Star Trek Squeezeboxes and the Planet of Irish Clichés
Inter-planetary accordions keep showing up on Star Trek. I appear to have joined twitter in 2013 just in time to share this discovery.
Star Trek the Next Generation’s second-season episode “Up the Long Ladder” is not a high-point of the series. [Spoilers if you care] The plot is that after the first half of the show unfolds, it seems to be forgotten until it is presented as a surprise solution to the second half. There is no explanation for this.
(from Memory Alpha)
In the (really it is quite memorable) first half, the crew of the Enterprise encounters a dying planet of stage-Irish stereotypes. These caricatures pass around jugs of whisky, broadly play out an inter-generational battle of the sexes, and then celebrate by playing concertina (the soundtrack though features accordion.) Who knew the prejudices of the 1800s would survive all the way to the 24th Century?
Irish actors in the early 1900s loudly protested against this kind of (“green face”?) prejudice. Earlier, however, Irish Americans were among the first to perform in America’s racist blackface minstrel shows. These minstrel troupes were extremely popular and influential when they toured Ireland in the 1840s. In addition, they were the first place many audiences ever saw accordions – still a novelty mostly reserved for the wealthy. Surely there are higher-quality Star Trek allegories in there somewhere?
I cover some of this history in the Irish chapter of my Accordion Revolution book, and whole-heartedly recommend:
Robert Nowatzki’s “Paddy Jumps Jim Crow: Irish-Americans and Blackface Minstrelsy”, Éire-Ireland – Volume 41:3&4, Fómhar/Geimhreadh / Fall/Winter 2006, pp. 162-184.
Mick Moloney’s “Irish Ethnic Recordings and the Irish-American Imagination”, in Ethnic Recordings in America, a Neglected Heritage, American Folklife Center, (US) Library of Congress, 1982, pg 85-102.
(Let me know if you can’t find copies.)
Carl Fortina: Accordionist of the Stars (bonus points)
Another Star Trek squeezebox connection I noted is that along with hundreds of other TV shows, Carl Fortina played Star Trek accordion over the years. I wrote about him and The First Appearance of an Accordion in a Motion Picture. That post grew into the “Squeezebox at the Movies” section of my book.
I don’t know if there’s a way to find out exactly which episodes Fortina (or others) played on the various iterations of the shows’ soundtrack? Cross your geek streams with some Trek/Accordion research and add your comments below.
Accordion Noir radio playlist 2010-02-12: Nolympics
From ten years ago, here’s episode 166 of Accordion Noir radio, in which we really look rather dimly at the Winter Olympics mania sweeping our home base of Vancouver, Canada at that time. At its original online home it nonetheless garnered some 10361 listens, and for a little anti-Olympic nostalgia, you can revisit it today at the Internet Archive. Here’s its playlist:
AccNoir-2010-02-12, Sunshine-Olympics rant episode. (Sometimes accordions have to take a stand).
*Artist – Song – Album (year) – Contact info if we’ve got it.
* Andy Fielding – Accordion Noir theme (short version, 1:06) – Accordion Noir (2010) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – recorded special just for our show!
* BU☆LI – 霧と煙 (Fog and Smoke) – Chitty Chitty (2005) – Sapporo City, Japan – http://www.myspace.com/buli1993
* La Strada – Sun Song – La Strada (2009) – Brooklyn, New York (USA) – ernestjennings.com
* Dsd (Derrick Stacey Denholm) – Sunlit Clearing – Norsk Drag (2006) – Prince George, BC, Canada – good luck finding his stuff, we don’t even have it.
* Gordon Fleming – Sunnyside Beach – According To Gordie (2004) – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – http://famgroup.ca/gordiefleming/navigation/gordie.htm
* They Might Be Giants – The Sun is a Mass of Incandescent Gas – (0) – Brooklyn, New York, USA – http://www.tmbg.com/
* Jack Velker – Bad Weather – Mojo Zydeco – Live (2006) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.exposureentertainment.com/mojozyd.html
* Amede Ardoin & Denus McGhee – Sunset – “Cajun: Rare & Authentic: 1929 – 1934” (this track, 1934) – http://www.jsprecords.com/
* Orchestre Tropicana à la Bananeraie – Mano RCI Ka Sonjé – Haiti – http://squeezyboy.blogs.com/squeezytunes/
* Kenosha Kid – Weather Conditions – 10/4/07 “Steamboat Bill Jr.” Cine – Athens, GA (2007) – Athens, Georgia, USA – http://www.southernshelter.com http://www.kenoshakid.com/
* The Captain & Me – See the Sun (radio edit) – Leave Your Friends And Family (2009) – Oslo, Norway – http://www.thecaptainandme.com/
* Paul Reddick – Climbing Up The Hill – Sugarbird (2008) – Toronto, Ontario, Canada – http://www.paulreddick.ca w. Garth Hudson, acc.
* Speedy West – Sunset – Steel Guitar (1960) – with Billy Leibert on piano accordion
* UpSouth Twisters – Where’s My Money? – The UpSouth Twisters (2008) – Palisades, New York, USA – http://www.myspace.com/lucky7zydeco
* Bruce Triggs – Harriet’s Accordion PRA
* Geoff Berner And Associates – That’s What Keeps The Rent Down, Baby – Live In Oslo (2004) – Canada – http://www.geoffberner.comThis episode’s cover is… Fraea Morgana, the Gumshoe Banshee, one of several accordionists who showed their discontent with the six billion dollars spent on the olympics, while arts, social services and school sports (!) programs get cut. British Columbia – the Canadian province with the highest childhood poverty rate in Canada – could have done better, so accordionists had to speak out.
Photo: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4074668&id=593341636
Fraea: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=754510520We got to meet another accordionist (who’d never heard of us) at the women’s march remembering hundreds of mostly impoverished, Native, or sex-trade workers who were murdered in BC. Their cases have been ignored by law-enforcement for years; hundreds of women’s families still wait to find out what happened to them.
http://womensmemorialmarch.wordpress.com/donate/More Olympics and BC poverty info (it’s strange to see some of these issues upstaged in the media by speed-skating or whatever):
Poverty Olympics (Bruce walked on stilts and got on Russian TV): http://ccapvancouver.wordpress.com/
Red Tents homeless visibility project: http://www.redtents.org/——-
Support Accordion Noir, we love our supporters, and our supporters’ supporters – even our detractors love our supporters. accordion.noir@gmail.org
Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on Twitter (@AccordionNoir and @AccordionBruce), Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle. Cheers & squeeze on!
Accordion Noir radio playlist 2020-02-12: Waters of Just About Time
Vancouver and indeed all of Canada are captivated this week by protests by Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief land and water defenders making a stand against the incursion of fossil fuel infrastructure on their traditional territories. Naturally Bruce did his best to program an hour of accordion music thematically linked to the current events… a stiff proposition! But if anyone could pull it off, it’s Bruce… and even if he fails, it’s still an hour of quality alt-accordoin music, so it’s a low-stakes proposition for listeners. You be the judge! If you’re not podcast subscribers on your Apple or Android devices, you can go check it out over here. Here’s its playlist:
AccNoir-2020-02-12, Waters of Just About Time
Wet’suwet’en land-rights issues and updates
http://unistoten.camp
https://www.facebook.com/unistoten
https://twitter.com/unistotencamp
- Geoff Berner – Super Subtle Folk Song – (video version) (2016) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – http://www.geoffberner.com/ https://youtu.be/zneicDPdicg
- Kim Stockwood – Thank God We’re Surrounded By Water – Back To The Water (2011) – St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada – http://kimstockwood.com/
- Spiro – Underland – Lightbox (2011) – United Kingdom – http://www.spiromusic.com
- Kroke – Water – The Sounds Of The Vanishing World (2000) – Poland – http://www.kroke.krakow.pl/html_en/main_en.html
- father daughter Johnny and Eleena Qiyuktak (Eleena was 12 yrs old) – This Land is Your Land – Pangnirtung Music Festival 1999 disk 1 (1999) – Nunavut, Canada – (I got this from David Idoris Boileau who made the recordings). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangnirtung,_Nunavut
- Clay Rendering – Waters Above The Firmament – Waters Above The Firmament (2014) – Michigan, USA – http://www.ClayRendering.com
- Renee De La Prade – Bear Island – Notes From Underground (2011) – San Francisco, California, USA –
- Los Gringos Salvajes – Underwater – Smithers, British Columbia, Canada – https://www.facebook.com/bitterbobrecords/
- The Decemberists – Down By The Water – The King Is Dead (2011) – Portland, Oregon, USA – http://www.decemberists.com/
- Adham Shaikh – Water Prayer (Featuring Jornick) (Rastaman Vibration, Rasta Dub Mix) – Universal Frequencies (2010) – Nelson, British Columbia, Canada – http://www.sonicturtle.com
- Seemeonie Keenainak and Zeebeedee Nungak (noon-gak) – accordion duo – Pangnirtung Music Festival 1999 disk 1 (1999) – Nunavut, Canada
- Jody Kruskal & Friends – Midnight On The Water – Poor Little Liza Jane (2006) – Brooklyn, New York (USA) – http://www.jodykruskal.com
Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on Twitter (@AccordionNoir and @AccordionBruce), Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle. Cheers & squeeze on!
Accordion Noir radio playlist 2010-02-05: Happy Valentines Day
From ten years ago, here’s the Very Romantic episode 165 of Accordion Noir radio! At its original online home, it racked up some 8732 listens, and if you like you can contribute to a new ticker by listening to it at its new online home. Here’s its playlist.
AccNoir-2010-02-05, Happy Valentines (not olympics) Day!
*Artist – Song – Album (year) – Contact info if we’ve got it.
* The Decemberists – Isn’t It A Lovely Night? – The Hazards Of Love (2009) – Portland, Oregon, USA – http://www.decemberists.com/
* Janet Klein And Her Parlor Boys – Cooking Breakfast for the One I Love (1930) – Paradise Wobble (1930) – Los Angeles, California, USA – http://www.janetklein.com/web/main.htm
* Andy Fielding – Accordion Noir theme (medium version) – Accordion Noir (2010) – Vancouver, BC, Canada – recorded special just for our show!
* Geoff Berner – Beautiful In My Eyes – We Shall Not Flag Or Fail, We Shall Go On To The End (2003) – Canada – http://www.geoffberner.com
* Tex Williams, Joaquin Murphey – Steel Guitar – Careless Love – Tex Williams On The Air 1947-1949 – http://westernswing78.blogspot.com/
* Clifton Chenier and his Red Hot Louisiana Band – Got to Have Your Love – I’m Here! (1982) – Recorded at Studio In The Country, Bogalusa, Louisiana
* Art Van Damme Quintet – Gentle Art Of Love – Swinging The Accordion On MPS – USA – features the full albums Mit Art Van Damme In San Francisco, Ecstasy, Gentle Art Of Art, Lullaby In Rhythm, Art In The Black Forest, On The Road, Art & Four Brothers, Squeezing Art & Tender Flutes, Keep Going, and Blue World (whew) – http://www.promising-music.com/
* Gordon Fleming – Hello Young Lovers – According To Gordie (2004) – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – http://famgroup.ca/gordiefleming/navigation/gordie.htm
* Pietro Frosini – I Hate To Love You – Jolly Caballero – http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/index.php
* Murder My Sweet – MurderMySweetVeryAttractive – Film Noir (1945)
* The Magnetic Fields – Zebra (Daniel Handler/lemony snicket, acc) – 69 Love Songs, Vol. 3 (2000) – Boston, Massachusetts, USA – http://www.houseoftomorrow.com/
* Harriet Dykstra – Harriet’s Accordion PRA – Bruce Triggs’s Album (2010)
* Terror At The Opera – Lovely Day – Terror At The Opera (2004) – lostfrog.net
* Steve Jordan – You’ve Lost That Love’n Feel’n – Steve Jordan 25 Hits (2000) – Texas, usa – http://www.haciendarecords.com
* The Leon Sash Quintet – Lovely Way to Spend an Evening – Live At The Velvet Heart Club (1962) – http://www.henrydoktorski.com/historicaccordionrecords.htmlThis episode’s cover is… Rowan’s heart or hearts. (It says, “‘Accordion’ to this, you’re mine.”
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Support Accordion Noir, we love our supporters, and our supporters’ supporters – even our detractors love our supporters. accordion.noir@gmail.org
Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on Twitter (@AccordionNoir and @AccordionBruce), Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle. Cheers & squeeze on!
We were very excited to hear that our NYC friend Matt Dallow, alt-accordionist of the cruise ship lanes, fearless dating site self-saboteur, Banksy accompanist and would-be Groucho Marx impersonator, was being brought to town with this renowned ensemble. Indeed, they are scheduled to be performing just down the street from our radio station, at the Rickshaw Theatre, as our monthly Vancouver Squeezebox Circle get-together wraps up. And despite being held up in Canadian Customs due to a bandmate in a different crew being denied entry back in the primordial days of the Myspace era and missing his connecting flight, there’s a very good chance that Matt may actually get a chance to perform with his notorious band tonight! The only way to find out is to buy a ticket and head out there! In the meantime however, you can use this week’s playlist to give you a sneak preview of what to expect. (Apple and Android device owners should already have been notified of the podcast’s availability, but the rest of you can go on to listen to it over here.)
AccNoir-2020-02-05, World Inferno (Noir) Society
- Anne Niepold – Vita Brevis – Vita Brevis (2018) – Belgium – http://www.anneniepold.be
- World/Inferno Friendship Society – Three Parts WTF – Brooklyn, New York (USA) – http://www.worldinferno.com Matt Dallow, acc.
- Style-Quartet – I’m Going Extinct Heart First – Bolero (2020) – Russia – https://stylequartet.ru/
- John Borra – Seven Days – Blue Wine (2020) – Toronto, Ontario, Canada – https://johnborra.com Michael Boguski, acc.
- Birdeatsbaby – Subtract – Accordion Babes 2020 Pin-up Calendar CD – Uk – http://accordionpinupcalendar.com/ http://www.facebook.com/MishkinFitzgerald
- Balfa Toujours – Allons a Tepatate – Deux Voyages (2011) – Louisiana, USA
- Yolassi – The Dam – Photo – Ride (2004) – Toronto, Ontario, Canada – http://www.yolassi.com/ http://www.myspace.com/yolassi (We met her on Myspace!)
- Sister Species – Cottonwood Trees – (Single) (2020) – Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA – Visit http://sisterspecies.bandcamp.com
- Tragedy Ann – Odysseus – Matches (2018) – Guelph, Ontario, Canada – http://www.TragedyAnnMusic.com Liv Cazzola, acc.
- Del Barber – Ronnie and Rose – Easy Keeper (2019) – Manitoba, Canada – https://delbarber.com
- Peter Gunn – Peter Gunn apartment – (1958)
- World/Inferno Friendship Society – Nightmares (2019) – Brooklyn, New York (USA) – http://www.worldinferno.com Matt Dallow, acc.
Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on Twitter (@AccordionNoir and @AccordionBruce), Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle (this Thursday night!) Cheers & squeeze on!
#AccordionTwitter Aflame with New Emoji 😍
As you may have heard, there’s a new emoji in town 🪗!
(How to Successfully Create an #AccordionEmoji.)
The announcement of an Accordion Emoji 🪗, to be released over the course of 2020, raised a flurry of responses. My Accordion Noir co-host Rowan and I combed #AccordionTwitter (as usual) to document this cultural event.
The #AccordionEmoji met a long-felt need 😢
There was even a request the day before it was “announced” 🤔
Then came the announcement 📢
“Weird” Al voiced his support 👍🏼
Billboard boosted the story, and many, many click-bait sources copied their tweet 👀
Accordion Noir radio playlist 2010-01-29: Earle Peach & Barbara Jackson, Concertinas & Finnish Metal
From ten years ago, here’s episode 164 of the weekly Accordion Noir radio program, featuring a guest concertina appearance by the local community music forces of Earle Peach and Barbara Jackson (together known as Songtree), plus some of whatever Bruce had at hand and couldn’t resist throwing on-air while it was fresh. At its original online home this episode clocked some 8040 listens, and you can continue enjoying it today via the Internet Archive. Here’s its playlist:
AccNoir-2010-01-29, Earle Peach & Babara Jackson, Concertinas & Finnish Metal
*Artist – Song – Album (year) – Where they’re from – Contact info.
* Bette Et Wallet – Squeegees – Voici… Bette & Wallet (2008) – –
* Daisy de Bolt – Wind Fall
* Swamp Ward Orchestra – Beanfield/Draailleraroma
* Earle Peach & Barbara Jackson – Fondez le Bois
* Swamp Ward Orchestra – Donkey Boy’s Lament
* Nemours Jean Baptiste – Contre No.7 – http://www.SqueezyTunes.org (0) – Haiti – http://squeezyboy.blogs.com/squeezytunes/2010/01/accordions-from-haiti.html
* Ramirez – Hablando (Accordeon Mix) – http://www.SqueezyTunes.org (0) – Haiti – http://squeezyboy.blogs.com/squeezytunes/2010/01/accordion-clubbing-part-1-ramirez-hablando.html
* Jean Baptiste Universal Kompas – Chanson de Nemours – http://www.SqueezyTunes.org (0) – Haiti – http://squeezyboy.blogs.com/squeezytunes/2010/01/more-nemours-jean-baptiste.html
* Earle Peach & Barbara – World Turned Upside Down (the Diggers’ Song)
* Swamp Ward Orchestra – Albert’s Song
* Daisy DeBolt – Clydesdales & Cadillacs
* Harriet Dykstra – Harriet’s Accordion PRA – Bruce Triggs’s Album (2010)
* Korpiklaani – Karhunkaatolaulu – Tervaskanto (2007) – Finland – http://www.korpiklaani.com/news/index.htmThis episode’s cover is… Earle’s 2009 album By The Flood. http://www.earlepeach.com
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Support Accordion Noir, we love our supporters – even our detractors love our supporters! accordion.noir@gmail.org
Thanks for reading us here (and hopefully listening to us, there), but if you find you want more, you can always keep up with us on Twitter (@AccordionNoir and @AccordionBruce), Instagram (@AccordionNoirFest), and Facebook at Accordion Noir fans, the Accordion Noir Festival, and the Vancouver Squeezebox Circle (this Thursday night!) Cheers & squeeze on!
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