WSPC PLAYLIST JULY 2015

July 1, 2015
"HARDROCKLOVER" performed by Prince & 3RDEYEGIRL-WSPC PREMIERE

TRIBUTE TO CHRIS SQUIRE R.I.P.
All songs performed by Yes
"And You And I"
"Yours Is No Disgrace"
"Big Generator"
"Tempus Fugit"
"Parallels" (live)

"Private Idaho" performed by The B-52's
"Gossip Folks" performed by Missy Elliot
"Union City Blue" performed by Blondie
"Should Have Known Better" performed by Sufjan Stevens-WSPC PREMIERE
"I Ain't Superstitious" performed by Willie Dixon

July 2, 2015
"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" performed by The Beatles
"Time And Time Again" performed by Mike Rutherford
"Sunkissed" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins
"Blue Red And Grey" performed by The Who
"Little Lamb Dragonfly" performed by Paul McCartney and Wings

"Somewhere Under Heaven" performed by Tom Petty-WSPC PREMIERE
"Shabby Doll" performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
"Diamond Smiles" performed by The Boomtown Rats
"Diamond Meadows" performed by T-Rex
"Dreams" performed by Beck-WSPC PREMIERE

July 3, 2015
"Time Bomb Town" performed by Lindsey Buckingham
"The Guesser" performed by Temples
"One To Another" performed by The Charlatans UK
"No Expectations" performed by The Rolling Stones
"Fair Warning" performed by Todd Rundgren

"Zawinul/Lava" performed by Brian Eno
"Diva" performed by Jean Michel Jarre
"Gong Rock" performed by Stewart Copeland
"The Visitor" performed by Mick Fleetwood
"Time's Up (Brian Reitzell remix)" performed by TV Eyes
"The Big Ship" (extended) performed by Brian Eno

July 4, 2015
"4th Of July" performed by Aimee Mann
"Jack Straw" performed by Grateful Dead
"4th Of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" performed by Bruce Springsteen
"4th Of July" performed by Paul McCartney and Wings
"4th Of July" performed by Galaxie 500

"Fish Out Of Water" by Chris Squire-In It's Entirety

"Cruiser" performed by The Cars
"Call Girl" performed by FFS
"Teen Angst" performed by M83
"Constant Conversations" performed by Passion Pit
"Electric Feel" performed by MGMT

"The Star Spangled Banner" performed by Jimi Hendrix

July 5, 2015
"I Like To Live The Love" performed by B.B. King
"Love To See You Smile" performed by Bobby "Blue" Bland
"I'll Play The Blues For You" performed by Albert King
"Last Two Dollars" performed by Johnnie Taylor
"First Time I Met The Blues" performed by Buddy Guy

"Blue Light" performed by Ryan Adams
"Drummer Like Me" performed by Trip Shakespeare
"Summer's Cauldron/Grass" performed by XTC
"How To Fight Loneliness" performed by Wilco
"Better Days" (live) performed by Badfinger

July 6, 2015
"Um Chagga Lagga" (live) performed by Pixies-WSPC PREMIERE

"Two Of Us" performed by The Beatles
"Trilogy" performed by Emerson, Lake & Palmer
"Will There Be Enough Water?" (live) performed by The Dead Weather
"The Dogs" perforemd by Sloan
"In Da Club" performed by 50 Cent

July 7, 2015

HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY TO RINGO STARR
"Ticket To Ride" performed by The Beatles
"Rain" performed by Te Beatles
"It Don't Come Easy"
"Sentimental Journey"
"Not Looking Back"-WSPC PREMIERE
"I'm The Greatest"
"Step Lightly"
"Boys" performed by The Beatles
"Lovely Rita" performed by The Beatles
"Old Brown Shoe" performed by The Beatles
"I Feel Fine" performed by The Beatles

"Teach Me A New Language" performed by Van Hunt-WSPC PREMIERE
"In The Car..." performed by Paul Weller-WSPC PREMIERE
"Outta My Mind" performed by The Arcs-WSPC PREMIERE
"Love Child" performed by Bilal-WSPC PREMIERE
"And I Love Her" (live on David Letterman) performed by Broken Bells

July 8, 2015
"Sunglasses At Night" performed by Corey Hart
"Heat Of The Moment" performed by Asia
"I, Robot/I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" performed by The Alan Parsons Project
"Who's That Girl?" performed by Eurythmics
"Hiawatha" performed by The Belle Stars

July 9, 2015
"Rich Kid Blues" (live) performed by The Raconteurs
"Malibu" performed by Hole
"All The Things She Said" performed by Simple Minds
"Fire" performed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
"Hey" performed by Red Hot Chili Peppers

July 10, 2015
"Summer Breaking" performed by Mark Ronson featuring Kevin Parker-WSPC PREMIERE
"In The Sun" performed by Blondie
"California Sun" performed by The Ramones
"Wide Open" performed by The Chemical Brothers featuring Beck-WSPC PREMIERE
"Island In The Sun" performed by Weezer

July 11, 2015
"99.9F" performed by Suzanne Vega
"Warm Ways" performed by Fleetwood Mac
"Beeba" performed by Shannon Conner
"Auntie's Municipal Court" performed by The Monkees
"The Ancient (Giants Under The Sun)" performed by Yes

July 13, 2015
"Papercuts" performed by Modern Mod
"Many Shades Of Black" performed by The Raconteurs
"Heart Of Stone" performed by Dave Stewart
"Long Hot Summer" (extended) performed by The Style Council
"What In The World" performed by The  Dukes Of Stratosphear
"Man Of Our Times" performed by Genesis
"Andy" performed by Frank Zappa

"Welcome To My Nightmare" performed by Alice Cooper
"Candidate" performed by David Bowie
"When A Solution Comes" performed by The Kinks
"Capital G" performed by Nine Inch Nails
"Candidate" performed by Joy Division

July 14, 2015
"A Little Smile" performed by Joe Jackson-WSPC PREMIERE
"Cult Of Personality" performed by Living Colour
"Honey Bee" performed by Tom Petty
"No Peekee" performed by The German Art Students
"On Any Other Day" performed by The Police
"Bad Loser" performed by  Fleetwood Mac

July 15, 2015
"The World Awake" performed by Prefab Sprout
"Peace And Love" performed by Fountains Of Wayne
"Head Full Of Steam" performed by The Go-Betweens
"Rock And Roll Babylon" performed by Love And Rockets
"Ladybird" performed by XTC

July 16, 2015
"Discipline" performed by King Crimson
"Moon Rocks performed by Talking Heads
"Black Hole" performed by Utopia
"Daffodils" performed by Mark Ronson featuring Kevin Parker-WSPC PREMIERE
"Greatdayandmorning/Booty" performed by D'Angelo

HAPPY 63RD BIRTHDAY TO STEWART COPELAND 
"Don't Box Me In" performed with Stan Ridgeway
"There's A Spy (In The House Of Love)" performed by Animal Logic
"The Tall Weeds"
"I Don't Care" performed by Klark Kent
"Darkness performed by The Police

"Whipping Boy" performed by Animal Logic
"Secret Separation" performed by The Fixx
"I Still Believe (Great Design)" performed by The Call
"That's Why People Fall In Love" performed by Thomas Dolby
"Carolyn's Fingers" performed by Cocteau Twins
"Some Time Alone, Alone" performed by Melody's Echo Chamber

July 17, 2015
"The Moment" performed by Tame Impala-WSPC PREMIERE
"The Way Life's Meant To be" performed by Electric Light Orchestra
"It Feels Alright" performed by Washed Out
"Summer" performed by Moby
"What Does It Mean Now?" performed by World Party

July 18, 2015
"Man Plans, God Laughs" performed by Public Enemy-WSPC PREMIERE

"For No One" performed by The Beatles
"Pocket Money" performed by Carole King
"The Secret Marriage" performed by Sting
"So Beautiful" performed by Robert Glasper-WSPC PREMIERE
"Fucked Me Right Up" performed by Sean Hayes

July 19, 2015
"The Ballad (Denny & Jean)" performed by Todd Rundgren
"Second Hand Store" performed by Joe Walsh
"Sweet Painted Lady" performed by Elton John
"Nobody Girl" performed by Ryan Adams
"Ten Years Gone" performed by Led Zeppelin

"Ant Music" performed by Adam and the Ants
"Aphrodisiac" performed by Bow Wow Wow
"Natural's Not In It" performed by Gang Of Four
"Love Of The Common People" performed by Paul Young
"Don't Be My Enemy" performed by Wang Chung

July 20, 2015
"I Really Don't Care" (live) performed by Bilal with Adrian Younge-WSPC PREMIERE
"The Less I Know The Better" performed by Tame Impala-WSPC PREMIERE
"Get Real Paid" performed by Beck
"Into The Hollow" performed by Queens Of The Stone Age
"The Night Josh Tillman Came To Our Apartment" performed by Father John Misty-WSPC PREMIERE

July 21, 2015
"Everybody's My Friend" performed by Kansas
"I Won't Be Home Tonight" performed by Tony Carey
"Looking For The Magic" performed by The Dwight Twilley Band
"Girl Next Door" performed by Pilot
"Wham Bam" performed by Silver
"Sky High" performed by Jigsaw
"Silly Love" performed by 10cc

July 22, 2015
"Hot Summer Nights" performed by Walter Egan
"Maximumisness" performed by George Clinton
"One Day"performed by Fishbone
"Afro Blue" performed by Will Calhoun with Marc Cary and Charnett Moffett
"You Might Recall" performed by Genesis

"Times Like These" (live Sydney Opera House July 21, 2015) performed by Ryan Adams-WSPC PREMIERE
"Foolin'" performed by Def Leppard
"Afterimage" performed by  Rush
"Heartbeat City" performed by The Cars

July 23, 2015
"Summer Nights" performed by Van Halen
"Better" performed by Guns N' Roses
"Walking In My Shoes" performed by Depeche Mode
"Fascination Street" performed by The Cure
"Endless Summer" performed by Zwan

July 24, 2015
"Dance Floor" performed by Zapp
"Too Hot" performed by The Specials
"Thieves Like Us" performed by New Order
"Phoenix" performed by Paul Weller-WSPC PREMIERE
"I Don't Believe You Want To Get Up And Dance" performed by The Gap Band

July 25, 2015
"Back In Black" performed by AC/DC
"Education" performed by The Kinks
"Love Love Love" performed by Lenny Kravitz
"Jailbreak" performed by Thin Lizzy
"Our Song" performed by Yes

July 26, 2015
"Flame-Sky" performed by Santana
"Black Napkins" (live bootleg) performed by Frank Zappa
"Devotion" performed by John McLaughlin
"Blues For Tillmon" performed by Spectrum Road
"Max's Tune" performed by The Jeff Beck Group
"Pali Gap" performed by Jimi Hendrix

July 27, 2015
"Miss You" performed by The Rolling Stones
"Lemon" performed by U2
"Eight Miles High" performed by The Byrds
"Forty Thousand Headmen" (live) performed by Traffic
"Rocket" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins

"Her Hair Is Growing Long" performed by Jonathan Wilson
"Bitter Creek" performed by Eagles
"Guinevere" performed by Crosby, Stills & Nash
"So Far Away" performed by David Gilmour
"Amateur" performed by Aimee Mann

July 28, 2015
"Restless" performed by New Order-WSPC PREMIERE
"Cup Of Coffee' performed by Garbage
"Give Me Another Chance" performed by Big Star
"Hard On Me" performed by Tom Petty
"Pedestal" performed by Van Hunt-WSPC PREMIERE

"Reality In Motion" performed by Tame Impala-WSPC PREMIERE
"Baby You're A Rich Man" performed by The Beatles
"I Can Feel Your Heartbeat" performed by The Partridge Family
"I've Been High" performed by R.E.M.
"Heartbreaker" performed by Free

July 29, 2015
"Young Lions" performed by Adrian Belew
"Iron Lion Zion" performed by Bob Marley and the Wailers
"Looking For Changes" performed by Paul McCartney
"Lions" performed by Dire Straits
"Hunting Bears" performed by Radiohead

July 30, 2015
"Stare" performed by Prince-WSPC PREMIERE
"The Healing" performed by Gary Clark Jr.-WSPC PREMIERE
"(I'll Give You) Money" performed by Peter Frampton
"My Kinda Lover" performed by Bily Squier
"Heartbeat" performed by Riggs
"Do It Again" performed by The Kinks

July 31, 2015
"Baba O'Reilly" (demo version) performed by Pete Townshend
"Light My Fire" performed by The Doors
"Road To Rouen" performed by Supergrass
"Reach The Beach" performed by The Fixx
"If You Can't Give Me Love" performed by Suzi Quatro
"Blue Lamp" performed by Stevie Nicks
"Here Comes The Hotstepper" performed by Ini Kamoze

"Glad/Freedom Rider" (live) performed by Traffic
"Long Haired Lady" performed by Paul and Linda McCartney
"I'm Gonna Crawl" performed by Led Zeppelin

"Night In The City" performed by Electric Light Orchestra
"Nightpsots" performed by The Cars
"Hot In The City" performed by Billy Idol
"Rated X" performed by Nick Gilder
"Eventually" performed by Tame Impala-WSPC PREMIERE

NOW PLAYING IN THE SAVAGE JUKEBOX JULY 2015

"PROGENY: HIGHLIGHTS FROM SEVENTY-TWO"
YES
Released May 25, 2015

"TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS"
YES
Released January 9, 1974

"IN ANOTHER LIFE"
BILAL
Released June 30, 2015
NEW 2015 MUSIC: Admittedly, I have only listened to this album once as other albums have taken over my full attention (ahem...Tame Impala). Even so, on first listen, the latest album from vocalist/songwriter Bilal did not make the strongest impression. Despite recording entirely in analog and working alongside celebrated producer/multi-instrumentalist Adrian Younge, the songs seemed to have a certain sonic sameness that made it difficult for me to initially differentiate between the tracks themselves. But, no worries. I don't know the songs very well at all yet. Just give it time, as Bilal is a fiercely idiosyncratic artist who has failed to disappoint thus far.

"TV EYES"
TV EYES
Released October 25, 2006 

"MEDICINE SHOW NO. 10: BLACK SOUL"
MADLIB
Released October 26, 2010

"FISH OUT OF WATER"
CHRIS SQUIRE
Released December 30, 1975

"OLIAS OF SUNHILLOW"
JON ANDERSON
Released July 24, 1976

"THE FUN RISES, THE FUN SETS"
VAN HUNT
Released May 4, 2015
NEW 2015 MUSIC: I have only had the opportunity to hear this album a couple of times (primarily due to my near obsessive listening to the new Tame Impala album) but this just may be one of the best albums of the year--at least, it is one of the most unique sounding albums of the year. Seeming like it emerges from the same studio as Sly and the Family Stone's "There's A Riot Goin' On" (released November 20, 1971), singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Van Hunt, a figure that has undeservedly flown very far under the radar, returns with his latest effort where the mix is purposefully muddy, hand claps serve as drum beats, the bass guitar percolates vibrantly and somehow all sense of melody and rhythm has been turned inside out and re-contextualized in a fashion that is often striking to hear. Essentially sounds that we may be used to hearing within a certain context are re-distributed and presented in exciting ways that make the album's 14 tracks sound like an artist's slightly oddball demos or songs from a musician who either doesn't know or care what the current musical landscape sounds like. If you are a devotee of D'Angelo or Bilal, Van Hunt works as a rightful companion. So show him some love, huh?

"THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF LORD QUAS"
QUASIMOTO
Released May 3, 2005

"GOING FOR THE ONE"
YES
Released July 7, 1977

"FAITHFUL"
TODD RUNDGREN
Released April 1976

"DISCO JETS"
UTOPIA
Released April 3, 2012

"BACK TO THE EGG"
PAUL McCARTNEY AND WINGS

Released June 8, 1979

WSPC'S FIRST LISTEN: "CURRENTS" TAME IMPALA

"CURRENTS" 
TAME IMPALA

All music, lyrics, vocals, instruments, recording and mixing by Kevin Parker

Produced by Kevin Parker
Released July 17, 2015

My specialized brand of synesthesia is receiving the most wondrous workout!

Music chooses you. Let me write that statement one more time. Music chooses YOU! That sentiment is one that I have expressed over and again upon this blogsite and in the case of the band Tame Impala, that sentiment could not be any more prevalent even if it tried.

In late 2012, like many listeners, I fell down the astonishing psychedelic rabbit hole known as "Lonerism" (released October 5, 2012), Tame Impala's second full length album. The oddity about this particular experience and musical discovery is that as I scour my memory banks, I cannot even begin to remember just how or why I even entered my beloved B-Side Records with the intent of purchasing the album in the first place. Perhaps it was a the highly positive tenor of the album reviews, but I honestly cannot remember especially as I really didn't know much to anything at all about the band at that time, and therefore, I really don't know why I would have given the album much thought. Regardless, something in the ether spoke to me, propelled me to the record store where I did indeed purchase the album and on the very first listen, I was wondrously swept away by the blinding layers of 21st century psychedelia on display.

From song to song, Tame Impala blazed brightly, weaving in one sonic layer after another, like ephemeral building bricks, lifting every piece of music higher and higher to the skyscraping level where I was able to "hear" and "see" colors in a fashion that was simultaneously familiar and yet so vibrantly, and exotically new. It was an album steeped in musical history, thus making it an album that could only have been released in 2012. But even so, it was almost like I had not heard anything quite like it before either.

Tame Impala's "Lonerism" just had it all,  From the slightly androgynous/Lennon-esque vocals drenched in reverb echoing seductively throughout my consciousness to the music and instrumentation which warmly surrounded me with its bed of analog synths, cloudburst blasts of guitars and a rhythm section that seemed to owe as much to 21st century hip-hop as it did to the music of the late 1960's-mid 1970's. The fact that Tame Impala is essentially the one-man band creation of singer/songwriter/producer/multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker was just a bonus for me as I have always been fascinated with those studio wizards who are just able to meticulously piece together the sounds from their brains and transform them into music for the masses all by themselves.

My unabashed enthusiasm for "Lonerism" made me salivate for more and in doing so, I soon returned to B-Side to pick up the debut album "Innerspeaker" (released May 21, 2010), which carried a more guitar heavy sound. Additionally, I was graced with seeing the full five member band at Madison's very own Orpheum Theater in a spectacular live performance two years ago. Every time I heard the band, I was filled wit an increasing desire to know just precisely where would Tame Impala head next.

Now I know.

At long last, "Currents," the third album from Tame Impala has arrived and it is a deeply mesmerizing and all enveloping album. Easily existing as one of the very best albums of 2015, I am wholly unable to credit Kevin Parker enough as he has somehow created such a defining artistic statement (while seemingly existing on a perpetually never ending world tour) that feels as much of an extension from the first two albums as much as it is a clear break from them. Parker's intense focus is flat out amazing as his admittedly obsessive attention to every major or minuscule detail ensures that not one sound or element is out of place and yet, the entire work still feels as free flowing as the wind through the trees. "Currents" is undeniably a fully intoxicating, luxurious and exquisite work from an artist who, by now, has truly jettisoned himself to the front ranks as far as I am concerned.

Several months ago, music websites posted Tame Impala's stirring, shimmering cover version of none other than Michael Jackson's late period stunner "Stranger In Moscow." As I think back to that period, plus Parker's three stellar contributions to Mark Ronson's smash "Uptown Special" album (released January 13, 2015), I am now wondering if those were the moments and signposts that Kevin Parker used to signal to fans just where he would next lead Tame Impala...or where the music was leading Tame Impala. As I previously stated, "Currents" does indeed sound like the next most logical step to the two previous albums but yet, it is indeed a defiant line in the sand. By now, fans of Tame Impala are most familiar with the overall sonic palate of the band and the albums and to a large degree, listeners will be rewarded with the same splendidly sumptuous package. Even so, Kevin Parker has largely altered his own formula, challenging himself and his fans all along the way.

Where the first two albums devoted much energy to the guitar and extended psychedelic overdrive workouts, "Currents" is a tighter, more concise yet no less epic collection of songs. Parker has also mostly eschewed with the more elongated songs of Tame Impala's past and has discovered a "less is more" approach that does indeed work wonders. Tracks like "Nangs" and "Gossip" don't even crack the two minute mark and basically serve as lustrous interludes and the equally brief and brisk "Disciples" is a power pop pocket symphony that shines and sparkles in under two minutes as well.

Furthermore, instead of psychedelic rock and roll, Kevin Parker has utilized Tame Impala to wrap his spirit around more straightforward pop songs and most definitely, the emotional urgency and rhythms of soul music. Throughout the album you will hear how Parker has set down the guitars and replaced them with oceans of keyboards and analog synths which are augmented by that specialized brand of finger snapping slow jams propelled by deep, hip swaying bass guitar and hip-hop kick drum swagger.

For instance, the spirit of Michael Jackson hovers profoundly over the dance floor stylings, and completely with Parker's emotive vocals (just really listen to how he sings the line "Oh my love, can't you see yourself by my side"), in the tale of unrequited love, "The Less I Know The Better." And hear how the wall of keyboards plus the bass guitar, drums and (yes) those finger-snaps cushion the future emotional wounds of "Eventually" as well as the sad memories contained in the hauntingly reflective "Past Life."  Because of how the overall sound melds with the emotions, to my ears, Tame Impala's "Currents" does not live too terribly far away from the likes of Prince's earliest songs and albums like "When We're Dancing Close And Slow" and "It's Gonna Be Lonely" from his self-titled second album (released October 19, 1979), "Do Me Baby" from "Controversy" (released October 14, 1981) and even "Something In The Water (Does Not Compute)" from "1999" (released October 27, 1982). The entire effect is as enveloping as submerging oneself within a tub of warm water.

And while that may throw some listeners off, believe me, it all feels so beautifully purposeful as Tame Impala's idiosyncratic brand of soul music speaks directly to, and emerges completely from, the soul of Kevin Parker. While "Currents" does certainly exist as a stunning headphone album, it is quite a contrast from the first two releases internally. Where the psychedelia of "Innerspeaker" and "Lonerism" were designed to take you out of yourself, "Currents" dives deeply within the emotions, taking you further into yourself (or in this case, Kevin Parker) as you hope to contain, gather and understand what is happening to you from the inside out. Because of this different conceptual and thematic approach, I feel that Tame Impala's "Currents" works richly as nothing less than Kevin Parker's version of The Beach Boys' iconic "Pet Sounds" (released May 16, 1966). 

In addition to being an exploration into Kevin Parker's creative mission and possibly as a lament to the breakup of his relationship with musician Melody Prochet (herself of the band Melody's Echo Chamber), Tame Impala's "Currents" exists as a song cycle of self discovery from youth into adulthood, itself a constant and evolving Tame Impala lyrical theme. But with this new album, I do not believe that I have heard Kevin Parker's lyrics and actual singing to be so crisply direct, to the point of being almost conversational. The brevity and sheer economy of words that in turn convey a universe of emotions recalled Brian Wilson's masterpiece for me in regards to the music's bittersweetness and melancholic tone, the lyrical openness and all the way to the nearly instantaneous emotional connection. In essence, "Currents" may be an album of "sad songs" where even the "happy" songs are "sad," yet the many sequences of painful growth contained within one's personal evolution have certainly not diminished any of the albums' unquestionable beauty.

"Currents" opens with the album's audacious first single, the dazzling, nearly eight minute "Let It Happen," itself a sonic bridge between the past and...ahem...current Tame Impala albums and also a song that serves as Kevin Parker's purpose of intent, in music and existence. "It's always around me, all this noise," Parker begins. "But not nearly as loud as the voice saying, 'Let it happen, let it happen (it's gonna feel so good)/Just let it happen, let it happen."  What we have is Parker's internal existential debate about allowing himself to let go of the controls, so to speak, and allow the music and life itself to direct him to where he will ultimately find himself...hopefully a place of greater creativity and new enlightenment. The level of anticipation and hopefulness flows through the speakers with each new development within the song itself, from the pulsating rhythms to even the bars of the hypnotic and slightly robotic vocals of intentional gibberish.

From those heights, "Currents" takes the listener upon an emotional odyssey complete with all of the peaks and valleys that occur when one undergoes the process of self-transformation, Self-doubt and wavering self-confidence arrives in the simmering and shimmering beauty of both "Reality In Motion" and "Love/Paranoia." The fragility of the male ego is confronted brilliantly in the nearly erotic pulse of the album standout "'Cause I'm A Man," terrifically executed as Parker exhibits his finest falsetto, making this song the album's most androgynous. And the self-explanatory entitled "Yes I'm Changing" takes us to a slow motion, audio dream world where Parker regards and waves goodbye to himself in his life's rear-view mirror, and in turn, he encourages us to perform the same duty, if any of us are ever to fully evolve--as individuals as well as being fans of Tame Impala's music.

"I was raging, it was late
In the world my demons cultivate
I felt the strangest emotion but it wasn't hate, for once
Yes, I'm changing
Yes, I'm gone
Yes, I'm older yes, I'm moving on
And if you don't think it's a crime, then you can come along with me...
...I saw it different, I must admit
I caught a glimpse, I'm going after it
They say people never change, that's bullshit
They do..." 

But even with epiphany, emotional turbulence remains as depicted in the album's stunning, menacing six minute finale "New Person, Same Old Mistakes," where Parker questions if the shedding of his old skin was even worth the trouble at all, therefore making the album serve as a close, yet less abrasive musical cousin to Nine Inch Nails' "The Fragile" (released September 9, 1999), itself an album of internal transformation and the conflicting relationships between an artist, his muse and his very angry demons.

Through the pacing and flat-out perfect sequencing of the album's 13 tracks, Tame Impala's "Currents" finds Kevin Parker no less meditative or creatively restless but somehow braver in his audacity to break with his musical past in order to push forwards as an vibrant, valid artist. No small feat in this time of musical homogeneity and no risk celebrity. I applaud Parker greatly, for it really feels that he could have easily created "Lonerism 2," and it could have easily been terrific, especially as he has spent all of these years slowly building up his musical presence and identity in the overly-saturated landscape. But he didn't ! He went left when he could've swayed to the right and he ultimately emerged with his best release yet.

As he sings in the swirling euphoria of "The Moment," a song which feels as the extension of Tears For Fears' "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" and XTC's "King For A Day," yet does them each a few steps even higher, Parker repeatedly announces emphatically, "It's getting closer!!!" as the music soars up into the skies, through the clouds and touches the sun itself.

As far as I am concerned, with "Currents," Tame Impala has fully arrived!!

MISTAKES, FLUBS, TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES AND THE BEAUTY OF LIVE COLLEGE RADIO: THE 3RD ANNUAL WLHA RESURRECTION/REUNION WEEKEND-A SYNESTHESIA EXCLUSIVE

"You're unlikely to obtain full satisfaction from the day ahead, Scott, especially if you're in a hurry to make progress with your life. You can expect setbacks, which might come in the form of criticism from outside, delays, or perhaps even a deal that falls through. You'll have to be clever and diplomatic. Put your tap shoes on and begin the fancy footwork to limit the damage."

Those were the first words I read, contained within my horoscope, on the morning of Sunday, July 12, 2015. While I am not superstitious by nature, I have always told myself to never rule anything out. Furthermore, the reading of my daily horoscope has become a habit since my Middle School years, an essential part of my routine as I get myself prepared for the day ahead. With that being said, the words displayed above were really not the words that I had wished to read on this particular morning as I was soon to head back to the beautiful WSUM-FM studios to participate in the 3rd Annual WLHA Resurrection/Reunion Weekend alongside my friends and co-conspirators Lisa Grueneberg (otherwise known as "The Grue"), Kelly Klaschus and Sue Grass, all of whom joined me last year for much hilarity, warmth, music and camaraderie.

Unlike last year, where our specific radio shows were short due to the amount of returning DJs and available time slots, this year, and with endless gratitude given to the reunion weekend's organizers Kevin Peckham and Kevin Ruppert, all of us were given even more on-air time to play with. My show, on which I would be joined again by The Grue, would run a full three hours, the longest stretch I have had since these reunion weekends began and incidentally, the same length as my actual college radio show. As for Kelly and Sue, who would immediately follow me, their program would run two full hours, also an increase from the year before. As a bonus for me, and possibly to give Peckham and Ruppert a bit of a break, they allowed me to "engineer" Kelly and Sue's show, meaning I would have five full hours of running the boards, pushing the buttons and so on. Needless to say, I am certain that for all of you who happen to be reading this posting, my anticipation and excitement was palpable to say the least. Trust me, I was truly walking on air!!

But then, there remained the issue of that horoscope. I tried to put it out of my mind, but it just continued to linger, like remnants of a dream that will not quite fade away. And as the day began in earnest, the immortal words of the artist forever known as Prince from his iconic track "Little Red Corvette" echoed in my brain, "Guess I shoulda known..." 

My first internal warning signs began to flash as I was driving to the studios. Early that very morning there had been a program airing that celebrated the history and music of the University Of Wisconsin marching bands. By the time I was on the road, the marching band music continued to play and soon, he voice of Kevin Ruppert also known as "Nivek" announced on air that the program scheduled to run during the 8 a.m. hour was experiencing technical difficulties and the program should be airing shortly.

Uh oh.

The technical issues that delayed the scheduled 8 a.m. show, Lee Harris' pre-recorded 60 minute ode to the hit songs of the '70's, '80's and '90's (that is, if you didn't hear the show, the 1870's and so on), were fully resolved by 8:15 a.m., therefore meaning that my show, which was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., would be pushed back a little bit. Keeping within the spirit of the day, I knew this was indeed par for the course within the realm of college radio where some sort of snafu happens quite frequently. But even still, it felt as if those words from the horoscope were already beginning to come to fruition and because of that, I had to admit that I was also already beginning to feel a little bit off of my game.

I arrived at the studio with my crate of CDs, called Nivek, who then let me into WSUM and I just immediately felt at home. We entered the main studio to find Kevin Peckham also known as "Casey," who greeted me with the same grand, inviting smile and fully affable spirit with which he first greeted me three years ago. The three of us spoke, joked and talked all about the current reunion weekend and everything felt as if a year had not passed at all.

  

Casey and Nivek then gave me a quick review of the WSUM soundboard, showed me how to operate the two turntables (the items which made me the most nervous as I have not operated studio turntables since 1991 but were ironically the easiest items to operate hands down) and before long, Lisa Grueneberg, "The Grue" herself, arrived with full embrace and that trademark smile of hers that I believe would fully disarm absolutely anyone. She and I talked, planned and plotted quickly as she showed me some vinyl she brought along as well as two homemade mix CDs, one of which contained a song she wished to play as an honored request for her two sons, The Del Vikings' "Come Go With Me" as featured in Director Rob Reiner's classic film "Stand By Me" (1989), which her family had just watched.

By a bit after 9:00 a.m. and I think before Lisa and I realized, we were on the air. No special introductory jingles this time. Headphones and microphones were "hot" and we wee ready to begin the day. After some brief introductions, I began to play Ian Dury and the Blockheads' "Reasons To be Cheerful Part 3," a purposeful choice as I was indeed more than cheerful and this being the third year of these Resurrection/Reunion weekend events. Afterwards, the show began in earnest with some back and forth chatting between myself and The Grue and everything felt right, natural, at ease (despite my excited nerves) and I have to admit that I realized in those first moments just how much I loved having Lisa right alongside me as she makes for an exceedingly warm presence to banter along with, and as I was soon to find out, to have some extra support from.

The original plan was to play "I'll Be You," Lisa's track by The Replacements immediately after the David Bowie selection. But, the first hiccup of the day for us happened right in those first few minutes. For whatever reasons that I could not fathom, Lisa's CD was not cue-ing at all. So, with about less than a minute to spare before making the next musical transition, I quickly ejected her CD and grabbed my copy of the double album "III/IV" by Ryan Adams and the Cardinals knowing that I wanted to play "Kisses Start Wars." Unfortunately, the songs on that album are not numbered within the liner notes, forcing you to physically count the song titles. With just seconds left, I knew there was not enough time for me to count, load the CD, wait for it to load and then cue the song. There wasn't even enough time to cue a vinyl record either. So...mistake #1 occurred. The desired musical transition was lost and we had to get ourselves back on the air to speak and discover the solution to the cue-ing issue and also get some song cued properly to play next as dead air was not an option.

I returned to the airwaves while Lisa flagged down Nivek who quickly deduced our cue-ing issue, making it possible for us to move along smoothly, which we did do for quite some time afterwards. Songs were flowing into the next as seamlessly as I wished them to. Our banter felt just right and after the next set of songs and banter, we decided to give our first vinyl selection and my turntable skills, such as they are, a shot.

The song was "Grass" by XTC, played from a vinyl single version in Lisa's collection. We had finished our banter and the record began playing beautifully. The studio phone rang, which I answered, to happily discover Kelly and Sue were waiting downstairs to be granted entrance. As Lisa exited to let them inside, I realized that I was not hearing the music as clearly as I thought that I should have been hearing it on the studio speakers. That when I realized that I had made mistake #2! I was talking on the phone and my studio microphone was still on!!! Hoping that my voice was not going over the airwaves while XTC was playing, I quickly clicked the correct button and the studio speakers produced the sound as I thought they should have done.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I also mentally kicked myself. I felt terrible that I had made such a "rookie mistake" as leaving my mic on. If I had screwed up one of my own song selections, I guess I could have moved onwards from that but this XTC song was Lisa's and I didn't want to screw up anything that she wished to have of herself on the air. I was indeed off my game alright and once Kelly ad Sue entered the studio, I have to admit my emotions were playing pinball. I was thrilled to see my friends, but was beginning to feel like I was losing some sort of confidence on-air. But the show indeed had to go on...

Over the next several hours, our co-joined radio shows continued and for every time things seemed to settle down (at least, within my own mind), something would trip me up once again. Technical difficulty #1 occurred when the homemade CD featuring The Pretenders' "Light Of The Moon" stopped playing abruptly, forcing me to jump on the air quickly and play the next song, which I had thankfully already cued. Technical difficulty #2 occurred with the final song of my show, Green Day's letter perfect cover of The Who's "A Quick One While He's Away," which incidentally was placed onto the same homemade mix CD as The Pretenders' song, and just as before, it stopped playing abruptly while on air, again forcing me to not only jump back onto the mic but also forced Kelly and Sue to begin sooner than they had planned.

Kelly and Sue's program flowed much more smoothly than my own thankfully as I didn't want to screw them up in any conceivable way. Even so, mistake #3 happened when I cued the wrong song on the turntable...but we seemed to purposefully play it off comically while the song choice was corrected. But, then, I felt terrible that technical difficulty #3 occurred with their final song of their show, The Swanky Modes' "Ordinary Man" as featured in Director Bill Fishman's music video industry satire "Tapeheads" (1988) starring John Cusack and Tim Robbins. In fact, this song was their official final song each week from their college radio show so it had a very special significance to be aired. So, when their own homemade CD not only did not load or cue but found itself stuck within the player, forcing them to quickly improvise and play Wall Of Voodoo's "Mexican Radio" instead...well...

After we cleared out of the studios, we headed won State Street on this sweltering Sunday afternoon for a most delicious celebratory lunch at Ian's Pizza (an event which in itself had more obstacles due to a misplaced wallet on my part--could anything go well today?).

By the time I returned home, I was not exactly floating upon the same highs that I had received from the first two Resurrection/Reunion weekends. I was more reflective and definitely more disappointed. Certainly, I had a blast of a time but somehow, I was unable to reconcile the shows and performance that I had envisioned with the actual reality of what occurred and furthermore, what did any of it possibly sound like to the listener? Was it all just a big mess or did it sound OK? Was it fun for everyone or just a self-indulgent private party that happened to be broadcast over radio airwaves? I was tired and I couldn't think straight. I had so much to do to get ready for Monday morning anyway and before 9 p.m., I had fallen asleep on the love seat in my home, with my beloved cat Jada at my side as always.

Dear readers and listeners, I do not tend to think of myself as a perfectionist. At least, I do not require or demand perfection from anyone else. But, over my life, I have realized that I do not tend to give myself much wiggle room with myself. I demand a lot of myself, and perhaps because of that, I do not forgive myself or let things go terribly well. It is very easy for me to linger over mistakes rather than see the entire picture for what it is or was and because of that, I am harder upon myself than I need to be, depending on the situation in question.

In college, if I were to flub on my own radio show, I could reconcile the mistakes by telling myself, "Well, there's always next week." With this weekend's event, you only have that one shot because there are no guarantees that the good people of WSUM will host this same event in a year's time. So, is this how I was to go out if this event were to be the last one? The thought made me sad as I just kept knocking myself and internally cursing that horoscope from the beginning of the day. I wished that I hadn't read it for maybe reading it, influenced my thinking, making the day a self-fulfilling prophecy. Or was I just over-thinking everything, as I also tend to do?      

By Monday morning, my head was clearer.

While I continued to ruminate over the day before, it dawned upon me that I was in fact being ridiculous and overly unforgiving of myself, especially considering the fact that I not only had the chance to re-live and continue to build great radio memories and with dear, cherished friends in the process, the fact that mistakes were made and technical difficulties occurred, they all happened in the very place that they are designed to happen: college radio!

21st century radio is truly not a very welcoming or warm place as it has grown to be increasingly robotic. With a small amount of corporations owning most of the stations within the country, playlists being overly pre-programmed and certainly having considerably less DJs radio stations have therefore become identical, inter-changeable and overtly plastic. Radio is rapidly becoming a medium where the human touch, the very element that has bound every listener to its magical, majestic world is being gradually snuffed out. Because of that, the veritable realness and overall humanity that exists within college (plus community and definitely satellite) radio becomes that much more important and needed to bind us together. And part of what helps to bind us together, in addition to the radio personalities and the music are indeed the mistakes!!!

I distinctly remember a time during my college years, when I was the Music Director/Station Manager of WLHA when I was in my Tripp Hall dorm room listening to a first time DJ performing one of her first shows. For a few moments, it was a disaster. A truly hilarious disaster. One where the poor girl began playing New Order's "Fine Time" on the wrong speed and in going to correct the mistake, she accidentally bumped the needle on the adjoining turntable, thus beginning to play Tone Loc's sowed down funk of "Loc'ed After Dark" at the exact same time!! The girl jumped on the air, with both turntables still playing, and she sounded mortified, horrified and ready to burst into tears by the cracks in her voice. Bus she soon regained herself, laughed it off and settled into a fine groove for the rest of her show. In the interim, I remember that I called her, told her who I was, that I was listening, that everything would be OK and that she was doing very well. DO NOT WORRY. It happens. The radio station is still on the air. You'll have a show next week. DON'T PANIC. All is well.

If only I could take my own advice sometimes.

Out of those five hours, the mistakes that were made were indeed very few and none of them pulled the plug on us, the weekend event or the station itself. In fact, the day went better than I gave it credit for being. We received a few very nice phone calls, one of which was from former WLHA DJ Ginger Alberts Goral, who performed her own show for the third time this weekend to great effect, and her kind words and encouraging nature was truly a bucket filler in a moment when I really needed to hear it.

Since the weekend, I have received some nice messages on Facebook and from some people in the real world as well. Even one of my wonderful co-teachers, a person who I figured would not tune in at all due to busy nature of her life, did indeed listen for a little bit and I was happy to know that she thought to do so. And in all of those good vibes, those continuous bucket fillers, my overall mood mood improved greatly, making me more appreciative of my extremely good fortune with being able to take part in a weekend like this at all. Let's see how I feel when I have the chance to listen back to things later but even so...this was indeed the college radio experience, part professionalism, part circus, all blissfully and beautifully human.

 

I made spectacular mistakes during my days at WLHA. Hell, I nearly missed my very first show ever because I honestly didn't know that we were officially on the air yet. But I never crumbled. I dusted it all off and moved on. At the same time, I understand the fear that can overtake when mistakes do happen because you don't want to sound stupid and of course, there are those visions of imaginary furious listeners ready to storm the station and physically take you off the air. Of course, something that would never happen no matter how badly you screwed up. And besides, once you do have the mistakes, there is always the recovery and when you hear it, I really believe a greater connection is made between the listener and the DJ because the listener have just been part of the LIVE RADIO experience--something real and something you just cannot receive in today's commercial radio universe.

College radio does not need to sound overly slick and professional. That is demonstrably NOT what college radio is for. We want to hear those voices that don't sound like the standard radio voices playing music we would otherwise not normally hear. With regards to these Resurrection/Reunion weekends, it is also a joy to hear longtime radio professional let their collective hair down and just be goofy, silly, subversive and even more untamed than they would normally be in their "day jobs." The unpredictable nature of every show and everything that happens within those shows is what makes college radio, and WSUM in particular, the very best radio that I will ever hope to listen to and even more wonderfully, to have a continuing history with.

For all of the words that I spill on these digital pages, I do not believe that I could ever find the correct words or the right amount of words to fully convey the feelings I have when I step back into the WSUM studios. As I have expressed in the past, WSUM in the flesh is like stepping completely into the radio station that existed inside of my head as I sat four years spinning records in that musty smelling, damp basement room of the J.F. Friedrick Center, the place which held the WLHA studios during my college years.

Walking into these reunion weekends feels like walking into the past, present and the future simultaneously and believe me, it is not lost on me for even one solitary moment of how fortunate I am to be able to take part in an event like this, an event that truly does not need to happen and that WSUM would well be within their rights to not wish to participate in whatsoever. The symbiotic nature of all of these generations of DJs coming together in this place that has bonded us together is indeed a beautiful thing and no matter how many words I do write in gratitude towards all of whom that organized, scheduled and allowed this event to occur, they would never be enough.

Even moreso are the cherished friends I have made and with whom I still share an equally cherished history. If the powers-that-be of WSUM grant us a 4th edition of this weekend in 2016, all I can hope for is that these people pictured above will re-join me in music and hilarity, mistakes, flubs, technical difficulties and all.

There's no place I'd rather be!!

THE 3RD ANNUAL WLHA RESURRECTION/REUNION WEEKEND: THE PLAYLIST JULY 12, 2015

THE 3RD ANNUAL WLHA RESURRECTION/REUNION WEEKEND
BROADCAST ON WSUM-FM, MADISON, WI

DJs SAVAGE SCOTT with THE GRUE

1. "Reasons To Be Cheerful Part 3" performed by Ian Dury and the Blockheads

2. "New Killer Star" performed by David Bowie

3. "Kisses Start Wars" performed by Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

4. "Birth, School, Work, Death" performed by The Godfathers

5. "The Messenger" performed by Johnny Marr

6. "I'll Be You" performed by The Replacements

7. "CLOUDS" performed by Prince

8. "We Almost Lost Detroit" performed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. 

9. "Don't Give Up" performed by Washed Out

10. "What She Said" performed by TV Eyes

11. "Grass" performed by XTC

12. "Surf's Up" performed by The Beach Boys

13. "War Baby (Son Of Zorro)" performed by Hall & Oates

14. "Cosmic Slop" performed by Funkadelic

15. "Undefined" performed by Modern Mod

16. "Light Of The Moon" performed by The Pretenders (technical difficulties!)

17. "Monuments" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins

18. "Coming Soon" performed by Queen

19. "You Don't Need Excuses To Be Good" performed by Sloan

20. "Sweet Gitchey Rose" performed by Lenny Kravitz

21. "Big Electric Cat" performed by Adrian Belew

22. "Running On Fumes" performed by Post Social

23. "Espresso (All Jacked Up)" performed by Todd Rundgren

24. "Show Me" performed by Garbage

25. "Come Go With Me" performed by The Del Vikings

26. "A Quick One While He's Away" performed by Green Day (technical difficulties!!!!)

WSPC SESSION NOTES FOR JULY 2015: WORDS FOR CHRIS SQUIRE

FROM THE DJ's STUDIO DESK:

And it is time to say goodbye to another...and this one truly hurts.

On the early Sunday morning of June 28th, I woke, staggered around my home for a spell, turned on the computer and began to scroll through the Facebook feed when I was mournfully greeted with a message posted from the official Yes page.

"It’s with the heaviest of hearts and unbearable sadness that we must inform you of the passing of our dear friend and Yes co-founder, Chris Squire. Chris peacefully passed away last night in Phoenix Arizona. We will have more information for you soon."

So sadly, dear readers and listeners, Chris Squire, co-founder of the seminal art/progressive rock band Yes, passed away due to complications from a rare form of leukemia. He was only 67 years old. And believe me, my heart shed a few tears after reading that news. 

From a lifetime of listening to music and attaining one musical hero after another, it would not be hyperbole to say to all of you that Chris Squire was unquestionably one of the GIANTS. While not as visible or nearly as publicly flamboyant as his musical contemporaries, Squire's talents, abilities and overall musicality was titanic in its execution and massive in its continuous influence. Through the formation of Yes, the band he co-founded alongside vocalist Jon Anderson in 1968, Squire amassed a body of work that remains completely original and idiosyncratic yet blissfully warm and wholly inclusive. It was music that existed entirely within its own universe but welcomed all who wished to travel into it.

I accepted Yes' gracious invitation sometime in late 1983 or early 1984. I was 14/15 years old, a Freshman in high school, and already a deeply devoted fan of Rush and Genesis, among a host of other English musical groups now delegated into the realms of what is now known as "classic rock." With the rise of music videos, I had certainly heard, and therefore seen, Yes' outstanding, innovative yet nightmarishly surreal "Owner Of A Lonely Heart," already the talk around the high school hallways amongst my more musically inclined friends and associates. Yet, it was through a syndicated 2 hour Sunday night radio program broadcasted upon Chicago's WLUP-FM ("The Loop"), where I fell for Yes and believe me, I fell hard.

The radio show, essentially a promotional push for Yes' then recently released comeback album "90125" (released November 7, 1983), delved completely into the full history of the band through interviews, deep album selections and live selections. Hearing songs like the multi-faceted "Yours Is No Disgrace" and the interstellar masterpiece "Starship Trooper" (both of which run nearly 10 minutes in length), plus the melodic nirvana of "Going For The One," the symphonic rock and roll of "Parallels," the ecological funk of "Don't Kill The Whale," and the furiously frisky fusion of "Tempus Fugit" alongside the very familiar FM radio staples like "Roundabout" and "I've Seen All Good People" and the (then) new material for the very first time, captivated me instantly and directed me straight to the record store as well as the high school library in which I was employed.

Over the following four years of high school, I immersed myself within the majestic musical world of Yes, being captivated and educated with each and every album, awed by the seemingly endless innovation in the compositions, lyrics and of course, the performances. The ethereal voice and lyricism of Jon Anderson combined with the elegant fury of Steve Howe's guitar heroics, the oceanic keyboards from either Tony Kaye, Patrick Moraz, Geoff Downes and, of course the virtuosic Rick Wakeman and the complex poly-rhythms of drummer Bill Bruford and then Alan White, certainly made for what Moraz once referred to as a "musical university." And I was a most eager student from album to album to album.

Yet, through all of the band's personnel changes over the years, there remained only one constant: Bassist Chris Squire, the sole member of Yes to have endured throughout the band's entire existence. Now, it all seems to be so fitting that the bassist, the anchor of Yes' musical universe was the constant, who over time became the "Keeper Of The Flame."  All of the music and musicians of Yes flowed through his stratosphere and in turn, he through them, so brilliantly and so beautifully. All one has to do to understand that statement is to just listen to the music itself.

Never a mere time-keeper, Chris Squire was a bassist of extraordinary flexibility, versatility, ingenuity, and fluidity. The fact that he was a self-taught musician only further increases my sense of awe towards his musicality based upon how elaborate and influential his bass playing was and will forever remain. As Bill Bruford eulogized: 

"He had an approach that contrasted sharply with the somewhat monotonic, immobile bass parts of today. His lines were important; counter-melodic structural components that you were as likely to go away humming as the top line melody; little stand-alone works of art in themselves. Whenever I think of him, which is not infrequently, I think of the over-driven fuzz of the sinewy staccato hits in Close to the Edge (6’04” and on) or a couple of minutes later where he sounds like a tuba (8’.00”). While he may have taken a while to arrive at the finished article, it was always worth waiting for. And then he would sing a different part on top."

Dear readers and listeners, if you are able to direct your ears, just listen to "Roundabout" from the band's fourth album "Fragile" (released January 4, 1972) again for starters. I wish for you to hear the how the bottom end of the song percolates and bounces and even surrounds the beats and rhythms. In fact, to my ears, Squire's bass almost sounds like Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" era Clavinet keyboards due to the level of funk he injects into the classicism of the song overall. 

On the very same album with "Long Distance Runaround," plus the more elongated tracks like "South Side Of The Sky" and the tremendous "Heart Of The Sunrise," Squire's bass playing, in addition to his composition skills and backing vocals, circle around all of the songs' elements with the expertise of a jazz musician. But, the deepest innovation lies on the selection "The Fish (Schindleria Praematurus)." Titled after his own nickname, this mostly instrumental track is one of the five songs on the album on which each band member showcased their own specialized skills--essentially making solo tracks on a band album. With Chris Squire's offering, we are treated with layers of bass. Some rhythmic, some high and melodic, some that provide the main riff and others that almost sound like a motorboat engine revving up. It is a track that magically conjures up a vision of what it just may have been like to live inside of Chris Squire's musical brain--the eternal fish swimming dreamily in a sea of sound. Even over 40 years after its release to the world, it still remains a wonderment to the ears.

 

In addition to "Fragile," Yes' "The Yes Album" (released February 1971) and "Close To The Edge" (released September 13, 1972) are not only three of the band's finest albums, I really believe them to be three of the finest albums released during the 1970's period! And from those high watermarks, Yes only continued to delve further.

 

Where "Tales From Topographic Oceans" (released January 9, 1974), the spiritual double album of just four side long epics, to this day remains just this far out of my reach...

...the terrific "Going For The One" (released July 7, 1977) finds the sweet spot that exists between the cosmic and the swagger. 

For my money, the more aggressive albums "Relayer" (released December 5, 1974) and "Drama" (released August 18, 1980) remain two of the band's most under-rated releases and they each happen to contain some of Chris Squire's most dynamic, elastic and thunderous playing most notably heard on the jaw dropping, multi-section 22 minute anti-war treatise "The Gates Of Delirium," and the booming bottom heavy "Does It Really Happen?"

And if you are still not convinced enough of my words describing Chris Squire's peerless and indispensable contributions to the world of Yes and to bass playing itself, I urge you to listen to Squire's debut solo album "Fish Out Of Water" (released December 30, 1975), on which he is the sole composer and vocalist in addition to bassist, and on some tracks, guitarist and even drummer!

I have always been fascinated with how much music actually exists within a band as you look from member to member and the musical influences that have shaped each and every one of them. From this one album, I can guarantee that you will hear precisely not only what Chris Squire brought to Yes but the fact that Yes could not ever have existed without him. I certainly do not wish to diminish the talents of all of the band members who composed, played and sang right along with him. I am just saying that without Chris Squire, Yes would have been a completely different band altogether and perhaps, Squire existing as the only constant member of the band was deemed to be.

Throughout those high school years, Yes became a musical fixture and I loved being able to connect the musical threads between them and their contemporaries. With my more musically inclined and musician friends, we loved talking about and debating the merits of these world class musicians, just like sports fans traded baseball cards and compared athletes' statistics. Chris Squire was always revered.

By the time I entered college in 1987, I developed an instantaneous and life long bond with, my very first roommate completely over our shared love of Yes, and of Chris Squire in particular. In fact, when we first purchased tickets to see the ban don their "Big Generator" tour, we were ecstatic to discover that we had been seated on Chris Squire's side of the stage, a perfect vantage point to see the Master at work. (Incidentally, that tour was aborted, meaning that I never saw the band perform live, although my former roommate has seen them several times over the years). 

Furthermore, my former roommate's allegiance to Chris Squire was so entrenched that he never ceased to express his vehement distaste over the "Big Generator" album (released September 17, 1987), as he felt that the mixing of the music was decidedly poor as Squire's Herculean bass playing was too low within the mix. While I do love that album, I also do tend to agree and do hope that a remastered/remixed version sees the light of day in the future. Regardless, when  read the news of Chris Squire's passing, I reached out to my former roommate to check in and he did in turn. "I guess Yes is officially done," he wrote to me. It seems like it just may be.

It really strikes me that out of all musicians who famously contributed to the musical legacy of Yes, Chris Squire was the first to depart. Additionally, his passing arrived at the end of a week's worth of birthdays belonging to his musical peers, including Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Ray Davies, Todd Rundgren and Mick Fleetwood, all of whom circled Squire in age and all of whom created music for the ages. Because of this, Chis Squire's passing still feels as bit of a surprise to me. I was aware that he had been ill but not to what extent. Now that he is gone, I sincerely hope that his contributions to Yes, and to music itself, do not go forgotten or just endlessly lost in time. While I ceased to follow the band after the album "Talk" (released March 21, 1994), it just made me happy to know that they still existed, creating their specialized brand of musical nirvana that existed outside of any other musical genre than the one they created for themselves. 

And that is the glory of Yes, the beauty of which lies directly in the band's name. They created music of such affirmation, of such positivity and of such immense and continuous possibility. It was expansive and exploratory because of no other reason than...YES! And even without Chris Squire here in the material world, I wish that somehow that Yes can continue onwards in some capacity for no other reason than...YES!

"Chris was a very special part of my life; we were musical brothers. He was an amazingly unique bass player - very poetic - and had a wonderful knowledge of harmony. We met at a certain time when music was very open, and I feel blessed to have created some wonderful, adventurous, music with him. Chris had such a great sense of humor... he always said he was Darth Vader to my Obi-Wan. I always thought of him as Christopher Robin to my Winnie the Pooh.

We traveled a road less traveled and I'm so thankful that he climbed the musical mountains with me. Throughout everything, he was still my brother, and I'm so glad we were able to reconnect recently. I saw him in my meditation last night, and he was radiant. My heart goes out to his family and loved ones. Love and light.....Jon"

Jon Anderson wrote those words in eulogy to his musical brother and I hope that my words have served as an echo of his as well as anyone whose life was so richly enhance as mine was by the musical vision and wonderment of Chris Squire.

For fans of Squire and Yes, I know that we are always listening. But for those who haven't attempted the journey, I gently urge you to do so...for no other reason than...YES!

R.I.P.

 CHRIS SQUIRE

March 4, 1948-June 28, 2015