I Hear Music

https://corridortribe.com/tribes/alvins_tribe/index.htm

https://corridortribe.com/tribes/twilight_tribe/

I’ve loved Randy Newman’s music for a long time. I got to see him perform in person a few times in the 1970’s.

I recently read a biography of him by Robert Hilburn, called A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman.

This got me back to exploring and listening to his work.

https://www.bookreporter.com/reviews/a-few-words-in-defense-of-our-country-the-biography-of-randy-newman

A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman by Robert Hilburn

Erik Satie is a special favorite of mine. I have various recordings of his music on LP and CD. I’ve read translations of some of his writings as well. His solo piano work is very popular. Various works are often used in movies.

Further information:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Satie

Composer Erik Satie Was So Much Weirder Than You Realize

https://jacobin.com/2025/05/erik-satie-classical-music-surrealism

A Closer Look at Erik Satie: The Eccentric Genius of French Music

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetry-news/72808/the-improbable-reviews-a-mammals-notebook-the-writings-of-erik-satie

In the 1970’s, Death, the music group was a word-of-mouth legend. I knew people who had seen them play at house parties and knew Don Schwenck, who was friends with them. He did some artwork for them and was interviewed in the documentary film, A Band Called Death.

I heard their 45 rpm record at the time too and knew about them before they (belatedly) became famous. When their album was finally released in 2009, they toured and I finally saw them play. David Hackney had died in 2000, but the band was in good form.

The ticket stub is classic: DEATH ALL AGES WELCOME.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_(proto-punk_band)

https://www.deathfromdetroit.com/deathhomepage.htm

Information on the movie:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Band_Called_Death

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/a-band-called-death-2013

Information on the album:

https://www.dragcity.com/products/for-the-whole-world-to-see

More.

More.

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The Holy Modal Rounders were an influence on the Don’t Look Now Jug Band. I was part of that musical group for many years. I love Peter Stampfel’s work with the Rounders, the Bottle Caps, with Jeffrey Lewis, his solo work and on and on. He’s a unique singer and an eclectic and wide-reaching song collector. He also writes good songs himself.

I saw him play at the Sidewalk Cafe in New York once. I’m trying to pin down the year. Antonia was in the audience. She went back to 1963 with him and had written and co-written some songs. It was a memorable show and I got to talk with him and had a few compact discs (or their liner notes) signed.

I still enjoy spinning and listening to a wide variety of his music Indeed!

https://www.insidehook.com/music/home-soho-psych-folk-legend-peter-stampfel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holy_Modal_Rounders

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Stampfel

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I’ve been watching Johnny Cash’s old television show on dvd. There’s a lot of great stuff there including Johnny Cash performances and classic guests.

He’s also in the news lately because he has a new “after the fact” record coming out, culled from some old demo tapes that had never been released.

I always enjoy going back to his music. He did a lot of good work both as a songwriter and as a performer.

Some of my favorite songs from him include Jackson, Hey Porter, Ring of Fire, I Walk the Line, Get Rhythm, Man in Black, Don’t Take Your Guns to Town, One Piece at a Time, Oney, A Boy Named Sue, Come in Stranger and Folsom Prison Blues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Johnny_Cash_Show

Music makes my day. It’s often a sort of cushion or protective device. Other times, it serves to enliven me, to help make me more fully and more complexly awake.

It’s a strong and mysterious source, this music. I’m an intuitive musician myself. The little melodies and lyrics that pop in my head now often end up as part of a Spaceband performance or in one of my puppet shows.

Some write it all down:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_notation

Others don’t:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intuitive_music

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freestyle_music

I have a lot of favorites. Bernard Herrmann is at the top of the list. He started doing radio work and his first film score was for Citizen Kane. He did the music for seven Alfred Hitchcock films and his catalogue goes on from there.

Other favorites include Miklos Rosza, Nino Rota, Carl Stalling, Ennio Morricone, Max Steiner, Franz Waxman, Elmer Bernstein, Alex North, Bill Lee, Henry Mancini and Michel Legrand.

There are many varieties and styles of film scoring. The movie musical has its own style including scoring for songs and for dancing. Some film score music has you take notice of it while other scores are so subtle or quiet that you hardly know that they’re there.

If it’s good enough to enjoy playing on my stereo player, without seeing the movie, then I know that it’s good. I have a collection of movie music on LP, CD and audiocassette. Overall, I don’t play it often but I enjoy it when I do. It’s more like a few times a month but not every day.

More information regarding a few favorite composers:

Bernard Herrmann

https://www.musicnotes.com/blog/eight-iconic-bernard-herrmann-film-scores-you-should-hear-before-you-die

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Herrmann

Ennio Morricone

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennio_Morricone

Tōru Takemitsu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dru_Takemitsu

Nino Rota

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nino_Rota

The very talented family of movie music brother Alfred, Lionel and Emil Newman and their relations including Thomas and Randy Newman.

https://forward.com/culture/438539/how-the-newmans-alfred-newman-randy-newman-thomas-newman-fox-mgm-marriage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Newman

Fumio Hayasaka

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumio_Hayasaka

A long list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_score_composers

Books on film music

Sound and Vision: 60 Years of Motion Picture Soundtracks

I love the 78 RPM records. I have a small collection of collection of them, but i play them only rarely. One of my brothers has an old-time player and a better collection than I do. Thus, we can go over there and have dance parties during a power blackout. He uses the hand-cranked players!

I recently read this book, DO NOT SELL AT ANY PRICE:

Reading brought me to some good stories of the 78 RPM record collectors. Many of these people were already on my radar, per my collection of very old records, which were digitized and shared on CD, LP and on internet audio.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_Not_Sell_At_Any_Price

Do Not Sell At Any Price: The Resurrection of the 78 rpm Record

The Great 78 Project!

Home

https://excavatedshellac.com

https://web.library.yale.edu/cataloging/music/historyof78rpms

https://nationaljazzarchive.org.uk/posts/articles/2021/11/how-the-78-rpm-record-helped-popularise-jazz

There are many genres that are popular on the 78 RPM records: blues, early jazz, country, western and hillbilly songs, world music (from everywhere), dance music, pop music, strange instrumentals, novelty records, spoken words and comedy records and much more!