Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Don’t Hold Back Your Love”
These posts are about the songs that just barely failed to cross the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. Daryl Hall and John Oates were ludicrously … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Don’t Hold Back Your Love”
My Misspent Youth — What If? #19 by Peter Gillis and Pat Broderick
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 was snapping up as many Marvel mags as my … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — What If? #19 by Peter Gillis and Pat Broderick
The Art of the Sell — “You and Me and ABC”
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. By now, we are well past the point that television programming is a sad, forlorn cousin of … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — “You and Me and ABC”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #932 to #929
932. Rush, Signals (1982) I think the prevailing opinion is that the nineteen-eighties demolished the prospects for classic rock bands, especially as MTV took almost complete control over determining which songs were worthy of upward chart movement. There’s some truth … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #932 to #929
From the Archive — Smells Like a Mix Tape
I had this project, you see. After several years of operating motor vehicles equipped with outdated technology in the dashboard stereo, I finally graduated to a car that had a CD player and an input jack for an iPod. To … Continue reading From the Archive — Smells Like a Mix Tape
One for Friday — Lyle Lovett, “L.A. County”
Since I invoked Lyle Lovett in yesterday’s album review, it seems an appropriate time to return to him in this weekly act of music-sharing. Lovett first entered into my little cohort of favored artists with the release of his second … Continue reading One for Friday — Lyle Lovett, “L.A. County”
The New Releases Shelf — Golden Hour
I can’t claim to understand the vagaries of what drives country music radio, but the apparent middling affection for Kacey Musgraves is perplexing to the point of aggravation. Despite the Texas native’s place in the Universal Music Group Nashville stable … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — Golden Hour
Laughing Matters — John Mulaney, “The Salt and Pepper Dinner”
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. Just because. Previous entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Laughing Matters” tag. Continue reading Laughing Matters — John Mulaney, “The Salt and Pepper Dinner”
Beers I Have Known — Half Acre Beer Company Daisy Cutter Pale Ale
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. In my neck of the nation, we’re accustomed to winter holding on with … Continue reading Beers I Have Known — Half Acre Beer Company Daisy Cutter Pale Ale
Now Playing — Avengers: Infinity War
When I was still a kid and started my long, tumultuous relationship with superhero comic books, one particular issue loomed large for me. X-Men #137 was a double-sized offering with a story entitled “The Fate of the Phoenix!” It was … Continue reading Now Playing — Avengers: Infinity War
