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Page A2 The Joan De Arc Crusader / Saturday, July 7, 2007 Front Page A1 / Nostalgia A3 / Pop Culture A4 / Crossword A5
“Doubt is not a pleasant condition, but certainty is absurd.” – Voltaire
The magic of 07-07-07? If seven is indeed the luckiest of numbers, then today will surely be the most fortunate day of all our lives. For behold, today’s date features nothing but wall-to-wall sevens. The number
seven has of course from time immemorial been accounted a sacred and
luck-bearing numeral. Among the Babylonians, Egyptians, and other ancient
peoples, there were precisely seven planets. There are seven days in Creation,
seven days in the week, seven graces, seven deadly sins, seven divisions in the
Lord's Prayer, and seven ages in the life of man. The unique importance accorded
this number above all others is not exactly a recent development. So what does it all mean as a practical matter? Well, let’s see. This will be a huge day in Las Vegas, of that there can be no doubt whatsoever. Slot machine use will quickly reach an all-time high today, the “Triple 7” jackpot being a staple of casino life. The craps tables will surely be hopping, and the number ‘7’ will certainly figure prominently in today’s lottery purchases. Many will probably flock to the number seven horse in the seventh race at the nation’s race tracks. Oh, and let’s not forget the roulette wheel. Come to think of it, our culture’s robust infatuation with gambling is probably the main reason we even notice these kinds of numerical anomalies. Not to worry, though. “Triple 7 Day” will pass quietly into history, just as 06-06-06 did last year, even with its troubling biblical implications. Heck, if we can survive Y2K unscathed, it seems unlikely that these exercises in calendar-based numerology have any real significance. After all, these are just numbers, abstract tools arbitrarily contrived by the human mind. But we’re going to Vegas anyway, just in case.
‘Pepper’ still fab at 40 The Crusader
would be sadly remiss were we not to pause and observe an important anniversary
for the supreme achievement in rock music history, a work of art
Yes, it was forty years ago today (or actually last month) that Sergeant Pepper taught his band to play, and the impact of the Beatles’ epochal album continues to resonate here on Joan De Arc Avenue. The cultural sea change precipitated by this collection of twelve pop songs (one reprised) simply cannot be overstated. The critic Kenneth Tynan called it “a decisive moment in the history of Western civilization.” Which sounds about right. The Beatles had already wielded an enormous influence on fashion and culture pre-‘Pepper,’ but with the release of this extraordinary disc these effects suddenly became exponentially more profound. From the whimsical title track, through the gorgeous psychedelia of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” to the delicate and heartrending “She’s Leaving Home” and then the haunting and climactic finale “A Day in the Life,” this recording quite simply offered up a sublime new world for us to explore. Even the album sleeve transcended all previous experience. Such was the overwhelming strength of the material produced during the ‘Pepper’ recording sessions that the Beatles had the luxury of releasing two of the most famous tracks, “Penny Lane” and "Strawberry Fields Forever,” as a separate record. The lasting impact of this enduring work is neatly and succinctly illustrated by the practice of later bands referring to their most ambitious and accomplished work as their “Sergeant Pepper.” What more need be said? Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band changed our whole notion of what a musical album is and even what its purpose should be. It did nothing less than this. We wholeheartedly recommend a prompt and thorough revisiting of this magnum opus, preferably on the original vinyl. Sit back and let the evening go. ________________________________________________________________
LETTERS
The Crusader welcomes your letters at jdacrusader@aol.com ________________________________________________________________
Summer music wish list
Summer has always been a great time for music. There has never been a shortage of fresh musical releases in the hotter months, and always a handful of good live performances in town. I can tell you that a lot of my favorite music will always be associated with a summer trip, whether to vibe-rich California, a Stones concert in Tucson, or just Bill’s Records at Chris-Town. School’s out, baby. Back in those heady salad days of the 70’s, music of adequate quality was mostly available on flat vinyl discs, the waveforms that defined the sounds wound into a spiral and impressed into tiny grooves on either side of a plastic platter. I realize that this is hard to believe, but it’s actually true. This technology was little changed from the first sound reproduction machines invented by Edison shortly after the Civil War, other than the growing costs of ever more elaborate turntables. During my high school years, you couldn’t pick a magazine that didn’t have at least twenty turntable ads, and I drooled over each one of them. That changed at some point during the 80’s, and now it’s all digital. On smaller plastic disks, or no disks at all, the sounds are now all encoded into a long string of ones and zeroes. Many people believe that the old vinyl disks sound better, but maybe they don’t remember the little pops and clicks that invariably appeared in the music, especially after the heavy neighbor lady danced the bump right into the table containing your overpriced turntable at that party in Tempe. At any rate, that turntable is now gathering dust in the garage! You paid how much? You fool! And this brings me to the point of this Chuck’s Corner. You see, there is no way a person such as myself, immersed as I was in the duties and responsibilities of parenthood, could afford in the 80’s to replace my music collection en masse. To this day there are glaring gaps in my CD cabinet, massive holes in the fabric of my musical experience for which I am truly ashamed and embarrassed. And so, here in no particular order, is a handy list of the Top Five Summertime Albums Missing from Chuck’s CD Collection. (Note that summertime in Arizona stretches from March through September)
Aerosmith Toys in the Attic (April 1975) This was back in the days of heavy drug abuse for Steven Tyler and company, and thus arguably some of their best music. A year or so later Tyler created daughter Liv, so he couldn’t possibly have been as wasted as my life is without a copy of this album.
The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (June 1967) Yeah, I know. How couldn’t I?? Well, I don’t, at least not on CD.
Led Zeppelin Houses of the Holy (March 1973) Eight tracks of essential Zep, missing from my mp3 player. I can only imagine the shape I’d be in if I could listen to The Crunge at the gym. Why I’d be huge, I’ll tell you what!
The Rolling Stones Black and Blue (April 1976) Hey Negrita! Maybe I’m a fool to cry, but I’d love to check into the memory motel and listen to a melody from this crazy mama. Alas, I cannot.
Tower of Power Bump City (September 1972) On this album, the boys from Oakland grace us with the critical guidance of “You Got to Funkifize.” Truer words, my friend, have never been spoken.
So, that’s my short list. Your mileage may certainly vary, but unless you went crazy and illegally downloaded everything you ever wanted from the Internet, I’ll bet you’ve got a few summertime memories missing from your music collection, too. You should get started on that, just as soon as you help me correct these grievous injustices in mine.
Chuck still lives in the greater Phoenix area, conveniently near a Best Buy and a Target, and finds that gift cards work nicely for these sorts of things. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________JDA
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