2025 in 2025: Day 144

Poetree Syndrome - Kebee

And more random Korean hip-hop. Where would my life be without it? This is fairly chill - kind of reminds me of Ayu's Nothing From Nothing. 

Highlights: Fissure

6.5/10

Points on the Curve - Wang Chung

This is only the song Dance Hall Days, which is weird because I do enjoy some Wang Chung and do not even know why I would have this song in particular? Other than it being a really cool lowkey groove.

8/10

Poison - Bell Biv Devoe

These dudes were quite the name back in the early 90s, except I only have the title track and could probably only name you one other song by Bell Biv Devoe. And I do not have that in my library either?

8/10

Pop Goes the Movies - Meco

A big medley of movie themes getting the disco treatment. And there are a lot of them. Some sound better than ever, because they are now disco. Duh!

7.5/10

Pop Life - JUDY AND MARY

YUKI and company with their usual brand of noisey post-grunge fun. I swear, her voice sounds so similar still 30 years later.

Highlights: ジーザス！ジーザス！, Lover Soul, ミュジックファイター

7/10

Pornography - The Cure

One of the darkest and most disturbed releases from The Cure. Robert Smith is super cool, but I cannot help but look at him in the 80s as being a bit of an edgelord. It is crazy that these songs are like 6 minutes long and just have the same drum beat over and over and it does not get boring.

Highlights:

8.5/10

Power of Music - Ayumi Hamasaki

Still my favourite live concert. I could happily watch it every day. It is a shame to miss a few of the performances on this release, but it is also nice having the extra bonus tracks. So I guess it balances out? What is up with the fading between songs when it is not necessary? vogue went straight to Far away and then to SEASONS, yet you need to fade between them all and make the transitions longer?? I am nit-picking, because overall this is just all the feels and genuine POWER of music!!

Highlights: M, progress, Far away, SEASONS, forgiveness

9/10

The Power Source - JUDY AND MARY

More JAM, you say? Very good feel good noise, over here. This one is a little less noisy, I think? I will be honest - most JUDY AND MARY kind of sounds the same. Which is mostly a good thing.

Highlights: KISSの温度, くじら１２号, Happy?, The Great Escape

7/10

The Power Station - The Power Station

This is only their cover of Get It On (Bang a Gong)?!? How do I not have full album?!?! Somebody stop me...

9/10

Prelusive - Sarah Blasko

This was released, I think, around the time I saw Ms. Blasko live in Melbourne. I would not be surprised if she played purely songs from this EP. I should google that... Well, I found the gig, but no setlists. Not even for the headlining act. Gosh, it is almost like we were not terminally online in 2003!

Highlights: Sweet Surrender, New Religion, Follow the Sun, Your Way

7/10

PREMIUM COUNTDOWN LIVE 2008-2009 A - Ayumi Hamasaki

Would you believe I have had this concert on blu-ray since about 2018 and STILL have not watched it? LOGMAN is a weird person. Especially because this CD is very good; it features the most epic version of Heartplace (only to be equalled or possibly surpassed by the performance at the 25th anniversary concert) and there are a number of random older songs as well that I am sure were never performed again.

Highlights: Heartplace, End of the World, Naturally, For My Dear...

7.5/10

present from you - BUMP OF CHICKEN

A big compilation of their b-sides Which is cool for completeness... but they are hardly necessities. 

Highlights: ガラスのブルース (28 years round), プレゼント, スノースマイル ~ringing version~, ラフ・メイカー

6/10

"Albums" listened to so far: 1308

FREE PALESTINE

UWF Fury Hour: Episode 2

UWF Fury Hour Episode 2, 8th October 1990

Herb Abrams and Bruno Sammartino are back - apparently the first episode was "wild and wooly". There are some known names on today's show, and Billy Jack Haynes in the main event!

"The Unpredictable" Cactus Jack vs Davey Meltzer
Davey Meltzer may be the best gimmick ever. Cactus Jack bites people so Bruno thinks he needs to change his meal times. Cactus Jack leaps off the ring apron to the floor to deliver a flying elbow drop... but the quality production team totally miss it.

Winner = Cactus Jack via pinfall

Dan Spivey is so weird he kills the video feed.

'Dangerous' Dan Spivey vs Scott Cole
Im fresh off Dan Spivey being WCW, disappearing (I'm guessing to appear in the UWF) and he's just returned to WCW in November. So this is odd.

Winner = Dan Spivey via powerbomb squashtimes

'Mr. Wonderful' Paul Orndorff vs The Black Knight
Herb and Bruno have no idea who the black knight is. I love how much they care about the product they are presenting. I'm also fresh off Ordorff coming to WCW for a quick holiday and then leaving to join the UWF. Herb makes fun of The Black Knight for being fat and I'm like dude, look at you - you're Herb Abrams! The Black Knight botches hilariosly and i'm like ok dude, you're The Black Knight - let's make fun of you!

Winner - Paul Orndorff via piledriver

How does 'Mr. Wonderful' look so much older here than he did a few months earlier in WCW? 

B. Brian Blair shills the UWF merch again.

Captain Lou Albano cuts a promo with the most blatant cue card reading ever.

Billy Jack Haynes cuts a promo and I still can't believe this is the same dude that looked like a total badass a few years ago. It was only months for me!

'Dr. Death' Steve Williams vs Larry Jobberdude
I do enjoy how much respect the jobbers gets here in the UWF; there is very little effort to let you know their names - it's just 'here is a body for a big old guy to beat up'. And boy howdy does Dr. Death beat this body. Even with a top tope move.

Winner = Steve Williams via boredom

The ads on this show are so completely hilariously bad compared to what I've been seeing on WCW.

Colonel DeBeers wants respect for South Africa. He calls Billy Jack Haynes "Billy JERK Haynes" Ooooh!!!

David Sammartino vs Houdini
Sammartino comes out to Poison by Bel Biv Devoe. The match hasn't even started and already "the crowd" are chanting "BORING", but Bruno is a true pro and continues to call this like it's a normal wrestling match. Except for when David makes a mistake that leads to him getting beaten up by his opponent - then Bruno gets all Dad on him and is all "Well, he deserved that".

Winner = David Sammartino via figure-four leglock

Holy shit these matches are going quickly today.

Captain Lou's Corner
Dan Spivey is a great pro-wrestler? Captain Lou won't even look at him and they then get into a big discussion as to whether or not being tall is an advantage for a pro-wrestler.
What?
Captain Lou asks Spivey why he attacked B. Brian Blair. Dude, I saw the press conference - Blair was talking a bunch of smack and brought it on himself! Spivey says he wants the heavyweight title. There's a title in the UWF??

Dan Spivey cuts a solo promo and also reads cue cards.
Herb yells at me to buy his t-shirt. Who in the fuck would want a Dan Spivey t-shirt?!?

Chief Jay Strongbow wants you to support him and by proxy the Native American people (but this is 1990 so he calls them Indians).

B. Brian Blair vs Spitball Patterson
Herb is sure B. Brian Blair just sold a hundred t-shirts. Maybe if we're accumulating over the entire course of his life. Maybe. Dan Spivey comes out to the ring to watch. Herb and Bruno are very unhappy the referee is allowing him out there - Herb even wonders if he's been paid off. Spivey isn't doing anything - he's just watching the match! I mean, sure, he's tripped Blair twice, but the referee didn't see so that's not his problem! B. Brian Blair does the sharpshooter? And Herb calls it a Boston crab??

Winner = B. Brian Blair via not excellence of execution

Dan Spivey beats up B. Brian Blair after the match.

Billy Jack Haynes vs Colonel DeBeers
DeBeers comes out to Welcome to the Jungle, which until recently was also the entrance song for The Steiner Brothers. Stealing cool music from cooler guys - that's a true heel move. Holy balls, he actually just said he will not allow a black man to referee his match. The referee is changed to the usual fat white dude and Bruno is like fuck that and fuck him! Billy Jack Haynes comes out and quotes Michael Jackson, except Black or White is yet to be released so maybe he should be credited as a songwriter on that one, but apparently Colonel DeBeers has more pull backstage because they ignore Haynes' request to have the black referee come back. This match is slow and boring. Billy Jack Haynes was awesome when he was younger and jacked and just doing squash matches; instead he's now older, less jacked and doing long boring matches like this.

Draw via double count-out

Bruno is like "Billy Jack could have done better"
You'd hope so, Bruno.

Dr. Death cuts a promo running down all the other babyfaces in the company, but he's the new generation or something. Dude, I'm pretty sure you're all from the same generation of the previous decade.

Herb sends us home, telling us the main even was "unreal".
Unfortunately, it was very real.

Thoughts:

• Who thought Dan Spivey was some sort of star??
• Bah gawd this show was boring