Author: Dan Seeger

Books2 Comments

My Writers: John Grisham

Dan Seeger

Let’s be real. When I return to this recurring feature, plucking a new author from the misty library of the already read that resides in my brain, I usually opt for a wordsmith who will confer some amount of coolness on me, in much the same way that the tomes that speak well of the reader usually have conspicuous placement on the household’s most prominent bookshelf. (For years, Richard Ben Cramer’s massive What It Takes was front and center in my collection, despite the inconvenient detail that I only made through about a third of its thousand-plus pages.) But I … Continue reading My Writers: John Grisham

Music2 Comments

Top 40 Smash Taps: “Don’t Ask Me Why”

Dan Seeger

Eurythmics might have been the most unorthodox act to claim comfortably regular residency on the pop charts in the nineteen-eighties, a time when the sudden, sizable influence of MTV already made things somewhat topsy-turvy. Of course, the music video channel contributed mightily to the U.K. duo’s rise, playing “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” so frequently that its single week at the top of the charts seems like a short-changing clerical error, at least until further scrutiny reveals that its path to the top was blocked by the Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” which held the #1 position for a remarkable … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Don’t Ask Me Why”

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 235 – 233

Dan Seeger

235. U2, “Gloria” What hardly at risk of being relegated to the stations on the left end of the dial that stick with songs that praise Jesus, U2 tapped into their shared religious devotion significantly when working on their sophomore album, October. Really, it’s more accurate to describe it as largely shared devotion, since one quarter of the band’s roster wasn’t nearly as sanguine about filling their grooves with spiritually inclined material. Bassist Adam Clayton was reportedly uncomfortable with the new tack the group was taking, holding up “Gloria” as the prime example of the undesirable artistic drift. By some … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 235 – 233

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One for Friday: Johnny Boy, “You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve”

Dan Seeger

With limited radio options and meager fiscal resources to boldly build my own collection when I was in high school, I relied on music writing to build my comprehension of the vast expanse of tuneful wonderment that existed outside of the Top 40. As a result, I was often more fascinated by lyrics, which could be excitedly quoted in reviews, than the actually combinations of instruments cranking out the rhythm and melody. My attention was also disproportionately captured by any song that had an elaborate title. Often unable to experience the tracks properly, I got a little charge from feeling … Continue reading One for Friday: Johnny Boy, “You Are the Generation That Bought More Shoes and You Get What You Deserve”

Film1 Comment

Top Ten Movies of 2015 — Number Two

Dan Seeger

I take great pleasure in the notion that George Miller finds takes the opportunities of caution presented to him by the entertainment industry and transforms them into wildly audacious cinematic creations. He did it nearly two decades ago when he parlayed his screenwriting and producing credits on the gentle hit Babe into more creative control, including the directing role, on its more ambitious, decidedly darker, and markedly beautiful sequel (which, of course, didn’t fare nearly as well at the box office). Now, with the studios’ seemingly unstoppable hunger for any project that carries even a hint of brand recognition and the possibility … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2015 — Number Two

Comics3 Comments

My Misspent Youth: Sensational She-Hulk by John Byrne

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. In my dull snobbery, enhanced by an equally misguided tendency to dismiss anything viewed as too girly from my pop culture consideration, I was an unlikely reader for a series featuring She-Hulk, the unfortunately named cousin to Marvel’s signature green goliath hero. Introduced in a comic book with a 1980 cover date, She-Hulk was the titanic alter ego of Jessica Walters, previously unmentioned cousin of Bruce Banner. When her relative happened to be … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Sensational She-Hulk by John Byrne

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Abrams, Benson and Moorhead, Fosse, Jones, Roach

Dan Seeger

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (J.J. Abrams, 2015). As a piece of nostalgic reclamation, the latest “Episode” of the Star Wars saga does its job so efficiently that its hard to get overly enthused about it as cinema. In a strangely fitting turnabout, the film series that fundamentally changed the business of U.S. moviemaking has turned into a follower, adhering closely to the mighty Marvel model. There’s little indication that The Force Awakens is laying the groundwork for vaster, interconnected stories, but it’s all introduction and reassurance, a tapping of the baton before commanding the symphony to life. The sense of … Continue reading Abrams, Benson and Moorhead, Fosse, Jones, Roach

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Top Ten Movies of 2015 — Number Three

Dan Seeger

Based on Colm Tóibín’s novel of the same name, Brooklyn demonstrates the reservoirs of emotional power that can be tapped by telling a quietly compelling story unadorned by pushy narrative tricks, by letting the particulars of wisely conceived drama stand as the prevailing voice of the film. Set in the nineteen-fifties, it tells the story of a young immigrant named Eilis (Saoirse Ronan). She settles into an existence of minor yet impactful unease after journeying from Ireland to find her place in the title borough. The relatively modest scale of her challenges serves to settle the film into an endearingly realistic space … Continue reading Top Ten Movies of 2015 — Number Three

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College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 238 – 236

Dan Seeger

238. The Jam, “Absolute Beginners” Paul Weller reclaimed the title for the The Jam’s 1981 single “Absolute Beginners” from the Colin MacInnes novel of the same name. The second book in the British author’s London Trilogy, Absolute Beginners was first published in 1958. Though already a revered work, it was experiencing a bit of a revival around the time the nineteen-seventies slipped tumultuously into the eighties, partially tied to the nostalgic interest in mod culture that followed the release of the film version of Quadrophenia, in 1979. Most of Weller’s cultural compatriots had read the book. Funny enough, Weller himself … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 238 – 236