THINGS HAVE CHANGED

Bob Dylan is still writing brilliant songs, and this is one of them. Dylan fans love to hearken back to days of yore, convinced his best work is well in the past. Geezers mumble about the folk stuff, or Highway 61, or Blonde on Blonde, or Blood on the Tracks. Those were great albums, but things have changed.


Some people hate him for those very songs. The hits. They're too cool, and for them music is about bragging rights--what obscure, rare, impossibly indie act have I discovered that you know nothing about?


The irony is that often the folks who hate Dylan love musicians who have been highly influenced by him. Countless bands cop his style, water him down, steal his lyrics, secretly "discover" him and mine his ore with pick and shovel. People make an entire career out of imitating just one phase of his creative output. Americana, rock, indie, freak-folk, hip hop, and pop all owe him a debt. Toss out the Juno soundtrack and do your homework.

"Things Have Changed" is as good as anything the man has written. Listen to the words.

SPACE TRAVEL

These bleak winter months in the Northwest I can't help think of travel -- trips I've taken, trips I plan to take -- and space travel comes to mind. "UFOs at the Zoo" is a record of space travelers, in a sense, but not the high-and-tight NASA jocks manning deathstars -- more like space gypsies. Here is a clip of a documentary about the Flaming Lips, which I got for my birthday.

PUNK ROCK IN REAL TIME

The Jam exploded in the first wave of punk in 1977. They were angry but also very clever, and when they took on the British class system and the conformity of their peers they did so with a particular éclat. They were punk, for sure, but also Mod revivalists and snappy dressers. With tight guitars, and brilliant lyrics by singer Paul Weller, they held their own against the angry young men of their day, namely the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Buzzcocks. In spite of their considerable talent, and some underground hits in England, they barely got noticed in the states. It's a shame.

Check out this live clip from back in the day, "Eaton Rifles." The song was inspired by an unemployed demonstrators 'Right to Work' march being heckled by what Weller described as "a bunch of tossers" from the prestigious Eaton College.

Thought you were smart when you took them on,
But you didn't take a peep in their artillery room,
All that rugby puts hairs on your chest,
What chance have you got against a tie and a crest.

Hello-hurray - what a nice day - for the Eton rifles!
Hello-hurray - I hope rain stops play - with the Eton rifles!

Thought you were clever when you lit the fuse,
Tore down the house of commons in your brand new shoes,
Compose a revolutionary symphony,
Then went to bed with a charming young thing.

SGT. PEPPER HOAX REVEALED

Close examination of a newly-discovered photograph reveals Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band to be none other than super pop group, the Beatles. The photograph was discovered among letters written by the late former Beatle John Lennon in a storage locker registered to his name. Until now, the Pepper band was thought to have produced only one album -- albeit a great one -- and then vanish into rock obscurity.

"We've had our suspicions for years," said rock critic Greil Marcus, "but this is the smoking gun."

Sir Paul McCartney was reached at his Kensington estate. "Remember, this was the age of the put-on," he said. "We were just trying to have a little fun." He added, "Sorry we hurt your field, mister."

For more Pepper/Beatle fun, check out the cool link to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, where you can click on every person on the Sgt. Pepper album cover for their bio.

http://www.oxforddnb.com/public/sgtpepper/