I actually hate that acronym worse than I hate most acronyms because I always read it as "Al," as in my friend Al Faaet.

Why only yesterday I saw fearful headlines -- like this one from the BBC -- about "AI Godfather" Geoffrey Hinton's ominous departure from Google, which he announced in a statement to the New York Times, that spelled out how he now regrets his work. 

He told the BBC some of the dangers of AI chatbots were "quite scary".

"Right now, they're not more intelligent than us, as far as I can tell. But I think they soon may be."

What else could make a man give up what had to be a lucrative job?

Dr Hinton also accepted that his age had played into his decision to leave the tech giant, telling the BBC: "I'm 75, so it's time to retire."

Hinton envisioned nightmarish scenarios like Vladimir Putin giving "robots the ability to create their own sub-goals." 

Robots with sub-goals? Oh no!

But, Hinton warned, some of those sub-goals might be "I need to get more power." 

And thus began the long march of our robot overlords ...

I dunno. 

My only interaction with AI at this point has been frustrating "conversations" with chatbots on my cell phone company's website. I wish that robot would acquire a sub-goal of being more helpful to customers.

But my brother Jack has played around quite a bit on ChatGPT, a popular "artificial intelligence chatbot" unleashed to the unsuspecting public late last year. Recently he and our friend Al -- not AI -- Faaet asked the chatbot to tell them what it knew about Jack. 

Nada.

Then they asked it what it knew about Al.

Same nothing.

But then Al suggested asking the AI about me. Three was a charm, even though Jack typoed my first name as "Streve". Thus sprach the robot:

Here's that conversation:

User:

Tell me about journalist/musician Streve Terrell

ChatGPT:

Steve Terrell was an American journalist and musician who was born on July 11, 1952, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and passed away on December 28, 2017, at the age of 65. He was a well-known journalist in New Mexico, where he worked for over 30 years at the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper. In addition to his work as a journalist, Terrell was also an accomplished musician and songwriter.

The Steve or "Streve" Terrell who
lived-- and apparently died --
in ChatGPT

Terrell began his career as a journalist in the 1970s, covering local politics and culture for various newspapers in New Mexico. He joined the staff of the Santa Fe New Mexican in 1980, where he worked as a reporter and columnist for many years. He was known for his insightful commentary on politics, music, and popular culture, and he was a fixture in the Santa Fe community.

As a musician, Terrell was best known for his work with The Rounders, a country-rock band that he co-founded in the early 1970s. The Rounders released several albums and toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe. Terrell also recorded several solo albums and collaborated with other musicians throughout his career.

Throughout his life, Terrell was a passionate advocate for music and the arts. He was a regular attendee at concerts and festivals, and he wrote extensively about music in his journalism. He was also a mentor to many younger musicians in the Santa Fe area, and he was known for his generosity and kindness.

Steve Terrell was a beloved figure in the Santa Fe community, and his contributions to journalism and music are still celebrated today. He was known for his wit, his intelligence, and his passion for life, and he will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

O.K., a few things ...

It got the date of my birth and I'm pretty sure the date of my death wrong. Also, I didn't begin my career in journalism until 1980 but didn't start working for The New Mexican for another seven years. My influence on younger musicians is exaggerated, to say the least.

As far as my band "The Rounders" goes, what the living heck? I was never in any such band. I didn't make any albums with or tour with any such band (I never even made it to Europe until about 10 years ago).

Maybe there was a Streve Terrell who led The Rounders and died in 2017. Any of my local musician friends remember such as person?

So, at least for the time being, I'm not going to lose much sleep over AI or its sub-goals. 

Which might just be exactly what the lurking robot menace wants!

Meanwhile, enjoy a tune from some real Rounders: