Greg Kihn 1949-2024

Greg Kihn was a underrated power pop star that came very close to the big time, and made a whole bunch of excellent music. The Greg Kihn Band albums all contain solid songs and at least one killer single. Between 1976 and 1986 he released 11 fine records, and released his 18th record, Rekihndled, in 2017.

Between 1996 and 2012 he was a San Francisco area disc jockey. He also wrote four horror novels and several other books. 

He continued to perform live until 2019. He had chart hits with the #2 Jeopardy, The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em), and Lucky. All of his records are worth hearing, but his early work really shines. He produced one perfect record, his sophomore effort from 1977, Greg Kihn Again. With covers of Buddy Holly (Love's Made A Fool Of You), Bruce Springsteen (For You), and Kihn's own Real Big Man, Politics, If You Be My Love, and the wonderful Madison Avenue, the record is a pure pop gem. His work is available for streaming, and there's a few YouTube videos. Kihnsolidation 1989 or the even better Greg Kihn Band: The Best of Beserkley '75-'84 2012 are fine compilations of his early work.

Updated Stereo System Again

So the stereo has been updated some since my last update in 2017. The Cambridge Audio Azur 840C got repaired and I decided to sell it while it was working and the Wadia 170i and iPod Classic, which was having some technical issues, left to make way for streaming. So here's what we've got now:

Reference 3A MM de Capo-i speakers 

Granite Audio Aspen 800 power amplifier 

Benchmark DAC3 HGC

Funk Firm Little Super Deck turntable

Hana SL Moving Coil Cartridge 

Vacuum Tube Audio PH-16 phono preamplifier 

Audiolab 6000CDT CD Transport 

Bluesound Node streamer

Qobuz streaming service

SVS SB-12 NSD subwoofer 

So the Audiolab CD Transport (no DAC) replaced the CD function of the Cambridge CD player, the Benchmark DAC3 HGC replaced the DAC from the Cambridge and also the Anthem preamp. The Bluesound Node is a streamer/DAC but I am taking the digital out of the Bluesound and letting the Benchmark DAC do the D to A conversion. The Hana cartridge replaced the Denon 103R but of course the Denon is still around and may return sometime. I hired an electrician to run an ethernet cable from my router to the Bluesound node to avoid the issues of using wifi for streaming high resolution audio.

The Benchmark DAC/preamp is renowned to have very low distortion numbers, and the DAC sounds great, and maybe better than Cambridge did. I must admit that I sometimes miss the Anthem Pre2L preamp with it's lovely tube sound, but I still get that with vinyl through the VTA phono preamp.

Streaming has been an interesting experience. Getting a chance to hear new releases without purchasing them is very nice. There is of course a ton of music available, but certainly not everything.  Artists that recorded for several different labels may not have their entire catalog on Qobuz. And various artists recordings (tribute records, sets of music from a certain era) are rare, since those songs/artists were only licensed for that particular release before streaming started, and usually the artists were under contract to a variety of labels. But often there are user-generated playlists that can serve a similar function. You can certainly get lost in the available material. And sometimes a record you like will disappear from the steaming service altogether. Kind of like when a friend borrowed your LP and never gave it back. I feel so modern.