This series of posts covers my long, beloved history interacting with the medium of radio, including the music that flowed through the airwaves. Last night, I commemorated a momentous birthday, crossing over to one of those ages that can leave … Continue reading Radio Days — Then and Now: May 31, 2020
504. Icehouse, Icehouse (1981) The band Icehouse introduced themselves to the world with the song “Icehouse” off of the album Icehouse. The heavily self-referential methodology wasn’t intention or even in place at first. Hailing from Australia, the band started in … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #504 to #501
This Week Has Happened Before by Julia Craven I call it scar tissue that you walk around with, and scar tissue never allows you to fully function like you functioned. You always got to work around it. You always got … Continue reading Outside Reading — Scar Tissue edition
In deeply unsettled days such as these, there might be no better and timelier message than the proclamation of endurance found in “I Will Try,” the new track from Painted Zeros. The chief creative outlet of singer-songwriter Katie Lau, Painted … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Painted Zeros, “I Will Try”
Since great television comedy always begins with the script, this series of posts considers the individual episodes that have claimed the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series over the years. When the first show to bear … Continue reading Golden Words — The Mary Tyler Moore Show, “Support Your Local Mother”
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. As a wise crab once noted, “The human world, it’s a … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — The Sub-Mariner #25 by Roy Thomas and Sal Buscema
#50 — Lee Grant as Joyce Enders in The Landlord (1970) Lee Grant was accustomed to fighting for what she wanted. Grant was placed on the infamous Hollywood blacklist after delivering a pointed eulogy for character actor J. Edward Bromberg, … Continue reading Greatish Performances #50
These posts are about the songs that just barely failed to cross the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. An inarguable legend of country music, Merle Haggard had only one Top 40 single during his career. He was dominant of the country charts, delivering thirty-six #1 songs (and two more collaborations with others that reached the pinnacle), including a stretch from 1971 to 1976 when practically every single landed at the top. Across sixteen singles, he the forlorn ballad “The Emptiest Arms in the World” stalled … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Okie from Muskogee”
508. Ramones, Halfway to Sanity (1987) The photo shoot that provided the cover art for Halfway to Sanity provides a pretty solid temperature check of how the Ramones were feeling about being the Ramones at the point of their tenth … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #508 to #505
Pac-Man, The Japanese Game That Took Over The World, Turns 40 by Matt Alt On the occasion of the fortieth birthday of the yellow fellow originally known as Puck-Man, Matt Alt writes a brief history of the arcade game sensation. … Continue reading Outside Reading — Paku-Paku-Paku edition
Coffee for Two 