• 8,084 replies
    marye
    Joined:
    Bolo24 says: An Idea, Perhaps? Since we're all going to have a fair amount of spare time on our hands for the foreseeable future, what about starting another thread where we all listen to the same show/release on a given day and then share impressions afterward? Folks can submit suggestions and one person (not me) picks what we'll all listen to - call it Deadnet Picks or something. Anyway, if this idea is deemed to have merit, I'd suggest one of the loyal regular posters take the lead and do the picking - y'all can decide who. Might be fun. If it does go forward, I nominate Dick's Picks 18 for the first listen. Been talked about here lately, and, had it been a single show rather than a compilation, we'd probably be talking about it in the same conversation as Cornell, Veneta, etc. Or perhaps even Gainesville?? Stay safe and healthy, friends - this planet needs as many Deadheads as possible.

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  • bluecrow
    Joined:
    5-11-72 Rotterdam

    I can lose my mind, so to speak, in any show from E72, and a whole lot of shows outside that tour over the many years, but that Rotterdam Dark Star > Sugar Mag > Caution > Trucking > Uncle John's will always be one my favorite passages from any show, any era.

    1stShow - check your DMs

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    5/16, 18, and 23

    NIIIIICCCCCEEEE! Glad to hear you liked 5/11 1stshow. Yeah not exactly sure why that one always resonates so well for me. I hate “favorites” (like the Jim philosophy: last one heard is the favorite etc) and this tour has so many RJs is damn near impossible for me, but this one always just pops into my head when I think of E72!
    I’m sure the set list is part of it as you mention in why you liked 5/10 etc, and yes, that Dark Star is mos def RJ!

    Though I really dug the 5/18 DS too, hell, who am I kidding, all these DS are top shelf!
    I’ve had this show and have definitely spent time with the DS, but it was nice to dig deeper into the rest!
    Actually got to give this one a good sit down listen on the big boy stereo, always a plus ; )
    Not sure what it was about Germany, but they seemed to step it up each night.
    We get another DS but pared nicely here with a decent Dew. Sing Me as part of double encore was nice.
    Another nice but rare You Win Again, shame they didn’t keep on with that one? oh, a Sitting On Top!
    That was a nice fun addition if not mind blowing.
    A reminder of another thing I’ve noticed on the tour: it’s most definitely not the 60s Dead anymore, but they still have those flashback moments, they can still totally get that vibe and energy, and at times, if it wasn’t for the completely different sound they’ve cultivated, you might think it’s the 60s. (Besides the DS/TOO weirdness!)
    But it’s not, so they throw down more stellar versions of the new stuff and a perhaps light, but satisfying side o grease.

    Ah snap, I skipped 5/16 lol. Well, at this point they are all starting to roll into one, but that becomes helpful when you do hear a particular hot version of something as it seems to stand out enough to distinguish itself from the mob…
    Don’t recall much of that on 5/16, just yet another solid well played beauty. First time for this one so I gave it multiple whirls streaming at work. Certainly they were trying to reign it in a bit and keep it tight being on world radio broadcast, though as the tour rolls on nearer the conclusion, I have noticed a loosening up occasionally and perhaps slightly more imperfections, but that’s really taking a hard micro look as even with occasional blemishes these shows are all so good. Of course they had to get at least a little weirdness out there with another trippy TOO. Wonder what that would have been like: to randomly turn on your radio to THAT! Lol.
    Interestingly, no Good Lovin again, probably due to time restraints, or the fear of Pig getting to spicy on the radio lol.

    Continuing in a haze now with 5/23. I’ve had a copy of this, but it’s missing some tracks and seemed to have songs mixed in from other shows or some weirdness, so I stopped near end of first set and started over streaming. Interesting show as they continue to mix it up and add some new/old stuff in for variety. I didn’t get the best listen in, but it seemed a tiny bit subdued? I don’t know, can’t come up with right word, so I’ll,project. They seem like their relaxing just a bit like they know they’ve got some good stuff in the can so can mix it up and let go a bit? Or not,…? definitely need to hit this again later, but honestly getting burnt not so much on this Dead as not hearing any other eras. Too each their own but I can’t just listen to one kind of Dead exclusively, but that’s just me. But whatever, another great DS/Dew, perhaps a slightly more polished Dew? Oh oh oh, Mr Kotter, can’t forget the best Comes a Time so far, another fun Sittin On Top!,
    They mix it up with a fun Rockin Pneumonia (dedicated to my cousin Eecktar who’s currently laid up in a Hawaiian hospital with pneumonia and Covid as he’s been their working on some recording studio).
    As I say, not the best listen but all good, another enjoyable show!
    Ok, on to 5/24. This has been an elusive one. I remember being a POTD but only could find aud copy so skipped it, actually a couple times, but today we’re soldiering on and gonna finish it. Since I’ve heard so much about this one I’ll probably give it multiple whirls and check it out on Spotify at work (for better audio) for a couple days before I move on to the big 5/25 beast. So that’s where I’ll be for a bit, until next time,
    ONWARD!

    EDIT: Ha who says there’s no Dead heads in this tour! Ya can hear one singing and humming along at points on this 5/24 aud lol so there was at least one, and Murphy’s law he’s standing right near the mics lol

  • 1stshow70878
    Joined:
    5-10-72 Amsterdam (+ 5-11 Rotterdam)

    I really liked this one. Part of that may have been a good focused late night listen. Mix was slightly different with more Bob, maybe less Keith? That highlighted by Bob's interesting work in China>Rider too. They attempted to slow the tempo in the Rider part but not everyone caught the drift there. Maybe I liked it for the set list and song order again which I found appealing in more than one of the tour so far. It does seem to be the difference some times in what I perceive as a good show. Highlights: Loser, Big Boss Man, TOO which was extended and very spacey (one part had the cat looking at me like WTF?) in the first go, then a little jazzy Keith, then a lengthy somewhat quiet interlude before >Bobby McGee>TOO again. Maybe the best Sing Me Back Home so far of the tour. And a sweet but shorter Sugar Mag> NFA> GDTRFB> NFA again to end. Again DeadbaseX way off with setlist out of order and missing songs. Not really counting on that being right anymore. Still plugging away with Rotterdam next but may get stalled Mon. - Tue. with a trip to the Four Corners region. Need us some slickrock and petroglyphs before the weather starts turning.
    Cheers
    Edit: 5-11-72 Rotterdam. Jeez- Louise! I can see why Oro said this might be his favorite EU72. The whole 1st set is at that slow, let's get this perfect pace and is another killer set that starts with a Playin' so you know it's going to be good. Then this 2nd set starts with a Dew and is monumental with the best DS so far and one that is now in my top 5 of all time and the 2nd set jammed portion runs like 75 minutes! The final Caution/Who Do You Love is a great way to end that song's run. I googled best show of EU72 and this one came up often and is in the top 3 or 4 in most lists. Just a wowzer.

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Icecrmcnkd

    Crumbs...sorry, I wasn't expecting that for an answer. Thanks for the heads up - nice that them upstairs read these posts.

  • icecrmcnkd
    Joined:
    Daverock

    The September GD Bulletin came out yesterday in an email.
    At the end there is a section Community Bits that briefly summarizes what it being discussed on these boards.

    It says:

    In the Pick of the Day, With Discussion thread, Daverock raises the interesting point that for Europe ’72, there weren’t so many Dead Heads in the audience — and that affected the band’s playing. Maybe for the better? What do you think?

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Icecrmcnkd

    Sorry - I'm not sure what that means!

  • icecrmcnkd
    Joined:
    GD Bulletin

    Daverock gets the call out.

  • daverock
    Joined:
    Bickershaw and repetition

    1stshow -no, I have never heard Hawkwind's set at Bickershaw. Curiously, I have never read anything about it either, not from the band or from people who were there. Simonrob was there - maybe he knows something.
    1972 was the year it all came together for Hawkwind, culminating in the Space Ritual tour in December. In fact - a timely thought - the 11 cd special deluxe edition of Space Ritual is out next Friday. Probably not good value for money unless you are really into it - they basically played the same set on that tour wherever they played - this new set features three of them. I'll be getting it - but the original album may be better value overall.

    Going back to The Dead's repetitive - or otherwise - song lists - they would have played to a different audience every night, for the most part, during E72, so maybe it mattered less than later on if they played the same songs a lot. Maybe that was the case for American gigs at first, too. It wasn't common practice in England in the 1970's to see the same band twice on the run, so I wouldn't think it was in America at first. As teenager, apart from anything else, I wouldn't have been able to afford it.

  • JimInMD
    Joined:
    Repetitive, Sort of..

    With the exception of Copenhagen and London, they hit these cities just once and my guess is most locals had not had any real exposure to the touring Grateful Dead. Copenhagen is the real outlier, two hits at the same venue and similar second set setlists.

    I always assumed they wanted to make a presence in Europe and knowing people were not as exposed in the US, wanted to paint a strong picture for each city.

    So 51 years later listening to the whole tour, there is lots of repetition. But if you were there then, it was all brand new. That's how I digested it. They wanted to hit Europe with a cohesive picture of what they were doing then not knowing when or if they would return.

  • Oroborous
    Joined:
    RE: repetition

    Yeah they always went heavy on what was new. Guessing partly for their own sanity/interest, and partly for the crowds.
    Not unlike Taylor Swift etc: make an album, go on the road to support it, rinse and repeat…of course like most things, they weren’t that formulaic, thank goodness lol. Plus, they were smart enough to figure out that it’s better to work stuff out on the road BEFORE you go into the studio to record it, especially when you do constantly tweak and re-invent them. So this tour was perhaps a bit of both lol.
    Also, (think we’ve discussed before?) folks didn’t tour so much back then, probably not at all in 1972 Europe?
    So they didn’t have to worry about that like they did later on.
    Sometimes I think they, or someone, just really enjoyed certain songs, so played en more.
    I’d say they played less repetitive in some ways as the years passed and they had more and more songs to choose from.
    Ok, maybe not Bob, he seemed to need to play everything to death lol. Speaking of, why Me&My Uncle every night! I mean they just put it out on the last live album only a year before! With so much new stuff as the Dead, and from WM and AB, AND both Bob and Jers recent solo albums, why Bob, why LOL ; ) Perhaps trying to bring more American “culture”?
    As far as reinterpreting songs, I think they always did that, though some more than others and with various results.
    I guess that’s yet another thing dependent on the listeners taste and chever way yer pleasure tends…
    But I’d bet the biggest factor on this tour was trying to get at least one good useable version of all the new material since they purposely chose this methodology to get the new songs out on a new album. That and mix in some familiar stuff as you never want to do all unknown songs. I could tell ya a story about doing that lol

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Bolo24 says: An Idea, Perhaps? Since we're all going to have a fair amount of spare time on our hands for the foreseeable future, what about starting another thread where we all listen to the same show/release on a given day and then share impressions afterward? Folks can submit suggestions and one person (not me) picks what we'll all listen to - call it Deadnet Picks or something. Anyway, if this idea is deemed to have merit, I'd suggest one of the loyal regular posters take the lead and do the picking - y'all can decide who. Might be fun. If it does go forward, I nominate Dick's Picks 18 for the first listen. Been talked about here lately, and, had it been a single show rather than a compilation, we'd probably be talking about it in the same conversation as Cornell, Veneta, etc. Or perhaps even Gainesville?? Stay safe and healthy, friends - this planet needs as many Deadheads as possible.
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In reply to by The Good Ole G…

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....yes Dave. One of the more interesting ones I've come across.
"Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley formed the band as a couple in 1984. They chose the name "Yo La Tengo" (Spanish for "I have it," referring to a female-gender object or person). The name came from a baseball anecdote that occurred during the 1962 season, when New York Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn and shortstop Elio Chacón found themselves colliding in the outfield. When Ashburn went for a catch, he would scream, "I got it! I got it!" only to run into Chacón, a Venezuelan who spoke only Spanish. Ashburn learned to yell, "¡Yo la tengo! ¡Yo la tengo!" instead. In a later game, Ashburn happily saw Chacón backing off. He relaxed, positioned himself to catch the ball, and was instead run over by left fielder Frank Thomas, who understood no Spanish and had missed a team meeting that proposed using the words "¡Yo la tengo!" as a way to avoid outfield collisions.[5] After getting up, Thomas asked Ashburn, "What the hell is a Yellow Tango?""
Hilarious. Don't miss those team meetings Frank!!

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In reply to by Vguy72

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pretty good

all together now..."it's not Europe 72, but..."

it's still pretty good

PS I got my work done that day, my friends...luckily, I didn't have to answer to my dad, since he is in Salem Oregon

update on 12/3/79...there's one of those weird patches where all of a sudden we go from soundboard to the hallway and then back to the soundboard.

Onward into Friday. I will do my best to stay focused on my ish.

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In reply to by DeadVikes

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Perhaps my favorite '77 show, add in the bonus tracks and you have a really special release.

Thanks for carrying the torch folks and keeping this alive. Been a bit busy the last few weeks and struggling just to hang on here. Gotta admit, I missed a few of these shows. Trying to manage getting stuff done with the best winter we have had here in more than a decade. Winter is fun, GD is fun, winter and GD is more fun. Add 2/26 to the mix, sublime.

Blink or relax for just a moment and when you snap out of it.. you're old. I cannot play as hard as I used to.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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some slowness in there

2/26/77: Jerry sparkling and spry

2/17/79: still plenty bouncy

12/3/79: ssaayyyyy whhhhaaaa...? Terrapin and Wharf Rat....

Jerry, Jerry, Jerry.

It must have been horrifying for the rest of the band to see such a rapid decline.

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I think I might do a first course of Uptown 81, followed by a Swing 77 dessert!

Happy Friday, DeadLand! Keep the good vibes rolling!

Of, for those of you who like a good Matrix, here is 2/26/81: https://archive.org/details/gd1981-02-26.mtx.chappell.sb02a.28383.sbefa…

Like most shows, give it a minute to "settle down easy" :)

Peace

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Def. not a top-tier pick for me, which is a shame because Fall/Winter 79 is one of my favorite periods of GD. Kind of puzzled why this was chosen, TBH. However, if memory serves, the "Truckin'" is massive if listened to in the proper state of mind and at the proper volume (LOUD!) I do love the artwork on this one...

Overall though, many better shows from this era.

Peace

I think we all know what the top picks are and what constitutes as filler.

If we all had a crystal ball of truth.. it would reveal what we know. Each year until this comes to a screeching halt.. we are going to get a mix of what is deemed releasable shows. The great and the truly good.

That's how it's gonna play out my friends. No need to hope each and every show is a top ten. I will add, I want to see all the releasable shows get a Full Norman. What we are listening to each day and night is history and these shows need to get released.. here's my twenty five bucks, bring it, even 12/3/79, which is not the worst Dave's Picks..

On a separate note, all the remaining Dave's Picks need to have a Cumberland or they will have a revolution on their hands. Who's with me?

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I am happy with what we get.. I was thinking how some releases are wow for the quality or reputation... Others like the July 78 box were more of whoa we have soundboard releases that never existed to us... Would I be happy if we got a Dane County from Feb 15, 1973 oh yes, but a Feb 24, 1973 University of Iowa show would fall into that July 78 box set release type of emotion.. That type of release is what I wish we would get a little more often, but I wonder what the potential amount of releases would even fall into that category . be good everyone. bob t

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I am there, DARK STAR

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In reply to by unkle sam

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I'm there with BTK, UNKLESAM, ICECRMCNKD & everyone else who loves these shows.

52 years ago, 4 of the greatest shows ever started at the Fillmore West and holy shit they're amazing.

The Dark Star the band played on 2/27 is beyond.... description.

Big props to Betty Cantor for picking this one out of the bunch and putting it on the first live Grateful Dead release for all of us to freak out over.
Crazy, she did that before I was even born.
Bow to the Queen.

My little memory on the importance of the Fillmore West Complete Box Set release. (which I've told before)
I saw on the internet that the Grateful Dead was going to release all of Europe '72, I hadn't been collecting the Dead in years as I was booking local rock shows at a club and was into a completely different local music scene that had been eating my brain so in many ways I felt that I'd moved on from the Dead.

But seeing that the WHOLE Europe '72 tour was going to be released just stopped me in my tracks.
When I followed the rabbit down the hole..
one of the first things I saw, they'd already released the COMPLETE Fillmore West '69 run!
The Bus came by that day, and I got back on.

WALSTIB indeed.

This Dark Star rules.

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In reply to by unkle sam

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...be a Debbie downer. I just don’t like when EVERYDAY is a “anniversary” pick, or more to the point, perhaps SOMETIMES we do an anniversary from different years that never get any love.
But who can the weather (or the music) command.
Onward!

EDIT: I’ve been blissfully wallowing in Dave’s Picks 33, 35, 36, and 37. Still have that 72 stuff to get to, but some 69 is always fine, yuck, yuck..

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In reply to by Oroborous

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Haha

This is not "this Day in Dead History" you all ;)

I'm just playing...

“[To poop] originally meant ‘to produce a short blast of sound,’”

Maybe OB just wanted us to hear a short blast of sound?

OB, you know I'm just taking the mickey out of you cause you haven't listened to 10/18/72 yet?
I dig all your input mang.

On a more musical note.. Get it?!?!

I don't think I noticed that patch in The Eleven on 2/27 before 7:54-8:49..
I wonder if that had something to do with them using the 1/26/69 version on Live Dead.
hmmm

You guys are funny.

The Fillmore West box is sorta of a white whale for me. On the fence with release announcement and when I finally went to pull the trigger it had sold out in previous 24 hrs. Not the last time I was slow on the draw but that was a tough one and years later when i started checking resellers it was a bit pricey. Do have the compilation. Someday.

So I'm going with Live Dead today and the Dark Star sounds glorious right now.

Onward!

I know y’all giving me shit, which is nice!
I think my suggestions are not being seen in the right light. Not trying to be negative...Think of it this way;
There’s over 2300 shows, I’d like to hear as many as possible, even if just once, vs listening to say, only the same 200 shows repeatedly. So more shows equals a positive, no? Especially looking for those weird little chestnuts that only a super squirrel finds 🐿
Also, it’s a fragile eco system. Been listening for over forty years already, hope to be able to do so for many more.
Variety is the spice of life!
Ok,enough of all that,
ONWARD!

EDIT: as your senator from the great deadnet state of altered consciousness I hereby propose an amendment to the cosmos hear-by declaring that henceforth the Elevan, should, and must be played on, well....11!

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In reply to by bluecrow

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I also missed out on FW and the steamer trunk, although I did get the 72 AME.

Have FW 27 and 28 on vinyl. Both say Plangent Process. I don’t believe that the FW69 Box says Plangent, but I don’t have a physical copy to look at.
Can some check their Box to see if it says Plangent?
If it doesn’t then that suggests that FW69 has been remastered - Plangentized, Normanized, and vinylized.
27 and 28 sound really nice.
The question is, when will they release the 24/192 hi-def copies?
They could put it on BluRay audio like Led Zep did for Song Remains The Same.

No offense meant Oro, I don’t actually keep up with the picks every day, mostly just on weekends since I don’t listen to music at work. Sometimes do partial shows at night.

Well, it’s around 50 here, the snow is gone, and there’s 2 months of dog poop in the yard....
That's going to take like 45 minutes to clean up.

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In reply to by Oroborous

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Conekid, no Plagent was not used on the Filmore box. The first box they worked on was Winterland 73.

Oroborous, yes, we are still not This Day in Grateful History. Shoot, we are coming up on the one year anniversary of The Pick of the Day. Let's keep it rolling!

Do you all remember what the first pick was?

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In reply to by DeadVikes

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I've got the POTD list ;)

Might've missed a day or two here and there when there wasn't a pick or it wasn't clear what the pick was.
But usually would jot down a notation.
For the most part it's complete.

VGuy... I wrote down 2/27/69 for today.

It's too epic not to give it the nod.

But.. that leaves room for more goodness, might have to do 2/27/81 later.

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In reply to by proudfoot

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None taken!
This ones for you and the job ahead
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mLNAkPsjAEk

EDIT: lol I thought we were doing 69 today? or am I a day late and a dollar short again!
Dbl Edit: yeah, nice work GOGD...we oughta call him scribe, or Radar O’reily

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In reply to by Oroborous

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Plangent or not, still sounds pretty good!
Haven’t heard these since some awesome person turned me on to copies s couple years ago...so good call, ...was due!

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In reply to by Oroborous

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A man walks down the street
He says, "Why am I soft in the middle, now?

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In reply to by proudfoot

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And Betty when you call me,
You can call me Al.

Yeah... listening to the Dead all day can make you a little soft in the middle.
But what a way to go.

Don't want to end up a cartoon
In a cartoon graveyard
Bonedigger, Bonedigger

God I love DeadHeads, I just wish there were more in my neighbor.

FW Box was a Multi Track release.

....tbh Proudfoot, I dabbled. Started with him circa 1980, then moved forward and backward. Got distracted with another band. Circling back.
Like most nuts, pistachios are healthy and good food.
Avocados are up there too.

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God, I must be getting old. A good hit on Friday night at work, up all night, cloudy all Saturday, passed out early, up now.

Anyway,,, coming home from work Friday night fairly electric. Got billboard hits of 1973 playing and the Temps come on with Papa Was a Rolling Stone. (the 12 minute version) My Buick has a ok sound system so I cranked it up. What a great recording. Wonderful separation of sounds, the relentless cymbal. If you haven't heard in a while, pop that bad boy on,,, good headphones sound great,,, and crank it.

I always say Motown is like coke,,,,,, everybody likes coke,,,,,, and sara lee.

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In reply to by Vguy72

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The Zappaverse is vast. I like some of it, dislike some of it, ignore much of it.

If it didnt take, thats cool. His stuff is definitely not for everyone.

If you decide to try it again, i recommend WOIIFTMoney

Also, I happened upon a youtube video called Zappa 60s guitar solos yesterday. That stuff rocks

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In reply to by proudfoot

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Uhhhhhh....

I am on a "no GD for now" diet. So, I got nothing for POTD.

I was surprised yesterday by several facts. Biggest, Temps not the original band,,,, Undisputed Truth (yes, Smilin Faces), put out the first cut and when I scanned my collection I was shocked at the number of covers. And yes, there were maybe 3 from Mickey's band :-)

Another one of those songs the Dead should have done,,,,,, right after Ghost Riders in the Sky!

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In reply to by Dennis

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....is Mickey Harts Mystery Box CD. Or the last show from Anchorage.
Choose wisely.