Talk Talk

The Music Machine was pretty much a one hit wonder group from the mid-60s. Their sound was characterized as "American garage rock/psychedelic". Talk Talk came from the first of two albums, Turn On, released in 1966. Too bad the group broke up in 1967. Growing up, I thought this song was great...

Gone Fishin - Cleetus Take The Reel

A buddy and I are taking off for Temagami, Ontario this week for our annual trek to do a little fishin'. Through the marvels of modern technology I've post-dated a couple of items for the week.

Speaking of fishing, we kick things off with this take-off of "Jesus Take The Wheel" called "Cleetus Take The Reel" by Tim Hawkins. Carrie Underwood, look out!

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson died this afternoon of "cardiac" arrest". Say what you will regarding the skin pigmentation, plastic surgery and "little boy" controversies but Michael Jackson was a musical dynamo who began his career as a child musical and TV star. I wasn't the biggest of Michael Jackson fans but I certainly recognize the contribution he made to the world of music and music videos.

Here's a performance back before all the craziness started from when he was about 13 years of age. The song is Ben from the movie of the same name. The song was originally offered to a young Donny Osmond who was unable to record it because he was on tour. RIP Michael.

Reelin In The Years

Well we ran our first 60s flashback Tuesday. Today is our first look back at the 70s. Kickin' us off is Steely Dan, often referred to as a jazz-rock outfit, who wryly named themselves after the steam-powered dildo in William Burroughs' novel The Naked Lunch.

The mainstays of Steely Dan were Walter Becker and Donald Fagen each of whom have issued solo albums throughout the years. The group was very popular during the 70s in particular, issuing 7 albums throughout the decade, beginning with their debut rlease Can't Buy A Thrill. Here's a performance of a cut from that album "Reelin' In The Years"...

Papa's Got A Brand New Bag...

...And Dufus Got a Brand New Blog. Welcome to the first official week of dufusdownbeat where we'll take a look back at some of the acts from the 60s and 70s, share a bit of musical history and run some classic clips.


The "hardest working man in show business", the "godfather of soul" James Brown seemed like a likely artist to formally get us started. He rose to fame in the 50s and 60s with an amazing stage show comprised of synchronized back up singers, a chuggin' rhythm section and a honking horn section. Here's an all-too brief medley of Papa's Got A Brand New Bag and I Feel Good from the Ed Sullivan Show in the mid-60s.

And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

It's the first day of summer and for me a new beginning!

Welcome to dufusdownbeat and thanks for stopping by. This blog is an extension of nonamedufus, a humour blog and represnts a milestone in it's evolution. What began as primarily a photo and picture blog has pretty much morphed into written posts focussing on political and observational humour.

While I'm into both humour and music it was getting to the point where they didn't always co-exist. So the next logical step appeard to be the creation of a separate music blog and hopefully this will focus the other blog exclusively on humour. I hope you enjoy this approach and I look forward to your visits and your comments at both blogs. Feel free to add yourself to my followers widget, too.

At the outset and until I completely comprehend what I've gotten myself into with an additional blog, I'll try to stick to the following publishing schedule:

Monday - nonamedufus
Tuesday - dufusdownbeat 60s
Wednesday - nonamedufus
Thursday - dufusdownbeat 70s
Friday - nonamedufus

I'm sure there'll be additional posts during the week and on the weekends but a post a day, alternating between the two blogs sounds good for now as a minimum.

Wish me luck, and I hope you keep coming back. Thanks!

Happy Birthday Ray

Ray Davies can ride the bus at reduced fare today. It's his 65th birthday. Ray and his younger brother Dave co-founded the Kinks, one of the few groups associated with the "British invasion" to attain considerable longevity. Ray played guitar, sang and wrote most of the band's hit songs. Their first big hit came in 1964 with You Really Got Me




One of my favoutite Kinks songs is Lola. Here's a performance from 1970.




Happy Birthday Ray.

Happy Birthday Brian

He's been called "one of the few undisputed geniuses in popular music" and today he turns 67. The life of Brian Wilson, his brothers and bandmates reads like a rock and roll soap opera: a domineering father as a manger, alcoholism, narcotics, neuroses, mental illness and death. The Wilsons and their extended family suffered it all.

But there were good times too, at least for their fans, as their complicated harmony-laden hits attest. The Beach Boys were big. But they would have been bigger were it not for the British invasion and the Beatles.

"God Only Knows" has got to be one of my all time favourite Brian Wilson/Beach Boys tunes. It was one of the many highlights from the classic Pet Sounds album. Here's a performance from Brian in 2003.

Happy Birthday Ann

Heart's Ann Wilson ,the older of the dynamic Wilson sisters, is 59 today. Heart burst on the scene in the 70s and many peole thought they were a Canadian group because they lived and worked out of Vancouver. Turns out they were from Seattle, Washington. Ann's younger sister Nancy is an amazing guitarist. Back in the day I had never seen a woman play the guitar quite like that. She was mesmerizing. Here's a live performance of Barracuda from 1977...

Happy Birthday Paul

Sir Paul McCartney is 67 today. It seems not that long ago Paul was singing "When I'm 64". My how time flies. McCartney of course was a founding member of the revered Beatles and knew fellow member and songwriting partner John Lennon since childhood. After the Beatles split up Paul went solo and then formed a new group called Wings, of which his then-wife Linda Eastman was a member. Silly Love Songs was one of their hits...

Paul McCartney's website can be found at http://www.paulmccartney.com/ Happy Birthday Sir Paul.

Favourite Musical Artists

The following artists and groups are among my favourites. I believe they're truly responsible for the greatest tunes and melodies out there, influencing many, many artists who have come after. They've been just cruising through my consciousness for years...