DIG THIS WITH BILL MESNIK AND RICH BUCKLAND- THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS

Rich Buckland and Bill Mesnik
  • 4.8 (18)
  • Music
  • Updated Weekly

My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski,  Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe.  So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs! With Gratitude For Gena Rowlands, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Quarry, Leo Gorcey, Arthur Alexander and Joey Heatherton, Your Splendid Bohemian, Rich Buckland.

  1. 2d ago

    THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT: THE SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET with THE "MIGHTY MEZ" - SONGS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD - WITCH DOCTOR by David Seville (Liberty, 1958)

    All it takes is one good idea; one spark of Promethean fire to ignite a life-long, multi-generational success. For Ross Bagdasarian Sr., it was a sped up tape recording of a nonsense scat phrase: “Oo-ee-oo-ah-ah; Ting-tang Walla Walla Bing Bang…” Taking inspiration from “Duel with the Witch Doctor”, a volume sitting on his bookshelf, Ross bought a tape recorder and set about creating a silly rockabilly tune, featuring a duet with himself. By overdubbing his voice singing slowly, recorded at 1/2 speed, and then speeding up the tape, he created a high pitched character that charmed the world. The resulting novelty record pulled Liberty Records out of near bankruptcy, selling 1.4 million copies and landing at the pinnacle of the Top 100 and R&B charts. He used the same technique to create the world wide Alvin and the Chipmunks craze which he then parlayed into a number of big records and an animated tv series. After Ross’s untimely death in 1972, the franchise was shepherd by his son, Ross jr. into a raft of hit, live action features running all the way up to 2015. 57 years of popular commercial product from one zany idea. Not bad.

    THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT: THE SUNNY SIDE OF MY STREET with THE "MIGHTY MEZ" - SONGS TO MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD - WITCH DOCTOR by David Seville (Liberty, 1958)

  2. 6d ago

    MEZ OF THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS ASKS THE ORACLE: IS IT MODESTY OR FEAR OF MEDIOCRITY THAT PARALYZES ME? WILL MEZ RECEIVE A PAT ON THE BACK OR A KICK IN THE ASS?

    I had a reunion with my box of Oblique Strategies cards today. When I opened the pack the first card that confronted me read: “Don’t be frightened to display your talents.” This started my head to spin with the question: IS IT MODESTY, OR FEAR OF BEING MEDIOCRE THAT GUARANTEES INACTION? “Nothing ventured, nothing gained-“ we’ve all heard this expression. It means that if you don’t try, you won’t ever get what you want. Talent be damned - salesmanship is what gets results. Being mediocre is not a detriment to success, but a lack of determination and audacity is. Chutzpah…. This is the quality that’s necessary, not only for survival, but victory. Be the little engine that could: “I think I can, I think I can…” I guess I’ve been lucky, in spite of my natural tendency towards reticence. The women in my life all approached me first because I was too timid to risk rejection. Getting acting work was the same: I figured my talent would be enough to convince the gate keepers to give me the job, in spite of the fact that I never had a decent agent to set up the big meetings.  No regrets, but what’s next? People have been encouraging me to “get back out there,” professionally and romantically, but, I’m ambivalent, and struggle with my anti-zeigeist desire for modesty in this age of hype and self-promotion. Let’s see what the Oracle has to say? HEXAGRAM 49 (REVOLUTION) with moving lines 1 & 5 HEXAGRAM 62 (SMALL EXCESS)

    MEZ OF THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS ASKS THE ORACLE: IS IT MODESTY OR FEAR OF MEDIOCRITY THAT PARALYZES ME? WILL MEZ RECEIVE A PAT ON THE BACK OR A KICK IN THE ASS?

  3. Aug 28

    "PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- CHARLIE RICH- "MOHAIR SAM" - The Unlikely Tale Of A Jazz Artist Taken Hostage By The Country Charts - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians Rich Buckland and Captain Billy Mesnik -The Boys Devote Each Episode To Loving History

    The Agony, Inspiration and Exultation Of Charles Allan Rich -   December 14, 1932 – July 25, 1995.  Never Forget To Remember Such Brilliance.  Enough Said.  Listen In Friends.

    "PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- CHARLIE RICH- "MOHAIR SAM" - The Unlikely Tale Of A Jazz Artist Taken Hostage By The Country Charts - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians Rich Buckland and Captain Billy Mesnik -The Boys Devote Each Episode To Loving History

  4. Aug 25

    ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, KENNY ROGERS AND DOLLY PARTON, 1983, RCA. RIP DOLLY

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islands_in_the_Stream_(song) RIP DOLLY

    ISLANDS IN THE STREAM, KENNY ROGERS AND DOLLY PARTON, 1983, RCA. RIP DOLLY

  5. Aug 24

    MEZ OF THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS CONSULTS HIS FINANCIAL ADVISOR, THE I CHING - QUESTION: HOW MUCH SHOULD I BE CONCERNED OR WORRY ABOUT MONEY?

    QUESTION: HOW MUCH SHOULD I BE CONCERNED OR WORRY ABOUT MONEY? HEXAGRAMS: 35 (ADVANCE) / Fire over earth Moving lines 4,5,6 > 8 (SUPPORT} / water over earth I had a friend, Brendan, who used to say when faced with the prospect of being broke: “Money is simply a medium of exchange.” He explained that money is an agreed upon social construct that places a numerical value on various goods and services, thereby simplifying the process from a barter system -  (I’ll trade you some of my chickens for you to paint my house, etc) - to one where you can easily carry pieces of paper, or, computer digits on your phone, that represent your worth. Maybe so, but this theoretical cup and balls illusion will only take us so far. CAPITALISM has run amok, enabling only a handful of billionaires to call the economic shots for everyone. The bubble of ballooning debt for the middle class to achieve even a modicum of financial security has popped, and the multitude of serfs that have, until now, been stoking the billionaire’s coffers, are about to be replaced by a cadre of uncomplaining robots. So, I ask: “What’s a peon to do?  ’Tis a puzzlement,” as Yul Brenner used to say.  Brendan was always broke, but somehow managed to live lavishly, traveling the world on his impish smile and keen wits,. Of course, he had to rely on the kindness of strangers, as well as long-suffering friends for his daily ration of single malt scotch and fine cheeses. But, behind the devil may care pose, there must have been many sleepless nights on the various couches along the precipitous road. So, today, I ask the oracle: How much should I be concerned or worried about money, or the lack thereof?

    MEZ OF THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS CONSULTS HIS FINANCIAL ADVISOR, THE I CHING - QUESTION: HOW MUCH SHOULD I BE CONCERNED OR WORRY ABOUT MONEY?

  6. Aug 22

    "PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- PRINCE BUSTER - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF MAN (BLUE BEAT, 1965) - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland -The Boys dig deep into the Jamaican vinyl crates.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/12/arts/music/prince-buster-trailblazer-of-ska-dies-at-78.html   Cecil Bustamente Campbell was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on May 24, 1938. He performed with teenage groups in Kingston; he also became a boxer, taking the name Prince Buster. In the 1950s he began working for one of Jamaica’s top producers and sound-system disc jockeys, Coxsone Dodd. By the end of the decade he had opened a record store, Buster’s Record Shack, and was playing street parties with his own sound system, the Voice of the People. He decided to start producing songs as well as spinning them. Jamaicans were listening to, and imitating, the American R&B that reached the island on radio stations from New Orleans and Miami. Prince Buster’s productions were more deliberately Jamaican. His production of the Folkes Brothers’ “Oh Carolina,” recorded in 1959, meshed the traditional Nyabinghi drumming of a Rastafarian musician, Count Ossie, with what would come to be known as a ska beat. That beat, in songs like Eric Morris’s “Humpty Dumpty,” made for huge hits in Jamaica and also had an impact in 1960s Britain. Prince Buster’s instrumental “Al Capone” was a Top 20 hit there in 1965. By the end of the 1960s ska had given way to the slower rocksteady beat, a closer precursor of reggae. Prince Buster adapted, notably with his series of singles using his Judge Dread character. But in the early 1970s he gave up producing music and concentrated on business ventures, including record stores and a jukebox company, and moved to Miami.

    "PUT ON A STACK OF 45's"- PRINCE BUSTER - THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF MAN (BLUE BEAT, 1965) - Dig This With The Splendid Bohemians - Featuring Bill Mesnik and Rich Buckland -The Boys dig deep into the Jamaican vinyl crates.

  7. Aug 19

    MEZ OF THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS ASKS THE ORACLE TO PONDER THE PROS AND CONS OF INDIVIDUALITY VS CONFORMITY? QUESTION: IS IT PREFERABLE TO MAINTAIN ONE’S INDIVIDUALITY, OR TO CONFORM TO THE GROUP?

    I’ve been watching THE PRISONER, Patrick McGoohan’s ground-breaking, dystopian fantasy television series (showing currently in its entirety on the Criterion Channel), and it has set my mind reeling. The 1968 British production tells the dream-like allegory of Number 6, a Secret Agent -  (McGoohan was already identified in the public’s mind that way, having starred in the successful spy show ‘Danger Man”),- who tries to retire, but is kidnapped, whisked away, and held prisoner, under 24/7 surveillance inside a charming little seaside village (called “The Village”), which is populated by a group of cheerful, brightly dressed zombies who’ve all been assigned numbers.  The person running the asylum is #2 (the actor rotates every week) -who is trying to get number 6 to tell them why he wanted out, but 6 is defiant, refusing to comply, and every week tries to escape. Inevitably, he always ends up back where he started - no matter how elaborate the attempt. The identity of number 1 is a closely guarded secret, revealed (or, is it?) in the final episode. The production design is Mediterranean-Disney outside - Ultra modern inside, and reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange - another monumental, late sixties confection of paranoia.  McGoohan himself was a prickly, no nonsense, anti-authoritarian who produced, wrote, starred in, and directed several episodes, and this opus still stands as his masterpiece.  In this story, as in many others, the rugged individual is often held up as someone to be admired and emulated. Unfortunately, they also often end up crushed by the system they refuse to bow to. I certainly identify with artists who have carried on with their passion, despite public indifference, poverty, and self doubt: the agony of Van Gogh, the isolation and penury of Henry Darger, and the dyspeptic Charles Bukowski come to mind. They all persisted, against societal scorn, creating work that endures.  But I believe that most people (although TikTok might belie this) want to live quietly and peacefully; not to make waves, not to be disdained; but just to make a living for their families, and die having been loved and remembered by their circle. But, then again, if one has opinions about wrongs being committed by one’s government, and one doesn’t speak out for fear of arousing unwanted attention, can one live with oneself?  So today’s question for the oracle: QUESTION: IS IT PREFERABLE TO MAINTAIN ONE’S INDIVIDUALITY, OR TO CONFORM TO THE GROUP? The oracle’s response:  HEXAGRAM 3: “RETRENCHMENT” (MOVING LINE 2) HEXAGRAM 60: “FRUGALITY” OR “LIMITATION”

    MEZ OF THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS ASKS THE ORACLE TO PONDER THE PROS AND CONS OF INDIVIDUALITY VS CONFORMITY? QUESTION: IS IT PREFERABLE TO MAINTAIN ONE’S INDIVIDUALITY, OR TO CONFORM TO THE GROUP?

  8. Aug 16

    THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "PUT ON A STACK OF 45s." BILL AND RICH DELVE INTO THE STRANGER THAN TRUTH SAGA OF EDEN AHBEZ AND "NATURE BOY."

    https://www.honest-broker.com/p/the-strangest-hit-songwriter-in-history

    THE SPLENDID BOHEMIANS PRESENT "PUT ON A STACK OF 45s." BILL AND RICH DELVE INTO THE STRANGER THAN TRUTH SAGA OF EDEN AHBEZ AND "NATURE BOY."
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My Fellow Americans, Life is actually just a microscopic, deluded moment in time, so let's cut to the freakin' chase. One look at our impending election debacle can solidify my case. It has been my contention since birth, that the answer to every difficulty we encounter on this sacred yet demented Stone, can be revealed with ultimate clarity through the ultra neurotic engagements of Music, Art, Literature, Film, Poetry and a good Pastrami sandwich. Why would any sane human spend so must time on a film set (Do you know how long you gotta wait until your 8 second deliverance of an edited beyond repair line gets a chance to become a professional embarrassment etched in time forever? ) or expend so much energy in a recording studio, piecing together another ode to a man or woman who could not care less how much love existed within your digestive tract? It's all about hymns and prayers and a quest for mercy and forgiveness and silence and faith. We were blessed with Charles Bukowski,  Gene Chandler, Lenny Bruce, Mitch Ryder and a legion of creative explorers whose influences provided the air we breathe.  So Let's Dance! This site shall explore the reaper, find a way to disarm the stench of injustice, discover some true loves and talk it all over before it's all over. So what's the worst that our desires could produce? Failure? So sue me. I'm going to require your assistance in making as much trouble for the grown-ups as possible. Let the record show that my childish heart yearns to disrupt the madness. Join me Ladies and Germs! With Gratitude For Gena Rowlands, Nancy Sinatra, Jerry Quarry, Leo Gorcey, Arthur Alexander and Joey Heatherton, Your Splendid Bohemian, Rich Buckland.

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