Closed for Monkey Business

Nothing wrong -- or virus related except the obvious cabin fever.

Regular posting -- including a fantastic new power pop song from some new friends in Norway -- resumes on the morrow.

It's the Smallest World in the World

From 2019 B.V. (before the virus), please enjoy Australian rock goddess Sarah McCleod in her home studio with an utterly transplendent version of the venerable "House of the Rising Sun."



As I inferred in the intro, McLeod is kind of a household word Down Under, mostly for her role as the frontwoman of a band charmingly monikered The Superjesus. You can read more about her life and career over at Wikipedia here.

I am somewhat embarrassed to admit, however, that I hadn't been aware of her until yesterday, when I was at YouTube looking for this Floor Models song...



... which was written from life by our 12-string ace Andy Pasternack in the late 80s, and -- to the best of my knowledge -- about some other Sarah McLeod.

And that "House of the Rising Sun" video popped up instead.

Needless to say, I immediately found an intertube link for Ms. McLeod, and informed her of the charming coincidence.

Her pithy response was, simply, "oh wow."

[h/t Peter Scott]

Who Listens to the Radio? (An Occasional Series)

Long time readers are aware that friend of PowerPop Wayne Lundqvist Ford dee-jays the greatest podcast music show in the world.

Here's the playlist for his most recent show. You will note that it features some band called The Floor Models. A bunch of guys including a bass player whose name rhymes with Sleeve Nimels.

You can -- and should -- listen to the show at the link here.

And thank you, Wayne. Stay safe and healthy during this crisis.

And on the Third Day He Rose

In honor of President Schmucko's favorite holiday -- Easter -- here's the greatest photo of all time.

The late Jeffrey Hunter (Captain Pike on the original Star Trek pilot), as the Big J.

In Nicholas Ray's 1961 remake of Cecil B. DeMillle's King of Kings.

In which Christ ascends to Calvary in a pair of green Italian hushpuppies.

I am not sure if you can see that in the film itself; it's a production still that was in the book included in the deluxe MGM LP version of the movie's Miklos Rozsa film score.



That's truly gorgeous, BTW; Rozsa remains one of the greatest of all film composers.

In all seriousness, I bought that LP when I was a kid in the early 60s, being a big Rozsa fan, and I treasured that photo as hilarious from day one. I lost the book years ago, so I actually went to eBay in 2018 to get a new copy and scan the photo.

I should add that I bought said LP at the fabulous Teaneck Record Store on Cedar Lane in my home town. Remember record stores?

It's long gone, obviously, but it was where the restaurant on the left was in that more recent photo of Cedar Lane. I used to ride my bike there of a Saturday afternoon and browse; they didn't have rock 45s, but I used to dig going through the stacks anyway.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Adam Schlesinger 1967--2020

A very great man has passed.



I never met the guy, which is a major regret of my life. But obviously he was one of the reasons NY Mary started this here blog and why I have been doing it all these years since she gave me the metaphorical keys to the car.

I will simply say that I am heartbroken.

And filled with cold fury at the schmucks -- both in and out of the administration -- who enabled this plague. Damn them all to hell.

Okay, Now I'm Starting to Get Really Mad

Depending on which news reports you read, Fountains of Wayne co-frontman Adam Schlesinger...

...(or, as I usually refer to him, Fountains of Wayne co-frontman Adam Schlesinger, who is a goddamn genius) is down with the virus, and either on a respirator or in a medically induced coma.

Words fail me, especially as I had been listening to this masterpiece of his literally hours before somebody sent me a link to one of the news reports.



Look, I am well aware that the title of this here blog is PowerPop, not Pissed Off Lefty, so I'm not gonna belabor the point but -- fuck you, Trump voters. If Schlesinger does not recover, this is fucking totally on YOUR heads, just like every other death from the virus so far.

Oh, and have I mentioned fuck you, Trump voters? And also fuck you every pretend progressive who told us we had to understand the economic anxiety of those Trump voters, who really weren't simply moronic bigots, neo-Confederates and neo-Nazis so it was alright for them to not vote for Hillary because her e-mails?

Thank you.

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men

And almost in time for Passover, here's friend of PowerPop (and moi) Marc Jonson and his (dare I say infectious?) musical response to our current crisis, "Crank Up the Marshall."



Seems like good advice, I think.

Long-time readers know who Marc is, but just to reiterate, he's kind of a genuine power pop legend/cult figure. He's written songs that have been covered by The Roches, Dave Edmunds, and Robert Gordon; a little closer to home, he also wrote this song for The Floor Models back in the day...



...and graciously contributed the astounding background vocals when we finally got around to recording it last year.

I should also add that his album 12 in a Room...

...is an absolute genre masterpiece that should be in everybody's collection.

And that he will always be aces in my book for having sung the background vocals on Willie Nile's classic first album.



Oh, and have I mentioned that in 2018 he did this transplendent song in honor of the late great Pat DiNizio of The Smithereens?



I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I have been blessed over the years to have ridiculously talented friends.

And if I haven't said it before -- thanks Marc. For everything.

Consumer Notes From All Over

Finally, a ray of sunshine amidst the darkening gloom of life in the time of the Trump Virus.

The Floor Models new (but recorded in 1982) live album is now available pretty much everywhere, including YouTube (if you want to listen free) or for download at Amazon, Spotify, iTunes and the rest of the usual suspect digital platforms.

I only wish our late great good friend and drummer Glen Robert Allen, who passed in February, was still around to have seen/heard it.



BTW, in case you were wondering why it's taken this long to get the damned thing out, it's totally my fault; when I submitted it for digital distribution to CD Baby (where it's been solely available for over a month) the date I gave for its official release to other platforms was 3/29/20 -- in other words, a fucking typo on my part. I actually yelled at CD Baby about this, but there was nothing they could do, and like I said -- it was totally my fault.

I should also add, and I've told this story before, that The Records' classic in the clip was one of the first songs the Floor Models played as a group. In fact, we used to do it so often in our club shows that everybody in Greenwich Village thought we wrote it. A notion that, if memory serves, we did less to disabuse people of than perhaps we should have.

Weekend Listomania: Special "Goodbye Rosie, the Queen of Corona" Edition

Well, it's Friday, and you know what that means.

Yes, my Oriental Germ Dispensary Supervisor FAH LO SUEE and I will be heading off to fabulous Wuhan, China to take advantage of the new low prices offered by local Wuhan restaurants on their legendary bat's head soup.

That being the case, here's a fun project for the rest of us until our return:

BEST OR WORST POST-ELVIS POP/ROCK/SOUL SONGS/ALBUMS/VIDEOS WHOSE THEME IS LONELINESS AND/OR ALIENATION!

For obvious reasons, obviously, and no arbitrary rules whatsoever.

And my totally top of my head Top Six totally is:

6. Casey Abrams and Puddles Pity Party -- Smells Like Teen Spirit



Somewhere, Kurt Cobain is laughing out of his ass over this one.

5. Andrew Gold -- Lonely Boy



I fucking love that song and always have. And I forget who said it, but every time you get a hit single based on the chords to "La Bamba," an angel gets its wings.

4. Paul Anka -- Lonely Boy



How do you say "dreck" in Canadian?

3. The Beatles -- Nowhere Man



I predict a bright future for those youngsters from Liverpool.

2. Neil Diamond -- Solitary Man




Yeah, yeah, I know Neil's 70s stuff is mostly over-produced kitsch, but his 60s folk rock/Brill Building stuff is out of this world and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

And the number one all time ode to angst-ridden solipsism simply has to be...

1. Simon and Garfunkel -- Sounds of Silence



Ah, one can never be as alone as one is in the subway. One can only hope that the gazillions of dollars S&G subsequently earned after this record turned them into superstars took some of the sting out of their deep personal generational hurt.

Alrighty then -- what would YOUR choices be?

And have a great weekend, everybody!!!

An Early Clue to the New Direction: Special "Passover in the Time of Corona" Edition

Don't know who photoshopped this, but it cracked me the fuck up, I'll tell you that for free.

In any case, a coveted PowerPop No-Prize© will be awarded to the first reader who gleans its relevance to the theme of tomorrow's Weekend Listomania.