Author: Dan Seeger

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The Art of the Sell: Nighthawks at the Diner

Dan Seeger

These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art.  In 1975, when Tom Waits released Nighthawks at the Diner, he had only been a known quantity for two years, with just a pair of studio full-lengths to his credit. He was in his mid-twenties, though he already looked like a bedraggled middle-aged man who’d spent a few too many nights helping keep a barstool in place. The Waits persona was already firmly in place. Not that there’s a desperate need for proof of the above assertion, but … Continue reading The Art of the Sell: Nighthawks at the Diner

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 64 – 62

Dan Seeger

64. Hoodoo Gurus, “I Want You Back” The casual listener would be forgiven for assuming that “I Want You Back” is just another pining pop song, the next nearly indistinguishable boxcar on the endless train of the musically lovelorn line. Instead, the single from the 1984 album Stoneage Romeos, the debut release from Hoodoo Gurus, addresses the turmoil in the band’s lineup. Though the song resides on the first full-length from Hoodoo Gurus, the group had already endured quite a bit of personnel turmoil, including the departure of original guitarist Rod Radalj. Apparently nursing some ill feelings about the growing … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 64 – 62

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From the Archive: Juno

Dan Seeger

Few filmmakers experienced quite as precipitous a drop as Jason Reitman. He went from back-to-back Best Director nominations to a pair of films that were universally panned (with, it’s worth noting, one compromised but ambition feature in between). Through it all, he’s at least had the live reads, regular events that brought together impressive groups of actors to offer one-time-only, live stage performances of some truly beloved screenplays. Though the event is officially retired as an ongoing concern, Reitman is clearly keeping it in his back pocket, ready to throw on the table when the moment is right, such as a … Continue reading From the Archive: Juno

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One for Friday: The Chant, “All Behind Me”

Dan Seeger

Every once in a while, I feel obligated to tap out a new ode to the “C Stacks,” the part of my college radio station’s music library that inspired the most affection in me. When I arrived at the noncommercial broadcast outlet in the late nineteen-eighties, the main music library was divided into three sections, delineated by the first three letters of the alphabet. The “A Stacks” were home to those artists that we expected everyone knew, like Peter Gabriel and U2. The “B Stacks” were for the bands and performers that college radio kids held up as titans but … Continue reading One for Friday: The Chant, “All Behind Me”

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Beers I Have Known: Wisconsin Brewing Company Betray Ale

Dan Seeger

This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another. I’ve already had a couple Wisconsin Brewing Company Betray Ales this evening (and, in the interest of full disclosure, maybe a couple other similar beverages), so I’ll defer to the description on the menu of the fine establishment that is thankfully (or problematically) within walking distance of my pending home: “One time only Maibock style Mandarina Bavarian and Hallertau hops, a perfectly bright and sweet addition to the malts.” I can confirm that … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Wisconsin Brewing Company Betray Ale

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My Misspent Youth: The Mighty Marvel Superheroes Fun Book

Dan Seeger

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 I’ve occasionally acknowledged, it took me a bit of time before I plunged into the world of superhero comics. As was my wont at that age, I clung to the kiddie material I loved longer than I probably should have. At different times, I’ve probably retrospectively tagged various comics as my gateway into the supposedly more mature fare populated by the costumed do-gooders of the Marvel Universe, but it’s probably … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: The Mighty Marvel Superheroes Fun Book

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Laughing Matters: Louis C.K., “Of Course, But Maybe”

Dan Seeger

Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. Louis C.K. has talked openly and repeatedly about the way that George Carlin changed his career. It was Carlin’s practice of throwing out all his material once it was documented in one of his many HBO specials and then building an act anew that inspired C.K., making him go deeper and be smarter with his own work. So when C.K. signed on for his … Continue reading Laughing Matters: Louis C.K., “Of Course, But Maybe”

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That Championship Season: Community, Season Two

Dan Seeger

It is dizzyingly appropriate that Community was a television series that eventually got swamped by its own behind-the-scenes backstory. From early in its run, Dan Harmon’s creation discarded most of its nominal overtures to sitcom convention in favor of demolishing any and all familiar tropes. The most basic summary of the show indicated that it was about a study group at a struggling community college. In actuality, Community was a television show about television shows, so enthralled with the clicking gears of traditional narrative that cracked the shell right off the machine, peering excitedly inside. It makes sense. That’s where all … Continue reading That Championship Season: Community, Season Two

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CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 67 – 65

Dan Seeger

67. Psychedelic Furs, “Heartbreak Beat” Columbia Records really wanted new music from Psychedelic Furs. In 1986, the band were unlikely beneficiaries of the John Hughes teen movie factory, which was producing new material at a rapid clip. “Pretty in Pink,” the title of a 1981 single from Psychedelic Furs, was typed onto the cover page of Hughes’s high school romance script that he turned over to Howard Deutch to direct. The resulting film, released in 1986, was a box office success, and the Furs’ freshly recorded take on the song turned into a hit, just missing the Billboard Top 40. … Continue reading CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 67 – 65

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From the Archive: Dreamgirls

Dan Seeger

The proper way for me to raid my own writing history to align with the major release this weekend entails unearthing my original radio review for the animated classic Beauty and the Beast, from 1991. I did write one at the time. And I was fairly proud of it, if I’m recalling correctly. That review is lost to the eroding waters of time (or at least taped into a box that hasn’t been accessed in a good long time). So I’ll instead look to the director of the new live-action take on Disney’s finest animated effort (Pixar movies don’t count). … Continue reading From the Archive: Dreamgirls