Thanks for playing.

I never said I’ve been on the record business since 1995, I said I spent 30 years in the record business, starting in 1977, the peak of the age of vinyl, cassette, and 8-tracks, and I saw the introduction of the CD, and the end of all those other formats. Recalculating, I actually spent another 7 years or so beyond that, on a consulting basis.

I know vinyl, I’ve got a huge vinyl collection, and I know the business from the inside. The fact that there were far more terrible albums than great albums has nothing to do with the silly idea that they programmed the shitty tracks on the inside because the sound quality was worse. That’s just stupid.

I don’t know why anyone is buying that propaganda. They’ve been stopping huge oil tankers filled with Venezuelan oil. They’re producing enough oil that we wanted it, and plenty of other countries are pissed that we’re taking it from them.

Of course Trump only cares about the oil. Has everyone been asleep for the last decade?

It’s that kind of attention to detail that will take the left far in the…next…mumble…

Why would they leave? This system has made them billionaires. Even if it costs them a little bit more, this system STILL generates billions in revenue. They won’t find a friendlier attitude anywhere else on the planet. If they could, they’d be there.

They just announced on the news that the oil companies are already using the Venezuela Invasion as an excuse to raise prices. Expect an expensive 2026, and tell them what you think of it in November.

The only thing this is about is Trump getting PERSONAL control of the oil, so he can be as wealthy as his friends the Saudis.

Valid.

Nah, their election fraud strategies flipped the top race from the Dem candidate to Trump, in all the swing states. That’s how we ended up with MILLIONS of ballots with a straight Dem ticket, except Trump at the top. Ever talk to one of those voters? Ever see one on TV? Ever even HEARD of one? And yet there are MILLIONS of them? And they only live in those 7 swing states?

It didn’t matter who was at the top of the Democratic side of the ballot, that name was going to get flipped to Trump.

I hate that the MAGAs will take this as a win, as they should.

I like Walz, I wouldn’t mind him as president at all, but right now we need warriors who will stand up to MAGA, and if he doesn’t have it in him, then he needs to get out of the way, which is apparently what he’s doing. I can respect that. At least he’s not sticking around, and trying to talk the rest of us into backing down.

At least some part of me hopes that perhaps this is a strategy, and he intends to fill out his term for governor, and then run for president. It would be like him to feel that it is irresponsible to claim to be governor, while he is spending 99% of his time campaigning for president.

But I want to vote for a serious Democratic Warrior, and this event takes Walz off my list, at least for the time being.

As I said on another post, I’ve never heard of that sort of programming in over 30 years in the record industry.

During the vinyl days, albums were the art form, and artists and producers made great effort to program their tracks listings for the best listener experience. So it would usually start with a big banger to kick off the album, followed by a few fun songs, and ending the side with another banger, just maybe not as big as the opening track, but not always. The idea that it would have less bass, have less fidelity, or was a throwaway song that didn’t require decent sound quality is dumb.

Often the first side ending song was a big number, that would have required the best sound available. Perhaps the best example is Stairway to Heaven, which closes the first side of Led Zeppelin IV, and I defy anyone to call that a second rate track with poor fidelity, and that’s why it was relegated to the inner ring.

The second side is a restart, and often has an interesting opening track, like Within You Without You on Sgt Pepper. ELP’s Karn Evil #9, Part 2. (Part 1 closes the first side) Is probably the all-time best second side opener, with its Carnival Barker call: “Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends…”

But the biggest clue that the idea of the worst songs being relegated to the inner rings is nonsense is the fact that most albums try to have big finish. Again, Led Zeppelin IV perfectly illustrates the issue. It closes with When The Levee Breaks, featuring John Bonham’s thunderous drums, which have since become iconic. It certainly wasn’t a low fidelity track with Plant’s wailing keen, the screaming harmonica, and those monster drums giving it one of the widest dynamic ranges of any rock classic.

Without the side break, the side 1 closer, and the side 2 opener end up side-by-side. The fact that there is a big blast of “busy music” in the middle of the CD, contradicts the assertion that the side closers are lower quality tracks.

In the vinyl days, the programming of album tracks was a major artistic decision, and the fidelity of the track was never a factor. If a song wasn’t good enough that it required being put in a “second-rate” position on the album, why would they be putting it on the album at all?

I used to work for a few record companies, including a small one that was very influential, and I was in the middle of everything, from album concepts, through recording and production, artwork, liner notes, etc., as well as the largest record company in America at the time, and never once in 30 years did I ever hear anybody suggest that the “shittier” songs should be relegated to the inner rings, because the sound is inferior.

That’s just nonsensical on multiple levels, and it has NEVER happened.

And what is YOUR country doing to resist the exact same Far Right pressure on your government? We’re the canary on the coalmine, and while you keep blaming the canary, the poison is growing in your country, too.

They are also building a 30,000 bed facility in Guantanamo Bay, presumably to house citizens that can’t be deported.

For context, right now, the largest prison in America is in Angola, LA, which holds about 8300. Clearly, they intend to hold a LOT of people, far from lawyers, the courts, the media, and protesters.

It’s an awesome place, but you have to love cold weather. I like it some, but Minnesota Winter is beyond my tolerance level.

A successful Blue state, no wonder MAGA hates it.

A fish store near me had a big puffer in a big tank in the middle of the store. They would hand feed it, and if he put his hand in the water, it would position itself to get his tummy scratched. He was the owner’s personal.pet, and wasn’t for sale.

One day, the owner was in the back, and he heard the bell at the front door ring twice in quick succession, as someone came in, and quickly left. When he came back up front, the puffer was missing. Someone had stolen him, and he was never found.

A Fuck You, that’s what! Any other stupid questions?

“Those that don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it,” is supposed to be cautionary, but MAGA treats it like a Game Plan.

His father paid for schools, but he was never educated. He is the classic case of a bully who forced other kids to do his homework, for his entire school career. He literally never learned anything, and is profoundly ignorant.