Author: Dan Seeger

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From the Archive: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Dan Seeger

This wasn’t the first writing I did for my college’s student newspaper, The Pointer, but I do believe it was the first full-length review I turned in. It’s not that much longer than the most robust pieces written for our radio show, right in the middle of its three-year run when this was published, but I presume I was feeling a little more pressure about the word count, evidenced by me essentially make the same point repeatedly in the last three paragraphs. As is often the case with newspapers, I take no credit nor blame for the headline, which I … Continue reading From the Archive: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

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One for Friday: Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, “Sleeping with Your Devil Mask”

Dan Seeger

Happy Halloween! Robyn Hitchcock, with and without Egyptians, has been featured in this weekly spot more than any other artist, so I’m perhaps running out of insights to offer. I will note that this song comes from Hitchcock’s 1988 album, Globe of Frogs, which almost certainly provided my first exposure to an artist who looms as large as any for me. The single “Balloon Man” was a somewhat unlikely MTV mini-staple for a time, and the smack of novelty to the song got it some further play elsewhere. Naturally, then, when I got to campus radio station in the fall … Continue reading One for Friday: Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, “Sleeping with Your Devil Mask”

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Top 40 Smash Taps: “Spice of Life”

Dan Seeger

These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. The Manhattan Transfer formed in the city alluded to in their name in 1969. The may have chosen that moniker to declare their municipal origins, but it’s more specifically lifted from a 1925 John Dos Passos novel. The first album by the Manhattan Transfer, Jukin’, was released on Capitol Records in 1971. This iteration of the group proved to be short-lived, reportedly because … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Spice of Life”