Spare Keys For Strange Doors

Spare Keys For Strange Doors harkens back to the days of witty adventure serial newspaper comics that don't really exist anymore. Twice weekly (usually) chronicles of Toby and Marion, a British couple who specialize in the supernatural, with a flair for reveling in the mundane that only the British can quite pull off.

The series reads well either all in one sitting or episode to episode, and like all the best of the genre it rewards re-reading. It's a lovely thing that this kind of storytelling still exists, and is alive and well.

Daptone Records

The fellas who run Daptone Records are doing a service to the world, recording and producing Old School Soul music with the same mentality of Motown or Stax. From playing an instrumental (literally) role in Amy Winehouse's staggering Back To Black (The platinum record they earned for which hangs over the toilet in the studio's bathroom) to locating singers from all around with untapped potential and putting them in front of microphones and out on tour, these guys deserve congressional medals of honor. Flagship act Sharon Jones was working as a prison guard until Daptone recruited her, now she's touring all over the planet. Plucked from obscurity and shined till she glows. The major music indusry continues on without much notice, but for a niche audience it's a gift from Heaven.



Seeing a Daptone act live is an experience, not just because whoever you're going to see is going to blow your mind, but also because the merch table is a wonder all it's own. Daptone has a vast catalog of releases on 45 arranged numerically. It's a collector's dream (and nightmare, if you're trying to have a complete collection) and the attention to detail is superb. So if you go to a show, pack some extra ducketts in your pocket. Charles Bradley is on tour, if you live where I do (You know who you are) he'll be throwing down Tuesday night at Headliner's. See you there.

Melanie Safka

Melanie will primarily be remembered for a novelty song, but the real deal was that she could roll out the songs of consciounce and concern. Of course, this was similar ground to that covered by Ray Stevens and Peter, Paul, and Mary.

However, they couldn't cook like this.

The Phantom Edit: Taking Back Star Wars

Perhaps another odd choice for a write up here at Salisbury Snake, but read on. I have some good news for you if you haven't heard it already.

Star Wars might be the least obscure bit of Pop Culture on the planet and unfortunately the prequels aren't exactly defensible. Making matters worse, Lucas has been on a rampage of stirring up ill will lately. The better movies in the series are a big deal to people because they bring up pleasant feelings of nostalgia, but also because they marked the point at which science fiction action movies could be viable entertainment for people of any age, the match that lit the fire in the minds of countless creative minds that would go on to make contributions to film that are immeasurable in scope.

Lucas didn't do it alone. His constant re-edits and changes diminish (and in some cases actually eradicate) the contributions of people like Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan, Ralph McQuarrie, Sebastian Shaw, Richard Marquand, and the original ILM special effects team, who worked with self made models and ingenuity before computers took all the magic out special effects. Lucas is fond of saying that it's his movies and he can do whatever he wants with them, and that's demonstrably true, but without the brilliance of many others he would've had nothing. During the making of the first three movies he was continually challenged by strong personalities in his employ and the limitations of visual effects of the time, and that's what made them what they were. By the time he made the prequels he was surrounded with only yes men.



Which begs the question: What if Lucas had an editor? What if there were someone along the way in the process who, as Harrison Ford was infamous for, could call George on his shit? That question occurred to many of us, but there was one guy who had the gumption, talent, training, and equipment to actually do something about it. The Phantom Edit. I've seen it, and it's truly amazing how much better the movie is as a result of some very careful trims of dialogue, extraneous exposition, and "comic relief." The result is a very different, and almost certainly, a much better film. He then did it again with Episode II to an even better end result. Everyone with any interest at all in these movies or in the way that editing can change a production entirely owes it to themselves to see these.

Unfortunately, you can't buy it. But maybe you can find it...

Paul Williams

Of all the tragedies of The Temptations (and there were a few) none were greater than that of Paul Williams. With his voice and charisma, he could've run a lesser group. Underrated, underutilized, and underappreciated, Paul took his own life without ever receiving his proper due. When you hear his songs, it's mindblowing they weren't bigger hits.

Here's to you, Paul.

The New Myrmidon Of Melodrama: From The Shangri-las To Lana Del Rey

"I think that when you perform music people are always looking for a certain image or a box to put you in...it's not necessarily true. It never was true."
-Mary Weiss

There's been a lot of talk (and I mean negative) about Lana Del Rey lately, so I thought a bit about whether or not the Snake needed to chime in. I usually try to zero in on the obscure and relatively unknown; once an act makes it to Saturday Night Live, they sure as hell don't need me. The mission statement is, however, to defend the unfairly maligned. This chick qualifies. I've got a view on the matter that somehow seems to have gone unexpressed up until now-

Lana Del Rey is the new Shangri-Las.



The Shangri-las and dozens of other girl groups emerged after the deaths of James Dean, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, the Big Bopper and before the emergence of the counterculture. An odd period for American Pop ruled by producers at the Brill Building, when Tin Pan Alley had a go at Rock & Roll. The singers weren't writing their own songs, the bands were fabricated, and everyone was on the label payroll. This was when Phil Spector was rolling cold. It's a sort of blindspot in history, it's not often talked about. Even though most people know and dig the songs from somewhere or another (maybe any number of movies made by nostalgic baby boomers), they might not know about the way it worked. Total artifice, top to bottom.



The issue with Lana Del Rey, the reason for all the controversy, is that she's inauthentic. She portrays herself (or is being portrayed), as a sort of ingenue lost in the world, obsessed with glamor and death. With tragic and gritty life experiences, most of which are centered around a naive love/lust for a dirtbag who doesn't deserve her. A melodramatic personae to be sure, a character. And this is precisely what Mary Weiss was.

An actress, cast in a role written by Shadow Morton.



But does that mean that the emotion is false and that the sentiments could never be real, since the lyrics are scripted? I don't think of Lana Del Rey or Mary Weiss as liars. I think of them as actresses. I fathom that once they were in front of the microphone the sentiment behind what and how they sang was channeled from absolute reality, and the characters were conjured up from truth, and that's pretty compelling.

"The recording studio was the place that you could release what you're feeling...without everybody looking at you."
-Mary Weiss

One Year Of Snake

February marks with pride the one year anniversary of Salisbury Snake. To celebrate, I've gone widescreen and talked Coffee Joe into building the letterhead you see up above. Joe's a real wizard with that photoshop thing, and the design is the result of some serious patience on his part as I did a lot of "No, wait...what if...well...can you get more of my hair in the shot?" He worked from a very crude drawing you can see below. Contrast and compare and all hail Joe, the man who can turn the ramblings and doodles of a madman into beautiful reality.


The design in the S that you see is none other than Pam Greir, the N is my profile in a picture snapped on this past New Year's Eve just before I hit the city, the A is a Nick Fury Gun as designed by Jim Steranko, the K is a naked girl with a pistol rolling a joint that drifted to me from somewhere (if it's yours drop me a line), and the E is from the Billy Jack flick Born Losers. All together in red, white, and black. I think it makes a striking intro, and hopefully you agree.

Here's to another year. Thanks to friends new and old.

Don