In recent months we have had quite a few first time visitors who failed to return. Bravo to Marianne for coming back for a second look. Hopefully she will be a new regular. Also rounding out this merry band of players was Dan, Ken, Jen (thanks for the soda bread), Larry (back from a Florida vacation), Sam (we so enjoyed your bass playing), Scott, Bonnie, Tim, Janet, Bill and Wendy Sue.

So, this was Transportation, Act Two. Lots of great material and I bet we can find a lot more now that we are recognize that it need not be motorized. Three from me to start us off. BRAND NEW KEY by Melanie Safka but she got on by just Melanie. What the heck was this song about? Here's what Melanie had to say:

"I was fasting with a 27-day fast on water. I broke the fast and went back to my life living in New Jersey and we were going to a flea market around six in the morning. On the way back… and I had just broken the fast, from the flea market, we passed a McDonald's and the aroma hit me, and I had been a vegetarian before the fast. So we pulled into the McDonald's and I got the whole works... the burger, the shake, and the fries… and no sooner after I finished that last bite of my burger… that song was in my head."

Others have claimed that there were sexual overtones with the key and skates. Whatever, it was her most successful recording and fun to sing and play. La la la la la la la la la...

The next 2 of mine were from the Beach Boys: FUN FUN FUN and LITTLE OLD LADY FROM PASADENA. That nasty E chord got in the way of the Pasadena song being a uke jam hit because only a handful were able to play through. I was not one of them but we all joined in for a nice ending.

We played a pick from Vin, BORN TO BE WILD by STEPPENWOLF. Phew, it was fast AND wild. I was able to get into it once we were half way through. We played a second time a little slower and we did much better.

Jen gave us COME SAIL AWAY by Styx. We did a nice job on it. Good one Jen.

Wendy Sue's SIT DOWN YOU'RE ROCKING THE BOAT was impossible for us to follow, even with that automatic chord highlighter. Very difficult chords.

Next Wendy gave us John Denver's LEAVING ON A JET PLANE. Nicely done. We played it last time too and from Dan's notes I give you this: We played C F and G7, but there are several spots when the F would be better substituted with an Am. In the third line of each verse, above the "up" in "I hate to wake you up," above the "they" in "I tell you now, they don't mean a thing," and above the "I'll" in "Then close your eyes. I'll be on my way," change the F to an Am. It's not any harder, and it adds depth and somberness of tone." Friends, it sounds good either way so do it however you like.

BUS STOP by the Hollies is also from Wendy. A nice oldie with fast changes but we kept up and sounded pretty good.

WHITE RABBIT by Jefferson Airplane (Wendy) was a hot mess although we did enjoy Ken's comical singing.

SOMEBODY TO LOVE also by Jefferson Airplane (Wendy) was transposed down 2 steps to easy Em, G,A,and D. No one was strong on the verse but we rocked out the chorus really well.

A few more from me now: A HORSE WITH NO NAME by America. Two easy chords. The first version I found used Em and F#m. But the constant switching back and forth caused my hand to cramp so I found Dm and C6 which was a lot easier. Easier still was Am and Gadd9.

VENTURA HIGHWAY, also by America was OK

If I do say so myself, the best of the night was 1948's SLOW BOAT TO CHINA (me) by Frank Loesser. It's been performed by many over the years from sappy slow to jazzy upbeat. I like it best somewhere in between and we sounded great!

WALK LIKE A MAN by The Four Seasons (Dan) sounded good.

Ken also got into footwork with WALK AWAY RENEE by The Left Banke. Again we did a decent job.

Tim gave us DOWN UNDER by the Australian group Men At Work. We got into discussions about a regional delicacy, Vegemite. A thick, very dark brown Australian food spread made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. 2 or 3 of our group have tasted it and all found it rather disagreeable. Next we questioned the word 'combi.' Here's what I found: a broken-down van. The lyrics are often translated as "Combie," but the correct spelling is Kombi. It came from the VW Kombivan. And then there was the word 'chunder.' Chunder means to be sick, it originates from old seafaring days when sailers would get seasick and stick their head out of the porthole in their cabin. As they did this they would shout "Watch Under" to warn people in lower cabins of the forthcoming puke. Over the years this has evolved in Chunder.

And this brings us to Bill's video of singing under the influence of helium. We must try that sometime. Gives new meaning to BYOB: bring your own balloon.

Onto Vin's JET AIRLINER by the Steve Miller Band. I did not know this one but those that did played it well.

I'M WALKIN' by Fat's Domino (Dan) a familiar oldie was fast and smooth.

Scott gave us WHEN IRISH EYES ARE SMILING for the sub theme of St. Patrick's Day and Irish Rock SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY by U2. And back to transportation, Led Zeppelin's THANK YOU. Challenging for some (yeah me) by the E chord and lack of familiarity of the tune.

We ended the night with Ken having us play I DON'T LIKE MONDAYS by the Boomtown Rats. We had played this song back in Knight/Night theme night but Ken worked up a newly revised chord sheet.

Chuck Berry just passed. Heard this as I was editing my notes. How did we miss No Particular Place to Go? Maybe we can play some of his songs when we meet again.

Our next theme will be WEATHER suggested by Janet. Until then, you keep playing.

-- Arlene.