JEFFREY MORGAN’S MEDIA BLACKOUT #466.76!

Neil Young – Living With War (Reprise) :: Commie.

Dixie Chicks – Taking The Long Way (Open Wide) :: Pinko.

John Wayne – America, Why I Love Her (MPI) :: Patriot.

SIZZLING PLATTERS OF THE WEEK: Dave Rave – Anthology: Volumes 1 & 2 (Bullseye) :: One night I was waiting for an under assistant West Coast promo man to drop by and listen to some songs I’d recorded back in the ’70s when I heard a rapping, a gentle tapping, at my chamber door. Sure enough it was the promo man, but he was unexpectedly accompanied by one of Canada’s most well-respected rockers, the one—and you’d better believe only—Dave Rave.

Now I’d long known about Dave but never had the pleasure of meeting him until he strolled in out of the blue to plop his lanky frame onto my living room couch and give my music the critical once-over. Considering I was being judged by a guy who’d been there and back since the heady post-new wave days of the early ’80s, I was relieved to have passed the audition.

But enough about me because Bullseye Records has just released two new separate discs of Dave’s life work under the collective title Dave Rave: Anthology – Volumes 1 & 2. Together they contain 37 of the purest percolating pop songs you’ll hear in a long time. Echoing everyone from the best of the UK invasion to U.S. sun-soaked songs and beyond, this music is so full of youthful fun, it’ll make you feel like a rambunctious kid again.

Spearheading one band after another, Dave’s planted the seeds of his good-time music everywhere he’s gone: from the Shakes and Crashtones to fronting Teenage Head to his latter day work with Lauren Agnelli—aka CREEM rock critic Trixie A. Balm. Equally impressive is that Dave was the first North American musician invited to Russia to record for the USSR’s Melodiya record label.

That kind of experience can’t be bought, and it sure shows in every joyous note played and sung on these two exuberant albums. Which is why Dave Rave: Anthology will have you remembering why you fell in love with rock ’n’ roll in the first place.

I’ll be seein’ ya, Pilgrim!