Judas Priest - Sleep Train Pavilion - Concord, CA - Fri. 7-31-09

A couple of weekends ago my lovely girlfriend Jamie & I were watching VH1 Classic, where they were featuring one of my all-time favorite heavy metal record albums, Judas Priest's "British Steel" on the program "Classic Albums".

Hearing the band members & their producer talk about the making of that record gave us quite an insight into the mindset of Judas Priest at the time they recorded their 1980 classic, that will be 30 years old next April 14th, 2010.

Below is the synposis of the program from VH1classic.com

"Had Judas Priest released just this one album, it would still go down in history.Judas Priest was one of the most influential heavy metal bands of the70's.

BRITISH STEEL made them a world-famous band.

The welding of BRITISH STEEL is told in this exclusive program in the band's own words, and by their once long-term producer Tom Allom.

Featuring archive footage, interviews and rare live performances, plus all of BRITISH STEEL'S finest songs, including "Living After Midnight","Breaking the Law", "Metal Gods", "The Rage", "United" and "Grinder", this is a compelling, witty and exhilarating look at the making of one of heavy metal's most artful creations, a true Classic Album.

Watch, listen and kneel to the Metal Gods!"

And for one full hour that's exactly what we did!

I put together this playlist as a tribute to one of the most enduring and endearing metal bands of our time... Judas Priest!

And so tonight while Jamie is working with the Steve Miller Band at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, I'll be metal heading out to the Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord, CA to hear Judas Priest play "British Steel" in it's entirety, along with a bunch of other killer songs from their extensive catalog.

"Are you ready to rock?!!!"

I sure am !!

Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Steel_(album)

Judas Priest
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/17162150411

British Steel album
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/17162950667

Motley Crue - Shoreline Amphitheater Mountain View, CA Thu. 7-30-09

Hey there Readers,

Tonight I'm going to the Motley Crue show at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, Ca.

I'm really excited about the show because I've been an old school Crue-head for 26 years, back when they opened for KISS at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium on Easter Sunday, April 3rd, 1983 with picketers protesting outside because of their song "Shout at the Devil".

To get myself even more pumped up than I already am for tonight's show I've put together this playlist of Crue toonz.

Enjoy!

Motley Crue

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/17374785291

Foghat

Here is yet another playlist inspired and suggested by my rocker bud & workmate Creighton Burke... Foghat!

Enjoy!

Foghat
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/17282242315

The Moon

Being a Cancerian moonchild myself (June 22nd), I am fully cognizant of the effects that the moon has on this spinning blue ball we call Earth, as well as the effects that it also has on its inhabitants.

40 years ago today, on July 20th, 1969 man set foot on the moon for the first time.

To celebrate that momentous occasion I have put together some of the most popular "moon toonz" ever recorded.

I think you will find this collection of lunar lovelies to be quite entertaining.

This set is dedicated to all of the musical artists who were born on July 20th, including, Kim Carnes -64, Carlos Santana - 62, Chris Cornell - 45, and Stone Gossard - 43.

To my longtime friend James Olness, I wish you a groovy Happy Birthday!

And I also want to wish safe passage to the principle owner of the San Francisco Giants, Sue Burns, who passed away yesterday at the age of 58 from ironically, enough, cancer.

Sue, you will be greatly missed, as your beloved Giants make their march towards a post-season berth.



Moon Toonz
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/17232820235

No Harmonies

Here are some songs that you can sing along with and make up some harmonies of your own.

There is no right or wrong, they just are what they are, your interpertation.

Have fun with them, I do!

Cheers,



Songs with No Harmonies
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/8700830219

Judas Preist - Metal Gods

This past weekend Jamie & I were watching VH1 Classic, where they were featuring one of my all-time favorite heavy metal record albums, Judas Priest's "British Steel" on the program "Classic Albums".

Hearing the band members & their producer talk about the making of that record gave us quite an insight into the mindset of Judas Priest at the time they recorded their 1980 classic, that will be 30 years old next April 14th, 2010.

Below is the synposis of the program from VH1classic.com

"Had Judas Priest released just this one album, it would still go down in history.

Judas Priest was one of the most influential heavy metal bands of the70's. BRITISH STEEL made them a world-famous band.

The welding of BRITISH STEEL is told in this exclusive program in the band's own words, and by their once long-term producer Tom Allom.

Featuring archive footage, interviews and rare live performances, plus all of BRITISH STEEL'S finest songs, including "Living After Midnight","Breaking the Law", "Metal Gods", "The Rage", "United" and "Grinder", this is a compelling, witty and exhilarating look at the making of one of heavy metal's most artful creations, a true Classic Album.

Watch, listen and kneel to the Metal Gods!"

And for one full hour that's exactly what we did!

I put together this playlist featuring 7 of the 9 tracks from the album, plus 3 other Priest classics as a 10 track tribute to one of the most enduring and endearing metal bands of our time... Judas Priest!

Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Steel_(album)




Judas Priest - British Steel
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/17162150411

Yes Ineed, the Sandy-man Can!! "...outta here!!!"

One of the coolest moments of the night that got lost in the exhiliration of Jonathan Sanchez' No-Hitter was the panda-monium that ensued 4 innnings earlier when Pablo Sandoval hit his 3-run homer to stake Jonathan to a 7-0 lead over the San Diego Padres after 5 innings of play.

Here it is in all of it's glory!

Thank you David Alloway for making this moment possible for Jamie and I to witness from such an awesome vantage point!

Jonathan Sanchez No Hitter - Fri. 07/10/09 AT&T Park - San Francisco, CA

This is what it looked like from my seat in Lower Reserve Section 114, Row 24, Seat 8 at AT&T Park in San Francisco, CA as Jonathan Sanchez got the final out in his no-hitter against the San Diego Padres in an 8-0 win.

It was a supreme moment in Giants history!

Pablo Sandoval's First Career Grand Slam

I shot the video clip below from my seat in Lower View Section 104, Row 29, Seat 3 on Monday night July 6th, 2009 at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

It's been said that "a picture is worth a thousand words"

Well, this video clip says it all!

Yes indeed, the Sandy-man can, and did!

It was sheer Panda-monium!

Way to go Pablo!

Michael Jackson

Jackson 5 Songs

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16874365195

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 - June 25,2009)

Michael Jackson Songs

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16874116875

Monday, June 22nd, 2009: My 55th Birthday

Hey there Readers,

Today is the second day of Summer, and also it's my 55th birthday, and let me tell you, I feel great!

I worked on my birthday for the first time in I don't know how long.

Usually I take this day off to go out to Ocean Beach in San Francisco, but I couldn't find anyone to fill in for me so here I am at work with my wonderful family of friends.

This is one of the greatest support groups that a person could ever have, so being here at the office today is actually quite a blessing.

I want to thank Loretta & Erin for the Happy Birthday balloon that they left in my workspace for me to see upon my arrival at work, it was so very very sweet of them.

And speaking of very sweet, I want to also thank both Loretta & Erin for the yummy box of mini-cupcakes with the variety of decadently sweet frosting toppings.

Thank you both, you totally rock!

On Sunday, the day before my birthday, I went out to a free rock concert at Speedway Meadows in Golden Gate Park, that featured Gavin Rosdale from Bush as the headliner, along with Matt Nathanson, Sugar Ray and Parachute opening the concert, pun totally intended, lol.

It was a beautiful first-day-of-summer afternoon with clear blue skies, warm temperatures, minimal wind and lots of great music.

My pre-birthday morning started with the quadrennial head shave into a Mohawk, and the best part about that was no nicks this time, unlike when I did it in 2005 and cut myself pretty good, ouch!

Before coming to The city I stopped off at Carmen's Family Barbecue in Hayward to get some pork links & ribs to take with me to the park, along with a couple of Tecate's, and made my way to The City for an afternoon of fun in the sun.

While I was at the concert I was also multi-tasking by listening to the San Francisco Giants on my Walkman (no, I don't own an ipod yet, lol) as they swept the Texas Rangers right out of town with a thrilling and tense 3-2 victory behind the bat of the recently struggling Randy Winn to give Barry Zito his 4th win of the season.

After the concert was over I drove down to Ocean Beach where I saw one of the most beautiful sunsets in recent memory.

As the sunset on the Pacific Ocean, I snapped this photo to capture the essence of the longest day of the year.

Having worked up quite an appetite after a long day of fun in the sun, I stopped off at my favorite Outer Richmond district taqueria, Chino's on Balboa & 36th Ave., for a burrito, which I stood and ate out in front of one of the last of the great district movie theaters in San Francisco, the Balboa theater, which was showing "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3", and "The Proposal".

One of my favorite things to take photographs of is neon at night, and what better neon signs are there than the neon lights of an old movie theater, such as the Balboa.


So after taking this parting shot, I made my way home for a good night's rest before starting my 56th year of life.

After working all day at the office, my girlfriend Jamie & I celebrated my birthday by going to Japantown in San Francisco for a nice Japanese dinner before taking in a show at Yoshi's Jazz Club on Fillmore St.

Yoshi's presented a program called the "Go Left Fest: Where Creative Arts Collide", that featured performances by, among others: legendary 85 year-old Sun Ra Arkestra leader and saxophonist Marshall Allen, noted author Ishmael Reed, pianist Matthew Shipp, trombonist Roswell Rudd, drummer Sunny Murray, pianist Myra Melford-Mark Dresser duo, bassist Joe Morris, clarinetist/saxophonist Beth Custer, saxophonist Oluyemi Thomas and more.

It was quite a fabulous evening of Jazz improvisation that was both unique and adventurous, thanks to my good friend Erik Seibert for the table with the a sweet view.

At the restaurant before the show, my lovely sweetheart Jamie gave me 2 awesome birthday gifts, a beautiful, flowing Egyption shirt with a pseudo tie-dye look that has many vibrant colors, as well as a black baseball cap with a small Egyption scarab beetle on the front, and King Tut Exhibit on the back.

Thank you Jamie, my love, for celebrating 8 years worth of birthday's with me!

So all in all, it was a great night, after a great day, following a great Summer opening weekend.

I am very lucky to have so many family & friends that love me, and that I love too.

What a great life I have!

Here's some Summer music for you all to enjoy...

Cheers,

Mick

Songs from the Summer of '64
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16381103371

My First Vinyl

I sent this message below as an email to the KFOG Morning Show in response to ...

June 19th is Vinyl Friday on the KFOG Morning Show :

In honor of this weekend's Vinyl Saturday, the KFOG Morning Show will be spinning some of their favorite vinyl on Friday morning, discussing their first 7" and LPs, as well as giving away some vinyl albums and sets. Drop us a line with the story about your "first" at mornings@kfog.com.

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My First Vinyl

Hello, my name is Mick Flaire and I am a born and raised San Franciscan who will turn 55 years old this coming Monday, June 22nd, 2009.

My first vinyl purchases were made during the Summer of Love, in June of 1967, when I was 12 and going on 13 years old.

With my transistor radio in hand, I was skateboarding south on 3rd St. just pass the Lefty O’Doul Bridge when I stopped to make a call at a phone booth on the corner of 16th & 3rd Streets.

I just happened to look down on the ground in the phone booth and saw a $10.00 bill lying there.

Many times as a kid walking along the streets of San Francisco I had picked up nickels, dimes & quarters, but at the tender age of 13 years old, that was the most money I had ever found.

Most kids would have instantly run off to the closest grocery store and bought as much candy as they could for $10.00, but not me, because I was an absolute AM pop radio junkie!

So what did I do?

I skateboarded over to my local record shop on Leland Ave. in Visitacion Valley, and bought 10 of my favorite 45 rpm records of the time.

The first record I bought was a song that still to this day, 42 years later, is my “favorite song of life”, The Doors’ Light My Fire.

The other 9 singles that I bought that day were;

2) Society’s Child – Janis Ian

3) Somebody to Love- Jefferson Airplane

4) Let’s Live For Today – The Grass Roots

5) Windy – The Association

6) The Golden Road (to unlimted devotion) – Grateful Dead

7) Sing Me a Rainbow – The Sons of Champlin

8) Let’s Get Together – The Youngbloods

9) Live – The Merry-Go-Round

10) Brown Eyed Girl – Van Morrison

I still have all 10 of those 45 rpm singles, as well as over 8,000 long-playing 33 rpm record albums, including my very first LP, the Jefferson Airplane’s “Surrealistic Pillow”.

In the Spring of 1968, as a student at Luther Burbank Jr. High School in the Excelsior District of San Francisco, my friend Genaro Ocreto and I would race over to his house after school and play DJ.

First we would go down to the Woolworth’s store on Mission & Brazil Streets and buy the latest releases, and then go to his house and play them in the sequential order of their debut on the Top 30 record charts.

It was those afternoons spent playing records in Genaro’s living room that has led directly to me playing those very same records, 41 years later, for audiences in the Poster Room Lounge at the Fillmore since 2002, for my mythical radio program “Just For The Record”, on my imaginary radio station “KBGP, 98.7 FM, in San Francisco, a tenth of a degree higher than normal”

It is my pleasure to share with you, and the KFOG listeners, the story of my first vinyl record purchases.

Thank you so much for keeping the tradition alive, as I have also done for all these years.

Cheers,

Mick “Professor Phil Moore, Jr.” Flaire
San Francisco, California

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Here is a compilation of great songs from my favorite music year of life, 1967!

Enjoy!




Songs from 1967
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/8700897547

My Favorite Songs

I just realized that I've posted all of these playlists based on various different criteria, but I never posted one based on what I like.

So here it is, some of my favorite songs!

Cheers,

Mick



My Favorite Songs
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/8571709963

Happy Birthday Judy Garland

The great american actress & singer Judy Garland would have been 87 years old today.

She was born on June 10th, 1922 and died at the age of 47 on my 15th birthday, June 22,1969.

It's ironic that today turns out to be her birthday because for the last 2 days I had been searching on line for a photograph of the scene from the "Wizard of Oz", where the Cowardly Lion runs down that long corridor and jumps out of the window.

And the reason I was looking for that photo was to compare it to the long hallway with the shiny black floor in our new offices that totally resembles the hallway in the wizard's palace.

I never did find that shot, but what I did find was a zillion other photos from the "Wizard of Oz", some of which I've included here, just for you!

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Frances Gumm!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judy_garland

Judy Garland Songs

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16648140043

Armando's 75th Birthday Celebration

A night to remember...

On Saturday night May 30th, 2009 I attended Cuban percussionisto Armando Peraza's 75th birthday celebration at Yoshi's Jazz Club & Japanese Reataurant in Oakland, CA.

I've known Armando for many years, as the fantastic and ageless Latin jazz percussionist who has played with many of the giants in the music industry, including a lengthy stint with the Santana band, as well as playing with conga drummer Mongo Santamaria, jazz pianist George Shearing, and vibraphonist Cal Tjader.

It was such a pleasure to hear and see Armando, as vibrant as ever, playing his congas again for an enthusiastic crowd of dancing, clapping wellwishers on his 75th birthday.

Armando has had a long & fulfilling adventurous life doing one of the things he does best and loves most, playing music, and entertaining his adoring fans, of which I am one.

Cheers to you Armando!

Songs featuring Armando Perazo

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16630915851

Thank you Erik Seibert for making it possible for me to partake in this momentous occasion.

1956: Top Songs

Hey there Readers,

Here is another in my series of playlists created to jog the memories of those who remember these songs, and to pay homage to those born in the year that these songs were popular.

I want to thank my workmate and friend Loretta for her special request of songs from 1956.

"...get back, get back, get back to where you once belong... get back Loretta!"

Enjoy!

Songs from 1956
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16588401419

Rockin' with The Hormones @ Slim's Nightclub, San Francisco - Fri. 05/29/09

On Friday night May 29th I went out to see my friends the Hormones, (Margo/guitar, Ronda/vocals, Lisa/drums, & Joy/bass) an all-female Ramones tribute band perform at Slim's Nightclub in San Francisco.

I'll sum up the show in one word... awesome!

I saw them last year in their beginning stages and knew even back then that this was gonna be more than just 4 girls playing Ramones songs.

Not only do they have the look, they have the feel and the sound of the Ramones down to a T.

“Ladies & gentleman, the Hormones!”

Wayman Tisdale (June 9, 1964 – May 15, 2009)

Wayman Tisdale, who became a successful jazz musician after retiring from pro basketball, died on Friday May 15 th, 2009 morning after a two-year battle with cancer.

Tisdale, 44, died in a Tulsa, Oklahoma, hospital, where his wife took him when he had trouble breathing.

His jazz recording career began in 1995, two years before his 1997 NBA retirement, with a debut CD that rose to No. 4 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz chart and crossed over onto the R&B charts


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayman_Tisdale

Songs featuring Wayman Tisdale

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16302842635

"Ladies & gentelman, Lynyrd Skynyrd!"

Hey there Readers,

Today's post is a tribute to one of the most lasting and durable rock and roll bands that America has ever produced, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

A few days ago Lynyrd Skynyrd's bass player Donald "Ean" Evans passed away at the age of 48 from cancer.

And although we mourn his passing, we also celebrate his living.

The music of Lynyrd Skynyrd will live on long after all of us are gone, and so this playlist is dedicated to the music of Lynyrd Skynyrd, to all of the band members who made this fabulous music, and to all us the fans that have loved these songs for more than 3 decades.

Peace, Love, & Cheers!

Mick



Lynyrd Skynyrd
http://www.playlist.com/playlist/16205157131