Update: We're solidly at 2/3 of our goal tonight. We're getting really close. I am so knocked out and humbled by all the support that's come in the last 24 hours, I can't tell you how great it is to know the Archive stands a good chance of being saved and Newstalgia stands a good chance of being here for you. But please don't stop just yet - we're still a ways off. Even with 1/3 left to go it can still not happen. If we can keep this going a little long, and if you can donate whatever you can, whatever amount you feel comfortable with. I'm not asking for millions, I'm just asking to take the lien off and keep the site on. We can do this - we're doing this - you're doing this. I am beyond grateful.

Diving into the 70's tonight for a concert featuring 70's icons Mott The Hoople, recorded at The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on April 12, 1973.

I remember this concert really well. I was sitting somewhere near the front. Ian Hunter had a cold and his voice was a little shot. But Mott The Hoople were one amazing band and this was at a time they were just hitting mass popularity. With such classics as All The Way To Memphis and All The Young Dudes (which are included here) just recently released, they were riding the crest of a very big wave.

This is the whole set - all 90 minutes worth. Crank it up and enjoy.

Pretend it's 1974.

The Boomtown Rats this weekend, recorded live at The Hammersmith Odeon in London, April 1982.

A high-energy set - and that's a hint to play it loud.

Enjoy the weekend. Keep it real.

Coming along at the pinnacle of the Glam-Rock movement, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band cut a rather unique figure in the annals of 70's rock n' roll. Like many bands of the period, you really had to see them live in order to appreciate them.

Led by former Blues singer Alex Harvey, who already had a career in the early 1960's as a solo artist and later, as a member of Simon Dupree Big Sound, Harvey added a dose of the lunatic fringe to his stage persona and acquired a large a loyal following as the result.

Tonight it's a track off his 1973 album Next. The Faith Healer is a timeless bit of writing, just as apropos now as it was when it first came out.

And if you've never heard The Sensational Alex Harvey Band before tonight, I would take a little time and check them out if I were you. You might be missing something.

XTC tonight. A live version of Set Myself On Fire from their double Towers Of London single, issued in the UK.

What was very often a challenge, during the late 70's and way into the 80's (and most likely beyond) were all the different configurations of 45 singles, 45 ep's, 12" ep's, 12" singles, cassette singles, Limited Edition non-lp mixes and everything in-between. And sometimes, if you got the wrong one, you missed out on a great track and had to wait a lot of years for it to show up on a Special Limited Edition Compilation album. XTC were masters at doing that. Actually, come to think of it, most bands from the UK were good at doing that too. It was/is a clever marketing ploy and ran the risk of being pretty expensive. But the upshot was, you got to hear some great tracks, and very often got to have some good bragging rights to boot.

Even though Set Myself On Fire was a well-known album track, this live version, recorded at The Rainbow on September 17, 1979, has always been my favorite. But I'm a sucker for live material anyway - there is always that extra snap when it's live.

Anyway, XTC fans no doubt have this on a compilation (although, just checking this live version doesn't appear on any compilation or even as a bonus so unless I missed something . . . .). But I was going through that box of 45's (where Marvin Gaye came from last night) and had to include it tonight.

Try your hand a bit of pogo tonight? Unless you live upstairs from somebody.

(Your weekend dose of Rock n' Roll compliments of Mr. Petty)

Back to the States this weekend for a set featuring Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers from 1987. Sorry, I don't have the venue or the exact date nailed down, but I'm sure you Tom Petty aficionados out there will have that information memorized. So if you could pass it on . . .much appreciated.

Enjoy, play loud and don't think about Monday.

(Ride - A wall of magnificent noise)

1991 tonight. Ride, live at The Town and Country in London via the BBC. Ride were one of those bands who, along with Blur, The Charlatans, The Stone Roses and many others epitomized the resurgence in British music of the early 90s. Although they never really caught on in the States, Ride were a milestone group in achieving that all-encompassing wall of sound that was influential in other bands from the same period and even today. They had perfected it. This particular concert has most all their early material, just prior to their first album and for me, it was a pivotal point in their development as a band. Although they changed personnel and direction after a while, it's this period of the band that has always stayed with me as their best and most adventuresome. Listening to this concert again after almost twenty years, (oh god . . .it's been THAT long ago?) I realize just how powerful they were and how fresh it still sounds.

There are some things that just never seem old to me - Ride in 1991 is one of them.

(Dan Hicks - complete with editorial comment)

A short set tonight featuring Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, live at New Orleans House in March of 1971. This comes by way of an aircheck from KMPX, San Francisco so the sound on the tape is a little hissy.

But Hicks is great no matter where or how you hear him and this is Dan Hicks during one of his most memorable periods.

Sit back, kick the shoes off and enjoy.

. . and don't forget to put something in the kitty if you can swing it.