Downtown Music Gallery (again)

A parte del buen rollo que me produce esta gente, musicalmente son una fuente "infinita de referencias. De su última newsletter:

I been thinking about what makes a perfect song. The first records I bought as a kid were singles, 7” 45’s, one song per side. Between 1965 & 1969 I bought upwards of 100 singles, often playing them on a small portable turntable that I could take outside. Most singles were 3 minutes or less and they seemed to capture a fleeting feeling, a vibe, an instance that inspired and/or uplifted us, a soundtrack for period of time in life that was always evolving, watching our personal history and world history change from day to day. I stopped buying singles around 1970 when I was acquiring a large collection of albums. I started buying singles again after I graduated college (in 1976), when the New Wave/Punk/No Wave took off around 1977. While attending the Institute of Audio Research on University in Manhattan, I would stop in Bleecker Bob’s and buy 3 singles every week, reading about them in Melody Maker, NME or Trouser Press. This is how I discovered Pere Ubu, Thomas Dolby, Elvis Costello, Televison and loads of more obscure bands. In the eighties, I wrote for Jersey Beat Zine for nearly a decade and again discovered even more bands, hard core, psych, roots rock, noise, etc. Here’s a short list of my fave bands from that era: Gun Club, Dream Syndicate, American Music Club, Shockabilly, Young Turks, Tiny Lights, AOD, Dead Kennedys, Minutemen, REM, the Feelies, the Bongos, Dinosaur, DNA… I recently went through my entire singles collection of around 700 pieces. This brings back a good deal of good memories and I try to listen to 1 or 2 every couple of nights.

The above song, “Sylvio” was written by my longtime favorite songwriter/poet Bob Dylan but the lyrics are by Robert Hunter, who wrote the majority of lyrics for the Grateful Dead. Listening to that song now, it still sounds fresh, inspired, catchy, not just the words but the groove and perhaps the melodic hook. For me, there is nothing better than dancing to and singing along with a song that you love. You just get lost in the moment and forget the rest of the other BS that brings us down. Stop reading the bad news and put on those groovy dancing shoes and get down! - BLG

“Sylvio” written by Bob Dylan & Robert Hunter Found on Bob Dylan’s album, ‘Down in the Groove’ from 1988 Stake my future on a hell of a past
Looks like tomorrow is coming on fast
Ain't complaining 'bout what I got
Seen better times, but who has not?
Silvio, silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio, I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know
Honest as the next jade rolling that stone
When I come knocking don't throw me no bone
I'm an old boll weevil looking for a home
If you don't like it you can leave me alone
I can snap my fingers and require the rain
From a clear blue sky and turn it off again
I can stroke your body and relieve your pain
And charm the whistle off an evening train

Silvio, silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio, I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know
I give what I got until I got no more
I take what I get until I even the score
You know I love you and furthermore
When it's time to go you got an open door
I can tell you fancy, I can tell you plain
You give something up for everything you gain
Since every pleasure's got an edge of pain
Pay for your ticket and don't complain
Silvio, silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio, I gotta go, go
Find out something only dead men know

One of these days and it won't be long
Going down in the valley and sing my song
I will sing it loud and sing it strong
Let the echo decide if I was right or wrong
Silvio, silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio, I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know
Silvio, silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio, I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know
Silvio, silver and gold
Won't buy back the beat of a heart grown cold
Silvio, I gotta go
Find out something only dead men know
Come on
Come on