Stranger Than Fiction

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Brad

bdb3“Elected” is a 1972 song by rock band Alice Cooper, the first Hot 100 hit on their 6th studio album Billion Dollar Babies. The single reached #26 during election week on the US charts, #4 on the UK charts and #3 in Austria. It inspired one of the first MTV-style story-line promos ever made for a song.

Billion Dollar Babies is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice Cooper, released in 1973.[1][2]The album became the best selling Alice Cooper record at the time of its release, hit number one on the album charts in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and went on to be certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album was well received by such critics as Robert Christgau, Greg Prato of AllMusic, and Jason Thompson of popmatters, but Rolling Stone gave the album only two and a half stars.

Editors note: special album art was created for the 2016 election

Album: Alice Cooper – Billion Dollar Babies  1973
Source: Dollar Store
Price: $1,000,000,000

I’m your top prime cut of meat, I’m your choice
I wanna be elected
I’m your yankee doodle dandy in a gold Rolls Royce
I wanna be elected
Kids want a savior, don’t need a fake
I wanna be elected
We’re gonna rock to the rules that I make
I wanna be elected, elected, elected
I never lied to you, I’ve always been cool
I wanna be elected
I gotta get the vote, and I told you about school
I wanna be elected, elected, elected
Hallelujah, I wanna be elected
Everyone in the United States of America
We’re gonna win this one, take the country by storm
We’re gonna be elected
You and me together, young and strong
We’re gonna be elected, elected, elected
Respected, selected, call collected
I wanna be elected, elected

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i4EnjRKVQw

It has been and continues to be a strange year in politics. I am not sure even the best fiction authors could have come up with this story line.

There will be two more posts in Season 1 of “Brad and Bert’s Excellent Adventure”. To keep things interesting I will choose two random dates between now and Thanksgiving and these days will not be on Sunday. Join me for Season 2 coming Fall 2017.

If I can be so bold I would like to ask you for three things:

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Sweet Sound of Jazz

Posted on October 9, 2016 by Brad

Herb_Albert“A Taste of Honey” is a pop standard written for the 1960 Broadway version of the 1958 British play A Taste of Honey. Both the original and a cover by Herb Alpert in 1965 earned the song four Grammy Awards.

Whipped Cream & Other Delights is a 1965 album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, called “Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass” for this album, released on A&M Records. It is the band’s fourth full album and arguably their most popular release. Whipped Cream & Other Delights sold over 6 million copies in the United States and the album cover alone is considered a classic pop culture icon. It featured model Dolores Ericsson wearing chiffon and shaving cream. The picture was taken at a time when Erickson was three months pregnant. The album cover was so popular with Alpert fans that, during concerts, when about to play the song “Whipped Cream”, Alpert would tell the audience, “Sorry, we can’t play the cover for you!”

Album: Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass – Whipped Cream and Other Delights
Source: Edith Hopkins’ (my mother-in-law) closet
Price: $0

I was sorting through a pile of change looking for treasures to add to my coin collection when I heard it. Mom and dad usually listened to singers like Andy Williams and Dionne Warwick. This sounded like trumpets and there was no singing. I decided to go check it out.

I was enjoying this new style of music when I saw the album cover. The angel on one shoulder whispered in my ear, “You should not be looking at that. Put it down.” But the devil standing on the other shoulder said, “Don’t listen to her, it’s just a picture of a woman.” I decided to compromise. I would finish listening to this first song then put the album down. The first song finished but before I could put the album cover back on the stereo…(Press play to continue)

Before I knew it the entire album side was finished. Maybe I was growing up. If that meant I could listen to this music and look at this kind of album cover then so long childhood. Inspired by this first experience with jazz music, I decided to play trumpet when I entered middle school. My guilty pleasure looking at pictures of sexy women would eventually lead to a fascination with Hugh Hefner publications. (see Boys Will Be Boys)

Challenge question to readers:  Anyone else out there brave enough to share your guilty pleasures?

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First Born Children

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Brad

img_0110“Valotte” is a song by British singer Julian Lennon, the title track and second single (first single in the US) from his debut album Valotte.

John Charles Julian Lennon (born 8 April 1963) is a British musician and photographer. He is the first child of John Lennon with his first wife, Cynthia.

Album: Julian Lennon – Valotte
Source: Waterloo Records & Video, Austin, TX
Cost: $2.00

What do Paul Hickman, Brad Hickman, Lauren Hickman, and Julian Lennon have in common? We are all the firstborn children in our families.

It was Thanksgiving 1987 and in keeping with tradition, Linda and I took stock of our lives and gave thanks. Since our marriage we had devoted time to our careers, moved on to house #2, and enjoyed traveling to places we had always wanted to see. Life had been very good to us. Many of our friends had started their families. Our plan from the very beginning was to have two kids, the first when we were 30, the second four years later. Now that we were both 30 years old, we decided that it was time to start our family.

Not long after, Linda was pregnant and we were taking Lamaze birthing classes in anticipation of our first daughter’s arrival. We converted a bedroom into a nursery. New wallpaper was hung, the crib was assembled and the empty room waited for baby Hickman.

payne-stewart-best-dressedIt was early October and Linda’s due date was near. The two of us had signed up to play in a golf tournament. Dressed in my signature red, white and blue knickers (I was a huge Payne Stewart fan having played against him in high school), I told Linda we should head to the golf course and take some practice swings. She told me that probably wasn’t a good idea. She had been having sporadic contractions that may or not have been the real deal, and wanted to stay close to home, which turned out to be a good call.

Later that day, Linda decided it really was labor so we set off for the hospital but not before I loaded the car with luggage full of Lamaze props needed in order for Linda to have a “natural birth.” The most important of these items was, naturally, a stereo system and accompanying cassette tapes of new age music.

I approached childbirth with complete confidence in my role as “coach” but once labor became more intense, my suggestions to “breathe” weren’t nearly as effective as they had been during our class sessions. Linda, on the other hand, handled labor like she did all challenges; focused and head on. I supported her heroic efforts by making sure the “right music” accompanied her every labor pain.

lauren-little-girl-picMiss Lauren made her debut on October 2, 1988, which just so happened to be the last day of Linda’s 30th year. It was almost as if she knew our plan and showed up in time to help us meet our goal. Anyone who knows Lauren will not be surprised by this bit of trivia, as she has an unnatural obsession with being places on time.

Happy birthday, Lolo!

Posted in Excellent Adventure, General | 7 Comments