Charade, Anyone?

Me, contemplating the lift outside my hotel room in Rome this morning.

Seriously -- the only things missing are Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. 

Chiuso per Monkey Business

Tried to find a translation for "vootie," but apparently there's no valid Italian equivalent.

Seriously, adjusting to our arrival in Rome.

Regular posting, albeit from overseas, resumes on the morrow.

See Florence and Die!

No, today's title does not refer to the charming actress who played the mom on TVs The Brady Bunch.

Instead, it's my way of letting you guys know that a certain Shady Dame of my acquaintance and I will be vacationing in Italy -- starting today, and for the next eight days.

Excuse: Much needed vacation.

We'll be digging the scene in Roma, Firenze and Bologna till then, but have no fear -- I've written some music related stuff for later in the week, and I'll be checking in with highlights of our escapades on a regular daily basis until il nostro ritorno.

And in case you were wondering -- yes, we're searching out possible places to repatriate to if the worst happens in the States on November 5.

Anyway -- as I'm fond of saying, it could be a hot one, and wish us well!!!

And ci vediamo presto everybody!!!

How Do You Say "It's the End of An Era" in Yiddish?

Or better still -- not with a bang, but a whimper.

In any case, The Magazine Formerly Known as Stereo Review has published its last on-the-newstand issue after more than six decades.

As you can imagine, this is a very weird moment for me.

I wrote uninterrupted -- I mean like in every issue -- for TMFKAS from late 1972 till 1998 (and off and on for another ten years or so), which is a pretty amazing run. With the exception of Robert Christgau at The Village Voice, I don't think there's anybody else in the rock crit biz who's pulled off a trick like that.

And some of MY stuff was actually good. (Heh.)

On the other hand, as today's youngsters are doubtless asking --

Magazine? What's a magazine?

Now excuse me, I need to take a nap.

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "12 Inches is More Than Enough for a Lady" Edition

So the other day, our long-time good friend/Friend of PowerPop©/Floor Models fan Phil Cheesbrough (AKA Phil Cheese) sent us the following query:

Question for you: Sleeve Nimels walks into a cash-only record store and sees these four LPs in a bin. With only enough money to buy one, which LP, providing he doesn't already own a copy, ends up going home with him?

1) Warren Zevon's Excitable Boy; (2) The Rascals' Groovin' (the original 1967 version); (3) The Cars debut LP; (4) or The Pretenders Learning To Crawl.

I listed these in the order I think you might grab them, but just guessing so please give me your version.

Thank You!

PS: Choose carefully...there's a lot riding on your #1 choice! 😎

Well, and speaking as a born-again vinyl guy -- as a result, as faithful readers are aware, of having been gifted a turntable (my first in decades) for my last birthday -- the above, shall we say, quite intrigued me.

Not to keep you in suspense -- and I suspect said faithful readers will be able to guess -- my top choice would be the Zevon album.

And primarily for this little power pop ditty, which is pretty much my definition of sublime (although I deeply love just about every other song on the record).

BTW, this is not to disparage the other three of Phil's nominees, all of which are killer (and which I would probably choose in the same order. Although I might move the Cars up to number two.)

It's just that I was a total Zevon fan after his splendid debut LP (it doesn't get more astoundingly gorgeous than "Desperadoes Under the Eaves"), but when EB came out, I was particularly delighted that it had as much to do with the then current punk and New Wave stuff happening as it did with the somewhat critically out of fashion LA/Topanga Canyon/Jackson Browne-ish singer/songwriter scene Zevon was primarily identified with.

Anyway, enough of my yakking,

And now to business. To wit:

...and the contemporary or classic album you would most love to have a first-rate vinyl copy of in your personal collection (but don't already own) is...?

Discuss. And I'll let you know what Phil has to say further after today's post.

Also -- have a great weekend, everybody!!!

Your Thursday Moment of Rock en Español!!!

Heard this for the first time ever at my local watering hole yesterday.

Edel Juárez and "Mientras Dure."

I can find absolutely no info about El Artista and the song itself other than that a) he's from Mexico City, b) he's not young, and c) the record seems to date from the current century.

Oh yeah...And the title translates as "While It Lasts."

That said -- what a great groove (oh that drum sound! oh that organ!). And the whole thing could pass for a really cool early 70s Brit blues-influenced band track with production by Jimmy Miller.

Which is close to as high praise as I can give, frankly. (BG says nah -- more like Tom Petty. In any event, terrific, no?)

Coming tomorrow -- a pop quiz involving a friend of the blog and some vinyl found at a record store.

Could be a hot one!!!

Your Wednesday Moment of Words Fail Me: Special "Taylor and Alfred Sittin' in a Tree" Edition

Okay, this is the greatest thing in the history of things.

Seriously -- I was totally unfamiliar with the online magazine in question until cover artist Sam Viviano posted the above on Facebook the other day. (Click on the pic to enlarge -- trust me, you'll be grateful).

HITS covers the recording industry in an impudent, sassy manner; its editors like to think of it as the MAD Magazine of the music biz. Since 1986, it has published 38 anniversary issues. I have illustrated the covers for 24 of these, beginning with the fourth one in 1990, making HITS the longest professional relationship of my career, with the exception of MAD itself.

My covers have included presidents, foreign leaders, convicted murderers, pop stars, a bunch of record industry CEOs and, quite often, Alfred E. Neuman (with the permission of MAD’s legal department, of course). This year’s cover nearly killed me. It featured Taylor Swift.

The editors, Todd Hensley and Simon Glickman, loved my comp — everything but my rendition of Taylor. I assured them that this was just a sketch and I would nail it in the finish. I actually thought I did a pretty good job on Taylor in the finish, but the editors didn’t quite agree. So I tried again. Then again. And yet again. No matter how hard I tried — and I did over 30 sketches of her — my clients weren’t happy. I finally decided to do something I had never done before: give up. I wrote to Todd and Simon that I was unable to capture Taylor Swift in a way that would satisfy them. I suggested they find another artist, because I couldn’t do it.

Then I got a call from Todd Hensley. He told me they had full confidence and were not going to give up on me. He also made a suggestion. I had been trying to depict Taylor reacting in horror or disgust or shock at the image of Alfred on her “Reputation” album; Todd said maybe I should instead try that expression of complete and utter surprise that Taylor makes every single time she wins an award. BINGO! I quickly came up with the drawing I posted last week, patched it onto the illustration and sent it off for Todd and Simon’s approval. To my great relief, they gave it — wholeheartedly and enthusiastically.

The moral? One is never too old or experienced or “professional” to get a pep talk, because this one really did the trick for me. I want to thank HITS for their confidence and patience, and I look forward to having the chance to do it again next year. Even if it kills me.

Hey -- let's just say I'm gonna keep on eye on these guys, starting immediately, over at their website HERE.

Bad Taste is Timeless (An Occasional Series)

And speaking as we were over the weekend about people in the rock-and-roll field who might qualify as major dicks, attentive reader M_Sharp alerted me to the existence and relevancy of this Ben Vaughn song and video, which had been previously unknown to me, and which advocates, in religious terms, that offing Mike Love could be a good idea.

Okay, I've gotta admit, yes, I've expressed similar sentiments on some occasions, and yes I laughed -- heartily and out loud -- while listening to the above. And I generally like Vaughn.

That said, when it was over, I felt kind of guilty for enjoying it. I mean, it actually struck me as a little too mean-spirited/wise-guy for words.

So -- your thoughts?

Asking for a friend. 😎

Today's Cartoon Chuckle

Heh. 😎

La Fin de La Semaine Essay Question: Special "Insert Penis Joke Here" Edition

So there was a very droll little profile in last week's New Yorker on Ken Caillat, the great recording engineeer/producer who did four Fleetwood Mac albums including Rumours.

In any case, it turns out that the current award-winning/smash Broadway hit musical Stereophonic is, shall we say, liberally plaigarized from Caillat's autobiography of a few years ago. And that there may be some lawsuits in the future as a result.

But my favorite bit is this:

Caillat said that he had watched the play in a daze. “I feel like kind of a numbnuts,” he said. “But, yeah, now I feel ripped off!” He did note a few discrepancies between his book and the play: “Lindsey [Buckingham]’s a dick, but he’s not that big of a dick.”

Heh.

Which, of course, leads us to the weekend's discussion. To wit:

...and the biggest all-time dick in what we refer to as the rock-and-roll field -- of any gender -- indisputably was/is...???

Oh -- and in case you were wondering about my nominee, it should come as no surprise to long-time readers that it's the guy singing lead on the verses here.

I mean, not for nothing is he inevitably referred to in these precincts as "the colossal dickitude that IS Mike Love."

Okay -- who would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

POSTSCRIPT: I just have to say, as much as I respect the above-mentioned Ken Caillat, I cannot in good conscience excuse him for having spawned -- quite literally -- this crap.

Really. I hate to attribute the sins of the daughter to the father, but wow -- that song is completely inexcusably disgustingly awful. 😎