ROY ORBISON’s “BLACK & WHITE NIGHT”: The Swan-Song Of A Music Legend

I Haven’t Been Buying BLU-RAY Movies For Very Long.

Perhaps A Year Or Two, Now.

Maybe.

And This BLU-RAY…

ROY ORBISON‘s

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Was My Very First BLU-RAY Purchase.

In Fact…

…I Owned It BEFORE I Ever Got A BLU-RAY Player.

No Foolies, My Peeps.

I Knew One Day I’d Own One…

…And This Was The One BLU-RAY Disc I Wanted More Than Any Other.

There Are Many MANY Great BLU-RAY Flicks Out There.

Some Of The Most Amazing Special Effects I’ve Ever Seen With These Two-Eyes Were In The BLU-RAY Format.

Yet…

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Was The One I Wanted Most.

And I’m So Supremely Pleased With Myself For Making Said Purchase.

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Is Simply…

…Honestly…

…Amazingly…

…Wonderful Wonderful WONDERFUL.

Period.

ROY ORBISON

…Is My Music God.

I’ve Loved His Music Since I Was A Child.

I Know, It Sounds Crazy, But You Have To Know Me To Understand Me.

I Was The Kid Who Rarely Listened To What Was Happening Right Then.

I Was Always More Interested In What Had Come Before.

I Was The Kid Who Got Made-Fun-Of Because My First Two CD Purchases Were…

THE JOHN LENNON COLLECTION

…And…

THE BEST OF HERMAN’s HERMITS

πŸ˜€

Again…

…No Foolies, My Peeps.

THE ROY ORBISON COLLECTION

…Was My Third CD Purchase.

It WOULD Have Been First.

It SHOULD Have Been First.

But The Day I Went To “CAMELOT RECORDS” With My Dad To Purchase A Copy, I Was Greeted With A…

"I'm Sorry, Sir, We Sold Our Last Copy Earlier Today. Can I Help You Find Something Else?"

😦

I Was So So SO PISSED.

I Couldn’t Believe Someone Had Bought MY Frickin’ CD.

"That Bastard!"

…Was My First Thought.

"No. I'll Find Something," I Said Meekly.

And I Did.

And I Was Happy To Have My “JOHN LENNON” And “HERMAN’s HERMITS” Discs…

…But It Wasn’t The Same.

I Didn’t Get What I Wanted And I Was Angry.

Who Wouldn’t Be Angry About That?!

EXACTLY!!!

You Would Have Been PISSED, Also.

So…

…When It Came Time To Start Thinking About BLU-RAYS…

…I Knew Immediately Which One I Was Going To Buy.

And By Thunder, I DID IT.

I Got EXACTLY Which Disc I Wanted.

No Hassle.

No Disappointment.

Just Bliss.

Pure, Loving Bliss.

Of All The BLU-RAYS I Now Own…

ROY ORBISON‘s

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Is The Most Special To Me.

His Sound Moves Me.

Unlike Any Other Solo-Artist, He Moves Me.

His Voice…

…Which I Admit Is An Acquired Taste…

…Digs Deeply Into My Soul.

ME…

…The Unemotional Bastard…

…The Quiet…

…The Cold…

…The Cerebral Sociopath…

…Is Moved Nearly To Tears When I Hear ROY Perform.

He’s The Only One, Though.

He’s The Lone Ranger Of My Emotional State.

He Makes Me Smile.

He Makes Me Cry.

He Makes Me Very VERY Happy.

And This BLU-RAY Has Them All.

All His Best Jams.

ONLY THE LONELY

DREAM BABY

BLUE BAYOU

RUNNING SCARED

IN DREAMS

CRYING

CANDYMAN

MEAN WOMAN BLUES

IT’S OVER

OH, PRETTY WOMAN

They’re All Here.

It’s A 17-Track Concert…

…One Of The Last He Performed Before His Unexpected, And Horrifying Death.

When I Heard…

…In 1988…

…That ROY Was Dead…

…I Nearly Lost Myself.

I Simply Couldn’t Believe It.

I Was 8-Years-Old…

…And My Music Hero Was Gone.

It’s A Tough Gig When Your Personal Icon…

…Regardless Of Their Profession…

…Up And Dies On Ya.

It Was So So SO Sad.

😦

BUT…

…Like All Great Artists…

…He Lives On.

His Music Is Still Amazingly Wonderful.

It’s Timeless.

His Sound Was So Unique That It Transcends Time.

For My Money…

…Honestly…

…It Doesn’t Get Any Better.

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Puts ROY Along-Side Music Greats, Like…

JACKSON BROWNE

T. BONE BURNETT

ELVIS COSTELLO

k.d. lang

BONNIE RAITT

J.D. SOUTHER

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

…And…

TOM WAITS

!!! !!! !!!

ROY Is The Show…

…The Others All Back-Him-Up.

What You Get Is An All-Star Concert For The Ages!!!

It’s Brilliant, My Peeps.

It’s A Concert Film I’d Easily Watch With Anyone Who Might Care In The Slightest.

It’s That Good, Kiddies!!!

*** *** ***

*** ***

***

SOOO…

…What Are YOU Watching, Tonight?!

Anything Special??

Anything At All???

Well…

…Y’all Know What I’m Watching…

…What I’m Listening To.

And Regardless Of What You’re Watching…

…I WIN.

PERIOD.

πŸ˜‰

Enjoy The Weekend, My Peeps.

I’m Sure You’ve Earned It.

I’m Sure We’ve ALL Earned It.

Got Nothin’ To Chill To, And Enjoy?!

ROY ORBISON‘s

BLACK & WHITE NIGHT

…Could Easily Fill-In.

I Love It.

And Before It’s All Said And Done…

…You’ll Love It, Also.

Trust Me, My Peeps.

Trust Me, Indeed.

MERCY!!!

πŸ˜€

The Song Stuck In My Head: Midnight Edition: “JUST AS I AM” by AIR SUPPLY (1985)

I’ve Had A Lot Of Big Dreams…

…I’ve Made A Lot Of Bad Moves…

…I Know You Could Walk Away…

…But You Never Do. …

I’ve Met A Lot Of Cold Hearts…

…I’ve Learned To Smile And Deceive…

…I Know I’m Hard To Be Around…

…But You Never Leave. …

I’m Not Easy To Understand…

…But You Hold Out Your Hand. …

And You Say You Love Me…

…JUST AS I AM…

…You Always Treat Me…

…The Best That You Can…

…You Say You Want Me…

…Need Me…

…Love Me, Baby…

…JUST AS I AM…

…JUST AS I AM. …

JUST AS I AMIs The Major Track From The 1985 Self-Titled Album By AIR SUPPLY !!!

… … …

… …

\\//

\/

At This Point In Life…

…Honestly…

…One Would Think I’d Have A Few Things Figured Out.

And I Do.

In Many Many MANY Ways…

…I Really Really REALLY Do.

But…

…When We Delve Deeply Into The World Of “Personal-Relationships”…

…I Still See Myself As A Fumbling, Bumbling Beginner.

Dammit, I KNOW…

…I FEEL…

…There’s Simply NO WAY On Hell’s Half-Acre I Can Be This Damned Clueless About Such An Encompassing Subject.

I May Suck-Ass At Mathematics…

…But I’m A Wiz At History…

…Literature…

…Writing…

…Reading…

…Critiquing The Writing And Reading Of Others…

…And On…

…And On…

…And On And On And On.

And Yet…

…When It Comes To Matters Of The Heart…

…I Sincerely Feel As Inept And Clueless NOW…

…As I Did 20+Years Ago.

I’m Not The Smartest Man Alive…

…And I’m Far From Being The Dumbest…

…Yet I Seem To Have Met My Match…

…Literal AND Proverbial…

…When It Comes To Love.

And THAT ADMISSION Has Me Royally Cheesed-Off, My Peeps.

Admitting A Failing…

…To Me…

…Is Like Inviting The Plague Into My Home Thinking It’s Actually My Aunt Stopping By For A Visit.

EXACTLY.

They’re About A Mile-Wide In Difference…

…Yet Feel Exactly The Same.

And It Gnaws At Me.

With Every Passing Moment, It Does So.

How Can I Be So Goddamn Clueless???

How Can I Be So Smug, And Feel Justified In My Smugness…

…When I Can’t Figure-Out Simple Human Emotion.

There Truly Are Days When I Feel Like “DATA” From STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION.

And No, That’s Not A Joke.

I’m Serious.

He’s Doomed To Simply Trying To Understand Something He Doesn’t Really Have.

Well…

…I’m Similar In The Way That I’ve Been Struggling My Whole Life To Understand Them…

…And…

…At THIS Moment…

…I Feel Like A Babe In The Woods All Over Again.

Each Time I THINK I’ve Figured Something Out…

…I Get The Ole 12-To-6 Curveball…

…And I End-up Flat On My Ass.

Happens Each AND Every Time.

Perhaps My Failing Isn’t The Not-Understanding Part…

…But More-So…

…The Not-Expecting Part.

???

Maybe???

I’m Thinkin’ Maybe On This One.

Fo SHO, My Peeps.

Maybe, It Shall Be.

But Even That Little Answer Is As Wishy-Washy As I Can Plainly Put It.

For Most Things In Life, There Is NO Maybe.

Things ARE Or ARE-NOT.

A Thing IS Or IS-NOT.

Only Humans Could Invent Something So Non-Answering As MAYBE.

Trust Me, My Peeps…

…I’m A Card-Carrying PROFESSIONAL In Regard To “Non-Answers”…

…Maybe.

πŸ˜‰

ANYWAY…

…I’m Sorry…

…I’m Drifting From My Point For Having Written This Piece In The First Place.

LOVE.

LOVE Is My Point Of Points.

Just What Exactly Is LOVE, My Peeps?!?

To Be Honest…

…I Haven’t The Foggiest.

And The Answer Seems To Change With Each Person Asked.

Everyone Has Their Own Idea…

…Or Ideals…

…Or Way…

…Or Shape…

…Or Form…

…Or Feeling…

…Or Non-Feeling.

Some Think Of It As Simply “Someone I Can Talk To When I’m Down/Hurting.”

Others Think Of It As Simply “Someone I Go To When I Need That Extra Fortifying Touch Of Encouragement.”

And To Others, It’s “Someone They Go To When They Desire Physical Satisfaction.”

Alright…

…So…

…Which Of Those Am I?

Do People Come To Me When They’re Down Or Hurting?

Nope.

They Know Ahead Of Time I’m Likely To Be Very Frank With Them, And I’ll Just End-Up Making It Worse.

Do People Come To Me When They Need That Touch Of Encouragement?

Nope.

They Know Ahead Of Time I’m Exceptionally Critical, And I Don’t Know How To Sugar-Coat Anything, Especially When Sugar-Coating Is What’s Truly Called-For And/Or Desired.

Do People Come To Me To Aide In Feeling Physical Satisfaction?

HA HA HA

I’ll Leave That One With A Simple “Nope” And I’ll Carry-On.

So What’s Left?

Sitting At Home…

…Alone…

…Listening To The Sad Songs Of My Youth.

That’s What’s Left.

Regardless Of Where I Go, Or Don’t Go…

…Regardless Of What I Do, Or Don’t Do…

…I’m At Least Able To Retain That.

I Retain The Part Of Me That Simply LOVES Sappy-Ballads Of Yesteryear.

JUST AS I AM

by AIR SUPPLY

…Is…

…Without Any Doubt…

…One Of The Best Of The Sappy Sappy Best Best.

Period.

I’ve Known The Song The Bulk Of My Life…

…Thanks To My Mother…

…And The Rockin’ Sound-System She Had In Β Our 1982 Buick Regal.

For It’s Time…

…The Car With PIMP.

But The Sound Thumping Through The Speakers Was Incredible.

Of Course…

…She’d Play Music That I Ended-Up LOVING.

BILLY JOEL

HUEY LEWIS And THE NEWS

MICHAEL JACKSON

…And YES Even…

AIR SUPPLY

!!! !!!

I Used To Make A Total Ass Of Myself When I’d Go ToΒ Karaoke Nights In Whichever Bar I Was In At That Time.

I’d Play Some Really Sappy Ballads And Would Just Wail Away At Them.

Sometimes For Better.

Sometimes For Worse.

But I Always Had Fun.

And The Audience All Called Me Vile Names.

And That Became Sort Of A Point Of Pride.

I Didn’t Think I Was Doing My Songs Right If I Didn’t Get At Least ONE Drink Thrown At Me By A Tanked-Ass Redneck.

My Friends In Attendance Always Said I Provoked The Situation.

Perhaps I Did.

Perhaps I Didn’t.

Guess That’s Another “MAYBE” Type Situation, Right?!

RIGHT!!!

I’m Going To Digress Now…

…As I Feel I’ve Lost Myself In A Ramble That Could Literally Go On And On For Days And Days.

Just Understand Me, My Peeps.

I Know What I Want.

I Know What I Can Get With Some Effort.

And I Know What I’ve Already Got.

The Question Truly Truly TRULY Is…

“What Are You Willing To Live With AND Accept, Bradley Alan?”

“What Makes You Happiest At The End Of The Day, When It’s All Said And Done?”

“What More Do You Honestly WANT?”

“What More Do You Honestly NEED?”

??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ??? ???

??? ??? ??? ???

???

Shit, My Peeps, Do I Ever Have A Bad Headache.

I Need A Drink.

Who’s Buying The First Round?!?

πŸ˜‰

Goodnight, Kids.

Sleep Sweet.

Sleep Well.

Dream BETTER.

πŸ˜€

“Tryin’ To Say I’m Sorry… Didn’t Mean To Break Your Heart… And Find You Waitin’ Up By The Light Of Day…” — PAUL STANLEY (KISS) (“Every Time I Look At You” (1992))

…There’s A Lot I Wanna Tell Ya…

…But I Don’t Know Where To Start…

…And I Don’t Know What I’d Do If You Walked Away…

…Ooh Baby I Tried To Make It…

…I Just Got Lost Along The Way…

EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU” Is Off The KISS Album “REVENGE” From 1992!

*** *** ***

…But Every Time I Look At You…

…No Matter What I’m Goin’ Through…

…It’s Easy To See…

…And Every Time I Hold You…

…The Things I Never Told You…

…Seem To Come Easily…

…’Cause You’re Everything To Me. …

=== === === === === === ===

=== === === === ===

=== === ===

===

While The Band…

KISS

…Is Almost Totally Synonymous…

…With Fun, Rockin’, Classic Rock’&’Roll…

…They Nevertheless DID Come Out With A Few Damn-Fine Ballads.

Now…

…When Most Folks Think About The Ballads Of…

KISS

…They Generally Think Of…

BETH

…Or…

HARD LUCK WOMAN

…Or Even The POWER-Ballad…

FOREVER

…All Of Which Are Great Songs AND Personal Faves.

HOWEVER…

…For MY Money…

…If You’re A True TRUE Fan Of THE BALLAD…

…Then It Really Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This Little Number…

EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU

.Period.

It’s Such A GREAT BALLAD That It Honestly Has…

“HEART-STRING-TUGGIN’-POWER”

…Fo SHO, My Peeps.

While I Can Be Quite Edgy, And Sullen, And Moody At Times…

…I’m Also Quite Sappy At Other Times.

Β I Simply LOVE A Fine Ballad…

…And This One…

EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU

…Is…

…One Of THE Finest.

.PERIOD.

I Know There Are Some Other Folks Out There…

…Who Honestly…

…And Truly…

…Appreciate A Song Like This One…

…Even If They Don’t Want To Admit It.

Some Folks Feel A Song Like This Is Simply TOOOO Sappy…

…At Least When OTHER Folks Are Around Them.

But Then…

…Once They’re At Home…

…Or Alone In The Car…

…Or Just Away From The Rest Of The Human Population…

…They Bust-Out The Tunes They’re Embarrassed To Bust-Out Otherwise.

I Can EASILY Understand That…

…Sure Sure…

…Since I’ve Done It Before.

But This Song…

EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU

…May Change Your Thinking Just A Bit.

I’ve Actually Used It As A Conversation Piece.

Play This One…

…Get Some Other Peeps Into It…

…And THEN Bust Them With The Knowledge That It’s A Song By…

KISS

!!!

Watch Them Give You That Odd/Shocked/Confused Look.

They Simply WILL NOT Believe Their Ears.

“THIS Is KISS?!? Are You SURE?!?!?”

You’re Darn Tootin’ It Is, My Peeps!!!

πŸ˜‰

Hope You Enjoy It!!!

πŸ˜€

“They Say We Bruise Too Easily… I Don’t Know If It’s That Way For Me… I’ve Seen’Em Come… I’ve Seen’Em Go… I’ve Seen Everyone I Know… Fall In And Out Of Love… It’s Just The Way It Goes…” — ELTON JOHN and LEON RUSSELL (“When Love Is Dying” (2010))

“…Word Is Out…

…Silence Seems So Loud…

…There’s No Light Above OR Below Me Now…

…I’ve Seen It Grow…

…I’ve Seen It Live…

…I’ve Seen Everything I Give…

…Fallin’ Out My Hands…

…No Matter Who I’m With…”

"THE UNION" (2010) An Album By ELTON JOHN and LEON RUSSELL

“…And Nobody Ever Tells You…

…When Love Is Dying…

…When Love Is Dying…

…It Just Gets A Little Colder…

…And We Stop Trying…

…We Stop Trying…

…Yeah We Stop Trying…

…Ooooohhhh…

…When Love Is Dying. …”

LEON RUSSELL

“…There’s A Pain You Never Can Explain…

…It Cuts So Deep…

…Time And Time Again…

…I Felt It Then…

…I Feel It Now…

…But Nobody Told Me How To Fight A World Of Hurt…

…Somebody Help Me Now…”

ELTON JOHN

“…And Nobody Ever Tells You…

…When Love Is Dying…

…When Love Is Dying…

…It Just Gets A Little Colder…

…And We Stop Trying…

…We Stop Trying…

…Yeah We Stop Trying…

…Ooooohhhh…

…When Love Is Dying. …”

… … …

… …

Best Bluesy Ballad (thus far) Of The 21ST CENTURY!

I’ve Been Madly In Love With This Tune Since The Album Was Released In 2010.

Two Masters Of Their Craft…

…Coming Together To Produce Some of THE MOST Beautiful Music There Is.

PERIOD.

I’m A Fan.

Perhaps, After This, You Will Be Also!!!

Couldn’t Hurt To Give It A Listen, Anyway.

Right???

RIGHT!!!

πŸ˜€