Zoopraxiscope

Another tune from my sojourn with Aunt Margaret and my Martian relatives.

Along with PFM and Le Orme, Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso was one of the big three of Italian prog. As near as I can figure, this tune from their album Darwin! concerns “Nature, red in tooth and claw.”

“What’s so strange when you know that you’re a wizard at three?”

Time for Good King Kong.

For decades there was no escape from Led Zeppelin. I’m sick of them. I don’t ever want to hear “Stairway to Heaven” again, unless it’s sung by Herbert Khaury.

Scott Joplin may be the most famous of the ragtime composers published by John Stark, but the others are well worth listening to (and playing, if you have the fingers), notably Joseph Lamb and James Scott. And Artie Matthews, who wrote five “pastimes” for piano.

Grab your leek and sing along.

Norman Greenbaum is remembered mainly for “Spirit in the Sky,”¹ but I liked the follow-up better. It’s an unexpected subject for someone raised as an Orthodox Jew.

Another forgotten power trio, heavier than most. Their 1970 first album featured a memorably ugly cover.

The late Romantic pianist and composer Moritz Moszkowski was popular in his day, but fell out of fashion as music became increasingly unlistenable in the early 20th century. His pupils included Thomas Beecham, Josef Hofmann and Wanda Landowska.

The Lancaster/Lumley project Marscape featured John Goodsall, Percy Jones and Phil Collins, in addition to Jack Lancaster and Robin Lumley, and can be regarded as the beta version of Brand X. Simon Jeffes plays the koto on this track.

I disliked Aqualung. I listened to Thick as a Brick all the way through — once — and lost interest in Jethro Tull forever. However, their first three albums, with Glen Cornick on bass and Clive Bunker on drums, are still worth listening to.

“Funk #49” got all the airplay ‘way back when, but #48, from their first album, is more fun.

Stravinsky is best-known for his big foot-stomping ballets, but I like his neoclassical works as well.

From the first Dan Hicks record I ever bought.

Le Orme, with Antonio Pagliuca on keyboards, could be considered the Italian counterpart of ELP, though they had a distinctive flavor of their own.

Bunky and Jake caught my ear a century ago when I first started listening to the radio. Few people remember them, but they still sound good to me.