SUMMER OF OZZ.
Posted on August 13, 2025 Leave a Comment
It’s been a cruel, cruel summer. While in the thick of Camp TNUC festivities, panty-raids and the annual lower boat regatta, the devastating news broke of Ozzy Osbourne’s passing, just weeks after the huge Black Sabbath congregation in Birmingham, England. I think we can all agree that Prince Ozz’s death is a massive blow to everything we love about music.
However, all summer long it’s been a nonstop celebration of Black Sabbath and Ozzy and it shows no signs of slowing down, thankfully.
While most of the honoring has been blasting classics like “Electric Funeral”, “Symptom of the Universe”, “Johnny Blade” and “Bark at the Moon” over a roaring backyard fire, it’s also been therapeutic to ease back and expand my senses with some of the quieter, stranger moments from the Sabbath library.
Balearic Sabbath is a mixtape made in 2017 featuring some of the band’s soft-doom standouts. Give it a spin as you’re alone on the beach at 5am after a long evening. The song “Laguna Sunrise” starts playing and your swirling thoughts come to a focused, linear, relaxed state of mind.
HAIL OZZY
“a perfect soundtrack to your next lost weekend…doom and despair have never sounded so groovy”
-Dangerous Minds
“the very softest of soft rock, shuffling gently along in a hazy fug of gently-strummed guitar and scattered bongo beats”
-Classic Rock Mag
CAMP TNUC PART IV: SUMMER CRUSH.
Posted on June 27, 2025 6 Comments
They say you never forget your first love, but that’s a load of bologna because what you really never forget is that first summer crush at Camp TNUC.
For proof, here’s an authentic letter from a satisfied camper in love:
So there you have it folks. Summer crushes can transform your entire experience at Boner Camp Camp TNUC. So much that “Counselor T” has crafted the next mixtape in honor of these exciting moments. So ease back in your favorite pool floatie, grab a cold Zima and crank up our 4th summer camp mixtape: Camp TNUC Part IV: Summer Crush as you think about your version of a Cindy Davenport.
A huge thank you to my fellow camp weenies Dan (artwork guru), Rad Chad, Denny “Tip Toe” and Swedish exchange student Bjorn for their continued support along the way!
OPTICAL RACE.
Posted on June 4, 2025 Leave a Comment
I started running. I don’t mean running for love, running for money or running in the heat of the night — but actual jogging. Though I’m not convinced at this point if it’s worth it, for the time being, I’ll keep running.
It probably has something to do with it being Spring. The season of new beginnings, optimism and ‘Optical Race’ — the 1988 Tangerine Dream album. The sound of this record represents a tidal shift in the band’s career, something that’s immediately noticed as these songs are more upbeat, energized and rooted in electronic rock.
I’ve always unintentionally associated Tangerine Dream records with seasons of the year. It comes from somewhere in my subconscious but as the weather changes, I seem to gravitate towards certain albums of theirs. ‘Optical Race’ sees the group progressing towards richer, broader sounds of the late-1980’s with a more sleeker production. The album focuses less on dark, hypnotic themes of previous works but still remains extremely cinematic and powerful as ever.
Just listen to the track Marakesh which opens the record and you can almost see the morning dew on a fresh cut lawn, the sun coming up behind the mountains, followed by a crushing synth odyssey of mystic rhythms and technical mastery. It’s a delight.
This album also represented a new era for Tangerine Dream, not only in lineup changes as band member Christopher Franke was out of the band and also the first album to be programmed with a computer. Not just a computer but an ATARI.
“THIS ALBUM HAS BEEN PRODUCED ON THE ATARI ST USING STEINBURG/JONES SOFTWARE”
Without getting too geeky on the technical side of ATARI ST computer recording production, just knowing that a pack of German synthesizer guys using ATARI to record music is fun to imagine. Do you think while Edgar Froese stressed over trying to get the right chord production, the other guys in the studio played Dungeon Master, Stunt Car Racer or The Secret of Monkey Island?
OK, let’s back it up because it’s getting a little nerdy around here. Before going for a jog this afternoon I had this weird idea of taking a few photos of ‘Optical Race’ by our local track & field. I like how it turned out and now we need to make a music video.
TANGERINE DREAM – Optical Race (1988)
(*NOT AVAILABLE ON STREAMING PLATFORMS….so buy the cassette, compact disc or vinyl!)
PAY THE PRICE FOR PARADISE.
Posted on May 20, 2025 1 Comment
Listening to ‘Cinerama’, the latest EP from Parisian artist Plastic Bamboo is like being hit in the head by a coconut and then waking up in a dreamlike state on the white sands of an exotic but familiar destination. Suddenly you’re a stranger in a strange land on some deserted, enchanted island with palm trees, tanned hardbodies, loin cloths, waves crashing and the scents of banana, pineapple and sea salt. Listen at your leisure.
But wait — that’s not all! Also what comes to mind on the silky-smooth track “A Scene At The Sea” is heavy artillery and a cargo plane containing one giant “LIVE” snake! Wait a minute, that sure sounds like the plot to 1987’s action-juggernaut flick Hard Ticket To Hawaii.
Now it makes total sense because for a brief moment I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what these 6 tracks of cosmic disco collectively reminded me of and then four words hit me like a ton of bricks. HARD TICKET TO HAWAII. Check out an instrumental clip from the soundtrack below and tell me if you agree.
No wonder why I love it so much! As the warmer weather rolls in, give this EP your attention especially if you plan on bopping around the beach this summer. It will enhance your leisure.
PLASTIC BAMBOO – ‘CINERAMA’
buy limited edition 12″ vinyl
stream + download
YEAR OF THE RATT.
Posted on April 30, 2025 1 Comment
The ancient Chinese Zodiac claims it’s the year of the snake but Uncle T begs to differ because all signs are leading to the Year of the RATT.
For whatever reason I’ve been listening to more Ratt than ever before in my life. Is it because this year is the 40th anniversary of the album ‘Invasion Of Your Privacy’? Or maybe it’s because in less than a week I’ll have the privilege of seeing frontman Stephen Peary reunite with guitar messiah Warren DiMartini at the M3 music festival for a night of sacred Ratt ‘N Roll.
Nah, it’s probably just me fantasizing about Tawny Kitaen’s fishnet legs and all those rent-a-rats from the EP album cover. Seriously though, I firmly believe those first four Ratt albums are pound for pound the strongest four album run from any band of the era.
Bottom line? There are a million reasons to love this cool fucking band.
To get everyone in the mood and since summertime is on the horizon, here’s some video bliss from my good friend @neonghoulieglow on IG.
I can’t think of anything I’d rather do this summer than crank some Ratt and dance on the beach after enjoying some corndogs and cold beers. The salt from the ocean and sunscreen fills the air while a seagull soars over my head, winking at me when he hears Ratt playing. Just as one of the snobby and uptight older ladies on the beach is about to take the first bite out of her cucumber sandwich, mister seagull drops a bird turd right in the center of it. Rock on.
Tell me I’m not crazy when I say Stephen Pearcy even sounds like a rat. Something about that nasally vocal style reminds me of a classic talking rat from a cartoon show (and I mean that in the best way possible). Pearcy has one of the coolest, most unique voices in rock and is incomparable to anyone. He’s a rock ‘n roll rodent that snarls and slithers just like the way he moves on stage.
…and TAKE A LOOK AT ROBBIN CROSBY! Or should I say Robbin “Crockett” Crosby while he sports that silk suit and pair of loafers. With a look like that, he could have easily been importing bricks of cocaine on a boat from Havana with his pet alligator.
Nobody does party metal better than Ratt. Nobody.
ALLEY CAT DESIRES.
Posted on April 3, 2025 1 Comment
The other day I started thinking about all the great songs in the history of music that wouldn’t exist without the streetwalkin’ cheetahs who inspired them. Songs about working under the shadow of a neon-lit street corner and putting up with tricks, johns, rent boys, vigilantes, muggers, psychos, butterfly-knife wielding gang members and last but certainly not least — unstable and violent pimps.
Disclaimer: Before we continue, let’s get one thing straight. I’m not talking about modern-day depressing situations of sex trafficking, fentanyl and other gross byproducts of current society. That’s not fun!
Instead, we’re going back to the golden age of big hair, white lace thigh highs and silhouettes walking towards the window of your Buick after a long day at the office. You hear a voice whisper “Hey sugar” while a rat climbs out of a sewer in the distance. It’s like being on 42nd Street in New York City during it’s bygone era when the city was at its seediest and most dangerous (but worth the risk). Long before any serious life-threatening diseases and when all you needed for a health booster after a wild weekend was a shot of penicillin. “Thanks Doc!”
So grab your red lipstick, switchblade, pack of smokes, sleeve of rubbers and join us for a night on the town as TNUC presents ‘ALLEY CAT DESIRES‘ — a tribute playlist for the alley cats working the streets just to make ends meet!
Let’s face it, times are tough in the concrete jungle and sometimes your only chance of survival is a pair of stilettos and your trusty switchblade. If you can relate, then this playlist is for you. Sure, these gals might not be the type you’d bring home to mama for Wednesday spaghetti dinner, but they do what they need to get by.
Now show some respect and pick your poison below!
ALLEY CAT DESIRES on Apple Music
uncletnuc.com 