Three quick recommendations for people who like classic soul and r ‘n b and maybe are thinking that no one does it anymore.

1 – James Hunter – a Brit, I guess, he sings and plays guitar. He’s white, but he sings just like Sam Cooke. Authentic? Van Morrison doesn’t seem to worry about it, he turns up to duet with Hunter on two Bobby Blue Bland songs on the album “Believe What I Say” and Hunter was occasionally part of Morrison’s touring band. I have that album and “People Gonna Talk” and can’t decide which one I like better. Mojo Magazine put People Gonna Talk as #8 on their top 50 albums list for 2006.

2 – Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights. Her voice is classic and the band is tight. Too bad the songs aren’t better. Still worth a listen.

3 – Bettye LaVette – Scene of the Crime. 61 years old but you’d never know it by the power in her voice, and in this case her back-up band includes legend Spooner Oldham and members of Drive-By Truckers. No problems with the material here, most of the songs are covers (though not necessarily well known) and she seems to own whatever she sings.

================================

Following my renewed convertible dreams, I did a bit of car shopping over the weekend. Today I found a real beauty. A 2003 BMW 330 Ci, white, cream leather seats, blue convertible top, sport trim package, a stunner. But it was $288,000, ostensibly marked down from $328k. One reason may have been that the registration had expired – people in HK shopping for used cars tend to look for ones where they have as long as possible before paying the annual registration fee. The dealer said he could “probably” include a year’s registration (approx $8,000) for free.

But when I sat down and worked the numbers, I realized that while I could have afforded this car, the monthly payments were almost double what I consider to be comfortable. As sweet as that 330 was, I quickly realized I could live without it.

The only BMW convertible that I spotted under $200k this weekend was a year 2000, very clean, but just a 323. I can go with an older car but it’s gonna have to be a 328 or 330 (depending on model year).

Sometimes you hit the used car “malls” and see tons of convertibles. This time I saw about a dozen or more two seaters but only three or four that had a usable back seat for the dogs.

So I suppose the current Spikemobile will have to last me a little while longer.

Hongkie Town
Share