Pop Geek Heaven

ZAL YANOVSKY “Alive and Well in Argentina”   The Beatles were often compared to the Marx Brothers, especially after the release of their first feature film, A Hard Day’s Night. And while I don’t think the comparison is without merit, the closest thing to a Marx Brother in rock ’n’ roll, in my opinion, was […]

PICADILLY LANE “The Huge World of Emily Small”   Last week, my son and I went to see Donovan on the Sunshine Superman 50th Anniversary Tour. For me, it was a bit of a pilgrimage—Donovan was one of my favorite pop stars of the Summer of Love, yet I had never gotten around to seeing […]

THE HEAVY CIRCLES “The Heavy Circles”   One of my very favorite records of the last ten years or so is Harper Simon’s self-titled debut album, released in 2009. Sparking folk-rock with some lovely baroque pop touches, it still gets frequent spins on my stereo. A conversation with one of the owners of a local […]

LARRY NORMAN “Upon This Rock” Geeky pop fans can argue interminably about what was the first rock ’n’ roll record: was it Jackie Brenston’s “Rocket 88,” Goree Carter’s “Rock Awhile,” Wynonie Harris’ “Good Rockin’ Tonight” or one of any number of other contenders? Similar arguments can be had about the first punk record, the first […]

NEAL HEFTI/The Wild Ones “Lord Love a Duck” Original Motion Picture Soundtrack By Peter Marston If pop fans are familiar with Neal Hefti, it is almost always because he is the composer of the iconic theme from the Batman television show (recorded first by Nelson Riddle with The Ron Hickland Singers and then covered by […]

EDGE “Edge” Many, many bands privately press singles, EPs and albums to be sold at shows, on-line or, in previous generations, by mail order. Such albums are, by their nature, destined to become rarities and, if the band meets with later success, often highly collectible and occasionally even a “holy grail.” But in all my years […]

JANGLE ON! AUGUST by Eric Sorensen The summer heat has kept me indoors more than usual for the past two months; the silver lining in this situation is that I have had more time to enjoy the latest in power pop and jangle pop CDs and song.  As summer nears its end, I look forward […]

AUSTIN ROBERTS “Austin Roberts” by Peter Marston I was raised on AM Top 40 radio and I am very grateful for that. Hearing rock, pop, soul, folk, funk, country, and MOR all on the same station gave me a real appreciation for all types of music. Now, my kids use Bluetooth to stream music over […]

CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY “Roomful of Monkeys” by Peter Marston In the late ’70s, I played briefly in a punk band called The Onlys. We had pressed a self-financed EP and got some spins on KROQ here in Los Angeles, including a couple on Rodney Bingenheimer’s show. With stars in our eyes, we submitted the EP […]

HARDCHOIR “Hardchoir” by Peter Marston I love having a good story behind the record albums in my collection. I have shared some of these stories in previous Lost Treasure posts, but I suppose there is always room for one more. I make my living as a teacher and last semester I had a student who, […]