[Summer madness]

Since I don't know how to type out that synth sound for the title of this post, I'll just say "right on, man," revel in how g-d jazzy Kool & the Gang truly was, and hope I hear Herb Kent the Cool Gent play this on an upcoming summer Sunday afternoon. Long afternoons stretching into evening by the lake, Herb laying this out there. Yes, honey. Yes.

I'm actually thinking about yesterday.

Another loss. My age, my experiences, some of them, anyway.

I always dug this track more than their name-maker. This second single is just as lush, but tinged with loss.

I think Mike taped this one for me. On side two was something dissimilar, like Big Audio Dynamite. Or maybe that's not so different. It sounds like summer to me, the end of that first free summer of mine in 1991. It sounds like the distant blue line of lake and sky I'd stare at day after day, as much as I could.

Why won't Jimmy pledge allegiance?

Freedom
Love
Joy
Peace

Let's get some.

You're the poet in my heart.

I've always said, "Stevie always, always helps," but I didn't include this Stevie.

Stevie Nicks recalled the first time she stood on the painted floor of the Velvet Underground, a clothing store in San Francisco where Janis Joplin was known to shop for her stage looks. She talked about seeing her future as a musician there and urged everyone present to stick to their dreams — a platitude, maybe, but one that took flight coming from your hippie aunt Stevie Nicks.

I haven't been able to stop listening to Tusk lately. This isn't the only reason why, as it is, collectively, quite a balm to the spirits and mind lately--but it's a big reason why Tusk feels like the hug of a warm summer night for me. (Except, maybe, this)

The beautiful ones U always seem 2 lose