From the desk of Shayne

Although I typically resist the temptation to fill my home with vintage electronics, I can’t help but be fascinated with home video devices of the past.  Total Rewind, The Virtual Museum of Vintage VCRs has information on just about any device that’s ever been used to watch pre-recorded video on your TV.  Their thorough history goes back to some large reel-to-reel units, some very obscure disc-based systems, and all the way through the VHS vs. BetaMAX days until now.  Included are photos, technical explanations of how each format works and the backstory on what went wrong.  The site is extremely entertaining if you’re at all interested in old-timey gadgetry.

As lame as this sounds, I have got to have one of these disco floors.  This is old news, but I have to mention it.  For those of you who haven’t seen this yet, some students from MIT have developed a rather elaborate disco floor (a la Saturday Night Fever) with touch-sensitive panels, USB connectivity with custom controller software, etc.  And, they’ve started a company to sell all of the components to build one in your own home.  For a couple grand, you too can discreetly live out your own disco fantasy (or relive it, whichever the case may be.  Anyway, I give you the 1E Disco Dance Floor.  Definitely check out the videos, you’ll be measuring out a space in your basement for one.

This is the first in what will likely be a long list of classic soul records mentioned on this site. Billy Stewart’s 1965 Chess Records masterpiece, I Do Love You, has been on my heavy rotation list for the past few weeks, and I strongly urge that you get a copy for yourself. If you haven’t heard any of this yet, it isn’t a typical soul record. Aside from the gospel influence that you would expect, there is a heavy dose of scat-inspired jazz style on here, too, that makes for a very interesting disc. Some of the highlights (you’ll notice a trend here):

• I Do Love You
• Love Me
• Why Do I Love You So?
• Fat Boy
• Sitting In The Park

Sadly, Billy Stewart died in a tragic car accident in 1970 after releasing only a handful of albums, cementing his place in soul music obscurity. I wasn’t familiar with Billy Stewart prior to picking up a copy of Time Life’s thorough “Soul Story” collection (yes, I was sold on the info-mercial). “I Do Love You” is on the set, and after a few listens, I had to go digging for more. My recommendation is to pick up the CD reissue of the full album that is out on MCA Special Products. All of Billy’s stuff is fairly obscure, and although there are a few comp discs of his work out there, pretty much anything you could want is on this one. Long story short; $6.98 well spent!

More info:
Allmusic.com
Wikipedia entry