Author: Dan Seeger

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College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 26 and 25

Dan Seeger

26. “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” by U2 The Joshua Tree, the fifth studio album from U2, was released on March 9, 1987. I think it’s quite far to tag that as the date that everything changed decisively for the Irish quartet. It’s not like they hadn’t enjoyed a taste of success previously, especially back home in the U.K., where they were an established Top 10 act. Even in the presumably tougher-to-crack United States, their previous two studio albums had peaked just outside of the Billboard Top 10, and the single “Pride (In the Name of Love)” … Continue reading College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 26 and 25

FilmLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

This was a week strictly about film for me at Spectrum Culture. My main piece of writing was a review of a new documentary about an ongoing photography project intended to relay easily understandable evidence of the effects of climate change. It’s quite good, which also means it’s highly depressing. I also bookended the latest edition of our ongoing survey of the best comedic performances of each year of each decade. This time getting the privilege of two of the very best acting jobs of the whole decade, comedic or not. Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: The Soft Boys, “I Love Lucy”

Dan Seeger

As a general rule, I’m highly suspicious of band reunions. Several years ago, when people were flipping with excitement about the prospect of the Pixies getting back together to play a few dates and maybe–but probably not!–record again, I was entirely unmoved and uninterested. Admittedly, that may stem in part from the fact that I wasn’t nearly as devoted a fan of the band as my college radio brethren during the Pixies’ heyday, but it was also because it was such a transparent attempt to cash in on past success by performers whose respective solo and spin-off careers had pretty … Continue reading One for Friday: The Soft Boys, “I Love Lucy”

Books, ComicsLeave a comment

Great Moments in Literature

Dan Seeger

“Like many slobs, Beard was appreciative of the order that others created without effort, or any that he noticed. In Melissa’s flat, which was spread out over two floors, he was particularly happy. She lived such an uncluttered life at home. There were open perspectives untroubled by furniture. The foot-wide beeswaxed floorboards recovered from a Gascony château shone with dull perfection. There were no loose objects, all the books were on the shelves in the right order, at least until he visited, and the art on the walls was sparse lithographs, mostly of dancers. There was a single statue, a … Continue reading Great Moments in Literature

Music14 Comments

College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 28 and 27

Dan Seeger

28. “Crazy” by Icehouse So let’s dial back to the way perceptions of bands were shaped circa 1987. For those, like me, who were stuck is relatively small suburban areas, well removed from the major culture centers, there weren’t many ways to find out about new music, especially given the ever-increasingly caution of local radio. This led to the disproportionate influence of MTV, which served as a de facto nationwide radio station back when they were more interested in music videos than reality shows. So the first time I heard of Icehouse was when the video for “Crazy” started getting … Continue reading College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 28 and 27

Everything ElseLeave a comment

Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

As I noted last week, I had several more pieces go up at Spectrum Culture in my second full week back, in part because of some backlogged music releases. That effectively describes the first thing I had go up this week, a review of the sophomore effort from the U.K. band the Vaccines. My unimpressed assessment proved to be the appropriate kick-off to a week of bad reviews. On the film side, I offered an evaluation of the new documentary about the late Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame. Especially given the life being drawn upon, the film is shockingly … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: The Northern Pikes, “Just Another Guy”

Dan Seeger

I can’t say with any amount of certainty whether or not the same rule applies now, but in my distant day as a student in college radio a band could sell an awful lot of records by coming up with earnestly penned and crisply sung songs about being a sad little boy in love. When I started in student-run broadcasting in the late nineteen-eighties, it was very much the province of males, who were naturally accustomed to adhering to the norms of their gender, established from approximately the moment the very first electric guitar chord was struck, that entailed nursing … Continue reading One for Friday: The Northern Pikes, “Just Another Guy”