ARK the Herald angels sing...

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

...WHERE can I park this massive thing?

Watcha doing on Christmas day? I got the roof trim and rear window trim painted, praise GOD. It will need 2 coats. Got the trim back from the world famous Hyannis Vintage Auto yesterday, they bench buffed all the trim. Hard to believe its 49 years old, it looks like jewelry. Carefully wrapped and packaged then home. A good wiping off with paint thinner then the HALO was polished with Blue Magic and then the HALO was taped off with Frog Tape. Spray paint was Rustoleum Painters Touch Ultra Cover in a black semi-gloss. Its going to need 2 coats, now drying in my living room, where else?

For YEARS my favorite Christmas song was "Dead By Christmas" (where's Lexi?), now its Celine Dion "Oh Holy Night".

What a difference a car can make...

Hope you all are having a wonderful, blessed Christmas.

\m/
Laurie

[Mike Josephic CLC #3877]

We're all glad you found the ARK to make your Christmas
merry.

We're all family here and we understand -- so on that note
have a HAPPY NEW YEAR with your new buddy Mr. ARK.

Mike

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

We're all glad you found the ARK to make your Christmas
merry.

We're all family here and we understand -- so on that note
have a HAPPY NEW YEAR with your new buddy Mr. ARK.

Mike

Thanks Mike! Its the ARKidays!

\m/
Laurie!

[Lexi]

For YEARS my favorite Christmas song was "Dead By Christmas" (where's Lexi?), now its Celine Dion "Oh Holy Night".

What a difference a car can make...

\m/
Laurie

OMG Laurie you are too hilarious. My favorite Christmas tunes are those done by Johnny Mathis from his 1958 LP "Merry Christmas". After that, ex-Judas Priest front man Rob Halford (with his solo group Fight) singing Christmas Ride on that rare cd single, then Mercyful Fate's front man King Diamond doing No Presents For Christmas, as a solo artist. Stay loud Doll. Remember our motto; "My quiet time involves Heavy Metal", (which for me also includes pumping iron as well). Would like to wish all of our Cadillac brethren a safe, prosperous and healthy 2019. And with respect to our love for the Cadillac automobile, keep the faith and a double horns up for the CLC.  \m/ Clay/Lexi \m/

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

EXCELLENT selections Clay!  \m/

Here's links for those who may be interested.

Christmas Ride
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL1AaNTE4Qk

Dead By Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD9VD6xT1FA

No Presents For Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD8l4i2B50E

Nothing like ending the year head banging and horns up, our Cadillacs
ARE HEAVY METAL!

\m/
Laurie!

[Lexi]

LOL! Almost forgot, Girlschool and Auld Lang Syne for a Happy New Year, (link below). Just gotta love all those female metal bands. And yes, how could I forget that our cars are THE ultimate in Heavy Metal! OMG, I am so losing it. \m/ Clay/Lexi \m/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyIZO_m6oFQ

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

LOL! Almost forgot, Girlschool and Auld Lang Syne for a Happy New Year, (link below). Just gotta love all those female metal bands. And yes, how could I forget that our cars are THE ultimate in Heavy Metal! OMG, I am so losing it. \m/ Clay/Lexi \m/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyIZO_m6oFQ

LOVED Girlschool, Kelly Johnson! (RIP) Denise Dufort was amazing. Did you ever see them live?
Talk about playing like guys...
And props to Cherie Currie and The Runaways who were the first all girl band.

\m/
Laurie

[Lexi]

They were one of the few bands that I sadly never saw live. Yes, sadly RIP. But followed them from day one & got all their LPs. Loved their music. Runaways...loved them as well. How can one not just love California Paradise (car stuff did make the lyrics about kids racing their cars and ripping up the streets) or Cherry Bomb? Another great but lesser known girl metal band was Rock Goddess. Check out their tune Heavy Metal Rock n' Roll. Major anthem song there. Laurie if you don't know these gals please check them out. Totally awesome metal like the other two just mentioned. They should have made it big time. Highly under rated band. Check out this anthem tune below and pay particular attention to the lyrics. It is for people like us. Awesome! Never tire of these gals. Before the administrator s__t cans us for not talking Cadillac...I wonder if any of these ladies owned a Cadillac??? \m/ Clay/Lexi \m/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5oyCa9X4U8

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Clay I had heard of Rock Goddess but never 'heard' them, outstanding!

I saw Girlschool and The Runaways. Knew a bouncer at the Paradise in Boston, he
snuck me in the back door as I was 17. Epic shows.

"The kids are ripping up the streets! In their super cars...
All night parties and loud guitars!"  What a great song.

Took The Ark for a ride today! 55 degrees and bright sunshine, HAD to go.
About 30 minutes to get him ready, and an hour to put him back to bed, all for
about 15 minutes of drive time, worth every second. Who want's to go for a ride
with us? Live video below, are you on Facebook? Are we 'friends'? Enjoy! Even a
chirp of the wheels which I know pleased Michael "drive it like you STOLE it" Amster.
https://www.facebook.com/laurie.kraynick/videos/2017017821746690/

"takin' a ride ride ride ride... on heavy metal"  Where's Lexi?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUBOgWYMBwo

Got the 2nd coat of paint on the roof/rear window trim done - STUNNING!
And was pleased to open the trunk and see some interior roof trim from when they
removed the rear window, I can get busy painting that now....

\m/
Laurie

[Lexi]

"The kids are ripping up the streets! In their super cars...
All night parties and loud guitars!"  What a great song.


\m/
Laurie

Laurie how can anyone not totally love that song and those lyrics that pay homage to the California lifestyle. Regarding ROCK GODDESS, (who I think at one time shared a common band member with one of the other girl HM bands), you must, must, must check out their song MY ANGEL, (link below). What a tune. You could insert Joan Jett as the lead singer and think to yourself, "yep that is THE RUNAWAYS" perhaps at their best, but it is ROCK GODDESS. OMG these gals were fantastic and most highly under rated. Now I am motivated and think I will bump METAL CHURCH in favor of these gals for some listening pleasure.

Got lots to do on Lexi including finishing an engine rebuild and cleaning up some sloppy front end work that a shop did. Much thanks to Corvette Ben for helping me out. Ben is a credit to the classic car and Cadillac community. His videos on the ongoing restoration of his 1956 Cadillac are fantastic. I am still bench tweaking my vintage 1960 RCA record player for Lexi so I can eventually spin some of those classic (and Metal) 45rpm tunes. May need more parts. I actually have a Highway Hi-Fi from 1956 for her, but it is Chrysler and the proprietary music selection that it was designed to play sucks. Stay heavy. \m/ Clay/Lexi \m/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-pWyUb0v5E&start_radio=1&list=RDw-pWyUb0v5E&t=0

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Laurie how can anyone not totally love that song and those lyrics that pay homage to the California lifestyle. Regarding ROCK GODDESS, (who I think at one time shared a common band member with one of the other girl HM bands), you must, must, must check out their song MY ANGEL, (link below). What a tune. You could insert Joan Jett as the lead singer and think to yourself, "yep that is THE RUNAWAYS" perhaps at their best, but it is ROCK GODDESS. OMG these gals were fantastic and most highly under rated. Now I am motivated and think I will bump METAL CHURCH in favor of these gals for some listening pleasure.

Got lots to do on Lexi including finishing an engine rebuild and cleaning up some sloppy front end work that a shop did. Much thanks to Corvette Ben for helping me out. Ben is a credit to the classic car and Cadillac community. His videos on the ongoing restoration of his 1956 Cadillac are fantastic. I am still bench tweaking my vintage 1960 RCA record player for Lexi so I can eventually spin some of those classic (and Metal) 45rpm tunes. May need more parts. I actually have a Highway Hi-Fi from 1956 for her, but it is Chrysler and the proprietary music selection that it was designed to play sucks. Stay heavy. \m/ Clay/Lexi \m/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-pWyUb0v5E&start_radio=1&list=RDw-pWyUb0v5E&t=0

Great song! Could definitely have been a Runaway's song, I'm hooked! \m/

What I did with The Ark is research all the 'hit songs' of 1970, putting as much 1970 metal in as I could, and there was quite a bit. My friend Woody is a DJ, he captured all the songs and put them on 2 CD's, and gave me a battery powered CD player to take to shows. So when The Ark is on display, the music is playing, I put the CD player on the ground under the engine, loud. And you can see people lingering, listening, and wondering where its coming from, LOL! You should do something similar with Lexi! Here's the set list for 1970 -
\m/
Laurie

Paranoid â€" Black Sabbath
Close To You â€" Carpenters
Maybe I’m Amazed â€" Paul McCartney
Green Eyed Lady â€" Sugarloaf
All Right Now - Free
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough â€" Diana Ross
After Midnight â€" Eric Clapton
American Woman â€" Guess Who
Bridge Over Troubled Waters â€" Simon & Garfunkel
Celebrate â€" Three Dog Night
Does Any Really Know What Time It Is â€" Chicago
Come Together â€" The Beatles
Knock Three Times â€" Tony Orlando and Dawn
Down On The Corner â€" CCR
Fire And Rain â€" James Taylor
If You Could Read My Mind â€" Gordon Lightfoot
Immigrant Song â€" Led Zep
Jam Up And Jelly Tight â€" Tommy Roe
House Of The Rising Sun â€" Frigid Pink
Leaving On A Jet Plane â€" Peter, Paul and Mary
Love The One Your With â€" Stephen Stills
Lonely Days â€" The Bee Gees
My Sweet Lord â€" George Harrison
No Time- The Guess Who
Ride Captain Ride â€" The Blues Image
Who’ll Stop The Rain â€" CCR
Whole Lotta Love â€" Led Zep
Your Song â€" Elton John
Cecilia â€" Simon and Garfunkel
Instant Karma â€" John Lennon
Mama Told Me Not To Come â€" Three Dog Night
Signed Sealed Delivered I’m Yours â€" Stevie Wonder
Whole Lotta Love â€" Led Zeppelin
We’ve Only Just Begun â€" Carpenters
The Long and Winding Road â€" The Beatles
See Me Feel Me â€" The Who
Lola â€" The Kinks
Purple Haze â€" Jimmy Hendrix

[Lexi]

Laurie that is awesome as well as a very interesting post. It actually brings up an issue that many of us have considered or at least commented on when attending a car show with or even without our Cadillacs. The music. Usually DJ played at loud volumes using the same old play list often doesn't agree with all makes and models that now attend cruise nights. Think you got a new topic going here, but music business first.

Love love love the choice of the Frigid Pink cover of House... Very nice and best rendition of that song in my opinion. Purple Haze dates from 1967, so, 'scuse me' from a purist perspective, but perhaps that one does not belong on your playlist (though would have been heard plenty on the radio still in 1970). I love Hendrix but I am trying to keep all relevant to 1970, the year of The Ark. Some of your selections were recorded in 1969 but not released until 1970 (like American Woman), so that works as do 1969 recordings that were still charting in 1970, (for example Whole Lotta Love, a 1969 tune). Just commenting on the heavier titles in your list obviously. Off the top of my head I will toss out some additional, more well known hard rock/early metal selections that you might consider should you decide to do a re-mix:

LUCIFER'S FRIEND (1970)
Ride the Sky (must have)
Baby Your're a Liar (great tune but probably obscure to most so perhaps best to pass OR sneak it in)

NORMAN GREENBAUM (1969-charting in 1970)
Spirit in the Sky (multi million single seller in 1970-combo gospel sounding early metal number). Must have. Well known.

UFO (1970)
C'mon Everybody (cover of 1958 Eddie Cochran song). Most won't know UFO but will know this song.

DEEP PURPLE (1970)
Child in Time
Speed King (both from the seminal Deep Purple in Rock LP, and widely known)

1970 is very early in the history of Heavy Metal, some say its first year, (debatable in my opinion), so pickins are slim especially for the masses as you would want tracks that most would recognize. We don't want to scare away those admiring your Cadillac! We want people to walk over and look at our car when at a show and for them to be taken back to its era. I can think of a crop of songs that would blow these away but they are from the underground and sadly, no one would know them except for a one in a million "head". So sad   So trying to stick with what the masses would be able to relate to. That is to bring them back to that era that your car comes from. That seems to be your objective. Tailor the musical era of your car for a show.

Actually, Laurie I think you have stumbled onto another great topic for our Cadillacs. Such as what do you play for your car when at a car show? If you don't have a sound system, what music best suits your car? Or should you just play what you like? At the car shows we are inundated with classic '50s and early '60s rock. Most of it brings back memories of American Graffiti and the Beach Boys surf culture. Much of it is better suited to early muscle cars and not our Cadillacs. None of that I feel suits my vintage Limousine either. I can't picture a 1956 Cadillac Imperial Limousine pulled up in front of Arnold's Drive in, or a bunch of hotties stacking their surf boards on it's roof! The extreme degrees of sophistication in this image are incompatible with each other. Maybe I should stick with that 1956 Highway Hi-Fi and play that old stodgy music that it was designed to play, (though Chrysler)?

I am intrigued by your playlist coming from under the car, as if where is it coming from. Like that idea. As much as I love all music, especially Heavy Metal and vintage Psyche Rock, I don't believe in "blowing people away" with sonics at a car show. You want them to look at your car and not scare them away. Make sense? What volume levels are we talking about? Tough one as Metal is in your face music and not really background stuff as it demands to be listened to. Do we tame the beast? I think so for car show purposes. What was your plan? I see this as an adjunct to those who display period magazine and newspaper pieces along with their car at shows. I love seeing all that stuff. Playing period music just explores another, wider dimension of the era our cars are from. Some dress up mannequins in period clothes for example, to add to the window dressing, so to speak. Even the strict Hershey show organizers who vet their show permit that mannequin dealer to vend as period correct objects add to the display package of a vintage automobile, at certain venues.

For those still reading, how do you (or would like to) "dress" up your Cadillac for presentation at a cruise night? Do you use music, mannequins, ephemera or strictly that which relates directly to your car like an owners manual or some vintage advertising, (either magazine ads or even metal signs)? I have even seen dioramas on display (usually drive in theme), sometimes on motor driven rotating platforms (like those that are sometimes placed on the air cleaner). How to present your Cadillac at a general public type show brings up some interesting possibilities. Imagine the diorama for a Limo or another Professional car such as a Hearse or Ambulance? The mind boggles. Because our Cadillacs are stand alone luxury cars, they occupy a place in our automotive heritage that other makes and models can only dream of. That leaves the door wide open to  present them in a unique way, (that would be inappropriate for other cars). I can even go as far as seeing a display of Harley Earl designs illustrating the evolution of Cadillac styling cues such as the tail fin or bullet bumpers and their relationship to military machines of WWII, (space permitting of course). Lots of possibilities in which to show case our Cadillac cars. \m/ Clay/Lexi \m/

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Child In Time was 1970? I looked for a Deep Purple song from 1970.
Would it surprise you to know my BFF is UFO's bass player now? Rob DeLuca

I don't play the music 'really' loud, just loud enough to draw you to the car.
The music they play at local shows and drive in's makes me crazy, I keep looking for Fonzie.

I'll be editing The Ark's playlist to include Child In Time for sure.

In addition to the showboard I have a smaller board that attaches to the engine bay as well.
I finally got smart and glued on super heavy magnets to keep the boards in place, they have their
sweet spot under the hood and just click on and stay there. Here's the smaller board...

\m/
Laurie

[Lexi]

Laurie that is amazing. UFO were among my favorite bands back in the day. I must admit that I have not followed them for some time. I best remember their Way-Mogg-Schenker era material, with their album OBSESSION really hitting their stride. Some say the DEEP PURPLE album DEEP PURPLE IN ROCK was the first Heavy Metal LP. Again that is debatable, but it is certainly one of the very first, if not the first. Recording of it began in October 1969, then ran intermittently due to the band's schedule, into 1970. It was released in June 1970. Speed King and Child in Time were on that album and were crowd favorites. Speed King was actually used as a concert opener and remains an early HM classic.

Like your showboard display. It reminds me somewhat of the concept that the greeting card line FLICKBACK uses, (www.flickback.com). They published greeting cards which came with a DVD that had news clips of events from your year. For Lexi I got FLICKBACK 1956. They are fantastic and cover all years from 1929 - 1987. You can select your year 1970, and using a laptop or portable DVD player have it mounted on your board playing newsreel events from the Ark's year. Great way to display our Cadillacs, in my opinion. I believe there is also a DVD just for the 1970s, if you did not want to be year specific, just decade specific. Attached are images of the cards for 1956, 1970 and just had to include 1941 due to the popularity of that year of Cadillac. These present classic car owners with a new and interactive medium in which to aid in the presentation and display of their cars at certain venues. Clay/Lexi

Edit: I note that the current graphics for the 1956 card differs from mine. They must change them up from time to time. In my case I prefer the earlier '56 set. Even more retro looking. If you decide to buy one you may want to look into changes to the 1970 issue, (if any), and perhaps locate local businesses who carry the line. Perhaps they would have old stock.

https://flickback.com/collections/dvd-greeting-cards/products/1970-flickback-dvd-video-greeting-card-49th-birthday-or-anniversary-gift

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Clay, don't know if I want to get that technically involved in The Ark's display, having to add a DVD player, etc. I have a hard enough time bringing fresh batteries for the music CD player!

Watch UFO's tour schedule, if they're going to your hometown let me know enough in advance, chances are high I can get you +1 on the guest list with passes. Just be sure to see/thank Rob, as he would be one arranging it.

\m/
Laurie

[Lexi]

Thank you so much for the offer. I would love to see them, (& meet Rob to thank him personally), though doesn't look like they will be in this neck of the woods soon. I have yet to use that DVD with Lexi either. She and I did not get out to do many shows in 2018. Spent more time under the hood. These cars are almost always, if not always, a work in progress. Clay/Lexi

[Cape Cod Fleetwood]

Thank you so much for the offer. I would love to see them, (& meet Rob to thank him personally), though doesn't look like they will be in this neck of the woods soon. I have yet to use that DVD with Lexi either. She and I did not get out to do many shows in 2018. Spent more time under the hood. These cars are almost always, if not always, a work in progress. Clay/Lexi

I'm sure you're familiar with this app - just dial in UFO and your home town, you get an alert if they book a show.
https://www.bandsintown.com/

That Flicker thing is way cool though. Gotta get Lexi out a few times this year!! I'm already playing road manager with The Ark for 2019, getting dates and on the list for registrations. So excited, LOVE taking him to shows.

\m/
Laurie