NOT ENOUGH SPACE FOR MY COMMENTS!! Oh well, continuing where I left off... "The Electrician" - One seriously creepy and unsettling piece of music, this. I recently became a fan of the Walker Brothers' "Nite Flights" album when I was seriously delving into the David Bowie catalogue. As you may (or may not) know, Bowie is a huge fan of Scott Walker (recently producing and appearing in a documentary about him), and the former's lower baritone crooning style is clearly indebted to the latter. In fact there was a bit of a mutual admiration society going on, with influence running back and forth between both parties. The Walker Brothers' "Nite Flights" was strongly influenced by Bowie's "Low" and "'Heroes'" albums from 1977, and in turn Bowie and Brian Eno were both fans of "Nite Flights." Bowie would later record a song called "African Night Flight" on 1979's "Lodger," and he would later cover the title track of "Nite Flights" on 1993's "Black Tie White Noise." "Time" - And speaking of Bowie, this is probably my favorite Bowie song ever, from what's become my favorite Bowie album ever, "Aladdin Sane" (1973). It's very stately, elegant, majestic, sad and sinister, with that wonderful cabaret feel and the mighty Mike Garson's New Orleans-style stride piano playing. "Music Is Lethal" - Again while we're on the subject of Bowie...This eerily beautiful number from "Slaughter On 10th Avenue" (1974), the first solo album from the late, great Spiders From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson, is actually a cover of a ballad originally written by the also late Italian cantautore Lucio Battisti - originally with the title "Io Vorrei, Non Vorrei, Ma Se Vuoi." Bowie contributes not an English translation, but an entirely new English lyric, with grim imagery strongly influenced by yet another Continental European songwriter, this time the French-Belgian chanseur Jacques Brel, whose "Port Of Amsterdam" and "My Death" Bowie had already covered. (BTW, the lyric for the Battisti original was written by none other than Mogol, who had also written the Italian lyric for "Space Oddity" - re-titled "Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola" - so you could say that Bowie was returning a favor here!) "Skin And Bone" - I was quite saddened to learn of the passing of the great, underrated American hard-rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose, so I thought it only fitting to pay tribute to him here. This bruising heavy-rock number is from "Gamma 2" (1980), which after 1973's self-titled "Montrose" is probably Ronnie's second-best album. "Come Talk To Me" - This is the opening number from Peter Gabriel's 1992 album "Us," but I much prefer this live version recorded live in Italy a year or so later. I find myself seriously moved by this song, and it's become my favorite number from Peter Gabriel. (BTW, Sinead O'Connor contributes the harmony vocal on the original album version, but on this live version it's Paula Cole.) "The View" - I swear, the new "Lulu" collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica has became the undeserved recipient of SOOOOOOOOOO much bilious invective and hate from people that I'm halfway tempted to call this my favorite album of 2011 just purely for the sake of contrarian perversity! But only halfway, mind you, because I will quite freely acknowledge that the "Loutallica" project is only a mixed success. As much a fan as I am, I don't quite think that Metallica is flexible enough in their playing to be able to pull off that sort of improvised, free-form spoken-word accompaniment thing in the way that the musicians who work with Patti Smith and on Wayne Kramer's solo albums are able to do quite effortlessly. But I must give an A for effort, regardless. There are definitely some seriously effective, jarring and unsettling moments throughout the "Lulu" album, just enough to make the whole project worthwhile. And as many juvenile guffaws as that "I am the table!" line from James Hetfield gets, this song is definitely one of Lulu's highlights. "Del Rio's Song" - My fa

"Del Rio's Song" - My favorite song from Blue Oyster Cult's 1988 concept album "Imaginos." I have to say that the entire "Imaginos" album has a kind of ersatz BOC feel to it, which is unsurprising considering that it started out as a solo project from ex-BOC drummer and producer Sandy Pearlman and originally featured primarily session players, before CBS/Sony decided they wanted to release it as a Blue Oyster Cult album and had Eric Bloom, Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, and presumably Allen Lanier and Joe Bouchard overdub their vocal and instrumental contributions later on (although I would be hard-pressed to identify precisely who did what, or when and where). It's a very solid record, though, for the most part. "Dear John" - This ballad is a newly-recorded studio track from Styx's live "Return To Paradise" release from 1997. It's written and sung by Tommy Shaw, and dedicated to the memory of John Panozzo, Styx's former drummer who passed away the year before. "Love You Too Much" - This straightahead rock 'n' roll number is a songwriting collaboration between Greg Lake and Bob Dylan! Quite an interesting story behind it, too. Apparently, back during the recording of his self-titled 1981 solo album, Lake - a huge Bob Dylan fan - wanted to cover one of his songs but couldn't decide which one to do. But then he found out through Dylan's tour manager that he had an unfinished song lying around. What existed of it had been co-written with Helena Springs, one of Dylan's backing singers, and Lake simply finished off some of the verses. Quite a feather in one's cap to be able to honestly say that you actually co-wrote a song with Bob Dylan, I'd say (even if they never did actually meet)! (Interestingly enough, Emerson, Lake & Palmer would later record a cover of "Man In The Long Black Coat" for their "In The Hot Seat" album in '94.) "For Your Pleasure" -- The closing title track from Roxy Music's second album (and last album recorded with Brian Eno), which makes an equally effective and sinister finale for this mix. That entire "Ta-ra" section toward the end is really cool and creepy, and kind of makes me think of the heroes slowly descending into some dank crypt or netherworld for the final confrontation with evil forces in some gruesome Italian horror flick!

njr (04-12-2012): Welcome back! Liking the Mick Ronson, Eno, Walker Bros. especially. mollyac (04-15-2012): Imaginos is my favorite BOC too. Lots to like here. Funky Ratchet (04-18-2012): Your mixes are like a force of nature. I especially like the back end of disc two. doowad (04-24-2012): As always, I'm with Brother Funky.