January 15, 2010 Playlist

"Safe As Milk" by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band (1967)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band  "Safe As Milk"  1967 (USA)
Don Van Vliet -- alias "Captain Beefheart" -- has survived another year, and turns 69 today.  I first encountered the Captain as a teenager when I bought this album (his debut) simply because of the fish-eye photo on the cover and the strange song titles.   I had no idea who he was, but the album soon became one of my favorites -- heck, I still think it's a better blues-rock album than anything the Rolling Stones ever did!  Before long I discovered his epic freaky Trout Mask Replica album and learned that he was a boyhood chum of another of my idols, the late Frank Zappa.   Which is unusual I suppose in that most people learn about the Captain's avant-garde weirdness first (often through the Zappa connection), and that probably puts a lot of people off of his music.  So whether you're already a fan or not, I highly recommend giving this classic a spin if you've never heard it!
Here's live footage of the bluesier Magic Band from 1968:  "Electricity" and "Sure Nuff N' Yes I Do".  Next, here's a crazy lineup of the Magic Band live in 1971.  Beefheart remained vital up until he retired from music, and eventually landed on a style that combined his bluesy and avant-garde leanings -- here's a 1980 clip from French TV of his song "Safe As Milk" (which was on his second LP, though it was the title of his debut album) -- and finally here's an actual music video (that MTV probably never played) for "Ice Cream For Crow", the title track of his final album.
Another notable music birthday being celebrated on the show this week is that of the enigmatic Scott Walker (now 67 years old) -- here's his only American hit with The Walker Brothers, and here's a video from his most recent album The Drift (number one on the Kosmik Radiation Top 10 for 2006.)  Lastly, Curt Kirkwood from the Meat Puppets is another one of my musical heroes, and he just turned 51 this week.
   
Artist Song Album Year Country
Zager & Evans In The Year 2525 2525 (Exordium & Terminus) 1969 USA
The Byrds One Hundred Years From Now Sweetheart Of The Rodeo 1968 USA
Scott Walker 30 Century Man Scott 3 1969 UK/USA
Man The Future Hides Its Face Revelation 1969 UK (Wales)
Kraftwerk Home Computer
   / It's More Fun To Compute		 Computer World 1981 Germany
 
 
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Yellow Brick Road Safe As Milk
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 1967 USA
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Electricity Safe As Milk
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 1967 USA
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Plastic Factory Safe As Milk
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK		 1967 USA
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Mirror Man Mirror Man rec. 1968,
rel. 1971		 USA
   
 
The Walker Brothers (Scott Walker) The Electrician Nite Flights 1978 UK/USA
Scott Walker Track Seven Climate Of Hunter 1984 UK/USA
Scott Walker Face On Breast Tilt 1995 UK/USA
Scott Walker Buzzers The Drift 2006 UK/USA
Pentagram Walk In The Blue Light First Daze Here rec. 1972-76,
rel. 2002		 USA
Meat Puppets The Void Monsters 1989 USA
   
 
Automatic Man Visitors Visitors 1977 USA
The Carpenters Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft (Klaatu) Passage 1977 USA
Automatic Man I.T.D. (Interstellar Tracking Devices)
   / Automatic Man
   / Atlantis Rising		 Automatic Man 1976 USA
Andy Williams Good Morning Starshine (from Hair) Get Together With Andy Williams 1969 USA
Lighthouse One Fine Morning One Fine Morning 1971 Canada
 
 
Grateful Dead That's It For The Other One
   A. Cryptical Envelopment
   B. Quadlibet For Tenderfeet
   C. The Faster We Go The Rounder We Get
   / New Potato Caboose		 Anthem Of The Sun 1968 USA
Blues Magoos Sea Breeze Express Gulf Coast Bound 1971 USA
Larry Coryell (with John McLaughlin) Rene's Theme Spaces 1970 USA
 
  
Cornershop 7:20am Juliander Shere Woman's Gotta Have it 1995 UK
Cornershop "Losin' It All" (untitled hidden bonus track) Woman's Gotta Have it 1995 UK
             
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