Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “A Million and One”
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. In 1966, Dean Martin appeared in four … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “A Million and One”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #956 to #953
956. Velvet Elvis, Velvet Elvis (1988) Velvet Elvis formed in Lexington, Kentucky, largely because aspiring singer-songwriter Dan Trisko needed an outfit to deliver the tunes he was cranking out with admirable efficiency. The band played through the reasonably robust club … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #956 to #953
From the Archive — The Hard Way and Doc Hollywood
By now, I’ve shared most of the reviews I still have from my days as the co-host and co-producer of the early-nineteen-nineties radio show The Reel Thing. This represented a rare instance of tying the weekly home video segment into … Continue reading From the Archive — The Hard Way and Doc Hollywood
One for Friday — Grandpaboy, “Psychopharmacology”
I remember it as a slow, melancholy dimming of the lights for a certain kind of record collecting — or, being precise about the era, CD collecting, I suppose. Paul Westerberg was just a few years into his solo career, … Continue reading One for Friday — Grandpaboy, “Psychopharmacology”
Laughing Matters — Abbott and Costello, “Who’s on First?”
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. Recent days have been … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Abbott and Costello, “Who’s on First?”
Greatish Performances #35
#35 — James Gandolfini as Winston Baldry in The Mexican (Gore Verbinski, 2001) I wonder if it’s all but inevitable that a proverbial “role of a lifetime” brings with it as many hardships as benefits. No matter the pleasures of … Continue reading Greatish Performances #35
The Art of the Sell — Tabasco “Mosquito” commercial
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. This commercial includes a remarkably accurate depiction of how I eat pizza. I mean it sincerely when … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Tabasco “Mosquito” commercial
Beers I Have Known — NOLA Brewing Company Revivalists American 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. It is probably beyond my command of words — regardless of where I … Continue reading Beers I Have Known — NOLA Brewing Company Revivalists American Pale Ale
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #960 to #957
960. Plasticland, Wonder Wonderful Wonderland (1985) It’s treacherous to draw heavily drawing on distinctive rock subgenres layered with dust. By the time Plasticland formed — as the nineteen-eighties dawned in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — the version of lush, layered psychedelic rock … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #960 to #957
From the Archive — Paris, je t’aime
There’s no particular inspiration for extracting this old review from the archive today. It is one of the fairly random raids of my old writing. The only annotation I’ll offer is the retrospective conviction that Alexander Payne’s segment is strongest in the film. It’s the one that has stuck with me. The new film Paris, je t’aime brings together eighteen directors (or teams of directors) to create short films celebrating the beloved city of the title. There is no through-line, no overlap, nothing that connects the pieces together. It seems everyone was given the the freedom to construct whatever they … Continue reading From the Archive — Paris, je t’aime
Coffee for Two 