An interesting perspective from an excellent classical music critic.
R.E.M.’s First Group Interview In 30 Years
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go listen to Fables of the Reconstruction, my introduction to these guys.
How Much For The Whole Collection?
This is the same guy who did the Clockwork Orange location tour I posted not too long ago. I’m slightly obsessed with his channel at the moment.
Shit
My parents wouldn’t let me stay up to watch Starsky & Hutch, but I still get a thrill when I see an old Gran Torino.
David Soul—beloved husband, father, grandfather and brother—died yesterday after a valiant battle for life in the loving company of family. He shared many extraordinary gifts in the world as actor, singer, storyteller, creative artist and dear friend. His smile, laughter and…
— David Soul (@DavidRSoul) January 5, 2024
Gerhardt Leigh Ludvig!
Thanks to G for mentioning this album in the Nashville Teens comments, which got me to finally listen to it. If you haven’t heard it, it’s a smoker. Jerry Lee’s in top form, and the Nashville Teens are red-hot.
There’s something funny about Germans going apeshit over Jerry Lee Lewis.
Many Memphians have Jerry Lee stories. Mine might be unique, as it does not involve sex, drugs, or guns (maybe because I never encountered him personally). Anyway, back in the mid-80’s I dated a girl for a while who lived downtown at the Waterford, which overlooks the Mississippi. Her apartment was a couple of stories down from the penthouse, where JL was living at the time. I never saw him (although said girl claimed he hit on her in the elevator a couple of times–he was in his 50’s and she was 19 or 20), but sometimes we could hear him playing. On nice evenings we’d hang out on her balcony. He must have had his balcony door open to catch the river breeze, because we could very clearly hear him practicing and noodling around. So I have this sort of magical memory of our lounging on the balcony, drinking beer, watching the sunset over the river, enjoying the breeze, and eavesdropping on the great JL playing the piano. A good time for sure.
Holidays in the Sun
PiL will represent Ireland in Eurovision with Hawaii, an ode by Lydon’s to his wife. It apparently IS a love song.
Forgotten Gem
Probably my favorite EJ song. It’s the second half of a medley that opens Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It (along with the opening song, the instrumental Funeral For a Friend) got quite a bit of airplay on FM radio when the album was released. This was the glory days of FM, when stations played deep tracks. You never heard it on AM, which stuck to singles. It gets left out of “best of” compilations, and many EJ fans don’t know it. I don’t get why. This song has everything going for it, including a killer bass line. It’s one of the songs I used to teach myself bass when I got one in 10th grade.
Mad Punks
I was reminded of this today and felt it needed a reposting. As the story goes, I first saw this issue of MAD at my friend Geoff’s house when we were in the third grade. I was a sensitive, sheltered kid, and remember feeling nauseated after reading MAD’s “Punk Rock Group” of the Year. Punching fans! Vomiting and urinating onstage! Self-mutilation!
But a few years later, when I actually got into punk in middle school, I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for it at Memphis Comics and Records. (I never had any success, mostly because I only had a rough timeframe for when that issue would have been published, and no Internet to assist me.)
I did, however, finally find it when my in-laws gave me every issue of MAD on CD one Christmas. These days, I’m positively obnoxious about reposting it.
BONUS: Here’s an interview with artist Harry North.
This Shit Is Punk Rock
This looks pretty good. Renfield, didn’t you play there?
“Nightclubbing” is the first-ever documentary about the renowned New York City nightclub Max’s Kansas City (1965-1981) which had an indelible impact on the worlds of music, fashion, art, culture and the creation of the city’s punk rock scene.
Featuring rare footage of Iggy & The Stooges, New York Dolls, Sid Vicious and Wayne/Jayne County & classic footage from Johnny Thunders/Heartbreakers, unique archival footage and exclusive interviews with Alice Cooper, Jayne County, Billy Idol, Steve Stevens, music journalist/Patti Smith Band guitarist Lenny Kaye, late New York Dolls guitarist Sylvain Sylvain, Warhol superstars Penny Arcade & Ruby Lynn Reyner, Suicide’s Alan Vega, Bad Brains H.R. & Dr. Know,
Stimulators’ Denise Mercedes, Nick Marden (and their then-12-year-old drummer, future Cro-Mag Harley Flanagan), Twisted Sister’s Jay Jay French, D Generation’s Jesse Malin, Blondie’s Frank Infante, Dead Boys’ Jimmy Zero, Stiv Bators’ girlfriend Cynthia Ross, Mickey Leigh, Shrapnel/Monster Magnet’s Phil Caivano, Punk Magazine founder & Ramones album cover illustrator John Holmstrom, Mink Deville’s Louis X. Erlanger, American Hardcore author Steven Blush and a who’s who of New York’s rock scene of the time, including Elliott Murphy, Bob Gruen, Peter Crowley, Neon Leon, Leee Black Childers, Donna Destri, Sonny Vincent, Phillys Stein and the fabulous Jimi LaLumia.
These Were Great
Here’s all the Get a Mac ads that ran … 16 years ago?!
The original American advertisements star actor Justin Long as the Mac, and author and humorist John Hodgman as the PC, and were directed by Phil Morrison. The American advertisements also aired on Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand television, and at least 24 of them were dubbed into Spanish, French, German, and Italian. The British campaign stars comedic duo Robert Webb as Mac and David Mitchell as PC while the Japanese campaign features the comedic duo Rahmens. Several of the British and Japanese advertisements, although based on the originals, were slightly altered to better target the new audiences. Both the British and Japanese campaigns also feature several original ads not seen in the American campaign.
The Get a Mac campaign is the successor to the Switch ads that were first broadcast in 2002. Both campaigns were filmed against a plain white background. Apple’s former CEO, Steve Jobs, introduced the campaign during a shareholders meeting the week before the campaign started. The campaign also coincided with a change of signage and employee apparel at Apple retail stores detailing reasons to switch to Macs.
The Get a Mac campaign received the Grand Effie Award in 2007. The song in the commercial is called “Having Trouble Sneezing” by Mark Mothersbaugh.