Even Brady is a Fan Now

I don't post football smack talk very often, but in light of yesterday afternoon's game, I had to share this 'shopped image. It's just too funny.

Steelers defeat Patriots, 25-17

Friday 80s Flashback for October 28, 2011

[Halloween 2011] -- Ah, yeah. It's time for a very special Halloween edition of the Friday 80s Flashback. Now, because I missed posting a flashback last week, and because you've all been good little ghouls and ghosts, there might be an extra treat or two this week. And your first treat is that you can check out all the tunes featured in this week's flashback as a single video playlist! Of course, you can still check them out one at a time, the option which includes my comments and recollections. But either way, you're getting great 80s music for the Halloween weekend! So, if you are opting for your flashbacks one-at-a-time, you can read and hear more after the break.

Friday 80s Flashback for October 14, 2011

[The Art and Science of Alan Parsons Recordings] -- If you read the Flashback of July 29, 2011, might recall how ... (ahem) instrumental ... Alan Parsons has been to the recording industry. Before launching the band that bears his name, Parsons was involved in some rather seminal records: he was an assistant engineer on The Beatles' Abbey Road (1969) and Let it Be (1970), and he engineered Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon (1973). While working as a producer at EMI, Parsons met Eric Woolfson, a self-styled composer and songwriter who was working as a session pianist.

From 1976 to 1987, Parsons and Woolfson released 10 studio albums, eight of which were certified Gold, and 28 singles. Their recordings were covered a wide range of topics from mystery (Tales of Mystery and Imagination) to science fiction (I, Robot and Eye in the Sky), and from the occult (Pyramid) to the impact of industrial technology (Ammonia Avenue). The Alan Parsons Project was never really a hit-making machine, but five of their singles broached the top 25 in the US Hot Adult Contemporary charts, and eight ranked in the top 50 the US Billboard Hot 100. And even if you did not care for the vocals or lyrical content of a particular song, every one of The Project's records were finely engineered for maximum audio enjoyment.

Which brings me to the reason I am featuring Alan Parsons and his colleagues in this week's Flashback.

On Monday, GeekDad posted an interview with "veteran music geek" Alan Parsons (Veteran Music Geek Alan Parsons Talks iPad Recording, ‘Irreversible’ Loss of Fidelity). This was the first time I learned of the three-DVD set that was released this year: Alan Parsons' Art and Science of Sound Recording. After reading the interview (which I highly recommend; you did see I linked it for you, right?), I immediately put the DVDs on my wish list. So, to celebrate this amazing DVD set, I chose three songs from the Project's 80s catalog. We've already featured one of the band's biggest hits in a previous flashback. And you know I tend to avoid the obvious selections when assembling a retrospective. So make the jump to see what is featured this week.

Friday 80s Flashback for October 7, 2011

[Washington Rocks] -- Not Washington, DC. Washington state. Last week, I was vacationing in Washington state (spending time first in Seattle and then in and around Olympic National Park). I thought it might be interesting to see what the 80s music scene was like in this state. Turns out, Washington was quite the hotbed for punk and heavy metal during that time (once you discount the brief fad of Twee Pop). Now, I had intended to post this flashback from the road, but I was not able to finish it in time. So, I'm brushing off the draft, cleaning it up, and posting it this week! If you would like to know what heavy rockin' gems I found, just read and hear more after the break. (Warning: These songs are loud, and possibly disturbing!)