Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Month: February 2016

"Bilbo Is Dead"
Zeroto180

“Bilbo Is Dead”: Not the Hobbit

Joe’s Record Paradise – thankfully – is only moving up Georgia Avenue a few blocks. Formerly Champion Billiards – at dusk On my last visit to Joe’s I picked up The Record Men:  The Chess Brothers and the Birth of Rock & Roll – the lone music history title in

Read More »
"Girl You Ruff"
Zeroto180

Rocksteady Reggae — Cowbell’s Golden Era

Will Ferrell’s inspired sketch idea as a cowbell-wielding member of Blue Oyster Cult named Gene Frenkle may have lost some of its freshness, however Ferrell deserves credit for galvanizing interest in this long-neglected member of the percussion family.   Five years after that Saturday Night Live sketch originally aired, Paul Farhi

Read More »
"It's a Super-Spectacular Day!"
Zeroto180

Mad Magazine’s Multi-Groove Flexi-Disc

Remember the Las Vegas Roulette record with the “multi-groove“ in which the tonearm stylus randomly selects (at least, in theory) one of 38 separate grooves – one for each slot on the roulette wheel – so as to allow partygoers the ability to play roulette from the comfort of home?   That’s

Read More »
"Honky Tonk Popcorn"
Zeroto180

The Bill Doggett Centennial Begins Now!

Podcasts are great and all, but nothing compares to the magic & excitement of live radio! A recent exchange with WPFW radio’s Andrea Bray – at Andrea’s Fine Hats in Washington, DC just over the line from Silver Spring – unexpectedly resulted in an invitation to join her on the

Read More »
"I Found Love"
Zeroto180

The Free Design Have Found Love

What a perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, as there can never be too much love in this fractured world and in these fractious times. “I Found Love“ The Free Design (1968) “I Found Love” by The Free Design is such an obvious choice for an A-side release (which it

Read More »
"Day Sleeper"
Zeroto180

“Day Sleeper”: Gaze-strumental

Zero to 180 is still trying to determine why “shoegazer” is some sort of epithet, as this subgenre of indie/modern rock is but a modern update of the psychedelic sound, as much as it might pain old-timers to hear.  Violating its must-be-at-least-20-years-old policy yet again, Zero to 180 feels compelled

Read More »
"Get Off the Bus"
Zeroto180

RC Mob: Transit Advocates?

You may recall me telling you how Tom Newbold dragged me to see Great Plains despite my misgivings.  My young befuddled spirit had not yet cottoned onto the ‘radical’ notion that great music (gasp!) isn’t always about great musicianship.  In fact, sometimes all the hemi-demi-semi-quavers and musical gymnastics can get

Read More »
"Dick Clark"
Zeroto180

“Dick Clark”: Well-Engineered 45

Memory is a funny thing.  I can still picture myself standing at the checkout counter at School Kids Records in Columbus, Ohio having a chuckle with Curt Schieber over something – but was it a Great Plains 45 that had just been recorded?  Or was it over the delicious roasted

Read More »
"People of the Sky"
Zeroto180

Sloan: Lost in Translation?

It’s an old story north of the border, and in fact, Zero to 180 would be legally barred from writing about Sloan in Canada due to their massive popularity.  What would be the point? Ah, but here in the States, Sloan is almost a dirty secret.  What’s our stupid problem?

Read More »
"Up The Down Escalator"
Zeroto180

The Chameleons Create Way to Rock

In 1983, while The Ferns were recording a pair of original songs in the ‘modern rock’ vein, The Raisins had already been profiled the summer before in an arts piece for Cincinnati’s short-lived alternative weekly The Outlook entitled, “Raisins Create Another Way to Rock.”  The final section of that article

Read More »
All Categories
Archives