Well, it's Friday and you know what that means. Yes, my Oriental manservant Hop-Sing and I are off to a legal seminar at Joe Klein's Hamptons estate (or at least we think we are; Joe hasn't yet confirmed that he has the time for it). In any case, posting by moi will be necessarily sporadic for a while.
But in my absence, here's a fun project for you all to contemplate:
Best Drug Song, Pro or Anti!!!!!!!!!!
[An editorial note: Obviously, the Sixties and Early Seventies were the Golden Age of Pharmacological Songcraft, so the selections here are mostly rather moss laden; I tried my best to find contemporary examples, but all the good ones seem to be moldy oldies. In fact, the most recent example of the genre I can recall is that awful Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge" crapola, and that's from 1992 fer crissakes. So please -- if some of you younger degenerates can point out a 21st century exemplar, I'll be happy to tag it onto the list as an honorable mention. Have your dealer call me.]
In any case, my carefully considered Top Ten would be....
10. (tie) Bob Dylan -- Rainy Day Women #12 and 35
and The First Edition -- Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)
9. Brewer and Shipley -- One Toke Over the Line
8. Neil Young -- The Needle and the Damage Done
7. Jefferson Airplane -- White Rabbit
6. Grandmaster Flash -- White Lines (Don't Do It)
[sorry -- could only find the inferior Duran Duran version]
5. Velvet Underground -- I'm Waiting For the Man
4. Marianne Faithfull (with the Rolling Stones) -- Sister Morphine
3. Paul Revere and the Raiders -- Kicks
2. John Lennon -- Cold Turkey
and the number one drug song is....
1. Flaming Groovies -- Slow Death
C'mon, apart from the fact it rocks as hard as any number of Stones classics, it's also the only anti-drug tune I can think of that combines clear headed realism about the perils of addiction with genuine humor. Really -- who else but the Groovies could have written a cautionary drug song that was actually, intentionally, funny?
Okay -- what are your faves?
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
An Early Clue to the New Direction
From Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles, here's perhaps the funniest opening sequence in movie history.
A coveted PowerPop No-Prize will be awarded to the first reader who divines the clip's relevance to the theme of tomorrow's Weekend Listomania.
Hint: Skip to approximately 1:13 minutes in, when Cleavon Little starts singing.
A coveted PowerPop No-Prize will be awarded to the first reader who divines the clip's relevance to the theme of tomorrow's Weekend Listomania.
Hint: Skip to approximately 1:13 minutes in, when Cleavon Little starts singing.
Young and Innocent
Talk about a Proustian moment -- from 1965, here's an actual official music video for the Lovin Spoonful's sublime "Do You Believe in Magic."
I had no idea such a thing existed, but now that I've looked at it, I'm almost positive that I saw this on the old Clay Cole Show a week or two before I headed off to my first ever semester of college. Wow.
In any case, aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen? And did you know that our good friend the divine watertiger is friends with the drummer?
Update: Via e-mail, I just heard from the man himself.
Steve: I'd like to take credit for the Lovin' Spoonful video clip, but I am not sure. The 'boys' were on my show so many times - I really liked these guys, they were smart, funny and hip. The clip looks like our show - black and white and bleak - but, as legend persists, there is no known video remaining from the five years at WPIX, Ch 11 - they ereased all the tapes.
It is so good to see them so young, fresh and raw - John almost seems camera shy and Zal is jittery as a Jumping Jack on Black Beauties. These guys - and these memories - remain my favorites. Thank you Steve. Clay Cole www.claycoleshow.com
I'm speechless.
I had no idea such a thing existed, but now that I've looked at it, I'm almost positive that I saw this on the old Clay Cole Show a week or two before I headed off to my first ever semester of college. Wow.
In any case, aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen? And did you know that our good friend the divine watertiger is friends with the drummer?
Update: Via e-mail, I just heard from the man himself.
Steve: I'd like to take credit for the Lovin' Spoonful video clip, but I am not sure. The 'boys' were on my show so many times - I really liked these guys, they were smart, funny and hip. The clip looks like our show - black and white and bleak - but, as legend persists, there is no known video remaining from the five years at WPIX, Ch 11 - they ereased all the tapes.
It is so good to see them so young, fresh and raw - John almost seems camera shy and Zal is jittery as a Jumping Jack on Black Beauties. These guys - and these memories - remain my favorites. Thank you Steve. Clay Cole www.claycoleshow.com
I'm speechless.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
The Present Day Fratboy Asshole Refuses to Die
Let's have a contest for Most Annoying One Hit Wonder Band of the 90s.
These guys have my vote. Incredibly annoying, starting with the stupid name. Deadeye Dick? Feh.
Seriously -- every time that "she don't eat meat, but she sure likes to bone" line comes up, I want to smash that smug idiot upside the head with a two-by-four.
These guys have my vote. Incredibly annoying, starting with the stupid name. Deadeye Dick? Feh.
Seriously -- every time that "she don't eat meat, but she sure likes to bone" line comes up, I want to smash that smug idiot upside the head with a two-by-four.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
If Teddy Kennedy Had Been Driving a Volkswagen, He'd Be President Today
From 1983, Jackson Browne goes Nuevo Wavo...
I must confess, I loved this song at the time and I still do. For one thing, unlike a lot of Browne's stuff, it doesn't suffer from (in Robert Christgau's immortal phrase) "Jackson Browne Syndrome, i.e. it's kinda boring." For another, the jump to wordless falsetto after the line "the mating cries of lawyers in love" completely cracks me up (as does the sight of the guy paddling the car). Plus, the "sha-la-las" in the middle add a nice Brill Building/doo-wop period touch, and the Procol Harum-ish piano/organ buildup just before the last verse is wonderful.
And of course, the whole thing about Russia being turned into vacationland for the titular LILs is frankly more than a tad prescient.
Oh hell, let's just cop to the fact that it's a very cool song and the vid stands up nicely.
I must confess, I loved this song at the time and I still do. For one thing, unlike a lot of Browne's stuff, it doesn't suffer from (in Robert Christgau's immortal phrase) "Jackson Browne Syndrome, i.e. it's kinda boring." For another, the jump to wordless falsetto after the line "the mating cries of lawyers in love" completely cracks me up (as does the sight of the guy paddling the car). Plus, the "sha-la-las" in the middle add a nice Brill Building/doo-wop period touch, and the Procol Harum-ish piano/organ buildup just before the last verse is wonderful.
And of course, the whole thing about Russia being turned into vacationland for the titular LILs is frankly more than a tad prescient.
Oh hell, let's just cop to the fact that it's a very cool song and the vid stands up nicely.
Why I love steve
From the crack den, this afternoon:
*mwah!*
Some twenty years from now, Joe Klein arrives in Hell.
Joe: "But this is a mistake. I'm not supposed to be here."
Satan: "I have neither the time nor legal background to figure out who's right. Next!!!"
steve simels |
*mwah!*
Breakfast in America
I found Hal's self-titled debut CD in the budget bin last weekend. Pitchfork Media gave it a funny, snarky review when it came out in 2005, but I sorta get a kick out of the Supertramp-inspired Play the Hits.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Tom Waits For No One
For a variety of reasons I won't be posting again till tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, enjoy this brilliant clip from the funniest TV show of all time.
Martin Mull, Fred Willard, Tom Waits, and "The Piano Has Been Drinking."
This is the bit where Waits famously says "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."
Martin Mull, Fred Willard, Tom Waits, and "The Piano Has Been Drinking."
This is the bit where Waits famously says "I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy."
Churchy La Femme
Ladies and gentlemen, the Greatest Rock n Roll Band in the World.
They are, of course, The Detroit Cobras, and I've been a raving fan for a little over a year. This particular song has loomed large in my legend for some time now, but until the other day there wasn't anything on YouTube worth posting.
Why do I love them? Well, obviously, their raison d'etre -- garage punk covers of incredibly-to-moderately-obscure r&b and early rock songs -- is designed with my mind in mind. More to the point, though, are the paralytically sexy noises emanating from the throat of lead singer Rachel Nagy. If truth be told, the last time I fell so hard for a pop girl was January of 1979, when someone slipped me an import single of "Stop Your Sobbing," featuring vocals by some chick named Chrissie Hynde.
Seriously -- is there another woman on the planet who can make the three syllable phrase "cha-cha-cha" absolutely drip with lust? The bottom line is if we were gonna have a contest to determine The World's Most Fuckable Voice right now, I think Ms. Nagy would win hands down.
A correction: As fellow Atriot Roadmaster reminded me, the above statement about Chrissie Hynde being my last big girl singer crush is not, in point of fact, accurate. My last big girl singer crush moment came courtesy of NYMary, who turned me on to the divine Neko Case last year. I think Nagy and Case are kind of two different animals, however; I mean, obviously, Neko's great on a million levels, but she doesn't really exude the sort of bad girl spankee spankee vibe Nagy does so effortlessly.
But as always, I've probably said too much.
They are, of course, The Detroit Cobras, and I've been a raving fan for a little over a year. This particular song has loomed large in my legend for some time now, but until the other day there wasn't anything on YouTube worth posting.
Why do I love them? Well, obviously, their raison d'etre -- garage punk covers of incredibly-to-moderately-obscure r&b and early rock songs -- is designed with my mind in mind. More to the point, though, are the paralytically sexy noises emanating from the throat of lead singer Rachel Nagy. If truth be told, the last time I fell so hard for a pop girl was January of 1979, when someone slipped me an import single of "Stop Your Sobbing," featuring vocals by some chick named Chrissie Hynde.
Seriously -- is there another woman on the planet who can make the three syllable phrase "cha-cha-cha" absolutely drip with lust? The bottom line is if we were gonna have a contest to determine The World's Most Fuckable Voice right now, I think Ms. Nagy would win hands down.
A correction: As fellow Atriot Roadmaster reminded me, the above statement about Chrissie Hynde being my last big girl singer crush is not, in point of fact, accurate. My last big girl singer crush moment came courtesy of NYMary, who turned me on to the divine Neko Case last year. I think Nagy and Case are kind of two different animals, however; I mean, obviously, Neko's great on a million levels, but she doesn't really exude the sort of bad girl spankee spankee vibe Nagy does so effortlessly.
But as always, I've probably said too much.
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