Category: Music

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College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 6 and 5

Dan Seeger

6. “Intoxication” by Shriekback Dave Allen was the bassist for Gang of Four, a band that fully understood the value of a killer rhythm section. He left the band after the release of their sophomore effort, Solid Gold, and formed Shriekback with Barry Andrews, who was previously the fourth member of XTC. By the time 1988 rolled around, Allen had given up on the group and departed. In the absence of his former compatriot’s fierce, propulsive basslines, Andrews apparently decided to accelerate the band’s gradual evolution to a commercially polished, club-friendly outfit. Nothing like KC and the Sunshine Band cover, … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 6 and 5

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

This week at Spectrum Culture, I opted to review the new film from director Jill Sprecher, who previously created the very good comedy Clockwatchers and the sadly mediocre 13 Conversations About One Thing. It’s been a long time since that prior feature, so I had perhaps had reason to be leery. But then the movie poster calls attention to the fact that it takes place in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I couldn’t turn that down, right? It was good, but there’s some internet scuttlebutt that it may have been even better in the original cut that debuted at Sundance a year ago. … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: David Bowie, “Real Cool World”

Dan Seeger

Once the Academy Awards ridiculously came up with only two final nominees for the Original Song category, plenty of people were quick to respond with dismay, disgruntlement or downright animosity. It was evidence of a broken system or simply final confirmation that the category was entirely outdated, a relic of a different era of Hollywood when even the most serious-minded film found a way to wedge a number into the proceedings (there were fourteen songs competing at the 1945 Oscars). Then once the Academy announced that they had no intention of having either of the songs performed live on awards … Continue reading One for Friday: David Bowie, “Real Cool World”

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College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 8 and 7

Dan Seeger

8. “Wild Wild West” by The Escape Club Well, yuck. The divide between the Billboard chart and my memories of the fall of 1988 is no vaster than it is right here. Maybe it’s some sort of protective blackout in my brain, but I don’t remember the title cut from the goony British quartet’s sophomore release crossing our airwaves at all. It was surely everywhere else, though, going to very top of the Billboard Hot 100 charts, a pretty damning indictment of the state of Top 40 radio that fall, especially when the chart-toppers from before and after its one … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 8 and 7

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

The first I had up at Spectrum Culture this week was a review of a new film starring Linda Cardellini. I’m particularly proud that I managed to avoid invoking Freaks and Geeks, which seems to be cited in every other review I’ve seen of the film. It certainly says something about the lingering brilliance of Paul Feig’s high school series that it remains the main touchstone for Cardellini despite the fact that she’s been a part of some notable films and spent several seasons as a central cast member of E.R., many of those years coinciding with the time that … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: The Apples in Stereo, “Show the World”

Dan Seeger

When I got my first job in commercial radio, it was at a “New Rock Alternative” station, which was terminology intended to convey that while we were going to play the biggest of the big when it came to college radio material, artists that sounded like Pearl Jam were going to have a far easier time muscling onto our playlist. My hope was that I’d be able to stay up on music through working there. After all, we were primarily playing the artists that college radio broke in the first place. How far behind could we be? The issue, as … Continue reading One for Friday: The Apples in Stereo, “Show the World”

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College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 10 and 9

Dan Seeger

10. “What’s On Your Mind (Pure Energy)” by Information Society I’ll admit to having my own preferences that decisively inform my perspectives on different music eras in different regions. For example, Minneapolis in the nineteen-eighties is strictly the punk-influenced rock ‘n’ roll of Hüsker Dü and The Replacements for me. This is despite the fact that the biggest-selling artist to hail from the city during that decade had a very different sound indeed. So maybe it shouldn’t be that hard for me to wrap my head around the notion that Information Society and their dippy, skippy pop music started in … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 10 and 9

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Spectrum Check

Dan Seeger

I was all over the place at Spectrum Culture this week. First of all, I had a piece in the music section, reviewing something that was definitely outside of my usual range. The super-secret DVD backstory of this review is that I wrote it while flat in my back while suffering with an ailment that really needs not be elaborated upon. You should appreciate my discretion, believe me. I also reviewed the new film from director Ti West, which I actually made a point of requesting months in advance. For one thing, I have a marital obligation to get horror … Continue reading Spectrum Check

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One for Friday: Stump, “Charlton Heston”

Dan Seeger

Sometimes I really struggle to figure out which song to post from an individual album. Especially when I’m pulling from an obscure album, I have a strong instinct to select a song that doesn’t seem to be readily available otherwise. I’m continually surprised by how much of the pop culture flotsam and jetsam of years gone by has found its way to information superhighway, and yet there’s still all sorts of material that is circling aimlessly, hunting for an on-ramp. If I’m going to post a song from an album that seems to mainly perplex Amazon and doesn’t merit its … Continue reading One for Friday: Stump, “Charlton Heston”

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College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 14 and 13

Dan Seeger

14. “Liar, Liar” by Debbie Harry As the blonde in Blondie, few performers seemed more perfectly positioned for solo career success than Debbie Harry. She was no empty frontwoman, claiming a respectable number of songwriting credits on every one of the band’s albums, including contributions to every original track but one on the band’s 1982 swan song (at least for their original run), The Hunter. She was the face, voice and, for many, the total persona of the band. Striking out on her own didn’t exactly work out, though, and by the time the fall of 1988 rolled around, her … Continue reading College Countdown: First Billboard Top 20 Modern Rock Tracks, Fall 1988, 14 and 13