La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Like a Fine Wine, But It Actually Rocks!" Edition

From his brand new (and superb) album The Great Yellow Light, please enjoy the incomparable Willie Nile (and band) and the video for the lead-off single "We Are We Are."

Long time readers are aware of my enthusiasm for Willie's work over the years, but at this point it's just getting ridiculous. I mean, The Great Yellow Light (the title is a reference to Vincent Van Gogh's letters to his brother, Theo, and the light that inspired him in Arles, France) is by my count his 15th(!) studio effort since making one of the greatest debut records of all time back in 1980. And the fact that this new one one is of comparable quality -- and in fact sounds, in its brash high-energy and passionate intensity, like the work of some young artist who wasn't even born when that first one came out -- is nothing short of amazing.

I should add that, if you order a physical copy of the album (which you can do over at Amazon HERE or at Bandcamp) you get a little bonus sticker featuring a cameo appearance by your humble scribe.

And I stand by the judgement thereupon. 😎

Oh, I should also add that if you're in the NYC area, Willie and band are going to be doing two (Nov. 26 and 28) early and late career retrospective shows at the Loft at City Winery; the first one, which will feature songs from that aforementioned debut album, will very likely be in the spirit of his legendary gigs at the old Kenny's Castaways. Be there or be square -- a certain Shady Dame and I will definitely be in attendance, and we look forward to seeing you. 😎😎

Okay -- and, for reasons that will be obvious in a moment, that leads us inexorably to the weekend's business at hand. To wit:

...and the post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/soul artist -- solo or band -- who's done the most consistently excellent work over the space of a multi-decade career is...?

Discuss.

I don't really have a dog in this hunt; obviously, Willie would be one of my candidates, but other than him, top of my head I'm not sure who I'd nominate.

In any event -- alrighty then, who would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Your Thursday Moment of Words Fail Me

Heh.

Sorry to have been slacking two days in a row. Have no fear, however -- you'll find that tomorrow's Weekend Essay Question is particularly substantive, if I do say so myself, and I'm offering it in penance. 😎

Today's Cartoon Chuckle(s)

Heh. 😎

BTW, I don't usually like (or approve of) those so-called Nancy "remixes" that are omnipresent on the intertubes lately, but the Iggy joke was too good not to include here.

My New Favorite Band (An Occasional Series)

Okay, I realize that I'm late to the party, but this song and video (from 2020) by New Zealand punk/pop mavens The Beths (who I first discovered and wrote about last Thursday) is/are the most wonderful thing(s) I've seen/heard in ages.

Seriously, I love just everything about that -- the guitar interplay, the harmonies, the whole instructional premise -- but when the bass player suddenly showed up as Paul McCartney I nearly fell off my desk chair.

A coveted Power Pop No-Prize© is hereby awarded to reader Sid Much Rock, who hipped me to it. Kudos and huzzahs, my friend.

It's Labor Day, Bitches...

...and in its honor, we give you honorary American Neil Young going all up the workers with his classic "Union Man."

I should add that the above song is something of a holiday tradition in these precincts. Originally, I used to post The Strawbs' British hit "Part of the Union," which I always assumed had been designed to piss off Margaret Thatcher, may she rot in hell, but I have since been informed by several genuine Limeys of my acquaintance that in the UK the song is actually read as being ANTI-labor. Go figure. In any case, as a result, Neil is now my go-to guy for songs with a pro-prole bent. At least till I discover a really cool more contemporary song echoing the same sentiments.

I should also say that the above seems especially pertinent given that we are currently living in the kind of country that inspired Woody Guthrie's guitar to kill the kind of people now running it -- and hey, is Donny Demento dead yet? But I lack the energy to go into that at the moment, and I'd rather (and I bet you would too) just enjoy today's lovely weather.

So have a nice one, and regular power pop themed posting resumes on the morrow.

La Fin De La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Time For My Boot Heels To Be Wandering" Edition

Okay, it's a holiday weekend, and consequently I have better things to do than write some kind of long sardonic intro to the following.

So let's just get to the business at hand with no further foo farrah. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) song/recorded performance (live or studio) by Bob Dylan is...?

Discuss.

No arbitrary rules, obviously, but just to be clear -- we're talking about one of Bob's songs, or Bob performing one of his own songs or Bob performing a song by somebody else. No Dylan covers by other artistes need apply.

And in case you're wondering, my favorite -- by a mile -- is...

That's absolutely spellbinding, but I should note here and for the record (as it were) that I was actually planning to post the electric studio version of same that Dylan did with The Hawks, and which I first heard on a Trademark of Quality bootleg circa 1974.

And which is right up there in my Top 10 Greatest Performances of Anything by Anybody list. 😎

Alas, to my surprise, it's not up at YouTube, so I went with that almost as fabulous live Aussie version from the same period (1966).

And speaking of which, I originally heard that on another Trademark of Quality bootleg, the one with this hilarious album cover by the great William Stout.

Okay, and moving right along, my least favorite Dylan performance, and man, is it fucking awful, is...

As you may have noticed, Bob's singing a duet with himself on that in both his normal and his Nashville Skyline voices, so it's possible -- perhaps, maybe, could be -- that it's meant tongue-in-cheek.

I doubt it, though. 😎😎

Have a great holiday weekend, everybody!!!

Oh wait -- I found that studio version of "Johanna" with The Hawks. Enjoy!!!

Well, Isn't This Just the Cutest Thing

From their about to be released (Aug. 29) new album Straight Line Was a Lie, please enjoy New Zealand power-poppers The Beths and the album's utterly infectious title track.

In the interests of full disclosure, I must confess I was previously unaware of these kids -- who've been around for a decade, actually -- until somebody at a political blog(!) I hang out at posted a link to the above the other day. In any case, I was instantly charmed and (assuming you don't already know from them) I suspect you will be too.

In the meantime, you can (and should) find out more about them -- including tour dates and where to stream more of their music -- over at their website HERE.

I should add that seeing them live has now become a bucket list thing for me; fortunately, they're scheduled to perform in NYC in early December. 😎

Today's Cartoon Chuckle(s)

I must admit, it took me a minute to get the first one. And if you don't get the Sir Mix-a-Lot one, look at his lawyer's rear end. 😎

Hot Fun in the Summertime

And speaking as we were yesterday of Bruce Springsteen in 1975, attentive reader VR has inquired whether I was in attendance for any of the Boss's legendary August week-long 10-show run at the Bottom Line, the performances that directly preceded the release of Born to Run 50 years ago yesterday.

The answer -- yes, I was. I saw three of the shows in fact (three and a half, if you count the early one broadcast live on WNEW-FM, which I made sure to listen to/tape at home before I went out to see the 11:30 follow-up).

What can I tell you -- I was a hardcore fan.

Here's one of my favorite performances from the aforemetioned radio show. BTW, I seem to recall there was later a very fancy shmancy two-LP bootleg of it that I went on to play countless times in several different apartments of mine. 😎

I should add that -- believe it or not -- I was bitterly disappointed by the first of the shows I attended, and for possibly the stupidest reason imaginable. To wit, that some of the guys in the E-Street Band -- particularly Miami Steve Van Zant (who I had never seen playing with the group before) -- hit the stage wearing white ice cream pimp suits, rather than the usual casual street attire. I don't know why, but it struck me as some kind of ghastly betrayal at the time. I kid you not.

Hey, by the second show I had gotten over it. 😎😎

Oy Gevalt, Now I'm REALLY Old!!!

Today is the 50th anniversary of the release of Born to Run. Seriously -- just kill me now. 😎

Okay, in actual fact the good news is that in celebration of the event, Springsteen just released this quite splendid outtake from the original album sessions. Probably wouldn't have fit in with the album as released, but it's a pretty cool song nonetheless.

I should add that I remember the aforementioned release day of BTR beyond vividly. It was around 4pm on a Friday, and a messenger from CBS Records dropped it off for me at the old Park Avenue offices of Stereo Review. It came in a soft cardboard gatefold cover (without a spine), and with the iconic photo of the Boss and the Big Man on the front, but with the title stuff (artist and album name) in a script typeface (like the above) rather than the familiar plain cap letters. And nothing else inside or on the back cover. The disc itself had a white label with no info on it at all, not even the album title.

Needless to say, I immediately played it through from start to finish and thoroughly kvelled. I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever heard, and my opinion has not changed substantially since then.

I should also add that said copy of the album would fetch quite a pretty penny on the collector's market today, but needless to say I gave it away to somebody -- I forget who -- years ago.

Yes, I'm not just old, I'm an idiot. 😎😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Urban Hellhole" Edition

So I originally did a version of this in 2008(!), back when the world and this blog were young, and if you had told me then that our noble republic would someday be in the hands of a demented short-fingered vulgarian with a vocabulary of approximately 700 words and the emotional maturity of a toddler, I would have suggested you were fucking high.

In any event, it turned out to be true, which is one of the reasons (i.e., I'm really exhausted coping) I've recyled it now. It also seems newly relevant, given that the aforementioned SFV is -- post his occupation of our nation's capitol -- now threatening to send Federal troops into other liberal cities, specifically including the Big Apple.

Hey -- good luck with that one, Donny. To paraphrase Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca -- "There are certain sections of New York, shithead, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade."

Which leads us, inexorably, to the subject of today's business. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) post-Beatles Pop/Rock/Folk/Soul song/record about/referencing New York City and environs in the title or lyrics is...???

Okay, no arbitrary rules here, but if you nominate any version of "New York, New York" I will come to your house and kill you AND your family. Sorry.

Obviously, NY-themed songs are almost too numerous to mention, but in case you're wondering, my fave(s) is a tie between...

...and...

As you may recall, Fear was a band much beloved of John Belushi, and the song above holds a special place in my heart because they performed it during their legendary SNL appearance, at which they almost literally brought the house down (a story I'll perhaps retell on another occasion).

As for the Tradewinds record, hell -- what could be a more poignant existential dilemma than being the only living surfer boy in New York? 😎

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend everybody!!!

The Boys of Summer Just Seem a Little Weird

So the other day I'm channel surfing and I chanced across some ESPN kind of thingie and they were talking about an upcoming Yankees/Boston contest.

And I suddenly flashed on a song I hadn't thought about for several decades.

From their self-titled 1968 debut album, please enjoy Beantown band Earth Opera and their obviously conflicted plaint about how "The Red Sox Are Winning."

When you are gone I keep track of the time
In my diary line by line
And the past is behind
It was so long ago
When believing and beauty
Celebrated the birth
It was green, lovely green
We could fly like milkweed

But nowadays no one seems to care
They laugh at me when I ride my bike
Turn away in shame when I fly my kite

I spend my Saturdays
Alone in the mirror
Arranging my hair
In the end, what is there?
To talk of passing time
Should I turn off the TV?
Or go to the race track
And bet on the dogs
And the weather is strange
No summer this year
In the days of the war
But the Red Sox are winning

As you can tell from all of the above, these guys were very echt-late Sixties in their melding of folk-rock, psychedelia and general mishegass. I actually owned the album (and its successor, the even wiggier American Eagle Tragedy -- don't worry, I didn't buy them, but rather stole them from my college radio station). But the baseball song was the only one I played a lot; for some reason its sledgehammer irony really spoke to me at the time (Vietnam, and all that).

In any event, two members of the group -- David Grisman and Peter Rowan (who wrote the song) -- went on to much better things as members of Old and in the Way with Jerry Garcia and Vassar Clements; their self-titled LP became the best-selling bluegrass album of all time.

Meanwhile, if you want to hear more of the Opera guys, the full album can be listened to -- for free -- over at YouTube HERE.

You're welcome very much.

Wednesday's Cartoon Chuckle(s)

Heh. 😎

Your Tuesday Moment of Words Fail Me

From their 1999 album Hooray for Boobies(!), enjoy (if possible) wiseguy Pennsylvania punk band the Bloodhound Gang and the, er, interesting video for their re-imagining of The Association's 1965 classic "Along Comes Mary."

Seriously, watching that I don't know whether to laugh or cry. And that's just over how they removed the melody from the original song. 😎

I should add that the aforementioned album was actually a Number 1 hit (and "Mary" in the singles Top 10) in...wait for it...Germany. 😎😎

Take That, Joan Jett!!!

From a fascinating essay by critic Adam Gopnik in the Aug. 4 issue of The New Yorker:

With minimal ingenuity, any historical period can be made to dissolve into the ones around it. Take the rock revolution—that great shift which, emerging in the mid-nineteen-fifties and established by the mid-sixties, definitively separated the Broadway-and-jazz-based tunes that had previously dominated popular music from the new sound. The break ravaged record companies and derailed careers. In the fifties, the wonderful jazz-and-standards singer Beverly Kenney performed a song she’d written called “I Hate Rock ’n’ Roll,” and then—perhaps for other reasons, but surely for that one, too—took her own life [emphasis mine - S.S.].

Okay, I was unfamiliar with Ms. Kenney and her tragic end, so as you can imagine that got my attention.

You can find out more about her over HERE; it's way fascinating, trust me -- she should be remembered for a whole bunch of cool things rather than suicide.

And here's the anti-rock anthem in question.

Seems a little extreme to me, but obviously it was a different time. In any case, I'm a fan of that whole Fifties deadpan cool girl jazz singer genre -- I adore Chris Connor, for example -- and Ms. Kenney is obviously a superior representative of same.

I should add that the above is from a 1958 live performance on the old Steve Allen show, but alas the actual video of it has not made it to YouTube.

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Originality is Way Overrated" Edition

Okay, the great climate change hoax NYC weather has been really kicking my ass of late, so while I'm still conscious, let's get immediately to the subject of today's business.

To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/soul record that sounds much more like the work of someone other than who it actually is, is...???

Discuss.

Oh, and no arbitrary rules whatsoever, you're welcome very much; as you may have gathered, I lack the energy to posit any. 😎

In case you're wondering, my fave is a tie between...

...the greatest Aretha Franklin record Aretha never recorded and...

...a bunch of bar band guys from Bergenfield, New Jersey doing the best Beatles sound-alike of all time? Who'd a thunk it?

Meanwhile, my least fave is...

U2 without the warmth? Spandau Ballet without the sense of humor? God, those guys suck. 😎😎

Alrighty, then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

The Kids Are (Still) Alright

So I got an e-mail out of the blue the other day including the video below and the following explanatory stuff:

Hi Steve, hope you're well!

My names Miles, but I'm emailing on behalf of my band Orchidelia. We’re a power pop group from Sheffield, England. We have just released a new single, "You’ll Never Know," but really we’re just emailing to say hello and introduce ourselves. We’re all pretty young, 20/21 [emphasis mine -- S.S.], and we love power pop so it’s great that you’re blogging about it, keeping the torch burning.

There’s not many young bands who play or write this sort of stuff, fewer who market themselves as being “a power pop band”. Most people we’ve spoke to don’t even know what it is, they think it’s a term we’ve invented. It’s a shame because there’s a timeless quality about the music, but it doesn’t seem to be connecting with a mass audience like it once did. It could all change though! But yes, we just wanted to let you know we exist, and we’d love to hear back from you!

Frankly, they had me at "from Sheffield, England." 😎

Seriously, I can't tell you charming I find the above, including the song, which is a terrific piece of earworm pop craftmanship. And the fact that they're youngsters doing stuff like that is, as you can imagine, downright inspirational in my book.

Oh -- I should add that Miles assured me the single "is out everywhere," which I assume means at all the usual streaming/download sites. So what are you waiting for?

It's True -- Clothes Make the Non-Specific Gender Person!!!

From her forthcoming album Fix the World, please enjoy power pop chanteuse extraordinaire Carmen Toth and the video for the infectious lead-off single "Pretty Dresses."

A song, as you'll hear, that has some interesting things to say about the issues of beauty and belonging.

Plus that animation just cracks me up. 😎

Toth, a Canadian who's been doing this sort of thing for going on two decades, was previously unknown to me, but after hearing the above I plan to do the research, as they say.

If you are similarly inclined, you can start to find out more about her, including where and when she's gigging in the future, over at her official website HERE. In the meantime, the album drops, as today's young people say, on October 7; I presume it will be available at all the de rigeur digital outlets, but I'll let you know more as we get closer to the release date.

Tuesday's Cartoon Chuckle(s)

Okay, both of those are kind of cheap shots, especially the first one (and I say that as a bass player). 😎

Is It Warm in Here or Is It Just Me?

Okay kids, I know I don't usually post blues stuff (for obvious reasons).

But I stumbled across this 2024 video by my long-time hero Dion (who transcends genre) and some drop-dead gorgeous friend of his (lip-synching the part sung on the actual record by Shemekia Copeland) and I just had to share. Sorry, I can only post the link -- if anybody knows how to get the video to show in blogger, lemme know.

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialDion/videos/24181836384807517

In the meantime, seriously -- if that doesn't just blow your tiny mind/make you smile from ear to ear then there's no hope for you. 😎

PS: Okay, here's the official video, with the actual Shemekia, instead of Dion's sexy friend Nicole.

Which was not supposed to be the point of today's post, but what the hell. 😎😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Stalking" Edition

Oh. My. God.

From 1968, please behold in breathless wonder not untalented Sinatra-wannabe Frankie Randall and the damndest cover of The Who's classic "I Can See For Miles" ever heard by sentient mammalian ears.

Really -- words kinda fail me on that. I am informed, however, that the album it's from -- The Mods and the Pops -- is a minor masterpiece of similar mishegass, including swinging remakes of The Move's "Flowers in the Rain"(!) and Donovan's "Lelainia."(!!)

In any case, I had completely forgotten that Randall's version had appeared on one of Rhino's Golden Throat compilations, which leads us, inexorably, to the subject of today's business. To Wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) unintentionally amusing/stylistically inappropriate/or just plain freaking weird cover version of a well known song originally done by a post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/r&b singer is...????

In case you're wondering, apart from the above, my new fave has gotta be this.

I mean -- how surreal is that? He's actually mentioned by name in the lyrics. 😎

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Silence is Golden

From 1986, on MTV's much-missed Basement Tapes show, please enjoy The Silent Types and their lost power pop classic "I Can Live With That."

I know very little about those guys, except that apparently they were playing in Greenwich Village around the same time in the '80s as The Floor Models. Lead singer Tom Scarpino informs me that I actually saw them perform at Kenny's Castaways, but highly potent drugs were probably being consumed at the time and I don't really remember. Which is probably a good thing, since I have no doubt that if I did see them I would have been intensely jealous.

In any event, I'd been meaning to post that video for ages. I mean, that's a genuinely great freaking song; if they were doing that when I saw them at Kenny's, it's even more embarrassing that I don't recall it. 😎

Wednesday's Cartoon Chuckle

The sad thing is that I'm so old I can actually imagine that happening. 😎

Terry Reid 1949 -- 2025

[I originally posted this piece here back in 2007; it remains my favorite thing I've ever written. Have I mentioned that this death shit is really starting to piss me off? - S.S.]

I'm gonna get horribly self-indulgent now, so please forgive me in advance.

Here's the deal: I stumbled across this clip yesterday and I'm finding it difficult to describe just how moving I think it is. A caveat before you watch: The video quality is just barely adequate, but the audio is mostly fine. Listen to it with headphones -- you'll miss the bass, otherwise.

Okay, the backstory: The song of course, is the Kinks' gorgeous "Waterloo Sunset," and the guy singing it is Brit cult figure Terry Reid. If you don't know him, suffice it to say that he's a brilliant songwriter and vocalist (think a more soulful Steve Marriott) who made a couple of wonderful albums in the late 60s and early 70s but alas his career never really took off for all the usual reasons. What makes him slightly more than a fondly remembered footnote to history is that Jimmy Page actually offered him the frontman slot in Led Zeppelin; considering that he's also a terrific guitarist, the fact that he punted on the gig probably changed the world in unfathomable ways. Seriously -- can you imagine what Zep might have been like with a better singer and a twin-guitar attack? Wow. In any case, the clip derives from a series of club shows Reid did in L.A. in 2002; the band is led by longtime scenester Waddy Wachtel, and apparently all sorts of 70s and 80s B-list rockers did guest shots at one point or another.

So -- why do I find the vid so emotionally shattering? Well, the song itself has something to do with it, of course. Longtime readers are aware that I am occasionally of the opinion that it's the most beautiful song written in English in the second half of the 20th century. To my ears, it's about somebody who, for whatever reason, has concluded that they will never themselves find love, but who can watch other people -- total strangers, actually -- who have, and has decided that the solace they get from that is ultimately enough. It's a perfectly observed little vignette that manages to be both heartbreaking and strangely uplifting in its generosity of spirit; it's also, probably, the most revealing thing Ray Davies has ever written (and frankly, I can't think of another songwriter who could have pulled it off).

Reid gets all that of course, but he adds a lot more. It's a wonderfully theatrical performance, and at the heart of it is the not so dirty little secret of so much 60s Brit rock, i.e, that as much as the English pop boom owed to blues and r&b, it also owed to that now vanished English institution -- the music hall. The examples are almost endless -- see Sgt. Pepper or the Small Faces "Lazy Sunday" -- and one of the first things that struck me watching the clip is that Reid, singing his heart out up on that cramped little stage, could almost be a tragi-comic version of Archie Rice, the title character from John Osborne's The Entertainer. To really understand that you have to remember that back when Reid was an almost star, he was one of those skinny pretty boy rock god types. Here, of course, he looks like nothing less than one of those slightly puffy second tier expatriate Brit actors at Warner Brothers in the 30s. And he's not posturing like the pop idol he briefly was; instead he's swanning around in that ridiculous ice cream suit like Herbert Marshall in The Letter. It's laughably hokey but it's also quite brave; he's playing the fool and yet it's as if his relationship to the song and the audience and to the whole idea of being a rock star parallels the relationship of the song's narrator to the starcrossed lovers. There's something just enormously compassionate about it, and it just chokes me up.

And don't even get me started on Wachtel's solo or that gorgeous riff he introduces at the end to ride the song out (neither are on the actual Kinks record), or how Reid trails off into wordless falsetto, thus finding an unsuspected link between Davies' teddibly British original and the American street corner romanticism of old Doo Wop and Goffin-King songs.

Alright, I''ve gone on about this for a little too long, and yes, perhaps I'm reading too much into it. In any case, I'm gonna go watch it again, and thanks for stopping by.

PS: I forwarded this to my old pal Eric Boardman (who's a fan and lives in LA), wondering if perhaps he'd been in the audience when it was shot. Just got his reply.

I was not (SIGH) at that show, but have been to Waddy's Monday night jam at The Joint quite often. A great scene as who's-who in rock drop by. Check the concert & club listings as to which bands are in town for the week-end and gamble. For instance, I saw Keith Richards play for an hour, including a few Chuck Berry numbers and a torn-up version of "Down The Road Apiece."

Terry Reid's album with "Horses in a Rain Storm" kept me company summer of '70 along with "After The Gold Rush" and Donovan's "Open Road."

By the way, I sing it, "Eric meets Julie."

In the Immortal Words of SCTV's Edith Prickley: "Could Be a Hot One!!!"

The trailer for Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, i.e. the forthcoming Boss bio-pic starring The Bear's Jeremy Allen White.

I gotta admit -- when that excerpt from White doing "Born to Run" live with (whoever's impersonating) the E-Street Band appeared at the end, I actually got kinda choked up. 😎

I should add that so far I can't determine exactly whether White is gonna be doing a Timothee Chalamet -- i.e., himself singing and playing guitar in emulation of Springsteen -- or rather merely lip-synching actual real Springsteen records. And to be honest, I'm not even sure I actually care.

In any case, it's scheduled to open October 24; I'll keep you posted as things develop.

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "The Cinema is Truth 24 Frames-per-Second" Edition

Or so said pretentious frog auteur Jean-Luc Godard, but what the fuck did he know?

In any case, I bring it up because a certain Shady Dame and I have been bingeing on documentaries of late -- specifically, music/rock-and-roll documentaries. I can't remember all of them, but I do know that in the last two weeks we watched docs on The Cowsills (creepy and sad), The Hollies (lotsa fun), Led Zeppelin (a little dull) and Billy Joel (a must see, even if you're not particularly a fan of either the man or his music. Among other things, it's an amazing time capsule of the last 60 or so years of pop culture).

All of which leads us, inexorably, to the subject of the business at hand. To wit:

...and your favorite (or least favorite) non-bio-pic film about a post-Elvis pop/rock/folk/soul/r&b/country group or solo artist is...???

No arbitrary rules here; obviously, I'm talking about documentaries per se, but I understand that, for example, a lot of good music movies blur the distinction between docs and concert flick. So if that's what floats your boat, then go for it!

Anyway, in case you're wondering, my choice in the fave category is this one.

Great story, great music and a charismatic figure at the center of it -- what more could you want?

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Wails From the Crypt (An Occasional Series): Special "Fiddle About and Find Out" Edition

From the September 1993 issue of The Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review, please enjoy my musings on the then-new Broadway version of The Who's Tommy.

Click on it to enlarge, obviously.

I hadn't read that it in a while, so I was pleased to discover that it was still pretty funny; as you can tell, I really REALLY disliked the show.

I had forgotten, however, that the people who adapted the album for the stage had (to me inexplicably) turned the child-molesting Uncle Ernie into a sympathetic character. Given recent events, you gotta wonder how that will play if they ever stage a revival at (the apparently soon to be renamed as the) Trump Center in DC. 😎

In any event, I think the above has gotta go into the Steve's Greatest Hits book I've been nattering on about here for the last couple of years.

And while I'm on the subject -- actual news about that is coming soon. Possibly even next week; I'll keep you guys posted. 😎😎

Records I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "The Lion (or Somebody) Sleeps Tonight" Edition

From his 1981 debut solo album Law and Order, please enjoy pop genius auteur Lindsey Buckingham and the world class nuttiness that is "Bwana."

Those falsetto glissandos...those Munchkin background vocal "ra-ta-ta-tas"...oh my god.

Frankly, I flipped for this song from the moment I first heard it, and to this day it a) absolutely cracks me up and b) I have no freaking idea what it's about. (I should add I'm not sure Buckingham could get away with the lyrics in 2025. I mean -- "Bwana"? Not exactly PC -- it's kind of the poetic equivalent of wearing a gorilla suit.) 😎

In any event, a coveted PowerPop No-Prize© will be awarded to the first reader who posits a theory of the song's meaning that strikes me as plausible. 😎😎

Tom Lehrer 1928 -- 2025

Another hero of my childhood bites the dust.

Let's just say our younger readers can have no conception of how subversive this guy was when he arrived in the 1950s -- as a DIY underground sensation, who released his own records on his own label.

BTW, the song above got premiered on a 1965 prime-time TV show called That Was the Week That Was; Lehrer was a regular for a while and was very often a little too controversial for the suits at the network. I bring this up because it's particularly pertinent to today's repressive media climate, i.e. one where the Trump administration is installing an "official bias monitor" to censor CBS if they get too uppity in the future. (I did not make that last up, BTW; this is the world we're living in).

Anyway, the guy was a pop genius, and I can only imagine what he must have thought about the Manchurian Cantaloupe.

Oh, and here's what seems to have been the last song he wrote and recorded (it originally appeared as a bonus track on a Rhino Records Lehrer box set in 2000).

You're welcome very much.

Monday's Cartoon Chuckle(s)

Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.

Okay, that last one is kinda pushing it...😎

Weekend Listomania: Special Your Favorite Band Sucks!!! Edition

[I originally posted this one back in 2012, when this blog and the world had not yet endured the reign of the Manchurian Cantaloupe and the attendant destruction of American democracy. In any case, given all the Beach Boys stuff I posted the other week (occasioned by the death of Brian Wilson) I thought it might be fun to revisit it. As per usual on these occasions, I've done some re-writing and swapped out a couple of songs, although the list itself remains from the original version. Enjoy, if possible. - S.S.]

Okay -- here's a fun and hopefully relevant little project with an amusing subtext that we can all get behind while I take a long and well deserved nap:

TOP TEN MOST IMPORTANT AMERICAN ROCK BANDS OF THE SIXTIES!!!

No arbitrary rules, except that I said "bands" -- no solo artists or folk duos need apply (sorry Bob, sorry Paul, sorry Artie etc.)

And no singing/vocal groups either. Which means that if you nominate The Mamas and the Papas or any of the Motown acts other than Jr. Walker and the All-Stars I am going to taunt you mercilessly. We're talking bands here -- with people who, like, play guitars and drums and stuff. Okay? Okay.

And so, my totally top of my head Top Ten, in no particular order except for Number One, is/are:

10: The Rascals

Blue-eyed soul. Nobody did it better and with more rock attitude.

9: The MC5

"The American Ruse" indeed, and it's really quite horrific that this song hasn't dated a whit. I should add that the above live version was totally unknown to me until yesterday.

8: The Velvet Underground

Nelson Algren meets the Rolling Stones. If you think that anybody at the moment is doing something as innovative, gutsy and avant-garde, please e-mail me at Just Blow Me.Com. Thank you.

7: The Blues Project

Maybe you had to be there, but these guys were among the most exciting live acts I've ever seen. And they sounded EXACTLY like this in person.

6: Jefferson Airplane

America's loudest band. I was actually at this show, so I know what I'm talking about.

5: Moby Grape

The greatest debut album in all of American rock. And the two that followed were pretty damned good, too.

4: Buffalo Springfield

There's very little to be said about this bunch that hasn't already been declaimed by wiser folks than moi, but may I simply add -- I will never forgive Neil Young for bailing on the group's 2012 reunion tour before it got to NYC, i.e. before I finally got to see them live. Miserable bastard.

3: Paul Revere and the Raiders

FANG!!!

Seriously, that's it. 😎

And the Number 1 best/most significant/whatever American band of the Sixties is -- A FREAKING TIE!!

2/1: The Beach Boys...

...and The Byrds!!!

The short version? Apart from everything else, both the Beach Boys and Byrds invented a sound. Hell, a genre. Very few people in music history can make that claim.

And before somebody goes "What -- Paul Revere and not The Band?", let me just say the The Band would have been my number 11, and that -- heretical as the judgement may be -- they have never really rocked hard enough for me. Sorry.

And also, before somebody brings up The Grateful Dead, let me just say that while it's hardly a secret that I am not now and have never been a fan, I would nonetheless submit that the albums on which their reputation mostly rests -- American Beauty and Workingman's Dead -- were both released in the 70s. And that their work prior to that was mostly along the lines of a fairly meh white blues band with a mildly irritating experimental bent.

Alrighty, then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

John Michael Osbourne 1948 -- 2025

The Prince of Darkness has left the building, and the world is now a significantly duller place.

Talent is an Asset

The Lemon Twigs, from the other night, in Lyon France(!), with a casually brilliant live version of The Beach Boys' classic "In My Room."

You know, it occurs to me these kids are roughly the same age that Brian Wilson was when he wrote that. I mean, I suspect they relate to the song for more than just musical reasons.

In any case, the idea that the sons of a former bandmate of mine are now the best fucking rock group in the world kinda blows my mind. 😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "Don't Tell Donald or Jeffrey" Edition

From their 1970 debut album, please enjoy Argent and their melodically masterful (Russ Ballard-penned) ode to the charms of a "Schoolgirl."

I mean -- like wow.

I haven't heard the album in a million years, so I have no idea if the rest of the stuff on the record is similarly great, but I should add that not only is the song, objectively speaking, about as hauntingly gorgeous as pop rock gets, but unless I am very much mistaken, it's the only song Argent ever did that really betrays the provenance of its leaders previous band, i.e. The Zombies.

I mean, c'mon --can't you hear Colin Blunstone singing that?

In any case, may I just say again -- like wow. 😎

Your Monday Moment of Words Fail Me

From 1998, prepare to have your minds blown by Aussie power pop gods You Am I and a live version of their classic "Mr. Milk."

Be advised -- among other things, what you're about to watch is essentially a master class in how you do this stuff, from the incredible Rickenbacker opening riff to the background vocal "oohs!" to the ultra-cool stage outfits.

A little backstory: As attentive readers know, I've been a fan of that song since forever, or more accurately since 2003, when I first heard the studio version over the sound system at NYCD (a/k/a the greatest record store ever) courtesy of proprietor and Friend of PowerPop© Sal Nunziato. I basically lost my shit the minute I heard the aforementioned opening riff, and all the more so when Sal informed me that these guys were pretty much the greatest Aussie band since The Easybeats; I mean how the hell had I missed THAT?😎

In any event, I got turned on to the above live version over last weekend, and I freaked out all over again; the performance here is a little faster and a little more aggressive than the studio take, but it has every bit of the world-class polish of the original, and the only other phrase I can come up with to describe it is "fucking amazing."

Seriously -- it's enough to restore an old guy's faith in the magic of rock-and-roll.

You're welcome very much. 😎😎

[h/t Peter Scott]

Every Power Pop Record Ever Recorded!

Wait a minute...didn't Robert Klein do a bit along those lines? 😎

K-tel Presents -- Every Power Pop Record Ever Recorded! Exactly that! We drive a truck to your house!!!

But seriously folks: Attentive readers will recall my posting a few months ago about I Wanna Be a Teen Again: North American Power Pop of the '80s, the 3CD box set coming out on Cherry Red Records and featuring the likes of (among others) Cheap Trick, The Bangles, The Go-Gos, Rick Springfield, The Shivvers, The Smithereens, Phil Seymour, Dwight Twilley and...wait for it...The Floor Models (a band featuring some guy whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels on bass).

Well, the thing got released today, so what are you waiting for?

You can buy the package (which I'm told includes amazing photos and terrific liner notes) over at Amazon HERE or -- if you're as pissed off at Jeff Bezos as I am -- directly from Cherry Red over HERE.

As you can imagine, I'm kinda around the moon over this; I only wish my two departed bandmates Andy Pasternack (our 12-string ace) and Glen "Bob" Allen (our beloved drummer) had lived to see it.

In any event, I want to thank everybody over at Cherry Red, and especially fab gear Aussie publicist Dave Laing, who got us the gig.

But more to the point -- I'm dying to know what any of you guys think about the set. So get the hell over to one of those links and snag a copy!

Now, people!!! 😎😎

And have a great weekend everybody!!!

PS: And in other amazing news, if you're in the Los Angeles area in August, there's a preview screening of the forthcoming documentary The Power Pop Movie -- as a benefit for The Wild Honey Foundation -- at the Foundation's backyard amphitheater (heh). The festivities happen at 7 PM Pacific time on August 17th; complete details -- including directions on how to get there -- can be found over HERE.

Aforementioned attentive readers will recall that said film includes lotsa yakking about the music -- its history and meaning -- by the past and present proprietors of this here blog, i.e. NYMary and that Sleeve Nimels guy...

...as well as interviews with various notables including the late Eric Carmen and the guys in Shoes, plus assorted journos, critics and fans like Friend of PowerPop© Brett Milano and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon. I've seen an essentially finished cut; let's just say that director Justin Fielding has done an absolutely brilliant job of capturing the essence of the genre.

So, Angelenos -- be there or be square!!!

P.P.S.: Now that I think of it, I've got an album AND a movie coming out.

Have I mentioned I'm having a pretty good year? 😎😎😎

Thursday's Cartoon Chuckle(s)

Okay, I couldn't resist these two. For obvious reasons.

Big -- and I mean BIG -- news coming tomorrow.

Repeat When Necessary. Seriously -- Like Repeat When Necessary.

Oh. My. God. 😎

From his just released new album Face of 68, please enjoy ex-dB/Continental Drifiter/power pop deity Peter Holsapple and "That Kind of Guy," aka the funniest song I've heard since I don't know when.

A word of advice: There's no lyric sheet that I can find, so it's probably best to play this one really loud or under the headphones or both, so you don't miss a word.

And at the risk of giving anything away, let's just say that if you can listen to the verse comparing the merits of Dick Taylor and Mick Taylor in the Rolling Stones without getting convulsed, you need to have your meds adjusted.

BTW -- have I mentioned repeat when necessary? 😎😎

Okay, How Come I Never Got the Memo on This One?

From 2003, please enjoy "Otto Bob" Palindrome "Weird Al" Yankovic and the funniest and/or most brilliant Dylan parody ever seen/heard by sentient mammalian eyes/ears.

Seriously -- I find it incomprehensible that I had not encountered that previously until sometime last week.

Also, may I repeat -- "Otto Bob" Palindrome. Just in case you didn't get the song/video's central joke. 😎

And oh yeah -- that hilarious and brand new power pop song I teased you guys about yesterday will go up tomorrow. Scout's honor. 😎😎

Monday Cartoon Chuckle(s)

Heh. Also hah.

Actual music stuff -- including the funniest piece of brand new power pop I've heard in ages -- resumes on the morrow.

Annals of Record Company Shit-Weasels (An Occasional Series): Special "When Philistines Walked the Earth" Edition

And speaking of The Kinks, as we were Wednesday, here's some Kinks music (and the story behind it) you may not know, but should.

Let's start with the music. From their 1991 EP Did Ya on Sony, please enjoy the winsome title track....

...and a killer live version of the band's 60s classic "Gotta Move."

And now for the story. As I said, you probably don't know either of those tracks (and the EP they derive from). For this dubious distinction, we have one person to thank -- then head of Sony Records Tommy Mottola, aka Mr. Mariah Carey.

What happened was The Kinks got signed to Sony prior to Mottola assuming the reins of the company; all of a sudden Grunge happened, and the totally-respectful-of-artists Mottola basically told his subordinates -- who the fuck is responsible for these over the hill/past their sell date/dinosaurs being on my label? Oh, and by the way, we'll promote this Kinks EP and anything else these fossils give us on the same day that frozen yogurt goes on sale in hell.

Consequently, nobody except the tiny group of rock critics who'd already received Did Ya in the mail ever heard it, and the Kinks were dropped by Sony soon after delivering a complete new album that Sony was obliged to release for legal/contractual reasons.

But don't worry, the story has a happy ending. Head Kink Ray Davies eventually got knighted, and his band are not only still with us, but back in the studio recording new music.

As for Mottola, he died soon after shafting the group, friendless and alone, of a terrible and painful lingering disease.

Actually, no -- the motherfucker is still alive, well, and obscenely wealthy. But a boy can dream, can't he? 😎

PS: Mottola did exactly the same thing to the great Willie Nile and his 1991 masterpiece Places I Have Never Been...

...but I'll tell you that story on Monday, along with some happier Willie news. 😎😎

In the meantime -- have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Thursday Cartoon Chuckle(s)

Yeah, yeah, I know that one has nothing to do with music, but it cracked me up, so gimme a break. 😎

Regular -- and really really snarky -- posting resumes tomorrow.

Seriously -- tomorrow may get me sued. 😎😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series): Special "How Do You Say 'Up, Up and Away!' in Yiddish?" Edition

From 1979, please enjoy The Kinks and their infectious ode to superhero jealousy "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman."

I bring this up because a) I hadn't heard the song in years, and was delighted to find that it holds up nicely.

More importantly, however, it's because b) I'm really looking forward to seeing the Superman movie reboot this weekend.

I mean, not only is David Corenswet, the actor playing Supes, the first Jewish guy in the role ever (somewhere in heaven, the character's Jewish creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster are smiling) but James Gunn, the film's director, conceived it specifically as an immigrant assimilation story.

Which it fucking is and always was.

Plus -- they finally gave Kal-El a furry friend, i.e. Krypto the Superdog. 😎

Seriously -- I am not even remotely a fan of most contemporary comic book flicks, but this one?

Well, it's gonna piss off all the right people and in the immortal words of Paul Westerberg -- can't hardly wait. 😎😎

You'll Never Believe Why AOC is Evil Now

Okay, I realize I've been getting a little too political with my postings around here of late, and I promise to give it a rest for the immediate forseeable future, but this item is so wonderfully absurd that I simply couldn't resist. 😎

From the estimable NO MORE MISTER NICE BLOG:

Republicans in Congress are working on a massive transfer of wealth from the non-rich to the rich, so the Murdoch media empire has a mission: persuade Americans that Democratic critics of this redistribution are the real elitists. So here's a new Fox story about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez:

AOC's childhood nickname revealed amid 'Bronx girl' claims

Ocasio-Cortez's suburban-toned nickname appears to be at odds with her tough 'Bronx girl' persona

Yes, Fox is serious about this.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s tough Bronx persona is under fresh scrutiny with a resurfaced childhood nickname from her suburban upstate New York upbringing casting doubt on that publicly portrayed image....

The 35-year-old "Squad" member wrote in part on X last week: "I’m a Bronx girl. You should know that we can eat Queens boys for breakfast. Respectfully," she said, referring to the president’s upbringing in Queens as she called for his impeachment over his decision to bypass Congress in authorizing U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Ocasio-Cortez was born in the Bronx but moved to Yorktown – which is nearly an hour outside New York City -- when she was 5 years old and went on to attend Yorktown High School, from where she graduated in 2007.

"There, known by students and staff as ‘Sandy,’ she was a member of the Science Research Program taught by Michael Blueglass," the report states....

After high school, Ocasio-Cortez attended Boston University, where she majored in economics and international relations, per the report.

Ocasio-Cortez’s "Sandy" nickname — which carries a more suburban and preppy tone — appears to undercut her politically crafted image as a tough, inner-city fighter....

(Emphasis added.)

Really? The nickname Sandy is preppy? So back in 1973, when Bruce Springsteen was a penniless jamoke on the verge of losing his record deal, he wrote a song about a preppy? 😎😎

Words fail me. 😎😎😎

Songs I'd Forgotten Existed, Let Alone Loved (An Occasional Series)

From 1966, please enjoy The Buffalo Springfield and their semi-obscure mini-masterpiece "Baby Don't Scold Me."

The short version: That was on the original pressing of the band's debut album, but after "For What It's Worth" became a hit, it was removed in favor of the million-seller.

It's a little sloppy, to be sure, but I love it for a) the quote from "Day Tripper" at the end, and b) its ahead of its time sort of punkish folk-rock insouciance. Man, what I wouldn't have given to see those guys live.

And and oh my god -- that bridge is a work of freaking genius!!!

Great Moments in Hypola: An Occasional Series

So speaking as we were the other day of hero of my youth Eddie Lawrence, here are the radio spots the Great Man cut in 1974 for the John Lennon-produced Harry Nilsson LP Pussy Cats.

I had no idea that existed until alert reader Bob in IL hipped me to it the other day, and thank you Bob -- it made me laugh out loud. Especially "You got a part time job in a leather shop called Whips of All Nations..."

I should add that whole thing kind of took me back because at the time it was recorded, I was actually in the midst of a several year stint doing radio spots for Polygram Records (long story -- don't ask how). I don't remember much about the period, but I do remember I wrote and produced an ad for The Osmonds Christmas Album, featuring frequent Woody Allen-collaborator Len Maxwell doing the voice of Humphrey Bogart.

"The Osmonds Christmas album...it's good, schweetheart. REAL good." 😎

It's Independence Day. Enjoy It While You Can!!!

And in its honor -- a PowerPop tradition since 2018 -- please marvel at Bill Pullman, the greatest president of the United States who was never president of the United States...

...no, wait, now that we're living in Nazi Germany 2.0, that's not a particularly good joke anymore.

Sorry.

What I meant to say was please enjoy the late great Ben E. King and his gorgeous cover of Bruce Springsteen's "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)."

Or perhaps The Hollies' superb 1975 version.

BTW, I saw the Hollies do that live at the old Bottom Line that year, and Bruce (who was not yet the household word he became shortly thereafter when Born to Run was released) was sitting at the table directly in front of me.

Get me drunk sometimes and I'll tell you the simultaenously hilarious and tragic story that accompanied the evening. 😎

Meanwhile, have a great Fourth, everybody!!! Assuming you don't find what's happening in our Noble Democracy at the moment a little too depressing to be festive. 😎 😎

Great Moments in Metaphysics

[It being the dawning of a long Holiday Weekend -- at an especially depressing time in our current American history -- I've decided to have a little fun for the next couple of days. Weightier, more serious postings, will resume next Monday, i.e. when the party's over, as it were. Thanks!!! -- S.S.]

In case you're wondering, Eddie Lawrence -- aka The Old Philosopher -- was one of my heroes as a kid. Not to mention a major fashion influence. 😎

And if memory serves, another one of my childhood heroes -- Soupy Sales -- used to play the above on his afternoon show all the time.

I should add that "musical accompaniment by the Sentimental Four" is now my all time favorite credit on a recorded product ever. 😎

It's Called Music, Chuckles -- Look Into It!!!

[It being the dawning of a long Holiday Weekend -- at an especially depressing time in our current American history -- I've decided to have a little fun for the next couple of days. Weightier, more serious postings, resume on Monday, when the party's over, as it were. Thanks!!! -- S.S.]

From Stereogum:

Charli XCX Responds To Boomers Criticizing Her Use Of AutoTune At Glastonbury

With Glastonbury in the books, Charli XCX has completed yet another massive Brat festival set. You’d think audiences in her home country would be most receptive to her over-the-top presentation, but apparently, some UK boomers were not pleased with Charli’s exaggerated use of AutoTune and her lack of a backing band. She shared some thoughts on the matter in a short series of tweets today following her Saturday night headlining set. She wrote:

[I'm]really enjoying these Boomer vibe comments on my glastonbury performance. it’s super fascinating to me.

Like the idea that singing with deliberate autotune makes you a fraud or that not having a traditional band suddenly means you must not be a “real artist” is like, the most boring take ever. yawn sorry just fell asleep xx

Oh puhleese. There's a phrase for doing a set with totally auto-tuned vocals and without live backup. The phrase is "Lip-synching."

Which means what she was offering the audience differed from Milli Vanilli exactly how? 😎

Also, somebody really needs to tell this pretentious low-talent bint that the words "brat" and "twat" actually rhyme. 😎 😎