College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 169 – 167
169. M+M, “Black Stations/White Stations” By 1984, Martha and the Muffins were a very different band than the one that had a international hit single five years earlier, with “Echo Beach.” The lack of similar chart success with subsequent releases caused the group to get dropped by Virgin Records, and they’d shed several band members over the years, including saxophonist Tony Haas, who chose to conduct his exit interview through a series of missives printed in the letters column of Now, the Toronto alternative weekly newspaper. The tumult was so thorough that remaining members Mark Gane and Martha Johnson took the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 169 – 167
From the Archive: Funny About Love
My general approach with the “From the Archive” offerings has been to preserve the original language and style as much as possible, resisting the mighty temptation to edit my, in this case, twenty-year-old self into stronger writing. While I’m still … Continue reading From the Archive: Funny About Love
One for Friday: Concrete Blonde, “Ghost of a Texas Ladies’ Man”
I’ve recently been taking advantage of the technological marvels afforded to me by the endlessly interconnected digital world to listen to my alma mater college radio station with some regularity. Though I have an obvious bias coloring my perception, I still maintain that this particular oasis on the left end of the dial is programmed better, smarter, and more effectively than just about any other outlet with a transmitter tower at their disposal. While so many other noncommercial stations indulge in extensive block programming, allowing the on air staff to craft playlists that speak exclusively to individual, hyper-focused music preferences, the place … Continue reading One for Friday: Concrete Blonde, “Ghost of a Texas Ladies’ Man”
Now Playing: Ghostbusters
The idiotic braying of misogynistic, righteous anger that has nipped aggressively and constantly at that ankles of the new reworking of Ghostbusters necessitates an opening statement of opinion on its merits simply as a concept. As a resolute admirer of Ivan Reitman’s original film, I think swapping the genders of the characters donning jumpsuits and bearing proton packs is an inspired hook. If we’re going to continue to grope and stumble through the misty morass of a popular culture that values brand recognition over originality, then at least this simple yet significant twist gives the new Ghostbusters a reason for … Continue reading Now Playing: Ghostbusters
The Art of the Sell: The Birth of a Nation
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. Now this is a movie poster. Other entries in this series can be found by clicking on the “Art of the Sell” tag. Continue reading The Art of the Sell: The Birth of a Nation
Beers I Have Known: Stone Brewing Arrogant Bastard 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. When I first moved to Asheville, North Carolina, the hours of my job were quite demanding, especially on the weekends. Every once in a while, as I toiled away on some Friday or Saturday night responsibility, I got joyful, needling dispatches from those who were engaged in happy tomfoolery out and about. There were friends down from Wisconsin on one of those occasions, and they were taking on the town with my partner-in-all-things. Among their stops was … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Stone Brewing Arrogant Bastard Ale
My Misspent Youth: Incredible Hulk by Steve Englehart and Herb Trimpe
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. It started with a hand-me-down. I and my partner-in-all-things were visiting some friends in the bustling metropolis of Milwaukee. One of them, a fellow youthful victim of the comic book siren song, presented a gift. It was a old comic book, clearly well-read as the glossy front had the approximate texture of crushed taffeta. The cover promised to introduce us to “THE MACABRE MENACE OF CAPTAIN OMEN AND HIS UNHUMAN HORDES!” The only … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Incredible Hulk by Steve Englehart and Herb Trimpe
College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 172 – 170
172. The Police, “Message in a Bottle” By Sting’s reckoning, “Message in a Bottle” was a breakthrough for him as a songwriter. He estimated that he’d been noodling with the guitar riff, mentally and otherwise, for about a year before he started to pull it together with some stray ideas for lyrics. That approach of working on music and lyrics as entirely disconnected properties that eventually converged was very much his preferred process at the time. Placing words against the music began with the title. “Message in a Bottle” was written down in his notebook, causing Sting to free associate on the term, … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 250 Songs, 1979 – 1989, 172 – 170
From the Archive: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
This review was written fairly early in the run of The Reel Thing, the movie review radio show I co-hosted from 1990 to 1993. I worked as hard on this piece as anything I wrote in those first months of the show, because I knew I was out of step with the broader critical community. More than that, I knew my partner on the program absolutely loved this film, so I had to make my case as sharp and compelling as possible. As soon as I was done, there was going to be an on-air fight. It wasn’t going to … Continue reading From the Archive: The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover
One for Friday: Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, “Bag of Hammers”
I’ve got a strange, new concert-going tradition, inadvertent and entirely out of my hands. For the past couple of years, I’ve had multiple instances where I’ve seen shows that fall into the category of long-awaited. In all of those instances, I stood in the crowd with a single song in mind. I wasn’t some agonized hipster, pining for a minor obscurity unlikely to be played. In every instance, it was a single, or at least a track that was pushed as such. In no instance was it some deal-breaking tragedy if it didn’t get played, but I stood ready for it nonetheless. … Continue reading One for Friday: Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, “Bag of Hammers”
Coffee for Two 