It was like learning to swim or ride a bike.  If you listen to my earlier albums you can hear the heavy influence of two other guitarists.  Alvin Lee and Johnny Winter.  God took Alvin back in March of 2013.  I was stunned.  It was Alvin’s show stealing performance at Woodstock that made me want to be a rock and roll blues guitarist.  After learning my craft, I grew very fond of this albino guitarist that could play lead guitar and sing so naturally.  It was Johnny Winter.  (Edgar’s brother).  So in a very OCD type fashion, I studied these two guitarists’ recordings “Note for Note”.  On my first two albums you can hear them. Especially my first album called “Cowboy Hat Blues” which was dedicated to those blues masters that performed with a cowboy hat. (Johnny Winter, SRV, Freddie King etc…)  To this day, you can still hear those riffs that I practiced over and over again, until I could do it without thinking.

The two albums I can play note for note are Johnny Winter Captured live (Minus the Slide parts) and Alvin Lee’s/Ten Years After’s “Rock and Roll Music to the world”.  I would stay up all night with the head phones on playing those riffs, backing up the record, then doing it again until I figured it out.

In 1975, I realized that I could keep up with my heroes.  I was fast.  Then I had a strange epiphany.  I realized that all of my playing was really fast.  In fact, the Wave Magazine as late as 2005 said: “If you like Loud, FAST, unapologetically confrontational Rock, Ace is your man”!

Enter The Guitar Player Album of the Year for 1975.  Robin Trower’s “Bridge of Sigh”.  It was slow juicy, almost psychedelic Blues Rock.  Just listening to these long bending sustains on his guitar opened my eyes to a new element of guitar called “Tone”.  This “balanced out my sound.

Johnny’s first band was Rick Derringer’s band “The McCoys”. (Hang on Sloopy)  So last night before I went to bed, Rick’s wife told me that she had heard but wasn’t sure of the news that Johnny passed on tour.  I went to sleep praying it was just a bad rumor.  This morning Fox had a short article on Johnny’s passing.  They said he passed on tour in Zurich Austria on the final leg of the tour.

So for almost 40 years, these 3 musicians were the foundation of what would be MY signature sound.  But Johnny was always the most entertaining.  I was in Japan in 1976 and I saw Johnny with many of the world’s greatest blues shredders around him.  Guys like Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton.  One by one they just quit playing and formed a circle around Johnny and watched the master play.  Johnny was a guitarist’s Guitarist.   Even Jimi Hendrix looked up to Johnny.

We’ll miss you sweet Papa John.  Rest in Peace.

This is the final installment of the “Best Movies” series.  The nineties saw CGI graphics being used extensively.   The 2nd Star Wars Trilogy that came out in the late 90s did not make the list, but you could see what Spielberg could do with a computer.  Personally, I prefer the old days when they used master craftsmen to make models and acting took priority over special FX.  It’s like the program “auto tune” in Music.  Anyone can sing like Daryl Hall if you have the worst voice and this program.  I noticed in the 90s that too many movies were being made.  Sometimes, competition can ruin a perfectly good movie.  With the price of a theater seat at $10.00 (American) Unless it’s a movie that should be appreciated on the BIG screen like a Godzilla movie, most Americans will wait until it comes out on DVD and watch it in their underwear on their own BIG screen at home, where the popcorn is cheaper and healthier and you don’t have some dumb ass talking on his cell phone. Thank you to everyone who read my review of the formative years of Cinema. * NOTE All of the Titles mentioned are available for purchase on DVD.  You may have to search harder for some of them.

1. INDEPENDENCE DAY ID4 – ID4 was a movie taken right from Ronald Reagan’s U.N. Speech in the 80s.  The 90s were also the “Will Smith/Tom Hanks” decade.  I’m surprised that they chose to team Will Smith up with Jeff “The Fly” Goldblum instead of Tom Hanks.  They probably would, but Hanks was busy working on “That Thing you do”.

2. SANDLOT 1993 – For any kid that loved Baseball as a kid, this was a movie that will always have a spot in your heart.   This was before steroids.  This was when the Babe was still a Baseball deity.  Unlike the shameful alleged felon that occupies the HR title now.  And before you call me a racist; I met Hank Aaron and he was a legitimate Home Run King.  But I think this movie was supposed to take place prior to Aaron’s record. (Who said if he could have used steroids, he would have hit 900 Home runs) This movie is like Christmas Story in that it’s told in the third person reflecting on his childhood.  It’s much like “The Wonder Years”.  It’s an animated version of South Park without the weekly killing of Kenny.  Whoever did the casting and character creation in this movie really did their homework.

3. PULP FICTION 1994– This is the Quintin Tarantino film that all Q movies will be judged against.  It is truly the bench mark of all films Tarantino.  It’s one of the few movies that showcased Q’s originality.  A Star Studded cast that include not just “Travolta and SLJ” but “Bruce Willis” as well.  It could be considered a cult film but this movie was indicative of the times (Especially in L.A.) so it has a broad audience.  Kill Bill would follow, but Q admits that Kill Bill was “Josey Wales meets Kung Fu”.  Inglorious Basterds (yes it was spelled with a E) is one of my favorite Q movies but only because of the Beautiful Melanie Laurent.  Again, this movie was a rip off of the “Dirty Dozen”.

4. THE MATRIX 1999 – This movie was one of the first “Messianic” movies to hit the silver screen that appealed to so many.  The timing was right as the world had gone virtual.  Ironically, less people today (After 6 years of Obama) are starting to wonder if they would choose the blue pill or the red pill.  It is to date, the ultimate use of the Christ story.  Most of the names in the movie were taken from the Bible.  I think what was really good about this movie was that they only milked it for one sequel too many.  They should have stopped at one sequel.

5. FORREST GUMP 1994– This was the beginning of the Hanks/Spielberg success formula.  Gump was the story of every Baby Boomer.  Just as “Sandlot” resonated with boomer that played little league, Gump was a history lesson that started in the segregated south of the 60s.  Spielberg blatantly uses CGI to splice Hanks into historic scenes of Gump shaking hands with Presidents, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.  The movie is funny and instead of spawning several sequels, it spawned 3 Restaurant called “Bubba Gump’s”.  The menu is based upon the movie.  The Restaurants were good when they originally opened.  Now they’re just glorified Chili’s with mediocre food and props from the movie.  Ironically, most of the employees were not even born when the movie came out.

6. THE ROCK 1996 – Sean Connery comes of age (In latent fashion) I never liked Sean Connery, perhaps it was his portrayal of James Bond. In The Rock he nailed the role he was casted in as a “Has Been” English agent that knew too much.  In the movie, Connery has a line while discussing his release from prison: “Once they set me free, they’ll suicide me”.  Today, we say: “They’ll Breitbart me”.  (Referring to activist Andrew Breitbart’s mysterious heart attack)  Connery’s co-star, Nicholas Cage had come a long way from his fledgling attempt at acting in the movie “Valley Girl” a movie that was so bad that Frank Zappa dropped a law suit against the producers claiming that he didn’t want his name associated with such an awful movie. The Rock has one great asset, Alcatraz.  Any movie that has the Island (former prison/fort) Alcatraz in it will have some success because of this mysterious Island alone.  This movie was a fabulous thriller even with Cage’s poor acting.  Most of the best actors were the bad guys including the ever so underrated “Ed Harris”. (All the Right Stuff) The casting was excellent in The Rock. NOTABLE LINE: “What do you want me to do, kill him again”? delivered by Connery while a dead bad guy is twitching after dying.

*NOTE:  In 2012 Warner Brothers produced a 13 episode series for Fox called Alcatraz.  The series won the “Most exciting new series of 2012” Award.  It had better than average ratings yet was cancelled after 13 episodes.

7. JURASSIC PARK 1993 – How many people knew what Velociraptors were before 1993?  Now ask yourself, how many youth soccer teams have at least one team called the “Raptors”?  I think the NBA has a team called the Raptors. The NBA Raptors were founded in 1995.  Is this a coincidence?  I doubt it.  The movie is on this list because there is no doubt that it had a huge influence on society.

It only on my list because of the many gratuitous camera shots of Laura Dern’s ass.  This is one movie where the director was egregious when it came to gratuitous sex shots.

8. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN 1998 – Again we have the Hanks/Spielberg connection.  Saving Private Ryan was important for one sect of America, the greatest generation.  The WWII Heroes that survived the attack on Omaha beach on June 6^th 1944 came out of the Theater saying that the first 10 minutes of the Movie was like reliving the invasion.  This movie, I felt, was for them.  It was true that America would risk the lives of many to find the last surviving member of a family to send them home.  Private Ryan is the last of the Ryan brothers to survive the D-Day invasion.  Hanks and his squad are sent to find Ryan and send him home.   Although the movie takes liberties with history, just as Pearl Harbor did in 2005, it was a typical Hanks/Spielberg action drama.  I’m glad it didn’t have any sequels, but one could argue that the HBO series “The Band of Brothers” (Which I felt was better than Saving Private Ryan) could be interpreted as a sequel.  Modern Day influence many are comparing the soldiers that died looking for the alleged “deserter” Pvt. Bergdahl that America traded 5 top Taliban prisoners for.  But unlike “Benedict” Bergdahl; (the alleged traitor), Pvt. Ryan was a Hero, who didn’t want to leave his squad short handed. Bergdahl decided to take a walk one night and went looking for the enemy. (And not for good reasons) It’s been reported that 6 of Bergdahl’s fellow squad mates died searching for him.

9. TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY 1991 – This is one of the few sequels that had people visiting the original because the sequel was so much better.  I can only think of two off of the top of my head, those being Rocky Two and Rambo. (Hmmmm both Stallone movies)  Terminator 2: Judgment day was huge.

Notable Line: “I’ll be Back”.

t’s a movie about time travel but this time the bad guy in the first movie is truly the good guy in the sequel.  Perhaps this is why T2 had success the second time around.  CGI graphics were used perfectly in this movie.  I say that because they were used with a purpose and not out of laziness.  As far as Action movies go; T2 is one of the best and possibly the pinnacle of Arnold’s career. (His role as Governor of California notwithstanding)

10. THAT THING YOU DO 1996 – Did I mention Hanks had a big career in the 90s?   I can remember the garage bands that somehow had a good song that made it to the top of the charts never to be heard from again. Wooly Bully, Louie Louie, Brother Louie, In the year 2525 etc…  These band are known in the business as “One hit wonders”.  What I liked about “That thing you do” is that it explained the common story of the one hit wonder.  Again, whoever did the casting and character definition really did a great job.  If you look at the members of the fictional band “The Wonders”, you can compare it to many of the bands in pop culture that had one hit and then broke up.  What I would like to see is a movie of a successful band like the Beatles that break up and the result is mediocre product as opposed to the synergistic sound the band had.  (Synergy is when the sum is greater than the total of the individual parts combined).  The Beatles were a perfect example.  John Lennon (Whom I felt was the genius behind the Beatles) was less successful in his solo career compared to Paul McCartney.  (I could write a McCartney/Wings song in 5 minutes) but they needed each other to give the Beatles that “synergy” where John lacked in commercialism (Paul’s prowess) Paul lacked in substance. (John’s prowess).  We saw this in the Eagles break up.  But in ‘That thing you do”, it was easy for Hanks to write the archetypes of a successful band that lets success ruin the band.  Musicians are musicians for different reasons and Hanks was able to find four of the biggest reasons Musicians join bands.  It’s a better movie if you know the “Inside baseball” of the music industry.

   BEST CULT MOVIE – WAYNE’S WORD 1992

Mike Myers and Dana Carvey created this wonderfully fun extension of their SNL skit about two guys from a suburb of Chicago (Aurora) that gain access to public television at 2:00 AM.  It becomes a local cult hit in the area until an industry guy buys the rights for pennies.  The original movie was as funny as Animal house (another SNL genre movie) yet the sequel is as good as the original.  One wonders why Myers omitted Carvey from the Austin Powers series. There are so many notable lines, I could do an article on the Top 10 best lines from Wayne’s World.  (Like Babalicious, Schwing, Baberaham Lincoln, Exsqueeze me, or “I’ll have the cum of someyongguy”.  There was one sequel and to be honest, I have trouble telling one from the other.

This will be the last installment of the best of TV shows as I said, Television swung to reality TV in the 90’s with the exception of NBC’s Law and Order Franchise and CBS’ CSI Franchise.   24 is still going strong after a 4 year hiatus.  We can only hope that the ratings for Fox and Jack Bauer warranted continuing the series.  This season was only 12 episodes long instead of the usual 24 one hour installments.  Time will tell.

THE SIMPSONS –  The Simpsons were created as cartoon “shorts” for “The Tracey Ullman Show”.  The response from the public was so overwhelming that shortly after their appearance on the Ullman show, The Simpsons had their own show as Tracey Ullman faded into Obscurity.  Although the Simpsons just caught the end of the 80s, they still make the list.

SEINFELD – It was a story about nothing.  Jerry Seinfeld played himself and made a hit series out of his life as a standup comedian.  I guess you could say it was an 80s version of  “I Love Lucy”.  Many of the characters came from ABC’s failed variety show “Fridays”.  But the writing was non-specific.  The success of the series was dependent on the stories that came from the characters being “ordinary people”.

CHEERS – Cheers was a TV Series about a bar in Boston called “The Bull & Finch”.  It’s as popular as Fenway park if you’re touring Boston.  Unlike the TV Show which features a horseshoe bar (and ferns) The Bull & Finch is what you would think a Bostonian corner bar would look like.  It has the Indian.  The bar is a simple counter.  Around back where the pool Table was exists a T-shirt shop.  It is underground as in the TV show so be sure and watch your step.

MARRIED WITH CHILDREN – This was the most popular TV Series in the correctional system across America.  It was Fox’s live version of the Simpsons (which was animated) The show ran 11 seasons until the patron saint of Shark jumping became a cast member.   The infamous “Ted McGinley”.  I could do a whole article on the shows Ted Killed off starting with Welcome Back Kotter.  Most of you would recognize McGinley as the Quarterback Jerk in “Revenge of the Nerds”.

THIRTYSOMETHING – 30 something was a show aimed at baby boomers.  It was a primetime soap opera for the Baby Boomers that were in their 30s.  You either liked it or you hated it.  The writing was well done but they ran short of stories after a while.  The series had that New York Woody Allen/Nora Ephron flavor to it.

THE WONDER YEARS – The wonder years was a retro boomer series about life 20 years prior to the year we were in.  It started in 1983 and every Junior High was changing the name of their school to J.F.K junior High, or Kennedy High School. (Starting in 1963)  This was much like 30 something only it could have been called 12 something.  We get to follow the pre-pubescence stories of life in middle school, then High School then finally the show ends with the Narrator playing catch with his son.  The Narrator played the main character (Kevin Arnold the original 12 year old) of the show and the show was being told in the third person.  In fact, the Idea came from the movie; “A Christmas Story”

MOONLIGHTING – “Look he has hair”! Moonlighting was the story of two Private Investigators who were of the opposite sex.  It was the launch of Bruce Willis’ career and co-starred Cybil Shepherd.  The show was a short lived hit for ABC only because Willis was bound for stardom and the Silver Screen was calling.  It was screaming the words DIE HARD quite loud.

DYNASTY– Dynasty was a prime time soap Opera which was another “The life and follies of the Rich and Famous”.  Dallas had gained a head start in the 70s while Dynasty which was supposed to be based out of “Denver” show cased beautiful people that could not act.  That’s what the value of Dynasty was; Beautiful people.  Of course it had John Forsyth, Linda Evans and Joan Collins for acting credibility, but all of the boy toys and girlfriends were Revlon models or Sports Illustrated cover girls.  One pretty face that got her start in the Dynasty series was Heather Locklear.  Yes Heather be thy name.

WAR OF THE WORLDS –  In 1988 someone decided to do a TV Series of the Radio shocker: “The War of The Worlds”.  It looked like it had a great future ahead of it.  The series lasted two seasons and folded.  It really hurt not being able to see “Lynda Mason Green” any longer.

WHEEL OF FORTUNE – In 1983 America got its’ first glimpse of  the game show that would have millions tuning in just to watch Vanna White turn cubes to see what letter was behind it.  Vanna was discovered by Merv Griffin and the rest is history and I’m done scraping the bottom of the Barrel.  From Combat in 1963 to Wheel of Fortune in 1983.  I didn’t have room for “The Cosby Show” but if you want black programming, just turn on some commercials.

There you have it.

*Note The 80s appeared to be a turning point in visual entertainment.  Nintendo and Atari had introduced the first Video games.  In the 80s, we saw Cinema at its’ best, and T.V. was relying on the great shows from the 70s with a handful of new exceptions.  I will go so far as to say that the eighties became the new Golden age of Cinema.  Unfortunately Video games and MTV forced the Television industry into a downward spiral for the worse.

1. FIELD OF DREAMS – Released in 1989, Field of Dreads became the new Baseball masterpiece.  It will be the film standard by which all future Baseball movies are held to. They say we go through life having an unresolved issue with one parent.  Field of Dreams takes this into the paranormal and has grown men crying at the end.  The actors are some of the best in the business (new and old).  This Movie didn’t win the awards that some of the others did, but it did create a new standard that the Natural or even Major League can’t stand up to.

2. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT – Probably the best movie of the 80s and one of the top 5 post WWII movies.  Arguably a “Chick Flick”, “Terms” had an ensemble that won an academy award in almost every category.  Jack Nicholson was at his finest as were the co-stars Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine.  The supporting cast even included Danny DeVito as well as a young up and coming John Lithgow (3^rd rock) and Jeff Daniels (dumb &dummer/Speed).  The only issue keeping this movie from being in the same class as Gone with the wind or Casablanca is the ending.  There are movie goers who will dislike a movie if the ending comes in the form of harsh reality.

3. DIE HARD – Die hard launched the Silver screen career of one of the most prolific actors of our time.  Bruce Willis will probably be known forever as Officer John McLaine.  The movie would spawn 4 more sequels.  But Willis would go on to do more movies than any other “A” list actor of our time.

4. SCARFACE – Scarface is a cult movie to some.  It’s a great story about a cocain trafficker in the 80s that had his own “mob” business.  He was a ruthless killer and the movie glorifies the decadence and terror of the life of a gangster, and who is best to play the role of a gangster but Al Pacino.  Notable line: “Say Hello to my little friend”.

5. BACK TO THE FUTURE – Marty McFly (J.Michael Fox) finds himself in the 50’s before he was born.  This is a time machine movie that is interesting in hindsight as Spielberg introduces cool toys in 1985 which we do not have yet.  Huey Lewis makes a cameo telling Marty’s band: “They’re just too darn loud”.  B2TF would have 2 sequels with one cast change.  It defines the 80s classic trilogy.

6. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: That kid that was always racing for pink slips in American Graffiti gets his first of many title roles in Raiders of the lost Ark.  Spielberg introduces us to “Indiana Jones” (who gets his name “Indy” after the family dog) Indiana Jones’ character is Classroom science teacher meets Anthropologists meets James Bond.  And oddly enough, in one of the sequels, Sean Connery plays Indiana Jones’ father.  What’s truly interesting about this movie is that the plot is based on historical fact.  It was a trilogy for the longest time, but I think Spielberg recently milked Indiana for one more go around.

7. THE SHINING – Perhaps the scariest movie of the 80s, The Shining, a Stanley Kubrick film, is based on the haunted Hotel in Colorado called the Stanley Park Hotel.  This Movie is all about Jack Nicholson with a few lines from Shelly Duvall.  Jack plays the Inn keeper of a Haunted Hotel in the middle of nowhere and finds himself going stir crazy.  Then again who could stand to be locked in an abandoned Hotel with Shelly Duvall? (Olive Oil)
The last three fall under the Genre of “Feel Good” movies. It’s comfort food for the eyes.

8. TOP GUN – This movie is really interesting in retrospect.  With the exception of introducing America to the beautiful Meg Ryan; we have Tom Cruise (often alleged as gay) playing the romantic role opposite of Kelly McGillis who recently came out of the closet.  It makes you wonder if they both went Yuk and spit after each kiss scene.  If you love F-14s this is the movie for you.  There are priceless aviation  scenes.  The plot is O.K. but it’s an action movie, so we have to cut the writers some slack.  Anthony Bourdain called this the “Gayest Movie ever made” as the movie has many shower scenes with nude men and at the end many of them are hugging each other saying: “You can be my wingman anytime”.  But what does Bourdain know about Aviation?

9. PREDATOR – Predator is an Arnold Action movie.  Arnold takes on an Alien creature whose mission is to hunt other predators for sport.  The movie is Action Packed and it had one sequel.  Well two if you count Alien vs. Predator.  There are two notable lines in this movie.  One comes the shameless Jessie Ventura who says: “I ain’t got time to bleed”.  I believe The former Governor/Wrestler wrote a book by the same title.  The other notable line by Arnold, as he takes off the Predator’s mask is: “You’re one ugly mother fucker”!  The line is repeated in the sequel which starred Danny Glover.

10. GHOSTBUSTERS – This is another 80s movie.  Many 80s movies had a certain “comfort food” feel about them.  Ferris Bueller’s day off is another example that did not make the list.  In fact I could have made this list 40 movies long.  Ghostbusters was a Saturday night live reunion of Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd.  Ernest Hudson, who would go on record as having been haunted by a real ghost as a child, played the 3^rd Ghost Hunter.  Akroyd and Murray play scientists at a University and are always causing “incidents” with their experiments.  They eventually lose their grant money and have to go to work for the private sector.  They do so by offering a Ghost hunting/trapping/and removal service called Ghostbusters.  Notable line: “Dan Akroyd after being expelled from the University hears Murray say: “Well, we’ll just have to go to work in the private sector” Akroyd responds: “I’ve worked in the private sector.  It’s tough.  They expect results”.

80s CULT MOVIE – THIS IS SPINAL TAP – Produced with NO SCRIPT, Rob Reiner also plays the narrator that tours with this decadent 60s/70s aging rock band.  The Keyboardist, “Viv Savage” whose real name is Dave Kaff played keys for my band in the early 2000s.

THE OTHER 80s CULT MOVIE- CROSSROADS – Ralph Maccio from the Karate Kid makes a comeback as a child Prodigy on guitar.  He breaks out a legendary Blues harmonica player from a state hospital and the two go “down south” where Willie Brown, (Walter Johnson’s alleged friend) is going to show Eugene the 27^th lost song that was never recorded by Blues great Robert Johnson.  The movie is fun and gives a somewhat accurate portrayal of the racism that still exists in the south. (As of 1986) I can’t say what it is like after 6 years of Obama.  The guitar work on the sound track is done by Ry Cooder (Slide guitar) and the great Head cutting scene at the end is done by Rocker Steve Vai (David Lee Roth).  In the head cutting scene, Vai plays both parts.  You can see the film is edited to make Maccio look like he’s actually playing.  (Which looks quite obvious)

THE BEST ROMANTIC COMEDY OF THE 80s – When Harry met Sally.  How can you not love Meg Ryan in this romantic comedy?  I agree Billy Crystal can be as annoying and obnoxious as Alan Alda, but in spite of Crystal’s deliveries, this Nora Ephron movie is amongst the best Romantic Comedies ever.

TOP CHICK FLICK – DIRTY DANCING.  This is the late Patrick Swayze’s chance to showcase his dance abilities.  The movie also includes the late Jerry Orbach (Detective Lenny Briscoe) from NBC’s Law and Order.

TOP GUY FLICK – ROAD HOUSE- Again Patrick Swayze show casing his choreographed Karate moves.  The movie has lots of T&A for the guys as well as monster trucks, fights and killings.  This movie would not be on the list without the beautiful Kelly Lynch who is known only as “Doc”.