NEWSLETTER '07 #17!

SAL GOES TO NEW ORLEANS TO SEE JAZZFEST AND SINGLEHANDEDLY FINISH REBUILDING CITY: "WITH ALL DUE RESPECT, THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL THEY WERE DOING"

TONY LEFT IN NYC TO EAT DUMPLINGS, WRITE NEWSLETTER

R.I.P. DAVID HALBERSTAM, BOBBY "BORIS" PICKETT, BORIS "BOBBY" YELTSIN

NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES!

AND OH SO MUCH MORE, IF WE CAN THINK OF ANYTHING!

and now... NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES!

DAVE ALVIN - LIVE FROM AUSTIN, TX (CD & DVD). The red-hot rockabilly cat as featured on Austin City Limits. Dunno when this one was recorded, but you can bet it's going to be a damn good show, because he's probably never done a bad one. Available on CD or DVD.

TORI AMOS - AMERICAN DOLL POSSE. I'm gonna take a wild guess and surmise that her ninth studio album sounds more or less like the other eight. Available as a plain old CD or as a special edition with a DVD including unseen footage plus a 36 page booklet and -- are you ready? -- FIVE POSTCARDS! "Dear Zelda, listening to Tori's latest album. Wish you were here. Fondly, Millard."

JOAN ARMATRADING - INTO THE BLUES. Her first album in five years finds her getting into blues grooves and riffs on original material. Good singer, good songwriter and a good guitarist, too.

BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB - BABY 81. Sal has liked these British rockers who sound vaguely like the Jesus & Mary Chain, but less mopey, since the beginning. Tony always says to Sal "This is good -- who is it again?" when he plays them. So you know they're pretty good.

CORBIN BLEU - ANOTHER SIDE (CD/DVD). If you're 14 or under, you probablty know Corbin Bleu from High School Musical, which was, we think, the biggest selling album of all time that we never heard a note of. If you're over 14, you may not care so much. But anyway, here's his album, with a bonus DVD including four music videos.

MICHAEL BUBLE - CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE. What's the difference between Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra? Well, there's the obvious: Buble is young and good looking, and Frank is, to put it charitably, no longer living. But that doesn't mean you need to listen to this guy attempt to tackle standards whose definitive versions have already been waxed by Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Mel Torme, etc. You've got a nice voice, so find something new and run with it, kid. This soil has already been tilled, you dig? Also available as a limited edition with a bigger booklet and a bonus track, if you feel you must.

ELVIS COSTELLO - REISSUES. For only the fourth time in 20 years, you can once again buy all the Elvis Costello albums from My Aim Is True through 1986's Blood & Chocolate in the newfangled "compact disc" format. What's the catch, you might ask? Well, this time they're in cool Japanese-style mini-LP sleeves, and they don't have all those pesky bonus tracks that we Costello fans and collectors hated so much. That's right, no more B-sides, outtakes and alternates! Phew! There are also two new compilations. The First Ten Years is a 22 track comp spanning 1977-86, and since he's only had three (or is it four?) other comps with these tracks on them, it's good to have. There's also Rock And Roll Music, featuring 22 of his best rockers, including some obscurities and two previously unreleased alternates. If you don't own any Costello, it's a pretty good place to start. But if you don't own any Costello, why are you reading this newsletter?

DINOSAUR JR - BEYOND. J Mascis and Lou Barlow (a founding member of the band who's better known for his stint leading Sebadoh) reunite for the first time since 1989 on a damn good record that sounds like vintage Dinosaur, but with better production. If you ever liked this band, it's absolutely worthwhile.

FEIST - REMINDER. You've read about her in the New York Times Arts & Leisure section, now get the record! Mellowish singer-songwriter stuff with an indie edge. I've heard her previous records, but I can't remember a thing about them. For all I know, however, they may have been great.

ROBBIE FULKS - REVENGE. Two CD, 23 track live record which is half rockin' with a full band and half solo acoustic. This guy is a great songwriter, so it should be a pleasure to hear him either way.

GOV'T MULE - LIVE AT ROSELAND BALLROOM. Out of print for a decade, this legendary 1995 show was recorded at the Beacon Theater, so you know it's good. A very fine venue, that Beacon Theater. And the CD is once again available. Can you tell that I have nothing to say about this band? I mean, you probably knew long before this newsletter whether you liked them or not. I hope so, anyway.

CHANTAL KREVIAZUK - GHOST STORIES. Nothing to say about this one, either. I just like typing "Chantal Kreviazuk." It's even more fun to say aloud.

RUSH - SNAKES & ARROWS. Rush is one of those bands where you say "Damn, I hate Rush -- except for 'Tom Sawyer' and 'Limelight' and 'New World Man' and 'Subdivisions' and... OK, I guess I don't hate Rush." Which doesn't mean you're necessarily going to care about what they have to say in 2007, but they deserve a little respect nonetheless.

HOLLY COLE - HOLLY COLE. We raved about this one a couple of weeks ago when it was supposed to be released, and now you can actually order it! Available only as an import right now, so it'll cost a little more, but it's worth it.

GET YOUR JAZZ REMASTERS RIGHT HERE!

Classic albums from the vaults of Prestige Records, newly remastered by the great Rudy Van Gelder, include TADD DAMERON's MATING CALL (featuring John Coltrane), BOOKER ERVIN's FREEDOM BOOK, ROLAND KIRK's KIRK'S WORK, and THELONIOUS MONK's THELONIOUS MONK TRIO. All include new liner notes, too!

And if you're looking for some new jazz, the FRED HERSCH TRIO's first studio album in over a decade, NIGHT AND THE MUSIC, is available, too.

THE "WOW, RECORD COMPANIES STILL DO THAT KIND OF THING?" PICK OF THE WEEK!

SOUNDTRACK - SPIDER-MAN 3. Remember back in the '90s, when every summer there would be a ton of soundtracks from big-budget action films featuring new songs by a bunch of high-profile bands, sporting a ridiculously high list price? Well, go back to the future with this $18.98 turkey featuring new songs from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Flaming Lips, the Killers, Jet, Snow Patrol and more! Apparently nobody told the good folks at Reprise Records that people stopped spending $19 for CDs around 2001. And that they download the two songs they want from soundtracks like this, rather than buying the whole thing. But God bless 'em for trying, even if this is the kind of thing that made us close our brick-and-mortar store (I think we still have a few copies of the Mystery Men soundtrack, if anyone wants them). Pre-order it and we'll be able to hook you up with it for even less than $18.98!

ORDER THEM ALL! GET INTO THE CD BUYING SPIRIT! EMAIL OR CALL (212) 244-3460!

and don't forget... WE WANT TO BUY YOUR CDs AND DVDs! REALLY, WE DO! CALL OR EMAIL!

IN CLOSING, WE LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

Yes, the Yankees suck, but at least you can't blame A-Rod.

Your friend,
Al "The Mad Hungarian" Hrabosky

NEWSLETTER '07 #16!

MUSIC BUSINESS THRIVING!

GEORGE W. BUSH GREATEST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES!

PAULY SHORE GETS ANOTHER TV SERIES!

SAL AND TONY DELUSIONAL!

R.I.P. KITTY CARLISLE HART, DON HO

NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES, AS WELL AS BUMPS AND DELAYS

and now... THE NEWSLETTER!

BULLETIN

Many of you ordered both the new Holly Cole and the US edition of David Bowie's Young Americans CD/DVD. They have been bumped to 5/1 and 6/5, respectively. Thank you for your patience! Please reorder when you see them in the appropriate newsletters a few weeks from now.

NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES!

ARCTIC MONKEYS - FAVORITE WORST NIGHTMARE. It took a couple of listens for us to get into their debut because the hype surrounding it made us expect the next Sgt. Pepper, when it was really the next Goodnight Vienna. That said, we are looking forward to their followup, and their inevitable stadium tour.

THE BAND - THE BEST OF: A MUSICAL HISTORY (CD/DVD). As we say here in the NYCD office, "too much Band is not enough." If you missed out on the multi-disc box set, A Musical History, or if you just felt that it may have been too much for you (even though, as we just said, too much Band is not enough), here is a single CD from the box set, containing all the hits, some strong album tracks, and a couple of tracks that were unavailable apart from the box set. A version is also available which includes a DVD that features a half dozen of the videos that appeared on the box's bonus DVD.

FRANK BLACK - CHRISTMASS. Big Cholly Thompson, as we like to call him here when we're not saying how too much Band is not enough, got busy on his 2006 tour by not only playing live to partially packed houses but laying down some tracks in his hotel, too. This release comprises some live acoustic recordings and those hotel room tracks.

SAMMY DAVIS, JR. - SINGS JUST FOR LOVERS & STARRING SAMMY DAVIS, JR. His first two albums, from 1955, and they're proof that long before he was wearing Nehru jackets and calling everyone "Babe," he was an amazing singer of standards. First time on CD!

DETROIT COBRAS - TIED AND TRUE. There aren't many things that we all agree on here at the NYCD offices. One is that too much Band is not enough. The other is that the Detroit Cobras are about as hip and rockin' as Rose Kennedy on poppers. This new record does not break any new ground... THANK GOD! They do what they do best, which is take old R&B tunes, some of which you know and some of which you don't, and just have a party with them.

You know, another band who does this is THE COOL JERKS, and they just happen to be playing tonight! DON HILL'S, 511 GREENWICH ST. (off the corner of Spring), at 8 PM! Sal will be there, as well as all the other Jerks (we mean the band members). Tony & Rob will be there too, doing the Frug, the Monkey, and possibly even the Shing-A-Ling.

TIM FINN - IMAGINARY KINGDOM. The quirky Finn brother releases his strongest record to date. This is the perfect combination of the infectious pop that brother Neil created with Crowded House, mixed with the slightly more daring arrangements that Tim was noted for with Split Enz. This is a winner.

GOLDEN SMOG - BLOOD ON THE SLACKS. Sort-of-supergroup releases a followup EP to their super-commercial "Another Fine Day." Features six originals, an annoying cover of David Bowie's "Starman," and a Dinosaur Jr classic.

COLIN HAY - ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME? The Man is still Working. What could it be now? Straight from the land Down Under, Mr. Hay actually releases a fine new record of guitar-driven pop and some pretty ballads. So Be Good, Johnny -- put down that vegemite sandwich and order this! (Sorry, were the Men At Work jokes Overkill?)

MARIA McKEE - LATE DECEMBER. All of McKee's solo records have been worth a listen. We're hoping that this comes close to the brilliant "Life Is Sweet." We haven't heard it yet, so we can't say how much we hate it.

JOHN PRINE & MAC WISEMAN - STANDARD SONGS FOR AVERAGE PEOPLE. Just a fantastic record. Two weathered but warm voices running through a repertoire of such classics as "I Love You Because," "Pistol Packin' Mama," and "Old Cape Cod."

PICK OF THE WEEK!

LOU REED - HUDSON RIVER WIND MEDITATIONS. The 91-year-old Reed, who from what we hear has one of the nicest lawns in New York state, is also a longtime practitioner of yoga and tai chi. Here he takes a break from such commercial releases as "The Raven" to release a record of soothing harmonics so that the listener can settle his or her mind and open his or her heart. You too, after listening to this wonderful release, will also be able to look like a 91-year-old woman named Yetta. Thanks, Lou! Aaaaahhhhhh....

REAL PICK OF THE WEEK!

MARK RONSON - VERSION (UK IMPORT). Hot British producer who's turned both Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse into household names, depending on where your house is, releases his second solo album, and man, is it good. With the help of the aforementioned ladies as well as Robbie Williams and Daniel Merriweather, Ronson takes the current hit parade (tracks by Coldplay, Ryan Adams, the Kaiser Chiefs and Radiohead, to name a few) and turns them into a retro dance party. If that's hard to understand, you have to trust us that it's shaping up to be one of our Top Ten of the year. As of now, there is no US release, so if you do order the import, give us a week or two to get a hold of it.

SIMPLY RED - STAY. The Tina Yothers of British pop singers keeps churnin' 'em out, and that's OK, because Mick Hucknall's got a great voice, and he covers the Faces' "Debris" on this new 11 track release.

PATTI SMITH - TWELVE. Have you ever wondered what Patti Smith singing Tears For Fears would sound like? Well, wonder no more, because it's here, along with covers of The Beatles, Neil Young, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, and more. Not bad, Patti. All that's missing is "Old Cape Cod."

ANOTHER PICK OF THE WEEK!

MAVIS STAPLES - WE'LL NEVER TURN BACK. Produced by the legendary Ry Cooder, Miss Staples returns to what she does best -- the emotional soul and gospel that made the Staple Singers so damn good. Staples' voice is is better than ever and Cooder's production is clearly a labor of love, right down to the Pops-like tremolo on his guitar. This is one emotional powerhouse of a record.

VARIOUS ARTISTS - A TRIBUTE TO JONI MITCHELL. Great songwriter plus great musicians equals great tribute record. Artists involved include Prince, James Taylor, k.d. lang, Brad Mehldau, Sarah McLachlan, Bjork, Elvis Costello, Caetano Veloso, and Henry Kissinger doing "The Last Time I Saw Richard."

W.A.S.P. - DOMINATOR. Heavy metal legends return with an album we have absolutely no feeling about whatsoever -- we just wanted to ask this question: Who was lead singer Blackie Lawless' uncle? The answer -- Yankees pitcher Ryne Duren! Thank you very much.

LEONARD COHEN - REISSUES. Canadian poet and life of the party Leonard Cohen gets three of his legendary releases remastered with previously unreleased bonus tracks -- SONGS FROM A ROOM, SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN, and SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE.

JOSHUA REDMAN TRIO - BACK EAST. Featuring both original Redman compositions and some cover versions, Redman uses a handful of different rhythm sections to create what people are calling the strongest record of his career. We don't know who these people are, but we believe them, because this record is on Nonesuch. And as we always say here in the NYCD office, "Too much Band is never enough, and anything on Nonesuch sounds great once you sandblast it out of those stupid slipcases."

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE - REMASTERS. The bane of our existence has now been broken up into seven individual CDs for your listening pleasure. A WHOLE NEW THING, DANCE TO THE MUSIC, LIFE, STAND!, THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON, FRESH, and SMALL TALK. The obvious choices would be Stand, Riot and Fresh, and the one to avoid would be Small Talk. But truth be told, after giving all seven fresh listens, there's not a hack in the bunch. Even the least favorable Small Talk is much better than we ever remembered, and this particular reissue campaign has one more very amazing thing going for it -- the bonus tracks are not throwaways! So what are you waiting for? You need these!

ORDER THEM NOW! LINE FORMS TO THE RIGHT! CALL (212) 244-3460 OR EMAIL!

WE HATE AMERICAN IDOL AND ALL THAT IT STANDS FOR!

SELL US YOUR OLD CDs! SERIOUSLY! CALL OR EMAIL!

UNTIL NEXT WEEK, WE LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

In the words of the great Penny Marshall, "Every day will hopefully be your last."

Your friends,
Kurt Ellling & Max Schmeling

UPON MY DEAD BEAR COUCH
A Poem by Sal
(Hey, we figure with business the way it is, we should start looking for side jobs. If you know any literary journals that pay by the word, please let Sal know. He can make this longer.)

T'was I who sat with folded leg
Upon my dead bear couch
A'listening to Hugo Largo
Not "Funny Face" by Donna Fargo
My left ear quivered for strange some thing
On times of other it might well ring
I'dst not know why this comes to me
Upon my dead bear couch
If nothing else to say the least
I've soaked myself in Dos Equis

SUCK 'EM UP: AN APPRECIATION OF DON HO

Don Ho, who died on Saturday, is responsible for the first fight of my marriage. We were honeymooning in Hawaii near the Waikiki Beachcomber, where Don had performed for decades, and on the third night of our new life together, I took my bride to see his show. Ho was days away from being hospitalized with heart trouble, and he looked and sounded every bit of his 75 years. He mumbled and slurred his way through the songs; his between-song patter was barely coherent. Even the mai tais were watered down. The show went on forever, as other musicians and local kids took overly long guest spots. It started to feel like an amateur talent show.

But I wouldn't let my wife leave, because after the show -- for a fee, of course -- we could exchange pleasantries and get our picture taken with Don Friggin' Ho.

The only thing I remember about our brief and expensive meeting is that he said to my wife, "You look like my daughter." Having seen photos, we both disagree. I still treasure the photo, though. Christine eventually forgave me for holding her hostage, even though she didn't believe me when I tried to explain myself: "You don't understand! He wasn't just a great entertainer. He was a pioneer, a groundbreaker!"

"'Tiny Bubbles' is NOT groundbreaking," she snapped back.

I wasn't lying. Though he sounded more like Dean Martin than anyone else, his music was undeniably Hawaiian. Born and bred on the islands, he championed the work of fellow Hawaiians like Kui Lee, whose "I'll Remember You" became one of Ho's biggest hits. Most of his music had at least a sprinkling of his native tongue. And the subject matter of his music — paeans to Waikiki or Kauai, "beach boy" surfer anthems of love, or exclamations of local slang like "Geev'um" — was more often than not Hawaiian, even if a lot of it sounded like commercials for the tourism board.

But Don Ho was more than just the musical ambassador of Hawaii. At a time when the most recognizable Asian-American pop musician is American Idol laughingstock William Hung, don't forget that Don Ho crossed over to mainstream success without having to deny his cultural background or make a joke of himself. It was his smooth baritone that gave him half a dozen hit albums, not a funny accent. And it was his good looks, not a geeky caricature, that kept him on TV and in movies throughout the '60s and '70s (Remember his mid '70s variety show, anyone?). And if much of his legend rests on one song — the immortal "Tiny Bubbles" — well, that's one more hit than almost any other Asian-American act has had in the four decades since it first hit the charts.

I'm not going to try to convince you that "Tiny Bubbles" or "Suck 'Em Up" or "One Paddle Two Paddle" are the Hawaiian Sgt. Pepper , because they're not. But they did help Don Ho not only become synonymous with his native land, they helped him become a star whose name is still known close to four decades after he last hit the pop charts. Nowadays, when it seems that musical stardom for Asian-Americans is more elusive than ever, his feat seems all the more remarkable.

And if that doesn't want to make you lift a mai tai in the great man's honor, I don't know what will.

NEWSLETTER '07 #15!

KURT VONNEGUT, DON IMUS, SAL & TONY'S 15 MINUTES R.I.P.

SOME NEW RELEASES!

BE NICE TO US, OR YOU MAY WIND UP AN OP-ED!

SAL AND TONY ON iTUNES? YES! LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST!

SAVE THE DATE! 4/20! COME SEE SAL WITH THE COOL JERKS!

and now... NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES!

DAVID BOWIE - YOUNG AMERICANS (CD/DVD COMBO). We wrote about this a couple of weeks back when it was an import, but it is such an amazing release that we want to mention it again now that it's out here in the States. Even though it contained Bowie's first #1 hit, 1975's Young Americans was never considered anything more than a failed experiment. But as the years passed, so did many more phases of Bowie's career. By the time of his "bad pop musician" phase of 1987, his "white soul man" phase was starting to look pretty damn good. So now we have the album remastered, but the key is the bonus DVD with the 5.1 Surround mix. Now, many of you may not have a Surround Sound system, so you may stop reading -- if you haven't already deleted this newsletter. If you do have 5.1, this is what it was made for. The mix is perfect, the sound is phenomenal, and we guarantee, no matter how many times you've heard this record, it'll be like you're hearing it for the first time. PLUS it has the entire 30 minute Dick Cavett appearance from '75, which is a real hoot.

COWBOY JUNKIES - AT THE END OF PATHS TAKEN. The new album from the band that just keeps making new records. We have many friends who are fans of the Junkies, and we're very happy for them. We, on the other hand, find them snooze-a-riffic, and have had more fun with an old David Frye album, a bottle of Phisohex, and our neighbor's dog, Foamy.

AVRIL LAVIGNE - THE BEST DAMN THING. "Avril Lavigne" ain't kiddin' nobody. She's April Levine from Canarsie. Everybody knows this. What kind of name is "Avril"? Isn't that something you take for a headache? "Damn, I feel a migraine coming on, gimme two Avrils."

NINE INCH NAILS - YEAR ZERO. Hot on the heels of the best record of his career, Trent Reznor jumped right back into the studio and recorded this gem, which only took him two years instead of the usual five. Admittedly, not much different in sound than anything he's done before, but as we said about "With Teeth," he's managed to take an aggressive sound and make it mature enough for adults.

THE NOISETTES - WHAT'S THE TIME, MR. WOLF. Creating a buzz with their EP from a few years back, this record has the potential to be #1 in the hipper-than-thou department for at least a week. Pretty soon, they'll be selling out Brazilian soccer stadiums just like Arcade Fire, while Marshall Crenshaw continues to deliver milk in Ho-Ho-Kus for rent money. We love you, Marshall.

MICHAEL PENN - PALMS & RUNES & TAROT & TEA. "Smilin' Mike," the clown prince of rock music, gets compiled, featuring all his hit, with some album cuts and demos.

JOSEPH ARTHUR & THE LONELY ASTRONAUTS - LET'S JUST BE. Another introspective singer-songwriter blah blah blah blah. Enjoy.

RYAN SHAW - THIS IS RYAN SHAW. We haven't had the pleasure of hearing this yet. We've been told by people we respect that Ryan Shaw is the real thing. Working with producers Jimmy Bralower and Johnny Gale, Shaw covers some deep soul favorites by such greats as Wilson Pickett and Bobby Womack, as well as songs by obscure artists, the names of whom we don't know yet.

ORDER THEM ALL OR YOUR MATTRESS IS FREE! CALL (212) 244-3460 OR EMAIL!

WE'RE ON iTUNES! AND IT'S FREE!

We don't care that iTunes is designed to put us out of business, or that our speaking voices sound like George Jessel after a gallon of orange juice. You get to hear us comment on 12 upcoming artists, one of whom was very good! Go to the "podcasts" section of iTunes, click on "Music," and our show, Next Big Hit, should be easy to find. If that's too complicated, you can go straight to their website. Our show is Week 10. Enjoy, paisan!

DO YOU LIKE GOOD MUSIC (YEAH YEAH), THAT SWEET SOUL MUSIC (YEAH YEAH)?

Don't forget, NEXT FRIDAY, APRIL 20, THE COOL JERKS, featuring none other than NYCD's SAL NUNZIATO banging on whatever happens to be lying around onstage, including the drum set, will be playing DON HILL'S. Two sets, starting at 8:00. Have fun!

SELL US YOUR CDs & DVDs! We give you money, you give us discs. Great deal, right? Call or email!

UNTIL NEXT WEEK, WE LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

How do you get 65 old women to shout out "Son of a bitch"? Get one old woman to shout out "Bingo."

Your friends,
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Acker Bilk

OUR FAVORITE RESPONSE TO THE OP-ED PIECE SO FAR:

Nostalgia for the days when music stores for pop music aficionados doubled
as salons for the cognoscenti won't bring back those days. The CD album
and the CD single are dead and gone, done away by technology that delivers
the whole repository of recorded music direct to listeners' ears. All this
calls for a new business model, still evolving, based not on longing for
days gone by but on the realities of the here-and-now era of digital
technology.

(Written by Tony's dad. Um, thanks?)

LETTERS. WE GET LETTERS.

Got to admit, the last day has been a blast. So much feedback over the Op Ed, almost all of which was positive. Some correspondence was very entertaining. Here's one below from an old customer:

NYCD:

It was great (in a melancholy sort of way) to read the Op Ed in the New York Times yesterday.

I was a regular. I loved to browse and listen to what you guys were playing. Every Tuesday (and most weekends) I would swing by to see what NYCD had found that had flown under my radar (and my radar is pretty good). Even on the rare occasion I went away empty handed, it was always worth the trip for those elaborate handwritten labels on the week’s more dubious releases. I still laugh about the time Sal “loaned” me the advanced release of Paul Westerberg’s Suicaine Gratifaction on the condition that I not bring it back.

I left New York in 2002 to return to Austin with its cloyingly smug music scene. Every time I would visit New York, I would drop in on the new location and find some peculiar Jon Auer disc or something that I would never be able to find in Texas.

But when I visited last month, I was saddened to see NYCD replaced by a laundromat. In reality, however, I didn’t really expect the store to still be in business. It is weird though. In the space of three Fountains of Wayne records, NYCD has gone from an unpleasantly busy storefront on Amsterdam to a strictly online affair.

I am a music obsessive. Particularly pop. I am not a collector of obscure mono mixes (my two versions of Picture Book is arguably one too many). I just like the excitement of discovering a new band. A whole new catalogue to explore. And that happened at independent record stores. It happened at the Princeton Record Exchange when I was in high school. It happened at the then modestly scaled Waterloo Records in Austin during the late 80’s. And it happened at NYCD. But, given that there are no more real DJ’s and no more real record stores, it is not going to happen anymore. How does one trip over new music online? Should the fans just all face the ugly truth and start buying Norah Jones records at Starbucks? It was a bizarre turn of events to find me saddened to see even Tower shut its doors. As a result, with a few exceptions, I listen to the same bands I listened to a decade ago.

Now that the music industry has declared war on music, I fear the CD is in danger. There is something satisfying about an album as a thing; with art and lyrics and liner notes. I hope the new online existence goes well. But NYCD (as a thing) is missed.

Burton

ROCK ON, YOU ROCKING ROCKERS!!

We found this review on Amazon. Why on earth were we looking for an Osmonds review? Can't tell ya! (Aaaawww!) Read it. Such enthusiasm.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

THE OSMONDS PROVE THAT THEY CAN ROCK WITH CRAZY HORSES., January 31, 2007

Reviewer:

John Lopez "Johnny Boy (JL)" (San Antonio, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

Readers and reviewers, I will be writing a review on the legendary album "CRAZY HORSES" by one of Rock's most underrated bands, THE OSMONDS. This album was originally released in 1972 on vinyl and 8-Track on the Curb Records label in association with MGM Records. I purchased one of the most recent releases of this album on Compact Disc in a British import on the COE Records label. What I find so hard to believe is that someone is selling the same exact CD album I purchased on E-bay on amazon for almost $500.00. I purchased the same exact CD album for $12.99 on E-bay. As always, if I hear any new additional information concerning this legendary album, I will edit this review immediately so that you the consumer will get the best informative and most accurate review possible.

THE OSMONDS are truly a remarkable band that got lost in Rock history somewhere. In my opinion, THE OSMONDS were never taken seriously as a hard Rock Band because of their Mormon faith. I've always said that it was ridiculous to judge a band by their religion. In reality, THE OSMONDS were five really talented brothers that truly knew how to Rock. If there was ever an album that proved that THE OSMONDS could rock it has to be the "CRAZY HORSES" album.

I will only list and review the song tracks that really rock on this album in their original exact running order as follows: (1.) "Hold Her Tight," (This is truly an incredible ROCKIN' song. This song reminds me of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song." Merrill Osmond sings this song with such power that he gives this song an additional lift as to what THE OSMONDS are really capable of performing as a rock band. You have to hear this song to believe it.) (5.) "We All Fall Down," (This is another ROCKIN' song. Whoever thought that THE OSMONDS could not rock, listen to this song. This song will definitely change your mind. Alot of these songs will change your mind. The guitar arrangements of brother's Alan and Wayne take their blend of Rock n' Roll to another level that no one thought they could do.) (7.) "Life Is Hard Enough Without Goodbyes," (This is a good slow Rocker. Alan and Wayne play guitars in this song like there's no tomorrow. Merrill sings this song like the way Robert Plant sings "Since I've Been Loving You.") (8.) "Crazy Horses" (This is one ROCKIN' song. Who would have ever thought that THE OSMONDS could rock like this. If you have never heard this song, I advise you to listen to it. This song is pure hard Rock. Alan and Wayne really let loose in playing their guitars in this one. Drummer Jay Osmond sings the lead vocal in this song with such power that he would have driven any horse crazy. In my opinion, Axl Rose, formally of Guns n' Roses, copied alot of Jay's dance moves.) and (9.) "Hey, Mr. Taxi." (This is another well recorded hard rocker. Alan and Wayne just keep getting better as guitarists and this song proves it. This is an incredible song. Merrill sings this song the way a real frontman is supposed to sing.) Overall, this is a remarkable hard rockin' album. You have to hear it to believe it.

I highly recommend this album for everyone to own as part of their collection. It is just too bad that this album is out of print here in the U.S. and is only available in England. Maybe that is the reason why THE OSMONDS have been slightly forgotten. When you listen to this album, you will be surprised and amazed.

In closing, THE OSMONDS never truly received the recognition they truly de

WE'RE IN THE F***IN' NEW YORK TIMES!

(The following is from Thursday's Op-Ed section of the Old Grey Lady, as the journalism hepcats call it. And we wrote it.)

SPINNING INTO OBLIVION

DESPITE the major record labels’ best efforts to kill it, the single, according to recent reports, is back. Sort of.

You’ll still have a hard time finding vinyl 45s or their modern counterpart, CD singles, in record stores. For that matter, you’ll have a tough time finding record stores. Today’s single is an individual track downloaded online from legal sites like iTunes or eMusic, or the multiple illegal sites that cater to less scrupulous music lovers. The album, or collection of songs — the de facto way to buy pop music for the last 40 years — is suddenly looking old-fashioned. And the record store itself is going the way of the shoehorn.

This is a far cry from the musical landscape that existed when we opened an independent CD shop on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in 1993. At the time, we figured that as far as business ventures went, ours was relatively safe. People would always go to stores to buy music. Right? Of course, back then there were also only two ringtones to choose from — “riiiiinnng” and “ring-ring.”

Our intention was to offer a haven for all kinds of music lovers and obsessives, a shop that catered not only to the casual record buyer (“Do you have the new Sarah McLachlan and ... uh ... is there a Beatles greatest hits CD?”) but to the fan and oft-maligned serious collector (“Can you get the Japanese pressing of ‘Kinda Kinks’? I believe they used the rare mono mixes”). Fourteen years later, it’s clear just how wrong our assumptions were. Our little shop closed its doors at the end of 2005.

The sad thing is that CDs and downloads could have coexisted peacefully and profitably. The current state of affairs is largely the result of shortsightedness and boneheadedness by the major record labels and the Recording Industry Association of America, who managed to achieve the opposite of everything they wanted in trying to keep the music business prospering. The association is like a gardener who tried to rid his lawn of weeds and wound up killing the trees instead.

In the late ’90s, our business, and the music retail business in general, was booming. Enter Napster, the granddaddy of illegal download sites. How did the major record labels react? By continuing their campaign to eliminate the comparatively unprofitable CD single, raising list prices on album-length CDs to $18 or $19 and promoting artists like the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears — whose strength was single songs, not albums. The result was a lot of unhappy customers, who blamed retailers like us for the dearth of singles and the high prices.

The recording industry association saw the threat that illegal downloads would pose to CD sales. But rather than working with Napster, it tried to sue the company out of existence — which was like thinking you’ve killed all the roaches in your apartment because you squashed the one you saw in the kitchen. More illegal download sites cropped up faster than the association’s lawyers could say “cease and desist.”

By 2002, it was clear that downloading was affecting music retail stores like ours. Our regulars weren’t coming in as often, and when they did, they weren’t buying as much. Our impulse-buy weekend customers were staying away altogether. And it wasn’t just the independent stores; even big chains like Tower and Musicland were struggling.

Something had to be done to save the record store, a place where hard-core music fans worked, shopped and kibitzed — and, not incidentally, kept the music business’s engine chugging in good times and in lean. Who but these loyalists was going to buy the umpteenth Elton John hits compilation that the major labels were foisting upon them?

But instead, those labels delivered the death blow to the record store as we know it by getting in bed with soulless chain stores like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. These “big boxes” were given exclusive tracks to put on new CDs and, to add insult to injury, they could sell them for less than our wholesale cost. They didn’t care if they didn’t make any money on CD sales. Because, ideally, the person who came in to get the new Eagles release with exclusive bonus material would also decide to pick up a high-speed blender that frappéed.

The jig was up. It didn’t matter that even a store as small as ours carried hundreds of titles you’d never see at Best Buy and was staffed by people who actually knew who Van Morrison was, or that Tower Records had the entire history of recorded music under one roof while Costco didn’t carry much more than the current hits. A year after our shop closed, Tower went out of business — something that would have been unthinkable just a few years earlier. The customers who had grudgingly come to trust our opinions made the move to online shopping or lost interest in buying music altogether. Some of the most loyal fans had been soured into denying themselves the music they loved.

Meanwhile, the recording industry association continues to give the impression that it’s doing something by occasionally threatening to sue college students who share their record collections online. But apart from scaring the dickens out of a few dozen kids, that’s just an amusing sideshow. They’re not fighting a war any more than the folks who put on Civil War regalia and re-enact the Battle of Gettysburg are.

The major labels wanted to kill the single. Instead they killed the album. The association wanted to kill Napster. Instead it killed the compact disc. And today it’s not just record stores that are in trouble, but the labels themselves, now belatedly embracing the Internet revolution without having quite figured out how to make it pay.

At this point, it may be too late to win back disgruntled music lovers no matter what they do. As one music industry lawyer, Ken Hertz, said recently, “The consumer’s conscience, which is all we had left, that’s gone, too.”

It’s tempting for us to gloat. By worrying more about quarterly profits than the bigger picture, by protecting their short-term interests without thinking about how to survive and prosper in the long run, record-industry bigwigs have got what was coming to them. It’s a disaster they brought upon themselves.

We would be gloating, but for the fact that the occupation we planned on spending our working lives at is rapidly becoming obsolete. And that loss hits us hard — not just as music retailers, but as music fans.

(Hey, if you want to support us, go to the Times' website, email the article to all your friends using the Times' link, and tell them to put it in their blogs. Thanks!)

NEWSLETTER '07 #14!

BIG HEADLINE OF THE WEEK: SAL & TONY GET OP-ED IN THURSDAY'S NEW YORK TIMES! READ IT HERE!

SOME EXCITING NEW RELEASES, SOME REALLY LAME NEW RELEASES

YANKS 1-0, METS 3-0, AND IT'S STILL SNOWING OUT

and now... THE NEWSLETTER!

A major release we forgot to mention is JENNIFER LOPEZ's first all-Spanish language album... we don't remember the name of it. It's in Spanish. But in related news, there was a mass suicide at the Mall Of America, when 73 moviegoers drank liquid bleach during the closing credits of Monster-In-Law.

and now... NEXT WEEK'S NEW RELEASES!

BRIGHT EYES - CASSADAGA. What can we say about Conor Oberst that is printable? Is it necessary to overhype every new artist that comes out? He's fine -- a harmless singer-songwriter with some good material and some real crap, too. We just can't buy into the hype, nor will we be seeing him at any one of his 219 nights at Town Hall.

GENESIS - REISSUES. Part of an ongoing reissue campaign to coincide with their semi-awaited reunion tour, five post-Gabriel LPs -- A TRICK OF THE TAIL, WIND & WUTHERING, ... AND THEN THERE WERE THREE, DUKE, and ABACAB -- get the SACD and DVD treatment. Each reissue features 5.1 Surround Sound, videos, and unreleased material. And, for those keeping track, these were the five records that the post-Gabriel lineup released that were worth your time.

LESLEY GORE - EVER SINCE. The first album in a mighty long time from a woman who once had a greatest hits album annotated by Tony, who cowrote the article in the Times today with Sal. And Sal, like Tony, loves the early Lesley Gore stuff. And both Tony's dad and Sal's mother love them.

GRINDERMAN - GRINDERMAN. Nick Cave's new lineup featuring a few Bad Seeds is an in-your-face, gritty rock n' roll extravaganza. It's so dark that when it went to night school, it was marked absent. But seriously, lemon ices.

BRANFORD MARSALIS DOES SOME GOOD!

While brother Wynton is taking an interest in the big Upper West Side bucks at Lincoln Center, Branford is taking an interest in musicians from his hometown of New Orleans. Marsalis' Imprint label, distributed by Rounder, gives us two new releases from two New Orleans legends. The first is from modern jazz clarinetist ALVIN BATISTE, who still teaches to this day, but unfortunately records very little. Here is an opportunity to hear this amazing player, who once shared many stages with Ornette Coleman and Ellis Marsalis.

The other new release is from BOB FRENCH, the legendary New Orleans drummer and radio personality who held court every Monday night at the famed Donna's Headquarters in New Orleans. He gets his unique band of traditional New Orleans jazz documented, with special guests Harry Connick Jr. and Branford sitting in for most of the album.

BIG RELEASE OF THE WEEK (IF IT EVER ACTUALLY COMES OUT)!

SLY & THE FAMILY STONE - COLLECTION (7 CD BOX SET). This has been promised for months, and even at this late date we don't know if it's going to show, but assuming it does, you're gonna want it. Their entire studio output from 1967-74, featuring such classics as STAND, THERE'S A RIOT GOIN' ON, and FRESH, not to mention the seminal and underrated debut, A WHOLE NEW THING, and everything else in between. Each set is individually numbered and newly remastered (four of the seven are remastered for the very first time), and all the discs feature anywhere from three to eight bonus tracks. This is STRICTLY LIMITED! The individual CDs get released on 4/24, or so they say. Either way, hop on it quick!!

That's all we've got for this week, unless you're interested in the new MOE BANDY greatest hits CD.

BUY THEM ALL, ESPECIALLY MOE BANDY! EMAIL OR CALL (212) BIG-DINO (244-3460).

SELL US YOUR CDs & DVDs! HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO TELL YOU -- MONEY MEANS NOTHING TO US! IT'S A MERE FASCINATION! WE'VE BEEN TEARING MONEY SINCE OUR FIRST HOLY COMMUNION -- OR, IN TONY'S CASE, SINCE THE YANKEES ACQUIRED STEVE BALBONI! COME GET THE MONEY IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR DISCS!

UNTIL NEXT WEEK, WE LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/05/opinion/05sachsnunziato.html

(Yes, that's right, we're proud of it. Keep reading it and pass it on.)

Your friends,
Punch & Judy Sulzberger