Bradley's Buzz

Good Morning Angels

One of my all time favorite shows from when I was but a wee tyke is Charlie's Angels - I mean who doesn't love that show? Everyone who loves the show has a favorite Angel - most are Farrah fans with Jaclyn Smith right up there and then there's my ultimate favorite Cheryl Ladd. I love her, and did from the moment she strutted onto the show in its second season. I mean I even stole my cousin Paula's Cheryl Ladd doll - though my mother caught me as I stuffed it into my jacket. She always caught me doing that crap..

A few years ago when Charlie's Angels was finally released on DVD, I opted not to buy it as first I'm fairly frugal and second, I wanted to make sure the seasons with Cheryl were going to be released. So season 2 finally made its debut and I still didn't buy it cause the damn thing is expensive man - so I still don't own it but finally thanks to Amoeba and a $20 selling price I got my mugs on Charlie's Angels Season 3 which is of course with Cheryl, and it happens to be Kate Jackson's last season. My pal and partner in all that is 70's and 80's Jen came over last weekend and we watched a few episodes and realized how much we really love it.

Now if the seasons continue on DVD I will be in Angel Heaven - I really want season 5 because though it may be a strange choice, I really liked the final season with Tanya Roberts as Julie Rogers - she was street wise and hot, and her introduction in the first episode of season 5 is great - as for season 4 Shelley Hack has always been to me a bit of a, well hack. She's the lesser version of Priscilla Barnes and that's a strange thing to be. I still haven't found that elusive Charlie's fan who goes ape shizz crazy for Tiffany Welles, but something tells me he's out there (you know it's a boy)...

But the highlight of this rambling little ode to all that is Charlie's and Cheryl is this - the season 3 two part opener has the Angels headed to Vegas and as they all go undercover, they throw Kris Munroe (my Cheryl) into a gig as a singer. That's when I remembered that Cheryl had recorded a few albums in the 70's. She even scored a top 40 hit with "Think It Over", a very 70's adult contemp type of tune. I'm not even kidding when I say she was big in Japan.

Anyhoos, I thought it would be so cool to track down that song. Luckily for us all, Cheryl is an internet type of Angel and if you go to her official website, supposedly updated by the woman herself at her music page on www.cherylladd.com you can download 18 songs from her short career!
I just about fell over. Her singing voice is much deeper than I would've imagined - though the sound quality is a little off on some of them, never fear because you know there's a Bubbatunes mix with 'remastering' in the works... until then enjoy the sweet sounds of 70's (it's very Melissa Manchester-ish and not disco at all) including the ultimate highlight "Television"...

and if you really feel the need, let's talk Angels - who's your fav? Shelley Hack's stoney performance of Tiffany Welles???

Labels: Bubbtunes, Charlie's Angels, Cheryl Ladd, Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, Kate Jackson, Shelley Hack, Tanya Roberts, TV on DVD

posted by swivek @ 10:07 AM 1 comments

Housing Solved

So I think I may have solved my big desire to own a home in West Hollywood. About a year ago they tore down the building on my corner and this is what they are going to build in its place. A four story building with condos on top, parking and a few shops under neath.

The Leivas and I decided to do a little investigating and it turns out they are going to have two story townhouses in there as well! Now for that I could move into a condo. The place even has a pool on the roof which is what my old apartment building had and it was so cool. So the Leivas and I put in our name and of course I'll keep you all posted on how this pans out...

and if you've ever wondered what my street looks like in cartoon form well here you go. If you go up that little street past the new building and the drawn buildings behind it which don't actually exist, well you take a little turn about ten houses up and you'd be at my front door... is that a knock I hear?

Labels: Real Estate Blues, West Hollywood

posted by swivek @ 7:46 PM 0 comments

Lily Goes Ape Shizz

I love my Lily Tomlin - from the early days of Earnestine the Operator and little Edith Ann, who my cousin used to interpret to the tee, and then 9 To 5 and The Incredible Shrinking Woman, not to mention the back and forth hilarity with Meryl Streep for Robert Altman's behalf. Another great role she had was the pot growing ex hippie in the hilarious Flirting With Disaster, a film directed by David O. Russell, who has some anger issues and whose people skills are a tad lacking - he even had nice guy George Clooney ready to kill him - literally, George had his hand around the director's throat - and apparantly if he can fuck around with the bigger names, you know a pee on was just itching to get some footage out there on what an ass this guy could be - so here's some real antics from both Lily (though in this footage she seems to keep her cool even making a joke near the end) and the director on the set of I Heart Huckabees - and it's quite fun for anyone who ever thought making movies could be a lot of fun.

Check it out at You Tube.

Labels: David O. Russell, George Clooney, I Heart Huckabees, Lily Tomlin

posted by swivek @ 8:55 AM 0 comments

Bubbatunes Motels - Rooms 1 & 2

We here at Bubbatunes – you know my bedroom/office – have started our round up of our Motels reissue and let me just say I had forgotten how great these early albums really are. What’s even better than reaching back a few decades to capture 80’s classics is the fact that these albums stand up very well. Martha Davis and her boys had their dark wave ideas down to an art that Miss Davis appropriately calls ‘music noir.’ The dark and seedy underbelly of love and the city are reflected in just about every little ditty they’ve done and though the central themes are there in almost all of their songs, each song has a very big hook that is all its own. So let’s take a look at our first two re-issues in our Motels catalog.


bub 76 – Motels – Motels (1979; March 20, 2007)
The debut album that Martha still states as her favorite since it is the only one she envisioned from start to finish without those pesky record execs on her back. The album launched the debut single “Total Control” – the breathy and brooding pseudo ballad that has some of the best lyrics ever, “I’d sell my soul for total control over you…” The second single launched was the arty “Closets & Bullets” that stands proud with Martha’s interpretation of the word ‘mirage’ – she makes it all her own. But Motels also captures three of the very best songs the band has ever done – the abuse anthem “Celia” with complete imagery of the poor girl – "I heard him talking/I heard him say/he wasn’t gonna kill you/ he was just gonna fuck up your pretty face” which is important as its one of the first songs I remember using the word ‘fuck’ in its lyrics an apparently the record company wanted her to change it to ‘he was just gonna cut up your pretty face’ which she replied, “oh yeah that’s much better” in a very sarcastic tone. "Kix" is a rip roaring fast paced new wave classic with slamming drums and Martha declaring, "they go downtown to find some more kix/ what the hell you do with these kix today? / what the hell you do with these kix today..../ Kix..." It's great and one that righteously ends up on their endless compilations. “Counting” is the final track on the debut album and it’s the perfect Motels formula with its sad lyrics longing and wondering what’s ahead and what’s going on and it also mentions a gal named Sally who shows up repeatedly in Martha’s lyrics, in “Counting” Sally isn’t as much as fun as she used to be as she’s just waiting for someone to tell her why she’s there. “Love Don’t Help” is another highlight with its changing melody and its plain yet interesting lyric, “Love won’t help you win at the track” and it was the B-side to the “Total Control” single. Songs like these are the very reason Capitol has been crazy to not reissue these early classics. Luckily we have Bubbatunes and because I’m such a completist, I’ve added bonus tracks that were hidden until Martha ventured into her vault and released the double disc set Anthologyland in 2000 that was comprised of outtakes, b-sides and live tracks, so with her help we add on two outtakes from the debut album sessions – the frolicking rock of “Boys” and the much better “Amigo” which is a surprise twist of fun I’m surprised didn’t actually make the cut. We also have live versions of “Total Control”, “Celia” and “Counting” all from 1979/1980 concert dates and we end it with a demo of a song called “Every Day Star” that was recorded around 1974/75 when Martha and a few other members were known not as The Motels but as Warfield Foxes.
Motels - Motels (bub76) track list -
01. Anticipating 02. Kix 03. Total Control 04. Love Don't Help 05. Closets & Bullets 06. Atomic Cafe 07. Celia 08. Porn Reggae 09. Dressing Up 10. Counting
Bonus Tracks -
11. Boys 12. Amigo 13. Total Control (live) 14. Celia (live) 15. Counting (live) 16. Every Day Star (demo)

bub 77 – Motels – Careful (1980; March 20, 2007)
For their second album Careful, Martha, Tim, Marty, Michael, Brian brought in a couple more hooks to their avant-garde arty styling and the result is a much better album in my opinion. Not to mention one of the best album covers ever and if you don't believe me pick up a book about the best album covers and I bet you'll see it in there. The music is still moody and brooding but with Tim McGovern, Michael Goodroe and Marty Jourard more involved in writing, the resulting songs they came up with add a new texture to the Motels sound – the first single “Danger” (Davis/McGovern) is still on my favorite songs by the band – “Danger/your love is like a stranger/your so close/ yet so far away…” before the chorus kicks it up a few notches, “Late at night when I want you/ I just close my eyes and I pray/late at night when I need you/ I just stop to me I say…” The song is something Divinyls might have put on their debut album - so enticing and fun, “Envy” is my all time favorite song on the album – it’s a throwback to “Love Don’t Help” which is to say it’s a 2 minute fast fight with Martha cooing some intense and hilarious lyrics and a change in melody as well – “everybody wants my car/ so they can drive like I drive/ everybody wants my car… you better leave it alone…” Of course you know she’s going to head into “everybody wants my baby/ everybody wants my man..” and she tells them “you better leave him alone…” with a wild drumming and soft bass behind her – it’s very threatening and I’m sure that’s exactly how she meant it. The title track is one of their more famous cuts if not for the fact it appears on almost every one of their compilations – it’s a winding synth driven track once again full of foreboding with Martha practically hiccupping through it, “but just don’t leave me/ please don’t leave me/ your way/ careful/ I’m indicating/ my way…” “Bonjour Baby” and “Cry Baby” punch up the hook laden part of the album and they’re two very fun tracks full of new wavey fun, while the single “Days Are OK (But The Nights Were Made Love)” starts with a chunky mellow opening before rock guitar and drums kick in for the chorus and the boys help out by making man “oohs” and “aahs” on the chorus – it should’ve been a huge hit but instead never even makes it onto their hits collections. One of my favorite singles from the band is also from the Careful album, “Whose Problem?” is a mid tempo popper with some of the best lyrics – “You didn’t have to adopt me/ you could have very well left me outside the door" and my favorite - "Anticipating the matter will never be heard/ I know you wanted perfection but I' lost my nerve/ so whose problem am I?/ whose problem am I?/ whose problem am I / if I’m not yours?” The whole Careful album is great from one song to the next, with the whole thing ending on a bittersweet moody confection called “Slow Town” which Martha describes as sounding like heroin haze. To add to the benefit of all, the bonus cuts include early alternate versions of “Danger” and “Careful” though I must admit they aren’t all that different from what ended up on the album, they are just a little more loose and moody – if that’s possible. The Careful reissue ends with a live version of a song that never made it onto any album “The Big Hurt” recorded in New York on June 16, 1980 captures a wilder side of Martha and the gang in their early live show. Though I’m not a huge fan of live recorded performances, the recording is actually really great as it’s a very intense performance.
Motels - Careful (bub77) track list:
01. Danger 02. Envy 03. Careful 04. Bonjour Baby 05. Party Professionals 06. Days Are OK (But The Nights Were Made For Love) 07. Cry Baby 08. Whose Problem? 09. People Places And Things 10. Slow Town
bonus tracks -
11. Careful (alternate take) 12. Danger (alternate take) 13. The Big Hurt (live)

As the weeks progress we’ll get to visit more of the Motels music noir when we unleash the reissues of the band’s popular phase with 1982’s All Four One which includes all of the songs I could find that were supposed to make their third album Apocalypso, then there’s 1983’s Little Robbers and the very hard to get Shock from 1985… until then, I'm sure I'll come up with something else to blog about.

Labels: Bubbatunes, Careful, Danger, Martha Davis, Motels, Music Noir, Total Control

posted by swivek @ 11:43 AM 1 comments

I'm So Bored

Okay it seems like I always have a million and one little projects going on, and I'm not quite sure why. I think I end up putting a lot of time and energy into stuff that really doesn't do too much - though I must admit for every five hours I spend making a bubbatune compilation I save $60 I would've spent at the bar...

so on the agenda for the next few weeks I'm doing the finishing touches on the last episode of Carlton Heights and it's just in time too cause next week we are having a premiere! That's right I am working on a Carlton Heights website, there will be a My Space groups page and maybe even a seperate blog for the show. You and everyone you know will be able to go into the website and read the week's scripts. I'm going to upload a new episode every week like we were on TV or something, with the season finale online sometime around June or July - 13 weeks of Carlton Heights, could you die? I'll keep you all posted as I expect all of you on the groups page ....

then for the Swivek fans, I'm going to work up a new single for what I hope will be an early summer release and what better song to release for summer than the song Charles Mason wrote just for me - 'California Boy'. I recorded a version of it a few years ago using music by Louis Bustamante of Tiki Lab but he ended up using the music for something else and I've always felt the song needed some more punky new wave behind it; and for a B-side, I get tingly just thinking of doing Benatar's "Promises In The Dark."

Then we have a number of Bubbatunes album re-issues coming up including all 5 of the modern new wave music noir from Martha Davis and The Motels - some of them were released on CD at various times but almost all including the popular All Four One are hard to find and the folks at One Way and Captiol didn't do the stellar job I'm going to do - for I have B-sides, unreleased tracks and live stuff to throw on - The Motels, Careful, All Four One, Little Robbers and Shock plus Martha's 1987 solo album Policy. Then there's also Bonnie Hayes & The Wild Combo ("Shelly's Boyfriend","Girls Like Me") 1982 Good Clean Fun album, the first two Laura Branigans, Buckingham Nicks, Cyndi Lauper, Karen ("Manhunt") Kamon, Toni Basil and a few soundtracks... so that should keep me busy.

and after and in between all that I'm going to learn to play that damn guitar, oh and I'm going to start painting.... so what do you do in your spare time?

Labels: Bubbatunes, California Boy, Carlton Heights, Charles Mason, My Space, Pat Benatar cover, Swivek

posted by swivek @ 1:56 PM 1 comments

Oh, For the Love Of Dolly

With all the Dolly Parton posts I've made in the recent months you may think I'm just huge Dolly freak but that isn't true. Sure I love me my Dolly but there are some people out there who takes step way beyond making bootleg copies of her out of print CDs - they make Dolly dolls, dress up and run from stop to stop at her grand opening parade at Dollywood, build faux Smoky Mountain cabins in their mother's backyard, take days off to fly to LA to see her on a talk show and oh so much more. To call these people fans would probably be insulting since they are so much more, and find so much more in the life of Dolly. Those people are the centerpiece of a little documentary called For The Love Of Dolly.


The Leivas and I went to see it last night at the Egyptian and let me just say it is a complete hoot. Yet as humorous as it is, it's still kind of tragic. The film follows four major fans as they make their way to the Season opening of Dollywood where Dolly makes her appearance. The two girls are the most interesting, though the gay couple with their endless house of Dolly are also pretty good and David, the man who was born with cerebal palsy is of course the heart yanking part of it. Really all these people find some kind of adoration and love in Dolly's words, songs, and basic appearance on Earth.


For The Love Of Dolly makes me laugh, cry and thank the stars that though I am apt to run on ebay and buy that 1981 stand up record store cut out of Pat Benatar, I won't be chasing her ass to Hawaii, or crying at the mere mention of her name. I'm not I tell you, I'm not.


To see when the next screening is near you or just to see what the hooplah is about the film has its own website at www.fortheloveofdolly.com - it's a riot I tell you.

Labels: Dolly Parton, Fans, For The Love Of Dolly

posted by swivek @ 2:10 PM 0 comments

Reach Out And Find Someone

Thanks to the advent of the internet it is so much easier to find everything you ever wanted or needed including people. Thanks to Yahoo groups and the like I've met a lot of cool people and my two best friends here in LA came to me via some internet website, my pal Luther and I met cause we were both on a Blondie fan group and he happened to work for a magazine so we met up one night and a club and have been pals ever since and my pal Jen and I met over a Knots Landing website and we were both from the Midwest and besides of our love for Knots, we also loved Valley Girl, and again the rest is history..

Labels: Carlton Heights, Cousin Itt, My Space, Wausau

posted by swivek @ 11:19 PM 1 comments

Brads Just Want To Have Fun

A brand new concert tour entitled True Colors is coming to a bunch of cities this summer, headlined and put together by Miss Cyndi Lauper, one of my all time favs and also on hand for the event is Debbie Harry, and you all know I kind of like her as well. So it was with excited fury that I found out the concert was having a pre sale for Human Rights Campaign members, which is me of course (they are actually fronting the bucks for the show) and with a little code from them you could buy pre sale tickets at 10 am, so I did just that - just itching with my credit card in hand and my code on the send button and what do you know, in those first five minutes every ticket for The Greek Theater in LA that was under $150 was gone by the time I got to it. I'm so peeved, I'm just happy that I did get to meet the brilliant Cyndi back when Tower Records existed (ugh another reason to cry) and I've met Miss D, and I did see them both in concert, in fact I saw Cyndi at the Greek, so perhaps as all those other HRC campaigners are prancing to "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" I'll sit at home and revisit in my mind the time I saw Cyndi live.... why do bad things happen to such angelic people as myself??

Labels: Bradley's Blues, Cyndi Lauper, Deborah Harry, Human Rights Campaign, True Colors Tour

posted by swivek @ 8:53 AM 0 comments

What's That Sound?

The folks over at Collectibles Records are always up on the ball releasing these double album reissues of some fairly obscure little singers. Obscure singers I happen to love - in the past they've done the first two Josie Cotton albums and a double Rachel Sweet one with her 1981 album And Then He Kissed Me matched up with her followup Blame It On Love album, so imagine my complete surprise when I found out two new ones, I've just been itching to get have come out -

Nick Gilder is one of those obscure singers no one knows about except for me and the people who actually know who sang the song "Hot Child In The City." But I've always loved him, and not for just the one song. He's written some brilliant little pop songs and most of the best are found on his 1978 and 1979 Chrysalis albums City Nights and Frequency. I have a copy of City Nights which was released as an import from Canada a few years ago. The album is slightly more rock but contains "Hot Child..." plus his awesome single "Here Comes The Night" - not to mention a few more ditties of sex and angst. But Frequency has never been released on CD and I've been meaning to pick up a vinyl copy to make a Bubbatunes when those Collectibles dudes came to my rescue. Frequency is much more new wave than the previous album so I automatically love it more, of course his subject matter which is mostly sex and girls and the like is still there but it has that hasty late 70's bring on the 80's kind of feel to it and I love it, love it. The best tracks include "Time After Time" which Toni Basil ended up covering in 1982, with lines like "You're the great pretender/ a hero of your gender.." and when speaking of the girl's endless changes in personality he mentions she's a 'fake Monroe' I love it.



The second collection goes to the other extreme as Juice Newton, the country pop crooner who had Kenny of Knots Landing saying about Ciji, "She's going to be bigger than Juice Newton..." Juice had been making countrified pop for a few years when her 1981 album Juice yeilded the hit "Angel Of The Morning" followed by the mega-hit "Queen Of Hearts." For a few years, I've been thinking of buying an import copy of the CD which had put both Juice and her 1982 follow up Quiet Lies on one disc but it was like over $20, but luckily Collectibles did it for only $12! I had the vinyl copy of Juice when I was a kid and listened to it over and over again. I loved every single song even her Elton cover "Country Comfort". The album had both country and pop blended into it and her voice is super powerful and I love every little accent she throws in. So I was very excited to finally have it on CD.

Labels: City Nights, Collectibles, Juice, Juice Newton, Nick Gilder, Oldies.com, Quiet Lies

posted by swivek @ 2:11 PM 0 comments

I'm Fine House You?

Labels: Hats, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Minneapolis, Real Estate, Rhoda, West Hollywood

posted by swivek @ 5:41 PM 1 comments

True Stories

Ever wonder how and why the great little 80's anthem "Johnny Are You Queer?" got made or how and why the singer that made it so famous fell off the national radar - or even how such a song got airplay and what those original ramifications may have been? Of course you have and after all these years Josie Cotton wrote an excellant article about the subject for a magazine. You can read the article on her My Space space - the article titled "The Queer Story Of Josie & Johnny" is excellant reading... so check it out here!

Labels: 80's music, Autobiography, Carlton Heights, Donna Summer, Johnny Are You Queer?, Josie Cotton, Nickel Dreams, Ordinary Girl, Tanya Tucker

posted by swivek @ 10:57 AM 1 comments

Sundays In La La Land

Sundays are supposed to be calm and sleepy but not when you live the life of a Bradley. It is so exciting living my life sometimes, it's at these special times when things are going so fast and furious I like to share a bit with my friends, family and complete strangers who drop by here every once in a while. So the past few weeks have been pretty hectic, a few Sundays ago we had brunch at Barney's Beanery with our old pal director Quinten Tarentino*

Then, last Sunday was the Oscars so for the week before all of Hollywood Boulevard by the Kodak Theater was blocked off. After winning my Oscar for the Most Believable Portrayal of a Midwesterner, Alf and I decided we were much too tired to hit the party scene, even though Elton John's Big Event is held at Morton's just down the street - we were just too tired. **

And then this Sunday, before I even had my clothes on there was a knock on the door as West Hollywood Mayor John Heilman came a knockin' to sit down and chat with the Leivas and me. After all we are practically West Hollywood royalty and our vote can make or break a politician in our little city. There is a vote tomorrow on 3 of the 6 city council members, all who rotate into mayor for a while and the biggest concern and headache for everyone here is remodeling apartments and old houses into mult story condos no one can afford. Alfred knew I had such concerns so after he let the politician in, he ran to the bedroom where as I said, I was naked, to tell me John was there. I tell you, it's just like me to be naked around a politican. I'm such a walking soap opera. So, I talked with the man, who incidentally has been on the city council since the city's inception in 1984 and was one of the men who turned the town into it's own city. He told me a few things I wanted to hear, and most importantly something I needed to hear - that my apartment building couldn't be turned into a condo very easity - first, there's no outside access from the apartments (i.e. no balconies etc.) and the parking isn't up to par for a condo and the building owner would need an 80% approval from its residents to convert. I think I may vote for this man, the other two he endorses, I'm still not so sure about. Politics are hard!***


Then after schmoozing with the city elite, the Leivas and I took in a little movie at the Arc Light in Hollywood with our old friend Ben from Queer As Folk. As I am so busy and selfish, I can never remember his real name so I just call him Ben from Queer As Folk - he likes that.****

and that's been my last few Sundays, what have you all been up to?



* Actually, Mr. Tarentino was in the booth next to us yacking it up with some chick - he didn't even pick up the Carlton Heights script I threw at him.
** 1. This is a real Oscar I'm holding - and it's frickin' heavy 2. I didn't win it nor was I able to take it home 3. Hollywood & Highland had a room dedicated to the Oscars and you could pick one up and take your pic with it. All the actual Oscars that were presented were there in a big case.
*** The mayor of West Hollywood really did come to visit. This is the only completely true story of the bunch.
**** We did go see a movie Happy Feet - which was awesome- Patrick, you would love it! The penguins use 'heart songs' to find each other and it's a bunch of 70's and 80's meshed together, and yes Ben was there but I don't know him and he didn't talk to us even after I threw a copy of Carlton Heights at him.

Labels: Bradley, John Heilman, Oscars, Politics, Queer As Folk, Tarentino, West Hollywood

posted by swivek @ 9:01 AM 1 comments