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Released 51 Years Ago Today

Sir Elton must be feeling old…as am I.

Elton John: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975)

This was probably the most-anticipated release of my youth, and has remained my all time favorite EJ album my entire life. The entire recording is pure genius from beginning to end. My favorite song from the album, Better Off Dead, is posted above.

Produced by Gus Dudgeon, it was recorded at the Caribou Ranch in Nederland, CO from June – July 1974. After the successful Caribou album, the prolific musician returned to the Caribou Ranch recording studio in the Colorado Rockies to record his next release. The concept album is an autobiographical account of Elton John and Bernie Taupin and the struggles they faced at the beginning of their musical careers. The single Someone Saved My Life Tonight, is about John’s half-hearted suicide attempt while he was engaged to a woman, faced with choosing her over his musical career (and still struggling with his sexual orientation at the time). His friend and former band mate Long John Baldry convinced him to break off the engagement (whom John’s refers to in the song as “Sugar Bear”). The album also marks the last time that John recorded with drummer Nigel Olsson and bassist Dee Murray until the Too Low For Zero album in 1983. Captain Fantastic makes history when it becomes the first album to ever enter the Billboard Top 200 at number one. For the original LP release, a limited number of promotional copies are pressed on translucent brown vinyl, with each album jacket autographed by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. The album is remastered and reissued on CD in 1995 with the stand alone singles Philadelphia Freedom, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, and Elton’s cover of the John Lennon penned One Day A Time (B-side of Lucy), added as bonus tracks. Out of print on vinyl since 1989, the album is remastered and reissued in 2017. Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy spent seven weeks (non-consecutive) at number one on the Billboard Top 200, and is certified 3x Platinum in the US by the RIAA.

The album was released on pretty much every format available, but there is one vinyl pressing that is rarer than rare: a brown vinyl edition that was limited to 2000 units, signed by both Elton and Bernie. Currently there is one—ONE—listing on Discogs, and it’s going for $2500 Australian.

 

And here I thought the pink vinyl version of Madonna’s Bedtime Stories, or the multi-disc, multi-color vinyl version of Pet Shop Boys’ Relentless was ridiculously expensive and forever out-of-reach!

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#Accurate

Donald Trump returned from China on May 15th claiming strength, dominance, and another “historic success,” but the reality looked far different to much of the world watching. What unfolded during the visit often appeared less like a display of American power and more like a carefully managed spectacle orchestrated entirely on China’s terms.

Chinese President Xi Jinping is known for discipline, control, and strategic patience. Trump, by contrast, frequently appeared impulsive, distracted, and overly eager for praise and optics. While Chinese state media projected calm authority and national confidence, Trump spent much of the trip creating headlines centered on himself rather than meaningful diplomatic achievements.

For critics, the visit reinforced a growing perception that Trump walks into high-stakes international situations believing theatrics can replace preparation and substance. The awkward moments, exaggerated praise, and constant need for attention only fueled the image of a leader more focused on performance than policy.

Meanwhile, China gained exactly what it wanted: powerful visuals, global exposure, and the appearance of stability and control beside an American president many already view as chaotic and unpredictable.

Whether supporters admit it or not, the trip did little to project strength for the United States. To many observers around the world, it looked like Donald Trump had wandered into a geopolitical chess match while still believing he was starring in reality television.

[source]

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We All Remember Our First

[pdf-embedder url=”https://voenixrising.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/hfe_sony_d-50_mkii_brochure_85-12_jp.pdf”]

This is the device I spent many a summer afternoon listening to Miami Sound Machine on—not the one in my photo the other day. That was my second portable, and as near as I can remember, I didn’t get that one until after I’d moved to San Francisco—although I have no memory of where or when exactly I acquired it. Getting old sucks.

(As cringeworthy to read as they are now, I’m so glad I kept journals of my adventures in The City from 1987 thru 2001. It’s almost as if I knew at the time at some point they’d be the only way for me to verify when shit happened.)

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Good Humans

I have no idea if this is a true story or not, but I would very much like to believe it is. And if it is, we need a whole lot more of this in the world right now.

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A Day Late…

From Tengrain:

A rendering of the Epstein Ballsroom.

…and a billion Ameros short:

“The Senate’s parliamentarian has found that $1 billion in federal funding related to President Trump’s White House ballroom is subject to a 60-vote threshold in the Senate rather than a simple majority, throwing into question whether Republicans will be able to fast-track a vote for the project.”

“Republican leaders on Capitol Hill had included the Trump administration’s $1 billion request for security-related upgrades tied to the ballroom in a $70 billion package to fund U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol for three years. Senate Republicans have been waiting for the parliamentarian to clear the entire bill before holding a vote this coming week.”

I doubt that Senate Democrats —except for you-know-who— will vote for the Epstein ballsroom (or for ICE for that matter), so this is kinda dead, barring any additional eff’ery from Republicans.

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Why Did An Inveterate Disco Dolly Like Myself NOT Have These In My Collection?

Yeah, I have them on vinyl (of course), but while I thought I had replaced most of my collection of late 70s Cerrone goodness on CD, I went to play Cerrone’s Paradise the other day and realized that I had not. Sure, I had his seminal work, Love in C-Minor, and even a couple of his later releases (Supernature Symphony and Disco Symphony) on CD, but these two (along with The Golden Touch and Cerrone V) were absent. I opted to replace these two now and wait on the others.

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Is He Making This [Shit] Up As He Goes Along? “Obviously.”

From Greg Fallis;

As you almost certainly know, Comrade Trump was recently asked how much thought he was giving to the financial situation of Americans in his negotiations with Iran. His answer:

“Not even a little bit. The only thing that matters when I’m talking about Iran—they can’t have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I don’t think about anybody. I think about one thing—we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. That’s all.”

For the moment, let’s just ignore the fact that Iran has NO nuclear weapons and currently lacks the capacity to create them. Let’s just focus on that statement and the reaction to it. Obviously, a LOT of US citizens were offended and angered by it. But what about Trump’s base? Specifically, let’s see what the Trump-loving ‘patriots’ at FreeRepublic had to say about it.

You may be surprised (well, I was surprised) to find Freepers were almost evenly divided about Trump’s comments (and his ‘excursion’ in Iran in general). I expected the majority to be maximally Trump-brained, and some most certainly were.

You can always count on CBS to slice out a piece of a Trump statement to make it sound as bad as possible. Keeping the nukes out is well worth the price but the Trump haters have no vision beyond that hatred.
by gibsonguy

Nothing would destroy the USA financial well-being like an Iranian nuke going off in a major city.
by ProtectOurFreedom

America first means doing what it takes to remove the Iran nuclear threat. How is this so hard to understand? I would gladly pay $7 at the pump if that’s what it takes.
by Kleon

Why aren’t Liberals mad at Iran for the high gas prices and general disorder in the mid east?
by Az Joe

As the leader of the free world you need to lead by example and through the strength that you possess to do the right thing and stand up for other democracies… Israel is the only Democratic country in the Middle East. By standing with them you instill discipline within the world community, and establish your credentials as the leader of the free world. Imagine if you will, letting Israel flounder and allowing it to be nuked by Iran… That would be a terrible example and other countries would start losing respect for America. The United States must lead… Sitting on your arse is not an option.
by jerod

Terrorist muslims bent on death to America with a nuclear weapon is the GREATEST threat to our national security that I can think of.
Trump is not doing this because he wants to but because he cares more about America than those who preceded him office and likely cares more than those who will likely succeed him.
by Biblebelter

That’s pretty much what I was expecting to find. But hold on to your keffiyehs, friends, because a surprising number of Freepers are angry and disgusted with Trump and his war against Iran. Who’d a thunk it?

I watched that video and proves Trump is out of touch with the average American but he is more worried about his Stock Market pals… He will pay a steep price for being out of touch. Wonder what happened to America First!
by dpetty121263

Americans who don’t watch CBS, who voted for Trump, are also economically hurting right now.
by CondoleezzaProtege

If Trump is dead set with Iran not having nuclear weapons then he needs to put troops on the ground instead of doing it all by air right now. He also would not be negotiating.
He is making things worse by negotiating. This is his screw up. The economy is going to crap. Republicans will lose big. Either pull out or go all the way in.
Obiviously he is making it up as he is going along and this adventure was poorly planned.
by moviefan8

Tucker says Iran is no where close to having a nuke. Tucker has intelligence that is so much better than Trump’s. Trump just wanted to go to war because, well because, er well…cause Epstein.
by Sir Bangaz Cracka

What most likely happened was Trump believed he was going to replay his grand Venezuelan victory out in Tehran. It blew up in his face, and now we all have to pretend that we were going to get incinerated at any moment if Trump had not blundered into this stupid war
by hcmama

There you are. Trump, being Trump, naturally had to double down on his comment. When asked about it after his return from China, he said, “It’s a perfect statement. I’ll make it again. Everybody agrees.”

President Xi Jinping and…you know, that guy.
He’s right, sort of. Almost everybody does agree–that Trump doesn’t know what the hell is going on, isn’t capable of understanding what’s going on even if he knew, and doesn’t have a plan to deal with what’s going on. Obiviously (which is probably how Trump pronounces it).

ENDNOTE: Just to be clear, at present Iran has neither the material nor the capacity to make any nuclear weapons. The CIA has confirmed it would take at least one year to create a nuclear weapon IF they had the technologies necessary to produce enough fissile material and to design and implement a delivery system with a proper detonation system. And they don’t have that. Obiviously.

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