Author: Dan Seeger

Music2 Comments

One for Friday: The Cost of Living, “Could Be Mine”

Dan Seeger

Maybe my memory is selective (it’s definitely faulty), but I don’t remember there being such anxious discussion around identifying the official song of the summer way back when. It could be that the consensus was formerly reached with greater ease, though I suspect it has more to do with a modern desire to create shared pop culture experiences. In Spotify’s world, how relevant is the biggest radio song of the summer unless we make it so? Best as I can tell, the current debate is between the genius of Daft Punk and some Robin Thicke track which I haven’t knowing … Continue reading One for Friday: The Cost of Living, “Could Be Mine”

Books, ComicsLeave a comment

Great Moments in Literature

Dan Seeger

“He loves me because I’m the kind of person people come to. It’s an attribute he wishes he had, because he’s a teacher. He teaches history in a private school. One time, when we were walking through Chelsea late at night, a nicely dressed old lady leaned over her gate and handed me a can of green beans and a can opener and said, ‘Please.’ On the subway, a man handed me a letter and said, ‘You don’t have to say anything, but please read the paragraph. I just want somebody else to see it before I rip it up.’ … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

FilmLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

My week at Spectrum Culture started with a review that took an atypically long time to show up, or at least longer past the original release than is usual for us. I received my copy of Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess after it opened, not at all the norm. Plus it arrived before a short week where the site took a couple days off, so there’s a layer of dust on the movie by the time the review showed up. Of course, that’s always the case here on the good ol’ Coffee for Two page, but it felt weird for me … Continue reading Spectrum Check

Music5 Comments

One for Friday: Jerry Reed, “Bandit Ball”

Dan Seeger

I love that the World Wide Web is the location of the greatest music swap in history. While I often actively gripe about the evil machinations of the RIAA, I’ll also concede that I get why they don’t particularly care for it. When an organization’s entire mandate is to squeeze every potential penny out of consumers for fat cat executives–don’t kid yourself for a moment that the RIAA is actually looking out for the artists; that “I” is for “Industry”–then seeing the new Kanye West record pop up for free on a fleet of sites before it’s even legally available … Continue reading One for Friday: Jerry Reed, “Bandit Ball”

Music30 Comments

Top 40 Smash Taps: “Who’s Sorry Now?”

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. She’s a little bit country, you know. Before Marie Osmond was paired up with her brother Donny on to infiltrate the homes of unsuspecting American viewers (a Faustian partnership that continues to this very day), she had a reasonably successful career as a country music artist, most notably with her debut single, “Paper Roses,” which topped the country charts and made it to … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Who’s Sorry Now?”