That’s all. I didn’t get this big to still get wound up about a birthday.
Motown turns 50
While I do like an occasional dose of soul, Motown‘s fiftieth birthday isn’t what I’d call a big deal. It is, however, a great occasion to do some no-research, hassle-free blogging.
In September 1971, Motown subsidiary Rare Earth released an album called Stoney and Meatloaf. I’m not going to rehash the whole story—if you’re really that interested, head on over to the Stoney and Meatloaf pages—and just keep it at this: Stoney and Meatloaf is a weird little record, which has it’s moments.
⇒ Download Stoney and Meat Loaf — Game of Love (for the haters, this track is Loafless.)
In 1972 the vocals were stripped from “Who Is the Leader of the People,” a Stoney and Meatloaf outtake, which was then given to Edwin Starr, who had a ginormous hit with War two years earlier. According to Mr. Loaf’s autobiography, his and Stoney’s backing vocals can still be heard on Starr’s version. When Stoney and Meatloaf was re-released after Bat Out Of Hell‘s success in the late 70s, a Meat Loaf only version of that track was included.
⇒ Download Edwin Starr — Who Is the Leader of the People (stereo mix)
⇒ Download Stoney and Meatloaf — Who Is the Leader of the People
And speaking of Mr. Starr and his big hit: on Bruce Springsteen’s Live 1975–1985 box set, a rocked up version of War was included. Its intro, well, still speaks for itself: Because […] blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed.
⇒ Download Bruce Springsteen — War
This week’s links
Okay, so I was actually gonna save this list for sunday, but what the heck.
- In anticipation of Springsteen’s new album “Working on a Dream” (release: january 27th), it’s Bruce Springsteen month at The Screen Door.
- An instant Sinfest classic:
I take refuge in my fortress of knowledge to get away from the scary things in life…
- Freshly presented research shows that the Milky Way is much larger than it was thought to be. It moves faster too, so the scheduled collision with Andromeda Galaxy will take place much earlier than expected, in a couple billion years from now. (via .god.voor.dommen)
- In the mean time, a map of the Milky Way in the style of the London Underground.
- People Who Deserve It offers socially responsible reasons to punch someone in the face.
- To say it’s very quiet in London on Christmas morning is a severe understatement. (last three via kottke)
- John Whitfield, who has a PhD in evolutionary biology, is going to read On the Origin of Species for the first time, and blog about it. Since that book is on my to-read pile, I’m planning to follow along. Which means that I have to finish the introduction and chapter one by monday. Goody. Homework. (via Pharyngula)
- Air guitar still rules.
- And an addition to the “hey, that’s my picture!” post: a German article on Tanz der Vampire in Oberhausen uses a photo of my Vienna Tanz in Concert poster.
As it seems that I have some homework (and a busy week ahead), I’ll probably take the weekend off. And if anyone has an inspired idea for that diner for eleven I’ll have to cook next week, pray, do tell.
Comeback
Quick note: I’m just back from my first volleyball practice in almost eight months. As/Unlike* I said I would, I took it easy/went in for the kill. Until I know how my knee reacts, I rate my comeback as You lose at life./Your shipment of fail has arrived/Meh/Epic win!/All your base are belong to us on the internet-scale of awesomeness.
* Footnote: I wrote this in advance, and just had to tick the proverbial boxes.
Thoughts about this place
There’s no way I’m gonna keep up this schedule. Posting seven days in a row is probably just a lucky streak. Tomorrow, I’m planning to make a cautious return to the volleyball field, so I’m pretty sure I’ve jinxed it now.
One of my plans for 2009 is to write more, and write better stuff. Which means probably better posts here, beter one-liners at Twitter, better emails, better messages on the messageboards I visit, perhaps even better html and css.
It might also mean that I might be inclined to write in Dutch more often. When I started blogging five, six years ago, I started writing in English because I thought that some of the things I had to say might be relevant to more people than just the Dutch speaking part of the world. Which seems to be true. But last year, there were some issues where I felt it would be more better to address them in Dutch. Which I did. And if the need arises, I will do so again. I might need to figure out how to make it abundantly clear that a post is written in Dutch.
Which brings me to the next point: I’ve been thinking about doing a redesign of this site. It most likely won’t be anything too drastic, but since the Sandbox-theme I’m using provides enough hooks to spice things up, I might as well use them. I also might as well start to break up the text more often with relevant images.
That’s pretty much all I got for now. Your thoughts are, as always, welcome.