Off on another vacation, and you won’t be hearing from me again until June 29th. But first, I’ll be sneering at all the prog-poseurs who are at home listening to Rush while I enjoy Sunday’s big Van der Graaf Generator show in New York City. You can be sure that I’ll be treating Peter Hammill’s vocals like an alternative sonic landscape to the instrumental backing. More importantly, I’ll be enjoying Strawbs as the opening act. It’s the acoustic Strawbs, which doesn’t include former member Richard Hudson—who, with former Strawb John Ford, wrote the scathing (and atypical)  “Part of the Union.” Hudson has continued to be an outspoken conservative from his home in the UK. Ford seems to spend a lot of time in NYC, so maybe there’ll be a guest appearance.

While we’re linking music videos, here’s Scott Miller (the one formerly of the V-Roys) performing an acoustic version of “Cheap Ain’t Cheap” from his new album For Crying Out Loud. It’s a nice antidote to all the feel-good Cheap Chic that we’ll be pitched while President Obama’s policies continue to fail.

And here’s “Powder Blue Mercedes Queen” from Paul Revere & the Raiders. It’s a great song that’s often forgotten, but shows up as a bonus track on a recent Aussie reissue combining 1970’s Collage and 1971’s Indian Reservation. Thankfully, the tune’s less political than the latter’s title track. See you on the 29th...

 

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