Tonight at 6:00 p.m., the college radio station that I write about often in this space will commence the 41st staging of their annual trivia contest, a Mardi Gras of minutiae that has grown so monumental that it lays claim to being the “World’s Largest.” As cameras have capture, I’m a participant in this contest, playing on a team of some notoriety, a team that, unbelievably, has been playing in this contest for over twenty years. For me, as it is with many of the 11,000 or so who will come to Stevens Point to hang on every word uttered … Continue reading One for Friday: “Come On Eileen”

One of the trickier aspects of being a music fan is when the music you love gets appropriated by pieces of the pop culture that you, well, don’t have such strong positive feelings towards, let’s say. I remember being shocked and appalled when I first heard Material Issue’s “Everything” butchered by some nasty, yearning band called Stereo Fuse. And while I’ve long since given up on righteous indignation as a response to a band selling off their songs for use in slick commercials, there’s still a part of me that instinctively winces when a song I really admire is paired … Continue reading One for Friday: Dream Warriors, “My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style”