This is the continuing series I will post every other day while i'm out of town, thanks to Jonathan Toubin DJ of New York Night Train
Thee Midniters blow thee summer of love open with this cool and crazy surrealist cartoonish instrumental masterpiece that is beyond category and description. Their Dragon-Fly is of the “Flight of the Bumble Bee” and “Green Hornet" species, buzzing around the cut-and-paste aesthetic of Love’s “Revelation” and briefly landing a couple of times on a bizarro early Sun Ra horn arrangement before flying off into the smoggy dayglow horizon. Weird, wild, and wonderful!
You're listening to my daily addition to the New York Night Train Party Platter playlist. Each track here is recorded directly from my original 45s (no bootlegs, reproductions, etc) to give you an idea of what the real deal authentic vinyl sounds like. COME BACK EVERY DAY FOR A NEW FIX! Because the records pass so quickly at my dance parties, this channel is an attempt to stop and focus on one record at a time in hopes to personally learn more about each one and at the same time turn you on to the artists, tracks, labels, etc. I'm just hipping myself to a lot of these records for the first time as well - so you can view this as our journey to learning more about cool old records together! But mostly I hope this music moves you as much as it moves me.
Get your enjoys,
Jonathan Toubin
Soul Proprietor, New York Night Train
This is the continuing series I will post every other day while i'm out of town, thanks to Jonathan Toubin DJ of New York Night Train
This week I'm throwing all Detroit platters up here in anticipation of Saturday's Soul Clap and Dance-Off at U.F.O. Factory!
While "So Good" can definitely be categorized as popcorn soul, like a lot of the rockin' minor key Detroit destroyers, this one's minimal arrangement, lack of orchestration, strong dynamics, ripping guitar work, handclapping break, and rock'n'roll bridge drives this jam smack dab in the middle my neighborhood. Also while the intro warns that the backing vocals may send this track into cheeseville, the singers instead hold back until the choruses and add a little touch of Detroit group doo wop harmony to the mix. And of course Fort's soaring soulfullness is the star of this show!
Of all of the early Motor City recording stars, its particularly difficult to find any information about Ruben Fort. And this is too bad because he possesses some serious pipes and can really push 'em way up into Willie Little John-ville with the greatest of ease.
What little is known about Fort is that his career got lost in the Anna/Harvey/Check-mate soap opera from which Motown was born. "So Good" was cut for Billy Davis and Gwen Gordy's Anna Records imprint one month after Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" put the label on the map. Motown mogul Berry Gordy's sister Gwen was in a long heavy romantic relationship his writing collaborator Billy Davis (the co-writer here! The team of Gordy and Davis pinned Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops," Marv Johnson's "You Got What It Takes," etc) and Gwen and Billy started Anna Records together. The Moonglow's Harvey Fuqua, the arranger here, a huge Chess Records recording star, and at the time Etta James' boyfriend and collaborator, helped Anna get the Chess distribution that enabled "Money (That's What I Want)" to become a hit. Harvey also fell in love with Gwen and the two ran off together to build the excellent Harvey and Tri-Phi imprints. The dejected Davis split with the acts he signed to start the quality but unsuccessful Chess subsidiary Check-Mate. And Berry Gordy absorbed the remainder of the Anna roster to help build the foundation of Motown Records.
As luck would have it, Ruben Fort was assigned to Check-Mate instead of Motown. Despite getting lost in the shuffle of history, Fort's Check-Mate platter, "I'll Do The Best I Can"/"Nobody" also illustrates what a badass Ruben Fort is. I'm gonna go in my stacks and dig that one up for you as well. If you're somewhere out there Ruben Fort, you've got fans!
graphics by AVI SPIVAK (http://www.avispivak.com)!
You're listening to my daily addition to the New York Night Train Party Platter playlist. Each track here is recorded directly from my original 45s (no bootlegs, reproductions, etc) to give you an idea of what the real deal authentic vinyl sounds like. COME BACK EVERY DAY FOR A NEW FIX! Because the records pass so quickly at my dance parties, this channel is an attempt to stop and focus on one record at a time in hopes to personally learn more about each one and at the same time turn you on to the artists, tracks, labels, etc. I'm just hipping myself to a lot of these records for the first time as well - so you can view this as our journey to learning more about cool old records together! But mostly I hope this music moves you as much as it moves me.
Get your enjoys,
Jonathan Toubin
Soul Proprietor, New York Night Train
This is the continuing series I will post every other day while i'm out of town, thanks to Jonathan Toubin DJ of New York Night Train
Owner of the Kay-Gee, Gee-Kay, and Flashback record labels, radio DJ, and host of many East L.A. dances and review shows, Godfrey Kerr was one of the biggest proponents of Chicano rock and soul music in the mid-to-late 1960s. His recording of Kim Fowley’s “The Trip” backed by The Challengers is now canonical via Pebbles and other compilations. “Down Whittier Blvd” is yet another dose of his excellent outsider boho proto-rap poetry backed by Thee Midniters. It’s also the closer of his East L.A.-centric compilation Godfrey Presents: 16 Successful Sounds. If anybody out there knows Godfrey, please let him know we want to hear him do this one!
You're listening to my daily addition to the New York Night Train Party Platter playlist. Each track here is recorded directly from my original 45s (no bootlegs, reproductions, etc) to give you an idea of what the real deal authentic vinyl sounds like. COME BACK EVERY DAY FOR A NEW FIX! Because the records pass so quickly at my dance parties, this channel is an attempt to stop and focus on one record at a time in hopes to personally learn more about each one and at the same time turn you on to the artists, tracks, labels, etc. I'm just hipping myself to a lot of these records for the first time as well - so you can view this as our journey to learning more about cool old records together! But mostly I hope this music moves you as much as it moves me.
Get your enjoys,
Jonathan Toubin
Soul Proprietor, New York Night Train
Eastern philosophy is a great deal more popular than its Western counterpart. That’s not because Western philosophy has nothing valuable to teach us - but because of the dispiriting, abstract way it has to date been presented to us by Western educational elites.
Here's a few of the FILM photographs I made the other day when FLAG was in town.
(former member of BLACK FLAG) FLAG played here in NYC Tuesday ... Their current band photo was so weak, earlier in the year I volunteered to make a new one for them the next time we could all get together... I used half a roll of Tri-X (B&W) film, I think we got some good ones, including these.
Btw. They killed it on stage just a couple hours later, played all my favorite BLACK FLAG songs 👊🏾 💚 🤘🏼fucking great gig...
(I haven't made a band photo in many years, and certainly don't miss it, but we had a good time).
Last year I noticed my good friends in the band FLAG (mostly former members of BLACK FLAG) had a really weak publicity photo, I promised next time I am in the same town as all of them I'd be happy to make a new photo for them, So before last nights gig we went out back behind the venue and made some photos. I shot half a roll of B&W film and then a few digital images with my iPod... Here's a few of the digi-images, I assume the film ones will be much better, but here's these:
Design allows trucks to seamlessly connect and disconnect from electrified overhead wires while traveling at speeds of up to 90 kilometres per hour
MUNICH—Amid the rush of vehicles on Highway E16—a few kilometres outside Gävle in central Sweden—Siemens AG and Swedish heavy vehicle maker Scania AB have powered up the world’s first eHighway.
Running along a two-kilometre stretch of road, and designed to slash emissions in the carbon-intensive transportation industry, the pilot project will test an electrified overhead wire system, or catenary, specially-designed to allow transport trucks to draw power from the grid.
“By far the greatest part of the goods transported in Sweden goes on the road, but only a limited part of the goods can be moved to other traffic types,” Anders Berndtsson, chief strategist at the Swedish Transport Administration (STA), said. “That is why we must free the trucks from their dependence on fossil fuels, so that they can be of use also in the future.”
“Electric roads offer this possibility and are an excellent complement to the transport system,” he added.
A specially-designed, moveable pantograph enables an automatic connection between the systems overhead contact line and the vehicle at speeds of up to 90 km/h. PHOTO: Siemens/Scania CV AB
Contracted by the SFA and installed northwest of Stockholm, the overhead wire system functions similarly to the catenaries that power electric rail lines around the world. Unlike trains that remain on the electrified lines along their entire route, the eHighway is designed to allow trucks to seamlessly connect and disconnect from the wires while traveling at speeds of up to 90 km per hour.
Siemens says the design will cut energy consumption in half compared to conventional internal combustion engines.
While the German conglomerate designed the overhead electrical system, Sweden’s Scania manufactured and adapted a pair of heavy duty trucks for use in the demonstration project. The eHighway vehicles run using diesel hybrid drive, allowing them to operate like typical fuel-burning vehicles in areas that aren’t electrified, or on grid power while connected to the catenary system. Maintaining the adaptability of conventional trucks, the design would allow for a staged roll-out of the technology—a common issue when implementing next generation technologies.
Running for two years, the pilot will determine if the system can be commercialized and deployed more broadly. It’s the first project of its kind to run in real-world conditions on a public road.
While Sweden has committed to transforming its transportation system to run fossil fuel-free by 2030, the technology could also be applied in other areas. Siemens noted it is also currently developing another eHighway pilot project that will roll out in California in 2017.
In 1966, a B-52 bomber on a Cold War nuclear patrol exploded over Spain, releasing four hydrogen bombs. Fifty years later, Air Force veterans involved with the cleanup are sick and want recognition.
Terminator actor and director fronting a new campaign to try and curb animal product consumption, endorsing initiatives in China to reduce meat eating by 50%
More than two decades since the first, gut-crunching Terminator movie, James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger have collaborated again on a campaign encouraging people to cut down on the amount of meat they eat.
Spearheaded by WildAid, the drive has American and Chinese audiences in its crosshairs, and endorses efforts by the latter government to reduce the population’s meat consumption by 50%.
“You have to respect that,” says Cameron in backstage footage from the shoot. “That’s a leadership position.” The director, whose off-screen ecological activism has been detected in the plots of films such as Avatar, said he’d been stirred into action after clocking his own hypocrisy.
“How can I call myself an environmentalist when I’m contributing to environmental degradation by what I eat?”
Speaking alongside Cameron, Schwarzenegger reports health benefits of cutting down his meat and dairy intake on the advice of doctors. “I’m slowly getting off meat,” he says, “and I tell you: I feel fantastic.”
The video, which is part of a wider strategy including billboards and online pledges, features Schwarzenegger staggering through a ravaged landscape presumably destroyed in part by the carbon emissions of the livestock industry.
“Less meat, less heat, more life,” concludes the actor in the film, who also states that the notion meat is needed for muscle strength is incorrect.
The campaign makes curious contrast with a video released earlier this week, fronted by Matt Damon, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, lobbying for an end to the torture and slaughter of some 10,000 dogs in the far east as part of an annual food festival.
The NRA -- tone-deaf, intransigent, monied -- are seemingly unstoppable, but if anyone can shoot 'em down, it's Samantha Bee, whose tight, funny, rage-filled 5:30 on America's gun lobby is practically armor-piercing.
if there is one thing I have learned in my life from the concept drawings that i saw in the magazines as a kid that seemed unimaginable at the time, they eventually come true!
These few, similarly to the Mercedes clip i posted last year, are even more insane than the dream cars of my child hood, but they will probably happen sooner than we expect . . .
That said I have not owned a car for over 20 years, thankfully.
Living in NYC allows me the luxury of walking everywhere or using a pretty good MTA.
Serious question: Isn't one of the primary purposes of our government to protect American lives? Because today, our government chose not to. Again.
One week after 49 Americans were shot to death in an Orlando nightclub, the Senate today voted no on four different measures to limit gun sales. At least they're consistent. Each time there's a mass shooting, and they occur with alarming frequency and regularity, our politicians do nothing. They tweet thoughts, talk on TV about prayers, and take absolutely zero action.
Today's deadlock was split predictably between Democrats and Republicans, on amendments that would block people who are the federal terrorism watch list from being able to buy guns. The proposed changes would have also closed loopholes in background check laws.
“Our constituents see a disturbing pattern of inaction,” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, said on the Senate floor on Monday. “Sadly, our efforts are blocked by the Republican Congress, who take their marching orders from the National Rifle Association.”
From the Times:
Further action on gun safety measures or mental health provisions seemed unlikely before the fall election, given the rush to finish a series of spending bills and the relatively limited time that Congress will be in session before November.
In addition, the four gun measures were attached to legislation that contains several other thorny issues, such as the question of whether to take passports away from terrorism suspects, which suggests there will be little chance for further debate.
Related: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump today “walked back” his earlier inflammatory remarks that armed clubgoers could have prevented the Orlando massacre.
