The Best of Sweet

I recently bought The Best of Sweet. The album is hardly comprehensive, but it provides a good cross section of their hits. It is also the only Sweet greatest hits album available in the United States.

For those of you wondering who the band Sweet was, they were the group who originally performed the song "Ballroom Blitz." There was a lot more to Sweet than that song, but, while they had a string of hits in the UK, they never really took off here in America. Their hits here can be listed on one hand: "Little Willy," "Ballroom Blitz," "Fox on the Run," "Action," and "Love is Like Oxygen." Despite their lack of hits here, they have remained a cult band in the United States.

That is with good reason, as they were a very talented group. They started out as a bubblegum group before progressing to more mature rock. Beyond "Wig-Wam Bam," The Best of Sweet doesn't really present much of their bubblegum phase. In fact, "Wig-Wam Bam," "Little Willy," and "Blockbuster" are the oldest songs on the album, even though Sweet had been around for a few years by the time of their releases. Instead of focusing on their early, bubblegum years, The Best of Sweet concentrates primarily on the era of their hit album Desolation Boulevard and thereafter. Not that I am complaining. It is good to have "Love is Like Oxygen," "The Lies in Your Eyes," "Ballroom Blitz," and other hits on one album.

I grew up listening to Sweet and I still enjoy them. They are still one of my favourite bands. If the only thing you have heard of Sweet is "Ballroom Blitz," then I recommend you give The Best of Sweet a listen.

Yet Another Poem

I hope y'all don't mind if I publish another poem. I promise my next entry will be a real one. LOL. This particular poem was published in Cappers Weekly many, many years ago. I'm not sure that I care for it much, but, hey, it was worth $5....

"Postures of Life"

Taking the first steps of life,
forward the infant blunders,
looking with curiosity rife,
the world is filled with wonder.

Childhood behind him, the young man rises
to throw caution to the wind,
forward he rushes to life's surprises,
knowing joy lies round the bend.

Confident stands the man in his prime,
child resting on his shoulders.
'Tween home and work he divides his time,
he knows he's getting older.

Peacefully the old man sits for awhile,
musing years of past thunder,
he looks around himself with a smile,
the world is filled with wonder.

Distance

I hope y'all don't mind another poem, but right now I still have writer's block (which is worse than writer's cramp)...

So many miles away
lies the country where my heart belongs.
Each moment of each day
it's to be by you for which I long.

And when I might despair,
I realise that you might feel the same.
I hope to hear your voice so fair
speak now and bring magic to my name.

For if you feel for me
the emotion that I feel for you
the distance ceases to be
and close neighbours become we two.

The distance between us
is not enough to keep us apart.
Though miles lie between us
we can be together in our hearts.

Michelle

Okay, I have writer's block, so here is another poem. LOL. Of all the poems I have written, this is my favourite.

If you wove sunshine, it would be her hair,
And if stars were green they would be her eyes.
The gods themselves have seen no one so fair,
For all the heavens sing when she walks by.

Every movement is a work of art.
Every word she speaks is a song.
From her no man would willingly part,
For her favour he would forever long.

A fair and wise woman with whom to talk,
Her mind is as bright as her face is fair.
Poetry blooms wherever she may walk,
And beauty follows her everywhere.

Downtown

I don't know how many of you remember the old Petulia Clark song "Downtown." I remember hearing on the radio constantly when I was about three or four. There was a time when the downtown districts of towns were their hearts. They were where everything seemed to go on and where the bulk of the businesses were located. It seems to me that at some point in the Seventies (earlier for some towns), downtown districts went into decline. Shops closed and there weren't the variety of businesses that there once were downtown. I think that has changed for some cities, although I can think plenty, particularly small towns, whose downtown districts have never recovered.

Indeed, downtown Huntsville is a far cry from what it once was. Indeed, before I was born we not only had many businesses downtown, but our downtown was historic. It was in downtown Huntsville that the first Westlake Hardware store was opened. For those of you don't know, the Westlake Hardware chain was one of the cornerstones of the Ace Hardware chain. Downtown Huntsville also had a movie theatre, the Roxy, which closed several years before I was born. Huntsville's downtown suffered a blow even before I was born when part of it was cleared to make way for the new bank and the new post office. Still, there were plenty of businesses there when I was young. There was Westlake Hardware, Dave's TV, the drugstore, two grocery stores (Summers and Temple Stevens), and a cafe. Over the years all of these businesses closed. The drugstore and Summers burned. I guess the others just could not make a go of it. The recessions of the Seventies and Eighties took their toll.

Of course, neighbouring Moberly didn't fare much better. At one time downtown Moberly boasted two department stores (J. C. Penney and Montgomery Ward), a Krogers grocery store, two dime stores (Woolworth and Ben Franklin), a Coast to Coast store (a midwestern home and garden chain), and several clothing stores. J. C. Penney, Woolworth, Coast to Coast, and Ben Franklin are all gone now. Even the movie theatres aren't downtown any longer.

I am not quite sure why downtown districts started drying up. I know many of laid the blame at such discount store chains as WalMart, Kmart, and Costco, but personally I am not sure that I buy that. These chains arose in the Sixties and it seems to me that downtown districts really didn't start going downhill until the Seventies and Eighties. I think part of it may have been the phenomenon of the "strip," the length of highway that either runs through or beside many towns. In Moberly many businesses moved out to Business Highway 63, aka Morley Street. Even the theatres are located there now (they built the new Five and Drive beside the Drive In). I think another part could have been the simply the economy of the Seventies and Eighties. It doesn't seem to me coincidence that we went through recessions during these times when so many businesses were closing their doors. In the case of Moberly, I think its downtown was hurt simply by the railrood pulling up stakes and moving elsewhere. Besides the Thomas Hill Power Plant and farming, the railroad was Randolph County's chief industry. I have no doubt when it left it seriously hurt our economy.

At any rate, it does seem to me that downtown districts have recovered to some degree. In Huntsville there is Thelma's Gift Corral, Cindy's Craft Shop, and Cleeton's Flea Market, even though we have yet to get another drug store or downtown grocer. Moberly has a Dollar General downtown and several clothing stores. Of course, Huntsville and Moberly are both small towns. I think it has largely been the downtown districts of larger cities that have really recovered. I remember that Columbia's downtown district was in sharp decline in the Eighties. Now virtually it is filled with an array of specialty shops, everything from Best of the West (specialising in art and jewellery from the American Southwest) to the Danger Room (the local comic book and gaming shop) to several clothing stores.

I can only hope that the downtown districts of small towns recover the way that Columbia's downtown has. There is something to be said for an area in a city where one can go to a variety of shops, even walking from one shop to another. In fact, it seems a lot more convenient that driving to a WalMart, then to an Ace Hardware about a mile away, and then to a theatre that may be a little more further away...

A Hedge of Thorns

I thought for a change I would subject any readers I might have to some of my poetry. This one is based on the fairy tale "Sleeping Beauty." By the way, her eyes are green because there is a certain woman I have always thought looks a lot like Sleeping Beauty....

So much stands between us two,
a hedge of thorns, a lake of fire.
A sleeping curse e'er keeps you
imprisoned in a castle dire.

So many have tried before
to save the day and win your heart.
Dead litter the castle door,
brave knights and princes torn apart.

Yet I would brave the dragon
to look upon those eyes of green
and to stroke that hair so golden,
to kiss the fairest girl e'er seen.

Where others failed, I shall not
to awaken you from your sleep.
I've a weapon they did not,
a love that runs ever so deep.
Yet I would brave the dragon
to look upon those eyes of green
and to stroke that hair so golden,
to kiss the fairest girl e'er seen.

Where others failed, I shall not
to awaken you from your sleep.
I've a weapon they did not,
a love that runs ever so deep.

Genre Mélangé

For the most part it seems to me that people behave as if literary and film genres possess firm boundaries. A mystery is a mystery, a Western is a Western, and never the twain shall meet. In truth this is often not the case, as most literary and cinematic works tend to cross genre boundaries from time to time. The Ox-Bow Incident isn't just a Western, it is also a psychological drama as well. Pscyho isn't just a horror movie, but also a mystery. There are very few books or films that can truly be said to belong firmly to only one genre. That having been said, there are those times when a work combines two or more genres that are so distinct that it becomes something utterly new. I refer to such works as being genre mélangé or, in plain English, "mixed genre."

In my opinion the perfect example of genre mélangé is the old TV series The Wild Wild West. The Wild Wild West was pitched to CBS as James Bond in the Old West. It was then automatically planned to be a combination of the espionage and Western genres. As the series got underway, however, it emerged with elements of science fiction of the Jules Verne variety and even outright fantasy. The Wild Wild West was then not simply a Western, but also a spy drama and a sci-fi series. Common sense would seem to dicate that such a duke's mixture would not work. Not only would such a series be poor in quality, but it would also probably not see much success. Yet The Wild Wild West is regarded by many as a classic TV series. It ran four years on CBS before going onto one of the most successful syndication runs of all time. In fact, it was so successful that Fox debuted another sci-fi Western in the Nineties. While The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. did not have a long run, it remains a cult series to this day.

Another example of genre mélangé is the movie The Crimson Pirate. Made in 1952 at the height of Hollywood's pirate craze, The Crimson Pirate was ostensively a pirate movie. Burt Lancaster played the title character, Captain Vallo, who decided to sell weapons stolen from a Spanish galleon to a rebel leader. Along the way he encounters Professor Prudence, an inventor whose inventions are decidedly advanced for the 18th century! The Crimson Pirate is then not simply a pirate movie, but a sci-fi movie as well. As it is also played tongue in cheek and has a great deal of humour, it could also be considered a comedy. The Crimson Pirate is then simultaneously a pirate movie, a sci-fi movie, and a comedy.

Another cinematic example of genre mélangé is Kronos, known in the United States as Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter. This Hammer classic follows the adventures of Kronos as he battles a new sort of vampire. The movie is obviously a horror film, yet as Kronos wields a sword to great effect, it can also be counted as a swashbuckler. Director/screenwriter Brian Clemens also incorporated elements of John Ford Westerns. Kronos is then a combination of horror, swashbuckler, and Western.

Of course, at times when enough works combine enough elements of enough genres, a whole new genre can be born. This was the case with cyberpunk. Cyberpunk combined film noir elements with elements of science fiction with a focus on computers and other information technologies. What originally began as genre mélangé became a subgenre of science fiction in its own right. Oddly enough, cyberpunk would spawn yet another subgenre--steampunk. Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction using a Victorian or Victorian style setting, but with decidedly advanced technology (usually powered by steam, hence the name). The early steampunk works used the noir elements of cyberpunk and the same anti-authoritarian attitudes, although they eventually grew to resemble the scientific romances of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells more than cyberpunk. Arguably, both The Wild Wild West and Adventures of Brisco County Jr. could be considered precurssors to steampunk.

Anyhow, genre mélangé as probably existed as long as the whole convetion of genres has. Indeed, the past few years have seen Van Helsing, Hellboy, and others. I rather suspect as time goes by there will be more works of genre mélangé.