The Neurotic Monkey's Guide to Survival is dedicated to providing innovative ideas that will alter reality as we know it and could very well SAVE YOUR LIFE. Plus videos of people getting hit in the junk.
Keith Doughty On Friday, August 19, 2011 at 12:45PM Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
David Bowie - "African Night Flight"
One of these days, one of these days
Gotta get a word through one of these days
Did David Bowie accidentally invent rap music? Of course not. Don’t be silly. Yet the thought just might enter your mind when listening to “African Night Flight” off of Bowie’s 1979 album, Lodger. The song starts out with various non-melodic instruments and sound effects working together to create a frantic rhythm. Brian Eno, who co-wrote the song, is there to provide prepared piano and “cricket menace” (“little crickety sounds that Brian produced from a combination of my drum machine and his ‘briefcase’ synth,” Bowie said in 2001). The result reminds me more of a modern day rap “beat” than the backdrop of a 1970s rock song. And then Bowie comes in.
Keith Doughty On Monday, July 18, 2011 at 2:00PM 
This week in the continuing saga of the debt ceiling, the House will be voting on a Republican proposal to make raising the debt ceiling contingent on the passage of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. This measure is expected to pass the House where it will be dead on arrival in the Senate. That’s a good thing because, although a balanced budget amendment is a good talking point, it’s horrible policy - particularly the specific one under consideration.
Keith Doughty On Friday, July 15, 2011 at 12:30PM Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
Hulk Hogan - “Hulkster in Heaven”
I used to tear my shirt,
But now you've torn my hearts.
I knew you were a Hulkamaniac,
Right from the very start
I have no idea what set of circumstances led Hulk Hogan to release his 1995 album Hulk Rules. "Money" would be the obvious answer, but by 1995 Hogan should have already made lots of it from his lengthy wrestling career and various movie roles (the album did actually hit the top ten. . . . . children’s album chart). I certainly hope it wasn’t for love of music, because the resulting album can barely be called music. It can, however, be called hilarious, particularly the penultimate track on the album “Hulkster in Heaven”.
Keith Doughty On Monday, July 11, 2011 at 2:00PM 
News organizations tend to report on the debt ceiling negotiations as if reducing the deficit is the main concern for both parties. Unfortunately that is not really the case. I say unfortunately because if Democrats and Republicans had the same overall goal, it would be much easier to get a deal done (and as previously discussed, a deal to raise the debt ceiling is absolutely necessary).
If reducing the deficit as much as possible was the goal of both parties, a deal could be struck in which spending cuts that Republicans covet would be traded for revenue raisers (tax increases, elimination of tax breaks, etc) that Democrats desire. The resulting deal would reduce the deficit by a certain amount and both sides would declare victory. This is the type of deal Reagan and Clinton enacted to reduce the deficit and it’s similar to what I expected to happen in this case.
Keith Doughty On Friday, July 1, 2011 at 12:30PM Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
Radiohead - "Cuttooth"
I don't know why I feel so tongue-tied;
I don't know why I feel so skinned alive.
While not as currently popular as they were in the late 1990s/early 00s heyday, Radiohead is still one of the biggest bands in the world. They are clearly not unappreciated nor are they unknown. Yet there is still a wealth of good-to-great Radiohead material that the average listener doesn’t know about. Like many bands, Radiohead frequently releases completed songs that didn’t make the final cut of their albums as b-sides on EPs and singles. However, unlike many bands, Radiohead’s b-sides can actually be quite good. This is particularly true of the b-sides off of OK Computer and Amnesiac. Clearly, Radiohead was in peak form during this time period because many of these b-sides hold their own against the album tracks.
Keith Doughty On Monday, June 27, 2011 at 2:00PM 
Instead of taking on a new topic this week, I’m going to post a few quick follow up items to two of my last posts as well as a couple links to articles I found interesting or noteworthy.
Whoops! It is now likely that President Obama will have to hammer out a deal directly with Speaker Boehner. While it is still possible that the final deal will include the elimination of tax breaks, I’m less confident than I was last week. This is due to the fact that Republicans have hardened their rhetoric around tax cuts and Democrats have seemed increasingly focused on getting additional economic stimulus (in the form of an employer payroll tax cut) into the final deal.
Keith Doughty On Friday, June 24, 2011 at 12:30PM Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
Lou Reed - "Oh Jim"
All your two-bit friends
they're shootin' you up with pills
Although it is looked back on much more fondly now, Lou Reed’s 3rd album, Berlin, was largely reviled at the time of its release in 1973. In its review of the album Rolling Stone stated that “there are certain records that are so patently offensive that one wishes 
to take some kind of physical vengeance on the artists that perpetrate them”. In other words, they did not enjoy it. Coming on the heels of his hit album Transformer, which yielded the top twenty single “Walk on the Wild Side”, Berlin is certainly not what audiences were expecting. Despite being released only one year apart, the two albums are very different.
Reed replaced Transformer producers (and glam rock extraordinaires) David Bowie and Mick Ronson with Bob Ezrin, who at that time was best known for producing Alice Cooper records and would go on to produce Pink Floyd’s The Wall. Instead of utilizing the more traditional rock instrumentation he did on Transformer (such as his own electric guitar playing), Reed brought in a slew of session musicians including such notable names as Jack Bruce (Cream bassist), Steve Winwood (Traffic, Blind Faith organist), Aynsley Dunbar (Journey drummer). The combination of Bob Ezrin and the session musicians leads Berlin to have a very full, theatrical sound although it can also be too polished and overbearing.
But the thing that people found most strange and off-putting about Berlin was Reed’s songwriting. Whereas Transformer was filled with fun, largely upbeat songs, Berlin is a downright depressing album. The songs form a loose storyline about the downfall of two lovers in Berlin. Typical song topics include drug addiction, physical abuse, childhood trauma and suicide.
Keith Doughty On Monday, June 20, 2011 at 2:00PM 
If you are following the debt ceiling talks (and really, who isn’t?) you might get the impression that things are at a complete stalemate. Republican leaders continue to insist that entitlement cuts are necessary for a deal to be made and Democratic leaders are equally insistent that they will not agree to significant Social Security or Medicare cuts. Similarly, Democratic leaders believe that tax revenue increases must be part of any deal but Republicans argue they will not agree to any tax increases. Despite these seemingly contradictory stances, word from DC is that these talks are proceeding nicely and a final deal is slowly taking shape. How is this possible?
Keith Doughty On Friday, June 17, 2011 at 12:30PM Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
The Zombies - "Beechwood Park"
And the breeze would touch your hair
Kiss your face and make you care
About your world
Your summer world
When people look back at the British Invasion of the 1960’s, the groups that immediately come to mind are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and perhaps The Kinks. Of course, many other groups were part of the British Invasion, they just tend to be forgotten because they didn’t achieve the level of success that these groups did (remember Herman’s Hermits?). The Zombies are another example of a semi-forgotten British Invasion band. In 1965 The Zombies had two top-ten singles in the US: "She’s Not There" and "Tell Her No." During the next couple years The Zombies released several singles that couldn’t replicate their earlier success. Believing that they were unlikely to make it in the music business much longer, in 1967 The Zombies got together to record what they decided would be their final album.
That album, Odessey and Oracle, was released in 1968 to little or no fanfare and the group broke up shortly thereafter. Strangely, a year after its release the album’s last song, "Time of the Season," became a big hit in the US. Although it wasn’t enough to bring the full band back together, various incarnations of The Zombies have toured over the years and "Time of the Season" is still a staple of classic rock radio stations (or are they Oldies stations now?).
Still, even though many people have heard "Time of the Season," the Odessey and Oracle album itself tends to get overlooked. That’s a shame because it’s an amazing record, easily one of the best pop albums of the 1960s. I strongly encourage everyone to listen to the entire album, however I’m going to spend the rest of this post highlighting one of my favorite songs from the record.
Keith Doughty On Monday, June 13, 2011 at 2:00PM 
Although tonight’s debate in New Hampshire among the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination is not the first of this cycle, it is the first to include current frontrunner Mitt Romney. It is also the first debate since prospective candidates Mike Huckabee and Mitch Daniels announced they weren’t running. This seems like as good a time as any to share a few thoughts on the current crop of candidates.
US Representative Michele Bachmann – A three term representative from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann is a favorite of the Tea Party. She has the potential to appeal to conservative Republican voters due to her votes against TARP, socially conservative views (particularly on abortion), and tendency towards provocative, outspoken remarks. Bachmann has been compared to Sarah Palin, but she’s much more disciplined and serious about running for President. She has hired an experienced campaign manager and seems set to run a fairly traditional campaign, albeit with a less than traditional candidate. Although it is extremely unlikely to happen, I consider Bachmann to be the only fringe candidate with a shot at parlaying an Iowa Caucus win into the Republican Presidential nomination. In my opinion, the biggest thing standing in her way is that she is basically unelectable in a general election and I don’t think the Republicans will nominate an unelectable candidate.
Keith Doughty On Friday, June 10, 2011 at 12:30PM Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
Vanity 6 – "Nasty Girl"
Uh, It's time to jam,
Nasty girls, dance, dance, dance
1982 was a big year for Prince. He released “1999”, his most popular album to date and a precursor to the style of music he would explore more fully on the “Purple Rain” album. That same year Prince’s protégé band, The Time, released their second album, “What Time is it?”, with Prince handling the production, much of the instrumentation and, legend has it, the songwriting. Although not nearly as successful as “1999”, The Time would go on to play Prince’s rival group in the Purple Rain film two years later and score a couple minor hits.
Finally, 1982 saw the release of the only album by Prince’s other protégé band, Vanity 6. Unlike The Time, Vanity 6 was unquestionably under the complete control of Prince, who wrote, produced and played the instruments on all their songs. Vanity 6 front woman Vanity (real name Denise Matthews, Prince enjoyed giving female artists new names in the 80s) was Prince’s girlfriend at the time and she was expected to play the role of his love interest in Purple Rain.
Keith Doughty On Monday, June 6, 2011 at 2:00PM 
What is the debt ceiling?
The debt ceiling is the legal limit on how much the US government is allowed to borrow.
Why does it exist?
The debt ceiling was originally created to make life easier for congress, not harder. Up until WWI, when the US government needed to borrow money, congress would debate and approve the terms of sale for treasury bonds themselves. During WWI, this proved to be too time-consuming so congress delegated these activities to the Treasury Department.
Not wanting to cede too much power, congress also voted to set a limit on how much the Treasury Department could borrow.
What doesn’t the debt ceiling do?
The debt ceiling itself does not set spending or revenue levels. That is done through the budget process.
But doesn’t spending and revenue levels dictate how much the US government has to borrow?
Therein lies the problem with the debt ceiling. Congress knows how much debt will be incurred when they pass the annual budget. If they didn’t want the Treasury Department to borrow more funds, they would pass a budget that didn’t require the Treasury Department to do so.
Keith Doughty On Friday, June 3, 2011 at 12:30PM Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.
Beck - "Halo of Gold"
“Have you got a fine place to slip to when you're feeling down?”
Although I don’t think Beck is an underappreciated artist, there is a song of his I’ve always liked that is not very well known. Originally released on the Cold Brains EP, Beck’s cover of the Skip Spence song “Halo of Gold” stands out to me particularly when compared to the original version.
Unlike the Beck cover, the original Skip Spence song sounds sloppy and unfinished (for good reason- learn more about Skip Spence here). Spence’s delivery is halting and out of rhythm; the instrumentation is very sparse, just drums and bass. Beck takes the original melody and lyrics, adds typical Beck instrumentation (while retaining much of the prominent bass line), and performs it in his usual style.
Keith Doughty On Monday, May 23, 2011 at 2:00PM 
OK, let’s get something straight: I am no fan of George W. Bush. I voted against him twice, I worked to defeat him in 2004, and I think he can legitimately be blamed, at least in part, for many of our nation’s current woes. That he used gay marriage as a wedge issue to help increase conservative voter turnout in 2004 was hateful and unforgiveable.
But the story of why most Americans (and especially progressives) dislike GWB has already been written many times over. And while I don’t think it should be forgotten, I’m here to embark on a different endeavor: to discuss the aspects of GWB’s presidency that are somewhat under-appreciated by the left.
Once again, this series of blog posts is not meant to change any minds about the Bush Presidency overall. I do hope it provides a little perspective, especially when comparing the policies of GWB with those of the current Republican Party. So, without further ado, let’s get started…
