PLU comes to you this evening from Phoenix, AZ, where I'm enjoying a weekend of Angels spring training baseball with one of my best buddies and his son. The boy calls me uncle, which makes me feel good...old, but good. It's also a good feeling knowing that baseball is just around the corner. ...I've had some time to myself here in my hotel room tonight, and I started thinking about Reg King. Tonight's song suggests he had difficulty with the transition from the 60s to the 70s. The music is a mess and leaves you with a feeling that everything's coming apart. It clocks in at well over six minutes, which is especially heartbreaking for me because I hear it as confirmation that the golden era of the three-minute pop song is long gone. But through all the sloppy chaos and palpable unease, you still get a nice taste of Reg King's distinct charisma. The sense of desperation actually works in spots. The song doesn't really cohere, but maybe that's the point. ...When I think about my favorite 60s bands, the Action are always very close to the top. They had a good five or six magnificent pop songs - well crafted, precise, self-contained. King's subsequent solo stuff is not as good as the Action, but it's a great feeling when you find the nuggets of gold deep inside material that's otherwise well past it's sell-by date...
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