#33 — Shampoo (Hal Ashby, 1975) There are so many different that a film can surprise, and I’ll freely and fully admit that I ultimately prefer the shrewder, more low-key surprises to the trickster gotchas designed to upend everything that … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Thirty-Three
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. I think it’s fair to type that the Champs are known for one song: “Tequila.” That song was originally issued as the B-side to “Train to Nowhere,” a single released on Challenge Records, the label started up in part by Gene Autry. The song was recorded in late December of 1957 and released less than a month later. Once DJs flipped the record … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Limbo Rock”
#10 — Marisa Tomei as Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny (Jonathan Lynn, 1992) Marisa Tomei’s Best Supporting Actress Oscar win for My Cousin Vinny was so surprising and contrary to the typically stuffy Academy voting trends that a fairly mean-spirited myth built up around it. As per Academy custom, the previous year’s Best Supporting Actor winner was invited to present the award, which meant 74-year-old Jack Palance took the stage, looking far less hale than he did a year earlier when he famously treated the audience to a few one-armed push-ups. He fumbled with the names of individual … Continue reading Greatish Performances #10
36. Old 97’s, Satellite Rides Last week I noted that Oh, Inverted World by the Shins was the first album in purchased in my new state of residence in the summer of 2001. Pleasantly enough, this week on the countdown … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 50 Albums of 2001, 36 and 35
This week at Spectrum Culture, I started with a piece on the music review side. I’ve previous written on Vivian Girls and La Sera, so it only seemed logical to me that I should continue weighing in on all the groups bobbing across that shared orbit. That meant writing on the second Best Coast album, not really knowing when I claimed it that the band was on the receiving end of enormous antipathy. That at least gave me an angle with which to start the review. I also had my regular contribution on the film side, writing about the new … Continue reading Spectrum Check
When I think back on the artists and albums that were decisively, definitively ours during my youthful days in college radio, I almost always conjure up memories of the bands and performers that started on the left end of the dial and probably never managed to creep up to the higher frequencies: Hüsker Dü, the Replacements, the Smithereens. They certainly represented a central part of my musical experience, but there was a whole other batch of artists that got regular play at 90FM who were more like reclamation projects. These were the performers who had experience some commercial success, unlikely … Continue reading One for Friday: Joe Jackson, “Tomorrow’s World”
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. When I started reading Marvel Comics, the importance of reading the … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Thor by Walt Simonson
#34 — Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) Let’s start with this important piece of information for the youngsters out there: the word “Episode” does not appear in the title of the film director George Lucas released in 1977. In fact, … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Thirty-Four
How on earth have I never heard this before? I’m clearly in need of a fresh effort in the field of Robyn excavation. Continue reading It’s the freakiest show
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. Jeffrey Osborne was the lead singer for the R&B band L.T.D. when they had a Top 5 hit in 1977 with the song “(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again.” He put out his first solo album in 1982, doing well on the R&B charts but struggling to generate the some heat on the Billboard Hot 100. In fact, one of … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “The Last Time I Made Love”
Coffee for Two 