Author: Dan Seeger

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Top 40 Smash Taps: “Mr. Loverman”

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. Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon was born in Jamaica, in 1966. By the time he arrived on American soils as a music industry figure in the mid nineteen-eighties, rubbing shoulders with the diverse likes of Chuck Berry and KRS-One, he had rechristened himself Shabba Ranks. He employed the Jamaican deejay practice of toasting (which was basically rapping), which made him sound especially unique to … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Mr. Loverman”

Film, MusicLeave a comment

Spectrum Culture

Dan Seeger

Now that I look at it, this week at Spectrum Culture was entirely about music for me. Even the film review I contributed was bursting with it, appropriate considering it was about the legendary Muscle Shoals recording studios that have factored into countless classic rock songs. It’s a good thing the director was able to drop in plenty of the songs (which must have cost plenty), because the film doesn’t have much else to recommend it. On the music review side, I covered one disappointment and one winner, and they didn’t fall into those categories in quite the way I … Continue reading Spectrum Culture

MusicLeave a comment

One for Friday: Papas Fritas, “Smash This World”

Dan Seeger

I wanted to hear the Papas Fritas song “Smash This World” for a long, long time before I actual got the chance to do so. Well, maybe the double use of “long” is stretching it, but any span that stretches past weeks in our instant-gratification-takes-too-long world seems an eternity. I had “Smash This World” on an unofficial list of songs I needed to seek out when I make my yearly trek up to Stevens Point to pitch in at my alma mater radio station on Christmas Day, excursions I made in the late nineteen-nineties. The was culled from the reviews … Continue reading One for Friday: Papas Fritas, “Smash This World”

Books, ComicsLeave a comment

Great Moments in Literature

Dan Seeger

“His name was Toby Bell and he was entirely alone in his criminal contemplations. No evil genius controlled him, no paymaster, provocateur or sinister manipulator armed with an attaché case stuffed with hundred-dollar bills was waiting round the corner, no activist in a ski mask. He was in that sense the most feared creature of our contemporary world: a solitary decider.” –John le Carré, A Delicate Truth, 2013 “THEN, MINUTES LATER, CENTURIUS’ ORBITING COLONIZER PLUMMETS FROM THE HEAVENS LIKE A HELLBORN COMET OF DOOM ON A MISSION OF GALACTIC RETALIATION…PLOWING INEXORABLY INTO THE MOUTH OF THE VOLCANO…AS THOUGH IN RETRIBUTION … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

Everything Else13 Comments

Beers I Have Known: Stevens Point Brewery Whole Hog Pumpkin 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 have a marital obligation to actively seek out respectable lists of quality pumpkin beers this time of the year. Last week, I found one that was filled with many of the expected brews (it’s never a surprise any time Dogfish tops a list), but I was stunned by the brewery that took up the number three slot. Maybe I’ve been smarting from the fact that my beloved college town brewery couldn’t compete … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Stevens Point Brewery Whole Hog Pumpkin Ale

Music25 Comments

Top 40 Smash Taps: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”

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 Pointer Sisters had enjoyed five Top 40 singles by the time Bonnie, the second youngest of the group, left to pursue a solo career, in 1977. As these things often go, the remaining siblings wound up scoring their biggest hit to date the following year, with a version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire”, which became their first Top 10 hit, peaking at #2 … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)”