I received a terrific gift not long ago, Remember That Night David Gilmour Live At The Royal Albert Hall on DVD. I'm a big Pink Floyd fan, and did get an opportunity to see them in Sacramento about 20 years ago minus Roger Waters at Hughes Stadium. It was an amazing show. Timeless really, a 1989  Delicate Sound of Thunder tour, which Floyd seems to always personify at each marking point along the journey.

Watching this DVD of David Gilmour without the giant albatross of Pink Floyd expectations by audiences is a real treat. He has some unlikely guests, Graham Nash and David Crosby, to accompany the band and bring a new perspective to some old classics. The great guitarist from Roxy Music, Phil Manzanera, is part of the band along with longtime friend and Floyd mate Rick Wright, who only last September passed away suddenly after losing the battle against cancer.

This DVD showcases the last major tour David Gilmour undertook in 2006 to promote his On An Island cd and to pay some final homages to Pink Floyd's original songmaster, Syd Barrett. The concert footage is wonderful and David Bowie makes an appearance singing Comfortably Numb and Arnold Layne. Enjoyable high fidelity concert sound and vision.

The real treat for me with this 2-disc DVD set, however, are the three documentaries included on the second disc. You feel like a guest on tour with very unpretentious and cool people you would like to hang out with. It is striking to also see a real commitment to very worthy causes from David Gilmour and crew. There are special humorous, inspirational and touching moments throughout the documentaries. I don't want to give away great surprises but the use of wine glasses and an appearance by an old chum rehearsing in a separate sound stage at the same studio facility as David Gilmour's group  is very cool.

For much of the world this music still is the right stuff, and retains the power to cast wonder over audiences in the east and in the west.  David Gilmour and his music remain a very special gift people should indulge in more frequently. Here is a link to David Gilmour's website. He has released a separate set on DVD and CD from the tour's last destination, Gdansk, Poland. Check it out.

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Cars. Cars. Cars. If you thought there was a small problem with the economy, check this link from The Guardian.co.uk. Someone said a picture is worth a thousand words. There are thirteen pictures of very large areas filled with new cars from ports and factories around the world. Car values are going to go through the floor, and there is no basement to stop the fall. How low will low be?

Think a tax break is going to spur car buyers? How upside down are car buyers from a year or two ago?

The coffee brews behind a Utopia video I watch/listen in amazement at. Todd Rundgren and his band mates put on quite a show for the gathered in Detroit at the Royal Oak Theater 28 years ago. One World, Back on the Streets and Just One Victory really standout in the hour long set. The sky clears a bit and the aroma from the french roast fills the head cavities. Hello It's Me takes over the sound system. Damn, fresher than this hot cup of coffee.

I saw a brief show on VH1 last night where the gathered music pundits were bemoaning the lack of metal gods installed in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. I guess Dee Snyder and the other toastmasters probably have a point. When you see some of the inductees who have been enshrined while leaving others out who have made considerable impact over a long time, it seems some big name omissions really stand out, but not necessarily just the metal ones.

It is really funny to see Louis Armstrong in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, or Billie Holiday. Influences be damned, these two and many others have nothing to do with rock unless you're some kind of six degrees of musicality separation freak, which I guess Dave Marsh and Jann Wenner must be. It is really strange to note that Del Shannon is inducted to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. I liked Runaway a lot as a kid, but I liked a lot sappy stuff with good beat and a distinctive voice. I think the Seeds made more of a definitive rock statement with Pushin' Too Hard, but I'm not on any crusade to see the Seeds with Sky Saxton nominated.

Quick questions!!! Do really big album sales and phenomenal popularity over a long career mean an artist should be enshrined? Is a very short career with really big creativity that spawned a host of imitators worthy of induction?

Here is the major criteria from the Hall:

-Artists become eligible for induction 25 years after the release of their first record. Criteria include the influence and significance of the artists’ contributions to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll.-

This year Metallica finally beat out Jethro Tull. The California metal monsters will be inducted on April 4, 2009. Their black album, Metallica, is a seminal record with awesome songs of creep, torment and angst set to a thunderous backdrop of sound. They have had some decent  records over their 28 year career, Kill 'Em All stands out, as well as Justice For All, but the rest seem pretty mundane and at this stage of eardom, unlistenable. I think when all is said and done Lars, James, Kirk and cursed bass player to be named later will be more remembered for Napster railing and lawsuits than for most of their catalog. Oh well, congratulations Metallica!

There are three major artists who I humbly believe deserve to be in any Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. You probably figured by now I would be lobbying for Todd "Runt" Rundgren, who not only deserves to make it on songwriting and performance alone, but was one of the greatest producers of rock records for many years. In his very early twenties he was hired by Albert Grossman, The Bob's manager, to be the house producer for his record label Bearsville. Many of you also know that he produced and performed extra-world guitar work on one of the 1970s best selling albums, Bat Out Of Hell. Meatloaf and Jim Steinman owe their careers to Todd Rundgren. Check out Todd's catalog sometime. Great stuff, very quirky but very amazing. He had the LP era's longest running side with the Initiation album clocking in a more than 30 minutes in length. No record had ever been cut with such precision and mastery to get close to that type of time length. Artist, producer, engineer and incredible live performer who played every type of music brilliantly. 

Another artist who needs to get in the Hall before it loses all credibility is Alice Cooper. Yes, he borrowed some of the early cross-dressing stuff from the Brits who do it for fashion, and he was not what Frank Zappa envisioned when he signed Alice to Straight Records, but the guy redefined the rock stage show and the anger and frustration of the outcast in rock for many years. For simply writing School's Out, Alice Cooper should be in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.

Oh, and since Metallica finally got the best of Jethro Tull, the Hall should recognize one of the most influential British bands that defied categorization with a broad use of folk, blues, jazz and classical influences to make great records and masterful live shows for more than twenty years. Give Ian Anderson and his crew some love. They didn't make the stupid Grammy categories or have a vote 20 years ago.

Who would you nominate? There are some great bands and artists who began more than twenty-five years ago looking for a little help from their friends.

Oops, coffee is calling.